存钱罐叮咚、叮咚摇晃
Tinkling, tinkling, the piggy bank shakes with tinkles.
一枚硬币掉下，弹起
A coin drops, springs up
一道冷冻鲜鱼的银弧
A silver arc of the frozen fish
声音破开晨曦，带入光景
The sound breaks the dawn, brings in the morning glory.
三轮车咯噔咯噔碾过洒水的街道
Clicking, clicking, the tricycles rolls over the watered flagstone lanes,
晨光落在古槐树冠、青灰的屋檐
Morning light sets on the crown of the old honey locust trees, and blue-grey eaves.
小伙计揉着眼打着哈欠烧起炉灶
A little waiter rubs his eyes and yawns, and lights the stove.
鸟笼挂上枝头，女人从早市归来
Birdcages hung onto the branches, women come back from the morning fair.
日子是水盆里的纸船，
Days are like the paper boat in the basin,
无需起锚，在小小的水域航行
There’s no need to weigh the anchor, people set sail in a small water area.
游客纷拥窄街，阳光晒暖青石
Visitors crowd to the narrow lanes, jade-colored flagstones basked under the sunlight,
连串的吆喝钓起最简单的欢快
Strings of crying from the waiters hooked up the simplest joy out of the customers.
天上的一日寻常却从来不屑雷同
A day up in the sky is usual but never contents with the similarity.
荡荡蓝天，洇几抹云，堆起云层
Mighty blue, a few sketches of clouds inked out, or later piled up,
阳光刺出长剑，山雨欲来，蝉静
Sunbeams thrust their swords, rains is driving from the mountain, cicadas quiet,
蛐蛐也停唱，远风齐翻白杨阔叶
Crickets stop the chorus, winds from afar turn the wide polar leaves in concordance.
伴侣们坐在传说与轶闻的爱史上
Lovers rest on the histories of legends and anecdotes,
相敬有礼，海浪般推斥又亲近
Mutually respect with decorum, intimately pull and push like waves,
或两手空空，眼看着心萎缩悸痛
Or empty handed, watching the hearts withering and throbbing.
谁能爱着伴侣，在爱你的邻人之前？
Who can love your partner, before you love your neighbors?
我们谈论乡村，随父辈渐渐消隐的故乡
We talk about villages, our country that is disappearing with our elders.
记忆里画了几笔？儿时的梦，有多少
How many pictures we have painted in our memories? Dreams of the childhood
还引领现在？还有我们一起倾听的
How many of them still lead our present? And the murmurs of the sea,
大海的呓语。两人各自陷入沉思。
We have been listening for so long. Each of us sinks into the meditation.
晚祷的音乐响了，灯光的喧闹
The Sunset Prayer Call sounded, clamour of lights turns dumb
在巷子背后寺庙的幽黑前失声
Before the obscure darkness of the Mosque in the back-lane.
滴着汗的男人匆匆奔到殿前行礼
Men with sweats hurry up to the prayer hall to do salāt.
游人散尽，庭院还给宁静
Visitors gone, the court in the temple returns to its tranquility.
不知名的虫子爬过石碑上的月影
Bugs unknown crawl over the moon-paint on the stone stele,
秋月季自墨色的树荫里发出香气
Autumn roses send off aroma through inking trees’ shades.
大殿走出的男子和等在石鼓上的男孩说话
A man walked out from the prayer hall talks to the boy waiting on a stone seat.
人们倾听一个呼唤，交付一天的喧嚣
Men listening to a call, and deliver a day’s noise.
深夜里仙人掌悄然擎起白色的花朵
In the depth of the night a cactus lifts up a white flower secretly,
雨后的矮墙上蜗牛伸出眼睛和天线
On the rain-washed low wall snails stick out their eyes and aerials.
没有人真正改变，爱是长久的凝视
Nobody will change one’s elements, love is a long gaze.
重返的灵光穿透日常的密林
The returning spiritual light will pierce through the dense jungle of the days.