Childhood Years

[nijibug]

Luo Da You's "Childhood Years" originally came out in 1979.  I'll always remember my childhood as my dad's slightly off-tune whistling of this song. :]

童年 池塘边的榕树上,知了在声声叫着夏天 草丛边的秋千上,只有蝴蝶停在上面 黑板上老师的粉笔还在拼命叽叽喳喳写个不停 等待着下课等待着放学等待游戏的童年 福利社里面什么都有就是口袋里没有半毛钱 诸葛四郎和魔鬼党到底谁抢到那支宝剑 隔壁班的那个女孩怎么还没经过我的窗前 嘴里的零食手里的漫画心里初恋的童年 总是要等到睡觉前才知道功课只做了一点点 总是要等到考试后才知道该念的书都没有念 一寸光阴一寸金老师说过寸金难买寸光阴 一天又一天一年又一年迷迷糊糊的童年 没有人知道为什么太阳总下到山的那一边 没有人能够告诉我山里面有没有住着神仙 多少平日记忆总是一个人面对着天空发呆 就这么好奇就这么幻想这么孤单的童年 阳光下蜻蜓飞过来一片片绿油油的稻田 水彩蜡笔和万花筒画不出天边那一条彩虹 什么时候才能像高年级的同学有张成熟与长大的脸 盼望着假期盼望着明天盼望长大的童年 一天又一天一年又一年盼望长大的童年

Childhood Years On the banyan tree beside the pond, cicadas sing of the summer On the swing beside the bushes, only the butterflies are sitting On the blackboard, teacher’s stick of chalk squeaks incessantly A childhood of waiting for class to end, waiting for school to let out, waiting for games The store has everything; it’s just that there’s not even 5 cents in my pocket Seishiro or the demons—who ended up with the treasured sword in the end? Why hasn’t the girl in the next class walked past my window yet? A childhood of snacks in my mouth, comics in my hands, first love in my heart Always realizing just before going to sleep that I’ve only done a little of the homework Always realizing just after the test that I never read the books I should have read An inch of time is an inch of gold; teacher always said that gold can’t buy back time Day after day, year after year, the daydreaming childhood years Nobody knows why the sun sets on that side of the mountain No one can tell me if gods and goddesses really live on the mountain So many weekdays I spent staring at the sky in a daze A childhood of curiosity, imagination, and loneliness In the sunlight, dragonflies swoop by, pieces of glinting green rice paddies Not watercolors, crayons, nor kaleidoscopes can render the double rainbows at the edge of the sky When will I have a mature and grown-up face like the upperclassmen? A childhood of looking forward to vacations, looking forward to tomorrow, looking forward to growing up Day after day, year after year, the childhood years spent yearning to grow up

Comments

[From: pchaness]

waaaa!!! this is such a beautiful song! and your translation... TmT it's like a sad poem..

I spot a mistake here..
"
...No one can tell my if gods and goddesses really live on the mountain"

Shouldn't it be 'tell me' instead of 'tell my'?

[From: nijibug]

Eek! Thank you for catching that :'D
I will fix it right away ♥

I know, right? When I was little, I always thought this sounded like a happy song because I didn't pay attention to the words. But then I realized how sad it was; the little boy spends his childhood wanting so much to grow up, but in reality, he is going to spend the rest of his life missing being a kid. (My dad always said he was like that — when he was little, all he wanted was to be an adult. If only he knew he would give anything later on to be a child again T_T)