With a whip, thick club or triangular stick, will they flog me once and make a guess? Will they hit me twice and stop? Thirty harsh blows make my guts and heart ache and suffer
I’m caught, I’m caught, finally Chunhyang is caught and being punished
The magistrate’s order is strict so there would be no mercy
Did I steal the country’s crops? How come I’m under such severe punishment?
Did I murder someone? How come I’m shackled and chained, I didn’t kill anyone
Did I defy the interrogators? Why are you trying to break my bones? Sad and pitiful, poor mother of Chunhyang
As she turns the corner to the prison with some food for me, she begs me to say yes to the magistrate. Oh mother, don’t say those words, what do you ask me such a thing
I’d rather die here than to accept what he says
O the wild geese who cry at the cold wind of dawn, tell my husband if you ever fly to Seoul
Kill me, kill me, the new magistrate, please kill me
Save me, save me, my husband in Seoul, please save me
My fair legs are covered with blood and wounds, am I dying so helplessly?
Drops of pearly tears run down my white face. The cold wind from cliff and river blows like arrows, and fleas and bugs bite me everywhere
Ume flowers sprouting from the cliff seem to welcome me, mysteriously dropping into the flowing water and surging up from each wave