詩経
小星
Anonymous
嘒彼小星
三五在东
肃肃宵征
夙夜在公
寔命不同
嘒彼小星
维参与昴
肃肃宵征
抱衾与裯
寔命不犹
翻訳
Faintly those small stars shine, three and five in the east. Solemnly, hurriedly, I travel through the night, early and late in public service. Truly, our fates are not the same. Faintly those small stars shine, Shen and Mao among them. Solemnly, hurriedly, I travel through the night, holding my quilt and bedding. Truly, our lots are not alike.
解説
"Xiao Xing" is a brief but emotionally sharp poem from the "Shao Nan" section of the Book of Songs. It is traditionally read either as the voice of a low-ranking woman going out at night to serve, or as the voice of a minor servant or official burdened by public duty. In either reading, the poem centers on labor, status, and the unequal distribution of fate. The opening image is quiet and cold: small stars shine faintly in the eastern sky. The stars are not grand or brilliant; they are small, scattered, and dim. Their presence tells us that it is still very early, before dawn. The poem begins not with complaint, but with a night sky that already feels lonely. "Solemnly, hurriedly, I travel through the night" gives the human action. The traveler moves before others are awake, under pressure of duty. The phrase carries both urgency and restraint: this is not free wandering, but compelled movement. "Early and late in public service" explains the burden. The speaker's life is organized by public obligation, service, or official duty. The person cannot simply rest according to private need. "Truly, our fates are not the same" is the emotional conclusion of the first stanza. It is not a loud protest. It is a low, bitter recognition: some people sleep safely; others move through the dark because their station requires it. The second stanza names Shen and Mao, star lodges in the sky. This gives the scene a more precise ancient timekeeping quality. People in early societies watched the stars not only for beauty, but to measure time and movement. The line "holding my quilt and bedding" is especially vivid. It suggests a person required to move with sleeping things in hand, perhaps to serve elsewhere, stay in attendance, or follow another's household. The detail makes social inequality concrete. Fate is not abstract; it is felt in the body, in the cold, in the need to carry bedding at night. The repeated ending, "our lots are not alike," deepens the poem's quiet sadness. "Xiao Xing" is not about heroic labor or romantic longing. It is about small people under public duty, moving beneath small stars, aware that life is not equally shared.
作者紹介
Anonymous, a poet from the pre-Qin period whose name is unknown. The Book of Songs (Shijing) is the earliest anthology of Chinese poetry, containing more than three hundred poems from roughly the early Western Zhou to the mid-Spring and Autumn period, divided into three sections: Airs (Feng), Elegantiae (Ya), and Hymns (Song). "Shao Nan," together with "Zhou Nan," forms the opening part of the "Airs of the States."