Free-Verse Haiku by Taneda Santoka

12 Free-Verse Haiku by Taneda Santoka

　　　　种田山头火俳句12首

I copy some free-verse haiku from Taneda Santoka (1882-1940). The English version is done by Burton Watson in the book For All My Walking (Columbia UP, 2003)The meaning of this Japanese begging monk is actually “the fire on the peak of a hill (santoka)” and the surname meaning “sowing the field (taneda).” The so called free-verse haiku means that the haiku does not have to be of the 5-7-5 syllables with a season word.
随意从这个丐僧（1882-1940）的《人生遍路》中自由转译出俳句12首并发一些无聊之慨。种田山头火的俳句不是传统的格式，而是一种所谓的自由俳句，不遵照5-7-5的音节，也不必有季语（表示季节的词）。

1）天无云/ 透过一杯清酒/ 颜色在深处！（最后直译：那颜色多么深！）
cloudless sky/ peer through a glass of hard liquor/that deep color!
我曰：因为有酒，无色之色在深处！如心底有爱，恨亦无痕，很深。
My Comments: Because of the wine, the colorless color lies in the depth! If you have love in the depth of your heart, hatred and love will have no traits, lying in the deep.

2）海上来风越堤岸/芦苇梢头蝴蝶飞/ 从未停歇
（直译：风从海上来，蝴蝶在堤岸芦苇中/ 从未停歇）
wind from the sea/ butterflies in embankment weeds/ never resting
我曰：风、芦苇、蝴蝶，一浪高过一浪；类比：世风，人心，每日事。
My comments: The triad of wind, weeds and butterflies can be analogous to that of vague, hearts and everyday deeds.

3）夫妻斗嘴间/ 入夜/ 蜘蛛吊下来
husband and wife quarreling/ night/ spiders dangle down
我曰：然后，扑哧一声！蜘蛛突然纵身弹回了。
My comments: Then comes a tehee! The spider bounces back.

4）那么静谧的街道/ 一个坑/ 挖在中间
so still the street/ big hole/ dug in it
我曰：那时，街灯昏黄，皮鞋都钉着铁后跟，嘚嘚如十九世纪的马蹄，如果你愿意，还可以想象一个长裙撑着油纸伞。
My Comments: Once, the streetlamps cast down yellowish light. Those leather shoes had added iron heels, walking to make clattering sounds. And then you may even imagine a girl holding a purple umbrella walking the alley…

5）米的白/ 腌梅的红/ 两色的宝（直译：这些珍宝）
whiteness of the rice/ red of pickled plum/ these treasures!
我曰：很怀念从雪地里挖出来的矮青菜那又甜又苦的味道啊！那时的米饭有一种淡淡的绿。
My Comments: Do you miss the bittersweet of the green vegetable newly plucked out of the snow-covered garden?

6）下雪时节/ 踏上归途/ 修书一封寄妻子
come home/ in falling snow/ write my wife a letter
我曰：在这个reservation预订与real time实时的电子时代，我的一言一行都在她遥远的眼皮下发生；因为难以把握的不确定性而积累起来的牵挂，早已不存在了，惟有不信任在积累。
MY Comments: In the age of “reservation” and “real time,” all my future deeds are already under her eyes. The concerned care and love accumulated because of uncertainty and indetermination have long been killed. What can now be accumulated is suspicion.

7）愈行愈深/ 愈行愈深/ 青山如黛
the deeper I go/ the deeper I go/ green mountains
我曰：走进颜色深处，走进色的深处，走进去有两个结果：活到深处或死在里面。
My Comments: Enter the depth of colors, enter the depth of the true color of the woman. Two results: live to the depth of life or die inside in the deep.

8）潮气浸入表皮/ 此处惟有石头/ 指路
wet to the skin/ the stone here/ pointing out the path
我曰：头盖骨也是一块白石，摆在最后那块石头那边，等待下一个。
My Comments: The skull is also a white rock, placed at the end of the line, waiting for the next….

9）头顶烈日/ 一路行/ 一路乞讨
blazing sky above me/ walking/ begging
我曰：慈悲为怀的人与尊重抛弃人世的人，都是上帝。我们都向他乞讨。
My Comments: Blessed are those with a heart of mirth and those with respect for those who abandon the society. They are god. We are all begging at him.

10）胡枝子一片！/ 蒲草一片！/ 我都走过了
bush clover!/ pampas grass!/ I’m coming through
我曰：花也好，草也好，你不走，它们也不会不凋不枯。倒是你走过时，它们正繁茂着呢。
My Comments: Whether it be flowers or grasses, even if you do not walk by, they will wither and dry. The point is, when we are passing by, they are in bloom.

11）清水浸脚/ 清水/ 最醇
wobbly on my feet/ the good taste/ of water
我曰：相信这是脚在品尝。有时真的不应该让嘴占有了品尝的特权、眼睛占有了观看的特权；犹如不应该让言语占有了交流的特权一样。独占就会懈怠与腐败，五官亦然。
My Comments: I believe it is the feet that are tasting the water. Sometimes, we should not let the mouth monopolize the function of tasting, nor the eyes the function of seeing.

12）不看/ 月亮也西沉/ 我独自一人（直译刚好相反：看着月亮西沉/ 我独自一人）
Watching the moon/ go down/ me alone
我曰：其实不用看，犹如此刻，外面是否有星有月，有关系么？
My Comments: My Chinese version reads: even if I am not watching the moon going down, I am still alone. Right now, does it matter whether there are stars or moon outside the window?