县道184

* The song is by a Taiwan band that consists of farmers. They name the band Jiaogong (交工), pronounced /jorgon/. Jiaogong means that the farmers will help each other and exchange labor when they harvest the rice in summer.  Actually the lyrics are not sung, but narrated in Hakka (or Kejia) through a man's voice.

Country Road 184

(selected from the album The Night March of the Chrysanthemums)


In the beginning

Country Road 184 was like an earthworm

wiggling to our village

from a place where the sun sets and no other languages reach

every time when father carried rice sacks to the community for fertilizer

he woud throw me onto the cow carriage to be a paperweight



I watched from there

Country Road 184 looked like a mouse cave

the trees were entangled with each other

from there hatched out the sparrows, butterflies and dark shades



I watched from there

Country Road 184 looked like a snake

a truck wouldn't show up until after a long time

loaded with thick timbers

trees were shoveled out of the hills in a thunder

the fields have been turned into a square coner

paved with interlaced asphalt roads



it is easier to farm the land

but it is harder to make a living



now

Country Road 184 is like a leech

fixed to our village

it sucks greedily, and it grows fat

the offsprings of the village

are sucked by it

with nothing left


 

 
 











县道184 （出自专辑《菊花夜行军》）

刚开始
像一尾蚯蚓
从日头落山、语糸又不通的地方
钻到我们这个庄头

每每父亲载谷包去农会换肥料
就会把我丢到牛车上头压重

从那儿望出去
县道184像一穴老鼠洞
路两旁的铁刀木勾来搭去
孵出麻雀、蝴蝶和树影


从那儿望出去
县道184像一条蝻蛇
久久才会有一辆摒屎(宾士)牌卡车
满满叠着粗大的桧木
轰天轰地从山里铲出来
重划过后田埂改转直角
柏油路铺得密密麻麻


耕田是越来越省力
但是越来越难赚食


县道184 这时候
像一尾水蛭
趴附我们这个庄头
越吸越肥、越吸越光鲜
一庄子后生
被它
吸光光