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    CHINESE MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES


    [Illustration: 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
work 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




SWEETER THAN SUGAR


    My little baby, little boy blue,
    Is as sweet as sugar and cinnamon too;
    Isn't this precious darling of ours
    Sweeter than dates and cinnamon flowers?




LITTLE SMALL-FEET


    The small-footed girl
    With the sweet little smile,
    She loves to eat sugar
    And sweets all the while.
    Her money's all gone
    And because she can't buy,
    She holds her small feet
    While she sits down to cry.




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