大象之死 | 汉诗英译
大象之死 吴小虫
草甸以绿，泉水以山
唐朝的驿站被稀释着
游人花20块钱就龙袍加身
一滴大海藏于瓶中
看天际白云朵朵风吹斜了柳枝条
张有梦不管这些，他要养活那个小家
三十年老妻埋于地下
二更天左腿预感阴沉
垂垂老却并无形象，延残喘仿佛等待
身处其中的意思，每个人都参与了
大象之死
如何在茶歇中思乱离，刀枪入库
思流血，见清澈以为是清澈
能被伤害的，也只有对等之此身
且上仙女山
且在天坑地缝
选自《诗刊》
*In Mandarin, the “elephant” is a homophone with the word “grand vision”, or “grand illusion” as in Buddhist philosophy.
—Translator’s note
The meadows keep their greenness, the springs have their mountains,
but the Tang Dynasty outpost nearby is reduced to a playground,
an emperor’s dragon robe for rent at 20 yuan
—to see the sea in a drop of nectar —
plus, for free, the drifting clouds and the swaying willows.
Zhang Dreamer is not bothered by any of that,
but focuses on keeping his tiny house safe and sound,
including his wife’s grave after three decades together.
His left leg is prone to arthritis at midnight hours.
Not an old fogey in looks, but he is prepared for the end of life’s toil.
Arm in arm, all of us took part in
the death of the grand illusion.
The thing to do is to remember the hard times when life is good, to foresee
bloodshed in peacetime, to open our eyes for revelations.
The only destructible part of life is our old skin.
Why not climb the Fairy Mountain,
why not visit the Wonders of Crater Cavern.^
Translator’s note:
^Wonders of Crater Cavern, or Tiankeng Difeng in Chinese, is a Karst physiographic region characterized by a big sinkhole and an underground river system including caves. It is located in Fengjie near Chongqing, China. It is also known as the Heavenly Pit.
Translated by Duck Yard Lyricists
本诗由 PATHSHARERS BOOKS（美国同道出版社）
Duck Yard Lyriists 翻译