Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 3.djvu/394



It is allowed that this piece is clearly the composition of a banished son, and there is no necessity to call in question the tradition preserved in the Preface which prefers it to Î-khiû, the eldest son of king Yû. His mother was a princess of the House of Shăn; but when Yû became enamoured of Sze of Pâo, the queen was degraded, and the son banished to Shăn.

With flapping wings the crows Come back, flying all in a flock. Other people are happy, And I only am full of misery. What is my offence against Heaven? What is my crime? My heart is sad;—What is to be done?

Even the mulberry trees and the rottleras Must be regarded with reverence ; But no one is to be looked up to like a father, No one is to be depended on as a mother. Have I not a connexion with the hairs (of my father)? Did I not dwell in the womb (of my mother)? O Heaven, who gave me birth! How was it at so inauspicious a time?