鲁藜·《贝壳》英译

The Shell 

Lu Li

Please accept this shell

that I picked up from the sea of life

here is a patterned border, in a design of overlapping waves

here is a firm edge, forged by the tempests of a mighty age

here are blood-stains and tear-stains too

but the pearls formed by teardrops have sunk to the ocean depths

leaving behind in the shell

the matrix of a passionately grieving heart.

Please accept this shell

and put it on our windowsill

here is a miniature heaven, as if carved in ivory

where the milky light of dawn sweeps away the last traces of night

here is a crimson thread, like a rainbow in the clearing skies

which may fill you with hope as far as the eye can follow

here is a drop of blood like a burning cloud

which may set alight the flame in your heart,

the spark of your ideals.

Please accept this shell

and place it beside you

so you can hear the call of the turbulent ocean

like a thousand golden trumpets swelling

and see the most beautiful sunrise in the east

like a thousand roses blooming

and once again feel life's supreme joy

when you wrestle with the cruel waves of hard adversity.

Please accept this shell

that I picked up from the sea of life

don't discard it in disgust because it's not a pearl

or cast it carelessly aside because it comes from grit

because it grew from grit and salty water

it bore a pure bright pearl

because it came from a dark abyss

it cherishes the light.