Papa E

Te Vaka

traduzione in Inglese

3 traduzioni

Album:

Te Vaka (1997)

Testi originali

Tokelauano

Traduzione

Inglese

Papa E

Hihiki mai i faifaiga o te fenua

E he puli au ite olaga masani

He mafai fakapuli ite loto

Ite loto o papa e

Aue ite nuku o papa e

Tali:

Aue aue Papa e

Aue Papa e

Aue aue Papa e

Ite nuku o Papa e

Oku moko mokoga ke toe fanatu

I mea nae masani ai

Kata lava e mua mai

Te kata o Papa e

Aue ite nuku o Papa e

Papa E

Lift up your eyes1to the tales of the land

That which I tell you concerning the traditions of life

I will not lose to memory2

In memory of Papa E3

Oh, within the land4 of Papa E.

Chorus:

Oh, oh, Papa E

Oh, papa E

Oh, oh, Papa E

Within the land of Papa E

I often go there and recollect my thoughts5

In which were so dear6to me

Laughter of times past

The laughter of Papa e

Oh, within the land of Papa e

1. can also mean to listen to, to lend your ears, etc.
2. alt. loto literally means 'within', and is also used to describe the heart (fig.), and soul.
3. as in many if not all Polynesian languages, the word 'papa' literally means wood
4. lit. home, abode, haven
5. in this context, it means to relive the memories of Papa E
6. masani is both an adjective meaning 'fond', 'dainty', 'pleasant' and a noun 'custom', 'tradition'.

Song details

Translation details

"Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise!"

SilentRebel83

submitted on 28 Ott 2013 - 00:42

Give a shoutout to SilentRebel83

Commenti dell’autore:

This is a more literal translation that I have done. It's nowhere near as beautiful as the translation done by Opetai Foa'i.

Commenti 2

Bárbaro

28 Ott 2013, 00:53

Please, why not translating Papae e as "wood"? What is the deeper meaning of this?
Thanks

SilentRebel83 A

28 Ott 2013, 01:08

Hello, Barbaro.

I'm both awestruck and anxious to answer your question.
Well, I did ask myself the same thing while I was translating and thought it best to preserve the original form.
I did not want to deviate from any other "deeper" meaning that the artist might have intended.

That being said, let us go back to this line "...nuku o Papa e"
The word nuku is an interjection meaning 'my home', and is also a noun meaning 'home', 'abode', 'haven' -- just as I had already mentioned in the footnote. The word 'Papa e' could possibly refer to a place/island. But in the literal sense, it means 'wood'.