You-You-Zha

You-You-Zha

Many readers have expressed interest in the beautiful traditional Mandarin folk lullaby You-You-Zha featured in Book #2. I am pleased to present it here along with an MP3 version as performed by the Beijing Angelic Choir (the performance © Beijing Angelic Choir). The Chinese text and translation have been provided by my friend, Gang Liu.

悠悠扎
You-You-Zha
满族民谣

1. 悠悠扎，悠悠扎，妈妈的宝宝睡觉吧

（重复四次）

2. 白桦树皮啊，做摇篮巴布扎

3. 狼来了虎来了，吗唬子来了都不怕

4. 白山上生啊——黑水里长——巴布扎

5. 长大了要学那，巴图鲁阿爸巴布扎

1. 悠悠扎，悠悠扎，妈妈的宝宝快睡吧

4. 白山上生啊——黑水里长——巴布扎

5. 长大了要学那，巴图鲁阿爸巴布扎

1. 悠悠扎，悠悠扎，妈妈的宝宝快睡吧

You-You Zha
(a Mandarin lullaby from Northeast China)
Pin Yin and literal English translation
by Gang Liu

1. Yōu yōu zhā, yōu yōu zhā, mā ma de bǎo bao shuì jiào ba.
(repeat 4 times)
Hush, mommy's precious baby, go to sleep. (you you zha doesn't mean anything—a regional expression meant to lull a baby to sleep.)

2. Bái huà shù pí a, zuò yáo lán bā bù zhā.
White birch's bark, (let's) make a crib (from it).

3. Láng lái le, hǔ lái le, mā hǔ zi lái le dōu bú pà.
Wolf coming, tiger coming, demon coming, be not afraid.

4. Bái shān shàng shēng a, hēi shuǐ lǐ zhǎng, bā bù zhā.
You were born on the white mountain, and grow in black water.

5. Zhǎng dà le yào xué nà, bā tú lǔ ā bà bā bù zhā.
When you grow up, learn from the hero hunter Ba Too Loo.

Within the spirit of the song and with some literary license, it is presented in this story as follows:

“Hush, little baby, go to sleep... In your cradle of bark from the white birch tree... Even if a wolf, tiger, or demon comes, have no fear... High in the white mountain, where the water runs deep, you are safe... When you grow up, you'll become a hero.”