And in the sixth month the heat begins to decrease. Were not my forefathers men? How can they endure that I should be [thus]? 2 The autumn days become cold, And the plants all decay. Amid such distress of disorder and dispersion, 3 The winter days are very fierce, Why do I alone suffer this misery? 9; 霜, 行, cat. 10; 來状, cat. 1, t. 1: in | cat. 15, t. 3. Ode 10. Allusive and narrative. AN OFFIMISERY OF THE TIMES. Keang Ping-chang thinks the piece was made in the last year of king Yew, such is the hopelessness which it expresses; but there is nothing in the language to enable us to say anything with certainty as to its date. CER BITTERLY DEPLORES THE OPPRESSION AND St. 1. The months here are evidently those of the Héa calendar. 徂暑暑徂,'the heat goes,' i. e., begins to go. L1.1 and 2 thus seem to say that, in the sphere of nature, suffer ing did not always continue, whereas, in the writer's experience, there was no end to' his suf fering. The critics, however, bring out the 四月 allusive element in various ways. In 11.34 the could help him in his extremity. He was their writer appeals to his forefathers, as if they descendant; they might still be able to sympa- ‘to cay' There is reason to believe that Maou's text originally had, which is evidently to be preferred., both by Maou and Choo, is defined by 'sorrow;' but there is no necessity for giving that new meaning to the term, as the common one of 散,‘separation,’‘dis persion,' suits the passage at least equally well; –so, Yen Ts'an. Moh=病 'to be distressed.' The ‘Fa mily Sayings' quote the line with 奚適 至,‘to go to.. St. 3. See VIII.5. 匪盡我廢 日彼為有 匪匪 江構泉殘嘉 鮪鳶。仕。漢。禍。水。賊。卉。 盡瘁以仕 寜莫 潛翰寧 南曷 載莫侯 于 淵。 天。 有。 祀。 穀。濁。尤。梅。 4 On the mountain are fine trees,– Chestnut trees and plum trees. Of their degenerating into ravening thieves, I know not the evil cause. 5 Look at the waters of that spring, Sometimes clear, sometimes muddy. I am every day coming into contact with misfortune; How can I be happy? 6 Grandly flow the Këang and the Han, 7 I am not an eagle nor a hawk, I am not a sturgeon, large or small, Which can dive and hide in the deep. St. 4. 卉 is here evidently used for trees.' | by and by for構禍 he gives 遭害, 'to 侯 is the particle, 一維 L1. 3, 4, speak of the ministers of the king'sgovernment. Very dif ferent were their high places, with them occupying them, from the hills with their fine trees. 廢 =變, to be changed,' to be degenerated.' 尤一過,fault. St.5. The only difficulty here is with 構. Maou defines it by 成‘to complete,' to work out;’and Ching by合集 ‘to collect’to bring together;' but then they expand into 我諸侯, our princes of States' Choo ac meet with injury.' It would be well to say here, | simply, that構=遭‘to meet with: 云 is —as in I. viii. X. 4.-'to sort silk threads, and hence, ‘to regulate.' The Keang and Han defined the boundaries of the States, drained their territories, served as lines of defence, and were otherwise of service to them, which they all acknowledged. The writer's services to the kingdom, however, were taken no notice of. 有一識有, to remember that such a person was in existence.' We must understand that in the 4th 1. the writer has the cepts the explanation of the term by 合, but | king in view. -38 in st. .1. 告維作君杞隰蕨 峰 哀。以歌子咦有薇。有 8 On the hills are the turtle-foot and thorn ferns; In the marshes are the medlar and the e. I, an officer, have made this song, To make known my plaint. St. 7 is narrative, and sets forth very striking- | ly the hardship of the writer's lot, unable in any way to escape from his own and the general misery. is read tun, and explained by 'an eagle. The character is ordinarily read shun, meaning a quail, which, evidently, cannot be intended here. The reading is found, which, we may presume, is more correct. 鳶 is some kind of hawk. A paper kite is called in Chinese 風鳶 L. 2,–as in II. 1. L. 3,–see I. v. III. 4. St. 蕨 and 薇see L. ii. In. 2, 3. The夷 is described as the red 棟, a tree with small leaves, bifid, and sharp, the bark coarse and plates says he does not know the tree. Yen Ts'an would read, probably the arum aquati cum. The keuch and wei were eatable, he says, and so must the ke and the t'e be, the writer meaning to say that he would retire to the hills eatable he could find. The two lines however, and marshes, and support his life by whatever seem rather to refer to the writer's condition,out of place and out of heart. The rhymes are in st. 1, 夏..暑子, cat. cat. 15, t. 1: in 3,列 5,t. 2: in 2, 淒腓,歸 發害, b, t. 3: in 4,梅 *, 尤*, cat. 1, t. 1: in 5,濁,穀, cat. 3, t. 3: in 6, 仕有 irregularly broken, furnishing a hard wood, used | cat. 1, t. 2: in 6. 天淵, cat.12, t. 1: in 8, 薇 by wheel-wrights. The author of the Japanese 梅哀,cat.15,t. 1. 1 I ascend that northern hill, And gather the medlars. An officer, strong and vigorous, Morning and evening I am engaged in service. The king's business is not to be slackly performed; 2 Under the wide heaven, TITLE All is the king's land. Within the sea-boundaries of the land, All are the king's servants. 北山之什二之六 OF THE BOOK-北山之什二| The writer refers to himslt in士子,'an of of Part. II.' 'The Decade of Pih-shan; Book VI. Ode 1. Narrative. AN OFFICER COMPLAINS OF THE ARDUOUS AND CONTINUAL DUTIES UNEQUALLY IMPOSED UPON HIM, AND KEEPING HIM AWAY FROM HIS DUTY TO HIS PARENTS, WHILE OTHERS WERE LEFT TO ENJOY THEIR EASE. See the remarks of Mencius on this ode, V. Pt. i., IV.2. St. 1. 言 is the initial particle. It is impossible to say whether 杷is here the willow, or the medlar tree. The analogy of many other odes, where ascending a hill is spoken of, make us suppose that the object of the writer was to look mournfully in the direction of his home. ,-as in the ficer and a gentleman.' Both Maou and Choo St. 2. 溥一大, ‘great,' (wide,'率一循 along: L.3-四海之内, ·all within the four seas. There underlies the language the idea that China was the whole of the earth, surrounded by four seas, of the islands in which it was not worth while to take account. The sentiment in the stanza, spoken of China, is proper enough; but the magniloquence of the language has become a snare to the people. By |