In the neighborhood wet market,

附近的菜市場裏有人在巨大的汽油桶裏殺雞

someone bleeds a chicken over an oil drum.

後面的大樓上一個詩人苦思冥想要寫一首人類之詩

A poet in the tenement beats out a poem for mankind.

下面的棚戶區裏兩個女人為爭奪一個酒鬼的愛而不惜大打出手

Two women squabble in the alley for a drunkard’s love.

謾罵聲如煤爐裏的黑煙高高升起

Their curses rise like black smoke coils from a coal stove

高過了那棵寧靜的大樹

through the boughs of that tall, silent tree,

只有它庇護著我們的安全，掩飾了我們的恥辱

its leaves shading our disgrace.