Introduction.

This is an unrelated version of the story in the previous song (M153) by Yang Zhi. The individual who retrieved the gourd from the pool into which it had been thrown is here called simply "yeu sha", that is "the man", and, although the horse has been omitted, the creatures referred to as "mother pig" and "mother cow" by Yang Zhi appear again, but in a rather curious manner,

dli   jio    di  nba   and   niu   nw    gha   na 
dog  bring  the  pig         cow  horse  the  great 

Both these are "four word expressions" which are similar to the "four character expressions" of Chinese. The former phrase occurs regularly in the songs when naming a month. Thus "dli jio di nba hli" would be "dog or pig month" that is the 6th or 7th month of the lunar calendar. The latter expression is also used in the songs and means "large herds and flocks", which is a way of describing the considerable wealth of a person like a landlord. It seems that the singer of this song, wishing to emphasise the fact that both the pig and the cow were not isolated individuals, but representatives, chose these two "four word expressions", using them as generic terms.

Lao-gi-jiai, mentioned in the second line is one of the names given in the songs to the main town in the ancient homeland.

Translation in verse
Literal Transcription
Notes

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