Twelfth Month by Zhou Mengdie ~ 周梦蝶 《十二月》 with English Translations

作品原文

周梦蝶 《十二月》

这耳膜锈得快要结茧了
在梦与冷落之间
我是蛇！瑟缩地遐想著惊蛰的。

谁晓得我曾睡扁时间多少？
夜长如愁，寒冷寸寸龟裂
那自零下出发
载著开花了的十二月的邮船
搁浅在那儿？

总在梦中梦见雪崩
梦见断崖上常春藤汤著秋千
含羞草再也收敛不住了
瞑起眼睛，咀嚼风和阳光

而脸色比沉思者还阴沉的
石狮子也蹲蹲起舞
向东方，
吼醒那使浑沌笑出泪来的日出……

作品译文

Twelfth Month
Zhou Mengdie

My ear membranes are rusty—soon they’ll be cocoons!
Between dreams and isolation
I’m a snake! coiled in fantasies of waking up to spring.

Who knows how much time my sleep has flattened?
The night’s as long as sorrow;
Cold’s shell cracking inch by inch.
Where did the mail boat run aground
that set out from Subzero
carrying the Twelfth Month in bloom?

In dreams I always see snowslides,
creepers swinging from steep cliffs,
touch-me-nots no more to be restrained,
eyes closed, ruminating wind and sun…

while a stone lion, its face
gloomier than Le Penseur’s,
stands up, hops up eastward,
and roars till the dawn awakens
that makes Chaos laugh forth its tears….