Sonnet 15: Look at Those Teams of Pack Horses

Chou Ping  | 

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english translation

Sonnet 15: Look at Those Teams of Pack Horses

      Look at those teams of horses bent
      with goods from far exotic places.
      Water also carries traces
      of silt from some strange continent.

      Wind from a thousand miles astray
      sweeps in with sighs of foreign towns.
      We rove through streams and hilly downs
      that we possess then give away.

      Like flying birds that float and dive,
      sometimes we’re emperors of space
      and sometimes fall through nullity.

      What is the truth of how we live?
      We carry nothing from that far place;
      nothing comes with us when we leave.

original Chinese poem

15. 看这一队队的驮马

      看这一队队的骡马
      驮来了远方的货物,
      水也会冲来一些泥沙
      从些不知名的远处,

      风从千万里外也会
      掠来些他乡的叹息:
      我们走过无数的山水,
      随时占有,随时又放弃,

      仿佛鸟飞行在空中,
      它随时都管领太空,
      随时都感到一无所有。

      什么是我们的实在?
      从远方什么也带不来
      从面前什么也带不走