《上菜语言》自释

该诗写作于1999年，距今已经12年了，在我众多的作品中并不十分惹眼，通过此次国际性的“时光剪影”的重新发现，很有意义。我想可以从以下两个方面读解此诗。



It has been 12 years since 1999 when the poem was first composed. Among my poems, it is not one that attracts much attention. Thus, it is a meaningful rediscovery when the poem is selected for the international program “Time Shadows”. I think the poem could be approached from two perspectives.



一、文化内涵



在中国人眼中，广东人什么都敢吃；在地球人眼中，中国人什么都敢吃，而且中国人认为吃什么补什么――谓之“食疗”。诗中写到的“火爆肝尖”是中国餐馆中的常见菜，西医证明其可以补血，中国人认为可以补肝。同理，“清炖牛鞭”是一道男人菜，是用来壮阳的――但西医并不这么认为，通过化验证明其营养成分与普通瘦肉无异。中国人对待饮食的文化心理或者说中国人特有的饮食文化，是此诗中的“诗意”赖以产生的基础。

I. Cultural connotations

The Chinese think that the Cantonese dare eat everything; the world thinks that the Chinese dare eat everything. Chinese people believe one’s body parts could be strengthened by eating the corresponding parts of animals—that philosophy is called “Food Therapy”. The tender stir-fried pork liver is a common dish offered in Chinese restaurants, proving to help replenish one’s blood by Western medicine and considered beneficial for one’s liver by Chinese people. Similarly, soup made of ox penis is a dish for men, used to increase their sexual potency, but Western medicine does not believe so, proving through tests that the nutrients of the ox penis are the same as those provided by ordinary lean meat. Chinese people’s particular cultural mentality towards food and drink, or rather, their unique food culture is what makes the lines a poem, providing the basis for the poetic sense in the work.



二、语言趣味



“您的肝”――类似的语言呈现我在中国的已经没落的大众艺术相声中听到过，但在生活中亲身遭遇感受就变得强烈了，诗意也因此而产生。“您的牛鞭”来自于我由此推进的想象。没有想象是相声，有了想象才是诗。这是语言的奥秘、语言的趣味、语言的力量。在中国我被认为是一个口语诗人，既然是“口语诗人”就该是生活语言之矿中的淘金者，这么鲜活、生动、有趣、好玩、人味的语言在故纸堆里是找不到的。

II. The fun of language

“Your liver”—one has heard similar expressions in Cross Talks, a popular art form that has declined in China, but when one encounters it in real life, it provokes much stronger feelings from which a poetic sense arises. “Your penis” is what I imagined when taking a step forward. Words without imagination belong to cross talks; only when endowed with imagination do they become a poem. This is the secret, the fun and the power of language. I am regarded as a colloquial poet in China, and thus I should be the gold miner looking for valuables in the mine of daily languages. One cannot find such fresh, lively, interesting, funny, and human language in tattered books.



最后，我还想向读者透露一个该诗在译成英语过程中的趣事：由于译者张宽先生不知道我的性别，在初译稿中译成：Said: “ Ma’am, your liver” 、Said: “Ma’am, your ox penis”――我在去信中告诉他我是男的，建议将Ma’am改成Sir，张宽先生接受了我的意见。后来我们在电话中谈及此事，我说：“这样幽默感就没有了……”张宽先生说：“我倒觉得更幽默了！”我想了想，也是！越想越是！遂哈哈大笑――现场的朋友们，我在越洋电话里，听见了你们的笑声，诗歌是可以叫人快乐的啊！



Finally, I’d like to share with you an interesting anecdote about the translation of the poem: Since the translator Dr. Karl Zhang did not know my gender at first, he translated the lines as: “The waitress said: “Ma’am, your liver”; and later “Ma’am, your ox penis”. I told him through email that I am a male, suggesting that “Ma’am” be replaced by “Sir”. Dr. Zhang took my suggestion. When we talked about it on phone, I said: “The humor is gone if the assumed costumer is female…” Dr. Zhang said: “I feel it hilarious…!” I gave it a second thought and couldn’t but agree! The more I think about it, the more I agree with him. I laughed out loud—my friends there, I heard your laughter through the long distance call overseas. Poetry indeed can delight people!

【中文原作】

《上菜语言》
伊沙

上次我们去饭店吃饭
要了一盘爆炒肝尖
服务员小姐前来上菜
说：“您的肝”
噢！我一下
捂住了肝部
上菜　继续上菜
最后一道
清炖牛鞭
大功基本告成
小姐笑容灿烂
说：“您的牛鞭”
噢！我一下……

【英语译文】

    The Importance of Language When Serving Restaurant Patrons
by Yi Sha
translated by Karl Zhang

The last time we went to a restaurant
We ordered tender stir-fried pork liver.
The waitress came to serve us and
Said: “Sir, here's your liver.”
Ouch!, I immediately covered
The place beneath which my liver lies.
More dishes kept coming to the table
And the last one
Was a bowl of soup made of ox penis
To complete the meal
The waitress, smiling most radiantly
Said: “Sir, here’s your penis”
Ouch!, Immediately I covered….


【德语译文】

Von der Wichtigkeit der Sprache beim Bedienen in einem Restaurant
von Yi Sha
übersetzt von Peter Beicken

Als wir das letzte Mal ein Restaurant besuchten,
bestellten wir zarte, pfannengerührte Schweinsleber.
Die Kellnerin kam, uns zu servieren und
sagte: “Mein Herr, hier ist Ihre Leber,”
Auweia! Sofort bedeckte ich
die Stelle, darunter meine Leber ist.
Mehr Speisen kamen auf unseren Tisch
und die letzte war eine Schüssel mit Ochsenpenissuppe
als Schlussgericht.
Mit einem strahlenden Lächeln sagte
die Kellnerin: “Mein Herr, hier ist Ihr Penis.”
Oh Schreck lass nach! Sofort bedeckte ich . . .

【英语简介】
About the Poet: Yi Sha
Yi Sha was born in 1966 in Chengdu in the People’s Republic of China. He has worked in television and on literary magazines and is now an assistant professor at the Xi’an International Studies University. He has published some ten volumes of prose and poetry, but has consistently been refused permission to give readings outside China. His first book of poems to appear in English translation is called Starve the Poets!, first written in 1994 and published in England by Bloodaxe Books in 2008.

（图为《上菜语言》的英语译者张宽）