Xi Murong's "Listener" (席慕蓉的《旁聽生》)

Attended a very touching talk in one of the lecture halls of the Convention Centre last Sunday. In fact, more than one by one of my favourite poetesses, Xi Murong. First, there was a public recitation of three of her poems. That was followed by a talk on what made her write what she did. Although she was not supposed to be doing a recitation at the second talk, she couldn't help herself: towards the close of her talks, she recited again two of the three which she did at the earlier session.

Although I saw a picture of Xi Murong once on the internet. It was a completely different experience to see her in person. One sees her as she narrows her eyes, as she adjusts her hair, as she gestures with her fat fingers, as she unconsciously touches her scarf, as she laughs or smiles her embarrassment when she recounts how she was taunted by his brother and husband about her complete ignorance of the principles of physics, as she lifts her head in reverie of the pastures, the hills, the rivers, the grassland, the trees, the skies of Mongolia, as she recalls her stares of utter amazement at the inscription on the back of what she originally thought was a 9th century Han stele in Mongolia, carved in her native language, when she saw it for the first time. As she recites the last few lines of the poem I recently translated "The Border Farewell Song", one could hear the trembling in her voice,  choked with irrepressible emotions. At that moment, I could no longer withhold my own tears. It was so moving. What drew those reluctant tears from my tear glands, which seemed suddenly to have taken on a life of their own, completely evading my control, was her honest unabashed and undisguised love of her motherland, which before her first visit, remained, as she said, only her father's "homeland". In one of her earlier poems, the "listener" or "auditor", she recounted how she felt about her native country.

席慕容之《出塞曲》Xi Murong's "Border Farewell Song"

出塞曲 請為我唱一首出塞曲 用那遺忘了的古老言語 請用美麗的顫音歡輕輕呼喚 我心中的大好河山 那只有長城外才有的清香 誰說出塞歌的調子都太悲涼 如果你不愛聽 那是因為歌中沒有你的渴望 而我們總是要一唱再唱 想著草原千里閃著金光 想著黃河岸啊   陰山旁 英雄騎馬啊   騎馬歸故鄉 席慕容  一九七九年

Border Farewell Song Please sing me a border farewell song In those forgotten words of old Please use a beautiful tremolo to softly softly call The good rivers and hills in my heart That sweet smell found only outside the Great Wall Who says the melodies of border farewell songs are all too sad If you don’t enjoy listening to them That’s because they don’t hold your yearnings But we always sing them over and over again Thinking thousands of miles of grassland gleaming in gold Thinking the shores of the Yellow River    beside the Dark Mountain Heroes are riding    riding home  Xi Murong  1979  tr. El Zorro

席慕容 《霧起時》 (Xi Murong's "When the Mist Rose")

                                                     

冰心的「紙船」(Bing Xin's "Paper Boat")

紙船--寄母親 我從不肯妄棄了一張紙， 總是留著--留著， 疊成一只一只很小的船兒， 從舟上拋下在海裏。 有的被天風吹卷到舟中的窗裏， 有的被海浪打濕，沾在船頭上。 我仍是不灰心的每天的疊著， 總希望有一只能流到我要它到的地方去。 母親，倘若你夢中看見一只很小的白船兒， 不要驚訝它無端入夢。 這是你至愛的女兒含著淚疊的， 萬水千山，求它載著她的愛和悲哀歸去。 冰心

Paper Boat---To Mom I’d never throw away a scrap of paper without thought  I’d always hoard it away-- hoard it away And fold them into a tiny boat, another tiny boat And throw them into the sea from a ship Some would be swirled through the ship’s window by winds from the sky   Some would be drenched by ocean waves, hugging the ship’s bow I’d never give up and would keep folding Ever hoping that at least one would drift to whither I would Mom, if you were to see a tiny white boat in your dream Don’t be surprised at its senseless presence It’s folded with tears by your dearest daughter With pleas to carry back her love and sorrow, through a thousand hills and ten thousand seas Bing Xin   tr. El Zorro

It's 8th of March today, a day to celebrate the role of women in this world. Not all women deserve to be honoured however. But I'm sure that the mother of Bing Xin (冰心) (1900-1999) could never be amongst them. Otherwise, Bing Xin wouldn't have written the poem above, which was once included in our high school Chinese language textbook. Bing Xin, a native of Fujian, left for America in the ocean liner "ss Jackson" on 17th August, 1923 and stayed 3 years at Wellesley College for an MA in literature. Wellesley is a famous women's college, where Madam Chiang Kai Shek or Soong Mei Ling and Hilary Clinton also studied. On the ship's journey, she felt homesick, had a fever, dreamt of her mother sitting by her bedside, touching her forehead with one  hand, holding in her other a glass of orange juice with some pills which she begged her to swallow without delay . After she woke up, she wrote the poem. Before she left for America, she already got a BA at Yanjing University from which she graduated in 1923 and after her 3 year stint in America, she returned to teach there until 1936, got married in 1929 to Wu Wenzao, an anthropologist she met in America. For a short while, she taught in Japan, started what has been called "Bingxin Style" as a new literary style and wrote many books for children. She also translated and introduced the poetic works of another famous poet from India,to Chinese readers, Rabindranath Tagore. She writes in a very simple and direct style, but always with sensitivity, a bit like the poetry of Emily Dickinson, .

曹植 雜詩 七之四 (Poem 4, of Cao Zhi's 7 Miscellaneous Poems)

南國有佳人 容華若桃李 朝遊江北岸 夕宿瀟湘沚 時俗薄朱顏 誰為發皓齒 俯仰歲將暮 榮曜難久恃                 曹植

There’s a belle in the southern country Her face like peach and cherry She visits the northern shores mornings She lodges at river islets of Siu and Seung evenings It’s the custom to slight flushed faces now Who’s left to be delighted by glittering teeth Looking up and down, year end is darkening It’d be hard to keep the light shining Cao Shi   (tr. El Zorro)

 Cao Zhi ( 曹植) (192-232 AD ) is the third 3rd son of Cao Cao (曹橾),  King of Wei (魏) one of the three kings in the period of the Three Kingdoms (三國). His brother Cao Pi (曹丕), the second son of Cao Cao, was jealous of the talent of his brother and used all kinds of methods to try to have him killed until stopped by their mother . In this poem, Cao Zhi compared his political fate to that of a Southern belle whose fast fading beauty was overlooked by the times. His talent was still being ignored at the time he was approaching the dusk of his life, when the poem was written, long after Cao Cho died and power passed to Cao Pi. But some say that here, Cao Zhi was not talking about his own plight but that of his half brother Cao Piao (曹彪). Whatever the truth may be, I think this is a good poem, He was comparing his talents to that of a beautiful lady whose beauty was ignored.

Mother of Pearl by Shu Ting (舒婷的珠貝)

珠貝--大海的眼淚   在我微顫的手心裏放下一粒珠貝， 彷彿大海滴下的鵝黃色的眼淚……   當波濤含恨離去， 在大地雪白的胸前哽咽， 它是英雄眼裏灼燙的淚， 也和英雄一樣忠實， 嫉妒的陽光    終不能把它化作一滴清水；   當海浪歡呼而來， 大地張開手臂把愛人迎接， 它是少女懷中的金枝玉葉， 也和少女的心一樣多情， 殘忍的歲月    終不能叫它的花瓣枯萎。   它是無數擁抱， 　無數泣別， 無數悲喜中，    被拋棄的最崇高的詩節； 它是無數霧晨， 　無數雨夜， 無數年代裏 　被遺忘的最和諧的音樂。    撒出去—— 　失敗者的心頭血， 矗起來—— 　勝利者的紀念碑。 它目睹了血腥的光榮， 它記載了偉大的罪孽。   它是這樣豐富，  它的花紋，它的色彩， 包羅了廣渺的宇宙， 概括了浩瀚的世界； 它是這樣渺小，如我的詩行一樣素潔， 風凄厲地鞭打我， 終不能把它從我的手心奪回。 　　 彷彿大海滴下的鵝黃色的眼淚， 在我微顫的手心里放下了一粒珠貝….   舒婷    一九七五年一月十日

Mother of Pearl —Tear of the Ocean A mother of pearl left on my trembling palm, Like a pale yellow tear dropped by the ocean….   When the billows left in bitterness, And sobbed at the bosom of the snow white land, It was a tear burning in the hero’s eye, Faithful as the hero The jealous sunlight   Failed to turn it into a drop of fresh water;   When the ocean waves came in cries of joy The land welcomed the lover in open arms. T’was the boughs of gold and leaves of jade of the lassie As full of love as the lassie Years of cruelty   Failed to make its petals wilt.   T’was countless hugs,  Countless farewell sobs , In countless joys and sorrows,   The noblest stanzas forsaken; T’was countless misty morns,   Countless rainy nights For years   The most harmonious music forgotten.   Cast it away—   blood upon the heart of losers Raise it up    memorial of the victors It witnessed the glory of gore It witnessed the nobility of sin.   T’was so rich  Its curves, its colors Covering the limitless universe Sketching in the raging world It’s so insignificant, as plain and pure as lines of my verse Fierce winds are pelting me   But fail to pluck it from my palm.   Like a pale yellow tear dropped by the ocean A mother of pearl left on my trembling palm... Shu Ting  Jan 10, 1975    (Tr. El Zorro)

 

Camellias II (茶花二)

I knew that there's a garden for flower exhibition at Shenzhen. I was curious what I would find there. Much to my delight, I discovered when I arrived there that the Seventh Annual Exhibition of Camellias was in full swing.  I have never seen so many different varieties of camellias my entire life. What a treat.

There were camellias in pinkish red

Another one fully opened

This one has patches of white

Another one in light pink

There were some with a much stronger pink but mottled with a lighter shade of pink

This one seems to have far less petals
 

The interior of one of them

This one looks more like a carnation than a camellia

This one is white but has some red spots

This one is entirely white

This one looks more like a rose than a conventional camellia.

This camellia looks as if it came out of the page of a Chinese "flower calendar"

This one is far more delicate



These two look as if they were made with wax

It's the first time that I saw camellias in such a color.

The Camellias came from all over the world from all the different continents: Asia, Europe, Australia and even the Americas.

The famous Sung poet Su Shih has written many poems about the camellia. One I like very much is "Camellias at the Buddhist Practice Temple. Here it is with my English translation.

梵行寺茶花 山茶相對花誰栽 細雨無人我獨來 說似與君君不見 爛紅如火雪中開 蘇軾

Camellias at the Buddhist Practice Temple Who’s that who groomed such pairs of camellias None but I came in the drizzle Though not there,  you'd be with me or so I'm told Leaving only the flaming red to bloom in the snow Su Shih  tr. El Zorro

Leonard Cohen's Suzanne 李歐納·柯恩的「蘇姍」

I like Leonard Cohen's songs. They're simple. In his songs, he often sings about people forgotten by society. And he sings about them with sensitivity, with understanding, with feeling. He is not only a song writer. He is also a poet. And he writes and sings like one. One of his songs I like best is "Suzanne". Here it is, with his beautiful lyrics and my translation of them.

Suzanne Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go by You can spend the night beside her And you know that she's half crazy But that's why you want to be there And she feeds you tea and oranges That come all the way from China And just when you mean to tell her That you have no love to give her Then she gets you on her wavelength And she lets the river answer That you've always been her lover And you want to travel with her And you want to travel blind And you know that she will trust you For you've touched her perfect body with your mind. And Jesus was a sailor When he walked upon the water And he spent a long time watching From his lonely wooden tower And when he knew for certain Only drowning men could see him He said "All men will be sailors then Until the sea shall free them" But he himself was broken Long before the sky would open Forsaken, almost human He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone And you want to travel with him And you want to travel blind And you think maybe you'll trust him For he's touched your perfect body with his mind. Now Suzanne takes your hand And she leads you to the river She is wearing rags and feathers From Salvation Army counters And the sun pours down like honey On our lady of the harbour And she shows you where to look Among the garbage and the flowers There are heroes in the seaweed There are children in the morning They are leaning out for love And they will lean that way forever while she holds the mirror..  Leonard Cohen

蘇姍 蘇珊帶你到她河邊那裡 你可聽到經過的小船 你可在她身旁度過晚上 而你知她是不大正常的 但那正是你想在她那裡的緣故 她給你茶和橘子吃喝 從老遠的中國來的 當你剛要跟她說 你沒有愛情給她 她就進入你的波長 她讓河流回應你 說你一直是她的愛侶 你很想與她同行 你很想閉著眼睛與她同行 你知道她會信你的 因你以你的思想觸及她完美的軀體 當他在水上行走時 耶穌也是海員 他在那孤零零的木塔 觀察了好一會 當他肯定知道 只有遇溺者能看見他時 他便說：「在海洋給他們自由前 男的統統要當海員」 但遠在天空倘未為他開敞前 他已倒下 被遺棄，幾乎與人一樣 在你智慧下他如石般下沉 而你想與他同行 想閉著眼睛與他同行 而你想也許你會信他 因他以他的思想觸及你完美的軀體 蘇姍現在攜著你手 她帶你到河邊 她穿著破衣和羽毛 從救世軍櫃面弄回來的 太陽像蜜糖般瀉下 海港之母身上 她教你在垃圾和花中 在那兒尋覓 在海藻中有英雄 早上有兒童 他們都為情而把身體傾斜 他們都會那樣把身體稈斜直到永遠當她拿起鏡子...   (譯: 艾索羅)