The sea of suffering stretches boundless, wherever you swim, pain follows
Chang’an holds it, Manhattan holds it, even you and that plum blossom bear it too
Feng Jingting, poet, horticulturist, and visiting professor at South China Normal University, currently lives in Xi’an.
冯景亭，诗人，园艺家，华南师范大学客座教授，现居西安。
Translated by Ma Yongbo
Willing to Bear the Sufferings, Finding Delight in Them All
The sea of suffering stretches boundless, wherever you swim, pain follows
Chang’an holds it, Manhattan holds it, even you and that plum blossom bear it too
You covet countless things in this world
Yet two have long lingered as riddles to your mind
The first: emperors of ages past
The second: the plum blossom I planted with my own hands
Of these two, one lies easily within your grasp
The other—without some hidden means to aid you
Is no different from climbing to heaven with bare palms
你愿意受那苦，并乐此不疲
苦海无边，游到哪里都是苦
长安是，曼哈顿是，你和那朵梅花也是
你羡慕世上的很多东西
但有两样，一直困惑着你
一种是古代的皇帝
另一种是我栽下的梅花
这两种东西，一种你可以唾手可得
另一种，你不借助某种工具
无疑是徒手登天
***
Follower
That gloomy afternoon
The golden roofs of Labrang temple veiled in a thin haze
He turned down the cramped stone steps
As if he were a boy wandering alone down shadowed alleyways
When he rounded the slanting monastery wall
The ochre surface halted his hurried stride
Dozens of uneven hollow indentations carved into the stone
Resembled human masks
A light rain began to fall again the wall stood utterly still
The hollows held motionless
Yet something stirred unceasingly before his eyes
Like seismic ripples rolling inch by inch upward from an erupting volcano
He stepped forward toward the hollow matching his own height
Rested both palms gently against the stone and pressed his face into it
The mask swayed side to side
A wild unbroken stallion
He lingered there for a long while
Fitting his own face
Flush against the hollow mask
追随者
那个阴沉的下午
拉卜楞寺的金顶镀着一层薄膜
他从逼仄的台阶拐下来
恍若他少年时，一个人走在幽暗的巷道
当他转过寺庙斜倾下来的墙角
赭红色的墙面，挡住了他快疾的脚步
墙壁上拓出的十几个高低不一的凹型
像一张张人的面具
天空又开始下起小雨，墙面静极
凹型也静止不动
但他总觉得有什么东西，在眼前晃动
仿若火山喷发引起的地震波一寸一寸传上来
他不由地迈出腿，走向与他等高的那一张
他把双手轻轻扶在墙上，将脸贴了进去
那面具似乎在左右摆动
像一匹桀骜不驯的马
他在那里摆放了很久
他在把面具与他的脸
严丝合缝
***
Mountain Dwelling
He takes out white glazed porcelain bowls
And fine vintage Song Dancong tea
Wind carries the unrestrained chirp of autumn cicadas
Within this green concert hall
Their sound bears no distinction
From the echoes of Rome’s colosseum
Pines lean halfway forward
Like ancient ladies leaning over water to tease fish
Lovely yet largely impractical
At this hour he always lights a cigar
The room’s fullest masculine breath all morning long
He raises this banner for himself each day
To mark his border against the world
BG jeans paired with Berluti leather shoes
Hailing from separate countries, he favors this contrast
To ease the toil of ticking hands and coiled springs on his wrist
Walcott’s poetry collection rests on the desk
An egret spreading its wings gliding through
The narrowest valley of his mind
山居
他把白色釉面的瓷碗
和上好的单枞宋种拿出来
风吹拂着秋蝉信口开河的鸣唱
它们在绿色的音乐厅里
和在罗马的斗兽场的效果
看不出有什么不同
松树探出半截身子
像古时美人的临水戏鱼
很美，大抵不太实用
他习惯在这个时候点燃一支雪茄
这是整个上午房间里最足的雄性气息
他每天为自己升起这样的旗帜
以此强调与这个世界的疆域
BG牛仔裤和伯尔鲁蒂皮鞋
来自不同的国家，他喜欢用这样的搭配
来打发手腕上的指针和发条上的苦
书桌上沃尔科特的诗集
如一只白鹭张开翅膀，正在划过
他头脑里最窄的幽谷
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