Wind Says: Selected Poetry of Bai Hua

Section VII. Hand Notes on Mountain and Water

(VII) Hand Notes on Mountain and Water 126 广陵散 一 一个青年向深渊滑去 接着又一个青年…… 幸福就快报废了 一个男孩写下一行诗 唉，一行诗，只有一行诗 二十四桥明月夜 二 冬天的江南 令你思想散漫，抓不住主题 肴肉、个园、上海人 热气腾腾的导游者 照像吧，照像吧 他冻红的脸在笑 1993年2月 127 Ancient Tune of Guangling 1 A youth slides off toward the abyss followed by another . . . Bliss is soon outmoded A boy writes a verse Alas, a verse, just a verse Twenty-four bridges in a moonlit night 2 Winter in the south scatters your thoughts, they can’t find a theme Bacon, Geyuan Garden, Shanghai folks a tour guide is steaming with enthusiasm Photo, photo His frozen red face is smiling February 1993 128 棉花之歌 一日复一日，明日何其多 生活在一个工厂聚集 繁荣的棉花一股一股 工人们歌唱棉花 工人们购买棉花 工人们不出卖棉花 几何棉花、钞票棉花、爱情棉花 聚成中年叙事曲 集体主义锣鼓 肉体的平安夜 家家户户的欢乐 棉花是民生之歌 棉花是不失眠的 棉花是自力更生之母 当沿海城市升起了翅膀 棉花就抛弃海洋到大陆落户 哈哈大笑的棉花来了 哈哈大笑的一日三餐来了 哈哈大笑的工人阶级来了 一日复一日，明日何其多 生活在一个工厂聚集 繁荣的棉花一股一股 1994 春 129 Song of Cotton Day after day, how many tomorrows A factory life assembles heaps and heaps of flourishing cotton Workers sing cotton Workers buy cotton Workers do not betray cotton Cotton geometry, cotton dollar notes, cotton love clustered into narratives of middle-age the drums of collectivism the silent night of flesh the joy of every family Cotton is the people’s song Cotton is not an insomniac Cotton is the mother of self-reliance When the sea city lifts its wings cotton will jilt the sea for the mainland The laughing cotton is here Three laughing meals are here The laughing working class is here Day after day, how many tomorrows A factory life assembles heaps and heaps of flourishing cotton Spring 1994 130 山水手记 一 像原始人面对一个奇迹 我面对你的翻译和声音 二 毛泽东说：不要鹅蛋看不起鸡蛋。 枕草子说：水中的鸭蛋是优雅的。 三 年轻姑娘继续谈着风景， 一只燕子的飞翔会带来肉体的潮湿。 四 他有着黎明式的精神，但准时是他忧伤的表现。 五 鸟儿， 我心烦意乱 鸽子…… 南京清晨的悸动 131 Hand Notes on Mountain and Water 1 Like a primitive facing a miracle I face your translation and voice 2 Mao Tse-tung said, Goose eggs should not look down on chicken eggs. The Pillow Book says, Duck eggs in the water are elegant. 3 The young girl continued to talk about the scenery, the flight of a swallow could be sexually arousing. 4 He has a dawn-like spirit, but his punctuality expresses his sadness. 5 Bird, I’m terribly distraught Dove . . . the pulse of an early Nanjing morning 132 六 风景有些寂寞的洋气 在一株皂角树下 凉风…… 藤椅 一本五十年代的画册 七 他肠子里绞着算盘 他上演眼泪。 八 好听的地名是南京、汉城、名古屋。 九 年轻人烧指甲是会发疯的呀。 十 星期天，一个中年女教师 在无休止地打一条狗。 十一 我认为的好人是南京人吕祥，衢州人黄慰愿，合肥人胡全胜。 133 6 Some lonely foreign air in the landscape under a Chinese honey locust a fresh breeze . . . the rattan chair an art book from the fifties 7 His intestines are wrung with a Chinese abacus, he performs tears. 8 Names of places that sound pleasant: Nanjing, Seoul and Nagoya. 9 Young people who burn their fingernails will go nuts. 10 On Sunday, a female teacher, middle-aged beats a dog relentlessly. 11 I think good men include Lu Xiang from Nanjing, Huang Weiyuan from Quzhou and Hu Quansheng from Hefei. 134 十二 爱流泪的胖子笑了，这一节值得留念。 十三 被焦虑损坏的脸是叶利钦的脸。 十四 这是春天的桌子，春天的椅子，春天的酒。 十五 一个深夜爱说话的体育教师今天专程去加拿大的月亮下哭泣。 十六 姓名叫杨伟的人不好， 应该改一个名字。 十七 一个美丽的男诗人发胖了，这是可悲的，他蓄上胡子就显得可爱了； 另一个男诗人流着眼泪说谎，而且头发又稀疏，就显得可耻了。 135 12 The tearful fatty smiles, this moment, worth keeping in fond memory. 13 The face ruined by anxiety is Yeltsin’s. 14 This is spring table, spring chair, spring wine. 15 A sports teacher who likes to talk late at night makes a special trip today to cry under the moon in Canada. 16 The name Yang Wei is not auspicious, they should change it. 17 A handsome male poet puts on weight, how sad, but if he wears a beard he’d look adorable; another poet is telling lies with tears, his hair thin and scarce, so despicable. 136 十八 我曾写过一行“向笑开枪”， 这很古怪。 十九 一个吃乌梢蛇时表情严肃的人是无趣的，一个在初夏头发多油的人是 色情的；爱抒情的人注定了是坏人，而坏人的嘴都长得不好看。 二十 最柔软的女人是贵州女人。 二十一 我认识一位中国诗人，走路 像子弹一样快。 二十二 金鱼，这个词适合这张脸。 二十三 在柏林 我生出了第一根白发 是为记。 137 18 Once I wrote a line, Shoot at laughter, how strange. 19 A man who looks stern when eating a Zaocys snake isn’t amusing; a man whose hair is greasy in early summer is lustful; a lyrical man is bound to be a bad person and the mouth of the bad always looks ugly. 20 The softest women are Guizhou women. 21 I know a Chinese poet who walks as fast as a bullet. 22 Goldfish, this verb fits this face. 23 In Berlin I grew the first strand of white hair as a souvenir 138 二十四 更明亮的在泻下 更强硬的在泻下 我想到机械化的钢琴心 二十五 1997年，10月 从斯图加特到图宾根 买一张周末车票35马克 但一次可乘坐5人。 二十六 他用榔头砸蚂蚁。 二十七 那女仆人捡起两节狗屎尾随而去 那老头搓着两个核桃若搓着两个睾丸 1995–1997 139 24 What is shinier is cascading down What is harder is cascading down I think of a mechanical piano heart 25 October 1997 from Stuttgart to Tübingen I bought a weekend bus ticket for 35 Deutschmarks valid for five passengers in one trip 26 He smashes ants with a hammer. 27 That maid picks up and walks away with two pieces of dog shit. That old man rubs two peaches like rubbing two testicles. 1995–1997 140 两个时代之小影 “1897年春天， 契诃夫的右肺尖钝化， 7月，俄罗斯思潮社的沙发上有臭虫。” 2000年春天， 一位闲人把飞机和鸟儿运回成都， 7月，他又把棕榈树种上屋顶。 2000 秋 141 A Short Film on Two...