The August Sleepwalker by Bei Dao (tr. Bonnie McDougall)

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Bei Dao (simplified Chinese: 北岛; traditional Chinese: 北島; pinyin: Běi Dǎo; literally "Northern Island", born August 2, 1949) is the pseudonym of Chinese poet Zhao Zhenkai (趙振開). He was born in Beijing, his pseudonym was chosen because he came from the north and because of his preference for solitude. Bei Dao is the most notable representative of the Misty Poets, a group of Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution.


Bei Dao in Tallinn, 2010

Poems published in Translatum



Let me tell you, world,
I–do–not–believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number one thousand and one.

I don't believe the sky is blue;
I don't believe in thunder's echoes;
I don't believe that dreams are false;
I don't believe that death has no revenge.

- Bei Dao (from The August Sleepwalker, 1988, trans. Bonnie McDougall)
« Last Edit: 13 May, 2011, 10:55:40 by Frederique »
I can live everywhere in the world, but it must be near an airport -and a pharmacy, I would add.

Δεν είναι ο ύπνος της λογικής που γεννάει τέρατα, αλλά ο άγρυπνος ορθολογισμός που πάσχει από αϋπνίες.


spiros

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And death shall have no dominion.
Dead mean naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Through they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.



Frederique

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Bei Dao, Un inconnu est de retour (Traduction: Chantal Chen-Andro)



你的名字是两扇窗户
一扇开向没有指针的太阳
一扇开向你的父亲
他变成了逃亡的刺
带上几个费解的字
一只最红的苹果
离开了你的画


Ton nom ressemble à deux battants de fenêtres (1)
L’un ouvre sur un soleil déboussolé
L’autre sur ton père
devenu un hérisson exilé
qui n’apporte avec lui que quelques mots incompréhensibles
La pomme la plus rouge

s’est enfuie de ton tableau…


(1) il joue sur les caractères de 田田


[…]«3. On ne peut, enfin, s’empêcher de faire un parallèle avec la vie de Bei Dao. Quelques années plus tard, l’écrivain est séparé de sa fille, Tiantian (田田), qui a alors le même âge que la Lanlan de la nouvelle lorsque son père a été envoyé au camp. Il souffre de la séparation, et écrit un superbe poème à sa fille pour son cinquième anniversaire ; intitulé 《画-给田田五岁生日》 « Tableau – à Tiantian, pour ses cinq ans » c’est l’un des plus célèbres de Bei Dao ; il voit la petite fille en train de dessiner un tableau (我的女儿在画画), avec plein de pommes dedans.
C’est un peu l’équivalent du collier de perles du père de Lanlan…»[…]

Chinese short stories
« Last Edit: 12 May, 2011, 14:55:16 by Frederique »
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