子曰：“小子何莫学夫诗！诗，可以兴，可以观，可以群，可以怨：迩之事父，远之事君，多识于鸟兽草木之名。”
1The Master said, 'My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry?
2'The Odes serve to stimulate the mind.
3'They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation.
4'They teach the art of sociability.
5'They show how to regulate feelings of resentment.
6'From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one's father, and the remoter one of serving one's prince.
7'From them we become largely acquainted with the names of birds, beasts, and plants.'