张常氏，你的保姆/Nee Zhang Chang

我在一所外语学院任教
这你是知道的
我在我工作的地方
从不向教授们低头
这你也是知道的
我曾向一位老保姆致敬
闻名全校的张常氏
在我眼里
是一名真正的教授
系陕西省蓝田县下归乡农民
我一位同事的母亲
她的成就是
把一名美国专家的孩子
带了四年
并命名为狗蛋
那个金发碧眼
一把鼻涕的崽子
随其母离开中国时
满口地道秦腔
满脸中国农民式的
朴实与狡黠
真是可爱极了

Nee Zhang Chang, Your Nanny

I teach at a foreign language school
As you know
In my work place
I bow to no professor
As you know also
But I once bowed deep to an old nanny
The famous Nee Zhang Chang
She’s a real professor
A peasant from Lantian County, Shanxi Province
Mother of my colleague
For four years
She raised an American kid
Named him gou dan—dog shit
When he left China with his mom
The blue-eyed blond with runny nose
Spoke a pure Qin dialect
His face alive
With the simplicity and cunning
Of a peasant
How lovely!

   Translated by Wang Ping and Alex Lemon