辛鬱·《桑吉巴狮子》英译

The Zanzibar Lion

Xin Yu

The gums were numb

On the tongue, the exhalations from a forest grove

Stemming from a dream

As if a call from someone unfamiliar

Assailed the ear

Whereupon I circled the tree three times

Just so I could let out one good belch.

I circled the tree. Circled it a fourth time.

Afterward, Manon and I played that game

Afterward, I chewed on beef jerky

Afterward, I circled the tree

And put the prairie behind me,

Abandoning the strong wind over my head

Dust to dust ashes to ashes

I am a lion from Zanzibar

A place where national parks

Are a throwback to civilization

My brothers, wouldst thou be dozing

A bald eagle is circling very low in the sky

The runaway wetlands are deep in the earth

But those humans are by my side

Along with their guns and their generic winks

A flurry of raging scurrying

Fire

I circle the tree

After a belch slides out from the throat

I bite into that beef jerky

Play that game

And will the humans be satisfied?

My brother and I look at each other

In that sector of the sky, what seems to be both here and not here: