Anja Kampmann

Versuch über das Meer

Es soll um den Horizont gehen den

Farbauftrag der Ferne das helle Knistern

der Flächen von Licht und die Verbreitung

des Lichts wie es sich aufbäumt das Meer

in seiner weiten Brust der Faulschlamm

der Fischmehlfabriken das Meer der romantischen

Feuer an den Kiesstränden Reisende

die sich für immer verlieren

in einer Aussicht das Meer in den Häfen, den Docks

den Containerarealen das Meer züngelnd

unter Kränen die nachtwärts

das Heimweh hieven das Meer der Muränen

lauernd hinter einem Stein

das Meer der Tiefe verborgen ein Suchbild

für die Träume vom. Meer

die im Meer verschwunden sind grundlos

die Gräben darüber ein Mosaik aus Flocken

strömendes zähes Feld aus Dreck das Meer

das so gut verborgen ist japsend nach Luft in

seiner weiten Brust nach sich selbst

schnappend.

*

grenzland

wir haben tauwetter für die helleren stunden

wir haben keine kälte gekannt nur die leitern

führten hoch und höher in den baum wo die früchte

in gruppen hingen … Read More »

郑愁予

我打江南走过
那等在季节里的容颜如莲花的开落
东风不来，三月的柳絮不飞
你的心如小小的寂寞的城
恰若青石的街道向晚
跫音不响，三月的窗扉紧掩
我达达的马蹄是美丽的错误
我不是归人，是个过客

Carol Bensimon

Acontece que nasceram numa cidade bem pequena entre duas mais ou menos grandes, um tipo de coisa ruim para o conformar-se, porque assim tinham toda a estrada para olhar, e olhavam. E acontece que na beira da estrada havia uma venda em casa de mil novecentos e trinta e poucos, seus degraus uma arquibancada para as meninas. Ficavam, e toda a tarde. Uns carros iam passando, um carro parava. Titi deixava que as pernas finas se esticas­sem na passagem, as picadas de mosquito em casquinhas de sangue de tanto coçar. A camiseta ia até as coxas, se coxas já tivesse. O viajante pedia licença, entrava, Titi ria escondido. Lina, mais velha em três anos, era um tanto mais triste. Não mostrava perna nem nada, pois alguma coisa já começava a ter. Riscava o nome com uma … Read More »

Zhang Ailing
translated by Qiaomei Tang

It is true.

There was a village. There was a girl from a well-to-do family. She was a beauty. Matchmakers came, but none succeeded. She was no more than fifteen or sixteen, when on a spring evening she stood at the back door, resting her arm on a peach tree. She remembers the moon-white dress she wore. The young man living opposite her house had seen her before, but had never greeted her. He approached, stood still before her, and said softly: “Oh, you are here, also?” She said nothing, and he said nothing more. They stood for a while, then each walked away.

Like that, it was over.

Time passed. The girl was abducted by a relative, and would be a concubine in a strange land. Again and again, she was resold. Having endured … Read More »

張愛玲

這是真的。

有個村莊的小康之家的女孩子，生得美，有許多人來做媒，但都沒有說成。那年她不過十五六歲吧，是春天的晚上，她立在後門口，手扶著桃樹。她記得她穿的是一件月白的衫子。對門住的年輕人同她見過面，可是從來沒有打過招呼的，他走了過來，離得不遠，站定了，輕輕的說了一聲：“噢，你也在這裡嗎？”她沒有說什麼，他也沒有再說什麼，站了一會，各自走開了。

就這樣就完了。

後來這女子被親眷拐子賣到他鄉外縣去作妾，又幾次三番地被轉賣，經過無數的驚險的風波，老了的時候她還記得從前那一回事，常常說起，在那春天的晚上，在後門口的桃樹下，那年輕人。

於千萬人之中遇見你所遇見的人，於千萬年之中，時間的無涯的荒野裡，沒有早一步，也沒有晚一步，剛巧趕上了，那也沒有別的話可說，惟有輕輕的問一聲：“噢，你也在這裡嗎？”

Neda Miranda Blažević-Kreitzman
translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac

Many people wrestle with discomfort and fear when they travel by air. Dino Lučić and Veljko Linić were not that sort. The two young businessmen from Split, Croatia were now reclining, relaxed, en route from Frankfurt, Germany to Los Angeles, wrestling with the urge to sleep that was pulling down their drooping eyelids, hampering their adventuresome spirit to gaze out the little window at the vivid blue sky through which their speedy vessel was winging its way.

Dino Lučić was tall, slender, dark-haired, while Veljko Linić was medium-height, muscular, and blue-eyed. Both worked at Jedrogradnja, a company that built and sold speedboats and yachts. Their best customers were Americans. The salesmen for Jedrogradnja had been working with B&B Brothers, Inc. of Los Angeles for nearly four years.

Lučić and Linić had … Read More »

Neda Miranda Blažević-Krietzman

Mnogi ljudi se neuspješno bore s nelagodom i strahom od letenja zrakoplovom. Dino Lučić i Veljko Linić nisu pripadali toj skupini ljudi. Ta dvojica mlađih, poslovnih muškaraca iz Splita su sada mirno sjedila na svojim sjedalima u zrakoplovu koji je letio iz Frankurta u Los Angeles i neuspješno se borila jedino sa snom koji im je zaklapao otežale očne kapke, lomeći tako njihove putničke namjere da virkaju kroz prozorčić u blistavo, plavo nebo po kojemu je plužila njihova brza plovilica.
Dino Lučić je bio visok, tanak i tamnokos, a Veljko Linić srednje visine, mišićav i plavook. Obojica su radila u Jedrogradnji, tvrtci koja je gradila i prodavala sportske i motorne jedrilice. Jedrogradnjini najbolji kupci su bili Amerikanci. S tvrtkom The B & B Brothers Inc. u Los Angelesu, predstavnici Jedrogradnje surađivali su gotovo četiri godine.
Lučić i Linić su bili … Read More »

Thibault de Montaigu
translated by Lara Vergnaud

Some people will no doubt feel this work lacks precision and that it’s impossible to write a decent book about a criminal investigation while remaining comfortably settled at home sipping a Diet Coke as you watch rain fall outside the window. It so happens that I’ve always worked like this, preferring to take a back seat for the benefit of my readers. I find the telephone more than sufficient and only venture out of my house to interview the main protagonists of my stories. Except, in this specific case, there aren’t any. Klein and Vasconcelos have been dead for a long time and I don’t have any other choice but to rely on the copious documentation about them that’s been provided me. Someone will object that I didn’t gather this documentation and that … Read More »

Bernardo Carvalho

1.

Antes mesmo de ele completar dez anos, a mãe já o obrigava a acompanhá-la até o cais para negociar o peixe que os homens traziam de manhã. Não é por acaso que o menino acabou tomando tamanha aversão aos negócios e ao comércio. A cena é sempre a mesma. Mãe e filho vêm pela rua empoeirada que margeia o rio, ambos vestindo galabeyas muito simples e calçados de alpercatas. Ela vem coberta de preto da cabeça aos pés, caminha como se passeasse sem rumo num domingo de sol. Ele é tão pequeno e está tão pouco à vontade que, apesar da galabeya encardida, com a bainha esfiapada arrastando pelo chão de terra, mais parece vestido para uma ocasião especial. A mãe apóia o cotovelo sobre a pilastra no alto da balaustrada de um dos lados da escada … Read More »