University of Virginia Library

A few elegant lines ,
May be made out to be shell-embroidery .
Those slanderers ,
Have gone to great excess .

A few diverging points ,
May be made out to be the southern Sieve .
Those slanderers !
Who devised their schemes for them ?

With babbling mouths you go about ,
Scheming and wishing to slander others ,
[But] be careful of your words ;—
[People] will [yet] say that you are untruthful .

Clever you are , and ever changing .
In your schemes and wishes to slander .
They receive it [now] indeed ,
But by and by it will turn to your own hurt .

The proud are delighted ,
And the troubled are in sorrow .
O azure Heaven ! O azure Heaven !
Look on those proud men ,
Pity those troubled .

Those slanderers !
Who devised their schemes for them ?
I would take those slanderers ,
And throw them to wolves and tigers .
If these refused to devour them ,
I would cast them into the north .
If the north refused to receive them ,
I would throw them into the hands of great [Heaven] .

The way through the willow garden ,
Lies near the acred height .
I , the eunuch Meng-zi ,
Have made this poem .
All ye officers ,
Reverently hearken to it .