Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes Part 2

When e're the Milky Way you spy Diagonal across the sky, The egg-plant you may safely eat, And all your friends to melons treat.

But when divided toward the west, You'll need your trousers and your vest; When like a horn you see it float, You'll need your trousers and your coat.

A LULLABY

The heaven is bright, The earth is bright, I have a baby who cries all night; Let those who pa.s.s read what I write, And they'll sleep all night, Till broad daylight.

THE SMALL STORE KEEPER

A wee little boy Has opened a store, In two equal parts Are his front door, A wee little table, A wee little chair, And ebony chop-sticks And plate are there.

LADY-BUG

Lady-bug, lady-bug, Fly away, do, Fly to the mountain, And feed upon dew, Feed upon dew And sleep on a rug, And then run away Like a good little bug.

GO TO BED

Little baby, go to bed, We'll put a hoop around your head, And with the oil we get thereby, Our little bean-cake we will fry.

And when we've fried our bean-cake brown, We'll see the king go into town, An iron cap upon his head; Now-you-must-surely-go-to-bed.

THE NERVOUS MAN

A nervous disposition He had when he was born, To hurry to a fair one day, He rose at early morn; Put on his wife's green trousers And started to the sale, A riding on a donkey-- His face turned toward its tail.

THE SNAIL

Little snail, little snail, With your hard, stony bed, First stick out your horns, Then stick out your head.

Your father and mother Have brought you some food, Fried liver and mutton, Now isn't that good?

And now, little snail, Just as sure as I say You must eat it at once, Or I'll take it away.

Oh where is the little snail gone, I pray tell?

He has drawn himself up, head and horns, in his sh.e.l.l.

THE WATERMAN

My brother waterman, Listen, I request, On the south river bank You sit and rest.

When the day is bright, You carry all you can; And when the day is dark, You're a lazy old man.

THE LAMB

It jumped the chequered wall, The bleating little lamb, And s.n.a.t.c.hed a bunch of gra.s.s To feed its hungry dam.

OLD CHANG, THE CRAB

Old Mr. Chang, I've oft heard it said, You wear a basket upon your head; You've two pairs of scissors to cut your meat, And two pairs of chopsticks with which you eat.

THE MOUSE

He climbed up the candlestick, The little mousey brown, To steal and eat tallow, And he couldn't get down.

He called for his grandma, But his grandma was in town, So he doubled up into a wheel And rolled himself down.

COMING FROM THE FAIR