作者：《古谣谚》杜文澜

帝舜歌
尚書益稷
敕天之命。惟時惟幾。

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
尚書益稷
元首明哉。股肱良哉。庶事康哉。

元首業脞哉。股肱惰哉。萬事墮哉。

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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卿雲歌
尚書大傳
卿雲爛兮。糾縵縵兮。日月光華。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
尚書大傳
明明上天。爛然星辰。日月光華。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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帝載歌
尚書大傳
日月有常。星辰有行。四時順經。萬姓允誠\。於予論樂。配天之靈。遷于賢善。莫不咸聽。鼚乎鼓之。軒乎舞之。

菁華已竭。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
尚書大傳
盍歸乎薄。盍歸乎薄。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
尚書大傳
覺兮較兮。吾大命假兮。去不善而就善﹑何樂兮。

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?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


麥秀歌
尚書大傳
麥秀蔪兮。黍禾蠅蠅。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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陸璣引俚語釋荷
毛詩草木虫魚疏
苦如薏。It is as bitter as the heart of a lotus seed.



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陸璣引里語釋檀
毛詩草木虫魚疏
斫檀不諦。得繫迷。繫迷尚可。得駁馬。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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陸璣引齊人諺釋繫迷
毛詩草木虫魚疏
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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陸璣引上黨婦人語釋楛
毛詩草木虫魚疏
灶下自有黃土。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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陸璣引俗語釋棠
毛詩草木虫魚疏
澀如杜。

It is as bitter as Du (name of fruit).

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陸璣引林慮山下人語釋麃鷮
毛詩草木虫魚疏
四足之美有麃。兩足之美有鷮。

Among the four-legged animals that are delectable, there are Paos. Among the two-legged, there are Qiaos.



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陸璣引里語釋黃鳥
毛詩草木虫魚疏
黃栗留。看我麥黃葚熟。

Huang Li Liu (name of fowl) comes out when our wheat field turns golden and mulberries ripen.

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陸璣引俗語釋桃虫
毛詩草木虫魚疏
鷦鷯生雕。

Jiao Liao (name of bird, as is Tao Chong) gives birth to Diao (name of bird).



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陸璣引遼東鄉語釋魴
毛詩草木虫魚疏
居就糧。梁水魴。

Ordinary days we have grains, yet at Liang River, there are tasty fish such as Fang.



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陸璣引里語釋鱮
毛詩草木虫魚疏
網魚得鱮。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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陸璣引里語釋蟋蟀
毛詩草木虫魚疏
趨織鳴。嬾婦驚。

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
韓詩內傳
鶬兮鴰兮。逆毛衰兮。一身九尾長兮。

The bird Cang Gua has nine tails and feathers that curl inwards.



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夏桀群臣歌二則
韓詩外傳
江水沛兮。舟楫敗兮。我王廢兮。趣歸於毫。毫亦大矣。樂兮樂兮。四牡驕兮。六轡\沃兮。去不善而從善。何不樂兮。

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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韓嬰引鄙語二則釋詩
韓詩外傳
不知為吏。視已成事。

前車覆而后車不誡。

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
詩緯
遠山十里。蟪蛄之聲。猶尚在耳。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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擿雒謠
詩緯
剡者配姬以放賢。山崩水潰納小人。家伯罔主異哉震。

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
禮記檀弓
泰山其頹乎 梁木其壞乎 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
禮記檀弓
貍首之斑然。執女手之卷然。

The head of a cat is spotted. The woman’s hands are made into a fist.



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成人歌
禮記檀弓
蠶則績而蟹有匡。范則冠而蟬有緌。兄則死而子皋為之衰。

A song describing how things do not happen without the assistance of others.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
子思引南人言
禮記緇衣
人而無恆。不可以為卜筮。Nothing is settled permanently about a person; it is also not a good idea to resort to tossing coins.



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記者引諺
禮記大學
人莫知其子之惡。莫知其苗之碩。

People do not know how bad their own children are and do not know how well their crops are growing.



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鄭康成引俗語
禮記曲禮上
隱疾﹑難為醫。

It is hard for a doctor to treat a disease that is not exposed on the skin surface and is covered under clothing.