于以采蘋、南澗之濱。 于以采藻、于彼行潦。 于以盛之、維筐及筥。 于以湘之、維錡及釜。 于以奠之、宗室牖下。 誰起尸之、有齊季女。 She gathers the large duckweed, By the banks of the stream in the southern valley. She gathers the pondweed, In those pools left by the floods. She deposits what she gathers, In her square baskets and round ones. She boils it, In her tripods and pans . She sets forth her preparations, Under the window in the ancestral chamber. Who superintends the business? It is [this] reverent young lady. Ode 4. Narrative. The diligence and reverence of the young wife of an officer, doing her part in sacrificial offering. The ancient and modern interpreters are to some extent agreed in their views of this ode. Wherein they differ will be noticed under the 3d stanza. St.1. 于以, -- see on ode 2. the p'in belongs to the same species of aquatic plants as the 荇菜 of i.I. The Pun-ts'aou says there are three varieties of it: -- the large, called P'in; the small called 浮萍; and middle, called 荇菜. Maou makes the p'in the large variety, while Choo and some others make it the 3d. Yen Ts'an observes that the p'in may be eaten; but not the fow p'ing. If the p'ing could not be eaten, it is not likely, he says, it would be gathered, like the plant here, to be used in sacrifice. The p'in is, probably, the lemna trisulea. The Tsaou is the tussel-pondweed, --ruppia rostella. Both by Maou and Choo it is called 聚藻, whom the strings of tufts in which it grows. Williams erroneously translates 行潦 by 'a torrent.' 潦 is, primarily, the 'appearance of great rain;' then 行潦, is the rain left after a heavy fall of it, and by the flooded streams, on the roads and plains. St.2. K'wang and keu are distinguished as in the translation. They were both made of bamboo. 湘 is defined by 烹 'to boil.' The vegetables were slightly boiled and then pickled, in order to their being presented as sacrificial offerings. The 錡 is distinguished from 釜, as 'having feet.' St. 3 . 奠 = 置, 'to place,' 'to set forth.' 宗室 simply = 'the ancestral temple.' More particularly, however, the phrase may = 'the ancestral chamber,' a room behind the temple, specially dedicated 大宗 or 'ancestor of the great officer,' whose wife is the subject of the piece. The princes of States were succeeded, of course, by the eldest son of the wife proper. Their sons by other wives (庶子) were called 'other sons (別子).' The eldest son by the wife proper of one of them became the 大宗 of the clan descended from him, and the 宗室 was an apartment dedicated to him. The old interpreters, going upon certain statements as to the training of the daughters in the business of sacrifices in this apartment, for 3 months previous to their marriage, contend that the lady spoken of was not yet married, but that the piece speaks of her undergoing this preparatory education. The imperial editors mention their view with respect, but think it better to abide by that of Choo. The door of the 室 was on the east side of it, and the window on the west; and by the 牖下 is to be understood the south corner beyond the window, which was the most honoured spot of the apartment. In 1.3, 尸 = 主, 'to superintend.' The 其 is little more than a particle. In cases like text, Wang Yin-che calls it 擬議之詞, 'a term or particle of deliberative inquiry.' The wife presided over the arrangement of the dishes in sacrifice, and filling them with the vegetables and sauces. 齊(read chae) = 敬, 'to respect,' 'reverent.' 季= 少, 'young.' This term gives some confirmation to the old interpretation of the ode. The rhymes are -- in st.1. 蘋, 濱; 藻, 潦; 筥, 釜; 下*,女. |