The woman was emaciated / The sign hung from her neck / ‘Selling my daughter for 100 won’ / With the little girl standing next to her / The woman stood in the market place.

The woman was a mute / She gazes at her daughter / Her maternal feelings are being sold / Cursed at by passers-by / The woman stares only at the ground / The woman has no more tears.

Clutching her mother’s skirt / ‘My mother’s dying,’ cries the daughter / The woman’s lips tremble / The woman knows no gratitude / The soldier gave her 100 won, saying / ‘I’m not buying your daughter, I’m buying your motherly love’ / The woman grabs the money and runs off.

The woman is a mother / With the 100 won she received for the sale of her daughter / She hurries back, carrying bread / She shoves the bread into her daughters mouth / ‘Forgive me,’ wails the woman.