A Description of Evil-Doers
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(A Description of Evil-Doers.)
Yet[28] there are some people whose behavior is unrighteous. (317-322)
Their deportment is irrational.[29] (323-326)
In evil they delight.[30] (327-330)
With brutality they do harm and damage. (331-334)
Insidiously they injure the good and the law-abiding. (335-338)
Stealthily they despise their superiors and parents. (339-342)
They disregard their seniors and rebel against those whom they serve. (343-350)
They deceive the uninformed. (351-354)
They slander their fellow-students. (355-358)
Liars they are, bearing false witness, deceivers, and hypocrites; malevolent exposers of kith and kin[31]; mischievous and malignant; not humane; cruel and irrational; self-willed. (359-374)
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Right and wrong they confound. Their avowals and disavowals are not as they ought to be.[32] (375-382)
They oppress their subordinates and appropriate their merit. (383-386)
They cringe to superiors to curry favor. (387-390)
Insentient to favors received, they remember their hatred and are never satisfied. (391-398)
They hold in contempt the lives of Heaven's people.[33] (399-402)
They agitate and disturb the public order. (403-406)
They patronize the unscrupulous and do harm to the inoffensive. (407-413)
They murder men to take their property, or have them ousted to take their places. (414-422)
They slay the yielding and slaughter those who have surrendered. (423-426)
They malign the righteous and dispossess the wise. (427-430)
They molest orphans and wrong widows. (431-434)
Disregarders of law they are, and bribe takers. They call crooked what is straight, straight what is crooked, and what is light they make heavy. (435-450)
When witnessing an execution, they aggravate it by harshness. (451-454)
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Though they know their mistakes they do not correct them; though they know the good they do not do it. (455-462)
In their own guilt they implicate others.[34] (463-466)
They impede and obstruct the professions and crafts.[35] (467-470)
They vilify and disparage the holy and the Wise. (471-474)
They ridicule and scorn reason and virtue.[36] (475-478)
They shoot the flying, chase the running, expose the hiding, surprise nestlings, close up entrance holes, upset nests, injure the pregnant, and break the egg. (479-494)
They wish others to incur loss. (495-498)
They disparage others that achieve merit. (499-502)
They endanger others to save themselves. (503-506)
They impoverish others for their own gain. (507-510)
For worthless things they exchange what is valuable. (511-514)
For private ends they neglect public duties. (515-518)
They appropriate the accomplishments of their neighbor and conceal his good qualities. They make known his foibles and expose his
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secrets. They squander his property and cause divisions in his family.[37] (519-542)
They attack that which is dear to others. (543-547)
They assist others in doing wrong. (548-551)
Their unbridled ambition makes for power, and through the degradation of others they seek success. (552-558)
They destroy the crops and fields of others. (559-562)
They break up betrothals. (563-566)
Improperly they have grown rich, and withal they remain vulgar. (567-570)
Improperly they shirk[38] without shame. (571-574)
They claim having done acts of favor and disclaim being at fault. (575-578)
They give away evil in marriage[39] and they sell wrongs. (579-582)
They sell and buy vainglory. (583-586)
They conceal and keep a treacherous heart. (s87-59o)
They crush that which is excellent in others. (591-594)
They are careful in hiding their shortcomings. (595-598)
Being on a high horse they threaten and intimidate. (599-6012)
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With unrestrained barbarism they kill and stab. (603-606)
Recklessly they cut cloth to waste.[40] (607-610)
Without festive occasions they prepare cattle for food.[41] (611-614)
They scatter and waste the five cereals.[42] (615-618)
They trouble and annoy many people. (619-622)
They break into others' houses to take their property and valuables. (623-630)
They misdirect the water and light fires to destroy the people's homes. (631-638)
They upset others' plans so as to prevent their success. (639-646)
They spoil a worker's utensils to hamper his efficiency. (647-654)
When seeing the success and prosperity of others they wish them to run down and fail. (655-662)
Seeing the wealth of others, they wish them bankrupt and ruined. (663-670)
They cannot see beauty without cherishing in their hearts thoughts of seduction. (671-678)
Being indebted to others for goods or property, they wish their creditors to die. (679-686)
When their requests are not granted they begin to curse and wax hateful. (687-694)
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Seeing their neighbor lose his vantage they gossip of his failure. (695-702)
Seeing a man imperfect in his bodily features they ridicule him. (703-711)
Observing the talent and ability of a man worthy of praise, they suppress the truth. (712-720)
They use charms[43] for the sake of controlling others.[44] (721-724)
They employ drugs to kill trees. (725-728)
Ill-humored and angry they are towards teachers and instructors. (729-732)
They resist and provoke father and elders. (733-736)
With violence they seize, with violence they demand. (737-740)
They delight in fraud, they delight in robbery, they make raids and commit depredations to get rich. (741-748)
By artful tricks they seek promotion. (749-752)
They reward and punish without justice. (753-756)
They indulge in comforts and enjoyments without measure. (757-761)
They harass and tyrannize over their subordinates. (762-765)
They terrify and threaten to overawe others. (766-768)
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They accuse heaven and find fault with man. (769-772)
They blame the wind and rail at the rain. (773-776)
They stir up party strife and law suits. (777-780)
Unprovoked they join factious associations.[45] (781-784)
They rely on their wives' and other women's gossip. (785-788)
They disobey the instructions of father and mother. (789-792)
They take up the new and forget the old. (793-796)
Their mouth asserts what their heart denies. (797-800)
Shamelessly greedy they are for wealth. (801-804)
They deceive their father and their superiors. (805-808)
They invent and circulate vile talk, traducing and slandering innocent men. (809-816)
They slander others, yet themselves feign honesty. (817-820)
They rail at spirits and claim to be right themselves. (821-824)
They reject a good cause and espouse a wrong cause, spurning what is near, longing for the distant.[46] (825-832)
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They point at heaven and earth[47] to make them witnesses of their mean thoughts. (833-839)
They even call on bright spirits to make them witness their degrading deeds. (840-846)
When they ever give charity they regret it afterwards. (847-850)
They borrow and accept without intention to return. (851-854)
Beyond their due lot they scheme and contrive. (855-858)
Above their means they plot and plan. (859-862)
Their lusty desires exceed all measure. (863-866)
Their heart is venomous while they show a compassionate face. (867-870)
With filthy food they feed the poor. (871-874)
With heresies they mislead others. (875-878)
They shorten the foot, they narrow the measure, they lighten the scales, they reduce the peck. (879-886)
They adulterate the genuine, and they seek profit[48] in illegitimate business. (887-894)
They compel respectable people to become lowly. (895-898)
They betray and deceive the simple-minded. (899-902)
They are greedy and covetous without satiety. (903-906)
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They curse and swear to seek vindication. (907-910)
Indulging in liquor they become rebellious and unruly. (911-914)
With the members of their own family[37] they are angry and quarrelsome. (915-918)
As husbands[49] they are neither faithful nor kind. (919-922)
As wives[49] they are neither gentle nor pliant. (923-926)
As husbands they are not in harmony with their wives;[50] as wives they are not respectful to their husbands. (927-934)
As husbands they delight in bragging and conceit. (935-938)
Always as wives they practice jealousy and suspicion. (939-952)
As husbands they behave unmannerly toward their wives and children. (943-947)
As wives they lack propriety to their father-in-law and their mother-in-law. (948-952)
They make light of the spirit of their ancestor. (953-956)
They disobey and dislike the commands of their superiors. (957-960)
They make and do what is not useful. (961-964)
They harbor and keep a treacherous[51] heart. (965-968)
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They curse themselves[52], they curse others. (969-972)
They are partial in their hatred and partial in their love. (973-976)
They step over the well and they step over the hearth. They jump over the food and jump over a person.[53] (977-984)
They kill the baby and cause abortion of the unborn. (985-988)
They do many clandestine and wrong deeds. (989-992)
The last day of the month and the last day of the year they sing and dance.[54] The first day of the month, the first day of the year, they start roaring and scolding. (993-1000)
Facing the north, they snivel and spit; facing the hearth, they sing, hum and weep.[55] (1001-1012)
Further, with hearth fire they burn incense,[56] and with filthy fagots they cook their food. (1013-1018)
In the night they rise and expose their nakedness.[57] (1019-1022)
On the eight festivals of the seasons they execute punishment.[58] (1023-1030)
They spit at falling stars and point at the many-colored rainbow.[59] (1031-1036)
Irreverently they point at the three
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luminaries;[60] intently they gaze at the sun and at the moon. (1037-1044)
In the spring they hunt with fire.[61] (1045-1048)
Facing the north, they use vile language.[55] (1049-1052)
Causelessly they kill tortoises and snakes. (1053-1058)
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