Sacred Books of the East/Volume 3/The Shih/Odes of the Temple and the Altar/The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu/Decade 3/Ode 3

 

Ode 3. The King Kih.

 

King Khăng shows his sense of what was required of him to preserve the favour of Heaven, a constant judge; intimates his good purposes; and asks the help of his ministers to be enabled to perform them.

Let me be reverent! Let me be reverent!
(The way of) Heaven is evident,
And its appointment is not easily preserved^[1].
Let me not say that it is high aloft above me.
It ascends and descends about our doings;
It daily inspects us wherever we are.

I am a little child,
Without intelligence to be reverently (attentive to my duties);
But by daily progress and monthly advance,
I will learn to hold fast the gleams (of knowledge), till I arrive at bright intelligence.
Assist me to bear the burden (of my position),
And show me how to display a virtuous conduct.

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1. The meaning is this: 'The way of Heaven is very clear, to bless the good, namely, and punish the bad. But its favour is thus dependent on men themselves, and hard to preserve.'