《古谣谚》 卷一
帝舜歌
尚书益稷
敕天之命。惟时惟几。
股肱喜哉。元首起哉。百工熙哉。
A kind of " State of the Union" address which describes how everything is going well.
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嗥陶賡歌
尚书益稷
元首明哉。股肱良哉。庶事康哉。
元首业脞哉。股肱惰哉。万事墮哉。
If the head of the state is exemplary and his officials are competent, all things will go well. If the head of the state will worry about minute details, his officials will be lazy, and all things will go bad.
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卿云歌
尚书大传
卿云烂兮。纠縵縵兮。日月光华。旦復旦兮。
We celebrate the bright clouds that are gathering and are yielding a peaceful atmosphere. We enjoy the brightness of sun and moon light day after day.
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八伯歌
尚书大传
明明上天。烂然星辰。日月光华。宏于一人。The sky and the stars are both bright. The brightness of the sun light and moon light is increased by one person.
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帝载歌
尚书大传
日月有常。星辰有行。四时顺经。万姓允诚\。於予论乐。配天之灵。迁于贤善。莫不咸听。鼚乎鼓之。轩乎舞之。
菁华已竭。褰裳去之。
A song sung by the emperor in which it says that everything is going well in the nation.
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夏人歌
尚书大传
盍归乎薄。盍归乎薄。薄亦大矣。
Why do we not go back to Buo? It is a big place, is it not?
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伊尹歌
尚书大传
觉兮较兮。吾大命假兮。去不善而就善﹑何乐兮。
I am someone who tells prophecies and is decent. Jie’s (the tyrant of the time) life has come to an end. Leaving the bad to serve the good, is it not joyful?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
麦秀歌
尚书大传
麦秀蔪兮。黍禾蝇蝇。彼狡童兮。不我好仇。
The wheat sprouts are coming up and the corn leaves look shiny. That sly boy (referring to one king) will not be on good terms with me.
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陆璣引俚语释荷
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
苦如薏。It is as bitter as the heart of a lotus seed.
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陆璣引里语释檀
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
斫檀不諦。得系迷。系迷尚可。得驳马。Try to cut down sandal wood tree and not get it, and get Xi Mi (name of plant) instead. It is bearable to get Xi Mi and yet we get Buo Ma (name of plant) instead.
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陆璣引齐人谚释系迷
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
上山斫檀。挈榼先殫。When we go up the mountain to log sandal wood trees, we see that Qi He (name of plant, same as Xi Mi) runs out first.
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陆璣引上党妇人语释楛
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
灶下自有黄土。山中自有楛。
Naturally, there is yellow dirt underneath the hearth. And naturally there are Hu trees up in the mountain.
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陆璣引俗语释棠
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
涩如杜。
It is as bitter as Du (name of fruit).
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陆璣引林虑山下人语释麃鷮
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
四足之美有麃。两足之美有鷮。
Among the four-legged animals that are delectable, there are Paos. Among the two-legged, there are Qiaos.
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陆璣引里语释黄鸟
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
黄栗留。看我麦黄葚熟。
Huang Li Liu (name of fowl) comes out when our wheat field turns golden and mulberries ripen.
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陆璣引俗语释桃虫
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
鷦鷯生雕。
Jiao Liao (name of bird, as is Tao Chong) gives birth to Diao (name of bird).
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陆璣引辽东乡语释魴
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
居就粮。梁水魴。
Ordinary days we have grains, yet at Liang River, there are tasty fish such as Fang.
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陆璣引里语释鱮
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
网鱼得鱮。不如啗茹。
When one fishes with a net, if one gets Xu (name of fish), one will be better off eating vegetable than that kind of fish.
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陆璣引里语释蟋蟀
毛诗草木虫鱼疏
趋织鸣。嬾妇惊。
Qu Zhi (other name for crickets) calls and lazy housewives (lan fu literally, yet lan fu is also name for crickets) get shocked (as though the calls of crickets is telling these lazy women to do things).
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孔子述河上人歌
韩诗內传
鶬兮鴰兮。逆毛衰兮。一身九尾长兮。
The bird Cang Gua has nine tails and feathers that curl inwards.
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夏桀群臣歌二则
韩诗外传
江水沛兮。舟楫败兮。我王废兮。趣归於毫。毫亦大矣。乐兮乐兮。四牡骄兮。六轡\沃兮。去不善而从善。何不乐兮。
A song sung by a group of civil servants serving in the courtof Jie. It describes how happy they are to be leaving that tyrant.
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韩婴引鄙语二则释诗
韩诗外传
不知为吏。视已成事。
前车覆而后车不诫。
If one does not know how to be a government official, one should try to see what has been done previously. A car turns upside down and the cars behind do not heed the incident as a warning.
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孔子歌
诗纬
远山十里。蟪蛄之声。犹尚在耳。We are away from the mountain for about ten Lis (Li=unit of distance), The sound of Cong Gu (name of insect, maybe dragonflies) can still be heard.
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擿雒谣
诗纬
剡者配姬以放贤。山崩水溃纳小人。家伯罔主异哉震。
A song describing how taking beautiful women as mistresses can chase away the good advisors, just like a land slide and flooding can give bad people opportunity for mischief.
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曳杖歌
礼记檀弓
泰山其颓乎 梁木其坏乎 哲人其萎乎
The sacred mountain Tai is falling, a great tree is falling and a saint is dying.
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登木歌
礼记檀弓
貍首之斑然。执女手之卷然。
The head of a cat is spotted. The woman’s hands are made into a fist.
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成人歌
礼记檀弓
蚕则绩而蟹有匡。范则冠而蝉有緌。兄则死而子皋为之衰。
A song describing how things do not happen without the assistance of others.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
子思引南人言
礼记緇衣
人而无恒。不可以为卜筮。Nothing is settled permanently about a person; it is also not a good idea to resort to tossing coins.
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记者引谚
礼记大学
人莫知其子之恶。莫知其苗之硕。
People do not know how bad their own children are and do not know how well their crops are growing.
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郑康成引俗语
礼记曲礼上
隱疾﹑难为医。
It is hard for a doctor to treat a disease that is not exposed on the skin surface and is covered under clothing.