Waves was my favourite Chinese book at secondary school. I knew my literary translation teacher Prof. McDougall had translated it into English and I knew she liked Bei Dao's poems very much. But I didn't realise Zhao Zhen-kai was Bei Dao and the preface of Waves (Chinese edition) was written by Prof. McDougall until I was doing some spring cleaning today. And I was so stupid to think that Zhao Zhen-kai was quoting Bei Dao's poetry in Waves!
The Answer
written by Bei Dao
translated by Bonnie S. McDougall
Baseness is the password of the base,
Honour is the epitaph is the honourable.
Look how the gilded sky is covered
With the drifting, crooked shadows of the dead.
The Ice Age is over now,
Why is there still ice everywhere?
The Cape of Good Hope has been discovered,
Why do a thousand sails contest the Dead Sea?
I come into this world
Bringing only paper, rope, a shadow,
To proclaim before the judgment
The voices of the judged:
Let me tell you, world,
I - do - not - believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number one thousand and one.
I don't believe the sky is blue;
I don't believe in the sound of thunder;
I don't believe that dreams are false;
I don't believe that death has no revenge.
If the sea is destined to breach the dikes,
Let the brackish water pour into my heart;
If the land is destined to rise,
Let the humanity choose anew a peak for our existence.
A new juncture and glimmering stars
Adorn the unobstructed sky,
They are five-thousand-year-old pictographs,
The staring eyes of future generations.
From The August Sleepwalker
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