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周頌閔予小子之什(SACRIFICIAL ODES OF ZHOU, DECADE OF MIN YOU XIAO ZI)

286.  閔予小子  MIN YU XIAO ZI

閔予小子、遭家不造、嬛嬛在疚。
於乎皇考、永世克考。
念茲皇祖、陟降庭止。
維予小子、夙夜敬止。
於乎皇王、繼序思不忘。
Alas for me , who am [as] a little child ,
On whom has devolved the unsettled State !
Solitary am I and full of distress .
Oh ! my great Father ,
All thy life long , thou wast filial .
Thou didst think of my great grandfather ,
[Seeing him , as it were ,] ascending and descending in the court .
I , the little child ,
Day and night will be so reverent .
Oh ! ye great kings ,
As your successor , I will strive not to forget you .

287.  訪落  FANG LUO

訪予落止、率時昭考。
於乎悠哉、朕未有艾。
將予就之、繼猶判渙。
維予小子、未堪家多難。
紹庭上下、陟降厥家。
休矣皇考、以保明其身。
I take counsel at the beginning of my [rule] ,
How I can follow [the example] of my shrined father .
Ah ! far-reaching [were his plans] ,
And I am not yet able to carry them out .
However I endeavour to reach to them ,
My continuation of them will still be all-deflected .
I am [but as] a little child ,
Unequal to the many difficulties of the State .
In his room , [I will look for him] to go up and come down in the court ,
To ascend and descend in the house .
Admirable art thou , O great Father ,
[Condescend] to preserve and enlighten me .

288.  敬之  JING ZHI

敬之敬之、天維顯思、命不易哉。
無曰高高在上、陟降厥士、日監在茲。
維予小子、不聰敬止。
日就月將、學有緝熙于光明。
佛時仔肩、示我顯德行。
Let me be reverent , let me be reverent , [in attending to my duties] ;
[The way of] Heaven is evident ,
And its appointment is not easily [preserved] .
Let me not say that It is high aloft above me .
It ascends and descends about our doings ;
It daily inspects us wherever we are .
I am [but as] a little child ,
Without intelligence to be reverently [attractive to my duties] ;
But by daily progress and monthly advance ,
I will learn to hold fast the gleams [of knowledge] , till I arrive at bright intelligence .
Assist me to bear the burden [of my position] ,
And show me how to display a virtuous conduct .

289.  小毖  XIAO BI

予其懲 。
而毖後患。
莫予荓蜂。
自求辛螫。
肇允彼桃蟲。
拚飛維鳥。
未堪家多難。
予又集于蓼。
I condemn myself [for the past] , and will be on my guard against future calamity .
I will have nothing to do with a wasp ,
To seek for myself its painful sting .
At first , indeed , the thing seemed but a wren ,
But it took wing and became a [large] bird .
I am unequal to the many difficulties of the kingdom ;
And I am placed in the midst of bitter experiences .

290.  載芟  ZAI SHAN

載芟載柞、其耕澤澤。
千耦其耘、徂濕徂畛。
侯主侯伯、侯亞侯旅、侯疆侯以。
有嗿其饁、思媚其婦、有依其士。
有略其耜、俶載南畝。
播厥百殼、實函斯活。
驛驛其達、有厭其傑。
厭厭其苗、綿綿其麃。
載穫濟濟、有實其積、萬億及秭。
為酒為醴、烝畀祖妣、以洽百體。
有飶其香、邦家之光。
有椒其馨、胡考之寧。
匪且有且、匪今斯今、振古如茲。
They clear away the grass and the bushes ;
And the ground is laid open by their ploughs .
In thousands of pairs they remove the roots ,
Some in the low wet lands , some along the dykes .
There are the master and his eldest son ;
His younger sons , and all their children ;
Their strong helpers , and their hired servants .
How the noise of their eating the viands brought to them resounds !
[The husbands] think lovingly of their wives ;
[The wives] keep close to their husbands .
[Then] with their sharp plough-shares ,
They set to work on the south-lying acres .
They sow their different kinds of grain ,
Each seed containing in it a germ of life .
In unbroken lines rises the blade ,
And well-nourished the stalks grow long .
Luxuriant looks the young grain ,
And the weeders go among it in multitudes .
Then come the reapers in crowds ,
And the grain is piled up the fields ,
Myriads , and hundreds of thousands , and millions [of stacks] ;
For spirits and for sweet spirits ,
To offer to our ancestors , male and female ,
And to provide for all ceremonies .
Fragrant is their aroma ,
Enhancing the glory of the State .
Like pepper is their smell ,
To give comfort to the aged .
It is not here only that there is this [abundance] ;
It is not now only that there is such a time :—
From of old it has been thus .

291.  良耜  LIANG SI

畟畟良耜、俶載南畝。
播厥百殼、實函斯活。
或來瞻女、載筐及筥、其饟伊黍。
其笠伊糾、其鎛斯趙、以薅荼蓼。
荼蓼朽止、黍稷茂止。
穫之挃挃、積之栗栗。
其崇如墉、其比如櫛。
以開百室。
百室盈止、婦子寧止。
殺時犉牡、有捄其角。
以似以續、續古之人。
Very sharp are the excellent shares ,
With which they set to work on the south-lying acres .
They sow their different kinds of grain ,
Each seed containing a germ of life .
There are those who come to see them ,
With their baskets round and square ,
Containing the provision of millet .
With their light splint hats on their heads ,
They ply their hoes on the ground ,
Clearing away the smart-weed on the dry land and wet .
These weeds being decayed ,
The millets grow luxuriantly .
They fall rustling before the reapers .
And [the sheaves] are set up solidly ,
High as a wall ,
United together like the teeth of a comb ;
And the hundred houses are opened [to receive the grain] .
Those hundred houses being full ,
The wives and children have a feeling of repose .
[Now] we kill this black-muzzled tawny bull ,
With his crooked horns ,
To imitate and hand down ,
To land down [the observances of] our ancestors .

292.  絲衣  SI YI

絲衣其紑、載弁俅俅。
自堂徂基、自羊徂牛。
鼐鼎及鼒、兕觥其觩。
旨酒思柔。
不吳不敖、胡考之休。
In his silken robes , clear and bright ,
With his cap on his head , looking so respectful ,
From the hall he goes to the foot of the stairs ,
And from the sheep to the oxen .
[He inspects] the tripods , large and small .
The good spirits are mild ;
There is no noise , no insolence :—
An auspice , [all this] , of great longevity .

293.  酌  ZHUO

於鑠王師、遵養時晦。
時純熙矣、是用大介。
我龍受之、蹻蹻王之造。
載用有嗣、實維爾公允師。
Oh ! powerful was the king's army ;
But he nursed it in obedience to circumstances while the time was yet dark .
When the time was clearly bright ,
He thereupon donned his grand armour .
We have been favoured to receive ,
What the martial king accomplished .
To deal aright with what we have inherited ,
We have to be sincere imitators of thy course , [O king] .

294.  桓  HUAN

綏萬邦、婁豐年。
天命匪解。
桓桓武王、保有厥士。
于以四方、克定厥家。
於昭于天。
皇以閒之。
There is peace throughout our myriad regions ;
There has been a succession of plentiful years :—
Heaven does not weary in its favour .
The martial king Wu ,
Maintained [the confidence of] his officers ,
And employed them all over the kingdom ,
So securing the establishment of his Family .
Oh ! glorious was he in the sight of Heaven ,
Which kinged him in the room [of Shang] .

295.  賚  LAI

文王既勤止、我應受之。
敷時繹思、我徂維求定。
時周之命、於繹思。
King Wen laboured earnestly ;—
Right is it we should have received [the kingdom] .
We will diffuse [his virtue] , ever cherishing the thought of him ;
Henceforth we will seek only the settlement [of the kingdom] .
It was he through whom came the appointment of Zhou ;
Oh ! let us ever cherish the thought of him .

296.  般  BAN

於皇時周。
陟其高山、嶞山喬嶽、允猶翕河。
敷天之下、裒時之對、時周之命。
Oh ! great now is Zhou .
We ascend the high hills ,
Both those that are long and narrow , and the lofty mountains ;
Yes , and [we travel] along the regulated He ,
All under the sky ,
Assembling those who now respond to me .
Thus it is that the appointment belongs to Zhou .