Not so very different…
I had written my sister-in-law in Mongolia to congratulate her on the
birth of her first baby, Elliot Enkh Orchural. I had found, on the web,
the words in English to a Mongolian lullaby and sent her the words to
see if she had ever heard this:
A Mongol Lullaby
Folk song from Hulunbayr
Dusk has arrived
Every animal is preparing for rest,
My wide eyed child
Close your eyes and sleep.
The lamb outside
In his pen has already slept now,
Sleep my child sleep,
Ontarei… sleep…
My precious child
Grow up in this way,
You will be a great and wise man,
You will contribute greatly to the motherland.
My wide eyed child,
Close you eyes and sleep.
Sleep my child sleep,
Ontarei… sleep…
She wrote back that she had learned this song as a child in grade school. My brother had her sing it and sent it to me, you can listen to it if you’d like.
It was wonderful listening to her sing a song that I am sure she sings
to my nephew late at night when they are settling in for bed, half a
world a way when we are just waking up and getting ready for a new day.
I can hear her love for her son–the same love I felt singing to my
babies, and I know that despite the distance, despite the cultural
differences, and despite the language–we aren’t so very different
after all.
Hi, I love mongolian culture and mongolian sounds (khoomei etc
)… I was looking for a mongolian lullaby and I found you. I’m from Spain and I would like to listen this song but clicking on the “listen” link no audio file is opened…