moonlight
Written by Jeltje Fanoy
Written by Jeltje Fanoy
translated into Chinese by Cui Yuwei
thru th cracks,
the gaps
from underneath
th floorboards, listen
at the backdoor, listen,
your bed is made
from dry leaves, soft
remnants
lying around in th yard
plenty of
loudhailers,
no matter how much
amplification,
they want more, they
want it all, their engines
left running out th front
no going
it alone, they say
are you still awake,
or, out th back,
already asleep in
whatever can be made
the gaps
from underneath
th floorboards, listen
at the backdoor, listen,
your bed is made
from dry leaves, soft
remnants
lying around in th yard
plenty of
loudhailers,
no matter how much
amplification,
they want more, they
want it all, their engines
left running out th front
no going
it alone, they say
are you still awake,
or, out th back,
already asleep in
whatever can be made
《月光》
穿过裂缝
地板
下
的间隙，听
在后门，听
干树叶
给你做床，余下
那些柔软的
躺在院子里
扩音器
有很多，
不管声音
被放大多少，
他们仍觉得不够，想
全部拿来，他们的发动机
在前方耗尽
不独自离开，
他们说
你还醒着吗，
或者，在后面，
无论那里是什么
你都已安睡
Thank you, Yuwei Cui, it looks great in Chinese!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! I think I may have a little misunderstanding, not quite sure about "engines left running out th front". Does it mean the engines run out of oil? Or simply they don't work in the front anymore?
DeleteMs Cui, It's so good to see a good translation at work! If I may please offer my explanation: as you say, the engines are certainly 'running out of oil', foolishly burning it up, but I think it primarily means that the cars' engines have not been switched off, they are still 'running' or operating 'out the front', an Aussie colloquialism that just means 'in front', i.e. on the street, probably in front of the house. Compare 'out the back', which is behind the house, maybe the backyard...and the Outback, which is behind everyone's house! Hope this has helped. Rob
Delete