grand, Without noise or display, Without appeal to the judges[1], They will here present (the proofs of) their merit.
7. How they draw their bows adorned with bone! How their arrows whiz forth! Their war chariots are very large! Their footmen and charioteers never weary! They have subdued the tribes of Hwâi, And brought them to an unrebellious submission. Only lay your plans securely, And all the tribes of the Hwâi will be won[2].
8. They come flying on the wing, those owls, And settle on the trees about the college; They eat the fruit of our mulberry trees, And salute us with fine notes[3]. So awakened shall be those tribes of the Hwâi. They will come presenting their precious things, Their large tortoises, and their elephants' teeth, And great contributions of the southern metals[4].
- ↑ The 'judges' decided all questions of dispute in the army, and on the merits of different men who had distinguished themselves.
- ↑ In this stanza the poet describes a battle with the wild tribes, as if it were going on before his eyes.
- ↑ An owl is a bird with a disagreeable scream, instead of a beautiful note; but the mulberries grown about the college would make them sing delightfully. And so would the influence of Lû, going forth from the college, transform the nature of the tribes about the Hwâi.
- ↑ That is, according to 'the Tribute of Yü,' in the Shû, from King-kâu and Yang-kâu.
