yī jiǔ bā sì nián zhuāng jià hái méi shōu gē wán

一九八四年 庄稼还没收割完

The crops have not been harvested in 1984

nǚ ér tǎng zài wǒ huái lǐ shuì dé nà me tián

女儿躺在我怀里 睡得那么甜

My daughter lay in my arms, sleeping so sweetly

jīn wǎn de lù tiān diàn yǐng méi shí jiān qù kàn

今晚的露天电影 没时间去看

I don’t have time to watch the open-air movie tonight

qī zi tí xǐng wǒ xiū xiū fèng rèn jī de tà bǎn

妻子提醒我 修修缝纫机的踏板

My wife reminded me to repair the pedal of the sewing machine

míng tiān wǒ yào qù lín jū jiā zài jiè diǎn qián

明天我要去 邻居家再借点钱

Tomorrow I'm going to the neighbor's house to borrow some more money

hái zi kū le yī zhěng tiān a nào zhe yào chī bǐng gàn

孩子哭了一整天啊 闹着要吃饼干

The child cried all day, clamoring to eat biscuits

lán sè de dí kǎ shàng yī tòng wǎng xīn lǐ zuān

蓝色的涤卡上衣 痛往心里钻

The blue polyester blouse makes my heart hurt

dūn zài chí táng biān shàng gěi le zì jǐ liǎng quán

蹲在池塘边上 给了自己两拳

squatted on the edge of the pond and gave myself two punches

zhè shì wǒ fù qīn

这是我父亲

This is my father

rì jì lǐ de wén zì

日记里的文字

The text in the diary

zhè shì tā de qīng chūn liú xià

这是他的青春留下

This is his youth left

liú xià lái de sàn wén shī

留下来的散文诗

The prose poems left behind

jǐ shí nián hòu wǒ kàn zhe lèi liú bù zhǐ

几十年后 我看着泪流不止

Decades later, I watched the tears flow

kě wǒ de fù qīn yǐ jīng lǎo dé xiàng yī gè yǐng zi

可我的父亲已经 老得像一个影子

But my father is as old as a shadow

yī jiǔ jiǔ sì nián

一九九四年

1994

zhuāng jià zǎo yǐ shōu gē wán

庄稼早已收割完

The crops have already been harvested

wǒ de lǎo mǔ qīn qù nián lí kāi le rén jiān

我的老母亲去年 离开了人间

My old mother left the world last year

nǚ ér zhā zhe mǎ wěi biàn pǎo jìn le xiào yuán

女儿扎着马尾辫 跑进了校园

Daughter ran into the campus with a ponytail

kě shì tā zuì jìn yǒu diǎn gū dān shòu le yī dà quān

可是她最近 有点孤单瘦了一大圈

But she has lost a lot of weight recently

xiǎng yī xiǎng wèi lái

想一想未来

Think about the future

wǒ lǎo chéng le yī duī jiù zhǐ qián

我老成了一堆旧纸钱

I'm old and become a pile of old paper money

nà shí de nǚ ér yī dìng huì měi dé hěn jīng yàn

那时的女儿一定 会美得很惊艳

The daughter at that time would be amazingly beautiful

yǒu gè ài tā de nán rén yào qǔ tā huí jiā

有个爱她的男人 要娶她回家

A man who loves her wants to marry her and go home

kě xiǎng dào zhè xiē wǒ què bù rěn kàn tā yī yǎn

可想到这些 我却不忍看她一眼

Think of this, but I can’t bear to look at her

zhè shì wǒ fù qīn

这是我父亲

This is my father

rì jì lǐ de wén zì

日记里的文字

The text in the diary

zhè shì tā de shēng mìng liú xià

这是他的生命 留下

This is his life, stay

liú xià lái de sàn wén shī

留下来的散文诗

The prose poems left behind

jǐ shí nián hòu

几十年后

Decades later

wǒ kàn zhe lèi liú bù zhǐ

我看着泪流不止

I watched the tears not stop

kě wǒ de fù qīn yǐ jīng lǎo dé xiàng yī zhāng jiù bào zhǐ

可我的父亲已经老得像一张旧报纸

But my father is as old as an old newspaper

jiù bào zhǐ

旧报纸

old newspaper

nà shàng miàn de gù shì jiù shì yī bèi zi

那上面的故事 就是一辈子

The story above is a lifetime