The Nines of Winter
Nine sets of nine days until spring arrives
In China they talk about winter days in nine sets of nine days beginning with the solstice. This poem describing the change in weather sounds really nice when spoken aloud in Chinese. I wish this page could talk!
一九二九 不出手
yi jiu er jiu bu chu shou
1st nine, 2nd nine; don’t take hands out of your pockets
三九四九 冰上走
san jiu si jiu bing shang zou
3rd nine, 4th nine walking on ice
五九六九 沿河看柳
wu jiu liu jiu yan he kan liu
5th nine, 6th nine, at the river’s edge we look at willows
七九河开 八九雁来
qi jiu he kai ba jiu yan lai
7th nine, river’s open, 8th nine, swallows return
九九加一九 耕牛遍地走
jiu jiu jia yi jiu, geng niu bian di zou
9th nine plus nine, plow oxen are everywhere in the fields.
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