Chrysogonus' "secrets" translated into Chinese by Cui Yuwei

secrets

Written by Chrysogonus

Translated into Chinese by Cui Yuwei

my real surname

is my family’s

best kept secret

a chinese character

figure of a plum tree

in seven strokes

it’s preserved in a calligraphy

my grandmother painted

two decades ago

as her brush moved

on a white paper

she told me the story

the story of her uncle

who went out with the army

and never came back

the story of her cousin

and their new names

she never got used to

the story of a letter

guarantee for the safety

of her family

a letter full of strange names

names chosen randomly for everybody

will it be the same old family? ­– she asked

no more surname for us

it can never be written down

it can never be acknowledged

only the calligraphy remains

a secret family insignia

kept on my grandmother’s wall

《秘密》

我的姓氏

是我家

保存最好的秘密

一个共有七笔

代表李子树

的汉字

它保存在

二十年前

祖母写的书法里

她在白纸上

挥动毛笔

给我讲故事

讲她的叔叔

参军后

再也没回来过

讲她的堂兄妹们

她一直不习惯

他们的新名字

讲一封

全家平安无恙

的信

信里全是奇怪的名字

随便起给每个人

这还是以前那个家吗？她问

再没有姓氏留给我们

无法写下来

无法被承认

只剩书法的笔迹

一个家庭秘密的记号

挂在祖母家的墙上