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[Pg 182]
A COMPLAINT
He lodged us in a spacious house,
And plenteous was our fare.
But now at every frugal meal
There's not a scrap to spare.
Alas! alas that this good man
Could not go on as he began!
A WIFE'S GRIEF BECAUSE OF HER HUSBAND'S ABSENCE
The falcon swiftly seeks the north,
And forest gloom that sent it forth.
Since I no more my husband see,
My heart from grief is never free.
O how is it, I long to know,
That he, my lord, forgets me so?
Bushy oaks on the mountain grow,
And six elms where the ground is low.
But I, my husband seen no more,
My sad and joyless fate deplore.
O how is it, I long to know,
That he, my lord, forgets me so?
The hills the bushy wild plums show,
And pear-trees grace the ground below.
But, with my husband from me gone,
As drunk with grief, I dwell alone.
Oh how is it, I long to know,
That he, my lord, forgets me so?
[Pg 183]
LAMENT FOR THREE BROTHERS
They flit about, the yellow birds,
And rest upon the jujubes find.
Who buried were in duke Muh's grave,
Alive to awful death consigned?
'Mong brothers three, who met that fate,
'Twas sad the first, Yen-seih to see.
He stood alone; a hundred men
Could show no other such as he.
When to the yawning grave he came,
Terror unnerved and shook his frame.
Why thus destroy our noblest men,
To thee we cry, O azure Heaven!
To save Yen-seih from death, we would
A hundred lives have freely given.
They flit about, the yellow birds,
And on the mulberry-trees rest find.
Who buried were in duke Muh's grave,
Alive to awful death consigned?
'Mong brothers three, who met that fate,
'Twas sad the next, Chung-hang to see.
When on him pressed a hundred men,
A match for all of them was he.
When to the yawning grave he came,
Terror unnerved and shook his frame.
Why thus destroy our noblest men,
To thee we cry, O azure Heaven!
To save Chung-hang from death, we would
A hundred lives have freely given.
[Pg 184]
They flit about, the yellow birds,
And rest upon the thorn-trees find.
Who buried were in duke Muh's grave,
Alive to awful death consigned?
'Mong brothers three, who met that fate,
'Twas sad the third, K‘en-foo, to see.
A hundred men in desperate fight
Successfully withstand could he.
When to the yawning grave he came,
Terror unnerved and shook his frame.
Why thus destroy our noblest men,
To thee we cry, O azure Heaven!
To save K‘en-foo from death, we would
A hundred lives have freely given.
[Note.—The
incident related in this poem occurred in the year B.C.
620, when the duke of Muh died after playing an important part in the
affairs of Northwest China. Muh required the three officers here celebrated,
to be buried with him, and according to the "Historical Records"
this barbarous practice began with duke Ching, Muh's predecessor. In all,
170 individuals were buried with Muh. The death of the last distinguished
man of the Ts‘in dynasty, the Emperor I, was subsequently celebrated by
the entombment with him of all the inmates of his harem.]
IN PRAISE OF A RULER OF TS‘IN
What trees grow on the Chung-nan hill?
The white fir and the plum.
In fur of fox, 'neath 'broidered robe,
Thither our prince is come.
His face glows with vermilion hue.
O may he prove a ruler true!
What find we on the Chung-nan hill?
Deep nook and open glade.
[Pg 185]
Our prince shows there the double Ke
On lower robe displayed.
His pendant holds each tinkling gem,
Long life be his, and deathless fame!
THE GENEROUS NEPHEW
I escorted my uncle to Tsin,
Till the Wei we crossed on the way.
Then I gave as I left
For his carriage a gift
Four steeds, and each steed was a bay.
I escorted my uncle to Tsin,
And I thought of him much in my heart.
Pendant stones, and with them
Of fine jasper a gem,
I gave, and then saw him depart.
[Pg 186]
BOOK XII
The Odes of Ch‘in
THE CONTENTMENT OF A POOR RECLUSE
My only door some pieces of crossed wood,
Within it I can rest enjoy.
I drink the water wimpling from the spring;
Nor hunger can my peace destroy.
Purged from ambition's aims I say, "For fish,
We need not bream caught in the Ho;
Nor, to possess the sweets of love, require
To Ts‘e, to find a Keang, to go.
"The man contented with his lot, a meal
Of fish without Ho carp can make;
Nor needs, to rest in his domestic joy,
A Tsze of Sung as wife to take."
