The Song of Historical Beauties - Zhai Yongming / 翟永明

Zhai Yongming / 翟永明




The Song of Historical Beauties

Sitting in a tea garden with a friend one day
Our talk turned to Kaiyuan and Tianbao
That gilded age
Those days of chaos and strife

When I was young
I searched high and low for things to write about
I wrote of war, of women's loneliness
And about hardships that came together like an awl
Piercing my memory
And I write and write, writing myself into middle age

I saw the entire thing
That night, the 15th of the lunar month
A girl dancing on a platter
A pair of shadows swaying in the breeze
Surrounded by admirers —
The eaves inclining towards her
Golden chrysanthemums wafting the scent of all creation towards her
The west wind lifting her skirt and sash And then

Someone nearly hidden
Transfixed by her dancing legs

Under a full moon, I watch it all
Unquestionably real
A dancing girl with flowers in her hair
She dances, the moonlight seeming to pass right through her
She dances, movement flowing up from the bones in the soles of her feet
She dances, sweeping away the fallen leaves
(She gives no thought to palace intrigues
Desiring only to dance with the wind, to dance with the wind)

Surrounded by hungry eyes and
The admiration of all creation
Watching as her flesh is laid bare

Very few people remember
What I wrote about
When I was young
I wrote of illness, of childhood
My darkest days and all their troubles
In my misery, I looked down on this mundane word
And I wrote and wrote, writing myself into middle age

I can say I've witnessed scenes of warfare
Smoke swallowing the sun, blades piercing the sky
The generals' standards half furled, dirges filling the air
Why do we hear such mournful songs outside the tent?

A glass of wine is poured into a shining amber cup
A woman dons her soft Persian armor
What makes the generals' eyes fill with tears?
What makes that peerless beauty quake in fear?

(She gives no thought to the neighing of the emperor's horses,
Wanting only to be with him, to be with him)
Tonight, apart from the ancient moon
And a child wind that raises the hairs on the back of my neck
Who else is there? Eyes fixed on this mound
Of images of spilled blood and broken bones

When I was young
I had so many ideas that never saw the light of day
I've written of love, of longing and
The steady gaze of a man. T he only thing I haven’t written about is growing old
Writing and writing, writing myself into middle age

Some miles westward they ride, to hot springs in the hills
To soak in that faintly fragrant water
A silk gown folded on the ground

Some miles westward they ride, reining their mounts to a halt
War-weary officers and men call out for blood
There's always someone in the shadows, denouncing women for their crimes

Some miles westward they ride, and as they flee
The moon weeps with them
A jade hairpin tumbles to the ground

(She doesn't hear the rumble of war drums shaking the earth
She hears the unbroken flow of whispers, unbroken strings of oaths)
Legions of soldiers and thousands of horses have trod past these springs
Their waters are as warm as ever, and just as sweet
Love after death, and love newly born
Well up from that source, as they always have

I was sitting with a friend in a tea garden one day
And our talk turned to how swiftly golden ages come and go
I'll never be young again, never again be so willful
As to pit one half of creation against the other
I watch with wonder the flurry of people and things as they come and go

Time has neither paused nor stopped, not for any of them
I keep on writing, just as always have
And these are the lines I wrote:

"One night, under a full moon
They abandoned themselves to passion
Leaving their bodies limp to core
Men, oh men
At first they praise a woman for her beauty
But at other times
When catastrophe looms
When cities erupt in flames
Men, oh men
Delight in denouncing women for their crimes"

(Translated by Andrea Lingenfelter)





时间美人之歌

某天与朋友偶坐茶园
谈及，开元、天宝
那些盛世年间
以及纷乱的兵荒年代

当我年轻的时候
我四处寻找作诗的题材
我写过战争、又写过女人的孤单
还有那些磨难，加起来像椎子
把我的回忆刺穿
我写呀写，一直写到中年
我看见了一切
在那个十五之夜：
一个在盘子上起舞的女孩
两个临风摆动的影子
四周爱美的事物——
向她倾斜的屋檐
对她呼出万物之气的黄花
鼓起她裙裾的西风 然后才是
那注视她舞蹈之腿的
几乎隐蔽着的人
月圆时，我窥见这一切
真实而又确然
一个簪花而舞的女孩
她舞，那月光似乎把她穿透
她舞，从脚底那根骨头往上
她舞，将一地落叶拂尽

（她不关心宫廷的争斗
她只欲随风起舞、随风舞）

四周贪婪的眼光以及
爱美的万物
就这样看着她那肉体的全部显露

当我年轻的时候
少数几个人还记得
我那些诗的题材
我写过疾病、童年和黑暗中的所有烦恼
我的忧伤蔑视尘世间的一切
我写呀写，一直写到中年

我的确看到过一些战争场面：
狼烟蔽日，剑气冲天
帅字旗半卷着四面悲歌
为何那帐篷里传出凄凉的歌咏?

一杯酒倒进了流光的琥珀酒盏
一个女人披上了她的波斯软甲

是什么使得将军眼含泪花?
是什么使得绝代美女惊恐万状?
（她不关心乌骓马嘶鸣的意义
她只愿跟随着它，跟随他）

除了今夜古老的月亮以及
使我毛发直竖的寒风
还有谁？注视着这一堆
淤血和尸骨混合的影像
当我年轻的时候

我丢下过多少待写的题材
我写过爱情、相思和
一个男人凝视的目光 唯独没有写过衰老
我写呀写，一直写到中年

西去数里，温泉山中
浮动着暗香的热汤
一件丝绸袍子叠放在地上

西去数里，勒马停缰
厌战的将士一声呐喊
黑暗中总有人宣读她们的罪状

西去数里，逃亡途中
和泪的月光
一根玉钗跌落在地上

（她听不见动地的鼙鼓声
她听见绵绵私语，绵绵誓）

千军万马曾踏过这个温泉
那水依然烫，依然香
后世的爱情，刚出世的爱情
依然不停地涌出，出自那个泉眼

某天与朋友偶坐茶园
谈及纷纷来去的盛世年间
我已不再年轻，也不再固执
将事物的一半与另一半对立
我睁眼看着来去纷纷的人和事
时光从未因他们，而迟疑或停留
我一如既往地写呀写
我写下了这样的诗行：

“当月圆之夜
由于恣情的床笫之欢
他们的骨头从内到外地发酥
男人呵男人
开始把女人叫做尤物
而在另外的时候
当大祸临头
当城市开始燃烧
男人呵男人
乐于宣告她们的罪状”




***




Zhai Yongming, born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, then worked as a physics institute engineer until 1986. She began publishing poetry in 1981. Traveling extensively throughout Europe, she also lived in the US for nearly two years, during which she toured the nation by car. Consistently ranked as one of the most intriguing and challenging contemporary Chinese poets, she's received numerous awards for her work, including the Zhongkun International Poetry Prize, the Best Ten Women Poets of China Award, the Italian Ceppo Pistoia International Literary Prize, and the Chinese Media Award. Among her many poetry collections are "Woman", "Above All Roses", "The Collected Poems of Zhai Yongming", "Call It All", "Fourteen Plain Songs", and "Interlinear Spaces". Her poetry has been translated into English, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and German. She has also published six collections of essays and literary criticism. Ms. Zhai lives in Chengdu, where she owns and operates the art and literary bar, “White Nights”.


翟永明，四川成都人，毕业于成都电子科技大学，曾就职于某物理研究所。1981 年
开始发表诗歌作品，1986 年离职，后专注写作。1998 年在成都开“白夜” 酒吧，亦为文化沙龙，在此间策划、举办了一系列跨领域文化活动，经营至今。著有诗集《女人》《在一切玫瑰之上》《称之为一切》《终于使我周转不灵》《十四首素歌》《行间距》等九种，诗文集《最委婉的词》，散文、文论集《纸上建筑》《坚韧的破碎之花》《正如你所看到的》《天赋如此》等。 作品被译为英语、法语、荷兰语、意大利语、西班牙语、德语等，并在上述语系国家发表出版。2007 年获“中坤国际诗歌奖”，2012 年获意大利“CeppoPistoia 国际文学奖”， 2012 年获第三十一届美国北加州图书奖翻译类图书奖 ，2013 年获第十三届华语文学传媒大奖“杰出作家奖”。