All creatures in chaos differ in kind, / Not one vile species alone we find.
How trivial the mosquito appears, / Too mean to stain records through the years.
The cosmos is vast, with measure broad, / Nurturing both the evil and good.
In dim antiquity, days of yore, / People and creatures corrupted each other more.
On Yu's tripod, monstrous forms were shown, / So dragons hid in depths, far off and alone.
The Duke of Zhou drove fierce beasts away, / Then men on plains and hills could safely stay.
Since then a thousand years have passed, / Heaven and earth have been cleansed at last.
Great perils have been swept aside, / Tiny pests are left, not classified.
Flies, gnats, fleas, lice, and bugs small, / Wasps, scorpions, snakes, and adders all.
Among them you take your place, / A body slight as a grain of rice.
Though tiny, in mass you're hard to bear; / Though small, your poison's beyond compare.
I've heard in Gaoyou, a tale of dread, / A fierce tiger by insult was struck dead.
Alas! the Maiden of Dewy Sinew, / Whose wrong through ages remains ever new.
In waterside regions, you may thrive; / In barren borderlands, how can you survive?
At dawn, behind curtains, we take our meal; / In sweltering heat, we toil and feel.
I come to guard this barren hill, / Where damp and low is the climate still.
With leisure from official chore, / I find in sleep my best restore.
Intolerable your swarms appear, / On pillow and mat, you hover near.
Smoke from eaves torments with its fume; / Tired, by wall lamps, we fight the gloom.
The wasted town with trees and grass is filled; / From drought, the scorching heat is distilled.
The sun-chariot driven by Xihe on high, / At noon seems in the zenith to lie.
The evening breeze brings coolness clear, / Like pardon to a prisoner.
Sweeping the yard, I see the sky so blue; / Sitting in moonlight, 'neath fine trees I view.
Have you no other time to fly, / But bear to see us pressed close by?
At dusk, you buzz and hover around, / From cracks in walls, you come in swarms profound.
You fill the air like a cloud of dust; / From crevices, you swarm in clusters just.
Crowding on me, you form a siege; / Buzzing in ears, you make me grieve.
I strike out wildly with my fist; / In dark, you dart like arrows, I insist.
Hands and feet can't help themselves, alas! / How can they guard the belly and back?
At meals, I fan without a rest; / Standing, I doze, a weary guest.
Having tried all means in vain, I sit / And close my eyes, resigned to it.
To me, it matters not, in truth; / To you, it is indeed uncouth.
Who can the laws of things deduce? / Perhaps they go against human use.
The unicorn, the phoenix, and the pard / Are seen but once in ages hard.
We cannot see the good, though we desire; / The bad we cannot chase away with fire.