Fan Jinghua: Time's Drizzling in the Afternoon

　　Time’s Drizzling in the Afternoon
　　　　　　　　-- After Debussy’s Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune

Time, if namable and lasting, is forever,
An afternoon that swirls still and flows invisible.
Swallows know better so they arch like gliding.
On the treetops, the wind does not linger
Longer than what the drizzle takes to drop.
You may recline in the lagoon of one arm and one lap, quiet
Like a framed lute over a couch. Contrasty.
Music moves first in a chiaroscuro, then in the cloudscape,
Before the sirens’ song is transported from a faraway island mist.
The window is ajar, and you will see a gondolet
Creaking through the rain beads that hang down from the eaves,
A warm sandalwood comb raking through your hair and scalp.
She who stands askew on the dresser is not you
But an expatriate who should be in a memoir
In a thread-binding book to be opened and closed in a rainy day.
But she appears and, eyes unflinching, mocks our senses,
Because along the wall base raindrops sprout and bloom in the gutter,
Crystal and transient. One after another, time’s hasps click shut.
In the room, the past has begun its filtration of the afternoon,
And before the drizzle stops, the time will be emulsified like your breath.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　2006-06-20　revised

　　　　时间的午后细雨霏霏
　　——仿德彪西《牧神午后序曲》

时间如果永恒而能够指定将永远是一个午后
一场细雨浸湿时间静静的漩涡　那一垛垛雾
如夜空中卷边的星云缓缓西去
这样的哲理燕子更懂　于是它们像滑翔一样掠过斜伸的树枝
那些梢头挂着悠悠的雨珠　积累着一滴又一滴坠落的时间
而雨珠滴落了　时间还在那梢头停留

在一只手臂和一张大腿围成的泻湖中
你的颈项与脸庞交替构成明暗的对比
如沙发上方那个画框中沙发上方的琵琶
线条　体积　节奏　氛围　你蜷曲的姿态
辗转着调性　从一个乐章到另一个乐章
如诉的歌声终于从远方的海岛郁郁地传来

而雨滴的珠帘依然不断依然不住地从檐口
滑过半启的窗户　你看见凤尾船唉乃着横空驶入
犹如一把温暖的檀木梳耙过你的长发和头皮
那个半身斜站在五斗橱上的女人不是你
而是一个流落在回忆录中的主角　她的国籍在古代
像一本线装书中的传奇供人们在雨天打开然后合上

然而她赫然出现　拒绝离开　那坚毅的眼神似乎在嘲弄着人们的神志
而窗外墙基下的浅沟中雨滴在行板如歌地发芽
并开放着瞬息即逝的水晶花　一朵又一朵前赴后继
如时间的搭扣一扣一扣清脆地锁紧
房间内　过去已经开始了它对这个下午的过滤
在细雨停歇之前　时间将会乳化　一如你的呼吸
　　　　　　　　　　　　　2006年6月21日