(Yeah, yeah, but for having been translated while I was still in college, I think it displays a remarkable cultural sensitivity. Or something like that.
I can’t be asked to post the characters at this time of day (and have class very soon!) but here’s the gloss, for those of you who aren’t really into Pinyin:
Once there was a reindeer,
His nose was a deep red,
Those at the North Pole all teased him,
So he was unhappy.
He went to see Santa Claus (“Old Man Christmas”),
Told him of his sadness,
But, apart from quoting Confucius,
He had no good words for him.
Christmas was dark and moonless (had to get a chengyu in here somewhere)
Red-nose was asleep
Old Man Christmas woke him up,
“Help us out using your nose, all right?”
Now the atmosphere is cordial,
The reindeer all eat together,
This is as far as we are singing tonight
Thanks y’all, good night.
(Knowing what it really means might discourage some from belting it out in the MRT for money…) But then again maybe not…