No true person 

Is unwilling to give way to the next generation. 

Bi Dengcheng is an eminent poet from China

Bi Dengcheng was born on November 8, 1963, in Jingdong County, Yunnan Province. He has now retired from the Yunnan Nationalities Museum and resides in Kunming. His poems have been published in various newspapers and magazines, including Spring City Evening News, Kunming Daily, Yunnan Daily, Xiamen Literature and Art, Dianchi Lake, Frontier Literature, Masses, Ethnic Literature, Poetry, and Xinhua Digest. He has also published several poetry collections, such as A Red Fish in the Heart, Garland, and Sigangli.

毕登程：1963年11月8日出生于云南省景东县。现已从云南民族博物馆退休，居昆明。诗歌曾在《春城晚报》《昆明日报》《云南日报》《厦门文艺》《滇池》《边疆文学》《大家》《民族文学》《诗刊》《新华文摘》等报刊杂志发表过，出版过《心有红鱼》《花环》《司岗里》等诗集。

[Translated by Ma Yongbo]

Life and Death 

No true flower 

Is unwilling to give way to the fruit. 

 

No true fruit 

Is unwilling to give way to the seed. 

 

No true seed 

Is unwilling to give way to the sprout. 

 

No true person 

Is unwilling to give way to the next generation. 

 

Every true life 

Must be completed through death. 

 

Every natural death 

Is a true rebirth. 

***

生与死

没有哪朵真正的花

不愿让位给果实

 

没有哪个真正的果

不愿让位给种子

 

没有哪粒真正的种

不愿让位给新芽

 

没有哪个真正的人

不愿让位给后代

 

每一个真正的生命

都必以死亡来完成

 

每一个自然的死亡

都是真正的转生

***

The Patient Waiter

Did you see that heron? 

Long legs, long neck, long beak— 

Yet all day long, it just stands there, 

Standing like a log, like a tree stump. 

From dawn till dusk, 

It waits and waits, 

Waiting to catch fish, waiting to seize shrimp. 

The locals aptly call it “the big blue stump,” 

And affectionately, “the patient waiter.” 

 

All day long, it labors,  

Surely this counts as diligence, doesn’t it? 

But beyond feeding itself and raising its young, 

Its life has no other purpose. 

 

Yet even so, 

There are still many people 

Who envy its life as a bird— 

Envy its leisure by rivers, 

Its grace above lakes, 

Envy how it stays far from the hustle of the world, 

Disputing neither with people nor with life, 

Harming no heaven, violating no reason, 

Deceiving no self, betraying no one, 

Guarding its own integrity alone. 

***

老等

看见了吗那只苍鹭

脚长、脖长、嘴壳长

可一天到晚它就那么站着

站成木头站成树桩

一天到晚

它就那么等着等着

等待拿鱼等待捉虾

当地人形象地叫它大青桩

又亲切地叫它老等

 

一天到晚它都在劳动

这也可以算得上是勤劳了吧

可除了糊口和养儿育女

它的生活再没有其他目的

 

但即便如此

还是有许多人

羡慕它的鸟生

羡慕它悠游于江河

高蹈于湖泊

羡慕它远离红尘

与人与世两无争

不伤天不害理

不骗己不卖人

独善其身

***

The Peacocks’ Rivalry 

The magnificent big peacocks 

Can live in harmony with the plain little sparrows, 

Even when the sparrows come to snatch their food, 

They neither grow annoyed nor angry, 

Neither chase nor drive them away. 

 

Yet they will never tolerate, 

Never tolerate anyone being more beautiful than themselves. 

Whenever they sense a lovely creature drawing near, 

Without the slightest warning, 

They suddenly spread their tail feathers, 

Dazzling people until their heads spin. 

 

A tree struggles to claim its space under heaven and earth, 

A person struggles to uphold their dignity, 

A peacock lives to strive for beauty. 

***

孔雀之争

华丽的大孔雀

能与土气的小麻雀和谐共处

即便小麻雀来抢夺它们的美食

它们也不恼不气

不赶不驱

 

但它们决不允许

决不允许别人比它们更美丽

每当它们感觉有丽人靠近

它们便会毫无征兆地

突然开屏

让人目眩头晕

 

树活争天地

人活争口气

孔雀活着为美丽

__________________

Read: The Great River – Poetry from China