Hakka (7) the passionate lovers

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

Hakka (7) the passionate lovers

This is a passionate love story which happened in a town called Song Kou
(松口) in Mei Xian (梅縣) in Guandong province (廣東省). A young Hakka
couple were deeply in love. However, they were not allowed to get marry
because both of them had the same surname of Liang (梁). According to
Chinese tradition people with the same surname were forbidden to get
marry. In order to extricate from this ardent love affairs the young man
decided to go to Nanyang (南洋 present day Malaysia and Singapore).
Secretly, without telling his lover, he packed and went to the jetty in
the river and board a little boat heading for Guangzhou (廣州), the
capital of Guangdong province (廣東省). Somehow the girl discovered his
plan and rushed to the jetty trying to persuade him not to go.

This was how they expressed themselves in Shan Ge (mountain song) :

Girl: 妹系姓梁郎姓梁﹐     Boy:  圳頭行下青草湖﹐     
      兩人共姓各祠堂﹐           妹也唔使再三留﹐
      妹是西風郎是雨﹐           舍時十分舍唔得﹐
      西風透雨涼對涼。           怨得屋家唔好圖。

Girl: 松口行下銅琵橋﹐    Boy:   聽妹唱歌涯心慌﹐ 
      轉眼來看望江樓﹐           東流江水渺又茫﹐
      一對鴛鴦少一只﹐           那有利刀能割水﹐ 
      還有一只水上漂。           如今流水割斷腸。

Girl: 趕哥趕到蓬辣頭﹐     Boy:  日頭一出須華華﹐
      妹子唱哥唱啞喉﹐           想著妹子想著家﹐          
      千聲萬句留不住﹐           燈草跌落涌水角﹐
      恰似有天無日頭。           一條心事放唔下。

Eventually the boy was moved by the passionate love of the girl. Picking
up his luggages he disembarked from the boat and eloped with the girl to 
a faraway place.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)