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Context: 織次{おりじ} the protagonist is trying to buy back a set of drawings from his father's friend, who is mysteriously evasive about the matter.

[織次]{おりじ}も[後]{のち}に[東京]{とうきょう}から[音信]{たより}をして、[引]{ひき}[取]{と}ろう、[引]{ひき}[取]{と}ろうと[懸合]{かけあ}うけれども、ちるの、びるので[纏]{まと}まらず、[追]{お}っかけて[追詰]{せりつ}めれば、[片音信]{かただより}になって[埒]{らち}が[明]{あ}かぬ。
Later on, Oriji would also mail him from Tokyo, trying to take them back, but it ended up with no conclusion because he would ???. When Oriji further pressed him for a definitive answer, he would not even return a response, leaving the matter unsettled.

From a short novel "国貞{くにさだ}えがく" (1910)

What does ちるの、びるの mean?

I guess from the context that it probably means "after a lot of fuss" in effect, but looking up "ちるの、びるの" or "びる" in various online dictionaries yields no relevant result.

Grammatically, I think I understand which particle is doing what at least, but I'm unsure about the "content" words:

ちる: verb?
の: parallel marker
びる: verb?
の: parallel marker
で: reason, cause

One possibility is that this is some play on words. The novel contains apparently Meiji-era slangs like レコ (reverse of これ), so this could be something in the same vein.

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    For whatever reason it reminds me of the word しどろもどろ, at least in terms of rhythm and sound, and could be something like that. Just some phrase that means it's all not quite 'together,' so ちるのびるの might not be verbs but just part of a phrase that states some state that leads to it not being resolved, 纏まら. This is purely speculation, but it makes sense at least. – ssb Nov 19 '12 at 10:51
  • I do not know the phrase ちるのびるの. It might be related to 何だかんだ, or it might be related to のらりくらり, but like ssb’s comment, this is just a speculation. – Tsuyoshi Ito Nov 20 '12 at 1:29
  • It might be a decomposed form of ちるびる. – Jens Jensen Nov 21 '12 at 15:41
  • If somebody correctly answers this, I will be very surprised. – Jesse Good Nov 22 '12 at 10:27
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小学館 日本国語大辞典(第二版)によれば、島根県地方の方言で、

ちる【動】[方言]①来る。越後087 ②遊戯などでまちがう 岩手県九戸郡088 ③逆上する。のぼせる。島根県725

びる【動】[方言]①泣く。子供などが泣く。 島根県石見723「朝から晩までびっとる」725 広島県備中「びるな」044 山口県安武郡795 ◇ひる 岡山県浅口郡768 ◇びらす 島根県石見「あんまりびらすとごんごんじー(恐ろしい人)にやるど」 725 ◇びらとく 島根県美濃郡益田市「いつまでもびらとくな。みとーもなー」725 ②わずかに動く。微動する。山口県大島801

という使い方があるので、

「ちるの、びるので」＝「怒ったり泣いたりで」

ではないでしょうか？

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This isn't much more than a conjecture, but I believe your contextual interpretation "after a lot of fuss" is essentially correct. I do believe that ちる and びる are verbs -- or more specifically, 散【ち】る and ひる, in the following senses (as defined by Goo):

ち・る【散る】

  • ２
    • ㋐ まとまっていたものがばらばらになって広がる。断片となって方々へ飛ぶ。「ガラスが粉々に―・る」「波が―・る」「火花が―・る」
    • ㋑ 集まっていたものが別れ別れになる。散らばる。「全国に―・ってしまった同窓生」
  • ３ ちりぢりに消えてなくなる。「雲が―・る」「霧が―・る」

ひる【干る／▽乾る】

  • ３ 果てる。終わる。かたがつく。
    「これこれ足下のやうにものを言うては論がひない」〈滑・浮世床・初〉

This is the best I can come up with, but the meaning seems to fit.

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  • びっくり～! ^^ ----- – user1016 Nov 26 '12 at 23:16

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