I should feel as much anxiety as if I were driving six horses with rotten reins.When spirits are liked, and music is the delight;
When there are lofty roofs and carved walls;—
The existence of any one of these things
Has never been but the prelude to ruin.'
The third said,
'There was the lord of Thâo and Thang[1],
I should feel as much anxiety as if I were driving six horses with rotten reins.Who possessed this region of Kî.
Now we have fallen from his ways,
And thrown into confusion his rules and laws;—
The consequence is extinction and ruin.'
The fourth said,
I should feel as much anxiety as if I were driving six horses with rotten reins.Brightly intelligent was our ancestor,
Sovereign of the myriad regions.
He had canons, he had patterns,
Which he transmitted to his posterity.
The standard stone and the equalizing quarter
Were in the royal treasury.
Wildly have we dropt the clue he gave us,
Overturning our temple, and extinguishing our sacrifices.'*
The fifth said,
'I should feel as much anxiety as if I were driving six horses with rotten reins.Oh! whither shall we turn?
The thoughts in my breast make me sad.
All the people are hostile to us;
On whom can we rely?
Anxieties crowd together in our hearts;
Thick as are our faces, they are covered with blushes.
We have not been careful of our virtue;
And though we repent, we cannot overtake the past.'
