Let there be light so they can fly away.
Let there be immense light so they can find a way out.
But when I open the door, they still clus­ter in the temple,
a dark mass. Like humans
they can only breed one child at a time, but why so many?
So many bats, flocked togeth­er, I can hard­ly tell
who is kin, who a sworn ene­my. When they fight
they are loud, so loud, loud­er than us. But now they are quiet,
they duck their heads in the same posture,
as if in prayer.  It must be that a big leader
has just died. When they are qui­et, it touch­es me.
I walk over to them, to join the company—
we are all mam­mals, why fear?
My yel­low shirt is strik­ing among the black,
I open my arms, reveal­ing the totem on my chest
from my ances­tors, more fear­ful than their ter­ror faces.
None of them dare to come near me.
I stand alone, close to the door, close to light,
ready to make a clean cut, fly away from them.

(Trans­lat­ed by Ming Di and Tony Barnstone)

 

 

施特劳斯

一定要有光,它们才能飞出去,
一定要很多光,它们才能看见出路,
但当我打开大门时,它们仍旧挤在寺庙里,
黑压压一大片。它们同人类一样,
一次只能生一胎,何以繁殖出这么多。
这么多蝙蝠,拥挤在一起,以至于分不清
谁是近亲,谁是宿敌,它们厮打起来
比人类战争还惨烈,但此时它们都以同一种姿势
夹着头,仿佛在祈祷,一定是大头目
刚刚去世。它们的安静,刹那间
感动了我,我走进去,与它们为伍——
都是哺乳动物,为什么以前害怕它们。
我的黄衣衫在一片黑色中很显眼,
我伸开双臂,展露出比它们的脸更恐怖的祖先
图腾,于是谁也不敢靠近我。我靠近门,
靠近光源,随时准备与它们划清界限。
 

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