The third line of 关雎
参差荇菜，左右采之；窈窕淑女，琴瑟友之。
cēn cī xìng caì, zuǒ yòu cǎi zhi; yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ, qín sè yǒu zhi.
参差荇菜，左右芼之；窈窕淑女，钟鼓乐之。
cēn cī xìng caì, zuǒ yòu mào zhi; yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ, zhōng gǔ yào zhi.
采 Means pick.
琴 A general name for musical instruments in 钢琴(piano), 小提琴(violin), 风琴(organ). Here it means qin, a seven-stringed plucked Chinese musical instrument.
瑟 A twenty-five-stringed plucked Chinese musical instrument, somewhat similar to the zither(筝). I myself have trouble to tell the three instruments apart.
琴瑟 [metaphor] Indicate the man and the wife are on good terms. This comes from this poem.
友 When it's a noun, it means friend. Here it's a verb, means befriend.
芼 Means choose, pick, select.
You see, for the three words, 流, 采, 芼. First the one in the poem followed the river to find the herbs(don't know if it can be used here), then he picked the herbs up, and picked the good ones out.
钟 Often means clock or o'clock in 点钟. Here it means bell, a Chinese percussion instrument. ("A hollow metal instrument, usually cup-shaped with a flared opening, that emits a metallic tone when struck" in my dictionary.) A family name in Chinese.
鼓 When it's a verb, it means bulge in 鼓涨, agitate in 鼓动, rouse in 鼓舞, applause(or just clap) in 鼓掌. Here it's a noun, means drum.
乐 Have three pronunciations: 1, yuè. Noun. Means music in 音乐. Means instrument in 乐器. Means musician in 乐手. 2, lè. Verb, noun or adjective. Means happy, enjoy, pleasure. Is a family name in Chinese. There's a man in 水浒 whose name is 乐和. 3, yào. Verb. Means like, enjoy. Only used in ancient Chinese and an idiom. Here we should use the third pronunciation, yào.
The idiom in which 乐 sounds yào: 独乐乐不如众乐乐. I think it's a sentence in 孟子(Meng-zi), but I'm not sure. If anybody wants it, I can explain it next time.
Translation:
Ragged-jagged, herbs grow by the river. Right and left, I picked them up; That beautiful and gentle girl, I play music(qin) for her to befriend her.
Ragged-jagged, herbs grow by the river. Right and left, I picked them out; That beautiful and gentle girl, I play music(drum) for her to make her happy.
Some said this poem is about what a queen should do when her king takes a fancy to another girl. She should bring the girl back and make her happy, therefore make the king happy. I think it's a load of rubbish though. It is a folk song!