Sister with a doll

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I only realized the hidden meaning in the song that I had been singing since I was a child (it's a Chinese nursery rhyme), because I was only taught the first stanza (actually, almost all the kids my age only know the first stanza), and I think I want to share the lyrics...


　　(妹妹背着洋娃娃) The younger sister is bringing a doll,
　　(走到花园去看[樱]花) To see the (Sakura) flowers in the garden;
　　(娃娃哭了叫妈妈) The doll is crying for her mother,
　　(树上小鸟笑哈哈) The birds on the tree were laughing, “ha ha”.

Because 娃娃 can also mean baby, so I never thought that there is anything wrong with the rhyme. And if memory serves, it should just be flowers instead of Sakura. However, it did struck weird to me as I review the song one more time - the only birds that can actually make 'ha ha' like sounds are crows... and out of all the types of birds why crows? Although maybe just to make all of the last words rhymes?

The rest is what I found out much later which turned the whole perspective around:

　　(娃娃啊娃娃 为什么哭呢) Doll oh doll, why are you crying?
　　(是不是想起了妈妈的话) Is it because you remembered (your) mother’s words?
　　(娃娃啊娃娃 不要再哭啦) Doll oh doll, please don’t cry,
　　(有什么心事就对我说吧) Why not tell me the worries in your heart?

　　(从前我也有个家) I used to have a home too,
　　(还有亲爱的爸爸妈妈) and I have a loving daddy and mommy;
　　(有天爸爸喝醉了) One day daddy was drunk,
　　(拣起了斧头走向妈妈) he picked up an axe and walked towards mommy;

　　(爸爸啊爸爸 砍了很多下) Daddy oh daddy, he hacked a lot,
　　(红色的血啊染红了墙) oh the red blood covered the wall;
　　(妈妈的头啊 滚到床底下) Mommy’s head rolled under the bed,
　　(她的眼睛啊 还望着我呢) her eyes were still watching me

　　(爸爸.妈妈.为什么呀.为什么呀) Daddy! Mommy! Why? Why?

　　(然后啊爸爸 叫我帮帮他) And then daddy told me to help him,
　　(我们把妈妈埋在树下) buried mommy under the tree;
　　(然后啊爸爸 举起斧头了) And then daddy picked up the axe,
　　(剥开我的皮做成了娃娃) skinned me and made me into a doll.

An instant horror story behind a nursery rhyme, and I felt sad about the story... Although I really doubt the authenticity of the rest of the lyrics because the do not fit into the 7 words per stanza pattern.

 

A lyrical anamorph, oddly fascinating - authentic or not. Thank you for sharing it.