Page:Pekinese Rhymes (G. Vitale, 1896).djvu/107



Chinese wives are allowed from time to time to visit their old family, and to stay there for some days. Here this song depicts the grief of a wife who goes to visit her mother, arrived there she meets with her brother who treats her well and with her sister-in-law who hates her. The words are simple and touching. 厚底兒鞋 hou4 ti3'r hsie2, shoes with a thick heel. 臂兒窄 pang1 eur chai3, the heel-band is narrow, and therefore it is painful to walk. Pang' eur is "the leather heel-band of a shoe, for strengthening the back of a shoe" (Giles). 娘家 niang2 chia1, a wife's family. 走一百 tsou3 i4 pai3 I walk a hundred, it is understood 基地 li3 ti4， Chinese miles. The k'ang4 Chinese brick bed is warmed during winter by fuel. 板裳 pan3 teng4, a wooden stool. 還半年 huan2 pan4 nien2, it may be understood so "to give her a little money we shall borrow it and then we shall not be able to repay it back until after a good half-year". 還不起 huan2 pu4 ch'i3, in the same meaning, we shall not be able to give it back to the person who lends the rice to us. The expression pu4 ch'i3 following the verb, that verb acquires a negative potential meaning, as not