University of Virginia Library

At the conjunction [of the sun and moon] in the tenth month ,
On the first day of the moon , which was Xin-mao ,
The sun was eclipsed ,
A thing of very evil omen .
Then the moon became small ,
And now the sun became small .
Henceforth the lower people ,
Will be in a very deplorable case .

The sun and moon announce evil ,
Not keeping to their proper paths .
All through the kingdom there is no [proper] government ,
Because the good are not employed .
For the moon to be eclipsed ,
Is but an ordinary matter .
Now that the sun has been eclipsed ,—
How bad it is !

Grandly flashes the lightning of the thunder ;—
There is a want of rest , a want of good .
The streams all bubble up and overflow .
The crags on the hill-tops fall down .
High banks become valleys ;
Deep valleys become hills .
Alas for the men of this time !
How does [the king] not stop these things ?

Huang-fu is the president ;
Fan is the minister of instruction ;
Jia-bo is the [chief] administrator ;
Zhong-yun is the chief cook ;
Zou is the recorder of the interior ;
Jue is master of the house ;
Yu is captain of the guards ;
And the beautiful wife blazes , now in possession of her place .

This Huang-fu ,
Will not acknowledge that he is acting out of season .
But why does he call us to action ,
Without coming and consulting with us ?
He has removed our walls and roofs ,
And our fields are all either a marsh or a moor .
He says , ' I am not injuring you ;
The laws require that thus it should be ? '

Huang-fu is very wise ;
He has built a great city for himself in Xiang .
He chose three men as his ministers ,
All of them indeed of great wealth .
He could not bring himself to leave a single minister ,
Who might guard our king .
He [also] selected those who had chariots and horses ,
To go and reside in Xiang .'

I have exerted myself to discharge my service ,
And do not dare to make a report of my toils .
Without crime or offense of any kind ,
Slanderous mouths are loud against me .
[But] the calamities of the lower people ,
Do not come down from Heaven .
A multitide of [fair] words , and hatred behind the back ,—
The earnest , strong pursuit of this is from men .

Distant far is my village ,
And my dissatisfaction is great .
In other quarters there is ease ,
And I dwell here alone and sorrowful .
Every body is going into retirement ,
And I alone dare not seek rest .
The ordinances of Heaven are inexplicable ,
But I will not dare to follow my friends and leave my post .