CHINESE MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES

CHINESE MOTHER
GOOSE RHYMES

LITTLE ORIENTALS

Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes

TRANSLATED
AND
ILLUSTRATED
BY
ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND
OF PEKING UNIVERSITY.

Fleming H. Revell Company
New York Chicago Toronto

Copyright, 1900
By
Fleming H. Revell Company

PREFACE

There are probably more nursery rhymes in China than can be found in England and America. We have in our possession more than six hundred, collected, for the most part, in two out of the eighteen provinces, and we have no reason to believe that we have succeeded in getting any large proportion of what those two provinces contain.

In most of the rhymes there are features common to those of our own "Mother Goose," among which are those referring (1) to insects, (2) animals, (3) birds, (4) persons, (5) children, (6) food, (7) parts of the body, (8) actions, such as patting, grabbing, tickling, etc., (9) professions, trades and business.

We have tried to reproduce the meaning of the original as nearly as possible; this has not always been an easy task. Let it be understood that these rhymes make no pretentions to literary merit, nor has the translator made any attempt at regularity in the meter, because neither the original nor our own "Mother Goose" is regular. Our desire has been to make a translation which is fairly true to the original, and which will please English-speaking children. The child, not the critic, has always been kept in view.

Attention is called to the affection manifested in such rhymes as "Sweeter than Sugar," "Sweet Pill," "Little Fat Boy," and "Baby is Sleeping." There is no language in the world, we venture to believe, which contains children's songs expressive of more keen and tender affection than those we have mentioned. This fact, more than any other, has stimulated us in the preparation of these rhymes. They have been prepared with the hope that they will present a new phase of Chinese home life, and lead the children of the West to have some measure of sympathy and affection for the children of the East.

The compilation was much facilitated by the work done by Baron Vitali, of the Italian Legation in Peking; Rev. Arthur H. Smith, author of "Chinese Characteristics;" Miss Mabel Whiting, of Peking; Miss Mitchell, of Chinkiang; Mrs. McClure, of Honan; Miss Chalfant, of Shantung; Mr. Chao Tsz-chi, Chinese Consul at New York; Mr. Yamamoto, of Peking, and Rev. Chauncy Goodrich, of T'ung Chou, while the entire wor is due to the fact that our attention was called by Mrs. C. H. Fenn, of Peking, to her old nurse repeating these rhymes to her little boy.

The illustrations have all been prepared by the translator specially for this work.

I. T. H.

October, 1900

Table of contents

[SWEETER THAN SUGAR]

[LITTLE SMALL-FEET]

[THE CRICKET]

ON the top of a mountain

A hemp stock was growing,

And up it a cricket was climbing.

I said to him, "Cricket,

Oh where are you going?"

He answered: "I'm going out dining."

[THE BUTTERFLY]

AWAY goes the butterfly,

To catch it I will never try;

The butterfly's about to 'light,

I would not have it if I might.

[OF WHAT USE IS A GIRL?]

WE keep a dog to watch the house,

A pig is useful, too;

We keep a cat to catch a mouse,

But what can we do

With a girl like you?

[THE FIRE-FLY]

FIRE- fly, fire-fly,

Come from the hill,

Your father and mother

Are waiting here still;

They've brought you some sugar,

Some candy and meat,

Come quick, or I'll give it

To baby to eat.

[COME AND PLAY]

LITTLE baby, full of glee,

Won't you come and play with me?

Strike the stick and kick the ball,

And at the pic-nic place we'll call.

And you shall come and eat with me,

And you shall come and drink my tea.

When I invite you thus to play,

How is it that you run away?

[THE COW]

THERE'S a cow on the mountain."

The old saying goes,

On her legs are four feet;

On her feet are eight toes;

Her tail is behind

On the end of her back,

And her head is in front

On the end of her neck.

[GRANDPA FEEDS BABY]

GRANDPA holds the baby,

He's sitting on his knee

Eating mutton dumplings

With vinegar and tea.

Then grandpa says to baby,

"When you have had enough,

You'll be a saucy baby

And treat your grandpa rough."

[SWEET PILL]

MY big son,

My own boy,

Baby is a sweet pill

That fills my soul with joy.

[THE BAT]

BAT, bat, with your flowered shoes,

Come to us here in the room,

This little girl will be the bride,

And I will be the groom.

[THE LITTLE BALDHEAD]

YOU dear little baby,

Don't you cry;

Your father's drawing water

In the south, near by,

A red tasseled hat

He wears on his head;

Your mother's in the kitchen

Making up bread.

Walk a step, walk a step,

Off he goes,

See from his shoe-tips

Peep three toes.

[A LITTLE GIRL'S WANTS]

I WANT some thread,

Both green and red;

I want a needle long;

I want some strands

For ankle bands,

To give to Mrs. Wang.

[GO TO SLEEP]

THE tree leaves are murmuring hua-la-la,

Baby's very sleepy and wants his mama;

Go to sleep, my baby, and then go to bed,

And any bogie-boo that comes,

I'll knock him on the head.

[THE TALL MAN]

OH dear! oh dear! just see how far

His head is from his feet!

So far indeed he has to bend

When e'er he wants to eat.

And when he wants to fight a man

He lifts him up anon,

And when he wants to wash his face

He pours the water on.

[BABY IS SLEEPING]

MY baby is sleeping,

My baby's asleep,

My flower is resting,

I'll give you a peep;

How cunning he looks

As he rests on my arm!

My flower's most charming

Of all them that charm.

[LITTLE FAT BOY]

WHAT a bonnie little fellow is this fat boy of mine!

He makes people die of joy!

What a fine little fellow is this fat boy of mine!

Now whose is this loving little boy?

Do you want to buy a beauty?

Do you want to buy a beauty?

If you buy him he will watch your house,

And do it as his duty.

And no matter as to servants,

You may have them or may not,

But you'll never need to lock your door

Or give your house a thought.

[THE DRUM ON THE GROUND]

THE drum on the ground is so round, so round,

My mother just whipped me so sound, so sound,

And I, oh dear, am as floating grass here,

But I'll only remain a year, a year.

A husband I'd love and serve so true,

I'd worship his gods, that's what I'd do,

And I'd call his mother my mother, too!

You naughty girl, what's that you'd do?

I was saying the beans are boiling nice,

And its just about time to add the rice.

[MILKY WAY]

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 pass 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 shell.

[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 snatched a bunch of grass

To feed its hungry dam.

[OLD CHANG, THE CRAB]

OLD Mr. Chang, I've oft heard it said,