第十章
INSCRIBED IN A MEMORIAL VOLVME
—Dedicated to my nanny of the Han nationality
This was a woman who in her girlhood
Was the unrivalled beauty of her village
This was a maiden molested at sixteen
Who crossed the Jinsha River alone, and then the Dadu
Whose tracks covered half of old China
This woman was put through trials and sadly misunderstood
She had to endure untimely widowhood
And then marry someone twenty years her junior
In the end she suffered without limit over him
The world dealt out its coldest twists of fate to her
But she always dreamed of another kind of world
Filled with sweet kindness and human ties
In this woman抯 arms I spent my childhood
From her body and soul I sensed fellowship beyond race
This woman reared me to adulthood
She convinced me the world抯 people are brothers
(Though the dark legacy of centuries
Had deeply wounded my soul)
The day she died a charming smile stayed on her face
Memories of passing years grew remote in her sight
Yet what she stood for will never fade
In truth the good earth neither grieved nor trembled
Over loss of this ordinary woman, but in Great Liangshan
On an ordinary evening with no music
Her Nuosu child weeps for her
The world will hear this sorrowful sound
[1]，
媽媽，我什麼時候才能回到你身旁；
我想到那個人的聲浪裏去，
讓我沉重的四肢在甜蜜中搖晃。
我要橫穿十字路口，我要越過密集的紅燈，