サヨンのかね 鐘 The Bell of Miss Sayon

Miss Sayon was sending off her boyfriend, a man from one of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. The man was drafted to fight a war in the South-East Asia for Japan during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. She was standing over a wooden bridge across a canyon seeing her lover disappearing from the horizon. Suddenly, wind was blowing and rain was pouring over the mountain and the canyon, Ms. Sayon tripped and she fell to the bottom of the canyon. This song was written for Ms. Sayon, a woman representing the fate powerless Taiwanese then and now. The song was written in Japanese but it was a Taiwanese story. I transcript the song here so that not only I share the song with my readers, it is also an opportunity to practice my Japanese.

Here it is:

Verse 1:

あらし（ 嵐） ふきま （吹き間）く みね (峰） ふも と Wind is blowing, and rain is pouring over the top and down the bottom of the mountain.

流れ（ながれ）あやふき　まるきばし （丸木橋）　River water was rushing down below a single-wooden bridge.

わたる は だれぞ うるわし お とめ Who was the beautiful lady down below the bridge walking in the water?

赤きくちびる　あ。。あ サヨン That was the red-lipped Miss Sayon

Verse 2

散るや 嵐　に 花　ひとえ The flower is withering under the thunderstorm.

消えて　悲しき 水煙り 　Sadness also gradually disappearing like the water vapor.

ばんしゃのもりに ことり　は　なけど However, the birds in the forest over the aboriginal tribes were crying sadly

なぜにかえらぬ あ。。あ サヨン Why would the beautiful Miss Sayon not return?

Verse 3

みなみ の しまの たそがれ ふかく As the darkness comes to this southern island (Taiwan)

かね　は なる なる　 あ。。あ サヨン 　The bell rang. That sound was from Miss Sayon