The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121417 Message #2655626
Posted By: Jim Dixon
13-Jun-09 - 12:27 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
There's another version of this song that's given in:
The Land and People of the Philippines by Josephine Budd Vaughan, Portraits of the Nations series (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1956), page 76.
Early Philippine Literature from Ancient Times to 1940 by Asuncion David Maramba (Manila: Distributed by National Book Store, 1971), page 149.
The Philippine Progressive Music Series for the Primary Grades by Norberto Romualdez (Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett Co, 1948), page 79.
I think this version is a fairly direct translation from a Tagalog traditional folk song. Again, I could only piece together several snippets, so my copy may be incomplete. At least, it lacks a title:
Translation by Julia Bingham
Leron, Leron beloved,
Up a tall papaya tree
He climbed with basket gay
That held his love for me.
The tip-top branch he touched.
It broke off with a "click."
Aba! What evil luck!
Please choose another quick!