阿妈，我是什么时候出生的？

作者：Bhuchung D. Sonam

译者：Ogyen Kyab

编辑：Tsering Woeser

阿妈，我是什么时候出生的？

——河流干涸的那年


那是什么时候？
——庄稼歉收的那年
我们忍饥挨饿很多天
真担心你活不成

是我们搬进新房子的那年吗？
——是我们的房子被没收的那年
被“爱国”的党员们瓜分了
我们被赶出家园，你出生在牛棚里

那是哪一年呢？
——是他们摧毁寺院的那年
把熔化的青铜佛像做成子弹的那年
你出生的时候，灰尘漫天

是爷爷离去的那年吗？
——那是他们把你爷爷关进监狱
让他清理粪便，让他在田地杀虫的那年
你出生的时候，没有男人在家

我是很多墙壁被推倒的那年出生的吗？
——是他们砸垮了祈愿大殿
把房梁剁碎，满墙的壁画被污损的那年
你是从东部吹来狂风的时候出生的

那是哪一年呢？
——是他们在村子里焚烧经书
唱着革命歌曲，歌颂党的那年
你出生在一个寸草不长的年代

是您停止唱歌的那年吗？
——那是邻居挖水渠时，无意唱了传统歌曲
就被送往劳改营的那年
你出生在一个人们接踵失踪的年代

那是什么时候？
——是他们在每一面墙上写红色标语
“露头便打”
你出生时，太阳离开了我们的天空

那又是什么时候？
——那年就是你的父亲…….你的父亲…….


原文：

When was I Born?

By Bhuchung D. Sonam


Mother, when was I born?
In the year the river dried

When was that?
That was the year when crops failed
And we went hungry for many days
We feared that you would never survive

Was that the year we moved to a new house?
That was the year when they confiscated our house

And divided it among the patriotic Party members
We were banished to the cowshed where you were born

What year was that?
That was the year when they destroyed the monastery

Melted all the bronze images to make bullets
You were born when dust filled the sky

Was that the year grandpa went away?
That was the year when they sent your grandfather to prison
Where he cleaned shit and butchered insects in the fields
You were born when there were no men in our house

Was I born in the year the walls were pulled down?
That was the year when they ripped apart the prayer hall
Wooden beams were hammered to splinters and frescoes soiled
You were born when a crazy wind blew from the east

What year was that?
That was the year they burnt scriptures in the village square
And sang revolutionary songs in praise of the Party
You were born when blades of grass refused to grow

Was it the year you stopped singing?

It was the year they took our neighbor to the hard labor camp
When she sang a traditional song while digging a canal
You were born when people disappeared one after another

When was that?
That was the year they wrote the big red slogan on the walls

‘Heads that stick out will be hammered down’
You were born when the sun shied away from our sky

When was that?
That was the year when your father... your father...