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King Chieh's wine pond with dikes made of the dregs

Of old Chieh made a wine pond with dikes made of the dregs while he gave free rein to lascivious music. There were men who drank from the pond like cattle. The ministers clutched one another and sang,
The river water rushes,
Boats and oars separate;
Our king is wasteful,
Quickly let us turn to Po.
For Po is large too.
They also said,
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Strong the four stallions
Shining the six reins.
Away from what is not good,
We go to the good!
I-yin realized that the mandate of heaven was about to be withdrawn. Lifting a beaker, he approached Chieh and said, "If Your Majesty does not listen to his servant's words, the mandate of heaven will be withdrawn and the day of disaster not far off."
Chieh clapped his hands with a smack and noisily laughed, saying, "So you too speak of evil omens. My possessing the empire is like the sky's having a sun; is the sun ever destroyed? When the sun is destroyed, then I shall be destroyed too."
Thereupon I-yin made haste without stopping until he came to T’ang, who made him his minister. It can be said that he "went to that happy land and there found his place."
The Ode says,
We will leave you,
And go to that happy land;
Go to that happy land—
There we shall find our place.
昔者桀为酒池糟堤,纵靡靡之乐,而牛饮者三千,群臣皆相持而歌,“江水沛兮!舟楫败兮!我王废兮!趣归于亳,亳亦大兮!”又曰:“乐兮乐兮!四壮骄兮!六辔沃兮!去不善兮善,何不乐兮!”伊尹知大命之将去,举觞造桀曰:“君王不听臣言,大命去矣,亡无日矣。”桀相然而拚,盍然而笑曰:“子又妖言矣。吾有天下,犹天之有日也,日有亡乎?日亡,吾亦亡也。”于是伊尹接履而趋,遂适于汤,汤以为相。可谓适彼乐土,爰得其所矣。《诗》曰:“逝将去汝,适彼乐土;乐土乐土,爰得我所。”

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