Gedicht

Jimu Langge

Side by side

Old Society

The sky is a black sky
The earth is a black earth
Chinese people are thus
everyone knows

Many foreigners come to China
They are taller than the Chinese
They are more powerful than the Chinese
They also have more money than the Chinese
Mainly stolen from the Chinese
But there also some good foreigners
like Norman Bethune

The old society’s night is really black
Gun shots often roar across the night sky
Guerillas are often on the move
Heroes accompanied by music
usually die under a pine tree

Revolution requires weapons
Why don’t the warlords have a mind for revolution?
I think it’s because they’re rebelling
If the warlords also wanted revolution,
they wouldn’t have become warlords

Duan Qirui! Duan Qirui!

The Chinese people of the old society labored constantly
And never had enough to eat
The point was that they couldn’t catch their breath
Not until the day of liberation
did the Chinese people finally take a deep breath

Dr Henry Norman Bethune (1890-1939) was a Canadian physician and humanitarian. After becoming a communist, he worked in both Spain and China in support of the fight against fascism. Duan Qirui (1864-1936) was a Chinese warlord and a powerful figure in the first two decades of the twentieth century.

旧社会

天是黑沉沉的天
地是黑沉沉的地
中国人民究竟如何
大家都知道

有很多外国人来到中国
他们个子比中国人高
他们权利比中国人大
他们钱也比中国人多
主要是从中国人手里抢的
不过在外国人当中也有好人
比如白求恩

旧社会的夜晚真黑
枪声时常滑过夜空
游击队时常转移
英雄随着音乐
一般死在松树下

革命需要武器
那些军阀为什么没有革命的头脑
我想是由于他们反动
假如军阀也要革命
就不成其为军阀了

段祺瑞啊段祺瑞

旧社会中国人民一直劳动
一直吃不饱
关键是喘不过气来
直到解放的那天