LÜ De-an

chinese

Mindy Zhang

english

鲸鱼

冬夜,一群鲸鱼袭入村庄
静悄悄地占有了陆地一半
象门前的山,劝也劝不走
怎么办?就是不愿离开此地
黑暗,固执,不回答。干脆去
对准它们的嘴巴的深洞吼
但听到的多半是人自己的声音
用灯照它们的眼睛:一个受禁固的海
用手试探它们的神秘重量
力量丧失,化为虚无,无边无际
怎么办?就是不愿离开一步
就是要来与我们一道生活
甚至不让我们赶在早餐之前
替它们招来潮汐,就这样
这些神一样硕大的身躯
拦在我们跟前,拖延着时间
打开窗口,海就在几米之外,
但从它们的眼睛看,它们并不欢迎,
它们制造了一次历史性的自杀,
死了。死加上它们自己的重量
久久地压迫大地的心脏
象门前的山,人们搬来了工具
放下梯子,发誓把它们的脂肪
加工成灯油,送给教堂
剩下的给家庭,然而象挖洞
从洞挖向洞,都朝着各自的方向
像挖土,但土会越挖越多,
如果碰到石头,(那些令人争议
的骨头)就取出,砌到墙上,变得
不起眼,变成历史,变成遗址――啊
四处,四处都散发着鱼肉的腥味
和真理的薄荷味,哪怕在今天,
那些行动仍具有说服力
至少不象鲸鱼,它们夜一般地突然降临
可疑,而且令人沮丧

© Lü De-an
Audio production: DJS Art Foundation

Whale

On a winter's night, a pod of whales made their way to the village,
taking possession of half of the land, quietly,
like the mountains at our doorsteps. They wouldn’t leave
No matter how hard we tried to persuade them. What's to be done?
Dark, stubborn, unresponsive. So we simply shouted
into the deep holes of their mouths.
But what we heard was mostly our own voices.
We tried to light their eyes with lamps: a forbidden sea.
We tried to weigh their mysterious weight,
the strength gone, becoming nothing, endless nothingness.
What's to be done? They just wouldn’t leave.
They just wanted to live with us.
They wouldn’t even allow us to bring the morning tide
before breakfast.
These creatures, as huge as God
blocked our way, delaying time.
When we opened the window, the sea was a few yards away.
But in their eyes, we could see they didn’t welcome it—
they created a historic suicide.
Died. Their death and their weight
oppressed the land for a long time
like the mountains at our doorsteps. People brought their tools,
descended ladders, determined to take the fat
and make it into lamp oil for the church.
The rest would go to the families. Then like digging holes,
one hole led to another, each moving in its own direction.
As if digging in the earth, but the more you dig the more earth.
If you hit stones (questionable bones), just
remove them and build them into walls — so they will become
faded, become history, become ruins— alas,
everywhere, everywhere would smell of fish
and the minty truth, even today,
they are still compelling,
unlike the whales—they suddenly appeared like night,
distrustful, and depressing.

© Translated by Mindy Zhang