"Underground Kingdom," a Chinese Poem Written and Translated by Ma Yongbo
Underground Kingdom
Grey early spring, I took a walk in the evening
on a street, I’d never been
Steps followed and then overtook me
A sheet dropped from above the sky like a ray of light
I picked it up, a red cover invitation——
Banquet tonight, everything free
I pushed open the revolving door,
and found everything bathed in bright light
as if tens of thousands of people were drinking, glasses shining
The Tsarist building is half-buried in the ground, Urine stained corner of the door
Invisible servants coming and going with trays in their hands
straight-backed doorman bowed to the guests and bid them “good night”
medals bought from the free market dangling on his chest
He looked over my shoulders
regain the solemn of a veteran
as if I were not one but a troop
I strolled in the hall leisurely
Only hearing the grey spring wind tracing the swirling red cards
The empty rotunda was full of small frosted glass doors
Some inside the door were loud and some were dark
Some exposed mottled stone walls, others opened into another hall
The feast noise grew louder, luring me closer to the center of light
Bread and wine served on a long table
A lighted candle before each empty seat
A notice was pinned on the throne: the king has died, banquet may go on
------
地下王国
灰色的早春，我在薄暮中散步
在一条从未光顾过的街巷
有脚步声从身边匆匆掠过
一页纸像一束光从空飘落
我弯腰拾起，一张朱红的请柬——
宴会今晚继续举行，一切免费
我推开毛玻璃的转门，里面一片通明
仿佛有一万人在推杯换盏
沙皇时代的建筑半埋在地下，门角尿渍斑斑
看不见的仆人端着盘子往来穿梭
腰背笔挺的看门人躬身问着晚安
他胸前挂着一排跳蚤市场上卖的奖章
他的目光透过我望着我身后
脸上恢复了退役军人的严肃
仿佛我不是一个人，而是一大群人
我慢慢在大厅里巡游，脚步轻缓
只听见灰色的春风在纠缠打旋的红色纸片
没有人影的圆形大厅布满毛玻璃的小门
门内有的喧声不断，有的一团漆黑
有的露出班驳的石墙，有的通向又一个大厅
欢宴的喧声越来越高，诱惑我接近光明的中心
红色长桌上摆着面包与酒浆
每个空位前都燃着一根蜡烛
尽头的宝座上钉着公告：国王已驾崩，欢宴可以继续
Ma Yongbo (Ph.D.) was born in Yichun, Heilongjiang in 1964. He has published over seventy original and translated works since 1986. He is a leading scholar in Anglo-American postmodernist poetry, with his studies focused on Chinese and Western modern poetics, postmodern literature, and ecocriticism. He is the Chinese translator of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams, Ashbery, and Moby Dick. Currently, he is a professor at the Faculty of Arts and Literature at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
