Cao Yu (1910-1996) was one of China’s most renowned modern playwrights, achieving literary immortality through 《雷雨》Thunderstorm (1934) and 《日出》Sunrise (1936). He continued to publish throughout the Sino-Japanese War, including a Chinese translation of Romeo and Juliet in 1943. In his later life he was known for writing the historical drama 《王昭君》Wang Zhaojun (1978), but his attempts at promoting various regional operas, and in particular his later poetry, are less discussed. This small poetic oeuvre is collected in Vol. 6 of Cao’s Collected Works. They strike a rare chord of agony and beauty and hope, and have been discussed recently by Cao’s disciple Tian Benxiang (1932-2019) in the context of a “soul ardently hoping for freedom” (渴望自由的灵魂) (Theatre Arts 2010.6; English translation forthcoming) that characterised his teacher. The current year marks the 110th anniversary of Cao Yu’s birth, as well as significant anniversaries for other playwrights and institutional directors of the early modern theatre movement in China, inspiring more wide-ranging re-evaluations of these figures’ comprehensive work, ambitions, and ideas.
The original Chinese is presented here with permission from his daughter and memoirist Wan Fang, with gratitude.
Baby-Blue-Eyes
I don’t need you calling me pretty
I don’t like you saying I look good.
I’m just an everyday flower,
Rich heart, damp petals.
You praised me as a babe,
Lifted me to the sky.
My heart moved for you,
I was forthright.
Halfway you stomped me beneath you,
Saying I was base.
Finally I understood,
You’d turned your back.
I fear your flowery talk,
Fear more when you say I look good.
I’m a stupid girl,
Whom you won’t trick again.
23/12/1991 at Beijing Hospital
Note: Baby-Blue-Eyes is a small flower brought over from Brazil, where it is found everywhere; it has the fiercest vitality, its small flowers opening in every season.
玻璃翠
我不需要你说我美，
不稀罕你说我好看。
我只是一朵平常的花，
浓浓的花心，淡淡的瓣儿。
你夸我是个宝，
把我举上了天。
我为你真动了心，
我是个直心眼。
半道儿你把我踩在地下，
说我就是贱。
我才明白，
你是翻了脸。
我怕你花言巧语，
更怕你说我好看。
我是个傻姑娘，
不再受你的骗。
一九九一年十月二十三日于北京医院
附注：玻璃翠是由巴西带进来的一种极普通的小草花，生命力极强，一年四季开着小花。
~
Gone Old
You’re no longer young,
You’re no longer a flower;
Your face has deep folds,
White hair dying your entire temples.
You sorrowfully lock your brow-scar,
And at night toss and turn, unsleeping.
Just like me you can’t sleep,
You whisper and sigh, afraid of alarming me awake.
The old man on the sickbed,
Constantly on your mind.
I shake and you’re startled –
What nightmare shocked the heart so?
You are coruscating sunset,
I am cold ice on a borderless lake;
Its cold surface reflects your face,
Vivacious fish beneath the ice are deep passion.
We’re old, both.
The cracking dawn shines on the still surface.
You’re eternally unforgettable!
One day I’ll close my eyes.
We are both night’s fireflies,
Those shining stars are us.
18/12/1995, Beijing Hospital
老了
你再不年轻，
你再不像朵花；
你脸上有深深的皱纹，
白丝染遍你的耳鬓。
你愁锁着眉痕，
夜半你辗转不眠。
你和我一样睡不着，
你低声叹息，怕我惊醒。
病床 上的老人，
时时在你心中。
我颤抖，你惊起来，
作了什么噩梦，这样心惊？
你是绚丽的晚霞，
我是无边湖上的寒冰；
寒冷的湖面反映着你的脸，
冰下活泼泼的鱼是深情。
我们老了，都老了。
残霞照着静静的湖冰。
永远忘不了你啊，
有一天我闭上眼睛。
我们是黑夜的萤火，
星星发亮的正是我们。
~
The Free Man
The thunder rumbles out the narrow valley, each wild prairie grass trembles,
I hear the wind roaring, dark clouds from the murky sky
press fiercely on my head.
Cloud stickiness distends,
That’s the dragon sticking out his long tongue, that’s his tail.
Like endless hooks hooking my eyes, heart, ears and my hands.
The earth spits fire,
My whole body burns.
The flood bursts, the downpour a pierced awl awling my back
But I roar high skywards: “Come! Torture me harder!”
The land trembles, towers, stones and cement collapse, buries my whole body.
The earth has stuffed my throat
I call high skywards: “Come, I’m not afraid, you won’t keep me down!
You’re no dragon, no match for a snake even, I won’t be bowled over!”
I’ve seen the sun, the round globe of fire rising from the horizon.
I am a human, a human not dead,
Beneath the sunlight was the earth, the free air warming me and all.
I stood,
Because I am the free man on whom the sun shines.
雷从峡谷里滚响，莽原的每一棵草在哆嗦，
我听见风吼，黑云从乌暗的天空
猛压在头顶。
从云里垂下来一些黏糊糊的，
那是龙吐出的长舌，那是龙的尾巴。
像无数的钩钩住我的眼睛、心、耳和我的手。
地上喷出火，
我的全身在燃烧。
洪水泛滥，暴雨像尖锥锥透我的背，
我向天高吼：“来！再狠狠地折磨我！”
大地颤抖，高楼、石头、水泥塌下来，掩埋了我全身。
土塞住了我的喉咙，
我向天高喊：“来吧，我不怕，你压不倒我！”
你不是龙，连一条蛇都不配，吓不倒我！’
我看见了太阳，圆圆的火球从地平线上升起。
我是人，不死的人，
阳光下有世界，自由的风吹暖我和一切。
我站起来了，
因为我是阳光照着的自由人。