採硯人
小滿。
清晨。
他在採硯的坑洞口
脫下最後一片布，赤條條
像半歲的侄兒
爬行。
一個爬向母親溫暖的懷抱
一個爬向父親陰森的墳墓，
一個嗅著乳香
一個已困在死亡的腐味中。
回頭望去
母親仍跪在祭壇前
求河神保佑。
落在那蒼老脊梁上的陽光，也落在了洞口
交叉上兵丁反射的刀光
他的生命貼上了封條。
爬，向著河神肚腹的深處
今天挖到的，是它的心， 它的肝
還是它來不及消化的
他父輩的骨頭？
母親啊，
你會看顧來割你肉的賊嗎 ？
爬，沿著河神猙獰的牙縫
河神，正用體內的霉氣把他埋葬。
不，他不想死
可封條後的兵丁說
進去，你的石頭我的人頭都拴在了一起。
縣官說
今上的龍顏和我的烏紗
你的命能抵多少？
老族長曾說
進去吧，為著這方水土的榮耀。
方圓最富的財主常說
可以早日脫貧。
媒婆昨日催促
那姑娘家的彩禮呢？
母親說 認命吧，世代如此，我們能例外嗎？
村裡唯一的秀才最堅定
石能補天！
帶上了燈 就有光，有熱，有火
人，要無懼黑暗
向命運挑戰！
舉起鑿子，一錘下去
一塊石頭掉下
不知秀才能不能用它補天
可他感到自己已更深地填進河神的胃。
轉身，把石頭傳遞出去
一條河的份量已壓折人腰
這河底黑石竟能背負整座蒼天？
一錘又一錘
石眼、青花、冰紋、翡翠、魚腦凍
這可恨又可愛的石頭
它越尊貴
人越卑賤。
下一錘
全村的香火會不會熄滅一半？
天上的月亮
未過門的新娘
河裡的魚蝦
飄香的稻花
他還能見到嗎？
低頭問胸前的菩薩
祂，仍舊緊閉嘴巴。
附註：我的家鄉在廣東肇慶， 它出產著名的端硯。硯石深藏在西江河床底下的岩層。採硯人從江邊沿著岩層挖坑道採石，越挖越深直到河底。採硯是非常艱苦危險和沒有尊嚴的工作。坑道很窄， 許多地方僅可一人爬行，官府怕他們偷走石料，強迫他們剝光衣服，只帶上燈火和必須的工具進洞。歷世歷代，不知多少人因坑道灌水、塌方等事故喪命。其實，一般的石頭也可磨墨，只是端硯磨出的墨汁質量最好而已。端硯越聞名，那地方的百姓越艱難。
圖片采自網絡
The Ink Stone Miner
The winter crop is filling out
It is a new day
At the tunnel entrance to the ink stone mine
He strips off his last piece of cloth and, bare naked
Like his six month old nephew,
Crawls:
One towards the mother's bosom
One towards the father's grave
One sniffing the aroma of breast milk
One suffocating in the stench of death
He looks back
His mother is still kneeling in front of the sacrificial altar
Praying for River God's protection
The sunbeam on her arched back also falls on the tunnel
Entrance, reflecting off the soldiers' backswords
Like a cross sealing his fate
Crawling, towards the depth of River God's belly
To be dug out today is its heart, its liver,
Or is it his father's bones which it has not yet digested?
Oh, dear mother, would you
Look after a thief coming to carve out a piece of your flesh?
He crawls through a gap between River God's jagged teeth.
He likely will pass out in the deadly gases and be swallowed by River God.
No, he does not want to die.
But the guard at the cave's entrance said,
"Go inside, your stone slabs are bound together with my head."
And the county magistrate said,
"How much is your life worth compared to the Emperor's pleasure and my job?"
The village elder had said,
"Please go inside, for the honor of this land and water."
And the richest man around often said,
"This way you will sooner escape poverty."
The matchmaker came the other day asking,
"Where is the betrothal gift for the bride-to-be?"
Mother said,
"Let's face it, such is our fate for generations. There is no escape."
And with determination the only scholar of the village said,
"With this rock you can patch the sky."
Take along a lamp
And you will have Light, Heat and Fire.
Man must defy Darkness,
And Challenge Fate!
He holds up the pick, and strikes swiftly
A slab of rock falls out
Can a learned man use it to mend the sky?
He only knows that he is now even deeper in the river belly
He turns around and sends the slab of rock out
The weight of the river is enough to break one's back
Can this black rock of the river bed hold up the whole sky?
Strike after strike
Stone's Eye, Black Flower, Ice Marks, Jade Green, Fishhead...
This hated and lovely rock
The more precious the rock
The more degraded the man
Will the next strike
Snuff out half the village's ancestral candles?
The moon in the sky
The bride in waiting
The fishes in the river
The fragrant rice in the field
Will he still see them?
He asks the Goddess of Mercy down by his chest
She remains tight-lipped
Translated by: Tommy W.K. Tao
Poet's Notes:
My hometown in Zhaoqing of Guangdong produces the famous Duan Ink Stone from deep under the riverbed of Xijiang. Ink stone miners in the past had to dig tunnels from the riverside all the way to deep under the riverbed. The tunnels would allow only one person to crawl in. The work was both dangerous and undignified. The task masters used to require the miners to go naked into the tunnels, for fear that they might otherwise steal some stone slabs. Many miners had lost their lives in these tunnels as a result of flooding or collapse. While any stone can be used for ink grinding, Duan Ink Stone is prized for its superior quality for ink grinding. But at what cost? The production of this prized ink stone had been at the cost of people's life and dignity