Kiran Bhat
A little boy asks Kiran: What is your favorite animal?
一个小男孩问道客燃脑：你最喜欢的动物是什么？
客然脑说；不是一头大象
但它的肤比泥更灰,
比木炭和灰泥更坚硬,
和他们的眼睛燃烧着，
这是一个聪明的标志.
不是鲸鱼.
虽然他们也很聪明.
他们互相玩游戏，
唱最奇妙的歌曲，
只是寻找需要.
如果动物有文学能力，
鲸鱼的诗歌
将是我会读的第一本.
并不是人，
我可能是人，
但我宁愿被锁在一只羊笼里，
谁至少知道如何尊严地对待对方.
客然脑结说：我相信我爱蚂蚁.
他们的身体是葡萄的灯泡.
一个比我的手指甲小的脑，
他们建造了最和谐的寺庙，
在那些已死的人的骨灰上.
他们自己思考,
但作为一个团队工作.
如果他在挡道了，那么他们可以伤害别.
他们也尊重他人的领土.
它们确实是最珍贵的动物.
小男孩问道; 那么,为什么当你看到一只蚂蚁时，
走在桌子上，你停下来挤压它？
客然脑出了最狡猾的微笑。
我确信没有其他物种，
有了破坏人性的人类。
A little boy asks Kiran: What is your favorite animal?
Kiran says: It isn’t the elephant,
But their skin is grayer than mud,
Tougher than charcoal and stucco,
And their eyes simmer and smother,
It is the sign of an intelligent being.
It is not the whale.
Though they are also quite intelligent.
They play games with each other,
Sing the most wondrous of songs,
And only hunt for need.
If the animals were capable of literature,
The poetry of the whales
Would be the first that I would read.
Nor is it the human,
I may be a human,
But I would rather be locked in a cage of sheep,
Who at least know how to treat each other with dignity.
Kiran concludes:
I believe I love the ants.
Their beady body the bulbs of grapes.
A brain smaller than my fingernail,
They build the most harmonious of temples,
On the ashes of those long dead.
They think for themselves,
Yet work as a team.
They only harm the living if they are in their way.
They respect the territories of others as well.
They are the most precious animal, indeed.
The kid asks; then why is it that, when you see an ant,
walking on the table, you stop and squish it?
Kiran gives the most devious smile.
He says; because whenever I see an ant,
I am convinced that there is not a single other species,
With the power to undermine humanity.
The Mandarin version of this poem appeared in Kiran Speaks (White Elephant Press, 2019).
Kiran Bhat is the author of the poetry collections Autobiografia (Letrame Editorial, 2019) and Kiran Speaks (White Elephant Press, 2019), as well as the Kannada-language travelogue Tirugaatha (Chiranthana Media Solutions, 2019) and the novel We of the Forsaken World (Iguana Books, 2019). He has traveled to over 130 countries, lived in 18 different places, and speaks 12 languages. He considers Mumbai his spiritual base, but currently lives in Melbourne.
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