Tune: Original.
Based on "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Or perhaps Chinese history.
Recording by Leora Hadas
Recording by Dana Katz-Buchshtav
Mountain and river, an empire split thrice
A dynasty's fate come unraveled
In the valley of Nanyang, a dragon sleeps tight
And dreaming of glory and marvels
But the days have grown longer and morning winds blow
The power of Heaven has dwindled
And I'll leave my thatched cottage, my lute and my plow
For the man who weaves fate like a sandal.
And I'll set up two kings to make war for my ends
And snatch up the foe's arrows, and call up the wind
And the tyrant's one million will quake at my name
as I set the great river on fire and flame
Mountain and river, an empire split thrice…
And I'll carve out a kingdom in toil and in strife
Though northland and southland may hamper
Friends and lord perish, but I shall remain
To hold up the faith of an empire
And I'll call up my soldiers from magic and stone
And hold off an army with music alone
And seven times capture the king of wild men
Then press northward and northward and northward again –
Mountain and river, an empire split thrice…
And the years will fly past, and I'll sweat my heart's blood
On the heaven-sent course that won't alter
And tonight, when the star of my life tumbles down
My lamp and my prayer may falter
But in one final stroke, I will call on my own
to give one final order – that no man may mourn!
And my student will raise up my ghost in the night
and dead, I'll still put all my foemen to flight!
Years and years turning, an empire made whole
Time mends all things that were sundered
In the hill of Chengdu, there are flowers in spring –
And a dragon forever sleeps under…