1. When the sixth month had come, the turmoil of war Burst suddenly forth, and each quick-harnessed car Stood ready to move, with its steeds keen and strong, While heavier cars bore the baggage along. Fierce blazing, the Hsien-yun had mustered their men; No recreant there, all was urgency then. The king gave the word; we were mustered and gone, To rescue from foemen the kingdom and throne.

2. Well matched in their strength were the horses, and black, And trained to the reins, as they tighten or slack. Ere the sixth month was o'er, the field we could take; No more preparation we needed to make. With all our accouterments fully complete, Each day thirty li went our hurrying feet. The king gave the word; we were mustered and gone, With courage all ardent to help Heaven's son.

3. Long and stout were the steeds, attached to each car, With broad heads that scented the battle afar. We smote the Hsien-yun, and great merit obtained, Nor flagged in our efforts till triumph was gained. The eye of our leader was careful and stern, Discharging his service, bright glory to earn; Determined the war to such issue to bring, As would firmly establish the throne of the king.

4. For themselves badly judging, the Hsien-yun go, Bold to occupy Chiao, and seize upon Ho. Hao and Fang they o'erran, still issuing forth, Till, crossing the King, they pressed onto the north. Our flags showed the falcons in blazonry bright, And gayly their streamers all fluttered in white. Ten chariots of war, all imposing and strong, Led proudly the van of our conquering throng.

5. The workmen had labored to perfect each car, Well balanced, before and behind, for the war. Its four steeds were mighty, unmatched in their strain, And yielding at once to each touch of the rein. We smote the Hsien-yun; ay, we conquered, and then We pursued them in flight to the far T'a-yuan. As in peace, so in war, our Chi-fu is great, Affording a pattern to all in each state.

6. And now at the banquet, forgotten all care, He feasts with his friends, feeling happiness rare. The tedious marches are all over now,— The marches we traveled, returning from Hao. To his friends the bright spirits his welcome convey; Minced carp and roast turtle the mats all display. And who are the guests? There above every other Sits Chang Chung, renowned as a son and a brother.

About this reader

What is Scripture?

Scripture is a browser-based reader for sixteen sacred texts spanning multiple religious and literary traditions. It provides chapter-by-chapter navigation, full-text search across all works, word concordance with frequency analysis, verse-linked notes, text-to-speech, and deep linking to any chapter or verse.

Traditions Represented

The collection spans Abrahamic, East Asian, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Nordic traditions. Christian texts include the King James Version Old and New Testaments (1611) and Apocrypha. The Quran uses Marmaduke Pickthall's 1930 English translation. Latter-day Saint scripture includes the Book of Mormon (1830), Doctrine and Covenants (1835), and Pearl of Great Price (1851).

Confucian works include James Legge's translations of The Four Books (1893) and the Book of Poetry (1876). The Tao Te Ching uses Legge's 1891 translation. The Kojiki uses Basil Hall Chamberlain's 1919 English translation. Zoroastrian texts include the Bundahishn (E. W. West, 1880) and the Arda Viraf (Haug & West, 1872). The Lotus Sutra uses Hendrik Kern's 1884 translation. The Finnish Kalevala uses John Martin Crawford's 1888 translation, and the Norse Poetic Edda uses Henry Adams Bellows' 1923 translation.

Public Domain Translations

Every translation in this collection is in the public domain. The most recent translation dates to 1930 (Pickthall's Quran). All texts are freely available for reading, study, quotation, and redistribution with no copyright restrictions.

Concordance and Related Passages

The concordance indexes every word across all sixteen works, showing frequency and distribution. TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency) scoring identifies passages with similar vocabulary across different traditions, enabling comparative study without requiring prior knowledge of each text's structure. TF-IDF weights words that are frequent in one chapter but rare across the corpus, surfacing meaningful thematic connections rather than common function words.

Deep Linking

Every chapter and verse has a permanent URL. Chapter links follow the pattern /scripture/{work}/{book}-{chapter} (e.g., /scripture/ot/gen-1 for Genesis 1). Verse links append the verse number (e.g., /scripture/ot/gen-1:26 for Genesis 1:26). These URLs can be shared, bookmarked, or cited directly.

Accessibility

Scripture supports keyboard navigation throughout: Tab moves between controls, Enter activates verse actions, and arrow keys navigate chapters. The reading pane has a skip-to-content link. All overlays (search, concordance) are focus-trapped ARIA dialogs. Dynamic content regions use aria-live for screen reader announcements. High-contrast mode is available via the theme toggle. Verse numbers are visible to assistive technology. No flashing content or motion hazards.

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