一詩一書 A Poem for a Book

This pocket-sized paperback is one of the twenty-two titles published for 2015 Hong Kong International Poetry Nights. The theme of IPHHK2015 is “Poetry and Conflict”. 21 international poets from 18 different places are invited to participate in recitations, symposia and sharing sessions of the Poetry Nights. A recitation focusing on 10 local Hong Kong poets, “Hong Kong Cantonese Poetry Night” is included. This collection seeks to make accessible the best of contemporary international poetry with outstanding translations.

多和田葉子，用日、德雙語寫作的小說家和詩人，1960年生於東京。1982年移居德國，後來在蘇黎世大學獲得德國文學博士。1993年以短篇小說《倒插門的狗女婿》獲芥川獎，她1996年獲德國「沙米索文學獎」，並在2005年獲德意志聯邦共和國歌德勳章。英譯的小說包括《倒插門的狗女婿》(1998)、《歐陸開始的地方》(2002)、《面對橋樑》(2007)、《裸眼》(2009)等。

Yoko Tawada was born in Tokyo in 1960. She was educated at Waseda University and has lived in Germany since 1982. She writes in both German and Japanese and was awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1993 for her short story The Bridegroom Was a Dog. In 1996, she won the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize. In 2005, she was awarded the Goethe Medal, an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. English translations of her fiction include The Bridegroom Was a Dog (Kodansha International, 1998), Where Europe Begins (New Directions, 2002), Facing the Bridge (New Directions, 2007), and The Naked Eye (New Directions, 2009).

自線而生的人們 6

People Born of Lines

 

獲邀去波士頓茶會 25

Boston Tea Party

 

我不想起一座橋 40

I Didn’t Want to Bridge Anything

 

海港磨菇 46

The Harbor Mushroom

 

一詩一書 49

a Poem for a Book

 

我臉有眾 55

v-I-sages

 

葡萄乾眼睛 63

Raisin Eyes

海港磨菇

 

鱒魚

在橋下聚集

去看那

煙花盛放

我沒有眼睛

其一說

我認為椰菜花從頭部生長

另一說

並在水裏張開她的傘

（夜空裏已開成荼蘼花事了）

頃刻火樹銀花

舞於啤酒瓶底

為時已晚了

鱒魚回游罐頭工場

無需支付入場費

 

（方太初 譯）

 

The Harbor Mushroom

 

Salmon trout

that assemble under the bridge

to catch a glimpse

of the fireworks

I have no eyes

says one

A cauliflower is growing out of my head

says another and

opens up its umbrella in the water

(On the sky they are burning flowers into coal)

Soon the fire-leaves begin

to dance deep in the beer glass

Then it is too late

the salmon trout swim back

into the canning factory

without paying for entrance

 

(Translated by Emily sullivan)