I have a 20 month old daughter. Sometimes we listen to Chinese children songs. Here's one song in particular that I sing to her and I was wondering about the lyrics.
(T)
小老鼠, 上燈台
偷吃油, 下不來。
喵喵喵, 貓來啦
嘰哩哩滾下來。
(S)
小老鼠, 上燈台
偷吃油, 下不来。
喵喵喵, 猫来啦
叽哩哩滚下来。
[pingyin]
Xiǎo lǎoshǔ, shàng dēngtái
Tōu chī yóu, xià bù lái.
Miāo miāo miāo, māo lái lā,
jīlili gǔn xiàlái.
Translation
Little mouse goes up on the lamp stand.
He steals the oil, cannot come down.
Miao Miao Miao (sound), the cat comes
JiLiLi (sound), the mouse falls down.
Everything here makes sense to me till the oil part. Why is there oil at the lamp? After some searching, I found that before electric lamps, oil lamps existed. Now it seems obvious, but I didn't realize it. Oil was an alternate fuel source. Oil can be olive oil (Mediterranean cultures), whale oil, castor oil (ancient Egyptians), carrot oil, peanut oil (Africa), and ghee (India). I guess one day I will explain to my daughter what a manual typewriter is.
No comments:
Post a Comment