Wen Yiduo: Dead Backwater (From Modern Chinese)

Deadwater

By Wén Yīduō
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Click to hear me recite the original in Chinese

This is a dead ditch rank with despair’s backwater.

A brisk wind can’t raise a ripple from its skin.

Why not junk some more scrap tin and copper here,

or dump your rotten dinner leftovers in.

Maybe the copper will turn to an emerald green,

and peach blossoms bloom out of the tin pots’ rust.

Then let the grease weave a layer of silk brocade

where germs brew a mist like twilit clouds at dusk.

Let the dead ditchwater ferment to green liquor

bubbling up floating pearls out of its white foam,

little pearls growing to bigger pearls in chuckles

that burst when liquor-raiding mosquitos come.

And so a dead ditch rank with despair’s backwater

can claim something lively, bright and all its own.

If the frogs here can’t handle the solitude

this stagnant muck can gurgle them up a tune!

This is a dead ditch rank with despair’s backwater.

No place for a Thing of Beauty in its juice.

Let’s just let Hellion Ugliness culture it

and see what kind of world it can produce.

The Original:

死水　　　　　　　　　Sǐshuǐ
聞一多　　　　　　　　Wén Yīduō

這是一溝絕望的死水，　Zhè shì yìgōu juéwàngde sǐshuǐ,
清風吹不起半點漪淪。　qīngfēng chuī bùqǐ bàndiǎn yìlún
不如多扔些破銅爛鐵，　Bùrú duō rēng xiē pòtóng làntiě,
爽性潑你的剩菜殘羹。　shuǎngxìng pō nǐde shèngcài cángēng.

也許銅的要綠成翡翠，　Yěxǔ tóngde yāo lǜ chéng fěicuì,
鐵罐上鏽出幾瓣桃花；　tiěguàn shàng xiù chū jǐ bàn táohuā;
再讓油膩織一層羅綺，　zài ràng yóunì zhī yì céng luōqǐ,
黴菌給他蒸出些雲霞。　méijūn gěi tā zhēng chū xiē yúnxiá.

讓死水酵成一溝綠酒，　Ràng sǐshuǐ jiàochéng yì gōu lǜjiǔ,
飄滿了珍珠似的白沫；　piāo mǎnle zhēnzhū shìde báimò;
小珠們笑聲變成大珠，　xiǎo zhūmen, xiàoshēng biànchéng dà zhū,
又被偷酒的花蚊咬破。　yòu bèi tōujiǔde huāwén yǎopò.

那麼一溝絕望的死水，　Nàme yì gōu juéwàngde sǐshuǐ,
也就誇得上幾分鮮明。　yějiù kuā déshàng jǐfēn xiānmíng.
如果青蛙耐不住寂寞，　Rúguǒ qīngwā nàibuzhù jìmò,
又算死水叫出了歌聲。　yòusuàn sǐshuǐ jiàochūle gēshēng.

這是一溝絕望的死水，　Zhè shì yì gōu juéwàngde sǐshuǐ,
這裡斷不是美的所在，　zhèlǐ duàn bùshì měide suǒzài,
不如讓給醜惡來開墾，　bùrú ràng géi chǒu'è lái kāikěn,
看他造出個什麼世界。　kàn tā zàochū gè shénme shìjiè.