Translation of 'Why are the flowers so red' into Uyghur

'Why are the flowers so red' or '花儿为什么这样红', one of the first Uyghur songs I heard when I was little. It was the theme song of a very popular Uyghur film called 'The Visitor To Tangri Tağ' or '冰山上的来客' back in the 50's. I haven't seen the film but I love the song. As famous as it is and as Uyghur as it sounds, the song doesn't have a Uyghur version - at least I don't know if it was adapted from a Uyghur original. I'm always of the opinion that Uyghur culture should be expressed in the Uyghur language. In the fields of literature and music where language is the principle means of expression, Chinese should never usurp the role Uyghur should act. I am convinced that the Chinese ignorance of the Uyghur Turkicness can be partly attributed to the prevalent Han chauvinism which is at the heart of any Chinese adaption or translation of Uyghur folk songs, which soon replaces the original Uyghur by only promoting the adapted versions. Whereas a lot of Uyghur songs have their originals, this one doesn't. I even suspect it was originally written in Chinese. I have been pondering over a re-adaptation back into Uyghur for a long time, and now I have know enough of the language, I've made a draft version. I've tried to be as poetic as possible with my current knowledge of the rhetoric of the language. But obviously it's crass and needs a lot of improvement. I should be ashamed of this attempt, even, and of the audacity of putting it up here for everyone to see. However, it's my first composition in the Uyghur language and I'm very excited. I'll come back to improve it once I've know more about the poetic tradition of not only Uyghur, but the Turkic languages as a whole.

قىزىل گۈل نېمەشقا قىزىل

كۆيدىگەن ئوتتەك قىزىل

ياشلىق قىنى بىلەن سۇغېرىنىدۇ

قىزىل گۈل نېمەشقا ساپ

ئاشىق بولغان ئايرىلماس

دوستلۇق ئىكەن ئىشق ئىكەن

The Latin transcription would be:

Qizil gül neməşqa qizil

Köydigən ottək qizil

Yaşliq qani bilən suğerinidu

Qizil gül neməşqa sap

Aşiq bolğan ayrilmas

Dostluq ikən işq ikən

The original Chinese is:

花儿为什么这样红

红得好像燃烧的火

它是用了青春的血液来浇灌

花儿为什么这样鲜

鲜得使人不忍离去

它象征着纯洁的友谊和爱情

I adapted it a little to make it sound more natural. I translated the 'flowers' as 'qizil gül' rather than 'güllər' because the number of the flowers is ambiguous. It could just be one and this special one is symbolic. And in Uyghur, a noun in singular can have a plural meaning as well. I chose 'qizil' because 1. it's easier to suit the rhythm of the song and 2. 'qizil gül' itself means 'rose', which indeed is a symbol for love, which the song sings about. Repetition of a word is rather common in Uyghur folk poetry and songs, so it's alright. In the second stanza, the first two lines in the original Chinese form an unbroken sentence: 'Why are the flowers/is the flower so fresh that no one would have the heart to leave them/it?' which is a fairly complicated sentence and wouldn't really be used in folk lyrics like these. Since Chinese is a rather compact language it sounds alright, but I'm not sure about Uyghur. I've never come across any complicated sentences in Uyghur folk songs, all of them being simple and direct. So, bearing that in mind and without knowing how to translate 'so... that', I broke the sentence down and translated it as 'Why are the flowers so fresh? Being in love, no one would part (with them).' The 'being in love' states the result of beholding the flowers and is a plausible reason for anyone's staying, although unspecified by the original lyrics. I actually rendered the line into a sentence without a subject. Subject-less sentences are really common in Uyghur, especially when it comes to expressing a general truth as in here 'being in love, one/you wouldn't leave them.' Could be me, could be you - anyone, in fact. The last line means 'They symbolise innocent friendship and love.' To be honest, you really wouldn't use the word 'symbolise', whatever it is in Uyghur, in a folk song. Therefore I chose the gerund of the word 'to be', 'iken' to carry out this metaphor. I left out the 'innocent' because practically it's the same word as 'pure', 'sap', which I used in the first line. It would be redundant anyway - if the flowers are pure and innocent, and they are friendship and love, then friendship and love are pure and innocent as well!

Finally, the English translation of the song (from the Uyghur):

Why are the flowers so red,

Red like burning fire?

They are watered by the blood of youth.

Why are the flowers so fresh?

No one in love would part with them

- They are friendship, they are love.