An acorn rolled down and down,
He suddenly fell into a pond.
Then came the loaches*,
Hi boy! Come play with us!
The acorn enjoyed playing with them.
But he soon began to cry,
I want to go back to the mountain.
The loaches didn't know what to do.
Notes
*Loach is the name for various Eurasian and African freshwater fish of the carp family.
*****
Transliteration - Rōmaji (Romanji) of The Rolling Acorn
Donguri Korokoro
Donguri korokoro donburiko
O-ike ni hamatte saa taihen
Dojou ga detekite konnichi wa
Botchan issho ni asobimashou
Donguri korokoro yorokonde
Shibaraku issho ni asonda ga
Yappari o-yama ga koishii to
Naite wa dojou wo komaraseta
*****
Photos & Illustrations
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Ayako Egawa for contributing and translating "A Rolling Acorn", for providing the sheet music and the photo.
I would also like to thank Masako for creating the Shodo characters at the top of this page. Shodo is the art of brush calligraphy, which originated in China.
Thanks also to Petter Mæhlum for the transliteration and to Monique Palomares for the midi tune of Donguri Korokoro.
Many thanks to Roxanne Dixon for sending the recording of the schoolchildren singing Donguri Korokoro. Roxanne collected the recording (along with others) on her trip to Japan as part of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Exchange Program, a Program of the Japanese government to foster goodwill and understanding between the US and Japan.
I'm also grateful to Susan Pomerantz for playing this tune on piano.
