古谣谚 卷三十

人为许晏谚

陈留风俗传逸文

殿上成群﹑许伟君。

Words referring to the outstanding scholar, Xu Yan, who was good at explicating poems from the Lu kingdom.

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猴头羹谚

临海异物志逸文

人寧负人千石之羹。

不愿负人猴头羹臛。

Words said about a strange custom of a foreign tribe An Jia. These people were fond of a thick soup made of monkey brain.

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檳榔俗语

临海异物志逸文

檳榔扶留。

可以忘忧。

Words said about the soothing effects of chewing beetle nuts together with some kind of vine and oyster shell powder.

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杨桃谚

临海异物志逸文

杨桃无蹙。

一岁三熟。

The fruit Yang Tao is produced only three times a year.

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木奴谚

北户录逸文

木奴千。

无凶年。

If one had a thousand Mu Nu trees, one would never starve since the Mu Nu fruit can be bartered for rice.

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琼振二州人喭

岭表录异记逸文

跳石牛骨碌。

好笑又好哭。

People between the Qiong and Zhen area making fun of cows and the people riding them, who try to jump across a river with a rocky riverbed. When the cows fail to jump across, both the people and the cow flow down the river.

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张翰秋风歌

中吴纪闻

秋风起兮佳景时。

吴江水兮鱸正肥。

三千里兮家为归。

恨难得兮仰天悲。

A song sung by Zhang Han, who served as an official for Prince Qi. One day when he was in the capital and the autumn wind started to blow, he sang this song to express his feelings for the autumn landscape and the fish in the Wu River. This made him homesick, and he decided that since he was not happy with his job anyway, he would quit and go home.

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大观中姑苏小儿唱

中吴纪闻

沈逍遥。

A short children’s song in the Wu area. It correctly predicted the wrongful accusation, due to a political struggle in the court, of illegal minting by Zhang Yan. Before this time, the Wu area had not seen turmoil of any kind for over three hundred years.

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桂林古谚

桂海虞衡志

癸水绕东城。

永不见刀兵。

A folk saying about the city of Gui Lin, where the Li River protects against invasion by surrounding its eastern edge.

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周去非引南人言论余甘獐肉

岭外代答

余甘一时熟。

獐一日肥。

Words said by people in southern China about one type of stone fruit by the name of Yu Gan, which is only good for a few hours after it ripens. The meat of the roebuck is only good on the day the roebuck happens to be fat.

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杭人为西湖谚

武林旧事

销金锅儿。

Words said about Xi Hu (the West Lake) in the City of Hang Zhou, concerning the large number of tourists who go there all year round, spending much money there.

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餛飩餺飥谚

武林旧事

冬餛飩。

年【餺】飥。

Words said about merchants’ custom of taking three days off just before the winter solstice. They eat some dumplings as their festive food.

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擂搥谚

武林旧事

杭州人一日喫三十丈木头。

Words said about the large quantity of rice that the people in Hang Zhou consume in one day.

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吴自牧引杭人谚论日用

梦梁录

东菜西水。

南柴北米。

Words said about the directions of the sources of daily produce and goods needed by the people of Hang Zhou.

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吴自牧引俗谚论善恶

梦梁录

作善者降百祥。

天神祐之。

作恶者降千灾。

鬼神祸之。

People who do virtuous deeds have auspiciousness descending upon them and heavenly deities protecting them. People who do bad deeds shall only encounter thousands of disasters and have ghosts troubling them.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

吴自牧引俗谚论宴会

梦梁录

烧香点茶。

挂画插花。

四般闲事。

不宜累家。

Words said about the ease of holding banquets, so long as one knows how to use the right servants to make proper arrangements.

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陆友仁引吴农谚论占年

吴中旧事

甲甲犹自可。

乙酉怕杀人。

Words said by farmers of the Wu area (near the present day Su Zhou). If it rains during certain hours during the lunar May month, then they will not be able to harvest their wheat crop.

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叶少蕴引吴人俚语

吴中旧事

等人易得久。

瞋人易得丑。

It takes forever to wait for other people. Being angry with other people makes one ugly.

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苏州除夕群儿呼语

平江记事

卖痴獃。

千贯卖汝痴。

万贯卖汝獃。

见卖尽多送。

要赊隨我来。

Words that children call out on New Year’s Eve on the streets of Su Zhou. The words accuse people of that area of being fools.

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元延祐中太仓民谣二则

平江记事

打碗花子开。

今搬州县来。

黄郎屋上走。

州来住不久。

A folk song predicting the designation of Tai Chang as the capital of the State of Kun Shan during the Yuan Zhen era and the cancellation of that designation during the Zhi Zheng era.

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吴人为太守谣

吴风录

曹平分。

傅白夺。

Words said by people of the Wu area about their governors, who imposed governor’s tax on the merchants.

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无代时湖州谚

西吴枝乘

放尔生。

放尔命。

放尔湖州作百姓。

During the Five Dyansties era, the south of the Yang-Zi River was in constant warfare. Hu Zhou was the only peaceful place.

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吴兴土人语

西吴枝乘

大头菜。

小头鱼。

Words said by the natives of Wu Xing about two kinds of regional delicacy, namely, a kind of fish and a kind of vegetable native to the area.

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闽人食品语

闽部疏

山食鷓鴣獐。

海食马鮫鯧。

Words said about two kinds of delicacy in the Min area, namely, quails and the Chang fish.

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李实引谚释入霑出霑

蜀语

入霑有雨出霑晴。

Words said about the ten rainy days after the autumnal equinox.

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李实引谚占雾

蜀语

雾沟晴。

雾山雨。

Words said by people of the Shu area (present day Si Chuan) about the way they tell if rain is coming. When the mountain looks foggy, it is surely going to rain.

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罗旁猺谣二则

南越笔记

撞石鼓。

万家为我虏。

吹士角。

我兵齐宰剥。

官有万兵。

我有万山。

兵来我去。

兵去我还。

Two songs sung by the bandits in southern China, who held an uprising against the central government during the Wan Li era of the Ming dynasty. The words are expressing the advantage of having a very mountanous region to hide in.

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行旅为仓振高芝歌

南越笔记

仓榕高松。

手泽重重。

高松仓榕。

夹道阴浓。

A song sung by travelers to Xin Zhou in southern China about their appreciation of the two governors who planted two type of trees, pine and banyan.