The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).
Kan-kan go his blows on the sandal trees,
And he places what he hews on the river's bank,
Whose waters flow clear and rippling.
You sow not nor reap ; –
How do you get the produce of those three hundred farms ?
You do not follow the chase ; –
How do we see the badgers hanging up in your court yards ?
O that superior man !
He would not eat the bread of idleness !
Kan-kan go his blows on the wood for his spokes,
And he places it by the side of the river,
Whose waters flow clear and even.
You sow not nor reap ; –
How do you get your three millions of sheaves ?
You do not follow the chase ; –
How do we see the three-year-olds hanging up in your court yards ?
O that superior man !
He would not eat the bread of idleness !
Kan-kan go his blows on the wood for his wheels,
And he places it by the lip of the river,
Whose waters flow clear in rippling circles.
You sow not nor reap ; –
How do you get the paddy for your three hundred round binns ?
You do not follow the chase ; –
How do we see the quails hanging in your court yards ?
O that superior man !
He would not eat the bread of idleness !
Legge 112
The Book of Odes – Shi Jing I. 9. (112) – Chinese on/off – Français/English
Alias Shijing, Shi Jing, Book of Odes, Book of Songs, Classic of Odes, Classic of
Poetry, Livre des Odes, Canon des Poèmes.
The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
Welcome, help, notes, introduction, table.
Index – Contact – Top