Poem
Hu Xudong
THE WHITE CAT TOQTAMISH
In 568 AD, a Sogdiancame to Istami’s Western Turkic Khaganate
from Khosrau the First’s Sassanids, to serve as a guide
to a caravan of traders from Khrurasan.
On the tired banks of the Ili River he saw
a white cat crouching in the color of night
like a patch of snow in Talas, surrounded
by clean meadows and friendly darkness.
He saw several worlds on the white cat’s body
calmly swirling. Arrows, bloodshed,
cries from the slaughtered city all disappeared
in its white whirlpool. After a few moments,
he gave up on Manichaeism.
One thousand four hundred thirty-nine years later,
in the middle of the night, my wife and I
also see a white cat,
about three months old, small but dignified as he strolls
by the dried-up pool of the Weixiu Garden,
like the crown prince of the last dynasty, crossing
time and space in the lamp’s shadow, returning to the old garden
to survey his obscure but noble memories.
He doesn’t avoid our touch, but
won’t respond to our babbled cat-speak; separated
by a leaf, a flower,
the polite night breeze, he concentrates
on taking in the scents of many worlds.
He tries to use his liquid eyes
to tell us something, but in the end
he leaves us like flowing water.
We think he went to the White Horde
of 1382, what we call Toqtamish,
wanting to set out at night
to conquer the Golden Horde and rule over Russia.
2007/7/30
© Translation: 2010, Eleanor Goodman & Ao Wang
DE WITTE POES TOCHTAMYSJ
In het jaar 568 kwam een Sogdiërvanuit het Sassaniden-rijk van Khosrau de Eerste
naar het West-Turkse Kaganaat van Istami, om
als gids te dienen voor een groep handelaren uit Khorasan.
Op de vermoeide oevers van de Ili zag hij
een witte poes ineengedoken in het vage licht van de nacht,
als een stukje sneeuw in Talas, omringd
door schone weilanden en vriendelijk donker.
Hij zag verschillende werelden op het lichaam van de kat
in alle rust ronddraaien. Pijlpunten, bloed en gehuil
van de slachting in de stad verdwenen allemaal
in zijn witte werveling. Enkele minuten later
gaf hij het Manicheïsme op.
Veertienhonderdnegenendertig jaar later
zagen mijn vrouw en ik, ’s nachts op weg naar huis,
ook een witte kat, ongeveer
drie maanden oud, klein maar deftig,
rondzwerven bij de droge vijver van het Weixupark,
als de kroonprins van een vorige dynastie die door tijd en ruimte
van de schaduw van de lamp terug naar zijn geboortestreek ging
om vage en nobele herinneringen te onderzoeken.
Hij ontweek onze strelingen niet, maar ging ook niet
in op ons aanhalige gemauw; gescheiden door
een blad, een bloem of
een beleefde nachtwind snoof hij
nog steeds de geuren van verschillende werelden op.
Hij probeerde ons met een oogopslag als stromend water
iets te vertellen, maar uiteindelijk
verliet hij ons toch als stromend water.
Wij waren ervan overtuigd dat hij naar de Witte Horde
van het jaar 1382 ging, die wij de Tochtamysj noemen,
om nog dezelfde nacht de Gouden Horde te gaan veroveren
en over Rusland te heersen.
30 juli 2007
© Vertaling: 2014, Silvia Marijnissen
白猫脱脱迷失
公元568年，一个粟特人从库思老一世的萨珊王朝
来到室点密的西突厥，给一支
呼罗珊商队当向导。在
疲惫的伊犁河畔，他看见
一只白猫蹲伏于夜色中，
像一片怛逻斯的雪，四周是
干净的草地和友善的黑暗。
他看见白猫身上有好几个世界
在安静地旋转，箭镞、血光、
屠城的哭喊都消失在它
白色的漩涡中。几分钟之后，
他放弃了他的摩尼教信仰。
一千四百三十九年之后，
在夜归的途中，我和妻子
也看见了一只白猫，约莫有
三个月大，小而有尊严地
在蔚秀园干涸的池塘边溜达，
像一个前朝的世子，穿过
灯影中的时空，回到故园
来巡视它模糊而高贵的记忆。
它不躲避我们的抚摸，但也
不屑于我们的喵喵学语，隔着
一片树叶、一朵花或是
一阵有礼貌的夜风，它兀自
嗅着好几个世界的气息。
它试图用流水一般的眼神
告诉我们什么，但最终它还是
像流水一样弃我们而去。
我们认定它去了公元1382年
的白帐汗国，我们管它叫
脱脱迷失，它要连夜赶过去
征服钦察汗、治理俄罗斯。
2007/7/30
© 2013, Hu Xudong
From: 片片诗 (Piece of poetry)
Publisher: Xiu Wei Press, Taipei
From: 片片诗 (Piece of poetry)
Publisher: Xiu Wei Press, Taipei
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Poems of Hu Xudong
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THE WHITE CAT TOQTAMISH
In 568 AD, a Sogdiancame to Istami’s Western Turkic Khaganate
from Khosrau the First’s Sassanids, to serve as a guide
to a caravan of traders from Khrurasan.
On the tired banks of the Ili River he saw
a white cat crouching in the color of night
like a patch of snow in Talas, surrounded
by clean meadows and friendly darkness.
He saw several worlds on the white cat’s body
calmly swirling. Arrows, bloodshed,
cries from the slaughtered city all disappeared
in its white whirlpool. After a few moments,
he gave up on Manichaeism.
One thousand four hundred thirty-nine years later,
in the middle of the night, my wife and I
also see a white cat,
about three months old, small but dignified as he strolls
by the dried-up pool of the Weixiu Garden,
like the crown prince of the last dynasty, crossing
time and space in the lamp’s shadow, returning to the old garden
to survey his obscure but noble memories.
He doesn’t avoid our touch, but
won’t respond to our babbled cat-speak; separated
by a leaf, a flower,
the polite night breeze, he concentrates
on taking in the scents of many worlds.
He tries to use his liquid eyes
to tell us something, but in the end
he leaves us like flowing water.
We think he went to the White Horde
of 1382, what we call Toqtamish,
wanting to set out at night
to conquer the Golden Horde and rule over Russia.
2007/7/30
© 2010, Eleanor Goodman & Ao Wang
From: 片片诗 (Piece of poetry)
From: 片片诗 (Piece of poetry)
THE WHITE CAT TOQTAMISH
In 568 AD, a Sogdiancame to Istami’s Western Turkic Khaganate
from Khosrau the First’s Sassanids, to serve as a guide
to a caravan of traders from Khrurasan.
On the tired banks of the Ili River he saw
a white cat crouching in the color of night
like a patch of snow in Talas, surrounded
by clean meadows and friendly darkness.
He saw several worlds on the white cat’s body
calmly swirling. Arrows, bloodshed,
cries from the slaughtered city all disappeared
in its white whirlpool. After a few moments,
he gave up on Manichaeism.
One thousand four hundred thirty-nine years later,
in the middle of the night, my wife and I
also see a white cat,
about three months old, small but dignified as he strolls
by the dried-up pool of the Weixiu Garden,
like the crown prince of the last dynasty, crossing
time and space in the lamp’s shadow, returning to the old garden
to survey his obscure but noble memories.
He doesn’t avoid our touch, but
won’t respond to our babbled cat-speak; separated
by a leaf, a flower,
the polite night breeze, he concentrates
on taking in the scents of many worlds.
He tries to use his liquid eyes
to tell us something, but in the end
he leaves us like flowing water.
We think he went to the White Horde
of 1382, what we call Toqtamish,
wanting to set out at night
to conquer the Golden Horde and rule over Russia.
2007/7/30
© 2010, Eleanor Goodman & Ao Wang
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