I dreamed still more:
Swan after swan,
Winging toward Jishi Mountain in Gansu,
Where the world bears its bitterest sorrows.
Zhao Xiaobo
Zhao Xiaobo, President of the Hong Kong Vanguard Poetry Association, Founding Director of the editorial board of Chinese Schools poetry journal, Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong’s New Poetry Almanac, Editor-in-Chief of Singapore’s Youmi Poetry Journal, and author of the “Poems on Poetry Circle Figures” series.
In recent years, he has composed poetic biographies for more than one thousand contemporary Chinese poets. He has published eight monographs, including Minor Odes, Seven Strings, Biographies of Poets, Holding the Lamp, Star Chart, as well as Volume I, Volume II and the Platinum Volume of Biographies of Contemporary Poets. Up to now, he has authored a total of seventeen poetry collections.
招小波, 香港先锋诗歌协会会长，《 中国流派》诗刊社创刊社长，香港《新诗黄历》主編，新加坡《有米》诗刊主編，“诗坛人物诗”系列撰写人。近年用诗歌为中国当代一千余位诗人立传, 出版了《小雅》《七弦》《诗列传》《提灯》《星图》《当代诗人列传》上下卷和铂金巻八部专著。至今共著有诗集十七部。
Translated by Ma Yongbo
I Dreamed Swans Flew Into My Quilt
I heard the down manufacturer say
The plumage plucked from two full-grown geese
Could make a thick winter coat.
So last night I dreamed
Swans slipped into my quilt,
Turning all the bitter wind and biting frost
Into blossoms soft as wine’s gentle glow.
I dreamed still more:
Swan after swan,
Winging toward Jishi Mountain in Gansu,
Where the world bears its bitterest sorrows.
梦见天鹅飞进被窝
听厂家说
两只大鹅的羽绒
就可以制一件寒衣
于是，我昨夜梦见
天鹅飞进被窝
把漫天的风刀霜剑
化作了花柔酒软
我还梦见
一只又一只的天鹅
正飞向甘肃的积石山
那里有最寒怆的人间
***
Seeing People, Why Demand Perfect Clarity
After my cataract was removed,
It was like stripping away a heavy veil.
Colours instantly came alive,
Hundreds of blooms blooming in vivid rivalry.
The gloomy city
Suddenly embraced sunlight,
Bursting into countless bright shapes.
Yet my beloved wife,
Aged in the blink of an eye.
All those hidden fine wrinkles
Laid bare before my eyes, plain to see.
To know another human being—
Why insist on crystal clarity?
Let me put the veil back on.
I still prefer the soft haze of days gone by.
阅人，何必非要清晰
当白内障被摘除
就像扯掉了厚厚的面纱
颜色首先获得生命
色彩像百花争妍
阴沉的城市
一下子抱住了阳光
变得千姿百态
曾经的美妻
却在瞬间变老了
一些深藏的皺纹
被看得一清二楚
阅人
何必非要清晰呢
把面纱装回去吧
我还是喜欢以前的朦胧
***
No Sublime Heights, Only Redemption From the Low Ground
That Hollywood blockbuster
Pretty Woman
Ends with two lines
Thought-provoking to the core.
A wealthy businessman falls for a woman of the streets.
He fancies himself an old-world knight
Riding to rescue the “princess trapped in a tower.”
He says: “I saved you.”
The woman replies:
“After you saved me,
I turned around and saved you too.”
The curtain falls here.
Neither of them
Stands upon lofty moral ground.
It is their mutual redemption from humble depths
That renders the story’s theme far more profound.
沒有崇高，只有低处的救赎
好来坞大片
《风月俏佳人》
最后的两句台词
发人深思
富商爱上了风尘女
他充当古代的骑士
去解救 “ 塔尖上的公主 ”
他说：“ 我救了你 ”
风尘女说：
“ 我在获救之后，
反过来救了你 ”
至此，全剧终
没有一个人
站在道德高地
而是在低处的相互救赎
令主题变得更加深刻
_______________________
