Hans Manz

我隔壁的邻居
是香港来的中国人
每当他挥起扫帚
总是先从我的门前扫起
再清扫他自家的门前
他没听说过我们那句
自扫门庭的有名谚语
我习以为常的老规矩
慢慢也被我抛弃
每当我挥起扫帚
我也先从，来自香港的
中国邻居门前，扫起
然后再清扫，自家门前
从此以后，不管他还是我
下班回来，门前的台阶
总是清洁如洗
老规矩终于被扫掉
邻里的疆界也无踪迹

My next-door neighbor,
a Chinese guy from Hong Kong,
sweeps, whenever he reaches for his broom,
first my doorstep,
and then his own.
He doesn’t know our saying
“Sweep in front of your own door first.”
I do know. But lately
I’ve given it up, and sweep,
whenever I reach for my broom,
first the doorstep of my neighbor,
the Chinese guy from Hong Kong,
and only then my own.
So when he comes home after work
or I come home
our doorsteps are always clean
and the old rules have been swept away—
away with all that once kept us apart.