说苑/殷太戊時有桑榖生於庭，昏而生，比旦而拱，史請卜之湯廟，太戊從之。

殷太戊時有桑榖生於庭，昏而生，比旦而拱，史請卜之湯廟，太戊從之。

Eric Henry

In the time of Tai Wu of the Yin dynasty, a mulberry tree and a chu tree began to grow in the palace courtyard.

Eric Henry

They first appeared as it was growing dark, and, by the next morning, they were so large that their trunks could fill a man’s embrace.

卜者曰：「吾聞之：祥者福之先者也，見祥而為不善，則福不生；殃者禍之先者也，見殃而能為善，則禍不至。

Eric Henry

The chief archivist asked leave to make a divination concerning this in the temple dedicated to Tang.

Eric Henry

Tai Wu agreed to this.

Eric Henry

The words of the divination were as follows: “I have heard that lucky omens are the harbingers of blessings, but, if you see a lucky omen and do evil, then the blessings will not appear.

」於是乃早朝而晏退，問疾弔喪，三日而桑榖自亡。

Eric Henry

Unlucky omens are the harbingers of disaster, but, if you see an unlucky omen and are able to do good, then the disaster will not arrive.” The king thereupon began coming to court early each day and not leaving until evening.

Eric Henry

He concerned himself with the hardships of the people and conveyed words of comfort to the bereaved.

Eric Henry

Within three days the mulberry tree and the chu tree had disappeared.