Chinese Children's Songs (and other stuff)
"When We Are Together"
| Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Translation |
       |
Dang1 wo3 men tong2 zai4 yi1 qi3, |
When we are together, |
  ,   |
zai4 yi1 qi3, zai4 yi1 qi3, |
together, together, |
       |
dang1 wo3 men tong2 zai4 yi1 qi3, |
when we are together, |
     |
qi2 kuai4 le4 wu2 bi3. |
this happiness has no equal. |
       |
Ni3 dui4 zhe wo3 xiao4 xi1 xi1, |
You face me, ha ha, |
       |
wo3 dui4 zhe ni3 xiao4 ha1 ha1, |
I face you, ha ha, |
       |
dang1 wo3 men tong2 zai4 yi1 qi3, |
when we are together, |
     |
qi2 kuai4 le4 wu2 bi3. |
this happiness has no equal. |
"Two Tigers"
| Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Translation |
    |
Liang3 zhi1 lao3 hu3,
| Two tigers, |
    |
liang3 zhi1 lao3 hu3, |
two tigers, |
   |
pao3 de2 kuai4, |
they run fast, |
   |
pao3 de2 kuai4, |
they run fast. |
      |
yi1 zhi1 mei2 you3 yan3 jing1, |
One has no eyes, |
      |
yi1 zhi1 mei2 you3 wei3 ba1, |
one has no tail, |
   |
zhen1 qi2 guai4, |
how strange, |
   |
zhen1 qi2 guai4. |
how strange. |
Unknown Title
| Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Translation |
       |
mei4 mei bei1 zhe yang2 wa2 wa |
Little sister carries her foreign doll |
       |
zou3 dao4 hua1 yuan2 lai2 kan4 hua1 |
to the garden to see some flowers. |
       |
wa2 wa ku1 le jiao4 ma1 ma |
The doll cries for its mother. |
        |
shu4 shang4 de xiao3 niao3 xiao4 ha1 ha |
A bird up in a tree laughs. |
"Big Head"
| Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Translation |
  
|
Da4 tou2, da4 tou2,
|
Big head, big head,
|
  
|
Xia4 yu3 bu4 chou2.
|
When it rains, I don't worry.
|
  
|
Ren2 jia1 you3 san3,
|
Most people have umbrellas,
|
  
|
Wo3 you3 da4 tou2!
|
I have my big head!
|
"Frogs"
| Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Translation |
  
|
Yi2 ge4 qing1 wa1,
|
One frog,
|
 
|
Yi4 zhang1 zui3,
|
One mouth,
|
  
|
Liang3 ge4 yan3 jing1,
|
Two eyes,
|
 
|
Si4 tiao2 tui3.
|
Four legs.
|

(Night-Time Thoughts) by 
(Li Bo)
| Hanzi |
Pinyin |
Translation |
     |
chuang1 qian2 ming2 yue4 guang1 |
Bright moonlight falls near my bed, |
     |
yi2 shi4 di4 shang4 shuang1 |
like frost on the ground. |
     |
ju3 tou2 wang4 ming2 yue4 |
I look up at the moon, |
     |
di1 tou2 si1 gu4 xiang1 |
then lower my eyes, and think of my home. |
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider
Went up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
Went up the spout again!
See also Rules For Husbands, some jokes that
my officemate Yirng-An
gave me.
Henry A. Rowley
(har@cs.cmu.edu)