Buzz
Folk verses are the distilled wisdom passed down through generations. These verses are even more humorous and witty when they carry satirical tones, evoking emotions in readers.
When fate smiles, you pick the finest fish; when luck fades, even frogs flirt with crabs.
When fate smiles, you marry three pigs; when luck fades, you marry a tailless cat.
7. Being a gentleman is worth being one
Use chopsticks longer to eat your child's food faster
8. The world favors wealth, favors merit
Who doesn't favor people never exists.
9. Is there any face in this world
Once spat out, how can one become human again?
10. Wasting effort hitting cotton
Hit one side, it puffs up on the other.
11. The sparrow eats the millstone grain by grain
Singing the same tune day in and day out.
12. Speaking is like stabbing five and slashing ten
By dinner, afraid to step outside.
13. Bald heads carry the reputation of injustice
As if having hair could tame the wild winds and moon.
14. What's the use of teasing married women
Like slapping dried-up water, wasted effort plowing and hoeing.
15. Holding two peaches in hand
One bitter, one sweet.
Lying at night, sighing deeply
Love for husband is little, longing for lover is much.
16. Other men fight in the North and conquer the East
My husband sits by the stove, aiming and shooting chickens.
17. Other men dive in the So and Ngô rivers
My husband sits by the stove, roasting corn, burning trousers.
18. Other men go against the tide
My husband sits by the stove, playing with the cat's tail.
19. Eighteen nostrils carry loads of hair
Husband loves, husband says, 'Pink threads from heaven'
Nighttime, snoring soundly
Husband loves, husband says, 'Snoring brings joy to the home'
Going to the market, enjoying gifts
Husband loves, husband says, 'Coming home to share meals'
On our heads, garbage and straw
Husband dear, husband says, 'Scattering fragrant flowers upon.'
20. Wine, tea, gambling, ample
Money spent, mother sets up shop.
21. Carrying husband on a swing, going out to play,
Reaching a muddy place, losing husband.
Sisters! Let me borrow the sieve,
So I can scoop up my husband.
22. Divining for a household sign,
Four-legged pig, two-legged hen.
23. If the land could speak,
Geography teachers would have no teeth left.
24. Eat, then lie down, tilt and lean
Whoever wants me, carry me in.
25. Learning three letters, muddled
Seeing girls, craving like never before.
26. Who wouldn't want to wear fragrant flowers?
But wise ones dare not follow blindly.
27. Sitting sadly burning a pile of straw,
Smoke billows thick, not a hint of fragrance.
Smoke rises to the heavens,
Jade Emperor asks: who's burning straw?
28. I am a young lady!
Parents urge marriage, what's the fuss?
Nine boxes of gold and jewels in olden days,
Betel nuts, hundreds of jars, relatives gather for fun.
Ten pairs of golden bracelets,
Three hundred rings, in ancient times, ten officials.
And countless queries and negotiations,
The loss of belongings, the cost of marriage, brings me home.
Marrying me means a hundred geese, a thousand goats,
A hundred thousand phoenixes to make me bride.
Marrying me means ninety buffalo,
Three hundred pigs to present to my parents-in-law.
He returns with a message to his parents,
Buy some bamboo for a convenient new home.
He returns with a message to neighbors,
Sweep the gate, sweep the alley, welcome us back.
I return, I return without fail,
Elephants lead, red horses follow.
Three old ladies hold fans, followed by attendants,
Eighteen servants, when sufficient, is enough.
29. Aunt's house has a black dog,
Bites strangers, welcomes friends.
One tipsy day,
Bites a friend, snaps his arm.
30. Husband hunched, marries a hunched wife,
Lying down, cramped; sitting, just right.
31. Old lady goes to Cau Dong market,
Sees a fortune teller, asking if marrying is profitable?
The fortune teller casts the lots and says,
Profit there may be, but teeth won't remain.
32. Aunt's house has a black dog,
Bites strangers, welcomes friends.
One tipsy day,
Bites a friend, snaps his arm.
33. Nowadays, riding horses, shooting arrows,
Tomorrow, riding dogs, making money swatting flies.
34. Married at fifteen,
Husband complains I'm small, won't sleep beside me.
By eighteen or twenty,
At night, lying on the ground, husband drags me onto the bed.
One says love, two say love,
Four bed legs broken, one remains.
35. Darling, come sit closer to me
Though of different sexes, we share the same table.
36. Where's the merit in slapping the river water?
Where's the merit in befriending someone else's husband?
37. Nightclubs are for revelry,
Chi Hoa is for resting, the realm of the streets.
38. Women aren't just women,
Rice blowing, salt pouring, oh my.
39. Sporadic showers cease, then drizzle resumes
A rooster is castrated, reserved solely for the Master
Overflowing with rice, fill it to the brim
When empty, the Master's household loses sanctity.
40. If the land could speak
Geography teachers would have no teeth left
Horoscopes tell fortunes for people
The Master's fortunes are left for the fly to devour.
41. Grateful hearts seek to thank
Please, don't go elsewhere, lest my husband grow jealous.
42. Fish within the red lobe are indifferent
Fish outside yearn to enter.
43. May rain, noon sun, evening mist
The sky keeps changing, what can the world say?
44. Whoever strikes the temple drum, the barrel shakes
Whoever masters shared property, establishes their own.
45. Speaking is like stabbing five and slashing ten
By dinner, afraid to step outside.
46. Pumpkin soup cooked with catfish
Tastes cool but enraptures the old wife.
47. Is there any face left in this world
Once spat out, how can one become human again?
48. Every year when the peach blossoms bloom
We see the gambling deity again
Whether big or small in gambling
Excitedly, we all play together.
49. In the dry field or in the deep field
Husband plows, wife plants, the buffalo plows away
Luckily, on that rainy day
There's a son-in-law plowing alongside the buffalo.
50. Marry a husband to avoid the sun and rain
Who knew, he naps from noon until now.
How could a wife not scold her husband?
Going to the market, still holding coconut husks and banh da crackers.
Getting annoyed, not wanting to speak out
Wanting to dine out, yet no invitations come.
Humorous folk verses and satirical sayings not only bring us laughter and joy but also impart meaningful lessons. Let's read and contemplate together, share your thoughts on the folk verses in the comments section below!
