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XXIV
立了秋來立了秋
八月十五月兒照高樓
鴉雀無聲人烟靜
瞧見了兩個押虎子走籌
一根燈草嫌他不亮
兩根燈草又怕費了油
有心要買一枝羊油爉
怎奈我手中沒有猴兒頭
NOTES
立秋 li⁴ch'iu¹, the beginning of winter. 照 chao⁴, illumines. 人烟靜, jen² yen¹ chin⁴', men and smoke (houses) are resting； everything is quiet. 押虎子 ya¹ hu³ tzŭ, Peking street watchmen, kept by the Government to tell the hour by striking on a bamboo rattle. 走壽 tsou³ ch'ou², to take round by night time a bamboo tally from one watch-post to another. 一根燈草 i¹ ken¹ teng¹ ts'ao³, a lamp wick made of the stalk of the Juncus communis (rushes). 怎奈 tsen³ nai⁴, there is no remedy, no way. 猴兒頭 hou² 'r t'ou², a monkey's head, slang Pekinese term to mean money. Several words are used in the same meaning as for instance 大軲轆 ta⁴ ku¹ lu⁴， the big wheel. 官板 kuan¹ pan³, official stamp, stamped by the Government. Several terms cannot be written
