ISSUE 8 | Stop Washing Your Hands So Aggressively 诗歌翻译特辑

Untitled, 1949, by Agnes Martin (1912-2004)

Soap Oracle

“日光之下，并无新事。” — 《传道书》1:9

Stop washing your hands

so aggressively.

You’d lose your soap oracle — 

concrete shapes of dissolving prophecy;

deaths of mortals born out of chaos

only to rinse off chaos.  

WAR IS OVER?   

Comes only, 

the revelation 

of xenos, entropy, locution completely walled.

Erotic sin slipped through the alkaline foam between my fingers;

a divine coolness against my rashed skin

bites off the last shred of sanity

I was proud of.

Soon flesh, cleansed and foretold,

would roam on the street still anticipating 

vital signs and stubborn wait.

Soap oracle consistently repeats

that we don’t love well.

Editor's Note

Our eighth issue features a short poem, “Soap Oracle,” written by Liang Xiao in early February, 2020. In the time of coronavirus, the magnitude of fear, chaos, and anxiety, among other things inherent to human vulnerability, is sometimes translated into the triviality of mundane behaviors, such as hand washing. Using hand washing as a starting point, Liang writes an intimate piece of poetry to present her personal take on the outbreak. To Liang, the poem is experimental -- perhaps even a little coarse, but the act of writing it has in fact been cathartic and liberating. 

这一期是我们首次呈现诗歌作品。这首题为 “Soap Oracle”的英文小诗写于2月初，作者是来自成都的梁小。新冠病毒疫情期间，人类的脆弱性在恐惧、混乱与焦虑中暴露，又同时被无形地转译到洗手这样寻常而机械的行为中。诗人以洗手这一动作为起点，隐秘却也毫无保留地表达了她对疫情的理解。对她来说，这首小诗是试验性的，甚至或许有些粗糙，但创作的过程却充满慰藉和释放。

Along with the original poem written in English, we also bring you two versions of the Chinese translation by Google Translate and WeChat Translation. They are sometimes amusing to read but other times surprisingly impressive. In a semi-competitive, semi-entertaining spirit, the poetic-minded of us are inevitably tempted to make our own translation endeavor. 

除诗歌原作以外，我们也附上两个中文翻译版本，分别出自谷歌与微信翻译。产生于人工智能的翻译作品或许有时令人哭笑不得，但有时又让人刮目相看。于是，unCoVer的团队成员和伙伴中那些喜爱诗歌的朋友也跃跃欲试，怀着半娱乐半竞争的心理开启对这首诗的手动翻译（及再创作）。

Dear readers, you are invited to join us. Anytime between now and Wednesday, March 18, you can share your own translation of the poem “Soap Oracle” with us via WeChat or email at [e-mail]. If selected, your translation will be featured in an upcoming issue along with the other selected pieces by our friends and readers. 

如果你也爱好诗歌和翻译，来加入“Soap Oracle”的翻译行列吧！截止下周三（三月十八日），你可以通过微信后台留言或邮件（[e-mail]) 与我们分享你的“Soap Oracle”翻译作品。如果被选中，我们将把您的作品与征集来的其它翻译版本一并刊登于后续的推文当中。

Google Translate 谷歌翻译版本

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肥皂神谕

"There is nothing new under the sun." 

— Ecclesiastes 1: 9

别洗手

如此积极。

您会失去肥皂神谕 --

解散预言的具体形状；

混乱造成的凡人死亡

只是为了消除混乱。

战争结束了？

只来

启示

异种，熵，信息录完全被破坏。

色情的罪恶在我手指间的碱性泡沫中溜走。

针对我皮疹的皮肤神性的冷静

咬断最后的理智

我为之骄傲。

不久，肉被洗净并预言，

仍会在大街上漫游

生命体征和顽固的等待。

肥皂甲不断重复

我们不太爱。

Untitled, 1955-1956, by Agnes Martin (1912-2004)

WeChat Translation 微信翻译版本

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肥皂甲骨文

“日光之下，并无新事。” — 《传道书》1:9

别再洗手了

如此咄咄逼人。

你会失去你的肥皂神谕——

消解预言的具体形态；

凡人因混乱而死

只是为了冲掉混乱。

战争结束了？

只有，

启示录

在氙气、熵、位置完全封闭。

情色的罪恶从我指间的碱性泡沫中滑落；

神圣的凉意拂过我的皮疹

咬掉最后一丝清醒

我很自豪。

很快的肉体，洁净并预言，

会在街上游荡，期待着

生命体征和顽固等待。

肥皂甲骨文不断重复

我们的爱并不好。

Untitled, 1960, by Agnes Martin (1912-2004)

Editors | Joyce, Maggie

Proofreading | Carly

Typesetting | Lili

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