Some Taiwanese Proverbs About Roosters and Chickens

Happy New Year--the Year of the Rooster! I hope you enjoy the following sampling of Taiwanese proverbs about hens, roosters, chicks, and chickens in general selected for the new year.

1. 雞嘴變鴨嘴 The mouth of the chicken turns into the mouth of a duck. (Said of someone who first       speaks forcefully, determinedly, even stubbornly but who then ends up being unable to speak at 
    all.)

2. 雞母帶子輕鬆， 雞公帶子拖帆 The hen is relaxed taking care of the chick, while the rooster
    finds doing so tough going. (Said of an individual who takes on a task for which he/she is 
    unqualified. Think of the Norwegian folktale "The Husband Who was to Mind the House.")

3. 雞仔腸， 鳥仔肚 Chicken intestine (but) bird stomach. (Said of situations, problems that cannot
    be remedied.) 

4. 雞母屎， 半黑白 Chicken droppings are black and white. (Describing one who is irresolute, one
    who lacks a point of view.)
   
5. 有看雞， 沒看人 To see the chicken but not see the person. (Said of someone who is "a work in
     progress," someone with potential, like one who is still "a diamond in the rough.")

6. 大猴哄雞 The big monkey frightens the chicken. (Describing someone without forbearance or 
    tolerance.)

7. 偷掠雞也得了米 A poached chicken ending up with a grain of rice. (Said of someone 
    encountering a great stroke of luck.)

8. 曹操吃雞筋--食之無味， 棄之可惜 Cao Cao's eating chicken muscle--a flavorless thing to
    eat, yet throwing it away would be a pity. (Cao Cao, the archvillain from The Romance of the
    Three Kingdoms, is often encountered in proverbs. This proverb reflects the desire to 
    "have things both ways" but faced with the reality that this isn't possible, as well as wanting
     to hold onto things of little or no value.)

from

台灣歇後語 [Taiwanese Folk Similes], Wu Reixing, ed. Tainan: Duanbo, 2002; 最新俗成語智慧
[Wisdom From the Latest Common Proverbs], Wang Shuixing, ed. New Taipei City: Junjia, 2012;
台灣諺語集成 [Integrated Taiwanese Proverbs], Guan Meifen, ed. Tainan: Wenguo, 2002; www.folktw.com.tw/folksay

The Owl Seeks a Wife (Guangdong -- Hakka)

The owl wanted to marry the partridge, so he enlisted the help of the pit snail for help, to serve as his marriage broker.

"All right, " said the pit snail to the owl, "listen very carefully. The partridge is very pretty; we all know that. As for you,  you are a fine, sturdy fellow, but there's one problem: your eyes are too large! Now, when you meet her, keep your eyes closed! Otherwise, you're liable to spoil the whole deal when we go to see her!"

"All right" was the owl's reply.

"And let me do the talking!"

"All right."

The day came when the pit snail arranged for the owl and the partridge to meet each other for the first time.

The owl kept his eyes closed as the pit snail built up the owl in front of the partridge, bragging how great, how wonderful the owl was. All was going splendidly according to the plan, with the partridge showing more and more interest in the owl as each minute passed.

Then the owl decided to take a tiny peek at the partridge. He had seen her from afar, of course, but couldn't resist the temptation of glimpsing the lovely partridge now that he was this close to her. What harm could a little peek do?

Well, there's no such thing as "a little peek" from an owl. When the partridge came face-to-face with the two huge saucer eyes staring at her inches away, she immediately flew off to a nearby hillock.

"Whew!" she squawked. "That was close! I was going to marry him!"

The pit snail was fuming. He turned to the owl and said, "I told you, I told you, I told you to keep your eyes shut! Why didn't you listen to me?"

All the owl could say was "Ku-hu! Ku-hu! Ku-hu!"

From far away, the pit snail and owl could hear the partridge say, "Sha-gua! Hao-ah! Hao-ah!"

from

广东民间故事全书：汕尾陆河卷 [The Complete Folktales of Guangdong: Shanwei and Luhe Volume]; Guangdong Union of Arts and Literature; Guangzhou: Lingnan Meishu; 2008; p.159.

Shanwei and Luhe are districts of Guangdong where primarily the Hakka (AKA Kejia or Hakkanese 客家) dialect is spoken. 

This pourquoi tale purports to explain the origins behind the cries of, respectively, the owl and the partridge and what they actually mean. In the story, the owl's cry of "ku-hu" is written as 苦呼, suggesting something like "Oh, the pain!" or "The bitterness!" The partridge's "Sha-gua! Hao-ah!" 傻瓜！ 好啊！can be translated as "Fool! Good!" or "Okay, idiot!" The "pit" snail 坑螺 had the character 精 attached, suggesting this tiny creature was a shape-shifter. 

Motifs: A2426.2.17, "Origin of owl's cries"; A2427.3, "Hooting explained"; A2462.2, "Cries of birds"; B623.2, "Owl as suitor."