Pekinese Rhymes/8

by Guido Vitale

VIII

誰跟我頑兒
大火鐮兒
火鐮兒燒
賣甜瓜
甜瓜苦
買豆腐
豆腐爛
茶雞蛋
雞蛋雞蛋殼殼
裏頭坐着哥哥
哥哥出來買菜
裏頭坐着奶奶
奶奶出來燒香
燒了鼻子眼睛

NOTES

火鐮兒 huo³ lien²'r, a piece of steel used to strike sparks from a flint. 甜瓜 t'ien² kua¹, sweet melon. 豆腐 tou⁴-fu³, bean cheese, largely used in China

茶雞蛋 ch'a² chi¹ tan⁴, eggs boiled in tea. 雞蛋殼兒 chi¹ tan⁴ k'o¹'r the shell of an egg; it is generally pronounced k'o²'r

TRANSLATION

Who is going to play with me? ― strike the flint-steel ― the flint steel takes fire ― sell sweet melons ― the sweet melons are bitter ― sell bean cheese ― the bean cheese is spoiled ― boil eggs in tea ― in the shell of the egg, of the egg ― there is sitting the elder brother ― the elder brother goes out to buy provisions ― inside there sits the grand-mother ― the grand mother goes out to burn incense ― and burns her nose and her eyes.

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