I don't wish to repeat all the various reasons why I now revert to English in this blog. It is simply: time. I have too little of it. I read another of Neruda's poem. Since I introduced his Ode to the present, it's natural to want to find out what he has to say about the past. So here it is. But since I am doing a translation of it into Chinese, I thought I might just as well do the English as well.
Oda al pasado Ode to the past 過去頌
Hoy, conversando, Today, talking, 今天，談話中，
se saliò de madre from mother, the past 過往從媽口
el pasado, came out, 出來了，
mi pasado. my past. 我的過往。
Con indulgencia With indulgence 放縱地，
las pequeñas the little 那些骯髒
cosas sucias, dirty things, 的琑事，
episodios vacuous 無甚意義的
vacíos, epidodes, 片斷，
harina negra, black flour, 黑麪粉，
polvo. dust. 塵埃。
Te agachas You bend 你圓滑地
suavemente smoothly 彎身，
inclinado sinking 俯向
en ti mismo, into your own self 自已
sonríes, you smile, 輕笑
te celebras, you celebrate, 祝，
pero but 但
si se trata if it concerns 若涉及
de otro, de tu amigo, others, your friend, 你的朋友，
de tu enemigo, your enemy, 你的敵人，
entonces then 那
te tornas despiadado, you turn dismissive, 你變輕蔑，
frunces el ceño: you pucker your face: 皺眉蹙額：
Qué cosas hizo ese hombre! What things that man did! 那男人甚麼事不做！
Esa mujer, qué cosas That woman, what things 那女人甚麼事
hizo! she did ! 不做！
Te tapas You hold 你以手
la nariz, your nose, 掩鼻，
visiblemente visibly 顯眼地
te desagradan mucho you disapprove much 對遙遠的過去
los pasados ajenos. of the distant past. 你多不以為然。
De lo nuestro miramos Upon our own, we look 自身的，我們
con nostalgia with nostalgia 緬懷
los peores días, the worst days, 那些壞日子
abrimos we open 小心翼翼地
con precauciòn el cofre cautiously the coffer 打開寶庫
y enarbolamos, and establish ourselves 和樹立自已
para que nos admiren, so others may admire us 使他人羨慕
la proeza. our prowess 我們的才華。
Olvidemos el resto. We forget the rest. 遺忘其他。
Sòlo es mala memoria. Escucha, aprende: Only bad memory. Listen, learn: 只是壞回憶。 聽著，要學：
el tiempo time 時間
se divide is divided 分作
en dos ríos: into two streams: 二川
uno one 一
corre hacia atrás, devora runs backwards, devouring 向後溜，吞噬着
lo que vives, that which lives, 一切生命，
el otro the other 另一
va contigo adelante goes forwards with you 與你同步向前
descubriendo revealing 展示着
tu vida. your life. 你生命。
En un solo minuto In a single minute 一分鐘內
se juntaron. they will join together. 他們將合攏 。
Es éste. That’s that, 就是這樣。
Ésta es la hora, That’s the hour, 就是那時，
la gota de un instante the drip of that instant 過去將拖走
que arrastrará el pasado. that will crawl the past . 那滴瞬間。
Es el presente. It is the present. 這就是現在。
Está en tus roanos. It is in your hands. 他在你掌握中。
Rápido, resbalando, Rapid, slipping, 迅速地，正溜走，
cae corno cascada. It falls like a cascade 如瀑布般瀉下。
Pero eres dueño de él. But you are its boss. 但你是他主人。
Constrúyelo Build it up 建造他
con amor, con firmeza, with love, with firmness, 用愛，用堅毅，
con piedra y ala, with rock and wings 用石和翅膀，
con rectitud with resonant 用响亮的
sonora, rectitude, 正直，
con cereales puros, with pure grains, 用純正的殼粒，
con el metal más claro with the brightest metal 用你心中
de tu pecho, from your breast, 最閃耀的金屬，
andando walking 在正午
a mediodía, at midday 行走着 ，
sin temer without fear 無懼
a la verdad, al bien, a la justicia. of truth, good and justice. 真，善，正義。
Compañeros de canto, Song companions 歌唱之友。
el tiempo que transcurre the time which flows 川流不息的時間
tendrá forma will take form 將成形
y sonido and the sound 而結他
de guitarra, of guitar 之音，
y cuando quieras and if you like, 若你喜歡
inclinarte al pasado, you can bow to the past 你可向過去彎腰，
el manantial del tiempo the transparent spring of 時間清澈
transparente time 之泉
revelará tu integridad cantando. will reveal your singing integrity, 將以歌唱展示你的一貫。
El tiempo es alegría. Time is joy. 時間是喜樂。
In this ode, Neruda treats another aspect of time: the past. To him, too often, when we talk about the past, we like merely to remember what we look upon as our admirable feats. We try to belittle its more unsavoury aspects IF it concerns us. With the others, however, we do not have such a predilection. He urges us to hold on to the true, the good and the just but curiously, not beauty. What does that tell us about him and his style? To him, what is said is more important than how it is said. But that does not mean he has no preference in his style. He likes his poetry to be concrete, to be related very closely to our daily lives. He once said:"I have always wanted the hands of people to be seen in poetry...I have always preferred a poetry where the fingerprints show. A poetry of loam, where water can sing. A poetry of bread, where everyone may eat."
To Neruda, the past is not something worth bothering about even though as human beings, we often revert to it, especially when we think that it portrays us in a favourable light. But he teaches us not to do that. He teaches us to forge our present as he said, "with love, with rock, with firmness, with wings" and with a loud "rectitude": we must constantly remind ourselvs to walk the right path! I suppose what he means by wings is "hope". I like particularly his reference to "black flour" when he talks about his past with his mother. It fits the domestic context perfectly. I can well imagine Neruda talking with his mother at the kitchen table, with flour spread all over the place whilst his mother is preparing a bread dough to be baked later or whilst preparing one of his his favourite dishes ( perhaps an escalope? just guessing! with flour and bread crumbs lying all around the kitchen table) . And as mothers usually do, their conversations will drift into various episodes of what he did to whom and who to him with what surprising, scandalous or admirable results, whilst he was still a kid. As in other poems, we also find the constrasting polarities of the good and the bad, friends and enemies, men and women, the pressent and the past, regrets and hopes. But always with love and song!
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