ZANG Di: Exception

　　Exception
　　　　　Zang Di (1964-)　tr. Fan Jinghua

They see flowers,
And find them unable to fly,
The petals only minimally resembling the propellers.

I see flowers as well,
But their problem becomes
My question: Which part of a flower cannot fly?

To give a bird a name of a flower—
How is that?
Or, what is to pollen on the wings of a butterfly?

What if invention is taken as a part?
Flowers invent bees—
This becomes the sweetest flight in the universe.

Without exception,
Will the status quo still be the status quo?
Why do I sound like a man who challenges everyone

For a duel, to test it out who is better adjusted to exception?
The exception about flowers, as I’ve learned now, actually
Means that it is you, her, or me.
　　　　　　　　　　　May, 2001


　　例外
　　　　　臧棣
在他们看来，
花是不会飞的。
花的瓣只是有一点点像螺旋桨。

而在我看来，
同样的问题却是
花的哪一部分是不会飞的呢？

给一只鸟起花的名字——
算什么呢？
或者，蝴蝶身上的花粉呢？

把发明算上呢？
花发明了蜜蜂——
这宇宙中最甜的飞。

没有例外
究竟是怎样一种情形呢？
为什么我谈论这些听起来像是

要和他们比赛看谁更适应例外？
花的例外，我现在知道，
它其实就是：你，我，她。
　　　　　　　　2001年5月

　　　　　　　　　　　Zang giving award speech

About the Poet 诗人简介：
　　　ZANG Di (1964-) is one of the best contemporary poets active in China. He has just been awarded 2008 Chinese Writing Award for Poetry, the most prestigious literary prize for writing in Chinese. He teaches in Department of Chinese, Beijing University.