Eldest Sister was the most wicked of them all,

Eldest Sister was the most impudent of them all,

Eldest Sister was the laziest of them all.

She coveted Seventh Sister's gold and silver,

She coveted Seventh Sister's silk and satin,

She coveted Seventh Sister's stored up grains,

She coveted Seventh Sister's pigs and sheep,

She coveted Seventh Sister's husband;

She plotted an evil scheme.
 

While Serpent Prince was staying in a field hut,

While Serpent Prince was far away tending sheep,

Eldest Sister went to Seventh Sister's home,

Feigning friendliness with Seventh Sister,

Faked her way into helping Seventh Sister care for the babies.
 

Good-hearted Seventh Sister, ya!

With Serpent Prince away from home,

She was terribly busy with the housechores.

At daybreak she went to fetch water,

At nighttime she watered the vegetables,

While Golden Brother and Silver Sister stayed at home.
 

Cruel-hearted Eldest Sister,

Golden Brother and Silver Sister would not obey.

When Seventh Sister went to fetch water,

Golden Brother and Silver Sister ran after her crying,

When Seventh Sister went to water the vegetables,

Golden Brother and Silver Sister followed on her heels.
 

Eldest Sister's face was full of pockmarks,

She played tricks on the two little children,

Holding Golden Brother's hand,

Carrying Silver Sister on her back,

She brought them outside to the vegetable plot.
 

In the vegetable plot stood two fruit trees,

Beneath the trees a well had been dug,

Eldest Sister went to the wellside,

To test if the well was deep enough.

Evil-hearted Eldest Sister,

Pinched Golden Brother's neck,

Golden Brother began to wail.

Seventh Sister asked Eldest Sister:

"Why is Golden Brother crying?"

Eldest Sister curtly replied:

"He wants your clothing."

Seventh Sister took off her clothing and handed it to her.
 

Evil-hearted Eldest Sister,

Pinched Silver Sister's thigh,

Silver Sister began to wail.

Seventh Sister asked Eldest Sister:

"Why is Silver Sister crying?"

Eldest Sister curtly replied:

"She wants your shoes."

Seventh Sister took off her shoes and handed it to her.
 

Evil-hearted Eldest Sister,

Stretched out both hands,

Pinched Golden Brother and Silver Sister at the same time.

Golden Brother and Silver Sister burst out crying.

Seventh Sister asked Eldest Sister:

"What are they crying about now?"

Eldest Sister replied:

"They want your head-dress."

Seventh Sister undid her head-dress and gave it to her.
 

Black-hearted Eldest Sister,

Pinched Golden Brother's cheek again,

Twisted Silver Sister's mouth again.

Golden Brother and Silver Sister cried without end.

Seventh Sister asked Eldest Sister:

"What on earth are they crying about now?"

Eldest Sister curtly replied:

"They want to eat some fruit."

Seventh Sister climbed up the tree,

And tossed down a big pile of fruit.
 

Golden Brother and Silver Sister,

Cried even more bitterly.

In Eldest Sister's wicked heart,

She had hatched a wicked plan and said:

"Golden Brother and Silver Sister miss their mother,

Come down from there and play with them."
 

Seventh Sister's heart ached for her son and daughter,

She climbed down the tree to play with them.

Climbing down she grasped a withered branch,

As her foot pressed into the withered fork,

The branch snapped,

And the fork gave way;

Her braids got caught in the branches,

As she fell down beneath the tree.

Good-hearted Seventh Sister, ya!

Fainted dead away on the ground!
 

Cruel-hearted Eldest Sister,

With just the tiniest effort,

Pushed Seventh Sister into a well.

Good-hearted Seventh Sister, ya!

Brutally murdered in broad daylight,

Now gone without a trace.
 

Eldest Sister was joyful,

Eldest Sister was ecstatic:

"Things turned out just fine!

The gold and silver are mine,

The silk and satin are min,

All the grain is mine,

The livestock is mine.

Now I'll become Serpent Prince's wife."
 

The more she thought, the more elated she became,

The more she thought, the more proud she became;

She felt like swallowing a pot of sweet wine,

She felt like downing a bucket of honey.

Her steps became three times longer,

With one stride she bounced into Seventh Sister's house.

Removing her hat of leaves,

She put on a satin head-dress;

Taking off her clothing of leaves,

She changed into silken garments;

Kicking off her worn grass sandals,

She exchanged them for embroidered shoes.

In her hair she stuck gold and silver flowers,

On her arms she put gold bands and silver bracelets,

In her ears she fastened gold earrings,

From her neck she strung a silver necklace.
 

Eldest Sister's face was as pitted,

As a rusty old copper coin;

A pair of leopard's eyes,

Fingernails thick as eagle claws.

She filled the cracks on her hands with honey,

She rubbed the cracks on her feet with powder;

Walking she mimicked Seventh Sister,

Talking she mimicked Seventh Sister.

Her mouth was a honeybee's mouth,

Her heart was a knife-blade heart.
 

Serpent Prince finished tending the crops,

Hurried home from the field hut.

Looking at Seventh Sister's face,

He saw an old copper coin.

Looking at Seventh Sister's hands,

He saw two slabs of bark,

Looking at Seventh Sister's feet,

He saw a pair of manure rakes.
 

Golden Brother and Silver Sister,

Cried out for Ah Ba.

Serpent Prince thought to himself:

"In the past, Seventh Sister took such good care of the children.

Never once scolded them,

Never once spanked them;

Why has this all changed today?

Their eyes are swollen with tears.

Has muddy water flowed into a clear stream?

Has a phoenix turned into a crow?"
 

Three days passed,

Serpent Prince became more suspicious.

"Seventh Sister

Knows how to run my house.

She puts things away

Where they belong;

Gold in its place,

Silver in its place too.

Grain in the granaries,

Livestock divided properly in their pens.

Inside and outside the house,

She made sure she did everything right.

"If it was Seventh Sister, ya,

Before daybreak she'd be cooking,

Hauling water to sprinkle the vegetables,

Pounding rice and grinding flour,

Before sun-up she'd be out in the fields,

Only when the moon rose would she return home.
 

"But now Seventh Sister

Has become a different person.

At daybreak she doesn't get up,

And refuses to do any work.

Breakfast and dinner I make myself,

All the work in the field I must do alone.

She won't water the vegetables,

She won't manage household affairs.

By the time the sun sets in the western mountains,

She hasn't even swept the floor;

She hasn't carried a bundle of firewood,

She hasn't shouldered a bucket of water;

The pigs haven't been fed their grain,

The cattle and horses haven't been corralled.
 

"Now Seventh Sister

Can't care for the babies,

Can't keep the livestock penned,

Can't store the grain,

Can't manage the housework.

This isn't my Little Seventh Sister,

This doesn't seem like my good wife."
 

One year turned into two,

Two years turned into three;

Eldest Sister wouldn't do the housework,

Serpent Prince worked day and night.

Good-hearted Serpent Prince, ya!

No fish can live in stagnant water,

Serpent Prince couldn't love such a lazy wife.