Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 3.djvu/454

 jade symbols, oblong and round, are exhausted ;—How is it that I am not heard?

'The drought is excessive; Its fervours become more and more tormenting. I have not ceased offering pure sacrifices; From the border altars I have gone to the ancestral temple. To the (Powers) above and below I have presented my offerings and then buried them ;—There is no spirit whom I have not honoured. Hâu-kî is not equal to the occasion; God does not come to us. This wasting and ruin of our country,—Would that it fell (only) on me!

'The drought is excessive, And I may not try to excuse myself. I am full of terror, and feel the peril, Like the clap of thunder or the roll. Of the remnant of Kâu, among the black-haired people, There will not be half a man left; Nor will God from his great heaven exemptExempt [sic] (even) me. Shall