The Carving of Insects

Acknowledgements — 9
Editor’s Introduction — 11
Co-Translator’s Introduction — 35

I. The Initial Phase: 1930–1932
Evening 傍晩 — 50
Record 記錄 — 50
The Crows 群鴉 — 51
Long Journey 遠行 — 52
Shadow 影子 — 53
Cold Night 寒夜 — 54
A Monk 一個和尚 — 55
An Idler 一個閒人 — 56
Tossing 投 — 56
Long Road 長途 — 57
Night Wind 夜風 — 58
Cool Plum Drink 酸梅湯 — 59
Falling 落 — 60
Early Morning in August 八月的清晨 — 61
A Brief Parting 小別 — 63
Zhongnanhai 中南海 — 65
On the White Stone 白石上 — 66
West Chang’an Street 西長安街 — 68
Mid-Autumn Festival 過節 — 70
Continuous Rain 苦雨 — 70
Roadside Teahouse 路過居 — 71
Crying One’s Wares 叫賣 — 73
A Piece of a Wrecked Ship 一塊破船片 — 73
Several People 幾個人 — 74
Mule Cart 大車 — 75
Grass on the Wall 牆頭草 — 75

II. Finding His Voice: 1933–1935
Weariness 倦 — 78
Homecoming 還鄉 — 79
Entrust it to the Flowing Water 寄流水 — 81
Dream of the Old Town 古鎭的夢 — 82
Reed-leaf Boat 蘆葉船 — 83
Autumn Window 秋窗 — 84
The Heart of the Old City 古城的心 — 84
Entering the Dream 入夢 — 85
City in Spring 春城 — 86
By the Roadside 道旁 — 88
Contrast 對照 — 88
Aqueous Rock 水成岩 — 89
The Way Back 歸 — 89
Composition of Distances 距離的組織 — 90
Reverie on the Night of the Lantern Festival 舊元夜遐思 — 91
The Chiba Flute 尺八 — 92
Round Jewel Casket 圓寶盒 — 93
Fragment 斷章 — 94
Loneliness 寂寞 — 94
Sea Voyage 航海 — 95
Resounding Dust 音塵 — 96

III. The Joy of Love: 1936–1937
Bedtime (A Child’s Story) 休息（童話） — 98
Fish Fossil: a Fish or Girl Speaking 魚化石 — 99
Snow 雪 — 99
Tears 淚 — 100
The First Lamp 第一盞燈 — 101
Migration of Birds 候鳥問題 — 101
The Peninsula 半島 — 102
Untitled 1 無題一 — 102
Untitled 2 無題二 — 103
Untitled 3 無題三 — 103
Untitled 4 無題四 — 104
Untitled 5 無題五 — 104
The Railway Station 車站 — 105
Sleeping Carriage 睡車 — 105
Dressing Table 妝台 — 106
Water Content 水分 — 107
Roads 路 — 108
The Rain and I 雨同我 — 109
The White Seashell 白螺殼 — 110
Naughty Child 淘氣 — 112
Insects at the Lamp 燈蟲 — 113

IV. Letters of Comfort: 1938–1939
To a Sharpshooter on the Front 給前方的神槍手 — 116
To the New Local Recruits 給地方武裝的新戰士 — 117
To the Children on Sentry Duty 給放哨的兒童 — 118
To Coal Miners 給一處煤窯的工人 — 120
To Farmers who Evacuated their Houses and Cleared their Fields 給實行空室清野的農民 — 122
To the Generalissimo 給委員長 — 123
To the Author of ‘On Protracted War’ 給《論持久戰》的著者 — 124
To Air Force Fighters 給空軍戰士 — 125
To a Company Commander who Probed the Line Fence with his Finger 給一位用手指探電網的連長 — 126
To the Young Pioneers of the Northwest 給西北的開荒者 — 127

V. Later Poems: 1950–1996
Rumours Taught the ‘Nervous Wreck’ a Lesson 謠言教訓了神經病 — 130
Night March 夜行 — 132
From Winter to Spring 從冬天到春天 — 133
Gathering Water Chestnuts 採菱 — 134
Picking Osmanthus 採桂花 — 135
Prospect of the Ming Tombs 十三陵遠景 — 136
Flying over Taiwan 飛臨台灣上空 — 137
Watching Twelfth Night in New York City 紐約看《第十二夜》演出 — 139
Visiting a Deserted Private Garden in New Haven 紐海文遊私第荒園 — 140
View from a Waterside Chamber in Boston 波士頓水軒晚眺 — 140
Rochester: Inside and Outside the City 羅切斯特城內城外 — 141
Waiting for Takeoff in the Little Airport at Bloomington 布魯明屯小機場待發 — 142
Reverie upon Ascending the Sears Tower 芝加哥登樓遐思 — 143
A Short Visit to Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong 香港小遊長洲島 — 144
Listening to Streetcars Circling at Midnight 午夜遙聽街車環行 — 145

Selected Bibliography — 147
Appendix — 149

'The translation, done collaboratively by Mary M.Y. Fung and David Lunde, is artistically superb, textually faithful, and scholarly excellent.'

—PEN Center USA Judge's citation