Baike is quite light for this poem. The historical context is an official in the Zhou dynasty worried about the country and people. Baike says, without much discussion, that this is implied crit of Zhou You wang, who consults the diviners instead of dealing with reality.
"Their good words are [only] from the mouth; Their bad words are [only] from the mouth." Buried in the discussion, Baike says this is saying how people are glib in speech and wear an ingratiating expression (an idiom), jealous and envious. I guess it's basically saying that people will use the same mouth to say both nice and vicious things?
"crow": omen about the Zhou dynasty. The whole two phrases mean the Zhou dynasty is losing the mandate of heaven
The vernacular translation of the line "There are [only] large faggots and small branches in it." is 粗细只能当柴烧 thick or thin, can only be used as firewood. I'm having trouble parsing what it says about this line in the discussion 此诗批评最高当权者亲小人, which means "this poem criticizes the villains that are the highest authorities", but does not seem to... fully connect to the line?
efts is presumably Legge's translation of lizards, which baike informs me that ancient people thought both snakes and lizards were poisonous. It's a standard poisonous animal metaphor for bad people.
I think the fish metaphor is like, there is nowhere to hide themselves? Baike doesn't say anything more about it.
"Mean-like, those have their houses; Abjects, they will have their emoluments.": The vernacular translation is 卑鄙小人有华屋，庸劣之徒有米谷。Contemptible nasty people have splendid houses, superficial people have rice and grain.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: 192. 正月 - Zheng Yue
Date: 2021-04-19 01:47 am (UTC)"Their good words are [only] from the mouth;
Their bad words are [only] from the mouth." Buried in the discussion, Baike says this is saying how people are glib in speech and wear an ingratiating expression (an idiom), jealous and envious. I guess it's basically saying that people will use the same mouth to say both nice and vicious things?
"crow": omen about the Zhou dynasty. The whole two phrases mean the Zhou dynasty is losing the mandate of heaven
The vernacular translation of the line "There are [only] large faggots and small branches in it." is 粗细只能当柴烧 thick or thin, can only be used as firewood. I'm having trouble parsing what it says about this line in the discussion 此诗批评最高当权者亲小人, which means "this poem criticizes the villains that are the highest authorities", but does not seem to... fully connect to the line?
efts is presumably Legge's translation of lizards, which baike informs me that ancient people thought both snakes and lizards were poisonous. It's a standard poisonous animal metaphor for bad people.
I think the fish metaphor is like, there is nowhere to hide themselves? Baike doesn't say anything more about it.
"Mean-like, those have their houses;
Abjects, they will have their emoluments.": The vernacular translation is 卑鄙小人有华屋，庸劣之徒有米谷。Contemptible nasty people have splendid houses, superficial people have rice and grain.