Not so fast, not so fast!
 Wait a bit, tiny wave!
 I'd like to give you a message
 for my sweetheart.
 If you glide past her,
 greet her fondly for me!
 Say, I would come with you,
 sailing on you myself -
 in return for my greeting,
 boldly demanding a kiss -
 but the urgency of time 
 would not permit it.

 Not so hasty! stop! permit me,
 small, light-winged dove!
 I have a message
 for my sweetheart!
 You should give her a thousand greetings,
 and a hundred beyond that.
 Say, I would fly with you,
 stretching over mountain and stream -
 in return for my greeting,
 boldly demanding a kiss -
 but the urgency of time
 would not permit it.

 Don't wait for me to drive you,
 oh you sluggish round moon!
 You know well what I have commanded you
 to do for my sweetheart:
 through her little window, furtively,
 greet her fondly for me!
 Say, I would climb on you
 and fly to her myself -
 in return for my greeting,
 boldly demanding a kiss;
 It was your fault, for your impatience
 would not permit me.