A private chamber in the inner palace. Shadowed silk screens. Incense drifts like ghosts. Outside: ritual gongs, muffled chanting—the execution of Tiě Xuè and Tiě Lián proceeds without interruption. Inside: stillness, sacred and wrong. Time bends. A hush. Bǎ Xī Lā kneels in meditation beside Dà Láng, who wears only thin silken robes, flushed and expectant. A bronze brazier flickers with violet flame. Scrolls unfurl like tongues. A bowl of cinnabar ink bleeds across the floor.
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ.
[轻语] “此处唯你我。星宿亦阖目——
似这九天十地……不敢窥伺。”
[Whispering] “It’s just you and me here. The stars are also closed ––
just like the nine heavens and ten earths… dare not peek.”
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
“苍天何曾容得……情人欢好？”
[褪去外袍，仰卧祭坛，闭目]
“快些，郎君。妾身……已难耐。”
“How can heaven allow… lovers to enjoy each other?” [Slips off her robes, lies on the altar with her eyes closed] “Hurry up, my love. I can’t wait anymore.”
[长寂。她睁眼。巴悉拉伫立如石，唇动无声，诵念畸变经文——喉音沉浊，似古庙残碑之语。]
[Long silence. She opens her eyes. Bǎ Xī Lā stands like stone, fully clothed, lips moving. The words are twisted scripture—glottal, guttural—spoken in a broken, holy tongue older than any temple.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ.
“此妇当为吾怒之器，备以毁殁。“
“She shall be for Me a vessel of wrath, prepared for destruction.”
[炉火骤燃。屏风影动，如逃如窜。]
[The brazier flares. Shadows crawl up the silk screens, as if fleeing.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ [续]
“首当净器。
其额题名：奥秘哉，大巴比伦，娼妓与地上可憎物之母。“
“First, we anoint the vessel.
And upon her forehead was a name written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.”
[他捧起朱砂墨碗，以颤指绘经咒于大狼肌肤——腹、胸、腿。字迹隐泛幽光。]
[He lifts the bowl of cinnabar ink. With trembling fingers, he paints sutras in black and rust-red across Dà Láng’s skin—belly, breasts, thighs. They glow faintly.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ [续]
“吾言岂非如火，亦如击磐之锤？“
“Is not My word like fire, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
[他将一柄浸透腐煞的玉刃掷入火中。刃嘶鸣，泣血，渗黑。大狼喘息渐促——如堕幻境。]
[He places a jade dagger, black with corruption, into the flame. It hisses. Screams. Bleeds blackness. Dà Láng’s breath quickens—entranced.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ.
[柔声，几近爱怜]
“产门已闭。
‘地开口，吞没妇人与其神裔。‘
今吾当启新门。“
[Softly, almost tender.] “The mouth of birth is closed. ‘The earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the woman and her seed.’ Now I will open a new gate.”
[Before she can move, the dagger plunges. The sound of flesh bursting apart. Blood hisses onto her breasts, her thighs, the altar stone. Her body arches in shock. No moans of ecstasy, only pain. Then his palm presses to her navel. A twisting, wet sound——like flesh folding back upon itself. Her belly splits, not by blade nor wound, but like a flower blooming into teeth. A gaping, glowing maw opens, wet, obscene, hungry. Dà Láng screams.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ [续]
“彼倾魂至死……与罪同列。“
“He poured out His soul unto death… and was numbered among the transgressors.”
[From his robe, Bǎ Xī Lā removes a burning heart—still pulsing, riddled with veins of silver qi. He pours it into her, into the maw. The chanting outside grows frantic. As the last of the qi is spent, the heart withers to ash. The glow dims. The vagina dentata closes like swirling sand in the desert.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ [续]
“人将称其为可憎之母。彼将再孕，产兽。”
“They will call her mother of abominations. She will conceive once more, and it shall be a beast.”
[大狼瘫倒——汗濡身颤，血污狼藉，目眦欲裂。]
[Dà Láng falls back—drenched in sweat, shaking, bleeding, terrified.]
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
[喘促]
“冷极——
不——灼如焚……此为何物？“
[Gasping] It’s cold— No—it burns … what is it?
[巴悉拉漠然掷袍掩其残躯。仪毕。他目中已无她。]
[Almost absently, Bǎ Xī Lā tosses her robes across her ruined body. The ceremony is over. His eyes are empty of her now.]
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ.
[自语] “彼已成魔居，聚万秽灵，囚诸不洁憎鸟之笼。“
[朗声] “盘绕之暗。
汝已成终焉之杯。“
[To himself.] “She is become the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” [Aloud.] The coiled dark. You are now the chalice of ending.
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
[气若游丝]
“妾觉……其已动。此刻便动。“
[barely above a whisper] “I feel… it moving. Already.”
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ.
“待皇后啖女肉，
待尸月裂，
待五毒蔽天——
其将破汝而出。”
When the Empress eats the flesh of her daughters, when the corpse-moon cracks, when the heavens darken with five poisons— then it will crawl free.
[地底深处，古物蠢动。非肺所生之呻，无名之饥。]
[Far below, something ancient shifts in the roots of the earth. A moan not born of lungs. A hunger without name.]
[他走向殿门。外间法锣一声——铁炼命绝。他驻足，回望。]
[He walks to the door. Outside, a ritual gong sounds—Tiě Lián’s death. He pauses. Looks back once.]
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
[恍惚呢喃]
“妾身……将为彼之母。
吾儿。
吾儿。
吾儿。“
[dazed, whispering] “I … will be his mother. Our son. Our son. Our son.”
巴悉拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ.
[低语]
“然。
亦为……首飨。“
[to himself] “Yes. And its first meal.”
֍
Note.
In the image I am including here, Bǎ Xī Lā paints the word “永世沉沦” on the wall, which I am choosing to translate as, “Eternal damnation.”
A single bell chimes. The stage is bare save for a platform, center, upon which rest two bundles, wrapped in white cloth tied with red ceremonial cord. The silence holds. Tiān Mǔ enters in white general’s robes, flanked by Tiě Gū and Tiě Yīng. She walks slowly, then kneels in front of Sàtǔn and the royal court.
天母 / TIĀN MǓ. “太平之年，臣执此剑，以彰武德。
战乱之时，臣以血饲之。帝国之下——唯忠而已。
今臣之忠义遭疑，剑锈心枯……
然若老朽一臂，可洗吾女之辱……
则不必多言。“
“In times of peace, I held this sword with honor. In war, I fed it blood. Under the empire, there is only loyalty. Now my loyalty is doubted, my sword is rusted and my heart is withered… But if my old arm can still wash away the shame of my daughter… then there is no need to say more.”
[She washes her hands in the basin. A pause. Then, unsheathing her blade, she steadies it with one hand on the ground. She wraps her left wrist with white silk, braces and swiftly cuts off her own hand. A sharp exhale. The hand falls into the basin. Blood swirls in water. She bows forward, kowtows, forehead touching the floor.]
天母 / TIĀN MǓ [cont.] “为帝国。为仁慈。为陛下。“
“For the Empire. For Mercy. For you, my Empress.”
[萨屯起身，神色慵懒。她踱至台前，审视包裹，忽莞尔一笑。 ]
[Sàtǔn stands, slow and unbothered. She approaches the dais, examining the bundles. Then, with the barest smile, she speaks.]
萨屯 / SÀTǓN. “一臂？将军，朕要的是忠心, 而非残羹。“
“Just one hand, General? I asked for loyalty, not leftovers.”
[She gestures, and an Attendant silently unties one of the cloth bundles. The audience sees nothing—only Tiān Mǔ’s face. Her expression freezes, then shatters.]
萨屯 / SÀTǓN[cont.]
“朕赐你双礼……合该感激才是。她们的头颅, 沉甸甸的，压着羞耻。朕已为尔…… 轻如鸿毛。“ “I have given you two gifts… you should be grateful. Their heads were heavy, weighed down with shame. I have made them… as light as a feather.”
[天母凝望包裹，面色骤僵，形同槁木。腕间滴血无声。铁鹰缓步上前。]
[Tiān Mǔ says nothing. She does not scream. She does not move. Her severed wrist drips blood onto the floor. Tiě Yīng steps forward slowly.]
铁影 / TIĚ YĪNG. “这就是帝国对待女儿的方式吗？“
“Is this how empire honors its daughters?”
[萨屯不答，含笑携众退场。铁鹰跪于天母身侧，视血刃与朱绳包裹。]
[Sàtǔn does not respond. She smiles, turns, and exits with the Court, leaving the bundles behind. Tiě Yīng kneels beside Tiān Mǔ, who still kneels, broken. She looks to the blood, the sword, the silent cloth-covered heads.]
“There is no place for me to stand here. Not in your majesty’s palace, not in the ancestral temple, not on the battlefield. What my mother taught me, I will always remember –– but it is definitely not… for this empire.”
[她拾起血刃，如抱婴孩，下。天母独跪，静默如渊。]
[She picks up the bloodied sword, cradles it like a child, and exits. Tiān Mǔ remains kneeling in silence.]
发烧梦 / FEVER DREAM. 「天如焦帛，血肉未忘所吞之誓。」 The sky like scorched silk; the flesh has not forgotten the vows it was forced to swallow.
第二幕，第一场 / Act 2, Scene 1
[沙漠边缘，枯树下。] [Edge of the desert, under a dead tree.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ “昨日身陷桎梏……今日？” “Yesterday, in chains … Today?” [她将手按向地面；大地发出痛苦的哀鸣。] [She lays a hand against the ground; it cries in anguish.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ [cont.] “哈。连沙砾都畏惧我的触碰。” “Hah. Even the sand recoils from my touch.”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “如今我们被抛弃了，母亲却在宫里舔着萨顿的靴子。” “Now we are abandoned, and Mother licks Sàtǔn’s boots in the Palace.”
[巴希拉从阴影中现身。] [Bǎ Xī Lā rises from out of the shadows.]
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “迷途的小蛇，你们和我一样饥肠辘辘吧？想尝尝神明的血肉么？” “Lost little snakes, are you as hungry as I am? Do you want to taste the flesh and blood of the gods?”
[巴希拉作势要拥抱蓝毒。她后退一步。] [Bǎ Xī Lā moves as if to embrace Lán Dú. She steps back.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “吻我，就是自取灭亡。” “To kiss me is to destroy yourself.”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “你向一个无人得见的神明祈祷，但这救不了你。我们的贪欲……足以招致灭顶之灾。” “You pray to a god no one can see, but it cannot save you. Our greed … is enough to bring disaster.”
[巴希拉猛地拽过黑都，粗暴地吻住她。他的脸并未因她的毒液而溃烂……毫无异状。] [Bǎ Xī Lā suddenly grabs Hēi Dú and roughly kisses her. Instead of his face melting from her poison … nothing happens.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “怎么可能？那绝非武学！那是……” “How is that possible? That’s no martial art! That’s …”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “邪术？’那兽被赐予一张口，用以吐出狂言与亵渎之语。'” “Deviltry? ‘And the beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies.'”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “你为何跟踪我们？有何企图？” “Why are you following us? What do you want?”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “小丫头，你的毒液连耶和华都要避让，而我，早已凌驾于耶和华之上。” “Little girl, even Yahweh would shun your venom—but I have already surpassed Yahweh.”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “‘耶和华？'” “‘Yahweh’?”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “异族语言的异族词汇。我的舌头尝过你，滋味……妙不可言。” “A foreign word from a foreign tongue. My tongue has tasted you, and the flavor … divine.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “你究竟想要什么？” “What exactly do you want?”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “《五毒女经》有云：’凡以腹匍匐者，皆为不洁。’我只要你们最珍视之物。” “The Five Poisons Scripture says: ‘All that crawl on their bellies are an abomination.’ I want only what you hold most dear.”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “我们的贞洁岂容你玷污！” “We won’t let you defile our chastity!”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “‘处女之身’？真古怪。不，小蛇们，我渴望的是你们丹田里盘绕的……你们毒液般的黑色莲花。” “‘Chastity’? Quaint. No, little snakes, I desire the black lotus curled in your Dāntián … your venomous core.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “我不明白。” “I don’t understand.”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “当然。你、你母亲、宫里那群蠢货……无人知晓末日为何物，更不知它如何降临。” “Of course you don’t. You, your mother, those fools in the Palace … none of you know what the end of days means, let alone how it arrives.”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “唯有不信者才觉得晦涩。你们渴望不可得之物。只要忠于这份渴望，自会得偿所愿。” “Only the faithless find it obscure. You hunger for what cannot be had. Stay loyal to that hunger—and it shall be fed.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “‘有奖励吗？'” “‘Rewarded’?”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “你岂知我们心中所想？” “How do you know what lies in our hearts?”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “呵！我岂会不知？明日，我们尊贵的新皇后将携众人出宫透气。沙漠中有片绿洲时隐时现，人称诅咒之地……却有鹿群冒险饮水。” “Hah! How could I not know? Tomorrow, our noble new empress will lead the court beyond the palace walls. There’s an oasis in the desert, a cursed place that comes and goes … yet the deer still dare drink from it.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “然后呢？” “Then what?”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “不仅仅是欲望。不仅仅是荣耀。你所追求的是……” “Not just desire. Not just glory. What you seek is …”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “复仇。” “Revenge.”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “为你妹妹。为你母亲。明日，那群蝇营狗苟之徒将散落在诅咒之水畔，浑然不觉……任人宰割。” “For your sister. For your mother. Tomorrow, those petty parasites will be spread along the banks of cursed waters, oblivious … ripe for slaughter.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. [恍然] “便于我们……设伏。” [Suddenly] “It’ll make it easy for us … to set an ambush.”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “……如果我们自己去打猎的话！” “… if we do a little hunting of our own!”
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ. “正是。” “Exactly.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “巴希拉，妙极！初来时还以为你不过是母亲的玩物……没想到竟是五毒宗高人。” “Bǎ Xī Lā, brilliant! When I arrived, I thought you were just Mother’s pet … but you’re a true master of the Five Poisons Sect.”
黑都 / HĒI DÚ. “姐姐，回宫！明日必有好戏。” “Sister, let’s return to the Palace! Tomorrow, the real show begins.”
[双胞胎离去，她们的残影如热浪中的蜃楼，缓缓消散。] [The twins depart. Their afterimages shimmer like heat mirages and slowly vanish.]
巴希拉 / BǍ XĪ LĀ “快滚吧，小蜈蚣。你们五毒教终将覆灭。纵是耶和华也会骇然背过脸去。’……见有一匹灰色马，骑在马上的，名为死亡，阴府紧随其后。'” “Run along, little centipedes. Your Five Poisons Sect will be destroyed. Even Yahweh would turn his face in horror. ‘And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.'”
֍
童笑浮荒泉，蛊梦沿风绽。
地心封旧咒，尸花向火眠。
The child’s laughter floats above desolate springs, where cursed dreams bloom along the wind.
The earth’s heart seals an old curse and corpse-flowers sleep toward the flame.
֍
[第二幕，第二场][Act 2, Scene 2]
“无童之地传童笑，大地屏息忘自生。“
“When children laugh where none should be, the earth forgets to breathe.“
[努尔绿洲，塔克拉玛干沙漠某处][Nur Oasis, somewhere in the Taklimakan Desert]
天母 / TIĀN MǓ “……此地的风水已绝。我戎马半生，从未感受过这般死寂。连龙脉都凝滞不行。“ “…The feng shui of this place is dead. I have been a soldier half my life, and never have I felt such dead silence. Even the dragon veins are stagnant.”
[铁血检查水池。] [Tiě Xuè inspects the pool.]
铁血 / TIĚ XUÈ “绿洲将枯，无花果树亦干渴哀鸣。“ “The oasis is dying, and the fig trees cry out in thirst.”
[铁影见一只蝎子从无花果树上窜下，自蜇而亡，死状痛苦。] [Tiě Yīng sees a scorpion scurry down from a fig tree and sting itself, dying in agony.]
铁影 / TIĚ YĪNG “连蝎子都宁可自戕，也不愿困死于此。“ “Even the scorpion kills itself rather than be trapped here.”
[一具鹿尸侧卧水边，似中毒而亡。秃鹫盘旋其上。] [A deer carcass lies on its side near the water, as if poisoned. Vultures circle above.]
铁血 / TIĚ XUÈ “食腐的秃鹫盘旋不落，尽管…“ “The carrion birds circle, yet do not land, even though…”
[铁血踢向鹿尸，尸身骤然翻涌出饥饿的蛆虫。] [Tiě Xuè kicks the deer; the carcass erupts with ravenous maggots.]
天母 / TIĀN MǓ “唯有死神，方对这盛宴趋之若鹜。“ “Only the god of death is drawn to such a feast.”
[天母、铁影、铁血、铁炼下。蝉鸣骤止。远处忽闻孩童笑声…然方圆数里，杳无人迹。蓝毒与黑毒自阴影中现身。] [Tiān Mǔ, Tiě Yīng, Tiě Xuè, and Tiě Lián exit. The cicadas fall silent. In the distance, a child’s laughter echoes… but for miles around, there is no one. From the shadows step Lán Dú and Hēi Dú.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “姐姐，让他们逐鹿去吧。“ “Sister, let them chase deer if they wish.”
黑毒 / HĒI DÚ. “猎人也终成猎物。瞧！“ “Even hunters become prey. Look!”
[白丝与天佑自水池对侧上，浑然不觉周遭异样。二人未察双胞胎，旋即离去。] [Bái Sī and Tiān Yòu enter from the opposite side of the pool, oblivious to the strange aura. They do not see the Twins and quickly leave.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “是皇后那妹妹！“ “The Empress’s little sister!”
黑毒 / HĒI DÚ. “还有那个迂腐的小诗人…“ “And that foolish little poet…”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “…写那首歪诗的家伙。“ “…the one who wrote that crooked poem.”
黑毒 / HĒI DÚ. “‘双蛇交缠‘……我记得是这句。“ “‘Two snakes entwined’… I remember the line.”
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. “如果我们用猩红色书写，听起来会不会更美丽？“ “Would it not be more beautiful, written in scarlet?”
黑毒 / HĒI DÚ. “题在他胸口如何？“ “Perhaps carved into his chest?”
[二人身影融入热浪。绿洲骤归死寂, 忽而无花果树泣泪。浓稠琥珀泪珠顺树皮滚落，在根部汇成诡谲形状。阴影中，童声再度响起，此番却成歌谣： [The Twins melt into the heat shimmer. The oasis is still once more, until the fig trees begin to weep. Thick amber tears roll down their bark and pool at the roots, forming strange shapes. From the shadows, the child’s voice returns, this time in rhyme:
童声 / CHILD’S VOICE. “金木水火土… 五行倒逆， 尸骨绽花。“ “Metal, wood, water, fire, earth… The Five Elements invert, Corpses bloom like flowers.”
֍
[第二幕，第三场] [Act 2, Scene 3]
“她跪如祭台，他灌她以诅咒、烈火与深渊之种。“
“She knelt like an altar; he filled her with curse, flame and the seed of the abyss.“
[绿洲之心，一棵根系焦黑、枝干虬结的无花果树下。]
[The Oasis’s Heart, a gnarled fig tree with blackened roots.]
巴希拉登场，手握一颗燃烧的人心，其中充盈着窃来的真气。他低语时，心脏搏动，血管中黑金光芒流转。
Bǎ Xī Lā enters, holding a burning human heart he has been filling with stolen qi. It pulses as he talks to it, veins glowing black and gold.
“Pestilence! I fashioned you piece by piece—with visions, prophecies, and curses. Thirty pieces of silver? A Judas-like bargain for a cup of blasphemous spirit.”
[一声异响。心脏骤冷，倏然生出蟹足般的附肢，钻入他的衣袍。]
[A noise. The heart cools. It sprout crab-like legs and scurries into his robes.]
巴希拉/ BǍ XĪ LĀ [cont.]
“啊，第十一灾, 蝗虫之母亲临。 “
“Ah, here comes the Eleventh Plague, the Mother of Locusts herself.”
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
[大狼上。] “爱人！终得独处。我对你的爱，如风将阴影缝入大地之肤，永不可解。“
[Entering.] “Lover! At last we are alone. My love for you is like the wind stitching shadows into the earth’s skin, it can never be undone.”
巴希拉/ BǍ XĪ LĀ.
“好诗。我的爱人……渴求何物？“
“Pretty poetry … What does my love desire?”
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
“将那蠢妇天母驱至我面前，听她子嗣的哀哭……“
“To drive that fool Tiān Mǔ before me and hear the lamentation of her children …”
[大狼的手滑向他胸膛。]
[Dá Láng’s hand slides down his chest.]
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG [cont.]
“但首先，请让我把你的祈祷吞进喉咙……直到欲呕。“
“But first let me swallow your prayers down my throat … until I gag.”
“The Crimson Luan Star guides your lust … but the madness of Leviathan flows in my blood. Today the Jade Empire will shatter for the Lord loves a Broken Vessel.”
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
“哦？“
“Oh?”
巴希拉/ BǍ XĪ LĀ.
[递信。] “将此信呈予你的皇后。莫问。“
[Hands her a letter.] “Give this to your Empress. Ask nothing.”
[二人接吻时，大狼血脉骤染漆黑。她狂喜战栗，巴希拉微笑如尸，目光死寂。大狼踉跄退场，神魂俱醉。]
[As they kiss Dà Láng’s veins briefly turn black. She is in rapture. Bǎ Xī Lā smiles like a corpse, his eyes dead. Dà Láng stagger away, intoxicated.]
“Ask for nothing, Dà Láng, for Yahweh has already decreed your end. ‘Broken vessel’ indeed. From your womb alone my son will burst … and ‘He shall break them with a rod of iron’.” [Exits.]
֍
[第二幕，第四场] [Act 2, Scene 4]
[被诅咒的绿洲另一隅。]
[Another corner of the cursed Oasis.]
白丝与天佑上。此处的绿洲死寂——连风都凝滞。大狼自阴影中浮现，手中已无信笺。
Bái Sī and Tiān Yòu enter. The Oasis here is too quiet—even the wind has died. Dà Láng melts out of the shadows. She no longer carries the letter.
白丝/ BÁI SĪ.
[惊退] “玉门妃……为何独行？你的狼群何在？“
[Startled.] “Consort of the Jade Gate… why are you walking alone? Where are your wolves?”
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
“我独行无狼，而命运……悬于发丝。“
“I run with no wolves but my fate hangs from a hair’s breadth.”
[黑毒与蓝毒现形——非自树间，而是从绿洲池水的倒影中渗出。]
[Hēi Dú and Lán Dú emerge—not from the trees, but from reflections in the oasis pool.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ.
“母亲，您燃如烈火。这些飞蛾……是否扑得太近了？“
“Mother, you burn like fire … Did these moths flutter too close?”
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
“飞蛾？确实。这些恼人的小翅膀……该如何处置？“
“Moths? Yes, it is so … What do we do with irritating little wings?”
黑毒 / HĒI DÚ.
“碾碎便是。” [刺向白丝]
“We crush them.” [She stabs Bái Sī.]
蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ.
“此乃孝道。” [同刺白丝]
“Our filial duty.” [She also stabs Bái Sī.]
[白丝任脉如琵琶弦骤断，末音哽于喉间。她呕出尘土，气绝身亡。远处，萨屯的猎号声隐约可闻。]
[Bái Sī’s Ren meridian snaps like a lute string, the last note chokes in her throat. She vomits dust and dies. In the distance Sà Tǔn’s hunting horn sounds.]
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG.
“命运发丝，已成谶语。够了。“
“A hair’s breadth of fate was prophetic. Enough.”
[指向蜷缩的天佑。]
[Indicating the cowering Tiān Yòu.]
大狼 / DÀ LÁNG [cont.]
“扔去鸦雀不食之地。” [下。]
“Dump them both where even crows won’t peck.” [Exits.]
[黑毒与蓝毒拖走天佑与白丝尸身。]
[Hēi Dú and Lán Dú drag Tiān Yòu and the body of Bái Sī away.]
֍
[第二幕，第五场] [Act II, Scene V]
道如腐果裂，众徒以人之残息哺养深渊。
“The Tao split open like rotten fruit, and from its guts they fed the pit with men’s torn breath.” [绿洲另一隅——天启之渊。] [Another part of the Oasis – Abyss of Revelation.] 此坑非寻常洞穴，乃大地溃烂之创。空中蝇群嗡鸣，蓝黑肥躯振翅，声如丧钟哀歌。坑缘沙地染同心圆痕，层层淤黑，似地面自渗污血。 The pit isn’t just a hole—it’s a festering wound in the earth. The air hums with flies, their bodies fat and blue-black, their drone like a funeral dirge. The sand around the rim is stained in concentric rings—darker with each layer, as if the ground itself bleeds inward. 黑毒与蓝毒将白丝尸身掷入其中，复推天佑抵于无花果树。蓝毒挥刃刺穿其掌，将其钉于树干。Hēi Dú and Lán Dú dump Bái Sī’s body into the pit. They shove Tiān Yòu against a fig tree. Lán Dú drives her blade through his palm, pinning him to the trunk. 蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. [以指甲描画其发黑血管。] “让我们以猩红墨汁……重谱你的诗篇。” [Tracing the blackening veins with her nail.] “Let’s rewrite your poetry… in scarlet ink.” [黑毒上前，钩剑泛着腐煞黑光。她精准刻下『逆』字于其胸。腐毒与其真气相触，字符处青烟嘶嘶。] Hēi Dú steps forward, her hook-sword glowing dully with Black Rot. With surgical precision, she carves the character “逆” (Rebel) into his chest. Smoke hisses where the necrotic poison touches his qi. 天佑 / TIĀN YÒU. [弓背痉挛。] “呃—!” [Back arching.] “Ai—!” [天佑惨叫惊起栖鸦，黑羽纷飞如风暴。其唇上黑筋盘曲，扭曲成诡笑。] Tiān Yòu’s scream startles the nesting crows. They explode into flight, black feathers whipping like a storm. His lips, veined with black, curl into something grotesque. 黑毒 / HĒI DÚ. [模仿昔日对其姊妹所施之仪。] “道生一， 一生二， 二生三， 三生……尸骸。” [Mimicking the ritual once performed on their sister.] “The Tao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets… corpses.” [她的手指敲击——大杵，杵中，命门。] Her fingers strike—Dàzhùi, Jǐzhōng, Mìngmén. [每个穴位都破裂了。银色的气从天佑身上喷涌而出。] Each pressure point cracks. Silver qi erupts from Tiān Yòu’s body. 黑毒 / HĒI DÚ [cont.] [以拔罐术吸取逸散真气。] “多刺耳的乐音啊…” [雾气凝成『仇恨』二字，复从其指间流散。] “…配你这丑角，倒也相宜。” [Cupping the escaping qi.] “Such ugly music…” [The mist shapes into the characters for ‘hatred’ (仇恨), then dissolves between her fingers.] “…for such an ugly boy.” [天佑昏死，手掌仍钉于树。黑血沿树纹淤积，汇成不可辨之咒纹。] Tiān Yòu collapses unconscious, his hand still pinned to the tree. Black blood pools in the bark’s grooves, forming illegible curse-script. 蓝毒 / LÁN DÚ. [踢其瘫躯。] “滚回家吧，小诗人。若有人问起谁将你’去势’……便以沉默代我等作答。” [Kicking his limp form.] “Run home, little poet. If anyone asks who castrated you… let silence speak for us.” [黑毒与蓝毒狞笑退场，独留天佑瘫于巨坑之畔。鸦群归来，默然盘旋，在其顶上结成黑冕。] Laughing, Hēi Dú and Lán Dú exit, leaving Tiān Yòu crumpled beside the yawning pit. The crows return—circling silently above, forming a cursed black crown over his head. ֍
[第二幕，第六场] [Act 2, Scene 6]
“鲜血沿饥渴深渊滴落，古神舔唇欲动。“
“Where blood weeps down the hungry pit, the old gods lick their lips.” [铁血与铁炼仍在狩猎，自空地另一端上。二人骤停，紧盯天启之渊，却未见天佑瘫倒树后。二人趋近渊缘，俯身窥视。蝇群嗡鸣。] Still part of the hunt, Tiě Xuè and Tiě Lián enter from the opposite side of the clearing. They stop and stare at the sinkhole. They fail to see the motionless body of Tiān Yòu, crumpled behind the tree. They approach the edge and cautiously peer down into it. The air buzzes with flies. 铁血 / TIĚ XUÈ. [眯眼] “我看见……阴影蠕动。如蛆虫自渊底攀爬。[干呕] 这腐臭——！“ [Squinting.] “I see… shadows writhing. Like maggots crawling up from the bottom. [Retches.] The stench—!” [蝇群骤然散开，二女骇然失色。] Suddenly the cloud of flies parts. Both women recoil in horror. 铁炼 / TIĚ LIÁN. “狼母在上！是白丝！她双目尽失……蝇群正在她口中产卵！“ “Wolf Mother! It’s Bái Sī! Her eyes … gone! The flies, laying eggs in her mouth!” [铁血和铁炼惊恐地对视着。突然，铁血注意到了弟弟的尸体。] Tiě Xuè and Tiě Lián stare at each other, sick with horror. Suddenly Tiě Xuè sees her brother’s lifeless body. 铁血 / TIĚ XUÈ. “不不不不不不！小弟弟！“ “No, no, no, no, no! Little brother!” [未及反应，萨屯与达朗率皇后亲卫冲入空地。] Before they can react, Sàtǔn and Dà Láng rush in with the Empress’s Guards. 萨屯 / SÀTǓN. [凝视深渊] “不，这不可能……白丝岂会……“ [Staring into the abyss.] “No… this can’t be… Bái Sī would never…”大狼 / DÀ LÁNG. “‘地狱之渊，地狱之行‘——信中所言，分毫不差。“ “‘A hellish hole for a hellish deed’—exactly as the letter warned.”铁血 / TIĚ XUÈ. “陛下，我们未曾——！方至此处——！“ “Your Majesty, we didn’t—! We only just arrived—!”大狼 / DÀ LÁNG. “‘恶兽当自深渊崛起‘……此信亦早有预警！“ “‘The beast shall rise from the pit’… That was in the warning, too!”萨屯 / SÀTǓN. [仍陷震骇] “吾姐素恨沙漠……曾说风声如鬼魅咀嚼骨渣。她……“ [Still reeling.] “My sister hated the desert… said the wind there sounded like ghosts chewing bone shards. She…” [如初见般瞪视铁血二人。] She turns to Tiě Xuè and Tiě Lián as if seeing them for the first time.萨屯 / SÀTǓN [cont.] “尔等！天母之女！满口谎言！“ “You! Daughters of Tiān Mǔ! You speak nothing but lies!” [天母与铁影上，浑然未觉渊边异状。] Tiān Mǔ and Tiě Yīng enter, unaware of what has transpired by the pit. 天母 / TIĀN MǓ. “皇后陛下，闻号角声便速至。此绿洲每每移目即变……狩猎如何？可擒得猎物？“ “My Empress, I came at once upon hearing the horn. This oasis shifts each time I look away… How goes the hunt? Have you trapped the prey?”大狼 / DÀ LÁNG. “‘绿洲变幻‘？荒唐！老妪妄言，孰能信之！“ “‘The oasis shifts’? Nonsense! Mad talk from an old crone—who would believe it?”萨屯 / SÀTǓN. [暴怒] “天母！汝竟敢现身于此！？“ [Exploding in fury.] “Tiān Mǔ! You dare show your face here!?”大狼 / DÀ LÁNG. “待她与[冷笑]’铁刃‘残杀白丝之后……“ “After she and her [sneering] ‘Iron Blades’ butchered Bái Sī…”天母 / TIĀN MǓ. [惊颤] “‘谋杀‘？“ [Shaken.] “Murdered…?”大狼 / DÀ LÁNG. “……偏等我们抵达，才故作悠哉现身，与信中所预言如出一辙。“ “…And now she waits to appear calm and composed—exactly as the letter foretold.”萨屯 / SÀTǓN. “亲卫！此乃叛国弑君之罪！朕早知不该信尔等！“ “Guards! This is treason—regicide! I knew we should never have trusted you!”天母 / TIĀN MǓ. “白丝夫人……已遭不测？“ “Madam Bái Sī… is truly gone?”大狼 / DÀ LÁNG. “装傻！你再看看……” [指着天佑] “……为了制造一个完美的不在场证明，她竟然折磨自己的儿子！“ “Feigning ignorance now, are you? Look again… [Points to Tiān Yòu.] …To craft her perfect alibi, she tortured her own son!” [萨屯、天母、铁影俱震，望向天佑残躯。一时寂然。天母踉跄上前，双臂虚悬，面如槁木。] Sàtǔn, Tiān Mǔ, and Tiě Yīng all stare in stunned silence at Tiān Yòu’s broken body. Tiān Mǔ staggers forward, arms trembling in the air, her face ashen and hollow. 萨屯 / SÀTǓN. [怒极] “将这老狐孽种捆了！朕要亲创酷刑——天命昭昭，必令其痛彻神魂！“ [Furious beyond reason.] “Bind these vixen whelps! I’ll invent tortures myself—by Heaven’s Mandate, they’ll suffer in soul and flesh!” [亲卫拖铁血二人下。天母抱起天佑，失语退场。余众随下。] The Empress’s Guards drag Tiě Xuè and Tiě Lián off. Tiān Mǔ gathers Tiān Yòu in her arms, speechless, and exits. The others follow. [静场良久。五目蟾蜍上，体沾墓灰，喉间第五目——一道竖隙——搏动不止。其鸣三声同现：临终牧师的祷词 新娘喉间的窒泣 利齿碾骨的脆响蟾蜍转目，锁定深渊。长舌突伸——节节畸长——舔舐渊缘白丝凝血，战栗欢愉。] A long silence. Then the Five-Eyed Toad enters, its skin dusted with tomb-ash. Its fifth eye— a vertical slit on its throat—pulses. It croaks, and three sounds emerge at once: — A priest’s final prayer — A bride’s strangled gasp — The crunch of bone between teeth The toad’s eyes swivel, fixing on the sinkhole. Its tongue lashes out—jointed, grotesquely long—and tastes the blood Bái Sī left behind. It quivers in ecstasy.
rain soaked breasts, about storms within and storms
without, kissing her dusky throat. Thunder’s
note, she called it, which did more than just warm
her flesh. Auntie I never knew, you wrote
about longing and I keep going back
to the source. I, too, crave. Like Qiu Jin’s quote
about music, yours has been the soundtrack
I’ve been dancing to for years. A teacher
at Freetown’s all-girl school [1920]
Auntie, you drank from Frangepani’s proffered
bowl and called it peace: the first faint glimmer
of light. Tɛnki. I love your long, rainy
season, that storm wet craft that you conjured.
][][
Notes.
Gladys May Casely Hayford (1904-1950), who went by the pen name Aquah Laluah, was a schoolteacher at The Girls Vocational School in Sierra Leone. She is credited as the first poet to write in the Krio language, a regional Creole. Tɛnki is the Krio word for thank you. Like Aquah Laluah, Qiu Jin was also a feminist, lesbian poet who taught at an all-girl’s school in Qing-era China, though Qiu Jin was executed after a failed revolutionary uprising. Four of Aquah Laluah’s poems were collected by Countee Cullen in Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the 1920s. The quotes of her that I use come from her poem, Rainy Season Love Song, which I share here in its whole:
Out of the tense awed darkness, my Frangepani comes;
Whilst the blades of Heaven flash round her, and the roll of thunder drums
My young heart leaps and dances, with exquisite joy and pain,
As storms within and storms without I meet my love in the rain.
“The rain is in love with you darling; it’s kissing you everywhere,
Rain pattering over your small brown feet, rain in your curly hair;
Rain in the vale that your twin breasts make, as in delicate mounds they rise,
I hope there is rain in your heart, Frangepani, as rain half fills your eyes.”
Into my hands she cometh, and the lightning of my desire
Flashes and leaps about her, more subtle than Heaven’s fire;
“The lightning’s in love with you darling; it is loving you so much,
That its warm electricity in you pulses wherever I may touch.
When I kiss your lips and your eyes, and your hands like twin flowers apart,
I know there is lightning, Frangepani, deep in the depths of your heart.”
The thunder rumbles about us, and I feel its triumphant note
As your warm arms steal around me; and I kiss your dusky throat;
“The thunder’s in love with you darling. It hides its power in your breast.
And I feel it stealing o’er me as I lie in your arms at rest.
I sometimes wonder, beloved, when I drink from life’s proffered bowl,
Whether there’s thunder hidden in the innermost parts of your soul.”
Out of my arms she stealeth; and I am left alone with the night,
Void of all sounds save peace, the first faint glimmer of light.
Into the quiet, hushed stillness my Frangepani goes.
Is there peace within like the peace without? Only the darkness knows.
Write about what you know, they say. There’s poverty and poetry and dreaming vast. There’s this crazy world of plenty where resources are constantly getting squandered and misspent. That’s where this poem started …
Dear Spain. You’re trying to sell an old Mistral submarine for scrap. I’m trying to create the first underwater library. I dream of sailing from island to island in the Caribbean, bringing books to those who don’t have them. I don’t have €136,000, and you don’t have a buyer. Perhaps we can make a deal?
…
“Mother I never knew/ Each time I see
the Sea/ Each time,” wrote Issa. I get it.
Tide be runnin’ the great world over. Sea
and me we go back far. Call me poet
of sharks and tides and reading. Let me feed
you books. Let us all dream of libraries.
This could work. This could happen. But I need
help. From Saint Lucia to Buenos Aires,
all those lives hungry for literacy. Books
and a floating library on the quay.
Books to feed us all; this hurricane-size
dreaming. This is what our mother’s pride looks
like. With you. With us. Come, we’ll chart the way
In Armenian, Tsavd Tanem (Ցավդ տանեմ) is a colloquially phrase used to express sympathy or affection. I, on the other hand, am taking it literally. In Buddhism, Hungry Ghosts (餓鬼) are spirits who are driven by unquenchable emotional needs, often depicted as tormented by grotesque desires that they are unable to ever fulfill. If that doesn’t sum up my entire life in a nutshell I don’t know what would.
memories of my ghost sista 