Pekinese Rhymes/19

by Guido Vitale

XIX

小二哥
吃飯兒多
吃完了飯
打老婆
打的老婆上窗戶
窗戶沒有檔兒
打的老婆照鏡兒
鏡子沒有底兒
打的老婆唱曲兒
曲兒沒有頭兒
打的老婆耍猴兒
猴兒沒有圈兒
打的老婆鑽天兒

NOTES

There is not much coherence in the words, and the fun is in the fact that many verses are ended with the final 兒, which produces a ridiculous effect. 二哥 eur⁴ ko¹, the second brother in the family also simply a familiar name. 老婆 lao³ p'uo², an old woman, a wife. The accent falls generally on the 老 lao³ in this meaning; but if said lao³ p'uo² tzǔ³, with the accent on the p'uo², then it means "a female servant". 檔兒 tang⁴ 'r, small wood bars placed horizontally in the chinese window-sash. 耍猴兒 shua³ hou² 'r, "to (let) play the monkey, that is to exhibit the tricks of a monkey to gain the life"; the other metaphorical meaning is "to lark, to romp, to be impertinent". 圈兒 ch'iuan¹ 'r, a wooden circle through which the monkeys are let jump.

TRANSLATION

The small second brother ― eats too much ― and when he has finished eating ― he beats his wife ― and the wife is so beaten that she jumps on the window ― the window has no bars ― and the wife is so beaten that she looks in the mirror ― the mirror has no bottom ― the wife is beaten so that she begins to sing ― the song has no end ― the wife is so beaten that she "plays with the monkey" ― the monkey has no circle ― and the wife is so beaten that she springs up to the sky.

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