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. 66 to 75. More will come in the following months.
66.-Thlam ga lo-po m’hung yeet ga lai-see suk.
Three women not same (strong as) as one diarrhea man.
67.-Juk yep bo-gwo ngin thleem thlee.
Bamboo leaves wrap, person heart cares.
(Even a gift so small that it can be wrapped with small, narrow bamboo leaves shows heart.)
68.-Giu toi saang seung han,
Old vegetables grow up heaven,
Nyan lo wan thlai jeung.
Year old can’t-go-back small sun(youth).
(You think old vegetables can grow up to heaven. When you’re old, you can’t be young again.)
Note: Have the Chinese characters.
69.-Seep taang dee A nguk, giu taang han.
Ten layers are Earth, nine layers heaven.
(Fay recited this saying when we were discussing Jupiter being hit by comet fragments.)
70.-Leung lo song-toon ho-ah meet-hong.
Two old pair better (than) honey.
71.-Dee bwut yem mo chu.
Don’t be sensitive mother mean.
(Son shouldn’t be sensitive if mother is mean.)
72.-Pung-gan na sek yeah seung gong.
Bump into rocks still want to talk (to the rock).
Variation: Pung-gan ga sek-hai dee chut seng gong.
Bump into a rock-mouth then out sound talk.
73.-Yeet geuk nai see, yeet geuk bonn(sp.?),
One foot step poo, one foot muddy,
M’naang gong-ah-moi go-seung ngin.
Can’t talk together high class people.
74.-Lahng cat-cat jan-jan han-han,
Cold, shivering, moving, stop,
A m’uht nang-thlee jan bak ngaan-jee.
Give what can-worth make 100 money-paper.
(A man went to stay at the YMCA. It was so cold outside, another man bet him $100 he couldn’t
spend the night on the roof. The man accepted the challenge. He won by sneakily catching
and hugging a cat all night long, chanting the above lines.)
75.-Bak ngin dee seng geem.
One hundred people (patience/endurance) makes gold.
