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Alongside its specially commissioned translation supplements, based on the poetry of one specific language, The High Window also receives many miscellaneous and unsolicited translations. These are regulary published as supplementary posts, but some have been languishing in the editor’s files for longer than he would like, so it really is time to clear the decks!
Hongri Yuan is a contemporary Chinese poet whose work explores themes relating to the existence of an idealised prehistoric civilization that are reminiscent of our western myths of the ‘Age of Gold’ and the Garden of Eden. [Ed]
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Five Poems by Hongri Yuan
translated by Yuanbing Zhang
A MYSTERIOUS GIANT
There is another sun in the body of earth.
It is light of the light, cool flames
Where the palaces and pavilions are gold and transparent.
It houses a mysterious giant.
Last night in my dreams I heard him call
and came to a vast hall.
His smile made you to forget yourself,
reminding me of a ancient poetry— ‘the rising sun just risen’.
*
神秘的巨人
大地的体内有另一轮太阳
它是光之光 清凉之火焰
那儿的宫殿楼台金色透明
住着一位神秘的巨人
昨夜我梦中听到召唤
来到了他那巨大的殿堂
他的笑容让你忘了自己
令我想起古人之诗 旭日始旦
***
A GOLDEN CIVILIZATION
Fifteen million years ago,
there was a golden civilization.
The sun wrote words of gold.
The moon wrote words of silver.
All things on earth had their own language.
Where do the gods live now？
They have not disappeared.
They are housed still on earth.
You aren’t able to see them.
*
史前之黄金文明
一千五百万年前
大地上曾有过黄金的文明
太阳写下黄金的词语
月亮写下白银的词语
万物皆有自己的语言
那些神人们现在何方
他们不曾消失
他们仍然在大地之上
只是无法看见
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GIANT’S HOMES
A fleet of stars was speeding towards me,
They came from distant galaxies.
In prehistoric times, there were ancient gods.
Their kingdoms existed in the depths of the earth.
They gave me scrolls of golden books,
let me seek the swords of gods.
The earth will again be golden,
raise up new homes for giants.
*
巨人的家园
星辰的舰队向我驶来
他们来自遥远的星系
在史前 他们是古老的诸神
在大地的深处 有他们古老的王国
哦 他们赠我一卷卷金书
让我去寻找那一把把神剑
这古老的大地将金色透明
托起新的巨人的家园
***
I SAW A GOLDEN CITY
I saw a golden city
hidden in the earth.
The ancients were still alive.
I visit them in dreams.
Their eyes were very bright.
They did not know the passage of time
I saw myself in ancient days.
They told me the world was a phantom.
They gave me an ancient golden sword,
to seek out and kill the greedy Python.
These demons ruled the world.
Let mankind forget them.
*
我看见一座金城
我看见一座金城
隐形在大地之中
那些古人还活着
我常在梦中去做客
他们的眼睛格外璀璨
仿佛不知时光的流逝
我见到了古代的自己
他告诉我人间只是幻影
他赠我一把太古的金剑
让我去击杀贪婪的蟒蛇
这些妖魔统治了人间
让人类忘记了古老的祖先
***
HE IS MY IMMORTAL SOUL
The eyes of years are the maze of stars.
In a giant palace,
I have seen the God of Gods.
He is smiling at me in heavens.
I’m a thousand years in the world,
which is for him a moment.
He is my immortal soul,
and the universe—
a crystal ball
in the palm of his hand.
6.6.2016
他是我的不朽的灵魂
岁月的眼睛 是星辰的迷宫
在一座巨大的殿堂
我见到了 那诸神之神的上帝
他在天庭之上向我微笑
我在人间的千年 只是他的瞬间
他是我的不朽的灵魂
而宇宙 透明的水晶之球 在他的手掌之上
Yuan Hongri (born 1962) is a renowned Chinese mystic, poet, and philosopher. His work has been published in the UK, USA, India, New Zealand, Canada, and Nigeria; his poems have appeared in Poet’s Espresso Review, Orbis, Tipton Poetry Journal, Harbinger Asylum, The Stray Branch, Acumen, Pinyon Review, Taj Mahal Review, Madswirl, Shot Glass Journal, Amethyst Review, The Poetry Village, and other e-zines, anthologies, and journals. His best known works are Platinum City and Golden Giant. His works explore themes of prehistoric and future civilization.
Yuanbing Zhang (b. 1974), is Yuan Hongi’s assistant and translator. He is a Chinese poet and translator who works in a Middle School, Yanzhou District , Jining City, Shandong Province, China.
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NB: See also the latest set of poems in The Editor’s Spot
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