Red Flower, Red Flower Red
--Set of Four Folk Songs in Haifeng , Guangdong , China
☆ Arranged & Translation by Luo Zhihai
1
(Husband's mother sings:)
Red flower, red flower red.
Red flower is pretty and loved.
Had I known the red flower couldn't bear long ago,
It wouldn't victimize all life of my son.
(Son's wife sings:)
In the deep hollow, there is a block of field.
Lay the blame for unplough it on your young son.
The ploughshare is too small to plough it into three feet.
With no labor, no manure, how can it grow up?
2
Red flower, red flower red.
Red flower is pretty and loved.
Being seventeen or eighteen,
you are loved by him.
Being twenty-seven or twenty-eight,
You want love him.
3
Red flower, red flower red.
Carry a bag in the back to school.
Sit uprightly in the classroom.
Don't play. Don't cry. Don't beat the classmates, too.
4
Red flower, red flower red.
People are planting trees on the hill.
Set the saplings upright.
Earth up. Pour water and grow up quickly. |