Sat, Nov 25, 2006 - Page 16 News List

The song remains the same

The Saisiyat will soon commemorate their passing, Vice President Annette Lu believes in them and there is scientific evidence supporting their existence: a lost race of short people that may have once roamed Taiwan

By Jules Quartly  /  STAFF REPORTER

According to the Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe there are 15 songs at the festival that have 34 verses and 229 lines. "Each verse employs a plant name to rhyme the lines, creating a very poetic result." The Taiwan Saisiyat Tribe Pasta-ay Kapatol gives a comprehensive introduction to the festival, the people involved and the melodies and vocals of the songs that are chanted at the festival. One of them, The Fifth Song: Running Dance goes like this:

"Sing the song of the Chinese gum tree/Sew millet so it looks like wriggling worms/Then it will grow evenly/So it can be reaped/Sew the seeds so they can't be seen/You can only see five fingers/No millet is left in the palm/Strip the leaves and bind the millet/Arrange the millet/Enjoy the happy harvest/Sing the song of the caolian (草煉樹) tree/The sound of murmuring water/Hearing water splash/Like water flowing fast/Suddenly it is silent."

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