Travels in Xichuan Province - Xi Chuan / 西 川
Everywhere the erhu all about the street oh the whole street singing. / Everywhere the peddlers all about the street the great big sky. / Everywhere the daughters all about the street each one named Jade Orchid. / Everywhere the aunties all about the street all with eager faces. /
Xi Chuan / 西 川
Travels in Xichuan Province
Everywhere the erhu all about the street oh the whole street singing.
Everywhere the peddlers all about the street the great big sky.
Everywhere the daughters all about the street each one named Jade Orchid.
Everywhere the aunties all about the street all with eager faces.
Everywhere good people all about the street but this isn’t heaven.
Each and every bad man always ends up lonely.
On each head of each believer a little white cap.
The nonbelievers sneak off too with their bowls in hand.
Everywhere little birds all about the city hungering for mutton.
Thirty thousand lambs and lambs stampeding to the city.
When the donkeys see it they break out in cold sweat.
Streams of donkey piss trickling down the street.
So if you pee in public you descend from donkeys,
Just like if you are insolent you were raised by horses.
But the deceitful and the harmful what about them?
I say they must have grown up in a pack of mules.
Boys and girls hold hands they’re wearing faded colors.
The drinking and the swearing are ancestral tradition.
Each and every Audi A6 is driving to the Han Dynasty.
Newly produced old tricycles come with electric motors.
All the dazzling sunlight all the driving rain,
Chives and sandy scallion all a vigorous green.
The pigheaded Yellow River never looks back.
If you’re feeling happy kid then open your mouth and howl.
Open your mouth and howl kid if you aren’t happy.
You won’t be depressed kid living without a heart.
Mahjong games throughout the city suddenly break out.
The next generation on the street can never get enough.
(Translated by Lucas Klein)
西川省纪行
满街的胡琴啊 满街的唱。
满街的小买卖 大喇喇的天。
满街的闺女 都叫翠兰。
满街的大妈 热情的脸。
满街的好人 这不是天堂。
做坏人到头来 必孤单。
信神的头顶着 白帽子。
不信神的也一溜 端着饭碗。
满城的小鸟 想吃羊肉。
三万只绵羊 往城里赶。
看得毛驴大叔们 出冷汗。
一泡泡驴尿 尿街边。
所以随地小便的 是驴下的，
就像缺心眼儿的 全是马养的。
那坑人害人的 如何比？
定是骡子群里 长大的。
手抓手的男女 是褪了色的。
喝酒骂人 是祖传的。
奥迪A6 是奔汉朝的。
刚出厂的旧三轮 是电动的。
亮花花的太阳光 急刹刹的雨，
沙葱韭菜 可劲地绿。
一根筋的黄河 它不回头。
你小子开心 就扒开嗓子吼。
你小子不开心 也扒开嗓子吼。
当知有命无心 不忧愁。
忽然满城的麻将 全开打。
满街的下一代 玩不够。
Xi Chuan is a Chinese poet, essayist and translator. He was born in 1963 in Jiangsu province. He is currently professor of Chinese literature at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and the director of the school library. Xi Chuan has published nine collections of poems, including Depth and Shallowness (2006) and A Dream’s Worth (2013), two books of essays and two books of critical writings, in addition to a play and numerous translations of Ezra Pound, Jorge Luis Borges and others. His awards include National Lu Xun Prize for Literature (2001), Cultural China--Person of the Decade (2001-2011) by Shanghai Oriental Morning Post. He was also one of the top ten winners of the 1999 Weimar International Essay Prize Contest, Germany. His work has been widely anthologized and translated and published in more than twenty countries.
西 川. 诗人、散文和随笔作家、翻译家，1963 年生于江苏。西川现为北京中央美术学院教授、图书馆馆长。西川出版有九部诗集、诗文集，其中包括《深浅》（2006）和《够一梦》（2013），另出版有两部随笔集、两部评著、一部诗剧。此外，他还翻译有庞德、博尔赫斯等人的作品。西川曾获鲁迅文学奖（2001）、上海《东方早报》“文化中国十年人物大奖（2001—2011）”、腾讯书院文学奖致敬诗人奖（2015）、诗歌与人国际诗歌奖(2015)、德国魏玛全球论文竞赛十佳（1999）等。其诗歌和随笔被收入多种选本并被广泛译介，发表于二十多个国家的报刊杂志。纽约新方向出版社于2012 年出版英译《蚊子志：西川诗选》( 译者Lucas Klein)，该书入围2013 年度美国最佳翻译图书奖，并获美国文学翻译家协会2013 年卢西恩·斯泰克亚洲翻译奖等。
