"Note.—The expression 'corrupt spirits' in the remarks upon the second commandment, rendered by the translator 'gods,' refers probably to the numerous malevolent spirits whom all uneducated Chinese believe to have power over all things noxious to the human race. The gods of thunder, lightning, wind, &c., are the principal of these, but there are also hundreds of inferior spirits whom poor householders believe to be abroad at night, with power, if they so will, to spread pestilence, disaster, and fire, and who consequently receive daily and nightly offerings of prayer and incense from the timid and trembling poor, who dread the exercise of their malevolence."—(The Taepings in China.)
THE TRIMETRICAL CLASSIC.
EACH LINE IN THE ORIGINAL CONTAINING THREE WORDS,
AND EACH VERSE FOUR LINES.
The Great God
Made heaven and earth,
Both land and sea,
And all things therein.
In six days
He made the whole;
Man, the lord of all,
Was endowed with glory and honour.
Every seventh day worship,
In acknowledgment of Heaven's favour;
Let all under Heaven
Keep their hearts in reverence.
It is said that in former times
A foreign nation was commanded
To honour God;
The nation's name was Israel.
Their twelve tribes
Removed into Egypt;
Where God favoured them,
And their posterity increased.
Then a king arose
Into whose heart the devil entered;
He envied their prosperity,
And inflicted pain and misery.
Ordering the daughters to be preserved,
But not allowing the sons to live;
Their bondage was severe
And very difficult to bear.
The Great God
Viewed them with pity,
And commanded Moses
To return to his family.
He commanded Aaron
To go and meet Moses;
When both addressed the king,
And wrought divers miracles.
The king hardened his heart
And would not let them go;
Wherefore God was angry
And sent lice and locusts.
He also sent flies,
Together with frogs,
Which entered their palaces
And crept into their ovens.
When the king still refused,
The river was turned into blood!
And the water became bitter
Throughout all Egypt.
God sent boils and blains,
With pestilence and murrain;
He also sent hail,
Which was very grievous.
The king still refusing,
He slew their first-born;
When the King of Egypt
Had no resource,
But let them go
Out of his land;
The Great God
Upheld and sustained them.
By day in a cloud,
By night in a pillar of fire;
The Great God
Himself saved them.
The king hardened his heart,
And led his armies in pursuit;
But God was angry
And displayed his majesty.
Arrived at the Red Sea,
The waters were spread abroad;
The people of Israel
Were very much afraid.
The pursuers overtook them,
But God stayed their course;
He himself fought for them,
And the people had no trouble.
He caused the Red Sea
With its waters to divide;
To stand up as a wall,
That they might pass between.
The people of Israel
Marched with a steady step
As though on dry ground,
And thus saved their lives.
The pursuers attempting to cross,
Their wheels were taken off,
When the waters closed upon them,
And they were all drowned.
The Great God
Displayed his power,
And the people of Israel
Were all preserved.
When they came to the desert
They had nothing to eat;
But the Great God
Bade them not be afraid.
He sent down manna,
For each man a pint;
It was as sweet as honey,
And satisfied their appetites.
The people lusted much,
And wished to eat flesh,
When quails were sent
By the millions of bushels.
At the Mount Sinai
Miracles were displayed,
And Moses was commanded
To make tables of stone.
The Great God
Gave his celestial commands,
Amounting to ten precepts,
The breach of which would not be forgiven.
He himself wrote them,
And gave them to Moses;
The celestial law
Cannot be altered.
In after ages
It was sometimes disobeyed,
Through the devil's temptations
When men fell into misery.
But the Great God,
Out of pity to mankind,
Sent his first-born Son
To come down into the world.
His name is Jesus,
The Lord and Saviour of men,
Who redeems them from sin
By the endurance of extreme misery.
Upon the cross
They nailed his body,
Where he shed his precious blood
To save all mankind.
Three days after his death
He rose from the dead,
And during forty days
He discoursed on heavenly things.
When he was about to ascend,
He commanded his disciples
To communicate his gospel
And proclaim his revealed will.
Those who believe will be saved
And ascend to heaven;
But those who do not believe
Will be the first to be condemned.
Throughout the whole world
There is only one God,
The Great Lord and Ruler
Without a second.