Setting the Cicada Free放蟬賦
彼黠者蛛。厥類繁滋。孰賦爾以機巧。養丸腹於網絲。有蟬見絓。其聲最悲。我不忍聞。放之使飛。傍有人兮誰氏子。仍詰予以致辭。惟兹二物。等蟲之微。蛛於子何損。蟬於子何裨。惟蟬之活。乃蛛之飢。此雖德君。彼必冤之。孰謂子智。胡放此爲。予初矉額而不答。俄吐一言以釋疑。蛛之性貪。蟬之質淸。䂓飽之意難盈。吸露之腸何營。以貪汚而逼淸。所不忍於吾情。何吐緖之至纖。雖離婁猶不容晴。矧兹蟲之不慧。豈覘視之能精。將飛過而忽罥。翅拍拍以愈嬰。彼營營之靑蠅。紛逐臭而慕腥。蝶貪芳以輕狂。隨風上下而不停。雖見罹而何尤。原厥咎本乎有求。汝獨與物而無競。胡爲遭此拘囚。解爾之纏縛。囑汝以綢繆。遡喬林而好去。擇美蔭之淸幽。移不可屢兮。有此網蟲之窺窬。居不可久兮。螗蜋在後。以爾謀愼爾去就。然後無尤。
That cunning spider — its kind is without number. Who gave you your craft, that you should rear your round belly on the threads of a net? One cicada was caught in it, and its voice was the most sorrowful of all. I could not bear to hear it, and set it loose to fly away. There was one standing by — whose son he was I do not know — who pressed me and said: 「These two creatures are alike small things. What harm is the spider to you, and what gain is the cicada to you? If the cicada lives, then the spider goes hungry. This one has the benefit of your kindness, but that one will surely bear you a grudge. Who would call you wise? Why do you do such a thing?」 At first I knit my brow and did not answer; then after a while I let out a word and undid his doubt. 「The nature of the spider is greedy, and the substance of the cicada is clear. The purpose that schemes to be full fed is hard to fill, but what does the gut that drinks the dew scheme after? For the greedy and foul to press hard upon the clear is a thing my heart cannot bear. How is it that the thread it draws out is so fine that not even Iru (離婁) can readily catch it with his eye? How much less is this creature wise; how should it be good at looking out for itself? Flying past, all at once it is caught, and the more it beats its wings the more it is entangled. Those blowflies that go buzzing about chase confusedly after the smell and long for what is rank. The butterfly is greedy for fragrance, and light and as though mad it rises and falls with the wind and does not stop. Though they be caught, what is there to blame? If one digs out their fault, it is because from the first there was something they sought. You alone do not contend with other things; how then did you meet with such a confinement? I undo your entanglement and charge you to be careful. Go up against the current to the high woods, go well, and choose a good shade that is clear and deep. You must not shift about often, for there are net-weaving creatures like this one that spy you out. You must not stay long either, for the praying mantis is behind you. Only when by your own planning you are careful in your going forward and your drawing back will you be without fault.」