Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/63

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THE TIBETAN FOOTHILLS
51

The daughters on the other were clever at flowers;
The eldest was good at the orchid bud,
The second was good at the peony rose,
But though the third did try she was not any good,
So she mounted the loom to weave cotton cloth,
And wove to the length of thirty-three feet.
Then the elder and second brothers both made them a gown.
But the third brother said My lot is unfair;
You've married me up the high hill in the bamboo grove.
If you want fuel to burn, that fuel is high,
If you want water to drink that well is deep;
To wet the flowered shoes is of little import,
But to wet the gauze skirts costs a thousand threads.


New Year good luck.—

新春大發財 二十四個元寶輥進來
輥進不輥出 金銀財寶堆滿屋.


May the New Year bring you the greatest of luck,
With the twenty-four pieces of silver rolling into your lap;
Rolling in but not rolling out, till
Gold, Silver and riches fill up the house.

(Round stones are sometimes heaped outside the house on the last day of the year, and carried inside on the first day of the New Year; hence this ditty).

新春新春 財發萬金 說好就好 添財進寶.
In the New Year, The New Year,
May your riches increase ten thousand fold;
When you say lucky may it be luck,
Adding to your riches and bringing in gold.—


The New Year scrolls of the New Year feast.—
新年對子新年節 門神對子兩邊貼
門神對子貼得高 金銀財寶幾大包
門神對子貼得矮 金銀財寶幾大塊
On both sides of the door are scrolls and gods;
If the scrolls and gods are put up high,
Gold, silver and riches will come in great array;
If the scrolls and gods are put up low,
Gold, silver and riches still continue to grow.