Hometown and Pearl / 故乡与珍珠
by Yan An, translated by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen
1
The man I once saw pulling a piece of iron from fire
Is Blacksmith Liu Second who can grab
A piece of red-hot iron from a charcoal fire
Throw it onto an anvil and vehemently hammer it
In his entire life, he has never stepped out of the village
But wielded an iron hammer to strike out scattering sparks
Never married a woman
But clutched a piece of iron in his hand
And furiously thrown it down into the blaze
Oh he, livid-faced, exerted himself so vigorously
To wield up and down a hammer
As to shock rivers and mountains
Throw me out of my slumber in the bowels of the city
Again and again even many years later
2
I once made the acquaintance of a man
Surveying the land in the wild mountains
Proficient in the secrets of plucking varied wild flowers
Smiling mystically and then vanishing mysteriously
He secretly composed a book named
The Classic of Storing Flowers
Accidentally I took a sneak peek at a few lines:
“A good flower is like a pearl whoever
Picks its splendor should feel like facing formidable poison
Should never tread on or damage it
With heart-tugging mind-blowing aroma
It should be gingerly culled cautiously taken home
Well sustained by translucent spring water
Whichever flower has a fragrance not dissipating for three days
Can be entrusted with soul
Whichever flower has petals unwithered for seven days
Can be endowed with a body…”
Nevertheless I was a coarse man after all
Thereafter whenever I saw a flower
I would feel confronted by a powerful enemy
Flee pell-mell like a frightened rat
As if chased by a strange spellbinding thing
Until one day I completely ran away from my hometown
3
I once taught myself astrology attempting to obtain
A pearl from heaven somewhere in my hometown
But only to be told: a pearl is life-threatening
So it shouldn’t be obtained
A pearl from heaven wherever it’s placed
No matter whether it shines in the wild
Inadvertently falls into the unseen dark
Or gets buried under useless land
No one should hastily touch it
“Whoever touches a pearl must perish”
This prophecy about facing imminent disaster
Has scared me into hurling away my astrology in a flurry
Empty-handed and butting out forever like a potato
The village named Pearl
1
我曾经见过火中取铁的人
那是村上的刘二铁匠 烧红的铁
他可以从炭火中猛地抓起来
扔到铁砧上狠狠地锻打
那是一个一辈子没有出村的人
一辈子挥舞着铁锤 打出四散的火星
终生未娶一房女人 一辈子把铁攥在手心
然后狠狠地扔下去 扔进熊熊火焰
铁青色的脸 锤起锤落的那个狠劲啊
多少年后依然令河山震撼
把我从城市深处的梦中
一次次地扔出来
2
我曾经结识过一个在野山丈量土地的人
他精通采摘各种野花的秘密
这个神秘地笑着后来又神秘地失踪的人
私著《藏花经》一部 我不小心偷窥其中一二：
“好花如珍珠 摘其灿烂者要如临大毒
千万不要用脚踩它 千万不要损伤它
夺人肺腑的香 要小心翼翼地采摘
小心翼翼地带回家 以清泉好生供养
三日香不散者可寄魂 七日瓣不凋者可赋身……”
而我终归是一个粗鄙的人
从此以后 见花如临大敌
抱头鼠窜 仿佛被一种销魂的异物追赶
直至有一天彻底逃离故乡
3
我曾经自学占星术 试图在故乡的什么地方
获得一颗来自天上的珍珠
却被告知：珍珠要命 不能得
天上的珍珠 无论它放在什么地方
无论它在野外放光
还是不慎跌落于看不见的暗处 甚或
被埋入连用场也派不上的土地里
谁也不要轻易碰它
“碰珍珠者必死”
犹如大祸将要临头的这句谶语
令我仓皇之中扔掉了占星术 两手空空
像一颗土豆一样永远滚出了
那个名叫珍珠的村庄
