MCLC Resource Center is pleased to announce publication of “Six Poems by Mu Cao,” translated by Hongwei Bao. The translations, along with the original Chinese poems, appear below and at their online home: https://u.osu.edu/mclc/online-series/mu-cao/. As previously announced on the blog, Mu Cao is a recent winner of the Prince Claus Impact Award.
By Mu Cao 墓草
Translated by Hongwei Bao
MCLC Resource Center Publication (Copyright December 2024)
Photo credit: Fan Popo.
[Translator’s note: The following poems are presented with Chinese version first, followed by its English translation. The dates at the end of the poems indicate when the poems were first written. The author’s and translator’s bios can be found at the end. I have opted to present all the translated lines in lower case.]
蚂蚁
为了停留在人世间
我强暴地压抑自己
为了感觉生命的存在
我把自身和一只蚂蚁比较
我看到蚂蚁用强忍的牙齿
向野兽说话
我看到另一只冷漠的蚂蚁
带着他的技术
去远方流浪
（2006年9月11日）
ants
to survive in this world
i forcefully suppress myself
to feel the existence of my being
i imagine myself to be ants
i see an ant challenge a beast
clenching its unyielding teeth
i see another ant
take his craft
and leave, drifting in an unknown world
(September 11, 2006)
夜
我想悄悄绕到幸福背后
看一看孤儿院的孩子做梦
谁的泪水稍稍绕到我的背后
看一看我的心是不是黎明
（2001年1月10日）
night
discreetly i want to circle around happiness
to watch the dreams of the orphans
whose tears would then quietly flow around me
to detect if there’s a dawn in my heart
(January 10, 2001)
声音
下雪了
一个诗人走到街头
吟了一声——冷
一个妓女望着窗外
叹了一声——冷
雪花分辨不出
哪种声音最纯洁
（2001年1月5日）
voice
It’s snowing
a poet walks to the street
and chants – so cold
a sex worker looks out of the window
and sighs – so cold
the snowflakes can’t tell
who has a more beautiful voice
(January 5, 2001)
去一个没有爱情的地方
去一个没有爱情的地方
没有诗歌
没有奖品
也没有毒品
只有清一色的女工
他们每日每夜都在生产加工
仿真人体器官
（2005年5月25日）
a place with no love
off to a place with no love
no prize
no drug
where all women workers
toil all day and all night
to manufacture sex toys
(May 25, 2005)
恐惧
我走在街上
我走在陌生的人群中
我走在文明的城市
黑压压的一大片警察
黑压压的一大片警察
黑压压的一大片警察
为什么我的眼睛看不到一个罪犯
(2002年3月1日)
fear
i walk on a broad street
i walk in a crowd of strangers
i walk in a clean and civilised city
a dark cloud of policemen
a dark cloud of policemen
a dark cloud of policemen
why isn’t there a criminal in sight
(March 1, 2002)
活着
工蜂在一朵美丽的睡莲里
甜甜地 甜甜地死去
蝉儿在一片金黄的落叶下
快乐着 快乐着死去
飞蛾在一扇明亮的玻璃前
幸福地 幸福地死去
蚊虫在安静的角落里
微笑着 微笑着死去……
我——在人渣的时代里
永远地 永远地发酵着自己
（2000年6月12日）
to live
a worker bee falls dead sweetly
inside a pretty lotus flower
a cicada lies dead merrily
under a golden fallen leaf
a moth drops dead joyfully
in front of a brightly lit window
a mosquito tucked dead peacefully
in a quiet corner
me — i ferment myself permanently
in dregs of mediocrity
(June 12, 2000)
Author’s and Translator’s bio:
Mu Cao 墓草 (b.1974, Henan) is a contemporary Chinese poet and fiction writer of working-class background. His poems explore queer desire and working-class life on the fringe of Chinese society. He has published six poetry collections and four works of fiction. His novel Qi’er 弃儿 (In the Face of Death We Are Equal), translated into English by Scott Meyers, was published by Seagull Press in 2019. His short story collection Gudu de bianyuan 孤独的边缘 (The Lonely Fringe) and poetry collection Zai diceng 在底层 (On the Underside) were published by Showwe Press in Taipei in 2023. His was awarded China’s Jianghu 江湖 (Freebooters) magazine Underground Poetry Award in 2015 and the Prince Claus Impact Award (the Netherlands) in 2024. The Prince Claus jury commended Mu Cao “for his unique literary voice, characterised by its raw and fierce qualities, fearlessly delving into taboo subjects with rare expressiveness.”
Hongwei Bao is a queer Chinese poet, fiction writer, and academic based in Nottingham, UK. He is the author of Queer China: Lesbian and Gay Literature and Visual Culture under Postsocialism (Routledge, 2020) and co-editor of Queer Literature in the Sinosphere (Bloomsbury, 2024). His poetry collections include The Passion of the Rabbit God (Valley Press, 2024) and Dream of the Orchid Pavillion (Big White Shed, 2024).