Wind Says: Selected Poetry of Bai Hua

Section III. In the Qing Dynasty

(III) In the Qing Dynasty 38 望气的人 望气的人行色匆匆 登高眺远 眼中沉沉的暮霭 长出黄金、几何与宫殿 穷巷西风突变 一个英雄正动身去千里之外 望气的人看到了 他激动的草鞋和布衫 更远的山谷浑然 零落的钟声依稀可闻 两个儿童打扫着亭台 望气的人坐对空寂的傍晚 吉祥之云宽大 一个干枯的导师沉默 独自在吐火、炼丹 望气的人看穿了石头里的图案 乡间的日子风调雨顺 菜田一畦，流水一涧 这边青翠未改 望气的人已走上了另一座山巅 1986 暮春 39 Cloud Diviner The cloud diviner scurries by scanning from heights In his eyes, the dense dusky mist grows gold, geometry and palaces In a poor quarter, the west wind turns abruptly A hero embarks on a thousand-mile journey The cloud diviner can see his agitated grass sandals and toga Farther valleys merge into one the chimes of bells, faint and few Two children are sweeping the pavilions The cloud diviner faces an empty twilight Auspicious clouds unfold A quiet shriveled master spits fire, brews elixir on his own The cloud diviner sees patterns in the stones Wind and rain agree in village days A vegetable field, a flowing stream the crispy green stays unchanged here The cloud diviner has left for the next summit Late Spring, 1986 40 李后主 遥远的清朗的男子 在977年一个细瘦的秋天 装满表达和酒 彻夜难眠、内疚 忠贞的泪水在湖面漂流 梦中的小船像一首旧曲 思念挥霍的岁月 负债的烟 失去的爱情的创伤 一个国家的沦落 哦，后主 林阴雨昏、落日楼头 你摸过的栏杆 已变成一首诗的细节或珍珠 你用刀割着酒、割着衣袖 还用小窗的灯火 吹燃竹林的风、书生的抱负 同时也吹燃了一个风流的女巫 1986 暮春 41 Emperor Li Yu Long ago a bright man in the thin autumn of 977 full of lyricism and wine sleepless and guilty all night tears of loyalty drifting on the lake A boat in a dream like an old prelude recalling wasted years indebted smoke wounds of a lost love a nation’s fall O, Emperor dark sky and rainy dusk the handrail you once touched has turned into pearls or poetic details you slice wine with a knife, you slice a sleeve you even use window lights to blow flames into a bamboo wind, a scholar’s ambitions a flirtatious sorceress Late Spring, 1986 42 黄昏 递给我走来的树木 递给我一本历史书 出出进进的死亡受冷落 传达的力量铭心刻骨 心跳穿过缓慢的阴影 随便的一只鸟儿 飞向随便的一片天空 风中有漂泊的路途 肉体日夜流逝 几个名字返老还童 梦中的夏天开始凋零 无声的耳朵倾听一个人物 为了百年如一日 为了此刻天长地久 请递给我走来的树木 递给我一本历史书 1986 43 Dusk Give me the forest I have walked through Give me a book of history Death comes and goes, isolated Its power engraved in me Heartbeat runs through slow shadows A carefree bird flies toward a carefree sky Wind has a wandering path Flesh fades away day and night Some names are young again Summer in dreams begins to wither A silent ear listens to a personage To live a century as a day To eternalize this moment Please give me the forest I have walked through Give me a book of history 1986 44 在清朝 在清朝 安闲和理想越来越深 牛羊无事，百姓下棋 科举也大公无私 货币两地不同 有时还用谷物兑换 茶叶、丝、瓷器 在清朝 山水画臻于完美 纸张泛滥，风筝遍地 灯笼得了要领 一座座庙宇向南 财富似乎过分 在清朝 诗人不事营生、爱面子 饮酒落花，风和日丽 池塘的水很肥 二只鸭子迎风游泳 风马牛不相及 在清朝 一个人梦见一个人 夜读太史公，清晨扫地 而朝廷增设军机处 每年选拔长指甲的官吏 45 In the Qing Dynasty In the Qing dynasty ease and ideals flourish cows and sheep do nothing, the folks play chess even imperial exams are fair and selfless different currencies in two places sometimes they barter crops for tea, silk and china In the Qing dynasty landscape art defines perfect a flood of paper, kites everywhere lanterns lead the way temples after temples turn southward even wealth seems over the top In the Qing dynasty poets have no trade, save face drinking over fallen leaves and fine weather fat pond water two ducks swim and greet the wind at complete odds In the Qing dynasty a man dreams of a man reads Sima Qian at night, sweeps the floor in the morning the court creates more military sites appoints officers with long nails each year 46 在清朝 多胡须和无胡须的人 严于身教，不苟言谈 农村人不愿认字 孩子们敬老 母亲屈从于儿子 在清朝 用款税激励人民 办水利、办学校、办祠堂 编印书籍、整理地方志 建筑弄得古香古色 在清朝 哲学如雨，科学不能适应 有一个人朝三暮四 无端端地着急 愤怒成为他毕生的事业 他于一八四二年死去 1986 秋 47 In the Qing dynasty men with beards and men with no beards behave strictly, converse little country folks refuse to read children respect the old mothers listen to their sons In the Qing dynasty taxes motivate people build irrigation, schools and temples print books, classify annals lend architecture a classical touch In the Qing dynasty philosophy is rain, science can’t adapt a fickle-minded man anxious for no reason ends his lifelong career in rage dies in 1842 Autumn 1986 ...