University of Virginia Library

She gathers the large duckweed ,
By the banks of the stream in the southern valley .
She gathers the pondweed ,
In those pools left by the floods .
She deposits what she gathers ,
In her square baskets and round ones
She boils it ,
In her tripods and pans .
She sets forth her preparations ,
Under the window in the ancestral chamber .
Who superintends the business ?
It is [this] reverent young lady .