第九章
VOICE OF THE BIMO
—Dedicated to a Nuosu ritualist (2)
When you hear it
It seems above all illusion
Like a faint wisp of bluish smoke
Why just now are the ranged mountains
Felt to be filled with a timeless stillness?
Whose voice drifts between men and ghosts?
It seems to have left the body
Yet between reality and nothingness
In tones both human and divine it utters
A praise song for birth and death
When it invokes sun, stars, rivers and ancient heroes
When it summons deities and surreal powers
Departed beings commence their resurrection!
星回節[1]的祝願
我祝願蜜蜂
我祝願金竹，我祝願大山
我祝願活著的人們
避開不幸的災難
長眠的祖先
到另一個世界平安
我祝願這片土地
它是母親的身軀
哪怕就是爛醉如泥
我也無法忘記
我祝願凡是種下的玉米
都能生出美麗的珍珠
我祝願每一頭綿羊
都像約呷哈且[2]那樣勇敢
我祝願每一隻公雞
都像瓦補多幾[3]那樣雄健
我祝願每一匹賽馬
都像達裏阿左[4]那樣馳名
我祝願太陽永遠不滅
火塘更加溫暖
我祝願森林中的獐子
我祝願江河裏的遊魚
神靈啊，我祝願
因為你不會不知道
這是彝人最真實的情感
WISHES FOR THE FESTIVAL OF RETURNING STARS [1]
I offer wishes for honeybees
For golden bamboo and the great mountains
I offer wishes that we the living
Can be spared any terrible disasters
And that ancestors who have gone to eternal rest
Will arrive at peace in the other world
I offer wishes for this expanse of land
Which is our mother's body
Even if I were plastered drunk
I could not possibly forget
May each seed of corn that is planted
Grow into beautiful pearls
May every sheep turn out as bold
As the lead ram Yogga-hxaqie[2]
May every rooster be as formidable
As the fighting cock Vabu-dajy [3]
May every swift-footed horse
Win the fame of Dalie-azho [4]
May the sun never be extinguished
May the fireplace burn warmer
I offer wishes for roe deer in the forest