Book of Songs
鹑之奔奔
佚名
Rén zhī wú liáng, wǒ yǐ wéi xiōng!
Rén zhī wú liáng, wǒ yǐ wéi jūn!
Translation
The quails run in pairs; the magpies fly side by side. A man without goodness — and I once regarded him as an elder brother. The magpies fly side by side; the quails run in pairs. A man without goodness — and I once regarded him as my lord.
Analysis
“Quails Running in Pairs” is brief, but its moral force is sharp. The opening images of quails and magpies suggest paired movement and natural order. Against this order stands a person described as “without goodness.” The contrast is simple but severe: even birds seem to keep their proper relations, while a human being has failed in virtue. The lines “I regarded him as an elder brother” and “I regarded him as my lord” are central. The speaker is not attacking a stranger; the disappointment arises because the person once occupied a respected position within family or political order. The poem therefore becomes more than personal resentment. It asks how someone without moral worth can still be treated as brother or ruler. The repeated structure gives the poem the force of accusation. Its language is plain, but its judgment is firm. Like many poems in the Airs of the States, it preserves a voice of ethical protest from within ordinary social life.
About the Author
The poems in the “Airs of the States” section of the Book of Songs are largely anonymous. They preserve songs, ritual pieces, and local voices from different regions of the Zhou world. “Quails Running in Pairs” belongs to the Airs of Yong, a region closely connected with the old territory of Wey. These poems often touch on political conduct, marriage, ritual order, and moral judgment. Their importance lies not in a named author, but in the way they preserve early communal voices about virtue and social order.