In the name of a business trip, my wings take off from Beijing
“Through the cracks of life, peeking at this long-unseen city”
Deng Rongcheng is an eminent poet of China
Deng Rongcheng, was born in October 1969 in Haian County, Jiangsu Province, he currently resides in Beijing. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in French Language and Literature from Beijing Language Institute, and later pursued further studies at the University of Poitiers in France, where he obtained a DESS degree. His personal hobbies include literature, Go, and music. He is a senior executive of a central state-owned enterprise, having worked long-term in Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, and Madagascar. He has published books such as Black Africa, Blue Paris and Singing While Walking, as well as translated works like The Story of Grandmother (by George Sand), among others.
邓荣成，男，1969年10月出生于江苏省海安县。北京语言学院法国语言与文学专业本科毕业，后赴法国POITIERS大学读研获DESS学位。个人爱好：文学、围棋、音乐。某央企高管，曾在塞内加尔、几内亚、毛里塔尼亚、马达加斯加长期工作过，现居北京。出版散文集《黑非洲 蓝巴黎》、《边走边唱》，译著《祖母的故事》（乔治•桑）等。
(Translated by Ma Yongbo)
A Trip to Shenzhen
A Trip to Shenzhen In the name of a business trip, my wings take off from Beijing
“Through the cracks of life, peeking at this long-unseen city”
Sunlight, greenery, moist air, brushing against my body
Shedding my ill-timed black leather jacket
Forest of tall buildings are caged by grid-like streets and red-green lights
They stand calmly, confronting the noise in my heart
All passers-by hurry, shifting swiftly in my pupils
Look, steps pour out restlessness, this is a hurried city
On the phone, my friend’s slightly hoarse voice killed my unfamiliarity with the city
“Life, we rise because of you, perish because of you”
In this sweltering city, my friend recalls the fleeting college years in a familiar rhythm
Memories from over a decade ago, illusory, draw near from afar
“Let heart stay half-open forever, only opening and closing in the right season”
My friend appears, hands over a thin jacket and a razor, words pouring forth
We use the passé simple in French, reactivate the dancing beer and the shuttle-like naivety
On the stone table at Beijing Language Institute
They surge from the heart’s spring
Like blue lotuses rising against the wind, blooming freely after a long absence
“Wife, child, an unchanging path, becoming a container for life
Scheming to hold my soul within”
I mutter to myself, as if kneeling before passion
To answer my friend, and to ruminate on time:
“Then enjoy it, this is God’s right to speak, and the return of our youth”
***
深圳之行
以出差的名义，我的翅膀从北京起飞
“透过生活的缝隙，窥视久违的城市”
阳光、绿色、湿润的空气，打在身上
褪去我不适时宜的黑色皮夹克
林立的高楼，被网格状的大街和红绿灯笼住
它们冷静地矗立，与我内心的喧哗对峙
所有的行人步履匆匆，在我的瞳孔里迅速地位移
看那，脚步在宣泻躁动，一个匆忙的城市
好友略带沙哑的声音，在电话另一端扼杀我对城市的陌生感
“生活啊，我们因你而起，因你而灭”
炎热的城市里，朋友用熟悉的节奏追忆北语的逝水流年
十多年前的记忆，虚幻地由远而近
“让感性的心永远虚掩着吧，只在适时的季节开合”
好友现身了，递过薄夹克和剃须刀，话语络绎不绝
我们用法语中的简单过去时，重新激活北语石桌上
跳舞的啤酒、织梭的懵懂
它们从心泉堆积处涌将出来
如同迎风而起的蓝莲花，久违后肆意绽放
“妻子、孩子，一成不变的路径，成为生活的容器
居心叵测地把我的灵魂装入”
我自言自语，仿佛跪拜在激情的面前
是为了回答好友，也是在反刍时间：
“那么享受它吧，这是上帝的话语权，和我们青春的回归”
***
Passing Xidan by Car, in the Rain
It’s raining. The wind tears away the crowd, and the sky presses down
A red light glows; I listen to the cold, tinkling rain pound the car window
A gust sweeps over the roof, hacking off the metaphorical part
Just as the season turns past the Autumn Equinox, melancholy arrives early in my sight
On this sudden night, whose fate will be pierced by a sharp sword?
Thoughts overstep the boundary of rain and wind, traveling farther than my wheel
Dusk lingers. In the rain
Like a blues-obsessed troubadour, after parting from friends
I wait alone for a cluster of words to come
To lift their imprisonment of the other me and the wildness within
***
车过西单，雨
下雨了。风撕去人群，天空压迫下来
红灯亮起，聆听泠泠冷雨砸向车窗
狂风越过车顶，砍掉隐喻的部分
如同时令翻过秋分，忧郁提前到达我的视线
骤然而至的今晚，谁的命运将被利剑击中？
思想僭越雨和风的边界，比我的车轮走得更远
黄昏逡巡着。在雨中
我像一位痴迷蓝调的行吟诗人，离别朋友后
孤单地等待一堆词语的降临
解除它对另一个我和野性的囚禁
***
Cappuccino at Houhai
Perhaps a corner of Houhai is another name for the Peach Blossom Spring
We willingly become slaves to the sharpness of words
Borrowing the linguistic elasticity, the fragrance of peach blossoms in the night.
Yes, we need some of the water’s softness and passion
To deal with the mundane, unremarkable things that surround us every day.
We abandon the lethargic way of conversation
To question the end of life, or the turning points of emotion
To discuss oarsmen, the sunlight stepping down the stairs,
The prophecies of boats rippling in the middle of the lake
The people at the adjacent table are immersed in their world,
Laughing and talking without restraint
Sighs and some ambiguous expressions drift into my ears.
The cup is drunk, infatuated with the fragrance of cappuccino and the penetration of eyes
Opening its chest, layers of cocoon silk are peeled off
The activated words drift outside our bodies, exiled to the farthest place of banishment
Like fish wandering in the freest water
Note: Houhai in Beijing was one of the basic projects in the planning and design of the capital of the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. Once the terminal of the canal transportation, there are many cultural relics protection units along its banks. Today, Houhai is a national 4A-level scenic spot and a great place for old Beijingers and tourists to relax and have fun.
***
后海卡布切诺
也许后海一隅是桃花源的别称
我们心甘情愿地成为文字锋芒的奴隶
借用一些词语的弹性，桃花的芬香在漆黑的夜晚绽开。
是的，需要一些水的柔软和激情
对付每天身旁无趣、不动声色的事物。
我们放弃慵倦的交谈方式
诘问生活的终点，或者情感的拐弯之处
讨论桨手，拾阶而下的阳光，船在湖心荡漾的谶语
邻座的人沉醉在自己的世界里，忘情地说笑
唏嘘之声和一些模棱两可的表达甩进我的耳朵。
杯子醉了，痴迷卡布切诺的芬芳和眼睛的洞透
敞开胸膛，茧丝层层剥开
被激活的话语游离于我们身外，放逐到最遥远的流放地
如同鱼在最自由的水里漫步
__________________________
