Hakka mountain songs (2)

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

Hakka mountain songs (2)

去 南 洋
Going to Nanyang 


潮 州 一 出 到 汕 頭﹐
住 在 旅 店 二 層 樓﹔
想 起 賢 妻 刀 割 肉﹐
日 添 憂 慮 夜 添 愁。

汕 頭 行 出 七 洲 洋﹐
七 日七  夜 水 茫 茫;
行 船 三 日 晤 食 飯﹐
記 妹 言 語 當 乾 糧。


Once I left Chao Zhou then it was in Shan Tou,
I lodged in a two storey inn; 
Longing for my lovely wife was like a knife cutting me,
I worried during the day and grieved at night.

Once the boat set sail from Shan Tou it was the seven ocean,
For seven days and seven nights it was nothing but sea and sky;
For three days I could not eat anything,
Keeping in mind of the words by my wife was like the food of the day.

Note: those days, by boat, it took seven days and seven nights to reach
Sinapore from Hong Kong.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan.