Part 14 (1/2)

In the states of the east, large and small, The looms are empty. Then shoes of dolichos fibre Are made to serve to walk on the h.o.a.r-frost.

Slight and elegant gentlemen[1] Walk along that road to Kau. Their going and coming makes my heart sad.

Ye cold waters, issuing variously from the spring, Do not soak the firewood I have cut. Sorrowful, I awake and sigh;--Alas for us toiled people! The firewood has been cut;--Would that it were

[1. That is, 'slight-looking,' unfit for toil; and yet they are obliged to make their journey on foot.]

conveyed home! Alas for us the toiled people! Would that we could have rest[1]!

The sons of the east Are summoned only (to service), without encouragement; While the sons of the west s.h.i.+ne in splendid dresses. The sons of boatmen Have furs of the bear and grisly bear. The sons of the, poorest families Form the officers in public employment.

If we present them with spirits, They regard them as not fit to be called liquor. If we give them long girdle pendants with their stones, They do not think them long enough.

There is the Milky Way in heaven [2], Which looks down on us in light; And the three stars together are the Weaving Sisters[3], Pa.s.sing in a day through seven stages (of the sky).

Although they go through their seven stages, They complete no bright work for us. Brilliant s.h.i.+ne the Draught Oxen [4], But they do not serve to draw our carts. In the east there is Lucifer [5]; In the west there is Hesperus [6]; Long and curved

[1. This stanza describes, directly or by symbol, the exactions from which the people of the east were suffering.

2 The Milky Way' is here called simply the Han, = in the sky what the Han river is in China.

3. 'The Weaving Sisters, or Ladies,' are three stars in Lyra, that form a triangle. To explain what is said of their pa.s.sing through seven s.p.a.ces, it is said: 'The stars seem to go round the circ.u.mference of the heavens, divided into twelve s.p.a.ces, in a day and night. They would accomplish six of them in a day; but as their motion is rather in advance of that of the sun, they have entered into the seventh s.p.a.ce by the time it is up with them again.'

4 'The Draught Oxen' is the name of some stars in the neck of Aquila.

5 Liu i (Sung dynasty) says: 'The metal star (Venus) is in the east in the morning, thus ”opening the brightness of the day;” and it is in the west in the evening, thus ”prolonging the day.”' The author of the piece, however, evidently took Lucifer and Hesperus to be two stars.]

is the Rabbit Net of the sky [1];--But they only occupy their places.

In the south is the Sieve [2], But it is of no use to sift. In the north is the Ladle [3], But it lades out no liquor. In the south is the Sieve, Idly showing its mouth. In the north is the Ladle, Raising its handle in the west.

The Sixth Decade, or that of Pei Shan.

ODE 3, STANZAS 1, 4, AND 5. THE HSIaO MING.

AN OFFICER, KEPT LONG ABROAD ON DISTANT SERVICE, APPEALS TO HEAVEN, DEPLORING THE HARDs.h.i.+PS OF HIS LOT, AND TENDERS GOOD ADVICE TO HIS MORE FORTUNATE FRIENDS AT COURT.

O bright and high Heaven, Who enlightenest and rulest this lower world!

I marched on this expedition to the west, As far as this wilderness of Khiu. From the first day of the second month, I have pa.s.sed through the cold and the heat. My heart is sad; The poison (of my lot) is too bitter. I think of those (at court) in their offices, And my tears flow down like rain. Do I not wish to return? But I fear the net for crime.

Ah! ye gentlemen, Do not reckon on your rest

[1. 'The Rabbit Net' is the Hyades.

2. 'The Sieve' is the name of one of the twenty-eight constellations of the zodiac,--part of Sagittarius.

3. 'The Ladle' is the constellation next to 'the Sieve,'-also part of Sagittarius.]