楚辞/卜居

It's been three years since Qu Yuan was banish'd, When for audience he's allow'd no right.

It's been three years since Qu Yuan was banish'd, When for audience he's allow'd no right.

Hence he goes to see the Chief Diviner Zheng Zhanyin, to whom he does have resort. 'I have come for your advice,' Qu Yuan says, 'I'm at a loss as to what course to take.'

Having prepar'd his tortoise shell and all, Zheng asks, 'What decisions are you to make?'

"Is it advisable to speak the truth Without reservation, come rain or shine, Or to seek wealth and rank, content with ease And creature comforts like a philistine?

'Am I to live by the sweat of my brow, Hoeing up the weeds and plowing the land, Or to go canvassing the marquisates And dukedoms so as to make a name grand?'

'Am I to live by the sweat of my brow, Hoeing up the weeds and plowing the land, Or to go canvassing the marquisates And dukedoms so as to make a name grand?'

"Shall I, transcending all, go far away To maintain my moral integrity, Or shall I bow and scrape to court th' lady In power regardless of dignity?"

"I'm bewilder'd whether honest and fair And unaffected by th' vile I should stay, Or gagging and jesting in a way slick And sly, should I circumspectly safe play?"

"Ought I to cherish lofty ambitions And plunge ahead like a wing'd steed with pride, Or to imitate the wild duck, which floats With the waves and drifts along with the tide?"

"To keep abreast with the galloping steeds, Or to follow in th' crippl'd horse's wake?

"To keep abreast with the galloping steeds, Or to follow in th' crippl'd horse's wake?

Of th' alternatives which is auspicious And which ominous?

Of th' alternatives which is auspicious And which ominous?

"In a world that has lost its sight, Weighty th' cicada's wing is thought, Whereas a hundredweight is light; Th' bronze bells to destruction are brought, While earthen pots like thunder boom; High positions the crook'd have got, And th' wise are left in th' wretched gloom.

"In a world that has lost its sight, Weighty th' cicada's wing is thought, Whereas a hundredweight is light; Th' bronze bells to destruction are brought, While earthen pots like thunder boom; High positions the crook'd have got, And th' wise are left in th' wretched gloom.

"In a world that has lost its sight, Weighty th' cicada's wing is thought, Whereas a hundredweight is light; Th' bronze bells to destruction are brought, While earthen pots like thunder boom; High positions the crook'd have got, And th' wise are left in th' wretched gloom.

"Sometimes a foot may lack the strength," Putting down his herb Zheng does say: "While an inch is just fit in length, Things have their flaws, and the wise may Sometimes prove to be dim in sight.

"Sometimes a foot may lack the strength," Putting down his herb Zheng does say: "While an inch is just fit in length, Things have their flaws, and the wise may Sometimes prove to be dim in sight.

"Sometimes a foot may lack the strength," Putting down his herb Zheng does say: "While an inch is just fit in length, Things have their flaws, and the wise may Sometimes prove to be dim in sight.

"Sometimes a foot may lack the strength," Putting down his herb Zheng does say: "While an inch is just fit in length, Things have their flaws, and the wise may Sometimes prove to be dim in sight.