A Song for Kill at Three Paces

By Cheng Lie

With a knife in a Buddhist shrine
that seems to have been held with secret mana,
it travels alone and in the boundless void
with the trance of black iron, the metaphor of light
to restore the whereabouts of a piece of life.
Now, time stagnates in the afternoon of Ngaxu Grassland
where People have a habit of drinking black or butter tea;
a Khampa man with a hero knot, strong and indomitable
who longs for the hard stuff, women, and song of a knife,
blood in his veins like thousands of boiling horses
follows the traces of King Gesser of Ling,
across hills, he's singing and dancing. And the river
washes down countless twilight in an instant.
But this time, a shadow of shame is lurking in the smoke of Burning Offerings
when light and shadow still taking a rest down the street
the diffusing dawn lowers its voice,
Sumphel, the prototype of love and wildness,
summoning so many bloody knives all over the grassland
His eyes are lonely and vanishing,
and it's his last time to inspect the epic territory:
rivers, pastures, black tents, and his posterity.
Vanishing in a flash, the self-respect that all this is
drives the two bodies out of the reality of time, and
relieves the repentance they showed while in suffering.
Now, this knife that used to roar on grassland
and squander death but die forever,
is lying there quietly to be reborn
seems to be listening to sermons.

2004/ translated by Chen Zihong

三步杀人曲

程烈

在一个佛堂里安放着一把刀子
它似乎沾染了某种隐秘的法力，
独自穿梭往来于无边的虚空之中
用黑铁的恍惚，比喻的光
还原出一段生命的去向。
此刻，时间搁置在阿须草原
那个投石的民族饮马茶或酥油茶习惯的下午；
一个头扎英雄结，强壮、不屈
渴望烧酒、女人和刀子之歌的康巴汉子，
他脉管中的血流如沸腾的马匹
成千上万次循着格萨尔王神祇的踪迹，
载歌载舞地越过众多山岗，河流
令无数个黄昏顷刻间土崩瓦解。
但这一次，煨桑的烟尘里潜伏着耻辱的阴影
光与影还在街面上歇脚的时辰
无所不在的黎明压低了嗓音，
松培，这个爱和野性的原型
纠集了大草原上浴血而追命的刀子，
他的目光孤独而涣然地，也是
最后一次巡视史诗般的领地：
河流，牧场，黑帐篷，和他下的种。
电光石火间，归于一切的自尊
驱策了两具肉体脱离现实的日期
还有解除痛苦时忏悔的声音。
如今，那把曾经在草原上咆哮的刀子
也是那把因挥霍死亡而长存的刀子，
它静静的，躺在那里脱胎换骨
样子像布道。

2004年