By popular demand...
More Kaji Meiko lyrics!
After reviewing the very cool Kaji Meiko CD, which, by the way, is both highly addictive and soothing in that sexy kimono-clad, sword-wielding, gonna-cut-your-heart-out-and-leave-you-bleeding sort of way, I have received many requests to translate her lyrics.
Here, I have translated Kaji's Shura no Hana (Flower of Carnage). This song, like Urami Bashi, can be heard in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Shura no Hana [修羅の花] is the theme song of Lady Snowblood (Shurayukihime 1972) and is sung by the film's lead femme fatale Kaji Meiko (梶芽衣子).
修羅の花
死んでいた朝に とむらいの雪が降る
はぐれ犬の遠吠え 下駄の音きしむ
いんがなおもさ みつめて歩く
闇を抱きしめる 蛇の目の傘一つ
いのちの道を行く女 涙はとうに捨てました
Shindeita asa ni tomorai no yuki ga furu
Hagure inu no touboe geta no otokishimu
Iin na naomosa mitsumete aruku
Yami o dakishimeru janomeno kasa hitotsu
Inochi no michi o yuku onna namida wa tooni sutemashita
On a dead morning, a burial of snow falls.
The howling of a stray dog and the sound of geta (wooden clogs) break the silence.
I walk with the weight of the heavens on my mind.
Embracing the darkness of the night, with a patterned (wooden) umbrella in hand,
Treading the path of a woman's life, tears falling to the ground throughout the journey.
-----------
ふりむいた川に 遠ざかる旅の灯が
凍てた鶴は動かず 哭いた雨と風
冷えた水面（みずも）に ほつれ髪映し
涙さえ見せない 蛇の目の傘一つ
怨みの道を行く女 心はとうに捨てました
Furimuita kawa ni toozakaru tabinohima
Itteta tsuru wa ugokasu naita ame to kaze
Kieta mizu mo ni hotsure ga miutsushi
Namida sae misenai janomeno kasa hitotsu
Urami no michi wo yuku onna kokoro wa tooni sutemashita
Following the twisting river, the path leads me far by the lamplight.
The frozen cranes cannot move, weeping rain and wind.
The ice of the frozen pond reflects the silhouette of a woman's hair.
If only I could not show my tears, with a patterned (wooden) umbrella in hand.
Treading the bitter path of a woman, her heart falling to the ground throughout the journey.
-----------
義理も情けも 涙も夢も
昨日も明日も 縁のない言葉
怨みの川に身をゆだね
女はとうに捨てました
Giri mo nasake mo namida mo yume no
Kinou mo ashita mo henno nai kotoba
Urami no kawa ni mi o yudanete
Onna wa tooni sutemashita
Honor, compassion, tears, and dreams,
yesterday, today.. all without the hope of words.
I commit my body to the river of bitterness.
A woman falling to the ground throughout the journey.
Your translation is quite good, but there are a few mistakes. とうに means already, so the last line of the first verse is actually more like:
A woman, treading the path of life, who threw away her tears long ago.
The last two lines of the second verse should be:
I can't even show my tears (not If only I could not show my tears),
and the last line should be
A woman, treading the path of bitterness, who threw away her heart long ago.
and the second line of the last verse should be:
yesterday, today... all words without hope
And the last two lines should be:
A woman, who surrendered her body to the river of bitterness, and threw herself away long ago.
--
SARUDAMA says:
Many Sincere Thanks Ellen
It is a remarkable translation.
I want to add a few words so that people appreciate the lyric better.
Lady Snowblood uses often an umbrella. The pattern of her umbrella represents a snake's pupil. In
Japanese, the pattern is called "janome" It means an eye of a snake. An umbrella is made of sticks
made of bamboos and paper soaked in oil. " A patterned (wooden)umbrella does not tell
everything.
Knowing what "janome no kasa(snake eye umbrella) " explains the beginnnig scene because Lady
Snowblood killed a bad guy at the outset of the movie using a sword hidden in the handle of her
umbrella.
Giri is a uniquely japanese word. it is hard to translate it in English. Paradising it , the word means
a sort of obligations one must abide by in the old traditional society." I feel "honor" is an American
word. One has to be a japanese speaker to appreciate "giri". It is like a code of ethics for Samurai
or yakuza.
Giri means obligation in what term??? Moral obligation? Moral Debt???? appreciating your note would be more then pleased if you could be more specific about the meaning of the word ....... fascinating......
ashita means tomorrow... nobody has gotten that...
kinou mo ashita mo
yesterday and tomorrow also...
kyou is today...
hi everybody ,you are really good around here.....iam giving my first steps into culture and language from japan ,iam brazilian and I study alone by all myself ;i should be so grateful people add me here....no one I know can speak even a single kanji ,,,,
Wow. I'm happy to see such a good
translation. I speak very little
Japanese, but I remember buying the
Kill Bill soundtrack and reading
the "translation" and thinking to
myself... "No way, this is a poor
translation. How did this get
printed?"
I thank you for this translation,
and the mistakes people are
pointing out are not biggies. The
only one I would say was a bit
obvious was "ashita." :)
I love Kaji Meiko. Can you post a
translation of "Meinichi"? I love
that song and would like to see if
your translation is like mine.