Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 3.djvu/469



what the Chinese have always considered a great virtue,—the refusal of a widow to marry again.

It floats about, that boat of cypress wood, There in the middle of the Ho. With his two tufts of hair falling over his forehead , He was my mate; And I swear that till death I will have no other. O mother, O Heaven , Why will you not understand me?

It floats about, that boat of cypress wood, There by the side of the Ho. With his two tufts of hair falling over his forehead, He was my only one; And I swear that till death I will not do the evil thing. O mother, O Heaven, Why will you not understand me?

Hsüan Kiang was a princess of Khî, who, towards the close of the seventh century, became wife to the marquis of Wei, known as duke Hsüan. She was beautiful and unfortunate, but various things are related of her indicative of the grossest immoralities prevailing in the court of Wei.

How rich and splendid Is her pheasant-figured