#nima zeren yadong

[hi-jjo]

卓玛 (dolma) - english translation

Originally written and performed by Nima Zeren·Yadong (尼玛泽仁·亚东) for his 2007 album 故乡·卓玛 (homeland · dolma).

"Dolma" is a Tibetan female name, derived from the Tibetan word for the Buddhist figure Tara (སྒྲོལ་མ, dölma), who is classified as a deity, bodhisattva, or Buddha depending on the sect. She is especially prominent in Tibetan Buddhism, specifically.

Embedded above is Yadong's performance. Below the cut and under the lyrics, I've embedded two covers that I like by Guo Tao (郭涛) and Jamyang Dolma (འཇམ་དབྱངས་སྒྲོལ་མ).

草原的风，草原的雨，草原的羊群 草原的花，草原的水，草原的姑娘 啊…卓玛，啊…卓玛 草原上的姑娘卓玛啦

你有一个花的名字，美丽姑娘卓玛啦 你有一个花的笑容，美丽姑娘卓玛啦 你像一只自由的小鸟，歌唱在那草原上 你像春天飞舞的彩蝶，闪烁在那花丛中

啊…卓玛 草原上的格桑花

你把歌声献给雪山，养育你的雪山 你把美丽献给草原，养育你的草原 啊…卓玛 啊…卓玛 草原上的姑娘卓玛啦

你有一个花的名字，美丽姑娘卓玛啦 你有一个花的笑容，美丽姑娘卓玛啦 你像一杯甘甜的美酒，醉了太阳 醉了月亮 你像一支悠扬的牧歌，美了雪山 美了草原

啊…卓玛 草原上的格桑花

你把歌声献给雪山，养育你的雪山 你把美丽献给草原，养育你的草原 你把歌声献给雪山，养育你的雪山 你把美丽献给草原，养育你的草原

啊…卓玛 啊…卓玛 草原上的姑娘卓玛啦 啊…卓玛 草原上的姑娘卓玛啦

The grassland's wind, the grassland's rain, the grassland's sheep flocks The grassland's flowers, the grassland's waters, the grassland's daughter Ahh… Dolma, ahh… Dolma Daughter of the grassland, Dolma

You have the name of a flower, beautiful girl Dolma You have the smile of a flower, oh beautiful girl Dolma You're like a free little bird, singing across the grasslands You're like a dancing spring butterfly, flickering among the flowers

Ahh… Dolma Galsang flower of the grassland

You offer your song to the snowy mountains, the snowy mountains that raised you You offer your beauty to the grasslands, the grasslands that raised you

Ahh… Dolma, ahh… Dolma Daughter of the grassland, Dolma

You have the name of a flower, beautiful girl Dolma You have the smile of a flower, oh beautiful girl Dolma You're like a cup of fine sweet wine, the sun and moon are drunk on you You're like a melodious shepherd's song, bringing beauty to the mountains and grasslands

Ahh… Dolma Galsang flower of the grassland

You offer your song to the snowy mountains, the snowy mountains that raised you You offer your beauty to the grasslands, the grasslands that raised you You offer your song to the snowy mountains, the snowy mountains that raised you You offer your beauty to the grasslands, the grasslands that raised you

Ahh… Dolma, ahh… Dolma Daughter of the grassland, Dolma Ahh… Dolma Daughter of the grassland, Dolma

t/n:

Galsang flowers make another appearance! Now that I've learned their significance, I recognize them frequently in Tibetan folk songs. Here's the translation note copy/pasted from 姑娘我爱你/girl, i love you:

Galsang flowers refer to a variety of wildflowers found on the Tibetan plateau, including but not limited to Cosmos bipinnatus (cosmos), Callistephus chinensis (asters), and Potentilla fruticosa (cinquefoils). “Galsang” is Tibetan for “good times/happiness”. They are beautiful but resilient, so they’ve come to symbolize strong women. They’re the city flower of Lhasa.

This song uses 姑娘 throughout, which I translated into English separately as both "daughter" and "girl".

This blog is basically, unofficially, a Jamyang Dolma fanpage, so I'm tagging her cover album that this song appears in, 金色的呼唤 (golden calling), so that they can be collected when I translate more songs from the album.