The Answer（《回答》北岛）
Baseness is a passport for the base,
Honour an epitaph for the honourable.
See how the gilded sky teems
With the twisted shadows of the dead.
The ice age is over,
So why does ice still bind the world?
The Cape of Good Hope has been discovered,
So why is the Dead Sea still thick with sails?
I come into this world
Carrying only paper, rope and a shadow,
To proclaim before judgment is passed
This plea of the judged:
Listen to me, world,
I – do – not – believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet
Then I am number one thousand and one.
I don’t believe the sky is blue;
I don’t believe the thunder’s roar;
I don’t believe that dreams are false;
I don’t believe that death has no revenge.
If the ocean is destined to break the dike;
Then let its bitter water pour into my soul;
If the land is destined to rise,
Then let mankind choose a new mountain for survival.
The vast unobstructed firmament
Is it with glimmering stars;
They are a new turning:
These hieroglyphs of the ages,
These staring eyes of the future.
