“The Way Station Where God Befalls”
By Li Shaojun Tr. Smart Dongqing
Three or five log cabins,
Lapping one or two lamplight
I, tiny as an emmet
Tonight, being delayed at a nameless way station
In the center of HuLunbeier llano
Bearing coldness and solitude lonely, yet with peaceful feeling
Behind me, stands chill night of early winter, inclement as feral tiger
Backwards, is a transverse road, plain and clear
Far backwards, flowing slowly the Erguna River
Shining like a bright ray in darkness
Further backwards, are compact birches stretching to horizon
As well as vast moor, which is withered, quiet, bright and clean
Behind all of those, are glittery and still stars of low heaven
And the tender blue night
And behind it, is the extensive north place where Numens live
