Pekinese Rhymes/5

by Guido Vitale

V

沙土地兒
跑白馬
一跑跑到丈人家
大舅兒望裏讓
小舅兒望裏拉
隔着竹簾兒看見他
銀盤大臉黑頭髮
月白緞子棉襖銀疙疸

NOTES

沙土地兒 sha¹ t'u³ ti⁴'r, a sandy plain ground as outside the wall between the Manchu and the Chinese town in Peking. 丈人 chang⁴-jen, name given to one's wife or bride's father. 大舅兒 ta⁴-chiou⁴'r, one's wife's elder brother. 小舅兒 hsiao'³ chiou⁴'r, one's wife's younger brother. For 他 is here to be understood the bride whom the young man succeeds in spying through the curtain. 銀盤大 臉 yin² p'an² ta⁴ lien³, a big face as white as a silver tray. 月白 yüe⁴ pai², "moon white" means a light blue. 疙疸 read ko¹-ta¹ or more vulgarly ka¹-ta¹, here means a metal button, it may also mean pimples and has other different shades of meanings.

TRANSLATION

On the sandy plain ― gallops a white horse ― galloping gets to the (horseman's) future father-in-law's house ― his elder brother-in-law invites him to come in ― his younger brother-in-law pulls him in ― through the bamboo-curtain he has seen her ― her large face as white as a silver-tray and her black hair ― and her cotton overcoat of light azure colour with silver buttons.