The following proverbs, colloquial sayings and nursery rhymes were told by Fay Hing Lee Wong to her children and grandchildren. They were collected and submitted to us by her daughter Linda Huang. Most are wise, many funny, more are wry, and a few are very earthy. Fay Hing Lee Wong (1917-2000), recited them to Linda and her brothers and sisters, and their children, giving them, and us, a lifetime of loving wisdom. Her husband Voy Wong brought Fay to America in 1947, and, together with their children, they operated the Chungking Restaurant in Riverside for many years. The sayings, nearly 100 of them, are mostly accompanied by audio in Hoisan and English. You can click the audio button to hear the sayings in Linda’s Hoisan-wah. Here are Fay’s sayings, Nos. 22 to 31. More will come in the following months.
22.-A gei wah ngaan m’lai ahk nei thleow,
Any amount of money can’t make you laugh,
A ga ngin doi lai nei haha thleow.
A baby can make you haha laugh.
23.-Thlai-loi, leung han-ai, ai-loi leung fong ngin.
Growing up, two brothers; grown up, two different people.
24.-Gan lui-heung, m’gan yee-lok.
Enough thunder, not enough rain.
(Yelling not effective, be patient with children.)
25.-Songk ah-ban dee seep-teet bak,
Know how to apply makeup to look 17-18 yrs, (to be attractive for suitors.)
m’songk ah-ban dee thlo gnot-gnot.
Don’t know how then smelly.
26.-M’hai-gan ngin heck han,
Don’t see people eating clams,
Hai-gan ngin thlew han hok.
only see them throwing out the clam shells.
(You don’t see the inside of people, only the outside.)
27.-Ngeem thlam ahm gwa-pei cha,
Drink three sips of tangerine skin tea,
Ngin ai yeet goi ngei.
(Before) person big (grow) one dumpling (child).
(Similar theme )
Bei-bee heck tham ga nai jwun dee gong ahk ai.
Baby eats three mud bricks (made of “wah”-rice stalks) before you can grow up.
(Babies were always crawling on the dirt floors in the village.)
28.-Ngin doi seep-ngei ban.
Baby changes 12 times.
29.-Teet toe, bak mo.
Seven sit, eight crawl.
(Baby sits at 7 months, crawls at 8 months.)
Thlei ga nguet, ngun doy mong gwa hong.
Four months, eyes little (can) look across (to) canal.
30.-Neck doi-see dee chu,
Other’s baby poop stinks,
Dee-gei doi-see dee hong go-yiu.
Your own baby’s poop is sugar syrup oil.
31.-Nei wah ngoi lahn,
You say I’m lazy,
Ngoi yiu jieh seen bahn.
I have cover body board. (Nursing baby)
(Usually said during mother-in-law/daughter interactions.)
