A perhaps ill-advised attempt at translating a poem from modern Chinese, which I don't know that well. I tried to use an anapest-differentiated version of iambic pentameter for the rather ingenious metrical pattern that appears to be used here.
Stagnant Water
By W�n Yiduo
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
This is a ditch of hopelessly dead water,
Fresh air can't breathe half a ripple from its skin.
Better just junk all your scrap copper here
Or dump the leftovers from dinner in.
Maybe the copper will green emerald-like
And in tin cans' rust peach blossom petals bloom.
Then see the grease weave out a silky film
For bacteria to brew up into sunred spume.
Let the dead water ferment into green liquor
Brimming floating pearls in its white scum,
Sweet little pearls that chuckle into into big pearls
And burst when the liquor-raiding mosquitoes come.
So a ditch of hopelessly dead water still
Can boast something bright and lively all along.
If the frogs can't tolerate the desolation
Then hear the dead water croak up a song!
This is a ditch of hopelessly dead water.
It isn't a place of beauty at any rate.
Better let Hellion Ugliness cultivate it
And see what kind of world it will create.
The Original:
?? Sishui
??? W�n Yiduo
?????????, Zh� sh� yi gou ju�w�ngde sishui,
?????????? qingfeng chui b�qi b�ndian yil�n
?????????, B�r� duo reng xie p� t�ng l�ntie,
?????????? shuangx�ng po nide sh�ng c�i c�ngeng.
?????????, Yexu t�ngde yao lu ch�ng feicu�,
?????????; tiegu�n sh�ng xi� chu ji b�n t�ohua;
?????????, z�i r�ng y�un� zhi yi c�ng luoqi,
?????????? m�ijun gei ta zheng chu xie y�nxi�.
?????????, R�ng sishui ji�och�ng yi gou lu jiu,
?????????; piao manle zhenzhu sh�de b�im�;
?????????, xiao zhumen xi�osheng bi�nch�ng d� zhu,
?????????? y�u b�i toujiude huaw�n yaop�.
?????????, N�me yi gou ju�w�ngde sishui,
?????????? yeji� kua d�sh�ng jifen xianm�ng.
?????????, R�guo qingwa n�ibuzh� j�m�,
?????????? y�usu�n sishui ji�ochule gesheng.
?????????, Zh� sh� yi gou ju�w�ngde sishui,
?????????, zh�li du�n b�sh� meide suoz�i,
?????????, b�r� r�ng gei chou'� l�i kaiken,
?????????? k�n ta z�ochu g� sh�nme sh�ji�.
Stagnant Water
By W�n Yiduo
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
This is a ditch of hopelessly dead water,
Fresh air can't breathe half a ripple from its skin.
Better just junk all your scrap copper here
Or dump the leftovers from dinner in.
Maybe the copper will green emerald-like
And in tin cans' rust peach blossom petals bloom.
Then see the grease weave out a silky film
For bacteria to brew up into sunred spume.
Let the dead water ferment into green liquor
Brimming floating pearls in its white scum,
Sweet little pearls that chuckle into into big pearls
And burst when the liquor-raiding mosquitoes come.
So a ditch of hopelessly dead water still
Can boast something bright and lively all along.
If the frogs can't tolerate the desolation
Then hear the dead water croak up a song!
This is a ditch of hopelessly dead water.
It isn't a place of beauty at any rate.
Better let Hellion Ugliness cultivate it
And see what kind of world it will create.
The Original:
?? Sishui
??? W�n Yiduo
?????????, Zh� sh� yi gou ju�w�ngde sishui,
?????????? qingfeng chui b�qi b�ndian yil�n
?????????, B�r� duo reng xie p� t�ng l�ntie,
?????????? shuangx�ng po nide sh�ng c�i c�ngeng.
?????????, Yexu t�ngde yao lu ch�ng feicu�,
?????????; tiegu�n sh�ng xi� chu ji b�n t�ohua;
?????????, z�i r�ng y�un� zhi yi c�ng luoqi,
?????????? m�ijun gei ta zheng chu xie y�nxi�.
?????????, R�ng sishui ji�och�ng yi gou lu jiu,
?????????; piao manle zhenzhu sh�de b�im�;
?????????, xiao zhumen xi�osheng bi�nch�ng d� zhu,
?????????? y�u b�i toujiude huaw�n yaop�.
?????????, N�me yi gou ju�w�ngde sishui,
?????????? yeji� kua d�sh�ng jifen xianm�ng.
?????????, R�guo qingwa n�ibuzh� j�m�,
?????????? y�usu�n sishui ji�ochule gesheng.
?????????, Zh� sh� yi gou ju�w�ngde sishui,
?????????, zh�li du�n b�sh� meide suoz�i,
?????????, b�r� r�ng gei chou'� l�i kaiken,
?????????? k�n ta z�ochu g� sh�nme sh�ji�.
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