Procedural texts: Making a Dongdongkui Flute

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（Play All）Procedural texts: Making a Dongdongkui Flute

Peng Wugen, Dianfang Township, Longshan County
recorded on 20 July 2002

01	dong³dong³kui¹ la² pa¹ ri¹ o, ang ge³ci² ca², bai¹die¹ o! dong³dong³kui¹ ri¹, se² ba⁴-bo³, mu⁴nie³ la² zi² ta⁴-xie² la! Making a dongdongkui flute, that's fun, children! To make a dongdongkui flute, you watch, first cut a piece of bamboo and bring it here!
02	mu⁴nie³ bang¹zu¹ ta³hong², lang³zu¹ ta³hong², sang¹zu¹ ta³hong², sui¹zu³ zui² sang²jing¹ le, sui¹zu³ dian¹dian¹ ngang³huo¹, ai¹di¹ bu¹zi¹ he²kui¹. 'Bangzu' and 'Langzu' bamboo are no good, nor is 'Sangzu' bamboo. 'Suizu' bamboo is the best, the top part of 'Suizu' bamboo is suitable, just the width of a chopstick.
03	eng¹di¹ yi² hao¹ ta⁴-xie², ai¹lie¹ dong³dong³kui¹ ri¹ eng, a²re¹ you² ca², you² xian¹lian², guo²-nie³ a²re¹ zi²ying¹ you² tu⁴-xi² ca². Cut a piece of that and bring it here, then we can make a dongdongkui flute, with a fine, clear note, producing a fine quality sound.
04	se² ba⁴-bo³ nga² ri¹ mang, ba⁴-bo³ o. xian¹kui¹xian¹lie¹ le, mu⁴nie³ le, eng¹di¹ a²jie¹ ti¹-lie³, yi² ting¹ yi² ting¹ le ti¹-lie³, ni² jian¹ kei², ni² reng²wei³ eng¹di¹ mu⁴nie³ kei² yi² jie¹ ca²-nie¹, ni² jiu¹ kei² yi² jie¹ diao¹. You look at what I'm doing, look carefully. I've already stripped off the outer bark, pared it off section by section. You tell me, which section of bamboo do you think is best, then we'll carve that one.
05	nga² reng²wei³ eng¹ yi² jie¹ re⁴-xi³tai², you² sun²tang¹, you² bi³lian¹li², you² tu³ wei³ a yi²si¹ da⁴ze³ ci⁴, ai¹ nga² jiu¹ eng¹ yi² jie¹ gao¹ o. I think this section is just perfect, smooth and shiny, both ends equally large, so we'll use this section to make the flute.
06	ni² ba⁴-bo³ nga² eng¹ huo³lie³ ri¹, eng¹ yi² jie¹, yi² jie¹, eng¹ yi² jie¹ huo³lie³ gao¹-hu³. eng qi³ta¹di¹ ca¹huo⁴, eng¹ yi² jie¹ wan¹-ga¹ca³, eng¹ yi² jie¹ ngang³huo¹, eng¹di¹ bu² wai¹ bu² hui³. You watch how I make it from this, this section, this section, I will make it with this section. Hmm! The others are no good, that section is curved, but this one is suitable, neither too thick nor too thin.
07	ni² eng¹di¹ huo³lie³ gao¹ ang, eng¹di¹ kuo¹, eng¹di¹ re⁴, ge³la¹bi¹ ta³hong², eng¹di¹ jiu¹ si¹ lie³pong², ge³la¹bi¹-nie³ eng¹di¹ mu⁴nie³ lie³pong² huo³lie³. You make it from this one, break it here, this is beautiful, this part we don't need. This then is the lower end, we'll make this end of the bamboo the lower end.
08	eng¹di¹ dong³dong³kui¹ kuo¹ba¹ ri¹-duo³, eng¹di¹ sou¹xian¹ ai¹di¹ zeng¹zeng¹qi³qi³ mo³ yi² suo⁴. ai¹di¹ ting²ting¹ le, ni² guo² xie⁴-li¹ xie⁴-li¹, ni² guo² su¹ku¹ huo³lie³, su¹ku¹ xi⁴-duo³, We have to make the mouthpiece for the flute, first of all I'm slicing here to tidy it up. This joint, you pare it away a bit, pare it away, you use a firewood knife, which must be sharp,
09	xi⁴-duo³, xi⁴-lie³ xi⁴-lie³ mo³, [xi⁴-nie³-xi²] huo³lie³... sai³ sai³ mo³ xie⁴-ji²-lie³, ni² la¹bai¹la¹bai¹ xie⁴-ji²-lie³-duo³, xie⁴-lie³ le, xie⁴ mo³ ping³heng³ la le. must be sharp, sharp, use one which is sharp ... (sound of paring) ... that's done. You must pare it down systematically, when you've done it, it will be pared equally all round.
10	hou²-nie³ kuo²kuo¹ le ta³hong², bo²bo¹-di sa³sai¹ sa³sai¹ mo³ hang² xie⁴-xie². A thick outer surface is no good, pare it thin, thinly.
11	ni² xie⁴-lie³, ai¹lie¹ ni² jiu¹ tian³ge³ ca³bi¹ce³ ci⁴-duo³, ca³bi¹ce³ ci⁴-duo³, ca³bi¹ce³ hang²nie³ yi² ci⁴, ca³bi¹ce³ yi² ci⁴, ai¹lie¹ guo² mu⁴nie³ si¹ be³bei¹ hang, ai¹ta¹ guo² mu⁴nie³ ki⁴ heng⁴-liao³ la, gao¹-ya¹ti¹ la, sa³li³-ta¹ la. When you've pared it, you have to moisten the reed with saliva, moisten it with saliva, moisten it with saliva like this, moisten it with saliva. Then, the bamboo will be pliable, otherwise the bamboo will be too rigid, you can't work it, and it won't make a noise.
12	ai, eng¹di¹ yi²la¹qi¹, yi²la¹qi¹ suo⁴-nie³ si³jie³, se² jiu¹ sa³ ta⁴ li³, sa³li³-lie³ si¹ yi²la¹qi¹ pi³ la, xi⁴ huo¹ xi⁴-da²? bo¹li³-die¹, se² xi⁴ huo¹ xi⁴-da²? sa³ ta⁴ li³, nga² yi²la¹qi¹ suo⁴-hu³. The reed, when you are cutting the reed, all of you, be quiet, if you speak I will damage the reed, are you listening? Children, are you listening to me? Be quiet, I'm about to cut the reed.
13	nga² le suo⁴, kai¹si⁴! se² sa³ ta⁴ li³ o, yi²la¹ huo³lie³ huo³lie³ luo⁴-li¹la¹di³, ha³... hang² la² dong², ai¹lie¹ jiu¹ tuo³tuo³ huo³lie³, su¹ku¹ huo³lie³ suo⁴ sa³... lai²huan¹ lai²huan¹ suo⁴, suo⁴ le yun³ lian¹di³lang¹, xie¹qi¹ le luan² ta⁴ si⁴ la! I'm starting to cut it! All of you, keep quiet, I'm warming it a bit with my tongue, (sound of blowing), like that, now I use a vegetable knife, a chopper to cut it (sound of knife). Slowly, slowly does it, I'm cutting it nice and evenly, don't use too much force!
14	si³-xi² zong²-liao³ le guo² you² pi³ si³-xi², qing¹-liao³ le guo² you² la⁴ hhi²-ta¹, su¹ku¹ eng si³... ye² mang² ye² ca², ye² kuai² ye² bu²xing³, ye² mang² ye² ca², mang²-li¹lian¹di³, cai³mo¹ cai³mo¹ lao⁴ ha² ti³ o, cai³mo¹ lao⁴ ha² ti³ o, If you push too hard, you will break it. If you push too softly, the knife won't be able to cut. The firewood knife, (sound of knife), the slower the better, the faster you do it the worse it will be, the slower the better, a bit slower, carefully, carefully cut the reed free, carefully cut it free.
15	ta⁴ gao¹-si³, cai³mo¹ lao⁴ ha² ti³, ta⁴ gao¹-si³, nga² gao¹ kuo¹ki¹, nga² ji²yong¹, nga² jiu¹ di⁴, nga² cui¹-duo³. nga² ka³ki¹ la¹ ba⁴, hao⁴! yi²la¹qi¹ suo⁴ ti³-liao³, suo⁴ ti³-liao³. Don't mess things up, carefully cut it free, don't mess it up, it's really difficult, I need to have [the flute] quickly, I want to blow it. I give it a silent look over, fine! The reed is cut correctly, cut correctly.
16	ai¹lie¹ ni² jiu¹ yi²la¹qi¹ la²-liao³, su¹ku¹ huo³lie³ sa³sai¹ sa³sai¹ gua²-duo³, sai³... cai³... ya²-hao¹ tai²? nga² you² jie²mi¹ti³ huo³lie³, jie²mi¹ti³kuo²ta¹ ku²su¹ mo³ ba⁴-duo³, Now you cut away the [excess thickness of the] reed, you need to use the knife to scrape it thin. (sound of knife) Is that better? I need to use my finger, my fingernail, to pinch it and see what it's like.
17	ka³tai³, you³guan³ga¹-liao³, ai¹ la² dong² gao¹-duo³-nie², mo³-li¹ mo³-li¹ mo³, mo³-li¹ mo³-li¹ mo³. si³... yi² rua³, yi² rua³, yi²si¹ ha³, yi²si¹ ha³, ha³, yi² rua³, yi² rua³ ha³... (sound of pinching) It's smooth, but it needs a bit more work, pare it down it a little, little by little by little. (sound of knife) Rub it a bit, rub it a bit, blow on it, blow on it, rub it a bit, rub it a bit. (sound of blowing)
18	hang cui¹ mo³ lao⁴ ba⁴ ba⁴, ki⁴, ri¹-ti², ki⁴-bo³-la¹-nie². ai! ki⁴-bo³-la¹-nie², li³-xi² yi²la¹ qian² mo³, yi²la¹ qian² mo³ si³ si³, mo³, mo³, I'll blow the flute a bit to see what it's like. It's still hard, it doesn't work, it's still too hard. It's still too hard, we need to pare the reed down a bit more to make it sound good, pare the reed down (sound of knife), pare it,
19	mo³-lie³ eng, bao³hui¹hui¹, zi¹zang¹zi¹bo³, ye² mo³ ye² si²si¹ be³bei¹, ye² mo³ ye² si²si¹ be³bei¹ be³bei¹, cui¹ ca²-xi³tai², sa³ ru³ ca², a²re¹ you² ci⁴, zi²ying¹ tu⁴-xi² you² ca². si³ si³ hao⁴ ha³.. la¹ cui¹ ba⁴ ba⁴, pare it, now it's very thin, paper-thin, the more we pare it down the softer its note, the more we pare it down the softer the note. It's easy to blow now, it sounds good, it's loud and clear. (sound of knife) OK! (sound of blowing) Let's blow it and see.
20	si³ dong³... a²re¹ jian¹ lie³ jian¹, sang²jing¹! ai! ong a²re¹ jian¹ lie³ jian¹, sang²jing¹! ai! ong sang²jing¹! ai! hai a²re¹ zui² ca²-lie³, eng¹ a la² pa¹ a²re¹ zui² ca² le, jian¹ lie³ jian¹, guo² you² sa³ ru³ ca². (sound of knife) (sound of flute) It sounds really crisp. Excellent! Hey! The sound is very crisp, that's great, excellent, really good. This sound is very good, very crisp, it plays well.
21	eng¹di¹ die³ tong³qian³ huo³lie³-duo³ pu¹-zuo³ tai², a⁴se³ bo³, a⁴se³ bo³ lie²-duo³ nga² se¹bu¹die³, nga² ai¹di¹ die³ bang² kuo¹ki¹ le, gu¹ce³ hao³ dong² zu²-liao³ a, bang² ca²-da² ming. Money can't buy you one like this, not anywhere, to whom, to whom shall I give it, I'm reluctant to give it away. Making that [flute] was very hard, I'm covered in sweat, that's not good.
22	nga² ai¹di¹ die³ lao¹huo⁴-liao³ la, sui¹rang³ si¹ dong³dong³kui¹ he²kui¹-lang² bang², bu² rong³yi², sou¹jiao³ tai², a⁴se³ guo² duo³ bang²-bu¹hao¹. ni² le hong³huan⁴, ni² le huan² ngeng²-di, you² xi² gong¹hu¹, you² bu²si¹ cu³ gong¹hu¹. I'm tired now, even though it's only a small flute, it's not easy to make, if you don't have the skill, you can't do it properly. It's hard work, hard work, it's fine workmanship, nothing crude.
23	ai¹lie¹ ni² dong³ga² tong¹, jie²mi¹ti³ tuo⁴ ni³ga³ ra³ba³ tuo⁴-nie³ ai¹ la² dong³ga² tong¹. si³ sai³... gai² ba³ti³-lie¹ dong³ga² suo⁴, ai¹ zong¹gang¹-nie³ le hang² ta⁴ kuan¹, kong¹, kong¹-liao³ bu²xing³. Then you need to make the finger-holes, to poke the hole covered by the finger that we use for the 'knock the cockerel' game. (sound of knife) We cut the hole from below, the one in the middle, not too wide, if it's too wide it won't work.
24	guo² zi² you² tu⁴ mo³ hhi²-ti², dong³ga² ci⁴-liao³ bu²xing³, suan⁴-liao³ bu²xing³, ye¹ ngang³huo¹-duo³, jiu¹ da⁴ ngang³huo¹-liao³, dong³ga² yi² tong¹, tong¹-alie³. It won't play a note if the hole is too big, or if it is too small, it needs to be just right, all of them just right, make the hole, done.
25	ai! ai¹lie¹ ni² guo² yi² luo⁴, ka³zu³ bi² huo³lie³ ka³cei³ die³ yi² he⁴, ka³cei³ die³ yi² diao¹, diao¹-le dong³ga², dong³ga² ca²-liao³. Then you warm it a bit, and use a small stick to puncture it (sound of puncturing) and carve it out, done, the hole's made.
26	di²ai² guo² ngang³ngang³ dong³ga² you² tong¹, ai¹ dong³ga² you² si³ sai³ si³ sai³ la² suo⁴, ge³ you² si³ sai³ si³ sai³ la² suo⁴ ang, suo⁴-le, you² ni² guo² yi² diao¹, diao¹-le you² dong³ga², you² gao¹-hao¹-liao³. Now we poke the second finger-hole, we cut this one (sound of knife), we cut this one too (sound of knife), done, you carve this one out too, carve it out, and there's your hole.
27	di²sang¹ guo² ngang³ngang³, di²sang¹ dong³ga², di²suo¹ dong², di²suo¹ dong², dong³ga² suo¹ dong², ni² you² tong¹, sai³ die³ yi² suo⁴, you² sai³ die³ yi² suo⁴, suo⁴-lie³ you² yi² diao¹, diao¹-alie³ gao¹-hao¹-liao³ ang. The third hole, the third hole, the third one, the third one, the third one, you also poke through, (sound of knife), and cut it (sound of knife), cut it and then carve it, carve it. There you are.
28	ge³la¹bi¹ le, ni² guo² bang²bian¹ ha¹pa³ sai³ die³ huo² gao¹-bo³-duo³, bang²bian¹ ha¹pa³, yi² bian¹ hhe³-nie¹, yi² bian¹ zong⁴-nie¹. This side, you need to use the knife to tidy up this half, and this half, not too long, not too short.
29	ai¹lie¹ jiu¹ guan¹jian¹ si³ke³, qing³mo¹ gao¹ le? ni² guo² mu⁴nie³ jie²zuo⁴bi³ lao⁴ kuo¹, kuo¹ le ni² guo² bo³ se³ a³-duo³, Then comes the crucial moment, does it work? You break off a small piece of bamboo, and you use it to clear out the pith,
30	ni² mu⁴nie³ se³ a³-ta¹ ya, ni² dong³dong³kui¹, ni² zai² ni² bang²-bo³-xi² re⁴ duo³ guo² mo²hu¹-ta¹, zai² ni² gao¹-bo³-xi² ca², guo² si¹ a²re¹ ca¹huo⁴, a²re¹ mo²hu¹ mo³ da³-i-ti², if you don't clear out the pith, your flute, even if everything else is right, it won't play. Even if everything else is ok, its sound will be poor and it won't play properly,
31	guo² qing³mo¹ mo²hu¹ mo³ da³-i-ti²? ying¹wei³ guo² se³ ying²zi¹ ga³ wo²tu¹ song³-liao³ mang, guo² si²si¹ a³-ti², wo², qing³mo¹ mo²hu¹-i le? suo¹yi¹ ni² bi²xi¹ guo² ai¹ wo²tu¹-nie³, me³gu³ wo²tu¹-nie³ se³ tong¹-alie³-duo³, why won't it play properly? Because inside it's all blocked up with pith, and it can't breathe. [If it's blocked] inside, how can it play? So you must poke out the pith from the inside of the bore,
32	gu¹zu⁴-ji²-lie³, gu¹zu⁴-ji²-lie³, guo² se³ wo²tu¹ song³-bo³-dao², ni²duo³ die² mo³ gao¹, guo² jiu¹ sa³ zu², guo² si²si¹ a³ ca² mang. get it out completely, all out. Now there's no pith blocking it, you can do as you please, now it will sound, now it can draw breath.
33	guo² si²si¹ a³-ti², ni² guo² si²si¹ a³-ti², ni² guo² qing³mo¹ ai¹ la² ze² cang² a, guo² cang²-ya¹ti¹; gai³di¹ la² dong² cang² ya, cang²-ya¹ti¹; guo² gai² la² dong² cang² ya, cang²-ya¹ti¹; If it can't breathe, if it can't breathe, how can you play it? You can't play it; let's play a tune! It can't play this, this tune, it can't play.
34	guo² jiu¹ long¹se³ wo²tu¹-lie¹ song³-liao³, yi²la¹qi¹ tao², song³-si³-liao³, suo¹yi¹ ni² guo² ai¹di¹ me³gu³ wo²tu¹-nie³ eng¹di¹ se³, eng¹di¹ se³ yi²ha¹lie¹ a³-lie³-duo³. If it gets blocked by phlegm, the reed will gum up, and it will seize up. Therefore, you must completely remove the pith from inside the bore.
35	eng¹di¹ si¹ dang¹jing¹, dian² tai² mo³ zu²-ji²-lie³, gu¹zu⁴-ji²-liao³, ai¹lie¹ dong³dong³kui¹ la² pa¹ le! ai, re⁴-xi³la¹tai²! xiao¹huo³zi da¹bang²-bo³-xi² zui² ca²-liao³! This is very important, you must get every last bit out, every bit out, then what a flute you have!
36	ai luo⁴die¹ a, luo⁴die¹, a²ci¹-nie³ luo⁴die¹ bo³ lie² meng guo² ni²-nie³ a²ci¹ le ce³si³ ye⁴! hei! nga² bo³ lie²-gu², ai¹ jiu¹ lie²-ti², nga² bang² mo³ lao¹huo⁴-liao³; ni² lie²-gu², ai¹ lie²-ti², lie²-ti², zai² da⁴ da⁴ bo³ ca² le. Beautiful! The outside looks beautiful! People, people, give it to someone who likes such flutes, the others will drool over it! Give it to me now. I won't give you that, I'm tired out. Give it to me now, that one I'm not giving away, not even to good friends.
37	eng! zai² da⁴, da⁴ bo³ ca² ya, lie²-ta¹ mang, nga² cui¹ ya ba⁴, ang! yi² cui¹-le sang²jing¹ a! hao⁴ jia¹huo¹! ei! sang²jing¹, sang²jing¹! jiu¹ hang²la³. It's better to play it together, I'm not giving it away, let me play it, it sounds great! Good friends! Excellent, excellent, indeed it is.