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In this episode of Elixir, Helen is talking to the translator Nicky Harman about the Chinese poet Han Dong (1961-)
Han Dong
The poems:
绿树、红果
我不在的时候绿树在那里
然后我走过了它
然后绿树的前面还有绿树
树杈中间有太阳
我直视太阳，此刻
它就像红果
因此整个园子都成了果园
一些足音纷至沓来
嗡嗡的人声议论着生活
人影如虫蠓盘旋、聚集
金星如一滴大大的清凉的眼泪
我仍然在那里
红果已经消失
绿树失色
Green Tree, red fruit
The green tree was there before i was
Then i walked past it
Then ahead of the tree, there were more green trees
Between the forked branches was the sun
I looked right at the sun. Just then
It was like a red fruit
and so the whole garden became an orchard
a flurry of footsteps came
a buzzing of voices debated life
people’s shadows circled, gathered like gnats
The evening star, a great cool teardrop
I am still there
The red fruit gone
The green trees dulled
…………………..
工人的手
他悬挂在高楼上
抓着墙的手纹丝不动
我觉得是女人就应该爱上这只手
就应该接受它的抚摩
是男人就应该有这样的手
结实、肮脏，像吸盘肉垫
是女人就应该做那面墙
降低一些吧
最好躺下
是男人就应该死死地抓住那女人
浑身大汗淋漓，但手不出汗
心不跳，腿也不抖
如果是个恋物癖就这样恋吧
工人的手也是最棒的工具
The Worker’s hand
He hangs suspended from the building
The hand that grips the wall is motionless
a woman should fall in love with that hand
Should receive its caresses
a man should have a hand like this
Strong, grimy, like a fleshy sucker pad
a woman should be that wall
drop down a bit, or better still,
lie down
a man should hold that woman in a vice-like grip
his body soaked in sweat (but not his hand
no leaping heart or quivering legs)
if this is fetishism, then let’s love this way
The worker’s hand is a marvellous tool
……………………..
卖鸡的
他拥有迅速杀鸡的技艺，因此
成了一个卖鸡的，这样
他就不需要杀人，即使在心里
他的生活平静温馨，从不打老婆
脱去老婆的衣服就像给鸡褪毛
相似的技艺总有相通之处
残暴与温柔也总是此消彼长
当他脱鸡毛、他老婆慢腾腾地收钱的时候
我总觉得这里面有某种罪恶的甜蜜
The Chicken Seller
He’s got the knack for killing chickens quick, so
he became a chicken-seller, that way
he doesn’t need to kill people. even though he acts
calm and gentle, and never beats his wife
Taking off his wife’s clothes is like plucking a chicken
Similar skills always overlap, just as
cruelty and kindness are two sides of the same coin
he plucks, and she leisurely takes the money
and I feel that therein lies a kind of evil sweetness
……………………..
About the poet:
https://paper-republic.org/pers/han-dong/
https://writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/book-club/april-han-dong-韩东/poems-han-dong/
