I know funerals
An ancient ritual for the Yi people, in the depts of high mountains
(On a black river the eyes of human nature
Twinkle with golden light)
I see a procession of people, like a river, flowing silently through the valley
I see a procession of people, like a river, producing ripples of woe
That with solemn gravity meanders through this marvelous world
This world of human love
I see huge crowds of people in procession that gather together
And form an ocean, making loud sounds by the side of death
The totem of the ancestors projected into the sky in fantasy
I see people in the funeral procession whose dreamy souls
Answer to the call of the muskets
And are transformed into costumes of pristine beauty
I see the dead as peaceful as the mountain
Listening to the songs of sorrow chanted by friendship
With the caresses of love by thousands of hands
I know funerals
An ancient ritual for the Yi people, in the deep of big mountains
(On a black river the eyes of human nature
Twinkle with golden light)
