《葬花词》

The following is the inspiration for my poem "Funeral of the Flowers". I will type the original and then will translate it into English as best as I could. Every line in English corresponds to each line in Mandrin before a punctuation mark. The poem is extremely beautiful and melancholic at the same time. Hope you will love it as much as I do.

《葬花词》 著：曹雪芹

花谢花飞飞满天，红消香断有谁怜？

游丝软系飘春榭，落絮轻沾扑绣帘。

闺中女儿惜春暮，愁绪满怀无释处，

手把花锄出绣帘，忍踏落花来复去。

柳丝榆荚自芳菲，不管桃飘与李飞，

桃李明年能再发，明年闺中知有谁？

三月香巢初垒成，梁间燕子太无情；

明年花发虽可啄，

却不道, 人去梁空巢已倾？

一年三百六十日， 风刀霜剑严相逼；

明媚艳妍能几时，一朝飘迫难寻觅。

花开易见落难寻，阶前愁杀葬花人；

独倚花锄泪暗洒，洒上空枝见血痕。

杜鹃无语正黄昏，荷锄归去掩重门。

青灯照壁人初睡，冷雨敲窗被未温。

怪侬底事倍伤神？半为怜春半恼春。

怜春忽至恼忽去，至又无言去不闻。

昨夜庭外悲歌发，知是花魂与鸟魂？

花魂鸟魂总难留，鸟自无言花自羞。

愿侬此日生双翼，随花飞到天尽头。

天尽头，何处有香丘？

未若锦囊收艳骨，一抔净土掩风流。

质本洁来还洁去，强于污掉陷渠沟。

尔今死去侬收葬，未卜侬身何日丧！

侬今葬花人笑痴，他年葬侬知是谁！

试看春残花渐落，便是红颜老死时。

一朝春尽红颜老，花落人亡两不知！

Translation:

The Burial of the Flowers By: Cao Xueqin

The flowers wilted and flew all around the sky,

the girl died/disappeared but who will sympathize her?

Flying spider webs attached softly to the floating gazebo during spring,

fallen willow catkins stuck lightly to the silk curtains.

The girl in the mansion missed the spring evening so much,

she had so much grief but there is no channel for her to let it all out.

So she took out a flower hoe and went out of the mansion,

enduring each step on the flowers while on her way.

The willow blades and the elm tree are attractive their own way,

so they don't care about the plum flowers flying away with the pear flowers.

Plum and pear flowers will bloom again next year,

but who will be in the mansion then?

The love nest had just been built this March,

but the swallow between the pylons are too merciless;

although they will come back the next year when the flowers bloom again,

but they didn't know,

that the people will leave or their empty nest may be collapsed.

There are 360 days in one year,

but the strong winds and harsh snows hits the mansion a lot;

how long can the beauty lasts,

once she leaves it would be very difficult to find her again.

Blooming flowers are easy to spot but the wilted ones are difficult to find,

and the sadness is killing the flower burier in front of the pavement；

she dug a hole alone while crying silently,

her tears strike the bare twigs and blood streaks are seen.

It was evening as the cuckoos are silent,

the girl returned to the mansion and closed the heavy door.

The lone lamp shone the walls while people has just slept,

but the cold rain hit on the windows before the blankets are warm!

You ask for what am I so anxious about?

Half of me is sympathising the spring while the other half is worried about it.

The sympathy came as abrupt as the worriness went,

but it came silently and went without a word.

There was a melancholic cry last night outside the garden,

is it the soul of the flowers or the soul of the birds?

It is very difficult to keep the flowers' and the birds' soul,

because the birds are quiet and the flowers are shy.

I wish that I could grow a pair of wings today,

and fly with the flowers to the end of the horizon.

At the end of the horizon,

are there any fragant hills?

A silk sack is laid down to collect the wilted flowers,

and a lump of soil will cover the beauty of the flowers.

The flowers came as pure as they went,

it is better than being dirtied in the drains.

You died today and I buried you,

what will the time be when I die?

People laughed at my silliness for burying flowers today,

yet who will bury me in the later years!

Looking at the spring fading and the flowers keep on wilting,

that is the time when the girl die old.

The spring ends quickly and the girl aged,

the flowers wilted and the girl died but nobody knows!

The Cow who Jumped

There was once two jolly cows,
Grazing the greens the Earth endows.
Day after day they grazed and grazed
happily under the Sun or haze.
One day one of them looked further away
and realised there are more greens the other way!
Yet there's a river wide and deep
to be crossed only if they leap.
The cows know they are no great leapers,
as lousy as they'll be if they are swimmers.
They stared long at those emerald blades,
wishing all would be on their plates.
They continued to reap their grass
while staring in the other glass.
Before long one of them said:
"Why don't we try and jump with faith?"
The other replied in a solemn tone:
"We'll never make it with our flesh and bones."
The former wanted to go across,
to the other side even if it takes all force.
The latter wanted to stay the same
as the idea of crossing seemed insane!
So the first cow walked close to the bank
while the second will pray if the first one sank.
The water was choppy, fast and swift,
if she falls into the river she sure will drift.
The first cow hesitated for awhile
and thought: Hell, the jump will be worth the while.
Hence she stepped back and gathered her courage
and dashed forward like a bull in rage.
In a moment the hooves are alight,
there's the cow literally in flight!
There was a thump and she looked around,
she had crossed the river safe and sound!
The second cow stared in disbelieving eyes,
her jaws dropped, and gave a long sigh.
Now the first cow ate the grass
but they tasted the same, alas!
However, she felt satisfied
because she ventured to gain her new find.
She yelled back to her timid friend
to ask her to leap whenever she can,
as the feeling of satisfaction from the leap
is more than all the grass they ever reaped.
The second cow pondered and pondered,
"Can I ever make it?" she always wondered.
She decided to stay on her side
and eat her grass bite by bite.
Under the blue sky and bright afternoon Sun,
two cows are grazing until they are done.
The cow who leaped had won her game
even though the grass tastes the same.
The cow who stayed can only assume
the taste of the grass her friend consumes!

Confession

I remember
our first encounter.
Far away, you'd caught my attention -
aloof, sleek yet elegant.
You stood there silently, extravagant.

I remember
your glossy black outfit -
strangely stiff but smooth as silk,
and you stood out
among the crowd.

I remember
your sturdy physique -
solid, monolithic and exotic.
Your slick, silken curves flawless, accented
by the immaculate appearance you presented.

I remember
your ivory teeth,
perfectly shaped, perfectly arranged.
White in sevens;
black in fives.

I remember
your very first words,
spoken to me in a temperate temper,
in a familiar alien language I couldn't understand,
as I listened to your teeth prancing on every strand.

I remember
your crisp, cheery voice
which melted my heart away
as I am immersed in your rise and fall in cadence,
so harmonious, so mellow and dulcet even.

I remember
I closed my eyes
to focus on the tale you tried to tell.
With every syllable, I tried to imagine
what the composer had felt and seen.

I remember
my soul was a violent storm.
Rain and thunder crashed and thrashed,
destroying everything in my path
in uncontrolled, merciless wrath.

I remember
after meeting you
and listened to your stories - classical, jazz, ragtime,
the storm is contained, then sublimed
and the Sun shone for its first time.

I found you,
no, wait. You found me,
and you helped me find myself
after our first encounter,
I remember.

Coffee Addiction

O Dark Mother,
Once again I suckle at Thy addictive teat.
Thy perfume's taunting my hapless conscience,
In wisps of curling white fingers,
Flirting at me, seducing me
With Thy deep, black eyes
To drag me further,
To hold me,
To imprison me,
In Thy invisible cage of
Eternal lust.

Thee slid Thy warm tongue,
Over mine,
Under mine,
Around mine,
Again and again,
In an arousing sense so divine.
And down,
Deep into my throat,
Licking off other tastes
To control,
And rule
My conforming soul.

Thy heavenly kiss is like
Frozen fire
Boiling glacier
Icy toxin
Molten roses
That traps me in thy fantasy
And lingers...

It is a war
Every morning
Between Thee and me.
It is a war
Which is mine to be lost
As Thee asphyxiates my will
with Thy silent seduction
And I shalt fall inevitably
Into Thy hell
Like a moth into fire.

I am poisoned by Thee!
Thy venom flow in my veins
Into my brain
Into my bones
And seep deep into my soul,
Every cell excited.

I am hypnotised,
Brain-washed,
So that I shalt never rebel
And follow Thy wish!

I am Thy puppet
And Thou art the puppet master
Who controls me
(my heart and my body)
Without strings.

O Dark Mother,
Thou art evil, wicked, vicious!
Though I am aware lust to Thee.
No matter how hard I tried
To cut Thee off my life,
Thee will always metamorph,
Camouflage Thyself,
Anmongst the most innocent things
All around me.
Omnipresent.
Then Thee slid Thy tongue
Into my mouth,
Down my throat again
With mesmeric magic
That will transfix me in Thee.
When I realised it,
Alas, I am addicted to thee
Again!

Funeral of the Flowers

A gush of warm air
Caressed the frozen twigs
And left behind miles of
Brittle, flamboyant pink
Which blossomed overnight.

A man
Walked under the curtain of fresh pink,
Enjoying the picturesque scene
Choosing carefully its essence
And snapped photos.
Click.
Flash.
Snap.
In a fruitless attempt
To preserve the fragile blossoms

In a timeless frame.

A gush of warm air
Swept through the pink trees,
Picking off the blossomed,
Petal by petal,
As they floated effortlessly
In the air,
Gliding and dancing
On the invisible stage,
And onto the recent greens
As the man left without a word,
To follow a butterfly,
Attracted to him by the floral fragrance
Lightly grazed on him
From the flowers
By the wind.

The man is deaf
To the flowers' silent cries
As the man who had just admired them
Walked,
Stepped,
And trampled on them,
Leaving them battered.

Up in the greying sky,
A flock of white pigeons flew by
And heard the throbbing sobs
Of the trampled flowers.
They rested on a branch
Listened intently to the story
Of the delicate blooms
And lamented
In their melancholic cry.
But there's nothing they could do
To help the decaying pink
As they called to the man
Who is bewitched by the butterfly,
Oblivious to the birds' calls
That is soon drowned
Amongst the orchestra
Of the cicadas.

The tears of the fallen flowers
Washed themselves
From pink to white.
Wasted, shade by shade.

A little girl heard the flowers' weep
And pulled out her silken handkerchief.
She knelt down on the wet carpet,
Scooped up the flowers,
Laid them softly on her piece of silk
And tied the silk
Into a sack of
Fragrant coffin.

She dug a hole in the frozen earth
Six inches deep
And placed the silk coffin carefully
As if trying not to stir the sleeping flowers.
While she was covering the hole,
Mourning,
She heard a weak whisper:
"Thank you..."
From the flowers' last breath.
The butterfly flapped away,
And the man felt a sense of
emptiness.

Tale of the Fairy Tales - Chapter 2

As they headed out of the house, Diki realised that the door looks just like a pet door and the "house" is like nothing but an isolated prison cell, just without the iron bars. And there are rows and rows of them along a dirt path which Diki construed as roads. Cats were all walking on their hind feet and behaved just like humans, just with more meowing. He made a note to himself: What a strange world.

Not just the buildings, the sun as well. It's already high up in the sky, yet it glows a shining pink, giving everything a sheepish blush. He asked:

"Why is the, err, Nus? Is it? Yeah, your light giver, pink? I thought stars give out white light."

"Oh, because today's Thursday. Its the pink day. Like Monday is blue, Tuesday yellow, Wednesday green, Friday purple, Saturday and Sunday would be random. Sometimes gold, occasionally white, sometimes black even."

"Black? How is that even possible? That means..."

"That means total darkness for the whole day. Can't even see my paws even tough they are right in front of my eyes. Very rare though, about once every decade. The last one was about eleven years ago. So, we are kind of expecting it to happen again soon."

"Why don't you all just turn on the lights?"

"They won't work! Black light remember? The black covers the light, like stars during the day. There's nothing we can do about it."

The world just got stranger, Diki thought.

Soon, a three-storey building was in front of their eyes, ostentatiously lit by blown-up neon lights. The pink light made the appearance worse. The word "HANIBUCKS" blinked silently amongst the rainbow of neon lights, and under the shop name is a picture of a gorgeous looking female milking a cow. Diki squinted his eyes from the painfully bright shop front.

Ajin, apparently used to the grotesqueness of the shop front, pointed joyfully to that building and purred: "Here we are! Can you smell the high quality milk? So sophisticated."

Sophisticated? The signs are so tacky. The milk smells good though.

Together, they pushed through the glass door, and a gush of warm, sweet air greeted them.

"Good morning Ajin! How's your day?" greeted the waiter, also a cat, dressed in a reddish long laced dress with floral pattern. She looked at Diki with questioning eyes and added: "I see you've brought a rather unusual guest today?"

"I'm fine, Teera. This is Diki. Diki, Teera."

Diki and Teera gave each other a curt nod.

"So, is the FFGS still here? I need to see her."

"You are lucky, she was just about to leave. She's right there, in her usual seat."

"Thanks," and she turned to Diki and said: "You stay here," and she pranced across the room into another room. A few minutes had passed with awkward silence between Teera and Diki before Ajin signalled Diki to go in.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The room was circular and mildly scented with roses. Everything in that room looks authentic. The ceiling is three-storey high with an exuberant chandelier hanging extravagantly down. The walls are painted peach pink, with floral vines painted carefully at the top and the bottom of the walls. The furniture are all the replicas of Loius XVI. Heavy tapestry hanged from the walls together with potraits of several royal-looking cats. Roses, lilies and irises filled the room in boughs of pink, purple and white. And at the center of the room, a woman is sitting on a pink armchair with more flowers intricately carved on its oak. Two servants were standing beside her, looking ready to serve her anytime.

She looked like she is in her mid-twenties, dark, velvet hair cropped to her her shoulder with a twist of the latest hairstyle. She was wearing a red Valentino which shows off her flawless curves. She looked at Diki with her eyes, a liquid coal, while lifting a delicate china and sipped gracefully. Ajin is now lying on the carpet beside the chair.

"So, you are from the Earth? That's a whole different dimension. I know why you are here and who you are. Somebody sent you here."

"Can you tell me why am I here and who I am?"

"No," she replied as she sipped from the cup.

"Why would anyone want to send me to this creepy world?"

"I can't answer that right now," and she took another sip from the cup.

"At least tell me how do I get back."

"I can't," and she sipped again.

"Look Missy, I don't who you are, acting oh-so-your-highnessly. But you are not the only one who can help me here. I can and will find somebody else! Nice meeting you, by the way," and he stormed out of the room.

The woman took one big gulp, and said: "Fine, I will see how you can find somebody else who can travel through different dimensions. By the by, I am from the Earth too."

With that, Diki stopped halfway through the door, and turned around:

"What?"

"I said, I am from the Earth too."

Diki stared at her with astonishment. Indeed, she is the only human being he had seen so far, but something about her tells him that she is not to be trusted.

"How do I know that you are from the Earth?"

"You have a crescent-shaped scar on the left of your belly button, am I right?"

Diki stared in surprise. His clothes is obviously covering the scar, and it was not very obvious. Normal people could not really see it unless they touch the scar. He had forgotten how he got that, but it seemed like it is with him since he was born.

"How...how on Earth did you know that?" he looked at the woman, then at Ajin.

Ajin smiled and said: "She knows you very well, I believe."

"How are you so sure? I thought you don't know who I am!"

"I don't, but she does."

"Who is she anyway?"

"We call her FFGS, Faef the Fairy Godsister. She is your Fairy Godsister, Diki."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tale of the Fairy Tales - Chapter 1

He felt pain in the back of his head. Blinding pain. And his body hurts all over. It felt like a bus just hit him.

"What happened? Where am I?" he croaked under his breath.

He struggled to lift his eyelids, and instantly, a halogen lamp shone right to his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and slowly letting them to adjust to the light. Then he realised that he was in some place somewhere else alien. The room was dark except for where the lamp shone. It was small, maybe ten by twelve feet, and the walls are made of cement. No wallpaper, no paint. Just plain, grayish cement that has a century-old sheen. The air was damp and had a strange odour of rotting wood and wet fur. He cleared his throat as his eyes adjusted to the room.

He looked around and realised that he's the only one in the room with an old, lumpy bed (which is too small for him) he is lying on and a tiny book shelf full of what looks like textbooks which pages had yellowed with age right behind. The room was quiet. Deafeningly silent. Not even the buzz of a housefly. He sat up and buried his face in his palms.

"How did I get here in the first place?" he thought.

Suddenly, he heard some movements at the darkest corner of the room. With a reflex action, he jerked right out of the bed and grabbed a stick-like object. His adrenaline pumped and rushed through his veins like boiling hot water. He squinted his eyes to try to figure out the silhouette at the corner of the room, and ready to attack any second.

"Oops, did I scare you? I am sorry. People always say that I walk like a ghost," a wind-chime-like voice said.

Then, he saw a cat walking out of the corner. Its eyes glinting green in the light, staring deep into his eyes. The cat is striped with orange lines on beige or khaki. He couldn't tell. The paws are white, and its tail swinging in the air lazily. Strange was that the cat was not on its four feet, but it was standing on its hind legs. Even stranger was its eyes. They are filled with wisdom, and very humane.

The cat now circles him, looking at him, scrutinizing his every feature from head to toe. He did the same to the cat, but more with curiosity. He had a feeling that the cat was inspecting him, like a little girl with her new barbie. But he is no barbie, he thought. At that instant, he realised something. He didn't even remember who he is! He tried to recall the last thing he remembered and he only see coffee in his mind. Espresso? No. Wait. Cappuccino. Yes, have to be it. Or is it Latte? He couldn't remember a single thing. All was a blur and now his head hurts again. He touched the back of his head and saw there are blood stains all over his clothes. Then, the cat spoke:

"You have been hit at the back of your head and apparently cut in your limbs. I found you in the woods unconscious, lying in a pool of blood. I have licked your wounds clean and stitched some of them. They are quite deep. You are very lucky that none of them are fatal. You could have lost your life. By the way, you can put that baguette down. That's our breakfast."

A million questions entered his mind. He blurted weakly,"Who are you? "

" My name is Ajinomoto, or Ajin for short, but some people call me Puss in the Kinky Boots." And she took out a pair of black leather high heels shaped in the latest fashion with a killer stiletto so sharp that it can pierce through a rock like butter. "Aren't they pretty? They were a major hit this spring. Every supermodel owns a pair. Man, it was tricky to get hold of one of these. They sell like hot cat nips. Had to sneak into Heidi's house to get the right side and Tyra's house to get the other. Let me tell you, the security is tight there!" She purred and licked her paws.

" Err, okay... And where's this place?"

"Oh, this is my house. It's located in Bee-Saix-Ooo-Saix, a remote county in the country of Kaybeeyou."

"I've heard of Iran, Peru, Malaysia and England, but Kaybeeyou? Is it on the Earth? Which continent is it on?"

" The Earth? Continents? What are you talking about? And what are the things you just said?"

"They are countries. Do you even live on the Earth?"

"Again, huh? In Auzzmatt, there are no countries named like that. Not even close!"

Silence drew in once again as they stared at each other with their head tilted slightly.

"So you mean this is not the Earth? And what is Auzzmatt?"

"I have no idea what the Earth is, but I do know that this is Auzzmatt, the fifth planet from the Nus, our light giver."

He gave the reply a deep thought. Everything felt so surreal. First a talking cat, then the weird names. He decided that he must be dreaming and pinched himself hard in the thighs. He yelped like a chihuahua and knocked his head on the ceiling and yelped some more. He looked up and saw that ceiling was only six feet high. Okay, so he is not dreaming. He decided that he must have been sucked into a different world or something.

"How did I get here? And most importantly, who am I? I couldn't remember anything."

"I brought you back from the woods like I said, and I have no idea who you are. I thought that you are dying so I brought you back to my house to heal you. You have been sleeping for one whole week."

"So you mean that...," And he is interrupted by Ajin,

" Look, I know you have lots of questions to ask, but I am hungry. Go get dressed, bring that baguette with you and lets go to Hanibucks and talk this over some warm milk. Hanibucks serves the best milk around here, just in case you don't know, which I think you don't. I know someone who might be able to help you and restore your memory there. She's a frequent customer of Hanibucks and a good friend of mine," she meowed and pointed to a pile of clothes.

"I made the clothes while you were unconscious. God, how big is your body! With your size, I could've made ten of my own!"

"Excuse me, err, Ajin! I am a vegetarian and I am just the right size, thank you!" he argued.

"Whatever," Ajin said while pointing her claw out and bobbed her head clockwise. "Just hurry up. Hanibucks will be full if you don't move faster. It's hard to get a good spot there nowadays. Since you don't know your name, I shall call you Diki. Sounds sexy to me. Is that fine?"

"Fine...," he answered boringly.

He changed his clothes and Ajin put on that pair of leather boots. Minutes later, they headed out into the sun.

* * * * *