one stands on a slab of stone,
No higher than the ground,
Nothing is added to his height;--
Low with the stone he's found.
So does the favorite's mean estate
Render that great man mean,
While I by him, to distance sent,
Am pierced with sorrow keen.

~Hospitality~

A few gourd leaves that waved about
Cut down and boiled;--the feast how spare!
But the good host his spirits takes,
Pours out a cup, and proves them rare.

A single rabbit on the mat,
Or baked, or roast:--how small the feast!
But the good host his spirits takes,
And fills the cup of every guest.

A single rabbit on the mat,
Roasted or broiled:--how poor the meal!
But the guests from the spirit vase
Fill their host's cup, and drink his weal.

A single rabbit on the mat,
Roasted or baked:--no feast we think!
But from the spirit vase they take,
Both host and guests, and joyous drink.

~On the Misery of Soldiers~

Yellow now is all the grass;
All the days in marching pass.
On the move is every man;
Hard work, far and near, they plan.

Black is every plant become;
Every man is torn from home.
Kept on foot, our state is sad;--
As if we no feelings had!

Not rhinoceroses we!
Tigers do we care to be?
Fields like these so desolate
Are to us a hateful fate.

Long-tailed foxes pleased may hide
'Mong the grass, where they abide.
We, in box carts slowly borne,
On the great roads plod and mourn.

PART III.--GREATER ODES OF THE KINGDOM

BOOK I

DECADE OF KING WAN

~Celebrating King Wan~

The royal Wan now rests on high,
Enshrined in brightness of the sky.
Chow as a state had long been known,
And Heaven's decree at last was shown.
Its lords had borne a glorious name;
God kinged them when the season came.
King Wan ruled well when earth he trod;
Now moves his spirit near to God.

A strong-willed, earnest king was Wan,
And still his fame rolls widening on.
The gifts that God bestowed on Chow
Belong to Wan's descendants now.
Heaven blesses still with gifts divine
The hundred scions of his line;
And all the officers of Chow
From age to age more lustrous grow.

More lustrous still from age to age,
All reverent plans their zeal engage;
And brilliant statesmen owe their birth
To this much-favored spot of earth.
They spring like products of the land--
The men b