Seventh Sister and Serpent Prince,

Husband and wife with mutual affection,

Seventh Sister's heart was sweet,

Serpent Prince's heart was sweet.

Happily they lived,

Face to smiling face.
 

Serpent Prince's great legs,

Were wider than the trunks of banana trees,

The strength of Serpent Prince was so great,

A tiger couldn't compare with him;

The hoe blade Serpent Prince wielded,

Was a foot wide,

Two feet long,

Weighed an even twenty pounds.

With one swing he'd cut into the earth three feet deep.
 

When Serpent Prince started digging,

A single swing of his hoe,

Equalled three by an ordinary man!

When Serpent Prince went into the hills to cut firewood,

What he shouldered in one load,

Took three loads for an ordinary man.

The work Serpent Prince did in one day,

An ordinary man needed three day to complete.
 

Serpent Prince's land,

Grew such fine crops,

One shoot of rice produced five heads,

One stalk of corn gave three ears;

The corn cobs were longer than a span,

The millet stalks taller than a house;

The millet grains big as corn kernels,

The corn kernels big as broad beans.
 

Seventh Sister handled the field chores,

Busy each day from morning to night.

Early in the morning she cut hay for the cattle,

By day pastured the cattle and sheep.

Three loads of hay she cut each day,

One nine mountains she grazed the cattle and sheep.
 

Seventh Sister was busy with the housework,

Not an hour did she idle away.

In the evening she was busy husking rice,

At cockcrow she was busy grinding flour.

Husking three pecks of rice,

Grinding twenty-five bushels of flour.

Before the moon had set behind the mountains,

Husband and wife rose together from bed;

The cock was still sleeping,

As a pair they ate breakfast,

As a pair they went to work.

When the cuckoo called, they sowed their seeds;

When the wild geese came flying,

They harvested their crops.
 

Serpent Prince hoed the corn;

The cornstalks grew thick,

Seventh Sister weeded the seedlings;

The green shoots flourished.

The corn grew to fill the bamboo groves,

The sorghum stalks shot up like torches;

The buckwheat flowers filled the mountainside,

The scent of millet was wafted ten li.
 

From the trees a thrush called,

It called three times a day,

The third time it called,

The setting sun was a faint yellow glimmer;

Serpent Prince shouldered his hoe,

Went out to the corn field,

Stood on the field's embankment,

Cried out to Seventh Sister:

"Seventh Sister! Seventh Sister!

In the sky the stars are glittering,

On earth the crickets are calling,

It will soon be dark!

We ought to go back home."

Seventh Sister replied:

"Darkness is no cause for worry,

The stars will light the way home,

Meanwhile, the crickets' song will accompany my weeding!"
 

The moon rose above the eastern mountains,

Flocks of sheep made their way down the mountain slopes,

In the bamboo groves chickens took to their roosts,

In their pens pigs slurped up their slop.

Serpent Prince urged Seventh Sister:

"Crops need tending year after year,

Work must be done day after day,

You can't finish a year's work in a day,

We'd best head home and cook!"
 

In the morning, they left home together,

In the evening, they returned home together.

Serpent Prince accompanied Seventh Sister,

Just like the stars and moon.
 

The crops on their land,

Serpent Prince tended well,

The work in the fields,

Seventh Sister performed best.

Husband and wife were hared workers,

Busy four seasons of the year.
 

Spring planting puts people in high spirits,

Autumn harvest brings people happiness,

The harvested grain was taken in,

Packing three granaries full.

In three pens, cattle and sheep were fat and strong,

Gold and silver filled three great chests.
 

Depending on grain they lived,

Depending on cattle and sheep they lived,

Depending on gold and silver they lived,

Depending on their own labor they lived.

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