Olli Salmi’s Homepage

I also have a couple of pages of Central Asian Dungan.  I’ve added the original text in Cyrillic to the following two.

Laohu dai dacaidi

> So a double letter (as in "Olli") is pronounced double, i.e. prolonged
> (Ol-li), and "Salmi" is pronounced Sal-mi. Stress is always on the
> first syllable, secondary on the third, etc. (This creates a nice
> rhythm for long poetry, such as the Finnish "national epic" Kalevala -
> whose rhythmic scheme inspired Longfellow's writing of "Hiawatha," I
> believe.) 

By the laughing Bothnian waters,
Near the gloomy Finnish forests
And the swampy fenland marshes,
In the town of Ooscaw-Punkee,
Lived the Wise One O-Lee-Salmee,
Guardian of the weighty mail-hoard
In the tongue of Kee-Na-Laiset
(Missives scratched with ancient cunning
On the bark of silver birches) --
Full five thousand secret letters
He, the Wise One, stored in boxes,
Kept in subtle spark-fed folders
Near his Windows, in his loft, where
Down he loaded them with software
 From the Net he wove to catch them ...

 From his land he once had travelled
Many leagues towards the sunrise,
Ever eastward fared he daily,
O'er the land of Tartar princes,
Till at length, from travel weary,
He had reached the town he longed for --
Fabled Cam-Ba-Lik the Mighty.
There he dwelt among the East-Folk,
Gathering wisdom as he studied,
Reading runes in eastern stroke-script ...

Nigel