Good earth, I know not why
Often at times like these
My heart is filled with unease
All our lives we make demands on nature
Yet our contribution is meager
I think of salty land where tides have receded
Despite the thin and barren soil
A kind of winter jujube grows defiantly
Its branches bow with a yield of fruit
Thus it repays the earth’s nurturance
When we humans pass beside it
Let us raise our hands in earnest salute!
自由
我曾問過真正的智者
什麼是自由？
智者的回答總是來自典籍
我以為那就是自由的全部
有一天在那拉提草原
傍晚時分
我看見一匹馬
悠閑地走著，沒有目的
一個喝醉了酒的
哈薩克騎手
在馬背上酣睡
是的，智者解釋的是自由的含義
但誰能告訴我，在那拉提草原
這匹馬和它的騎手
誰更自由呢？
FREEDOM
I once asked a true wise man
What freedom means
The wise man’s answer was true to the classics
I thought his words embraced the whole of freedom
One day, at dusk
On Nalati Grassland
I saw a horse
Walking aimless and carefree
A drunken Kazak rider
Slept soundly
On the horse’s back
Yes, the wise man defined freedom for me
Yet who can tell me, in Nalati Grassland
Which was more free
The horse or the rider?