古谣谚 卷二十九

丽道元引俗谚释清泉河

水经注

高梁无上源。

清泉无下尾。

Words referring to the tiny creeks in the Yu Yang area. The flow of water in these creeks was so slow that it was hard to determine the origin and the end of the river.

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丽道元引古谚释南北岈

水经注

南岈北岈。

万有余家。

Words referring to the over ten thousand households residing around the Han River valley.

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泗上求鼎谣

水经注

称乐太早绝鼎丝。

A folk song that was a sarcastic remark on the first emperor’s joyousness before the time when the nine ancinet tripods of bronze, symbols of power for the Chinese ruler beginning in the ancient Xia dynasty, were even found in the Si River.

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涝滩净滩谚

水经注

冬涝夏净。

断官使命。

Words said about two sections of the Han River. The two places had too little water in the winter and too much water in the summer, making sailing extremely difficult.

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樊陂喭

水经注

陂汪汪。

下田良。

樊子失业庾公昌。

Words said about a hilly area near a river. Originally the Fan households lived there, but later on, they lost the property to the Yu household.

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头滩行者歌

水经注

滩头白勃坚相持。

倏忽沦没別无期。

A song about a section of the Yang-Tzi River. The water in this section are so fierce that even fish and turtles can not swim there. It is easy to sink one’s boat there, too.

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湘川【渔】者歌

水经注

帆隨湘转。

望衡九面。

Words referring to what one could see when traveling in one section of the Xiang River, where one could see nine different sides of Mount Heng.

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橘洲谚

水经注

昭潭无底橘洲浮。

One section of the Xiang River is adjacent to Mount Zhao, which has a very deep lake at its bottom. After that point, the Xiang River reaches the west of Nan Jin city, where the Ju island sits in the western portion of the river.

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汉末童谣

水经注

天子当兴东南三余之间。

Words referring to the place, from which the warlord Sun Quan of the Three Kingdom period would originate.

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武陵绿萝山土人歌

水经注

仰兹山兮迢迢。

层石搆兮嵯峨。

朝日丽兮阳巖。

落景梁兮阴阿。

鄣壑兮生音。

吟籟兮相和。

敷芳兮绿林。

恬淡兮润波。

乐兹潭兮安流。

缓尔櫂兮咏歌。

A folk song sung by the native of Wu Ling expressing the pleasant feelings caused by the beautiful scenery of that area. The water, the mountain, the green forest, and the beautiful sunshine compose this song.

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杨慎引谚验反照

山海经

日没胭脂红。

无雨必有风。

If the sky is red like red rouge after the sun sets, then there will be either rain or wind arising.

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巴东三峡渔者歌

宜都山川记

巴东三峡巫峡长。

猿鸣三声泪沾裳。

巴东三峡猿鸣悲。

猿鸣三声泪沾衣。

A song sung by the fishermen in the Three Gorges area of the Yang-Tzi River. The gorges are so windy that it takes a long time to get through them. When people are sailing on the boat in these sections of the river, they could hear apes howling constantly. The song says that people are eager to get on dry land after hearing the apes’ howling.

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周必大引俗谚

吴郡诸山录

太平州不如芜湖。

不如黄池。

A folk saying concerning the prosperity of three cities, Tai Ping Zhou, Wu Hu and Huang Chi. Among them, Huang Chi ranks as the most prosperous.

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时人为岳麓书院谚

岳麓旧志

道林三百眾。

书院一千徒。

Words said about the prosperity of the Yue Lu College in Hu Nan, which was ranked as the best during the Song dynasty.

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万历癸未镇江铁踏谣

北固山志

风吹铁宝塔。

水淹京口闸。

A song sung about the Iron Tower of Zhen Jiang. The wind blew the tower off and the water flooded the dyke in Jing Kou.

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陈洄泛月扣舷歌

山棲志

吹玉簫兮弄明月。

明月照兮头成雪。

头成雪兮將奈何。

白鷺起兮冲素波。

A song sung by Chen Hui concerning the moon reflected in the water while he played the flute. The moon was so bright when it shone upon Chen’s head, it was as though he had grey hair.

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閿乡秦山谚

名胜志

秦为头。

虢为尾。

Words said about the great Mount Qin which encompases two districts: Qin and Guo.

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京师为瑶光寺尼语

洛阳伽蓝记

洛阳女儿急作髻。

瑶光寺尼夺女婿。

Some sarcastic remarks about the Buddhist nuns in Yao Guang Temple after some nuns were raped by military men of a foreign tribe during the invasion of Luo Yang. The girls in the City of Luo Yang were eager to style their hair for their wedding, yet the nuns from Yao Guang Temple snatched their grooms.

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京师为青州刺史谣语

洛阳伽蓝记

狱中无系囚。

舍內无青州。

假令家道恶。

腹中不怀愁。

Words referring to a snobbish custom that Qing Zhou has always had, which its govenor would have to know before starting his job.

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京师为伊洛鱼语

洛阳伽蓝记

伊洛鲤魴。

贵於牛羊。

The carp from the Luo River and the fresh water bream from the Yi River are more of a delicacy then beef or mutton.

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京师为白马寺甜榴语

洛阳伽蓝记

白马甜榴。

一实直牛。

One of the sweet and huge grapes grown in the White Horse Temple is worth a cow.

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游侠为白墮酒语

洛阳伽蓝记

不畏张弓拔刀。

唯畏白墮春醪。

Words said by wandering martial men about the wine that Liu Bai Duo brewed. One is not afraid of streching a bow or using a knife, but one is afaid of drinking Liu Bai Duo’s wine, since drinking it could knock people unconscious for a whole month.

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秦民为河间王婢朝云语

洛阳伽蓝记

快马健儿。

不如老嫗吹篪。

Words said about a servantmaid of the Governor of Qin Zhou, Wang Chen. She was good at playing a kind of flute. Wang Chen had trouble settling the uprising of the Qiang tribes’ people. He then asked the servantmaid to masquerade herself as an old beggar and play her flute in the area where the Qiang bandits were. These Qiang bandits were all moved by the music and decided to become good citizens.

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魏时人为上高里歌

洛阳伽蓝记

洛阳东北上高里。

殷之顽民昔所止。

今日百姓造瓮子。

人皆弃去住者耻。

A song sung by people of the Wei dynasty concerning a northeast area of the City of Luo Yang. A group of people, descendants of the ancient Shang dyansty, lived there and made pottery for their living. The chased away people who were not their kind and wanted to live there.

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范式墓谚

城塚记

大鼎山前十八塚。

末末东头范巨卿。

There are eighteen graves in front of Da Ding Mountain. The last one on the east is the grave of Fan Ju Qing.