Poems by Yu Jian / 于坚

whoever notices how many leaves the wind
knocks from these trees
and whoever sees this many leaves
on such a beautiful, sun-lit afternoon
suddenly falling　all of them dying
is bound to shudder

《作品112号》

谁见过那阵风碰落那么多树叶
看见那么多的叶子
突然落下 全部死去
谁就会不寒而栗

At midnight in the far corner of Yunnan
the dark national highway was suddenly lit
by a car light a rabbit or squirrel
scurried across the snow-covered ground
like escaped jailbirds
climbing over the Berlin Wall　or
stopping to open their red mouths　a cunning smile
long ears　as if just grown
a flash through the heart　thought some meaning
would come out　but there was nothing to say
till another time　another rabbit
flickering by　ghostly
then nothing
only speed

~ Translated by Wang Ping

在深夜　云南遥远的一角

在深夜　云南遥远的一角
黑暗中的国家公路　忽然被汽车的光
照亮　一只野兔或者松鼠
在雪地上仓惶而过　象是逃犯
越过了柏林墙　或者
停下来　张开红嘴巴　诡秘地一笑　
长耳朵　象是刚刚长出来
内心灵光一闪　以为有些意思
可以借此说出　但总是无话
直到另一回　另一只兔子
在公路边　幽灵般地一晃
从此便没有下文

~ 王屏翻译

the people planting potatoes are infected by dawn
infected by the sun as it rises
quickly they work　the world is quick at this time
quickly the dew dries　quickly the field voles scamper off
at times like this you need to be quick　 labourers
are quick to remove their　 jackets to bare their arms
a whole day's work depends on a good morning start
this is how
primary school teachers educate their students　 they
react with speed　 the invisible world in their classrooms
the morning’s Chinese lesson　 is understood on paper as
a few　 set phrases left over from yesterday
at dusk 　the world slows down
the ranks of the earth slow down facing westwards
formations of corn-fields and low hills
formations of rivers and forests
formations of villages and sunflowers
everything slows down facing westward
all those shadows dragged over things slow down
like silk wrapped round the body of night
slipping away, bolt by bolt
the potato planters　 carrying their tools
mingle with the kids coming home from school
they walk slowly on the uplands
home ahead　 they don’t worry about time
the children dawdle
no more homework to do
the adults dawdle
because the potatoes have all been planted
they’re all so slow
as if the earth had somehow got into their bodies
but those things planted at speed
have in no way slowed down nor have they ever speeded up
incapable both of speed and slowness
they’ve simply begun and all they have to do is grow
is be from morning to night
from spring to autumn
neither hurried 　nor slow right to the very end

99/10/29

速度

种土豆的人们受到黎明的感染
受到正在上升的太阳的感染
活干得很快 这时候世界是快的
露水干得很快 田鼠逃得很快
在这样的时候应该赶快 劳动者
很快就脱去了上衣 光起了膀子
一日之计在于晨 小学教师
也是这样教育学生 他们
快速反应着 教师里看不见世界
早晨的语文 在纸上被理解为
一些 昨天剩下的成语
在黄昏中 世界就慢下来
大地的队伍朝着西方慢下来
玉米地和山岗的队列
河流和树林的队列
村庄和向日葵的队列
一切都朝着西方慢下来
所有拖在物体上的影子都慢下来
像裹着黑夜之身的丝绸
一匹匹滑落下去
种土豆的人们 拎着工具
和离开了学校的孩子们汇合
在高地上缓慢地走着
前面是家 他们不担心时间
孩子们慢吞吞的
再没有课外作业
大人们慢吞吞的
因为土豆已经全部种下
他们那么缓慢
仿佛大地进入了他们的身体
那在快速中被种下地东西
并没有慢下来 也从未快过
它们不能快也无法慢
只是开始了 就要生长着
就要从早到晚 从春天到秋天
在着 不紧不慢 直到结束
1999年

unsure how to address it it was still sitting at the head of the table only a moment ago
the custodian of a bottle of stout absolutely indispensable it has a sense of its own status
signifying conviviality as the sun goes down and the depth of froth in a glass
opened with a pop at the start of the evening meal the action strikingly similar to that of a bullfrog
the waiter even believes that it really is a frog
believes that something on this table covered with cooked food has unexpectedly been brought back to life
he is vexed by his misunderstanding and immediately shifts his attention to a toothpick
he is the last one after him the world gives it no further thought
with no other entries on it in the dictionary no original meanings extended meanings transferred meanings
but those dishes originally arranged in submission before it signify nothing less than the flavours of Sichuan cuisine
the napkin is touched by the hand of a general the roses in full bloom an allusion to privilege
in an eccentric arc it exited this gathering an arc not its own
the brewery never designed such a line for its product
it now lies on the floor with the cigarette butts footprints bones and other rubbish
an unrelated jumble an impromptu design of no use to anyone
but its plight is even more wretched a butt reminds the world of a slob
a bone brings to mind a dog or a cat and footprints of course allude to a human presence
it is waste its whiteness being nothing more than its whiteness and its shape nothing more than its shape
it falls beyond the reach of our adjectives
I wasn’t a drinker then it was I who opened the bottle of beer
and for this reason I noticed its strange leap its simple disappearance
I suddenly tried to imagine the pop it made jumping out into space but was unable to
mine was the body of an author of a collection of poetry and sixty kilograms of corporeal existence
all I did was bend down and pick up this alluring small white object
it was hard with a serrated rim which cut into my finger
and made me feel a sharpness so unlike that of knives

啤酒瓶盖

不知道叫它什么才好 刚才还位居宴会的高处
一瓶黑啤酒的守护者 不可或缺 它有它的身份
意味着一个黄昏的好心情 以及一杯泡沫的深度
在晚餐开始时嘭地一声跳开了 那动作很像一只牛蛙
侍者还以为它真的是 以为摆满熟物的餐桌上竟有什么复活
他为他的错觉懊恼 立即去注意一根牙签了
他是最后的一位 此后 世界就再也想不到它
词典上不再有关于它的词条 不再有它的本义 引义和转义
而那时原先屈居它下面的瓷盘 正意味着一组川味
餐巾被一位将军的手使用着 玫瑰在盛开 暗喻出高贵
它在一道奇怪的弧线中离开了这场合 这不是它的弧线
啤酒厂 从未为一瓶啤酒设计过这样的线
它现在和烟蒂 脚印 骨渣以及地板这些赃物在一起
它们互不相干 一个即兴的图案 谁也不会对谁有用
而它还更糟 一个烟蒂能使世界想起一个邋遢鬼
一块骨渣意味着一只猫或狗 脚印当然暗示了某个人的一生
它是废品 它的白色只是它的白色 它的形状只是它的形状
它在我们的形容词所能触及的一切之外
那时我尚未饮酒 是我把这瓶啤酒打开
因而我得以看它那么陌生地一跳 那么简单地不在了
我忽然也想象它那样“嘭”地一声 跳出去 但我不能
身为一本诗集的作者和一具六十公斤的躯体
我仅仅是弯下腰 把这个白色的小尤物拾起来
它那坚硬的 齿状的边缘 划破了我的手指
使我感受到某种与刀子无关的锋利

every day as the chimneys belch smoke
he comes riding to work on his
old “Bell”-brand bicycle

past the administration building
past the forging shop
past the perimeter wall of the storehouse
to that small hut

workers standing in workshop doorways
say when they see him
Luo Jiasheng’s here

no one knows anything about him
no one asks him anything about himself
the whole factory calls him Luo Jiasheng

the workers are always knocking on his door
wanting their watches repaired electric meters repaired
their radios repaired

during the Cultural Revolution
he was expelled from the factory:
in a suitcase belonging to him
someone had found a tie

when he was allowed to come back to work
he still rode that old “Bell”
Luo Jiasheng
got married without anyone knowing
he invited no one to the wedding
at the age of forty-two
he became a father

in the same year
he died
an electric furnace opened an enormous gash
in his head
it was shocking

on the day of the funeral
his wife did not attend
a few workers carried his coffin up into the hills
they said he was short
he wasn’t heavy
the watches he repaired
were better than new

the chimneys belch smoke
workers stand in the workshop doorways
Luo Jiasheng
hasn’t come to work

[罗家生］

他天天骑一辆旧‘来铃’
烟囱冒烟的时候
来上班

驶过办公楼
驶过锻工车间
驶过仓库的围墙
走进那间木板搭成的小屋

工人们站在车间门口
看到他 就说
罗家生来了

谁也不知道他是谁
谁也不问他是谁
全厂都叫他罗家生

工人常常去敲他的小屋
找他修手表 电表
找他修收音机

文化大革命
他被赶出厂
在他的箱子里
搜出一条领带

他再来上班的时候
还是骑那辆来铃
罗家生
悄悄地接了婚
一个人也没有请
四十二岁
当了父亲

就在这一年
他死了
电炉把他的头
炸开一大条口
真可怕

埋的那天
他老婆没有来
几个工人抬到山上
他们说：他个头小
抬着不重
从前他修的表
比新的还好

烟囱冒烟了
工人站在车间门口
罗家生
没有来上班