[转帖]戴玨:曹东的诗集《许多灯》译后

曹东

    最近收到了曹东寄来的新诗集《许多灯》，是由重庆日报图书出版公司策划，重庆大学出版社出版的界限诗丛（共计十二种）的其中一种。这本诗集精选了曹东近年在省级以上纯文学杂志发表的诗作，中英对照，印刷颇为精美，内有著名画家丶诗人李明月的彩图六帧。作为此书的英译者，心情还是挺欣慰的。当初答应为曹东翻译此书，也没怎么犹豫，主要是之前曾经翻译过他的部分诗作，对他的风格已经有所了解。诗歌翻译的种种困难非三言两语可以说得清楚，好在曹东的诗歌语言简洁清晰，至少没给译者带来太多额外的困难。
    曹东有很多诗都蕴含了强烈的个人感受，这从他所用的比喻可以看出，譬如在《还给我》中：“劈开火焰，还给我木柴的疼痛。”丶“劈开一滴血，还给我生命的热度。”等等。有些诗甚至标题都令人触目惊心了，如《我睡在内心的断裂中》丶《一截梯子伸入我的肉体》。曹东的诗大多篇幅不长，但有时却用上了大量不同的意象来层层推进情志的表达。言辞激昂的《还给我》便是个好例子：


劈开坟墓，还给我需要修复的一生
劈开火焰，还给我木柴的疼痛。
劈开石头，还给我一整天的沉默。
劈开悬崖，还给我陡峭的日子
劈开双手，还给我反反复复的命运。
劈开广场，还给我一次沸腾的集会
撕碎的呼吸，锐利的发丝
劈开一滴血，还给我生命的热度。
劈开沼泽，还给我迷失的家乡
亲人的脸，土地贫穷的血浆。
劈开河流，还给我一个干净的新娘。
还给我，通向肉体的地铁。
还给我，一根柔软的刺，一次生动的颤栗
还给我，沉陷的双脚，废弃的年青的背影
劈开一个时代。
还给我生锈的骨头，散落的面孔
不断加速的梦
和脱尽羽毛的事实……

Return Me
Split the grave, return me my life that needs to be repaired
Split the flame, return me the pain of a log
Split the stone, return me a whole day's silence
Split the precipice, return me the precipitous days
Split the hands, return me my capricious destiny
Split the square, return me a boiling assembly
shredded breath, bristling hair
Split a drop of blood, return me the heat of life
Split the moor, return me my lost homeland
the faces of my loved ones, the poor plasma of the earth
Split the river, return me a clean bride
Return me, a subway to the flesh
Return me, a soft thorn, a stirring trembling
Return me, the bogged feet, the abandoned youthful profile
Split an age.
Return me the rusty bones, the scattered countenances
the accelerating dreams
and the truth whose feathers have all fallen out…  

    诗中一连串的“劈开”丶“还给我”一浪接一浪，不停地向读者冲过来，让人感觉到诗人的意绪不可遏抑的宣泄。《我所得》用到了相似的排比手法，不过这首略为平静，诗中塑造的自我形象具有复杂的内心世界和强烈的个性：

我喜欢黄昏之后，牵着闪电回家
喜欢大地在身边，一寸一寸暗淡
我喜欢泥土一样，被雨水稀释
喜欢背半卷冷风，推翻黑夜的星斗
我喜欢街道两旁的人群，既堕落
又幸福
喜欢举起刀片，为喋喋不休的人
修剪整齐舌头
我喜欢爱就是爱，恨就是恨
我就是我
喜欢喂养一群美丽的乌鸦
它们流浪我流浪，它们栖息
我就收拢翅膀
当一切开始变成结束，一切虚无
化为宇宙之王
我也要穿上黑色的大衣
去沉默地飞行一圈……

Things I’ve Got
I like to lead the lightning home after sundown
Like to see the light failing, inch by inch, alongside the earth
I like to be thinned by rain, as soil does
Like to carry half a roll of cold wind, to topple the black night’s stars
I like the crowds on both sides of the streets, depraved
And happy
I like to raise a blade, and, for those blabbermouths,
trim their tongues
I like the way love is love, hate is hate
And I am myself
I like to feed a flock of ravens
I roam as they roam, I fold my wings
As they rest
When every beginning turns to an end, every nothingness
Turns to a king of the universe
I shall put on a black coat
Go and fly a circuit in silence...

    有时候诗人俨然是位历史或当代生活的冷静的旁观者，像《端午》丶《夜生活》等。诗人眼中的世界似乎充满痛苦和压抑，而诗人自己只期望得到“长达半天的快乐 ”。面对这冷峻的世界，诗人也像很多人一样，内心充满了矛盾。有时会勇敢面对，如《申请书》；有时又会放弃自己，如《不要找我》。

夜生活
城市像一块发亮的指甲
紧紧抠住大地
地球抽搐了一下
我听到什么东西坠落的声音
小巷是城市的一根盲肠
被生活揉皱的人
不断往里面挤压
我听到什么东西破碎的声音
电梯下来忽又上去
把一小块一小块黑暗
运送到空中
我听到什么东西叹息的声音   

Night Life
The city, like a shimmering nail
Firmly clasps the land
The earth has a twitch
And I hear something drop
The alley is an appendix of the city
Crumpled by life, some people uncover its entrance
And continually push their way in
And I hear something break
The lift goes down, then suddenly up
Carrying the dark, chunk after chunk
Into the sky
And I hear something sigh

    曹东另有些篇幅很短的诗，用语相对平淡，但却不无巧思。如《没有用》，便用了对比和反说来描述秋日里内心一时的空虚无奈的感觉。诗人之所以为诗，其中一个原因便在于某些感受很幽微，用普通文字说不好，所以得借助各种形象，修辞手法，或特殊的说话方式；此诗可算一例。
最坚硬的铠甲是黑夜
最柔软的建筑是心脏
秋日闲来无事
我独自拥有这两件法器
好像远方不远
旷野不空
我并不是孤独的

Futility
The night is the hardest armor
The heart is the tenderest structure
Being idle during the autumn days
I alone possess these two instruments
as if the distant places are not distant
the open fields are not empty
and I am not lonely



戴玨
Edgar Dive
戴玨毕业于伦敦政治经济学院和澳大利亚国立大学。其中英诗作及译诗曾发表于《诗选刊》台湾《创世纪》《乾坤诗刊》、美国《诗天空》、香港《Yuan Yang》等。现居于香港。
Edgar Dive studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the Australian National University. His poems and translations appeared in a number of literary journals including Poetry Selected, Epoch Poetry Quarterly, Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly, Poetry Sky, Yuan Yang. He lives in Hong Kong

童天鉴日

问好曹东老师！欢迎来敝坛指导！
并请转达对戴老师的问好！

海外逸士

return something to somebody.   can't use:  return somebody something.  the verb return can not be followed by two objects like verb give.

自娱自乐

Well, yishi, in terms of some English dictionary, grammatically, it seems ok to say 'return sb sth' but it's advisable not to use it in this way.
For instance, "don't forget to return (me) my keys?"  In fact, nowadays, it would be very bizarre to hear people say 'return me my key' hehhe, instead people just say 'return my key (to me)'
Honestly, the title seems very odd...hehehe, return it to me might sound a bit better, I reckon, hehehe

自娱自乐

At any rate, I tend to agree with yishi on this issue.

周道模

学习各位！