Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/64

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CHINESE LIFE ON

The farm servant.—

清早起來就上山 At the dawn of day he goes up the hill,
栳杷鋤頭把地翻 Carrying a mattock to till the ground;
世人沒我長年苦 The farm servant's lot is bitter indeed,
臉朝黃土背朝天 With his back to the sky and face to the mud.


Cries 口號 k‘ou hao.


The cry used to call a pig when at large is liu, liu, liu, 𠺕. A pig is also called a liu, and a man is cursed by being so called.

The call for chickens is chu, chu, chu, 祝. Formerly 喌雞翁 Chu chi wêng was a famous chicken fancier and breeder, and the chickens are called after him.

Liao, liao, liao, 嘹, is the call used to call the ducks from the pond. It is said to be an abbreviation of lai-a, 來啊.

Wa-êrh, wa-êrh, 娃兒, is the cry used to call in the goose. Some say it is wo-êrh, 鵝兒. Others think the call is an imitation of the bird's own cry.

The call to the dog when there is any scavenging to be done is oh ngo, oh ngo, 啊哦. In driving the dog away the common "hist, hist" is used.

The cry used to call the sheep is mieh, mieh, mieh, 咩. This is spoken in a low tone and is believed to be like the bleat of a sheep. Sometimes it is "meh, meh," like the bleat of a lamb. The call used to frighten the sheep, t‘u êrh, 吐爾, is also used to frighten birds from the grain, and is likened to the whizzing of a stone through the air at a great speed. When the cry is uttered a stone or a whip very often accompanies the sound. This t‘u êrh is very freely called after foreigners, and is not a good omen. The connection is in the sound of the two characters, yang 羊 sheep, and yang 洋 of the sea, foreigner.

Sun êrh 猻兒 is the call used for a monkey. It means a small monkey.

Mi, mi, 咪, is the call used to bring the cat to eat its food.