Fan Jinghua: Odysseus and Calypso

　　　Odysseus and Calypso

Standing there, still, you may as well turn yourself into a black column
At the edge of a cliff. But she is a goddess, immortal.
She has understood, long ago, that even demigods cannot attract birds
To a barren island.
One bird is a lost one, two will name loneliness, each for itself,
And three birds will be able to define what is ideal and what is hell.

This cave will float only when the sea reaches darkness.
The hardness she has described for you
And the softness that you imagine for her
Are laid on the mossy bed of teeth, intertwining,
Echoes heaving and swelling.
Your captivity by one is so long that apprehension has turned to dignity.

In the ebb and flow of moonlight, she
Folds her red blanket
Into a huge teddy bear, and they roll over and over
As if they are in untiring love.
In the ball of flesh and cotton, who is inlaid into whom?
Who flows into whom?

During night, she leaves her lyre behind, for you,
And the lacquer is her frozen body warmth.
You, her connoisseur. If you play,
The transparent membrane will melt into love liquid,
So that even if the salty wind may chap your skin,
Your heart will remain tender.
　　　　　　　　　　　September 18, 2008

　　　Odysseus and Calypso by Arnold Bocklin (1883)

　　奥德赛与卡里普苏

你在悬崖上站成一根黑石柱又能怎样？
她是神。她早已明白，半神的人无法将鸟群引到荒岛。
一只，只能称为迷途；两只，便各自命名孤独；
三只鸟，可以定义理想与地狱。

这口洞穴，只有当大海抵达了黑夜，才会漂浮；
她描述的坚硬与你想象到的柔软
在布满苔藓的绿色牙床上研磨回音。
你的被掳，在她长久的看守下，已是一种尊严。

月光的推涌中，她将红色的毯子
卷成一只熊抱在怀里，犹如颠鸾倒凤。
那一团棉与肉，
谁镶嵌了谁，谁流入谁，不知餍足。

入夜，她将竖琴留在洞外，遗弃的体温清漆一般；
你，鉴赏家，如果你弹奏，
那一层透明的膜就会融化成爱液，
于是海风可以皲裂你的皮肤，却粗糙不了你的心。
　　　　　　　　　　2008年9月18日

按：希腊神话中，奥德赛在特洛伊战争之后回家，被Ogygia奥杰吉厄岛的女神Calypso卡里普苏羁留七年，希望奥德赛能够答应她成为她的丈夫。她允诺他令他升格为神，然而奥德赛不为所动，终于因主神宙斯干预，他得已重返家乡，与苦苦等待他二十年的妻子Penelope珀涅罗珀团聚。