A Phone Call From Dalian: Selected Poetry of Han Dong

17. A and B

36 甲乙 甲乙二人分别从床的两边下床 甲在系鞋带。背对着他的乙也在系鞋带 甲的前面是一扇窗户，因此他看见了街景 和一根横过来的树枝。树身被墙挡住了 因此他只好从刚要被挡住的地方往回看 树枝，越来越细，直到末梢 离另一边的墙，还有好大一截 空着，什么也没有，没有树枝、街景 也许仅仅是天空。甲再（第二次）往回看 头向左移了五厘米，或向前 也移了五厘米，或向左的同时也向前 不止五厘米，总之是为了看得更多 更多的树枝，更少的空白。左眼比右眼 看得更多。它们之间的距离是三厘米 但多看见的树枝都不止三厘米 他（甲）以这样的差距再看街景 闭上左眼，然后闭上右眼睁开左眼 然后再闭上左眼。到目前为止两只眼睛 都已闭上。甲什么也不看。甲系鞋带的时候 不用看，不用看自己的脚，先左后右 两只都已系好了。四岁时就已学会 五岁受到表扬，六岁已很熟练 这是甲七岁以后的某一天，三十岁的某一天或 六十岁的某一天，他仍能弯腰系自己的鞋带 只是把乙忽略得太久了。这是我们 （首先是作者）与甲一起犯下的错误 她（乙）从另一边下床，面对一只碗柜 37 A and B Two people A and B sit up on opposite sides of the bed A is tying his shoes. So is B, back turned to A In front of A there’s a window, so that he looks out on the street And a horizontal tree branch. The tree trunk is obstructed by the wall So that, from this obstruction, he must look back Along the tree branch, ever thinner, all the way to the end After which, before the next stretch of wall, there’s still a large Empty space, nothing there, neither tree branch nor street Maybe only empty sky. A (a second time) looks back again Head moving five centimeters leftward, or five centimeters Forward too, or even more than five centimeters leftward and forward At the same time, anyway, with the aim of looking at more And more tree branch, and less emptiness. The left eye can look at more Than the right. The distance between them is three centimeters But the extra bit of tree branch looked at is more than three centimeters Using this disparity, he (A) looks once again at the street Closes his left eye, then closes his right and opens his left Then closes his left again. At this point both eyes Are closed. A looks at nothing. When A ties his shoes There’s no need to look, no need to look at his feet, first left then right Now both are tied. At four he knew how At five he was commended, at six he was skilled This is a day in A’s life after seven, a day when he’s thirty-something or A day when he’s sixty-something, and can still bend over to tie his shoes It’s just that he’s neglected B for too long. This is our (First of all the author’s) and A’s joint mistake She (B) sits up on the bed’s opposite side, facing a cupboard 38 隔着玻璃或纱窗看见了甲所没有看见的餐具 为叙述的完整起见还必须指出 当乙系好鞋带起立，流下了本属于甲的精液 39 Looks through the glass or the screen and sees dishes that A doesn’t see To bring this narration to a close, let it be noted that When B has tied her shoes and stands, sperm trickles down that was once A’s (1991) ...