Ang Loi - Song II
Another traditional Jǔo Páng Zǔh song or poem from Ang Loi. Known as "Monk-in-Training", it scolds rash boys such as the addressee of the piece, and is often recited to young boys when they express interest in becoming a trainee monk, or when they are accepted into a temple to begin training. Ang culture places a strong emphasis on the roles of shrines and temples, and while many youths enter training to become monks or shrine maidens, few make it all the way through. To avoid the shame and financial damage brought about by dropping out, poems and stories with similar messages to this are an important part of educating wannabe monks-in-training.
Sí Dǎ Mhîe
Sí mhîe fǔ gî tàm hūer bòn
Dà bǐa qī bè dūong vǔh nè hòn
Nú bô tét pûe bǔo pûe bùt
Tíu cō lǎh dēm lǎm bè kùt
Sí mhîe sīa kâ cá wǒng sào
Cō mǒi kīo bǔo dēm lāp wùh yào
Nú háh tàm tái dè tāi kup
Wâ pǔe tāi qīng míng sê sūp
Sí mhîe háh tǎ mhūt xūeh ku
Wâ sǔa gì xīeh xáh gì rǔp vhù
Nèi mōi ku khī héhp lò bán
Pǎih ku bét lēp cō bǔo sān
Sí mhîe fǔ gî tàm hūer bòn
Lāh ku lè qùk cō pǔe míng thôn
Dēm tāi li sīa xūeh tēn thui
Má bó ku púe ku bǔo sǔi
Monk-in-training, you are still only just a youth
Not even as ripe as a two-day persimmon
You want to enter the monastery, become a monk and head monk
But to be able to you have to progress as slowly as a tortoise
Monk-in-training, have you slain your first sao?
To be able to deliver peace, a monk has to have experienced bloodshed
You who have never once suffered
How can you become a supplicant to the deity of pain?
Monk-in-training, who hasn’t wept for death
How can you study the ever-increasing sad beauty of the setting sun?
If you haven’t delivered a sign of love to a maiden
You can’t choose to give up marriage as a monk’s sacrifice
Monk-in-training, you are still only just a youth
You haven’t been around long enough to be able to become a deity’s servant
You must have suffered, slain, wept and been intimate
Or you still won’t enter the monastery, still won’t become a monk
Glossary
dà bǐa qī bè dūong vǔh nè hòn - 'not even as ripe as a 2-day persimmon' - persimmons generally take at least a week to ripen, this therefore meaning 'not ready at all'
lǎm bè kùt - 'slow(ly) as a tortoise' - taking plenty of care and consideration and moving slowly to observe the world around before making a move
sīa kâ cá wǒng sào - 'have you slain your first sao?' - hunting down, or at least killing, this small forest bovine is still an important rite of passage for Ang males, particularly in rural areas
rǔp vhù - 'ruined sun' - setting sun
tēn thui - 'to be physically intimate' - literally 'to dance hair, to do the hair dance', suggesting being so close that even the hairs on the head intermingle
Sí Dǎ Mhîe
Sí mhîe fǔ gî tàm hūer bòn
Dà bǐa qī bè dūong vǔh nè hòn
Nú bô tét pûe bǔo pûe bùt
Tíu cō lǎh dēm lǎm bè kùt
Sí mhîe sīa kâ cá wǒng sào
Cō mǒi kīo bǔo dēm lāp wùh yào
Nú háh tàm tái dè tāi kup
Wâ pǔe tāi qīng míng sê sūp
Sí mhîe háh tǎ mhūt xūeh ku
Wâ sǔa gì xīeh xáh gì rǔp vhù
Nèi mōi ku khī héhp lò bán
Pǎih ku bét lēp cō bǔo sān
Sí mhîe fǔ gî tàm hūer bòn
Lāh ku lè qùk cō pǔe míng thôn
Dēm tāi li sīa xūeh tēn thui
Má bó ku púe ku bǔo sǔi
Monk-in-training, you are still only just a youth
Not even as ripe as a two-day persimmon
You want to enter the monastery, become a monk and head monk
But to be able to you have to progress as slowly as a tortoise
Monk-in-training, have you slain your first sao?
To be able to deliver peace, a monk has to have experienced bloodshed
You who have never once suffered
How can you become a supplicant to the deity of pain?
Monk-in-training, who hasn’t wept for death
How can you study the ever-increasing sad beauty of the setting sun?
If you haven’t delivered a sign of love to a maiden
You can’t choose to give up marriage as a monk’s sacrifice
Monk-in-training, you are still only just a youth
You haven’t been around long enough to be able to become a deity’s servant
You must have suffered, slain, wept and been intimate
Or you still won’t enter the monastery, still won’t become a monk
Glossary
dà bǐa qī bè dūong vǔh nè hòn - 'not even as ripe as a 2-day persimmon' - persimmons generally take at least a week to ripen, this therefore meaning 'not ready at all'
lǎm bè kùt - 'slow(ly) as a tortoise' - taking plenty of care and consideration and moving slowly to observe the world around before making a move
sīa kâ cá wǒng sào - 'have you slain your first sao?' - hunting down, or at least killing, this small forest bovine is still an important rite of passage for Ang males, particularly in rural areas
rǔp vhù - 'ruined sun' - setting sun
tēn thui - 'to be physically intimate' - literally 'to dance hair, to do the hair dance', suggesting being so close that even the hairs on the head intermingle