墨湾客的诗词《射日者》（后面有 英语版和英语解析）Mowank's poem 《The Archer》
(Bilingual and English readers: see the English version and English analysis below)
射日者
作者: 墨湾客
一、九日
天上有十个太阳的时候
人们已经忘了
该叫它太阳
还是叫它灾难
水枯了，土裂了
后羿站在焦土上
眯眼看天
他数了数，十个
多了九个
一个就刚好
二、弓
那把弓是帝俊赐的
彤弓素矰
握在手里
沉得像一副担子
他拉开弦时
听见弓身里有声音
说射出去的
收不回来
他想了想
还是松了手
三、落
九支箭
九团火
九声巨响
砸进东海里
砸进泥土里
砸进人们的传说里
只剩一个太阳
吓得脸都白了
挂在天边
不敢动
后羿收了弓
天忽然凉了
四、功
人们围过来
叫他英雄
叫他救星
把剩下的庄稼
酿成酒
他喝了
却想起那九个太阳
掉下去的时候
地上也亮了一瞬
那亮
和现在这一个
好像也没什么不同
五、长生
西王母给了不死药
说你射日有功
这药够你升天
他拿回家
放在桌上
看了很久
想起天上那一个
孤零零的太阳
又想起地上
那么多人叫他英雄
英雄该怎么活
他不知道
六、月
后来嫦娥把药吃了
飞上月亮
他追出去
只看见一轮月
比太阳凉
比太阳远
他坐在门外
忽然明白
射落的九个太阳
都在天上留了坑
而那个没射的
才是这辈子
最不敢碰的
那一箭
——————
The Archer
By Mowanke
I. Nine Suns
When there were ten suns in the sky
people had already forgotten
whether to call them suns
or call them disaster
The water dried, the earth cracked
Hou Yi stood on the scorched ground
squinting at the sky
He counted，ten
nine extra
one just right
II. The Bow
That bow was bestowed by Emperor Jun
red lacquer and white silk cord
held in the hand
heavy as a yoke
When he drew the string
he heard a voice within the bow
saying what is shot
cannot be recalled
He thought for a moment
and still let go
III. Falling
Nine arrows
nine balls of fire
nine thunderous crashes
plunged into the Eastern Sea
into the soil
into the legends of men
Only one sun remained
scared pale
hanging at the edge of sky
not daring to move
Hou Yi lowered his bow
and suddenly the sky grew cool
IV. Merit
People crowded around
calling him hero
calling him savior
brewing the remaining crops
into wine
He drank
but thought of those nine suns
when they fell
the earth also blazed for a moment
That blaze
and the one now remaining
seemed not so different after all
V. Immortality
The Queen Mother of the West gave him the elixir
saying you have earned it by shooting the suns
enough to ascend to heaven
He brought it home
set it on the table
looked at it a long while
thinking of that one sun in the sky
so lonely
and of all those on earth
calling him hero
how should a hero live
he did not know
VI. The Moon
Later Chang'e swallowed the elixir
flew to the moon
He ran outside
and saw only a round moon
cooler than the sun
farther than the sun
He sat outside the door
and suddenly understood
the nine suns he shot down
all left craters in the sky
and the one he did not shoot
was the arrow
he had never dared to touch
in all his life
——————
Poetry Analysis:
"The Archer"
The Core Theme
This poem retells the myth of Hou Yi shooting down nine suns, but it is not about heroism. It is about the hidden cost of action — what happens inside a person after they do something great and irreversible.
Part-by-Part Reading
I. Nine Suns — The Problem
Ten suns scorch the earth. Hou Yi counts: "nine extra / one just right." This seems simple — evil vs. good. But the poem quietly plants a question: who decides which sun is "just right"? The line between disaster and blessing is thinner than it looks.
II. The Bow — The Weight of Choice
The bow is a gift, but it feels like "a yoke" — a burden. The voice inside says "what is shot / cannot be recalled." This is the poem's philosophical center: every decisive action is irreversible, and the person who acts must carry that knowledge.
III. Falling — The Ambiguity of Victory
Nine suns fall. But notice: "the earth also blazed for a moment." Even destruction brings light. The remaining sun is "scared pale." Hou Yi has won, yet the sky feels emptier, not fuller.
IV. Merit — The Emptiness of Praise
People call him hero. He drinks their wine. But he thinks: the nine fallen suns' light "seemed not so different" from the one he spared. Heroism is a label others give you; inside, you only see the ambiguity. He cannot feel the difference between what he destroyed and what he saved.
V. Immortality — The Impossible Question
The elixir of life sits on the table. He looks at it and thinks of the lonely remaining sun. "How should a hero live / he did not know." Having power does not mean knowing how to live. The reward for great action becomes another burden.
VI. The Moon — The Unshot Arrow
Chang'e flies away. He is left alone. The final insight: the nine suns he shot left "craters in the sky" — permanent wounds. But the one he did not shoot is "the arrow / he had never dared to touch." The deepest thing in a person's life is not what they did, but what they chose not to do — or could not bring themselves to do. That restraint, that hesitation, is the real self.
Key Philosophical Ideas
1. Action vs. Inaction — Shooting is easy; knowing what not to shoot is the harder wisdom.
2. The irreversibility of choice — The bow's voice warns: you cannot take it back.
3. The loneliness of the hero — Praise from others cannot fill the inner void.
4. Emptiness after achievement — The sky is cooler, but also emptier. What remains after the great deed?
Zen/Buddhist Echoes
· The "yoke" of the bow = the burden of attachment to action
· The craters left in the sky = karma, the trace of every deed
· The unshot arrow = the "gateless gate" — the thing you cannot grasp or resolve
· Sitting alone outside the door at the end = sudden awakening, quiet and bare
In One Sentence
The poem asks: after you have done the greatest thing you will ever do, who are you — and what is the one thing you still cannot face?
——————
九日坠天弓未收，人间犹自颂功谋。
谁知月下沉吟客，不射骄阳是此愁。
—— 墨湾客
Nine suns fell from the sky, the bow still in his hand—
The world still sings of deeds and glory through the land.
Who knows the guest who sits beneath the moon in thought?
The sun he did not shoot—that is the grief he caught.
—— Mowanke
——————
作者简介：卢英杰，笔名 墨湾客，美国，理学博士，终身教授。诗词和译作发表在多个电子版刊 和纸刊，诗词选集,《CCTV爱华春晚》，和《人民日报海外版》等。
The Poem's Author Bio: Lu Yingjie, pen name Mowanke, Ph.D. ，a chemist, poet, translator, tenured professor in the U.S.. His poems and translations have been published in numerous electronic and print journals, poetry anthologies, the CCTV “Aihua” Spring Festival Gala, and the People's Daily (Overseas Edition), among others.
