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1

有然

予良。鴞 鴞矣。

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國人知之知而

斯之 夫也不良

良。以

At the gate to the tombs there are jujube trees;

They should be cut away with an axe.

That man is not good,

And the people of the State know it.

They know it, but he does not give over;

Long time has it been thus with him.

2 At the gate to the tombs there are plum trees, And there are owls collecting on them.

That man is not good,

And I sing [this song] to admonish him.

I admonish him, but he will not regard me;–
When he is overthrown, he will think of me.

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Ll.1,2, in both stt. Maou understands by

the gate at the path leading to the tombs;" and this interpretation need not be questioned, though Wang Taou tries to make out that one of the gates of the capital of Chin was thus

named, ‘Tomb-gate.’斯=析‘to split wood'‘to lop.’鴞 also called 鴟 appears

to be the barn owl,-'a bird of evil voice."

萃=集‘to collect.’止 is the particle.

The thorns about the gate of the tombs, and the owls collected on the plum trees, were both things of evil omen; and thence are here employed to introduce the subject of the ode. L13–6. 夫 is here the demonstrative,=' this,"

Ode 6. Allusive. On SOME EVIL PERSON WHO WAS GOING ON OBSTINATELY TO HIS RUIN. The Preface gives an historical interpretation of this piece which Choo at one time accepted. It was directed, we are told, against To of Ch'in. This T'o was a brother of duke Hwan (B.C. 743–706), upon whose death, he killed his eld--the individual in the speaker's mind. The

est son, and got possession of the State, to

come to an untimely end himself the year after. Yet the critics do not refer the third line directly

to him, but to his tutor and guardian, who was unfaithful to his duty, and ruined the prince,

(Complete Digest' says that 不已 不改 does not alter.' That is the meaning, but we cannot define 已by改: 誰 must be taken here as merely an introductory particle. The

who was naturally well inclined. The two first Urh-ya says that 誰昔 is no more than 昔

or allusive lines in the stanzas are explained so as to support this view, but it is too complicated. Choo did right in changing his opinion.

The wickedness of the person referred to was ingrained, had matured for long, and was now not

VII. Fang yëw ts'ëoh ch'aou.

誰中心 誰 IB 防伽
焉有有

防有鵲巢

惕。美鷊。甓。忉。美。苕。巢。巢

1 On the embankment are magpies' nests;

On the height grows the beautiful pea.

Who has been imposing on the object of
on the object of my admiration?

-My heart is full of sorrow.

2 The middle path of the temple is covered with its tiles;

On the height is the beautiful medallion plant.

Who has been imposing on the object of my admiration?
-My heart is full of trouble.

sensible to shame. Ch'ing refers to the view what were known as 'the embankment' and

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the height;' but the spirit of the ode does not

require as to enter on this question. I (the radical is 邑, not ẞ, as in Williams)— EB, ‘a

The rhymes are in st. 1,斯知,cat. 16,草

t.1;,, cat. 1, t. 2: in 2,,(this rhyme, however, is attained by reading for ; the text is, no doubt, corrupted), cat. 15, t. 8;,, cat. 5, t. 2.

Ode 7. Allusive. A LADY LAMENTS THE

ALIENATION OF HER LOVER BY MEANS OF EVIL

TONGUES. The Preface says we have here 'sorrow on account of slanderous villains,' and goes on to refer the piece to the time of duke Seuen (A; B C. 691-647), who believed slanderers, filling the good men about his court with grief and apprehension. Much more likely is the view of Choo, that the piece speaks of the separation between lovers effected by evil tongues. He does not give his opinion as to the speaker, whether we are to suppose the words to be those of the gentleman or of the

lady. In this I have ventured to supplement his interpretation.

Ll. 1, 2 in both stt.

mound.' Maou here simply explains by 'a grass or plant.'-It is different from the same character in II. viii. IX., and is figured as was the de. signation of the path in a temple from the gate up to the hall or raised platform; and, of the tiles with which it was paved;-tiles of a peculiar and elegant make. I do not know where Williams got his account of the term as-'a sort of tiles which is to be partly covered with other tiles, and in which lines are made.' Maou explains as 'the ribbon plant.' The character is properly the name of the medallion pheasant (tragopan satyrus), and the plant may have

a. pea. 美 beautiful,唐

got its name from its resemblance to the neck of that bird. It should be written in the text with

at the top.—I cannot tell wherein lies the point of the allusion in these lines to those that follow.

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and I are taken

by some as the names of places in Ch'in. There might be places so styled, the speaker having in

The rhymes are-in st. 1,,,, cat.

2; in 2, ., cat. 16, t. 3.

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1 The moon comes forth in her brightness; How lovely is that beautiful lady!

兮。人

O to have my deep longings for her releved!

How anxious is my toiled heart!

2 The moon comes forth in her splendour;
How attractive is that beautiful lady!

O to have my anxieties about her relieved!
How agitated is my toiled heart!

3 The moon comes forth and shines;

How brilliant is that beautiful lady!
O to have the chains of my mind relaxed!
How miserable is my toiled heart!

Ode 8. Allusive. A GENTLEMAN TELLS ALL THE EXCITEMENT OF HIS DESIRE FOR THE POSSESSION OF A BEAUTIFUL LADY. There is no difference of opinion as to the character of the piece, only the Preface moralizes overs it, according to its wont, and says that it was directed against the love of pleasure.

L. 1, in all the stt. and both describe the bright, white,' light of the moon; and , its enlightening.' The speaker is supposed to be led on from his view of the moon to speak of the object of his affections.

movements.' He does not touch the other lines, but Yen Ts'an and other critics of the Maou school interpret them in the same way. Choo on the other hand interprets the line of the gentleman,-as in the translation. has the

meaning of

'to relieve,' 'to untie;' and the other two characters describe his feelings towards the lady, pent up, and chain-bound.

is descriptive of their depth, and of their intensity, as if they were knotted together in his breast;, of the grief with which

L. 2. 佼美 ‘beautiful;"-comp.姣 in they possessed him; and 天紹 of the sorrow

Men. VI. Pt. i. VII. 7. and are both ex

plained by好貌 ‘good, elegant-like.” 燎 — JJ, ‘bright,' ' brilliant.' In this line we have

the description of the lady.

L. 3 is more difficult than the others. Maou

ful desire in which they held him fast.

L.4. describes the gentleman's feelings unable to compass the object of his desire, rising from the condition of sorrowful anxiety to that of misery.

The rhymes are in st. I, 皎僚料 cat. 2: in 2, 皓懷受

interprets it as a continuation of the description (prop. cat. 3), of the lady, explaining 舒by遲,‘leisurely,’幡 *, cat. 3, t. 2: in 3, 照燎紹慘 (this and understanding it of her movements. 窈 character ought to be 惺 4, he says, deuotes 'the elegance of those and 操 were constantly confounded), cat. 2.

In the Han. dyn.

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