中国大好き

DREAMS

(#1-50, from 2011-2012)

by Yi Sha

Translated by Martin Winter

大梦谁先觉？
平生我无知！
——题记

In this Dream, who wakes up first?
In my life, how should I know!

梦

伊沙

Yi Sha
DREAM #1

I have written a letter to my uncle,
want to go to the post office.
Mother tells me: “write our home
phone number on the back of the envelope!”

“It is forbidden to write or draw anything on the back!”,
is my impatient reply.
On my way to the post office
I am thinking: is there such a rule?

On the only path to the post office,
the alley where I fought as a kid,
my uncle’s wife comes up to me.
I am calling her: “Auntie! Auntie!”

But she ignores me,
looks at me like she’s never seen me.
Only then I remember: she is already dead!
She has died in our year of calamities, 1997

I am feeling cold sweat,
take out my cell to phone home
and shout at my mother: “Mama, now I believe in ghosts,
on the street I’ve met auntie, who is already dead!”

The voice in my cell phone is 120% of my mother:
“Son! how could you forget?
Mama is also already dead –
I died the same year your auntie died!”

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（1）

我给舅舅写好了一封信
准备去邮局投寄这封信
母亲叮嘱：“你把咱家的
电话号码写在信封背面”

“信封上不许乱涂乱画”
我很不耐烦地回应母亲
走在去邮局的路上
我还在想着此事：到底有无这项规定？

通往邮局的惟一的路
是我儿时常打巷战的那条小巷
迎面看见了我的舅婆
我叫她：“舅婆！舅婆！”

她不理我
看我的表情就像不认识我似的
我这才恍然想起：她已经死了
死在我们家族多灾多难的1997年

我惊出了一头冷汗
赶紧掏出手机拨通家里的电话
对着母亲嚷道：“妈，我现在相信有鬼了
我在街上看见死去的舅婆了！”

手机里传出母亲的声音十二分保真：
“儿子啊！你怎么忘了呢？
妈也早死了——
跟舅婆同一年死的呀！”

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #2

Who says there are no colors in dreams?
On a pure white snow field
a black-clad assassin
chases three girls in red flowing robes.

Next scene is just black and white:
in a market corner, at a rickety fortune-teller’s stall,
I sign my name in three parts with a flourish
in three new poetry collections of mine.

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（2）

谁说梦境无颜色
洁白的雪原上
一名黑衣剑客
在追逐三名红衣飘飘的女子

下一幕又是黑白的
在闹市一角算命先生的破桌上
我在我三本新诗集的扉页上
龙飞凤舞地签下了三具芳名

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #3

In my dream
you suddenly scream
there’s a scar on my face!
I run to a mirror
but
in my dream
the mirror is like a curtain of water
no figure inside
not to speak of a face
or a scar

So this dream
is rather heavy
breaks through the bed
of my siesta
when I get up
like every time
I go to the bathroom
to wash my face
sweep up the cobwebs
I see the real me
in the real mirror
when I look closely
I’m suddenly scared
there’s a real scar
at a corner of my mouth

With a wet towel
I move back and forth
doesn’t hurt at all
suddenly I understand
we had lunch before my siesta
big shrimps braised in sauce
you do them so well

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（3）

在梦中
你尖声惊叫
说我脸上有伤
我马上
跑去照镜子
但是
梦中的镜子
仿佛一道水帘
人影都照不出
莫说脸
莫说伤

这个梦
相当重
压垮了
它生于斯的
午觉的产床
起床后
我习惯性的
去卫生间洗脸
想一把洗去
满面睡梦的蛛网
当人脸
在现实的镜中
清晰地映现
我惊悸地看见
它确实有伤
在嘴角上

用湿毛巾
反复擦拭
一点不疼
也就没了
我恍然大悟
此为午觉前午饭时
吃的酱爆大虾的酱汁
你的拿手菜

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #8

“Now I don’t even dream any more”,
11 years ago I said this in a conference.
I was becoming afraid
of being content in my middle years.
“So I am going to collect love and hate”
no-one understood, they heard only hate;
thought I was one hate-crazy villain.
Nice old men at the conference all kept their distance

Time has moved on
in a flash, 11 years later
I’m deep in the belly of middle age
and thank god I still dream.
I dream a lot more now
especially after writing my DREAMS
I dream every night
even in my siesta
all these dreams jump out,
try to land in my poetry.

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（8）

“现在我连梦都不做了”
11年前我在一次诗会上发言道
是我对心满意足的中年状态
开始有所警惕
“所以我要搜集爱还有恨”
听众听不懂只听到了恨
以为我是丧心病狂的歹人
会上的好老头从此不理我了

时间不禁过
一晃11年过去
好在已经深入到中年腹地的我
还是一个爱做梦的人
梦做得比11年前还要多
尤其是在我开写《梦》系列之后
几乎夜夜做梦
甚至午觉还要做梦
梦们纷纷跳将出来
争做我的诗

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #10

My department head is looking for me.
My dream doesn’t tell me a reason,
so I present myself.
The boss is grateful:
“they all say they’re busy,
but you come straight away!”
Then he takes out a name register
for me to look at.

All the teachers of the department
are listed with name and current status.
XX in graduate studies
XX going for doctorate
XXX’s qualification has been authenticated
XXX is overseas for further studies
I hand back the list:
“It is very good now,
there are chances and hope for everyone!”

“Then why don’t you strive
to improve yourself?”
this sudden question
makes me speechless
I stare at my boss like an idiot
thinking harder and harder
but sink into fatal confusion
finding no reason
for me to exist

Stuck in this steaming dream
this completely fictional character
keeps getting grilled.

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（10）

系主任有事找我
什么事——梦未交待
我便应承下来
领导感慨系之：
“都说有事
就你爽快”
说罢还将一个花名册
交给我看

花名册上写着全系教师的
姓名及现状
XX考研
XX读博
XXX晋升职称
XXX出国深造
我看罢感慨万千：
“这个时代好啊
给每个人机会和希望！”

“那你为什么不争取
不思进取？”
领导忽然发问道
问得我哑口无言
傻愣愣地望着他
吃力地思考着
陷入要命的迷茫
找不到自己
存在的理由

热气腾腾的梦境
虚无缥缈的人儿
正在被蒸发

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #16

Three death candidates
hands tied on their backs
kneel in a trench
await execution
masked executioner
stands in front of them
knees bent in a stance
to warm himself up
then with a scream
suddenly goes into
“18 dragon subduing moves”
three condemned men
let out three cries
pitiful wails
then give up their ghosts
become three coils of smoke
go straight up to heaven

I am at the scene
I see everything
I am a priest
who prays for the souls
of the prisoners
and listens to their
confessions
right now
I am consoling a woman
from the next group
she has poisoned her husband
who had been abusing her for many years
she is leaving a son
“repent and confess
you’ll be born again
in your next life
you’ll meet your son”

“Save your breath!
in your next life
who knows who becomes what”,
like she doesn’t care.
sharp face (looks like trouble to men)
now she’s lost in thought:
“if there is a next life
I want to become
a cricket
for my son to catch me …”

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（16）

三个死囚
被反剪双手
跪在战壕中
等待行刑
蒙面刽子手
立在其对面
马步蹲裆
运足了气
大喝一声
忽然使出
降龙十八掌
三个死囚
三声惨叫
呜呼哀哉
当场毙命
变成了
三股青烟
直上云天

我就在现场
目击到这一幕
作为一名神甫
为死囚的灵魂
祈祷
并聆听他们的
忏悔
此刻
我安慰下一组
将要受刑的一位毒死
对其长年施暴的丈夫
留下一个儿子的女囚道：
“忏悔吧
你会重生
投胎转世
与你儿子重逢”

“拉倒吧
下辈子谁知道
投胎成啥玩意”
刀条脸（克夫相）的女囚
满不在乎地说
遂又陷入神往道：
“真有下辈子
我想投胎成
一只蛐蛐儿
被我儿子逮着……”

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #18

In a dream
my wife set foot on the moon
and came back to tell me:
“It’s not interesting anymore,
this Chang’e goddess,
really not worth it.
The moon is tied up
with wire fences
and they have laid mines.
The moon is gray
like people’s ashes.”

2011
Tr/ MW, 2016

梦（18）

妻在梦中
登上月球
回来之后
告诉我说：
“没意思了
这嫦娥当得
真没意思
月球上扎了
好多铁丝网
还埋有地雷
月球灰
像骨灰”

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #26

In my siesta
I dream of an old friend
we haven’t met for a long time
in my dream he is ill
a terminal disease
I see his face full of pain
it breaks my heart

When I get up I tell myself:
“dreams are false! dreams are the opposite!”

From the bedroom
I want to go straight to my studio
but the TV is on in the living room
my father watching alone
so I walk over
to keep him company for a few minutes
to my surprise
it’s a feature on dreams
this American guy
has dreamt several times
of a plane accident
that really happened later
he even dreamed of the flight number
they had a recording, he had called the airport

suddenly I feel weak
can’t watch anymore

In my studio
I don’t turn on my computer
but go first to my mother’s portrait
I light up a stick of incense
and pray in silence:
Mama, I have this craze about dreams
just because I want to stand out
to get on top in my career
and write immortal verse
please protect me
let it not become an obsession
never ever
let me go astray to be a fortune teller

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（26）

在午觉的梦中
梦见一位
久违之故人
身患绝症
在梦中
我看见他
悲哀欲哭的面孔
令我心碎

i起床后我劝慰自己说：
“梦是假的！梦是反的！”

我准备从卧室
直接去书房工作
发现客厅电视开着
父亲独自在看
我便走过去
陪他看了两眼
不无惊讶地发现
正好是一档说梦的节目
一个好做梦的美国人
提前并且反复梦见了
后来发生的一场大空难
连航班号都梦得准准的
有他给机场打的电话录音为证

我忽然脆弱得
看不下去了

来到书房
先不急于打开电脑
而是在母亲的遗像前
焚上一支香
心中默念道：
妈，近来我痴迷于梦
只是为了在高处突破
跨越自身的巅峰
写出不朽的杰作
求您保佑我
千万千万
别走火如魔
跑偏成梦想预言家

2011

Yi Sha
DREAM #28

I am dreaming
I’m in a dream

a dream in a dream
dream having dreams

must be from inside
from the embryo dream

suddenly bursting
one desperate scream:

“This time you’re trapped!
you won’t wake up!”

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（28）

我梦见了
我在做梦

梦中有梦
梦怀着梦

应该是在里面那个
胚胎般的梦里

有一个绝望之声
骤然响起：

“这下出不去了
只好做睡鬼！”

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #30

Someone in staircase #4
had a break-in:
gold, silver, valuables
they lost quite a lot.
Everyone in the neighborhood
talking about it,
and so one day
I am coming home
(maybe from teaching)
I enter staircase #3
take the lift up to ninth floor
arrive at my doorstep,
take out my key
but something is wrong.
The door isn’t locked,
a noise comes from the bedroom.
I keep my shoes on and storm inside.
Someone must have slipped into the closet!
I yank the door open
and see a girl
in a nurse uniform
like from the beauty parlor around here
where my wife was a patient.
She has been discovered but she’s very fast,
jumps out of the closet,
wants to storm out the door.
I block her and grab her right from the front.
Oh! She feels so soft.
Oh! A born northern girl,
bright open face
not at all like a thief,
very much like a girl I played with
when I was small;
even breathes like that girl.
She tries to free herself,
so I hold her faster
till she screams:
“Rapist! Help!
Catch the rapist!”
I am so surprised
my hands let her go.
I watch her
race out the door
and get away.

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（30）

4单元的某户人家
进贼了
金银细软被偷一光
损失可谓大矣
小区里的人
都在议论此事
于是有一天
我从外面回来
（好像是授课归来）
走进该楼3单元
乘电梯至9层
来到自家门前
掏出钥匙打开门
感觉有点不对劲
门未反锁
卧室里似有响动
我鞋都未换便直冲进去
发现有人刚刚躲进大衣柜
我一把将门拉开
只见一个姑娘
身穿一身护士服
像是小区美容院
给妻子做护理的那一位
被发现之后她的反应是
异常敏捷地跳出柜子
意欲冲向门外
被我拦腰抱个正着
哦！她柔弱的身子骨好软
哦！她生就一张北方姑娘
明朗大方的脸庞
一点都不像是贼
跟我童年的某匹小竹马
长得非常像
连身上的气息都像
她欲挣脱我怀抱
无奈我死死不放
她便尖声大叫起来：
“流氓！强奸犯！
来人哪！抓强奸犯喽！”
我顿时傻了眼
双手自然松开
眼睁睁看着她
直冲门外
逃之夭夭

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #35

Forgot everything
what it was about

but the structure
was like four pillars

built in my heart
sound like a bell

Also four acts
it was a play

even followed
all the three unities

Golden cicada
shell left behind

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（35）

内容忘得
一干二净

结构却似
四根柱子

结结实实
筑在心田

仿佛一场
四幕话剧

还符合
三一律

一个好梦
金蝉脱壳

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #37

A cat
lies on a bed
sleeping
on the bed I slept in
at college
male students dorm
upper berth
snoring

My dream doesn’t tell me
where it came from
so I conclude
I must have brought it in
from outside
a stray
in my dream
I look at the cat,
asking:
“where are you from?”
a snore is the answer

“Hey kitty, where is your home?”
this time it wakes up
stretching
sways around
changes into a violin
played by itself
string sounds come out

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（37）

一只猫
躺在床上
睡觉
是躺在我
大学时代
男生宿舍
架子床上铺
呼呼大睡

梦未交待
猫之来历
我由此推想
这只猫
是我从外头
带回到宿舍来的
一只野猫
在梦里
我望着它
问它道：
“你的家在哪儿？”
鼾声作答

“嘿宝贝，你的家在哪儿？”
我再一次问它时
它伸了个懒腰
摇身一变
成一把小提琴
自己拉响
发出琴声

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #42

When I was at college,
Zhang Jundao –
he was my roommate –
could sleep with his eyes open.
Xu Jiang can testify.
One night,
the light is still burning,
he leans at the head of the bed
talking with Xu Jiang and I,
gradually going silent.
Looks like he’s listening,
very soft eyes
looking at us,
softer and softer;
more and more lifeless,
eyes without spirit,
faint snore rising up.
I have to tell Xu Jiang, who talks like a waterfall:
“this guy is asleep!”
We examine him closely,
he really sleeps with his eyes open.
We wave back and forth in his face:
no reaction.
After a while
we see his eyeballs turning,
the white in his eyes moves back and forth
like a zombie.
Really scary.
“What is he doing?”, Xu Jiang asks me.
“I think he’s dreaming!”
Right the same moment,
the zombie shudders;
suddenly all alive,
speaking again:
“Hey, who told you to talk poetry,
it was so boring
I fell asleep
and had a dream!”

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（42）

我大学时代
同居一室的同学
张君道
可以睁着双眼睡觉
徐江可以做证
有天晚上
还未熄灯
他靠在床头
与我俩交流
渐渐闭了嘴
貌似在倾听
眼神很温柔
望着我们俩
越来越温柔
越来越无神
有眼无神
小鼾起兮
我提醒滔滔不绝的徐江：
“这小子睡着了！”
然后我们仔细观察
这个睁着眼睛睡觉的家伙
在他眼前晃一晃
果然没有反应
过了一阵
只见其白多黑少俩眼珠
开始骨碌碌打转
活见鬼
吓死人
江问：“这怎么回事？”
我答：“估计在做梦！”
话音未落
那鬼悚身一抖
猛一激灵
开口说话：
“嗯，谁叫你们谈诗呢
实在太无聊
我都睡着了
还做了个梦！”

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #44

I am on the sports field of medical college #4
I watched outdoor movies there as a kid
black mass of an audience walling me in

but I am standing there as college student
with Hou Ma, my college friend
Xu Jiang, my other classmate
has gone off with Hou Ma’s girlfriend Fu Jing
so I tell Hou Ma: “call them on mobile!”

Hou Ma uses the cell phone
he only got many years after graduation
the call goes through … someone shouts from the loudspeakers:
“hey! we are here!”
it’s really them, Xu Jiang and Fu Jing

on the silver screen
gently rippled
by the evening breeze
like they appear in the movie

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（44）

在我童年常看露天电影的
四医大的大操场上
在黑压压的观众外围

站立着大学时代的我
和我的大学同学侯马
同来的徐江同学
和侯马的女朋友傅琼同学
走丢了……我对侯马说：
“打他们手机！”

于是侯马打着
毕业多年以后
方能打上的手机
打通了……有人在高音喇叭里回话：
“嗨！我们在这儿呢！”
正是徐江和傅琼

浮现在随着晚风
轻轻飘荡的银幕上
仿佛电影里的人儿

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #45

I pick up my son
we walk home from school
all the way talking about
a little bear
maybe it’s that boy upstairs
Little Bear is his name
now we are already
at our home
I take out my key
to unlock the metal door
it’s pitch black inside
but there is a sound!
my son shouts:
“Who are you? Man or bear?”
he shouts so loud,
that little noise
gets louder too!
I push my son
away from the door
I rush in like an arrow
leap into the kitchen
stretch out both arms
grab two vegetable knives
from the rack by the sink
they gleam in the dark
I am very glad
I had them sharpened
two days ago

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（45）

接儿子
放学回家
回家路上
我们一直在谈论
一头小熊
抑或是我家楼上
住的那个名叫
小熊的男孩
不知不觉间
来到家门口
我掏出钥匙
将铁门打开
里面一片漆黑
竟有一丝响动
儿子大喝一声：
“谁？是人是熊？”
他这一喊
那点响动
更加大了
我一把将他
推出门外
自己则一个箭步
跃进厨房
双手同时
向前一伸
便从水池边的刀架上
操起了两把菜刀
在黑暗中明晃晃的
我心中还在暗自庆幸
幸亏前两天刚刚磨过

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #47

From the end of a long corridor
in a Chinese courtyard
two gentlemen walking up slowly.
The older one with the grimy beard,
he is my idol from when I was young.
The younger one with the smooth chin
is my favorite active soccer player.
Maradonna and Messi
have arrived in fornt of me,
so I tell them:
“You have to win!
You must come out on top!
You must hold the World Cup!
If you guys are eliminated
our whole goddamn TV
will never stop playing
‘Don’t cry for me, Argentina’,
like it was your Memorial Day!”
Two soccer kings
look speechless at me.
Who is this impertinent Chinese fan?

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（47）

在一处中式庭院
长长的甬道尽头
缓缓走来两位爷
胡子拉渣的大爷
是我青春年少时的偶像
下巴光滑的小爷
是我最喜爱的现役球员
马拉多纳和梅西
来到近前时
我对二位道：
“你们一定要赢
力争赢到底
举起世界杯
如果你们出局了
俺们这旮瘩的电视电台
就会没完没了地播放那首歌
《阿根廷，不要为我哭泣》
整得跟贵国的国殇日似的”
新老两位球王
一脸茫然望着我
这个自作多情多管闲事的的中国球迷

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #48

By day I had been with Wang Youwei
in a town at the foot of Qingling ridge
picked two nameless flowers, most lovely
by the wall of someone’s backyard;
had our way barred at the village exit
by the mistress of that house:
“You two picked our flowers!”

At night I dreamt myself
in a golden field by Van Gogh
wringing a sunflower’s neck
and getting rebuked on the way back
at the highway toll booth
by a female officer
with a sage-like remark:
“In the face of the sun,
you don’t steal a sunflower!”

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（48）

白天里我与王有尾
在秦岭脚下的一个村子里
一户人家的院墙外
摘了两朵分外娇艳的无名小花
被这家女主人在村口堵个正着：
“你俩摘的是俺家的花！”

到晚上我便梦见自己
在梵高金黄色油画的麦田里
拧断了一株向日葵的脖子
并在返城途中
在高速公路收费站上
遭到一个女收费员的数落
她像哲人一样教训我：
“看在太阳面子上
你也不该偷向日葵！”

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #49

The poetess Nan Mo
who had stopped writing
has started again;
she has written
a very good poem.

She is an old friend,
so I am very happy;
I am going to put this poem
into my new anthology.

I go to her blog,
I search all around
but cannot find
that new good poem.

This summer morning
lounging in the warm sun
I suddenly realize:
it was just my dream.

2011
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（49）

久不写诗的
女诗人南嫫
又写诗了
写了很好的
一首诗

我为老友高兴
并想把这首诗
收到我手头上
正在编的集子里去
便去她的博客下载
但却死活找不到
那首好诗

我在夏日清晨
暖洋洋的阳光下
恍然大悟
这是我昨晚做的梦

2012

Yi Sha
DREAM #50

Drinking together
with a few friends
getting into the thing;
me who can’t take very much
actually provoking them
into drinking contests.
I am so happy
I just don’t get drunk,
but right at this time
someone shouts from a seat by the door:
“XXX is coming!”
That guy is a famous
fake among poets.
As soon as I hear his name
I put down my cup
upside down on the mess of a table
and act like I’m wasted.

2012
Tr. MW, 2016

梦（50）

我和几个
知心好友
一起喝酒
喝得十分尽兴
酒量不大的我
还在主动出击
向人挑战
心情好时
喝不醉的
就在这时
靠门边的座位上
有人大喊一声
“XXX来了！”
此来者是一个
著名的诗混子
我一听他来了
立马丢下酒杯
一头栽在
杯盘狼藉的桌面上
佯装醉了

2012

All poems translated by Martin Winter
Copyright: Yi Sha 伊沙 (Chinese text), Martin Winter (translations). dujuan99@gmail.com

Source: 《马兰花》诗刊 MALAN FLOWER [calimeris indica] MAGAZINE, Summer 2016

Yi Sha, pen name of Wu Wenjian. Poet, writer, translator, editor. Born 1966 in Chengdu, grew up in Xi’an. Graduated from Beijing Normal University in 1989. Teaches Chinese literature at Xi’an International Studies University. Has published over 70 books, incl. his own works, translations and anthologies. Henry Luce fellow for Chinese poetry at Vermont Studio Center. Recipient of numerous major poetry awards in China. Invited to poetry festivals in Sweden, Netherlands, UK, Macedonia, Macau etc. Recital in Tucson, organized by Arizona University. Recitals and workshop in Austria, organized by University of Vienna, University of Applied Arts and Lichtungen Magazine, Graz.  Translated into English, German, Hebrew, Korean etc.

Books in English and German: “Starve the Poets!” Bloodaxe Books 2008, translated by Simon Patten.  ÜBERQUERUNG DES GELBEN FLUSSES, VOL. 1, fabrik.transit (Vienna, Austria) 2016, translated by Martin Winter.

伊沙，男，原名吴文健。诗人、作家、批评家、翻译家、编选家。 1966年生于四川成都。1989年毕业于北京师范大学中文系。现于西安外国语大学中文学院任教。出版著、译、编70余部作品。获美国亨利•鲁斯基金会中文诗歌奖金以及中国国内数十项诗歌奖项。应邀出席瑞典第16届奈舍国际诗歌节、荷兰第38届鹿特丹国际诗歌节、英国第20届奥尔德堡国际诗歌节、马其顿第50届斯特鲁加国际诗歌节、中国第二、三、四、五届青海湖国际 诗歌节、第二届澳门文学节、美国佛蒙特创作中心驻站作家、美国亚利桑那大学为其举办的朗诵会、奥地利两校一刊为其举办的朗诵会与研讨会等国际交流活动。

梦——《马兰花》诗刊夏之卷作品选
2016-07-26 伊沙 新诗代

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