Cuiqiao's song

Below was the translation of Cuiqiao's song throughout the version of the film I watched. It was beautiful and sad. Composed mainly of couplets where the first line is a metaphor of the second.

The ice on the yellow river will not melt in June.
When I start to sing the truth, my heart feels like bursting.

Of the fine grains, the pea is the roundest.
Among human beings, a girl’s life is the most pitiable.
Pity the poor girls, pity the poor girls.

Pairs of pigeons fly in the sky.
I miss my mother.

The gourds in the valley and the melons on the hill.
I don’t want to sing that I was beaten.

In the embroidered purse is a round coin.
Suffering is forever, sweetness is short.

The handsome cockerel crows on the window sill.
But to whom can I speak of my bitterness and hardships?

The ducks are on the lake, the geese are on the wild mountain.
The comrade living with us does not know that I like to sing.
I’d like to say what is on my mind, but I don’t know how.

A handsome cockerel in the middle of the courtyard.
The communists sent a man who was free.

When you chose a horse, they’re not always the same height.
The comrades are the best people.

If I can join the army
I can make red shoes so you don’t have to wear straw sandals.
I can make thread with 2 ounces of cotton.
I’m afraid I shall not see you again.

One person doesn’t know another’s worries.
In the darkness of my days I dream you will come back.

I hear the comrade’s footsteps.
I try to look out of the window but …

If you send a water lily across the river it will never sink.
All my life I will never forget you.

A tree can take root if planted on a dry stone.
When will we poor people be able to live a new life?

The sun goes behind a cloud.
My mouth cannot utter what is in my heart.

The best compost cannot save parched seedlings.
Nobody can save me, poor Ciuqiao.

Her postscript after death:
"The cockerel has flown over the wall.
It’s the communists who save people.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.