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Yongbo Ma: Midway Stop
Translated from Mandarin by Yongbo Ma and Helen Pletts
It was an autumn long ago
I was still young then, still in love with something
there are few passengers on the huffing local train.
I’m curled up alone on a long seat,
the vibration of the wheels rocked my head,
suddenly stopped; woke me up
it is late at night and the northern plain is dark,
only the river shimmers and no one speaks,
no-one moves around—only the joint between the two carriages
sighs in frustration like an accordion
like the silence after a dispute between lovers
I stand up and listen. What’s happening?
Where are we? The darkness outside is also listening,
no signal lights are flaring,
no train suddenly bursts out from the opposite side
waving ghostly white vapour.
Nothing happened. Suddenly,
in the dark, a bumblebee swoops into the car window,
leaving scratch marks and a clear buzz in the dust;
its whole head looks like a dazed
and painted eye, staring at me blankly.
Many years have passed, the purpose of that trip
I have long forgotten. The only thing that I miss
is the silent gathering of the entire wilderness during the midnight parking
and the uneasiness of the young man who never got off the car.
~~
中途停车 马永波
那是很久以前的一个秋天
那时我还年轻，还在爱着什么
呼哧呼哧的慢车上乘客稀少
我独自蜷缩在一个长座位上
从头部感觉到的车轮的震动
突然的停止中，我醒了过来
已是深夜，北方的平原一片漆黑
只有河流闪烁着微光，没有人讲话
也没有人走动，两节车厢的接合处
传来手风琴泄气般的叹息
又像是情人间争执后的安静
我起身倾听，到底发生了什么
这是在哪儿，车窗外的黑暗也在倾听
没有任何信号亮起
也没有火车从对面突然闯出来
挥舞着幽灵般的白汽
没有任何事发生，突然
黑暗中，一只熊蜂扑到车窗上
在灰尘中留下擦痕和清晰的嗡嗡声
它的整个头部像是一只茫然的
上了漆的眼睛，茫然地望着我
许多年过去了，那次旅行的目的
我早已忘记，唯一让我怀念的
是车停午夜时整个荒野默默的汇聚
和那个始终没有下车的年轻人的不安
Original poem copyright 2024 Yongbo Ma
English version copyright 2024 Yongbo Ma & Helen Pletts
Yongbo Ma (MaYongbo) is a Chinese scholar focused on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose including the work of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams and Ashbery. He recently published a complete translation of Moby Dick. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
Helen Pletts is a UK-based poet, who has also lived in Czechia. Her work has appeared in many anthologies.
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I missed this when it first appeared on Vox Populi, but found it after reading Ma’s poem in the Jan 14 blog. Very fine work. A fine translation, Helen (I don’t know Chinese, but I can see that this works subtly and brilliantly as an English-language poem).
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Thanks Maura. I agree.
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Yes Barbara, I feel the same as you.I’m so glad that you enjoy his poem.
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What a moving poem — such a delight reading it. Thank you. And, as a translator, I am in absolute awe that Yongbo Ma translated Moby Dick! That’s quite the achievement! And what a treasure his translation will bring to the new Chinese readers! Thank you again!
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Thank you very much Laureanne, for your lovely, kind comments, about this marvellous poem. You might like to know that Ma Yongbo’s Chinese translation of Moby Dick, has sold over half a million copies.
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thanks much Helen,my dear friend! Your excellent translation makes my humble little poem shine.
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Thank you so very much, Yongbo, my dear friend, it is a very great pleasure for me to work closely together with you on our poetry.
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Thanks to dear Laureanne, for your warm words about this little poem.are you a translator too?Which language do you translate from to English?
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A beautiful catch of those wistful feelings that seem to brush by lately.
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Thank you for your attention, may poetry bring us a long friendship
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