初恋

童年。大人们说，
凡是孩子的脸都圆。
我去问妈妈，这是为什么呢？
妈妈只是伸手指了指月亮。
那月亮很圆，静静地睡在树梢上。
我想起了弟弟的蜻蜓网，
他怎么去网这样一个娴静的姑娘。
这时屋檐下，挂满了金黄色的玉米串，
我想起了少女的项链。
于是我们在树下捉迷藏，
于是我们在月下抢“新娘”*。
不知为什么，每每我把她寻找，
她便悄悄走到我身旁，
化成了如水的月亮。
她的笑声，湿透了我的衣裳。
当有一天她长成了一棵白杨，
在原野上为了爱而歌唱。

她骑上花花的马鞍，
可我不是她的新郎。
就在那天晚上，妈妈说我是大人了。
她叫我把那些穿不上身的小衣裳，
都让我给弟弟去穿。
可是我藏下了那件，
曾被笑声湿透的衣裳。
要去寻找那晚的月光，
只有在我的灵魂里。
我想起了弟弟的蜻蜓网。
他怎么去网这样一个娴静的姑娘。

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* 抢新娘:彝族姑娘出嫁时,男方家将派人来接，这时姑娘的同伴就要出来阻挠，而男方家的人为了得到姑娘，便进行“抢”，这是一个很欢乐的场面。

  First Love       

Childhood. The grown-ups say,
all children’s faces are round.
I once asked my mother why it was so?
My mother didn’t answer me but pointed at the moon in the sky.
The moon appeared very round, sleeping quietly above the tree.
I suddenly thought of my younger brother’s dragonfly net.
I wondered how could he “net” such a gentle and refined girl.
Seeing the golden corns hung on the caves,
I thought of that girl’s necklace.
We used to play hide-and-seek together in the night.
We used to play “Scrambling the bride ”* under the moon.
I didn’t know why she always came to my side quietly
and changed into the water-like moon,
whenever I tried to seek her.
Her sweet laughter , wet my jacket.
After she grew up into a white poplar,
singing for love in the open country,

she got married.
However, I wasn’t the bridegroom.
That night, my mother said that I had grown up.
My mother told me to give all my misfit clothes
to my younger brother.
But I covertly kept the one
which was wet by her sweet laugh.
I will go to look for the moon of that night.
Only in my soul,
I often think of my younger brother’s dragonfly net
I still wonder how could he “net” such a gentle and refined girl.

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*“Scrambling the bride ”:  an old custom in Yi nationality. On the day when a Yi girl gets married, the bridegroom’s family will send some men to meet the bride. This moment, the bride’s pals will appear and stop them. To get the bride, the men the bridegroom’s family send will try to “ scramble the bride ”. It is a very joyful and lively scene.