僵臥孤村不自哀
尚思為國戍輪台
夜闌臥聽風吹雨
鐵馬冰河入夢來
During a Storm in the Eleventh Moon__ Lu You (1125-1210) 江紹倫譯
I grieved not lying forlorn in a village hut
Plans to reclaim our lost frontier loomed in my heart
Listening to how stormy winds hurry the pouring rain
I dreamed how our steely steeds braved the frozen river on free rein
Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen (1912~2007)
The works of Tillie Olsen have been translated into many languages.
Tell Me a Riddle was awarded the O. Henry Prize in 1961 for best American short story.
The story is about a couple who are married for 47 years with 7 children. In their youth, they fled from Russiaand came to U.S.A.with revolutionary ideals, but hard hit by the realities of life, they have become embittered and estranged. The story begins with a quarrel whether they should sell their house and move to an old people’s home. The heroine stubbornly sticks to living in solitude in the family house against good reason, but soon she is found to have terminal cancer. In the final phase of her life, memories stored up in her past come back to haunt her and readers begin to see why she ‘can no longer live between people’. At the end, the couple comes to terms with death and the life they have had together.
Click here to read the story and the Chinese translation by Amy, wife of Terence Leung (71).
夜行黃沙道中
明月別枝驚鵲 清風半夜鳴蟬 稻花香裏說豐年 聽取蛙聲一片
七八個星天外 兩三點雨山前 舊時茅店社林邊 路轉溪橋忽見
Tune: Moon Over West River 辛棄疾(1140-1207) 江紹倫譯
(On my way home through the Yellow Sand Ridge)
My presence startled magpies leaving the moon-lit trees
Cicadas shrill at midnight in the gentle breeze
The sweet fragrance in the rice fields promises a bumper year
In celebration frogs croak their chorus I happily hear
High in the sky seven or eight stars twinkle
This side of the hill two or three raindrops sprinkle
I recall a small tavern near the village woods
There it appears where the path leads to the bridge over the brook
為陳同甫賦壯詞以寄之
醉裡挑燈看劍 夢迴吹角連營 八百里分麾下炙 五十弦翻塞外聲 沙場秋點兵
馬作的盧飛快 弓如霹靂弦驚 了卻君王天下事 贏得生前身後名 可憐白髮生
Tune: Dance of Cavalry Xin Qi Ji (1140-1207) 江紹倫譯
(In response to Chen Liang)
Drunken we till lamps bright to check our resting glaives
Bugles reverberate from tent to tent in our dreams
Our warriors ate beef grilled on hot sand in banner shades
They sent martial airs beyond the frontier by fifty strings
‘Twas an autumn maneuver in combat exercise
Gallant steeds galloping at top speed
Our bows twanged in thundering heat
We recovered lost sovereign land for empire glory
And won fame for ourselves in life as in death
Grey hair ours to keep
Amid the present chaos in governance and election, people who feel about Hong Kong are easily perplexed by the questions: “What has become of us?” and “What next?
No one knows the answer, any answer. One thing is sure though, the Legislative Council has become a circus once the British are gone, deplete of the dignity and prudence that once defined its existence. Those who jeer and rampage should perhaps reflect that their behaviors depict their own character to fellow citizens who watch them on TV, including school children. Such behaviors speak not of free men and women, but of bondage to foolishness and self-serving causes. There must not be fun in destroying the Hong Kong that we are proud of, that so many people in history had joined hands and hearts to build, be it a colony or SAR.
(In the article, you are invited to view Paradox of Our Times and Hong Kong – the City where dreams come true.)
神聖職責
去年九月，我第一次行使大國公民的神聖職責，如約應召到羅省高等刑事法庭做陪審員.
刑事法院保安嚴密，過了安檢, 大樓內有十部電梯，僅有六部可供普通人使用，電梯前人頭湧湧，刺青幫派朋友和西裝筆挺朋友同在。大家等候電梯，秩序井然.
早上八點，在陪審團的五樓大堂已經坐了三四百人，能有幸入坐的，條件一是要滿十八歲，二是要做了公民。
……
已經是接近午飯的時間，終於輪到我的問話，我的心情有點緊張，不想被選中，因為包公告訴我們，案件要審十天，時間太長了，我希望立刻甩身。但真真假假，瞞天過海不行. 我決定絕對誠實. 用流利的廣東音英文，鎮定回包公話:
包公: [ 陪審員113, 你能做到公正, 不偏不倚嗎？] (Juror 113, can you be fair and impartial?)
噹：[我不能。大人, 我恐怕對這三位年輕人不公正。] (I cannot, Your Honor, I am afraid I will be unfair to these 3 young men).
包公：[為什麼？] (Why?)
噹：[我不喜歡他們的面孔，須無過犯，面目可憎。] (I do not like their faces; they don’t look good to me).
包公：[為什麼？](Why?)
噹：[四十年前，我剛移民到美國，住BELL Garden，那個城市，時時有人搶劫銀行，警察有時抓住疑犯，有時讓疑犯逃脫，我看過那些疑犯，他們就像在坐的三位年輕人。] (40 years ago, I moved to America, lived in Bell Garden, robberies often took place in that city, police sometimes caught the suspects, sometime let them get away, I saw those suspects, they look exactly like these 3 young men).
包公: [ 謝謝你的誠實，你免除做陪審員.] (Thank you for your honesty. You are excused)
……
(塵噹 二零一二年二月於洛杉磯)
人本和諧
在中華民族的思想體系中，宇宙的整體包括人在其中，不把人劃分在宇宙主體以外。古人確認〝氣〞是萬物的根本，也是人的根本。《莊子》說，〝人之生也，氣之聚也，聚則為生，散而為死……故曰通天下一氣耳。〞
……
藝術魅力
第一是漢賦的詩作。第二是宋元的畫作和建築。兩者都在表達飽滿、宏偉、充實和力量的同時，運用虛、寂、清、遠的意境來包容萬有。中國繪畫的特殊透視方法（三遠法），可以俯仰天地。我們的建築群體，着重時空合一，風水人和。
……
自然和諧
昏旦變氣候 山水含清暉
清暉能娛人 遊子憺忘歸 謝靈運《石壁粗舍作》
這首詩寫大自然的靜定境界，融山水佛理於一爐。詩人描寫大自然的美，揉合着出世修行的妙用，不言佛家說教工辭，卻在字裡行間隱透着佛家哲理。詩人不提自己有何作為，只說大自然無盡安慰人心的動功。
……
禪境清勝
杳杳寒山道 落落冷澗濱
啾啾常有鳥 寂寂更無人
淅淅風吹面 紛紛雪積身
朝朝不見日 歲歲不知春 寒山《杳杳寒山道》
……
自得崇高
花影亂
曉窗明
鶯弄春笙柳外聲
和夢捲簾飛絮入
牡丹無語正盈盈 陳著《曉起》
……
老遠崇高
宋朝詞人李清照是一位優生的幸運兒，年幼即才華畢露。不幸，她遇着靖康之難，倉惶南渡，受盡國亡家破和喪夫之苦，五十歲孑然一身。但是，她把一片真情表現在詞裡，說盡風流哀怨，…….閱讀全文
高山仰止—松間沙路淨無泥__江紹倫
1946年諾貝爾文學獎桂冠詩人赫爾曼‧赫西（Hermann Hesse, 1877 – 1962）是一位十足為文學寫作而生的人物。他一生行走在〝道〞的路上，經常掙扎在《彷徨》之中，卻銳意奏着《孤獨者的音樂》，《走向心靈深處》，為了追求〝真正的自我〞，同時亦為了與大眾的心靈源相契合…
…….
我寫這篇短文，一方面給自己清理一些文學欣賞的〝看台〞和〝看法〞，同時希望給讀者展現一些比較文學所不沾手的事實。我想，我們怎麽樣都不能拿赫西和蘇軾相比，只能單獨地欣賞和審判他們每一個人。蘇軾是一個海洋，赫西是一條溪流。我們不必因為蘇軾不曾被諾貝爾獎委員會掛上桂冠而感到不平。我們需要做的是衝入大海，遊蕩在溫暖的水中，或者滑翔在轟天動地的大浪頭上，透過浪花觀看日出。閱讀全文
Please click here to view full report.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txujqGtB_6g&feature=player_embedded
Borobudur and Prambanan
by SL Kong
For years I had been yearning to visit Borobudur, one of the remaining world wonders. I was there finally, with a wonderful surprise. There were also the spectacular Hindu temples of Prambanan. Together, they represent the legacy of the Hindu and Buddhist religions of ancientIndia, a colonial power in Indonesia at the end of the first millennium.
We arrived at Prambanan early in the morning. The sight of the temples was mesmerizing, even viewed from a distance. No word could be found to describe our joy and surprise in seeing them.
Click here to read the article.
Click the image to view the album.