I’m trying to translate the song 黒の舟唄, and have come across a few words that I can’t seem to find translations for.
エンヤコラ - can’t seem to find any translation for this. Is it a name or archaic word?
わすれ貝 - no translation tool seems to know this one, or thinks it means “forgetful clam”
なくしたもの - is this 無くしたもの?
There are multiple versions of the song, all with minor variations. I’ve mostly been going off of this one.
I’d really appreciate any help here. Thanks!
Could that be the first one?
derp. I can’t believe I couldn’t find that by myself. Thanks!!!
I asked a native speaker about わすれ貝
So, in that line, they say 男はあほう鳥 女はわすれ貝
あほう鳥 and わすれ貝 are real things, a type of bird and a type of seashell, but the words were chosen for the usage of あほう and わすれ, men are fools, women forget
She said this was probably in the context of romance. Men are fools, and women move on from those foolish men.
Thanks so much! That whole part of the song makes so much more sense now!
To add to what @Leebo said, wasuregai seem to have a poetic meaning in traditional poetry. Slide 20 in this presentation quotes a poem from the Tosa Nikki (土佐日記) that mentions the seashell:
It was said he wouldn’t keep this wasuregai shell even though he missed the girl who was as sweet as white pearl
And also here, in コトバンク:
②二枚貝の殻の、離れてしまった一片。また、一枚貝の殻。これを拾うと、恋しい人を忘れることができると考えられていた。
Translated:
It was thought that if you picked up [this shell] you could forget about someone you longed for.
Thanks! This part of the song was the most confusing before, but now it makes perfect sense in the context of the rest of the song.
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