I Ask My Mother to Sing                                            我要母亲唱歌

    Li-Young Lee                                                      李立杨

She begins, and my grandmother joins her.                    母亲先唱，随后外婆也跟着唱。

Mother and daughter sing like young girls.                   母女二人像少女样歌唱。

If my father were alive, he would play                       若父亲在世，他会拉起手风琴

his accordion and sway like a boat.                          身体像小船样轻轻摇晃。

I've never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace,             我从未去过北京，没到过颐和园， 

nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watch                   更未曾驻足于那大石舫，

the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers             静静地看雨落在昆明湖上，游人

running away in the grass.                                   跑离草坪避雨匆匆忙忙。

But I love to hear it sung;                                  但我爱听歌里这样唱；

how the waterlilies fill with rain until                     荷花是怎样接满雨水

they over turn, spilling water into water,                   弯腰把这雨水倒进湖水里，

then rock back, and fill with more.                          又挺直身子，继续接水。

Both women have begun to cry.                                两人都唱得热泪盈眶。

But neither stops her song.                                  却没有一个停止歌唱。