Album art.

幻想萬歳楽 || Illusory Manzairaku

tsutae

幻想萬歳楽
gensou manzairaku
Illusory Manzairaku

Vocals: めらみぽっぷ (Meramipop)
Lyrics: RD-Sounds
Arranged by: RD-Sounds
Album: 伝 (Tsutae) [Official site]
Circle: 凋叶棕 (Diao ye zong)
Event: C91
Original theme: The Lost Emotion [亡失のエモーション]

Requested by: Petalite Yuu

This track heavily borrows from ‘Okina’ [翁], a traditional work of Noh theatre. The main mask involved is the titular ‘old man’ mask, which Kokoro appears to be wearing on the album’s front cover.

Because it’s based on a Noh play, the language used is more traditional, which made it a challenge to translate. Overall, though, it deals with life. The speaker wishes good health and a long life for all.

Also, I’ve… actually brought some resources along this time! The first resource is Frank Alanson Lombard‘s An Outline History of Japanese Drama, published in 1928. It’s available to read for free (?) on Google Books. Though the book is almost 90 years old, it contains a translation of ‘Okina,’ from page 92, which informed my own translation of this track. This is another English-language resource talking about the details of the play, though it does not offer a translation. Finally, this Japanese site also discusses the play.


Unofficial translation/非公式の英訳

To to tarata tararira
Tarari agari rararido
Chiriya tarari tararira
Tarari agari rarararido (1)

Together with the endless lives of the tortoise and the crane,
We rejoice, with hearts overflowing happily.

May life be granted, even for a thousand years.
May everyone’s lives continue for a thousand autumns!

Bloom for a thousand years
And last forever!
I shall dance, celebrating the joy
Of a thousand, ten thousand years!
Though people sit close by,
This dance
Is our prayer today.

Tararirira
Tarararira
Rarido

May life be granted forever.

As said above,
This is how things are.
And thus…

I pass it down, together with
This Manzairaku.

Be born, and live
As the peaceful, tranquil ‘old man.’ (2)

Even in the place I dwell in,
Auspicious things are present. May they continue!

I feel fear
Once more,
And thus, I cast away
The life dwelling in my body.

Happiness is,
As said above,
A single dance.
It is the art of those with life in their bodies.

Tararirira
Tarararira
Rarido

This peace is yet unending…

As said above,
This is how things are.
And thus…

I sing about it, together with
This Manzairaku.

Because I have not yet arrived at my destination,
I waver to and fro, and live.

Bearing emotions that I still do not comprehend,
I look upon this body of mine favourably.

Tararirira
Tarararira
Rarido

May life be granted forever.

As said above,
This is how things are.
And thus…

I pass it down, together with
This Manzairaku.


Translator’s note

(1) These sections refer to either the sound of flowing water or an ancient liturgy (Lombard 1928, 92).

(2) The ‘old man’ refers to the mask used in this play: ‘Okina’ [翁]


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Comments

15 responses to “幻想萬歳楽 || Illusory Manzairaku”

  1. Tyr Avatar
    Tyr

    Hey Releska! Still in love with this song, great arrange and great translation. Only one thing kinda stuck on my mind, why is this a Lost Emotion Arrange? Really can’t find the reason, even after listening to both the song and the original theme several times. Any hints?
    Always a fan of you work, thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. releska Avatar

      I loooove this song! It has such a great atmosphere!

      It’s definitely hard to spot The Lost Emotion in there (^_^); The part at 3:13 plays some notes of Kokoro’s theme (specifically the part that starts at 1:13) high up in the piano. It comes back later in the verse, too. It’s hard to spot – sometimes we just have to take the arranger’s work that it’s actually an arrangement of a theme…

      Like

  2. Shogoun Kaliend Avatar

    Thanks for the translation! 🙂
    Could you possibly add the romaji and kanji of the song?

    Like

    1. releska Avatar

      You’re welcome!
      I’m sorry, but, as outlined on my Permissions page (https://releska.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/permissions/), I was unable to get permission to post either the original lyrics or romanization 😦

      Like

      1. Shogoun Kaliend Avatar
        Shogoun Kaliend

        (Didn’t see your answer before)
        Oh, ok :/

        Is it only for blogs we can’t show the kanjis/romajis or even when we sub theirs songs we don’t have the permission?

        Thanks a lot for your good work!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. releska Avatar

          Well, it’s basically something I decided to do because it made me feel more comfortable about posting lyrics. It’s basically just for my blog, so other people don’t need to follow it, really… >_<

          Like

  3. 「幻想萬歳楽」 || 凋叶棕 | Petalite Yuu Avatar

    […] 「幻想萬歳楽」|| Gensou Manzairaku Illusory Manzairaku Ảo Tưởng Vạn Tuế Nhạc Album: 伝 -tsutae- Circle: 凋叶棕 Arrangement: RD-Sounds Lyrics: RD-Sounds Vocal: めらみぽっぷ (Meramipop) Original title: 亡失のエモーション (The Lost Emotion [Hata no Kokoro’s Theme]) Source: 東方心綺楼 ~ Hopeless Masquerade (Touhou Shinkirou ~ Hopeless Masquerade) Event: Comiket 91 English Translation: Releska […]

    Like

  4. Trong Nguyen Duc Avatar
    Trong Nguyen Duc

    Great translation, as always!
    Anyway, forgive the irrelevance but there are some extra lines in the song 狂言「跳ね玉兎」 (Moon Jumper ver.2). Are you going to update the old translation or do a new one?

    Like

    1. releska Avatar

      I think I’ll update the old translation – I was a bit curious about that, actually…

      Like

      1. Trong Nguyen Duc Avatar
        Trong Nguyen Duc

        Oh i see xD. Thanks a lot.

        Like

  5. Petalite Yuu Avatar

    Thanks a lot for the translation! ❤️

    Liked by 2 people

    1. releska Avatar

      You’re welcome! \(^_^)/
      Looking forward to getting through more tracks from this album!

      Like

      1. Petalite Yuu Avatar

        Which you have you planned to translate?

        Like

        1. releska Avatar

          Honestly, it’s such a great album I’d love to translate all the tracks >_<
          For now, though, I'll work on the Suwako track. That's my favourite

          Liked by 1 person


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