Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/342

 10. The ice is now abundant; thick and strong to the bottom of the waters and meres. Orders are given to collect it, which is done, and it is carried into (the ice-houses).

11. Orders are given to make announcement to the people to bring forth their seed of the five grains. The husbandmen are ordered to reckon up the pairs which they can furnish for the ploughing; to repair the handles and shares of their ploughs; and to provide all the other instruments for the fields.

12. Orders are given to the chief director of Music to institute a grand concert of wind instruments; and with this (the music of the year) is closed.

13. Orders are given to the four Inspectors to collect and arrange the faggots to supply the wood and torches for the suburban sacrifices, those in the ancestral temple, and all others.

14. In this month the sun has gone through all his mansions; the moon has completed the number of her conjunctions; the stars return to (their places) in the heavens. The exact length (of the year) is nearly completed, and the year will soon begin again. (It is said), "Attend to the business of your husbandmen. Let them not be employed on anything else."

15. The son of Heaven, along with his ducal and