The Current Translation
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Poems by Zhou Zan / 周瓒.Tr. by Eleanor Goodman and Wang Ao |
Zhou Zan was born in 1968 in Jiangsu Province. She is a poet, scholar, translator, and editor-in-chief of Wings [翼], a literary journal for Chinese women’s poetry. She holds a PhD from the Chinese department of Beijing University, where she completed a dissertation on the avant-garde in contemporary Chinese poetry. Her poetry collection, Turn Me Loose [松开], was published in 2007, and her other works include volumes of critical essays entitled Through the Periscope of Poetic Writing [透过诗歌写作的潜望镜, 2007] and Studies on Chinese Contemporary Literature [当代文学研究 ,2001]. Her translation of Margaret Atwood’s Eating Fire: Selected Poetry 1965-1995 is forthcoming from The Writers Press in 2008. She had stayed in New York as a visiting scholar at Columbia University from 2006 to 2007. Currently she lives in Beijing.
Lovers’ Shoal [−]
Here in the midst of this scenery, why ask
who named the road beneath our feet
This place is tranquil enough, remote enough
We presume our group has gone ahead, individually or conforming to the crowd
Across the lake, on a well-paved road
a passing bus, a lonely bus stop, tourists on horseback
Viewing the flowers named Nine Village Valley, how many villages to do they see?
More likely, the nine valleys are in their digital cameras
For a time, we joined them by mistake
and assumed that conforming would test our individuality
You specially noted two blue swaths of water
They switch back and forth on my desktop, that daily mirror
After, we heard that someone in our group
in all seriousness called one of the many paths hell
That opened our eyes: hell and heaven
were originally separated just by water—wasn’t it called Lethe?
But there was no boatman, we crossed on a pontoon bridge made of rope
when we rested on the hidden damp bench
when we rushed into field of wildflowers our eyes full of purple, we stopped short
——it was this view we’d been prepared for
12.6.05
*Lovers’ Shoal is a scenic spot in Sichuan’s Nine Village Valley Scenic Area
情人滩*
置身在一片风景中，又何必
在意是谁给了脚下的路一个名字
这里足够宁静，足够偏僻
我们猜想同行的人已经落单或随大流去了
隔着一块海子，修葺整饬的大路上
有巴士驶过，有站台孤立，走马的游人
观看叫做九寨沟的花，他们看到了几寨？
更可能的情形是，九寨都装在了数码里
有一阵子，我们也误入其中
以为随大流反而考验了我们的独特性
你还特地记录了两张蓝色的水
它们轮流充当我的桌面，每天的镜子
过后我们听说，同行的人有一位
认真地把其中一条路称作地狱
这倒令我们开了眼界：地狱和天堂
原来只隔着一片水面，难道它就叫忘川？
但没有摆渡者，我们穿过一座木绳结构的浮桥
当我们歇脚在幽隐的、潮湿的木凳
当我们闯进满目紫色的野花地，我们停下来
——原来我们是为这片风景准备的
2005/11/22，2005/12/6
情人滩，四川九寨沟风景区一景点。
．
Taking a Speedboat from Dongchong to Sanmen Island and Back [−]
Throwing on the orange life preserver,
tying slipknots in the slim ties,
I mistook it for a child’s game.
The dark blue boat could take just five or six.
The biggest of us sat in front,
and we joked he would steady the bow.
It isn’t far, Dongchong to Sanmen Island.
From the beach, the ocean wasn’t so huge.
But the little boat unveiled
the vastness of the sea. The next morning
as wind-carried drizzle sought shelter in the ocean,
my friends and I took the boat back to Dongchong,
the driver went full speed to strip away our muddled drowsiness.
All at once, on the hard surface of the water, the boat flipped
like a bratty kid doing long jumps.
Petals of water scattered and with the rain
blurred my vision. For a few blinks,
I felt, several feet deep
in the leaden water, the ocean’s iron essence.
乘快艇东冲至三门岛往还记
麻利地套上橘黄色救生衣
给那几道纤细的衣带打好活结
我以为，那一刻近似于童年的游戏
深蓝的小快艇仅能容下五六人
当我们中最高大的一位在前排落座
我们都笑说，是他，令我们的小舟稳健
路程不长，从东冲至三门岛
自海滩望过去，海面也称不上辽阔
而那承载着我们的小艇却衬托了
大海的深远。不止如此，第二天清早
当细雨在疾风中投奔大海
我和朋友乘舟返回东冲
船夫用全速摆脱昏沉的睡梦
快艇在坚硬的海面上蹦跳着
仿佛一个顽童练习着立定跳远
而片片水花溅起来，和雨水一道
模糊了我们的视野，有一些瞬间
我确实感到了铅灰色的水下
几尺深处，是大海铁的本质
2005-8-28；2005-11-2
For a Poet, My Confrere [−]
A poem for you must be in this form,
in parallel couplets, like we’re strolling shoulder-to-shoulder
This also means that a pause is a turn in conversation,
like a change in topic, turning onto another street
We admire a slow pace, but this mustn’t
become a self-hinting, an excuse even, therefore silence
Yes, for a long time we’ve been silent to each other
though we’ve walked the same road, entered the same restaurant
Today, we have a definite purpose
you’ll lead me to a place, if I choose to follow
This will mean: I won’t be silent, I’ll need an exit
though we’re entering the purgatory of our forbearers
致一位诗人，我的同行
给你的诗必须是这样一种体式
两行平行，仿佛我们并肩走在街上
这也意味着，停顿，是在谈话中
转折，就像话题转弯，拐往另一条街
慢，是我们心仪的速度，但也不能
变成一种自我暗示，甚至借口，所以沉默
是的，很久以来我们都互相沉默
就算我们一起走过相同的路，进过同一家馆子
今天，我们有一个明确的目的
你领我去一个地方，如果我选择了跟随
那将意味着：我不再沉默，我需要一个出口
就算我们进入的，是那先行者们都曾领受过的炼狱
2005-8-30；2005-11-2
Craftsman [−]
He studied under a famous teacher, by using moulds
he perfected his skills, leaving behind models
that would be replaced by other masterpieces
praise from the masters, rush orders from customers
now he’s left the crowds of people
focused, deep in meditation
he can pick up any stone and carve it
and expect a life to emerge
a figure, perhaps not beautiful
perhaps it can speak, perhaps it will remain silent
Maybe she was always groping around, starting with the first rope
she picked it up, wove it, she tangled
the connections, without a master, without a model
when she finally found the center and the direction of the web
inside the ball of thread, she knew
life had already begun, she turned careless
using the happiest of emotions
perhaps she’ll be famous for her creations, perhaps she’ll stay nameless
6.19.2005
匠人
他曾拜名师，使用模具
他使技艺娴熟，留下过样品
又被另一幅杰作覆盖
师长们的夸赞，客户抢购
如今他离开众人
一心一意，陷入沉思
他随意拿起一块石头雕刻
期待中一个生命诞生
有一个形体，也许并不优美
也许能开口说话，也许保持沉静
她可能一直是摸索，从第一根绳线开始
她捡起来，编织，她纠缠
联系，没有师父，没有样本
当她渐渐从线团中找到结合
和网络的方向，她知道
生命已经开始，她漫不经心
用最快乐的感情
也许她因这创造而闻名，也许她永远隐姓