七月宁乡诗花九朵

Nine Poetic Flowers in July at Ningxiang

中文｜白鹤清泉 (Baihe Qingquan)

英译｜周柯楠 (Zhou Kenan)

1）萤火虫

Firefly

夏天的夜晚

你们都提着一盏灯

照亮自己无视黑暗

On summer nights

You all carry a lamp

To illuminate yourself and ignore the darkness

我的眼睛跟着你们起舞

东瞧瞧西逛逛

你的自由装点了我的寂寞

My eyes dance with you

I look around and stroll here and there

Your freedom embellishes my loneliness

2）碗莲

Bowl Lotus

看着你成为小鱼池的主宰

突然觉得小天地里有大世界

Watching you become the master of the small fish pond

I suddenly feel that there is a big world in the small place

小鱼在你的叶底穿梭

我在的你的花瓣上留连

The little fish shuttle under your leaves

And I linger on your petals

和无数个其它的清晨与黄昏一样

七月精致而玲珑

Like countless other early mornings and dusks

July is delicate and exquisite

3）蝉语鸟语花语

Languages of Cicadas, Birds and Flowers

蝉闹的时候云朵听到了

正如鸟闹的时候花儿听到了

When cicadas make noise, clouds hear them

Just as flowers hear them when birds make noise

老婆的笑容移植于新绽放的紫藤花

My wife's smile is transplanted into the newly blooming wisteria

我的汗水格桑花和虞美人听到了

When I’m sweating, the gesang flower and the corn poppy hear it

她那个华为的手机也听到了

泥土下百合结籽的声音

The Huawei cellphone of hers also hears

The sound of lilies bearing seeds under the soil

4）道林天空

The Sky over the Town of Daolin

北疆旅游惊诧于大漠的天空

那种蔚蓝清爽通透暖烘烘的

Touring in northern Xinjiang I was surprised at the sky above the desert

So blue,refreshing,transparent and warm

而这宁乡古镇的蔚蓝柔软湿润

是江南女子温婉羞涩的明眸

The ancient town in Ningxiang is so blue, soft and moist

It’s like the gentle and shy eyes of the woman in the South of the Yangtze River

七月纯净如天空

有时干爽有时潮湿

July is pure and clear like the sky

Sometimes dry and sometimes wet

5）花明楼

Huaming Tower

有黄鹤欲飞之势岳阳楼览胜之风

Here is the tendency for the yellow crane to fly and the magnificent scenery of Yueyang Tower

天地之间看四羊方尊古雅幽远

Between heaven and earth I can see the elegance and distance of the Four-sheep Square Vessel

少奇故里揽你入怀推你成名

Shaoqi’s hometown holds you into the bosom and pushes you to become famous

你的伟岸和丰厚让我铭记

It’s your greatness and abundance that I remember

共产党员的修养厚于地

革命理想高于天

The cultivation of the Communist is thicker than the earth

And the revolutionary ideal is loftier than the heavens

6）见贤山庄

Meeting-sage Mountain Villa

守着花明湖的风口

伟人遗风聚焦四野翠绿之韵

You guard the wind gap of Huaming Lake

The relic of the great man focuses on the charm of the green in the surrounding fields

见贤思齐见不贤而自省

未食而思竹林之贤遇垂钓之翁

Emulating those virtuous,but introspecting when seeing those not virtuous

Without eating,thinking of the sage of the bamboo forest meeting the angler

你的乡野风味已无足轻重

一次便记住了见贤之名

Your country flavor doesn't matter

The name of “Meeting-sage ”is remembered at once

7）神仙岭

Immortal Ridge

黄茅大山是你另一个名

不是人间烟火

是你因贫瘠无烟火的从前

Mount Yellow-thatch is another name for you

Otherworldliness

Was your past state when you were barren and fireless

黄茅大仙你修炼不及百年啊

Yellow-thatch Immortal, you has practiced Taoism less than a hundred years

中南第一风力发电场让你驰誉

云雾满山绿满坡不是浪得虚名

The No. 1 Wind Farm in Central South China makes you famous

With cloudy mountains and green slopes it does live up to the reputation

8）关山镇

Guanshan Town

厚重古远的名字响了千年

马蹄声声刀剑生辉兄弟大步来

The heavy ancient name has been ringing for thousands of years

The brothers stroke forward with the noise of horseshoes and glistening of swords

跨越时空看红脸关公长沙大战

烈马卧槽只横陈青龙偃月刀

Looking at red-faced General Guan fighting in Changsha across time and space

The battle steed and the Qinglong Yanyue Broadsword are still lying there

箭楼依旧我在圣帝前顶礼叩拜

斯人远逝你将历史长留眼前

I salute and worship in front of the Holy Emperor in the ancient arrow tower

The man passed away long ago and you have kept a record of history

9）靳江水

Waters of the Jinjiang River

你让我想起汨罗江

想起它的沉重它的忧伤

甚至它的浑浊与压抑

You remind me of the Miluo River

Of its heaviness and sadness

And even of its muddiness and repression

而你是明净欢快而轻悠的

读者《离骚》和《天问》

能快乐如你轻扬的浪花

And you're clear, cheerful and light

Reading the poems “Lisao”and “Questioning the Heavens ”

I’m as happy as your lightly-flying sprays

(2019年7月于道林古镇 Written at the ancient town of Daolin in July, 2019)