The Book of Songs 詩經
大雅‧蕩之什‧桑柔 Greater odes of the kingdom - Decade Of Dang - Sang Rou
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毛詩序：「《桑柔》，芮伯刺厲王也。」桑柔
菀彼桑柔，其下侯旬。捋采其劉，瘼此下民。
不殄心憂，倉兄填兮。倬彼昊天，寧不我矜。
Luxuriant is that young mulberry tree,
And beneath it wide is the shade;
But they will pluck its leaves till it is quite destroyed.
The distress inflicted on these [multitudes of the ] people,
Is an unceasing sorrow to my heart; -
My commiseration fills [my breast].
O thou bright and great Heaven,
Shouldest thou not have compassion on us?
四牡騤騤，旟旐有翩。亂生不夷，靡國不泯。
民靡有黎，具禍以燼。於乎有哀，國步斯頻。
The four steeds [gallop about], eager and strong;
The tortoise-and-serpent and the falcon banners fly about.
Disorder grows, and no peace can be secured.
Every State is being ruined;
There are no black heads among the people;
All are reduced to ashes, [as it were], by calamity.
Oh! alas!
The doom of the kingdom hurries on.
國步蔑資，天不我將。靡所止疑，云徂何往？
君子實維，秉心無競。誰生厲階？至今為梗。
There is nothing to arrest the doom of the kingdom;
Heaven does not nourish us.
There is no place in which to stop securely;
There is no place to which to go.
Superior men are the bonds [of the social state],
Allowing no love of strife in their hearts.
Who reared the steps of the dissatisfaction,
Which has reached the present distress?
憂心慇慇，念我土宇。我生不辰，逢天僤怒。
自西徂東，靡所定處。多我覯痻，孔棘我圉。
The grief of my heart is extreme,
And I dwell on [the condition of] our territory.
I was born at an unhappy time,
To meet with the severe anger of Heaven.
From the west to the east,
There is no quiet place of abiding.
Many are the distresses I meet with;
Very urgent is the trouble on our borders.
為謀為毖，亂況斯削，告爾憂恤，誨爾序爵。
誰能執熱，逝不以濯，其何能淑，載胥及溺。
You have your counsels; you employ caution;
But the disorder grows and dismemberments ensue.
I tell you the subjects for anxiety;
I instruct you how to distinguish the orders of men.
Who can hold anything hot?
Must he not dip it [first] in water?
How can you [by your method] bring a good state of things about?
You [and your advisers] will sink together in ruin.
如彼遡風，亦孔之僾。民有肅心，荓云不逮。
好是稼穡，力民代食，稼穡維寶，代食維好。
[The state of things] is like going in the teeth of the wind,
Which makes one quite breathless.
Some have a mind to go forward,
But they are made to think it is of no use to do so.
They attach themselves to husbandry,
And labour like the people instead of eating [the bread of office].
Their sowing and reaping are precious to them;
They love this substitute for [official] emolument.
天降喪亂，滅我立王。降此蟊賊，稼穡卒痒。
哀恫中國，具贅卒荒。靡有旅力，以念穹蒼。
Heaven is sending down death and disorder,
And has put an end to our king.
It is sending down those devourers of the grain,
So that the husbandry is all in evil case.
All is in peril and going to ruin;
I have no strength [to do anything],
And think of [the Power in] the azure vault.
維此惠君，民人所瞻。秉心宣猶，考慎其相。
維彼不順，自獨俾臧，自有肺腸，俾民卒狂。
Here is a good and righteous ruler,
Who is looked up to by the people and by all; -
He keeps his heart, and his plans are formed on mature deliberation,
Searching carefully for helpers.
There is one who has no such character,
But reckons only his own views to be good; -
He holds only to his own thoughts,
And causes the people to be distracted.
瞻彼中林，甡甡其鹿。朋友已譖，不胥以穀。
人亦有言：進退維谷。
Look into the middle of that forest,
At the herds of deer roaming together.
[But here] friends are insincere,
And do not help one another in what is good.
People have the saying,
'To go forwards or backwards is alike impracticable. '
維此聖人，瞻言百里。維彼愚人，覆狂以喜。
匪言不能，胡斯畏忌。
Here is a wise man; -
His views and words reach to a hundred li,
There is a stupid man; -
He on the contrary rejoices in his madness.
It is not that I could not speak [all this]; -
How is it I was withheld by my fear?
維此良人，弗求弗迪，維彼忍心，是顧是復。
民之貪亂，寧為荼毒。
Here is a good man,
But he is not sought out nor employed.
There is a hard-hearted man,
And he is thought of and promoted once and again.
The people [in consequence] desire disorder,
And find emjoyment in bitter, poisonous ways.
大風有隧，有空大谷，維此良人，作為式穀。
維彼不順，征以中垢。
Great winds have a path; -
They come from the large empty valleys.
Here is a good man,
Whose doings will be good.
There is a man unobservant of the right,
Whose goings will be according to his inward filthiness.
大風有隧，貪人敗類，聽言則對，誦言如醉。
匪用其良，覆俾我悖。
Great winds have a path; -
The covetous men try to subvert their peers.
I would speak, if he would hear my words,
But I can [only] croon them over as if I were drunk.
He will not employ the good,
And on the contrary causes me [such] distress.
嗟爾朋友！予豈不知而作？。
如彼飛蟲，時亦弋獲。既之陰女，反予來赫。
Ah! my friends,
Is it in ignorance that I make [this ode]?
[But it may happen] as in the case of a bird on the wing,
Which sometimes is hit and caught.
I go to do you good,
But you become the more incensed against me.
民之罔極，職涼善背。為民不利，如云不克。
民之回遹，職競用力。
The unlimited disorder of the people,
Is owing to those hypocrites, skilful to prevaricate.
They work out the injury of the people,
As if their efforts were not equal to it.
The depravity of the people,
Is brought about by their strenuous endeavours.
民之未戾，職盜為寇。涼曰不可！
覆背善詈，雖曰匪予，既作爾歌！
That the people are unsettled,
Is owing to the robbers that prey on them.
Hypocritical, they say ' These men will not do; '
But when their backs are turned, they show their skill in reviling [the good].
Although you say, ' We did not do this, '
I have made this song about you.
《桑柔》，十六章：八章，章八句；八章，章六句。
本作品在全世界都属于公有领域，因为作者逝世已经超过100年，并且于1923年1月1日之前出版。
English translation: James Legge
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