小池塘

小池塘

白九 2025.2.19

 

小園小池塘，
不深，不大，
繞一圈，幾步就走完；
不像那些池塘，
我要跑上一陣，才能回到原點。

 

鋪上一塊防水布，

就是池壁池底；
不像那些池塘，
每年都要清理淤泥。

 

倒幾桶水，

就成了洶湧波濤；
不像那些池塘，
要用機器，才能抽幹見底。

 

幾擔泥土，

就夠蓮藕紮根了；
不像那些池塘，
挖出的淤泥可以散到田裏做肥料。

 

幾十條小魚，
已是滿池金光閃耀；
不像那些池塘，
撒下網，沉到拉不起。

 

放幾枝藕，
就有了滿池荷花；
不像那些池塘，
香飄十裏擾鄰村。

 

池邊撒些草籽，
長成一層無爭的綠色；
不像那些池塘，
岸邊一圈垂柳，和春水爭春光。

 

我的小池塘，此時、此地；

那些大池塘，那時、那裏。

 

Little Pond

 

By Bai Jiu

 

I dug a hole, not deep, not wide,
A place so small to stand beside.
Not like the pond I used to know,
Where I could run a loop, not slow.

 

A single sheet to hold the ground,
To keep the water safe and sound.
Not like the pond so vast and deep,
Where seasons carved its earthen keep.

 

A bucket poured, the water thin,
A quiet pool to drift within.
Not like the pond where rains would fall,
And filled its heart so free, so tall.

 

A handful of the richest clay,
Enough to plant, enough to stay.
Not like the mud that lined the shore,
A farmer’s gift, a garden’s store.

 

I placed a fish, a flash, a gleam,
A little world, a golden dream.
Not like the swarm that used to glide,
A silver wave so wild, so wide.

 

I set some leaves upon the tide,
A lotus small, its bloom my guide.
Not like the fields of pink that swayed,
A thousand suns in green arrayed.

 

I lined the edge with tender grass,
A quiet touch as seasons pass.
Not like the willows tall and bright,
That wove their shade in golden light.

 

My little pond, here, now,
The large ones, there, then.