The rhythm is exactly like that of an old Russian song about a coachman freezing to death in the steppe (田，雪，师傅...). Could it be so that the Chinese song is just a translation of the Russian one? It's quite characteristic of the period. I do know the lyrics of the Russian song and i could try to guess the Chinese translation. But it would be better if you provided the original Russian transliteration (there was no unified transliteration system in Russia at that time so it can be ambiguous)


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Note added at 8 hrs 0 min (2003-10-10 09:23:34 GMT)
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The Russian song is:
Степь да степь кругом,
Путь далек лежит,
В той степи глухой
Умирал/замерзал ямщик.
An this is a the English translation (found here:
http://www.yoshkar-ola.com/staff/max/words.htm)
Only Steppe and Steppe is around.
The way is far.
And in that desolate Steppe
A postman is dying.



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Note added at 8 hrs 5 mins (2003-10-10 09:29:27 GMT)
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well, actually not a postman but a coachman

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Note added at 8 hrs 18 mins (2003-10-10 09:42:28 GMT)
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Sorry, this is the Chinese text of the song
茫茫大草原，
路途多遥远，
有个马车夫，
将死在草原
Well, it\'s still possible that in 1920 another Chinese translation existed for the same song, but most probably i have been mistaken