University of Virginia Library

The angry terrors of Compassionate Heaven ,
Extend through this lower world ;
[The king's] counsels and plans are crooked and bad ;—
When will he stop [in the course] ?
Counsels which are good he will not follow ,
And those which are not good he employs ,
When I look at his counsels and plans ,
I am greatly pained .

Now they agree , and now they defame one another ;—
The case is greatly to be deplored .
If a counsel be good ,
They all are found opposing it .
If a counsel be bad ,
They all are found according with it .
When I look at such counsels and plans ,
What will they come to ?

Our tortoises are wearied out ,
And will not tell us anything about the plans .
The counsellors are very many ,
But on that account nothing is accomplished .
The speakers fill the court ,
But who dares to take any responsibility on himself ?
We are as if we consulted [about a journey] without taking a step in advance ,
And therefore did not get on on the road .

Alas ! our formers of plans ,
Do not take the ancients for their pattern ,
And do not regulate them by great principles .
They only hearken to shallow words ,
And quarrel about shallow words ,
They are like one taking counsel with wayfarers about building a house .
Which will consequently never come to completion .

Although the kingdom be unsettled ,
There are some who are wise , and others who are not .
Although the people may not be numerous ,
Some have perspicacity , some have counsel ,
Some have gravity , and some have orderliness .
But we are going on like the stream flowing from a spring ,
And will sink together in a common ruin .

They dare not without weapons attack a tiger ;
They dare not without a boat cross the He .
They know one thing ,
But they only know that one .
We should be apprehensive and careful ,
As if we were on the brink of a deep gulf ,
As if we were treading on thin ice .