In my Philippine Literature (IT 201, AY 2009-20210) class at LPU Cavite we studied a classic kundiman (love song), Maalaala mo kaya. I asked them to translate it in English and this is what we came up with:
Maalaala Mo Kaya
Huwag mo’ng sabihing ika’y hamak
Kahit na isang mahirap
Pagka’t ang tangi ko’ng pag-ibig
Ganyan ang hinahanap
Aanhin ko ang kayamanan
Kung ang puso’y salawahan
Ang nais ko’y pag-ibig na tunay
At walang kamatayan
Maalaala mo kaya ang sumpa mo sa akin
Na ang pag-ibig mo ay sadyang di magmamaliw
Kung nais mo’ng matanto, buksan ang aking puso
At tanging larawan mo ang doo’y nakatago
Di kaya magbago sa iyong pagmamahal
Hinding-hindi giliw ko hanggang sa libingan
O kay sarap mabuhay, lalo na’t may lambingan
Ligaya sa puso ko ay din na mapaparam.
This is the English version:
Please don’t say you are nothing
Even though you aren’t worthy
Because my heart and my love is searching for only you
What will I do with all the wealth
If your heart is untrue
What I desire is true love
That would last forever
Will you still remember
The vow that you gave to me
That your love for me won’t ever fade away
If you really want to know
Look inside my heart
And you’ll see the only thing in my heart is you
Won’t you ever change your sweet love for me
Never ever my love until the end of my life
It’s so happy to live if you are by my side
The happiness that I feel will never fade away.
If you want to listen to the original version you may visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Ty0XCudAsEnjoy!!!
