At Last

By Bai Hua

Those who passed by me, familiars or strangers, will die soon
one, two, three; a hundred, thousand, million and billion...

Sad? Extremely loud the sound of our laughter was
C'est la vie, whatever we are, the black, white or yellow...

One day, 1976, at Longfeng Commune in Ba County, Chongqing
the steaming hot pork were boiled in midwinter, at last!

One day, 1942, a telegram was sent from Saigon, Vietnam
"She had seen the eternity of her younger brother, through death." At last!

Oct. 15, 2012 / translated by Chen Zihong

Line 8 refers to the novel  L'Amant by Marguerite Duras, the Original French is "Comme plus tard l'éternité du petit frère à travers la mort."  -Tr.

最后

柏桦

那从我身边走过的人，不久将死去
一个两个三个，百个千个万个亿个……

悲伤吗？我们笑起来的声音可是响极了
这就是生活，无论黑人、白人、黄人……

某一天，1976，在重庆巴县龙凤公社
热腾腾的猪发出隆冬的咕噜声，最后！

某一天，1942，越南西贡拍来了电报
“通过小哥哥的死发现了永恒”，最后！

2012年10月15日