第五部分 海外I 1996-1998

 

休斯顿城中 1996

 

飞云掠处高楼起，黄昏暗淡天墨绿。 休市城中秋色里，黄山搅乱乡愁絮。 

Downtown  Houston 1996

Flying clouds brush lofty skyscrapers

Dark is the dusk, the sky appears inky green

In this autumn in the city of Houston, evoked

Is the image of peaks of Yellow Mountain

 

九七春节怀北京 19970207

 

暖冬湿雪信步行，儿童岁月忆北京。早春檐低冰化水，去年草籽饮晶莹。

三九严寒罩大地，水管四周起冰冢。杂院民房多老旧，十几人家居其中。

冰花变换成小溪：外婆呵气化窗凌。横流涕泗成蛛网，今年白菜何行情？

往日生活多拮据，回味却因真情浓。

 

Missing Beijing on Spring Festival of 1997, 19970207

 

I walk on the wet snow in warm winter，

Remembering childhood days in Beijing.

Dripping ice from low roofs in early spring，

Feed last year's grass seeds with clear water.

Often is earth in the tyranny of biting cold，

In winter when ice mounds form on the ground.

Around the water source is a compound，

Of many houses that are shabby and old.

Grandma blows breath to thaw the window ice;

White flakes melt into streams of rivulets，

Covering the glass with crisscrossing nets，

And she wonders about the baikchoi's price.

Those are the days of simple subsistence，

Yet much I miss the happy innocence.

 

Published in The Brunswican. Feb. 7, 1997 

 

佛市之夏 19970608

 

水落岸出，碧草黄花。教堂高耸，屹立如塔。新树掩映，屋舍朦胧。

机船往来，远观如筏。二桥横卧，眠姿修美。白云高悬，洋洋洒洒。

水波不惊，微风佛面。隔岸人语，咿咿呀呀。望水思乡，滨江之市。

谁与语之，小城之夏？

 

 

The Summer of Fredericton 19970608

 

St. John has trimmed herself，

Her banks have surfaced new.

Now blazing with yellow petals

Among grass with green hue.

Like pagodas, churches stand high，

Their spires brushing the sky.

The new foliage of trees

Hide and show roofs of houses.

Motor boats, some slow，

Like rafts they come and go.

The two bridges like sleeping beauties lie，

Their slender bodies pleasing the eye.

High above hang the white clouds，

Scattering like sheep crowds.

A breeze touches my cheeks，

The ripples are calm and quiet.

The river calls back memories of home，

The Yangtze I left in order to roam.

Now to whom can I happily mention

The lovely summer of Fredericton?

July 16， 1997 Fredericton

 

题吕小姐小照 19970117

 

婷婷玉立一姣娃，绿茵如锦衬红花。谁言君是假小子，分明巾帼美中华。

生辰多谢劳惦记，英姿何须去长发。鱼雁每藉易媒传，何时长岛话桑麻？

 

On the Photo of Miss Lü  19970117

 

Miss, you are a slender figure standing there

A red flower on the carpet of green grass 

To say you are a tomboy in personality, who dare?

A beautiful Chinese, any pretty girl you surpass

Thank you for remembering my birthday

Looking smart, you don’t need to shorten your hair

To keep in touch, emails have been our way

When can we chat in Long Island free of care?

 

寄朱同学 19970117

 

加国冬寒一岁除，老朽伏案倦读书。遥想当年南游日，曾对夕阳看西湖。

普陀秋深拜佛寺，寒山叶碎访姑苏。此身今在万里外，欲问杭城尚暖乎？

 

 

 

 

To My Student Miss Zhu 19970117

 

One year passed in the cold winter of Canada

I am tired of reading books from my desk

My southern tour years ago come to mind

I once looked at the West Lake at sun set

In deep autumn I visited the Putuo Temple

And toured Suzhou when leaves of cold hills fell

Now I am tens of thousands miles away from there

May I ask if it is still warm in Hangzhou and you as well?

 

看香港回归 19970630

 

潇潇香江雨，洗尽百年风霜，旧人离去，唯余泪几行。弹丸鱼村，弹指间灯红酒绿；歌舞升平，演一出世纪辉煌。大王旗变，几多欢喜，几多感慨，几多彷徨。举国欢庆回归，看霓虹烟火不夜港。待红日东升，照故地新颜，紫荆花开淡淡香。行一国两制，千钧一诺，繁荣稳定是众望。向前看，顺历史潮流，沧海桑田，又何堪伤？

 

Watching Hongkong’s Return to China on TV 19970630

 

Rain in Hongkong washes the dust of a century

In tears, the old master sets foot on the farewell way

Once a tiny fishing village, now a city of lights and wine

In songs and dances is shown hundred years of glory

At the flag change, some moved, some hesitating

But the whole China celebrates it’s returning

This port city sleepless with neo lights will 

See a new face when the sun rises behind the hill

Pleasant will be the light fragrance of orchid trees

A solemn promise of One Country Two Systems

Meets the expectations for prosperity and stability

Let’s look forward to follow the historical tide

What is there to be sad about the change of the city?

 

秋歌 19981003

 

秋临枫市叶欲红，秋水匆匆行色中。秋山夏绿虽犹见，秋夜风急雨更浓。

秋月圆时人将去，秋云纤纤画闺容。秋心一串成愁绪，秋赋填来给谁听？

 

A Song of Autumn 19981003

 

When autumn comes the leaves in Maple Town are rouge turning 

The autumn river now wears the expression of a passenger leaving

On autumn hills the shades of the summer still come into sight

However rough wind and rain now frequent the autumn night

When the autumn moon is full, I am bidding you adieu

The autumn clouds, so delicate, will remind me of you

My heart in this autumn is filled with so much sorrow

For whom do I write this song of autumn, if not you?

 

武汉好 199807xx

 

武汉好，最恋是夏天，支床陋巷晚霞里，热风恼人不得眠，晨醒人还倦。

武汉好，最恋老通城，豆皮煨汤食不腻，家母饭菜忘厨中。难怪生意隆。

武汉好，最爱听方音，满街争作女儿吼，误把长发当男人，日久却觉亲。

武汉好，最爱是东湖，风吹浪波涌似海，风止涟漪柔似肤，尽映楚天舒。

 

Nice is Wuhan 199807xx

 

Nice is Wuhan, especially the summer

Bamboo beds in shabby lanes at dust

Sleepless souls resenting the hot wind

Still tired when waking up in the morn

 

Nice is Wuhan, especially Laotongcheng Restaurant

Pork soup and doupi forever appetizing

Make one forget mother’s cooking

Business so booming

 

Nice is Wuhan, especially the accent

Women are heard lion-roaring in the street

Often mistaken as their male counterpart

Once accustomed, you feel them dear

 

Nice is Wuhan, especially the East Lake

The waves surge like the sea in the wind

The ripples are soft like skin when wind stops

A broad sky the lake mirrors

中秋 19970914

海上生明月，光照天地间。送我眼波回，返家毋需钱。

望月寻树影，玉兔与二仙。此乃童话事，可犹记心间？

抬眼皆大楼，明月何遥远。记忆如流沙，在此大洋边。

行如公路车，指间瞬息完。闭目见月饼，外婆桌上端。

借得邻家模，巧手做团圆。

 

The Mid-Autumn Festival 19970914

 

The moon rises above the sea

Spreading light between heaven and earth

A free envoy to bring my gaze

From here back to my country

In the moon I seek the shadows of a tree

A rabbit and two immortals

Is this fairy tale of childhood

Still remembered in heart?

Look up now skyscrapers are everywhere

How distant is the bright moon

Memories are like flowing sand

By the ocean where I stand

It goes quick like cars on highway

From my fingers disappear right away

Closing my eyes I see mooncakes

Presented by grandma to the table

What she made herself by borrowing

From our neighbor the mooncake mold

 

(After translating I remembered that this poem was first written in English. Here is the original:

 

The Moon Festival

 

Sept. 15 of this year is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. 

 

When the moon rises on the sea,

It shines far and wide,

The only free messenger,

That can bring my gaze home.

In the moon I seek

The shadows of a tree

A rabbit and a beauty

As well as a young man.

I wonder if you still remember

This story of our childhood,

While looking at a moon distanced

By a forest of sky-scrapers?

In this side of the Ocean,

Memories are like the sand.

That run through our fingers

Quickly, like traffic on freeway.

I close my eyes,

And see the moon cakes grandma made,

From our neighbor's molds.

 

Sept. 14, 1997 Fredericton

 

看UNB中秋表演 19981005

 

秋八月，八月秋，月明风清秋意透。苹果落，柿子熟，南瓜灿灿大如斗。

秋江秋水随秋来，秋林美景不胜收。秋高气爽佳节日，佛市校园共聚首。

尝月饼，赏歌喉，汉家乐舞洗乡愁。一曲新歌出新意，一群娃娃起新秀。

新人来，旧人走，中华学子水长流。新面孔，老朋友，故事新编年年有。

花落花开常如是，岁月无痕人长久。他乡月，云中走，天明走到家门口。

拜托吴刚捎口信，乡亲父老莫担忧。儿女勤学耕耘苦，再等中秋庆丰收。

笑看中华开异土，不与古人同悲秋!

 

Watching Mid-Autumn Performance at UNB 19981005

 

In Lunar August autumn is at its best

The wind is clear and the moon is bright

Apples drop and persimmons ripen

Bright colored is many a big pumpkin

Autumn summons the autumn waters of autumn river

The autumn woods present a beautiful picture

On this festival of this fair aired season

We have this gathering on campus in Fredericton

We enjoy moon cakes and nice singing voice

Homesickness is dispelled with dances Chinese

New meanings come out of new songs

Children promise the birth of new talents

New people come as the old leave the scene

The stream of Chinese scholars is forever seen

Be it new friend or old familiar acquaintance

Every year we hear some new romance

Flowers bloom and flowers fall, a common thing

Years do not leave marks on life ever lasting

The moon in the other land travels in the clouds

At daybreak, it will be at the door of native house

May the immortal in it bring over this message

Folks back at home, don’t you worry too much

Your children are studying hard in this country

Next Mid-Autumn Festival will see harvest heavy

Smiling, we see the flowers of China bloom elsewhere

In autumn, unlike ancient people, we don’t have to despair