The Wedding Dance
He Speaks:
1 You are a princess,
and your feet are graceful
in their sandals.
Your thighs are works of art,
each one a jewel;
2 your navel is a wine glass
filled to overflowing.
Your body is full and slender
like a bundle of wheat
bound together by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like twins
of a deer.
4 Your neck is like ivory,
and your eyes sparkle
like the pools of Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.
Your nose is beautiful
like Mount Lebanon
above the city of Damascus.
5 Your head is held high
like Mount Carmel;
your hair is so lovely
it holds a king prisoner.
6 You are very beautiful,
so desirable!
7 You are tall and slender
like a palm tree,
and your breasts are full.
8 I will climb that tree
and cling to its branches.
I will discover that your breasts
are clusters of grapes,
and that your breath
is the aroma of apples.
9 Kissing you is more delicious
than drinking the finest wine.
How wonderful and tasty!
She Speaks:
10 My darling, I am yours,
and you desire me.
11 Let's stroll through the fields
and sleep in the villages.
12 At dawn let's slip out and see
if grapevines and fruit trees
are covered with blossoms.
When we are there,
I will give you my love.
13 Perfume from the magic flower
fills the air, my darling.
Right at our doorstep
I have stored up for you
all kinds of tasty fruits.
1 Makumbo awo akanaka ali mu khwebana
iwe nkololokadzi wa bahwosi!
Zwidzwa zwizo zwakanakilila se ndalama
yakathamiwa ne luboko gwe nyambi.
2 Ikombo tjitjo lukambana
gusingatongosheta nkumbi we zhambi wakashanganyiwa.
Ntumbu uwo unonga dolo le koroni,
lakakombiwa ne maluba.
3 Mazhamu awo mabili anonga phalana mbili
dzakazwagwa dzili mabili e phala.
4 Ntshibha uwo unonga thungamakole yakathamwa nge nyanga dze zhowu.
Mesho awo anonga madziba e Heshibhoni,
hwunde ne nkoba we Bhatirabhimi.
Tjimilo tjitjo tjonga thungamakole ye Lebanoni
yakalingisana ne Damasiko.
5 Nsholo uwo unokukudza se Dombo le Karimeli,
vudzi lilo lakalukiwa longa jila le bushaba gwakabondelela,
mambo banobhatshigwa mu vudzi lakalukiwa.
6 Wakanaka kakale unoshathisa seni,
iwe tjido, mwanadi unogutsha moyo!
7 Mbumbiko ye mbili uwo inonga nti we nlala
ne mazhamu awo anonga mitjelo yawo.
8 Ndati, “Ndowotatha nlala
anobhata thabi dzawo.
Ungati mazhamu awo angafanana ne lutabi gwe zhambi,
ne nnhuwo we fema kuko ukanga dziapuli,
9 ne kuputa kuko kukanga nkumbi we zhambi
unong'wika usodzoloka zubuyanana,
uwunga pa nlomo ne mu meno.”
10 Ndi we tjido tje moyo wangu,
iye unoshaka imi.
11 Buya, tjido tje moyo wangu,
ngatiyende zwedu ku shango,
tinogalazwedu ku mizi ya kanyi,
12 ngatitjimbidze tayenda ku minda ye mizhambi,
tinobona kene zhambi dzakaluma,
kene maluba e zhambi akazhulika
nekuti kene dzipomegiranate dzina maluba.
Ikweno ndowokupa ludo gwangu.
13 Malolo anodusa nnhuwo wawo,
pa mikoba yedu kuna mitjelo yose yakanaka,
mitshwa ne mikulukugwe,
yandakakubigila iwe tjido tje moyo wangu.