The house gods are all leaving for their yearly reporting to the heavenly palace
I am left alone to take charge
A deputy god can now suddenly take any liberty
To ransack every drawer and chest
I have my head majestically wrapped up with old clothes
And with this crown of rags and the scepter of a besom I can look up
And sweep every cobwebbed corner of my memory
Then I will take off my dust-clouded face in the snow
The remaining days are already snowbound
Suitable for growing weight or carpentering magical tools
I will pour wine for myself
My pipe smokes only when I suck
One strand of smoke will rise straight from the small desert in the earthen firebasin
In which a dropped bean may start a shellfire
All night long, outside the thick portiere, wind whistles by
Twisting into the ears
Muffling my woman’s steady snores
Only hares may know the buried sighs from the seedlings of wheat
This snow is auspicious and portends a prosperous year ahead
And I will apply another coat of clam-shell cold cream on my hands
So that when the firework cracks open the new lunar year
My extended hands may match my new attire and wishes
Jan. 29, 2008
Dusting in the truest sense, i.e. using a whip/whisk to beat the linens and quilts
According to Chinese folk custom, by the last week of the lunar year the house gods (esp. God of Oven) will be returning to report about the conduct of the family. This usually falls on the 23rd or 24th of the last month of the year (for 2008 it is Jan. 30 or 31). On this day, as the gods are absent, the family can freely move any object in the house without violating a taboo or committing possible offenses. Therefore, it is the best day of general cleaning for the coming New Year Festival (Spring Festival). Dusting, as in Chinese is to sweep dust, is a pun, for the dust here points to two words of the same pronunciation, meaning dust and the old. Thus, the day of dusting takes on both practical and symbolic significances.
Lunar New Year woodcut (to paste on the door) with a treasure firebasin at the bottom扫尘
诸神开始回宫了
留下我
这一家惟一的副神
终于可以翻箱倒柜而肆无忌惮
旧衣裳裹在头上冒充威严
眯起眼仰着脸抹掉每个角落
尘封一年的记忆蛛网
然后将灰头土脸掸在雪地上
剩下的日子雪藏了
适于闭目养膘也适于闭门造车
酒自己斟
烟袋杆儿独自咀嚼
烤火盆有大漠孤烟直冲鼻子和眼睛的味道
一颗豆子就能惊起一场硝烟烽火
风在厚实的帘子外彻夜扫荡
旋转着钻进耳朵
盖住了媳妇轻轻的鼾声
麦苗儿在棉花胎下有什么动静也只有野兔才知晓
瑞雪预兆的丰年真是望不到边呢
我的手还得再搽一点蛤蜊油
等到那一声爆竹开春
也好在穿了新衣戴了新帽时伸得出双手给你拜年
2008年1月29日
No comments:
Post a Comment