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Chinese to English: "Ladder to the Stars – Hanuman the Monkey King" by Pan Haitian General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Chinese 一
天未亮的时候，一艘猴子星的船飘落到了橘子镇的港口上。这是那一天里发生的头件大事。它掉下来的时候撞翻了夏拉大娘客栈的养鸡棚和晾衣杆，还刮倒了“千人转”酒吧的大招牌和通信天线，不用说，这把镇上的人全都给气坏了。
当那些猴子们从它们的飞船上被轰出来的时候，镇上的许多人已经聚集在酒吧前的空地上，老爷们轻蔑地把嚼烂的烟草对着它们吐在地上，夫人们则围在外圈，用戴手套的手优雅地捂住嘴巴。苏有想和蔓在人群中钻来钻去，趁着大人的注意力不在我们身上的时候，苏有庆还挤到前面掐了它们中间的一个，他越来越皮了，我们三个人都看不住。我们一共搞到了三个钱包和一块怀表。
猴子们看上去垂头丧气、可怜兮兮的，不过没有人会同情它们。它们的样子实在是令人不敢恭维，你看呵，它们的头顶是光的，像个钢精锅，下巴又瘦又尖，像枚尖橄榄；它们的个子还没有狗大，穿着怪异且破烂，露出背上金黄色的毛；它们个个瞪着三角眼，里头射出凶光，一看就不是好东西。
“我们带着和平使命而来。”领头的一个猴子高举着两手说。杂货店伙计撒尔冈一枪轰在它的额头上，它的脑子和血花四处飞溅，让周围那些穿了新衣服的顾客很不高兴。这下子把它们给吓住了，它们可笑地往后挤，像筐子里的番茄，慌作一团。“我们来是想和你们做贸易，”另一个外星人说，“我们带了货物，为什么不让我们谈谈呢……”它的嗓门腔调古怪，像极了猴子的吱喳叫声。它们是来做生意的。那些大人们笑得从椅子上摔了下去，好几个人撞破了头。“今年我已经打了三口井啦，挖出来的全是沙子，一滴水也没有。”农场主伊荣老爷愤怒地盯着这些猴子，眼珠烧得通红。他在镇西的荒漠中有块农场，可是收成不好。“全都是这些猴子闹的，天上掉什么不好，偏要掉些猴子——我提议把它们干掉。”
撒尔冈很酷地吹走了枪口上的烟，他兼任港口这片区的警察，所以他总是很注意自己的形象。“少来这套，”他严肃地说，“我们不和猴子套近乎。”夏拉大娘趾高气扬地在它们的头顶上挥舞掸衣棍，强调了这一声明：“你们不知道侵犯私有财产是死罪吗？”她把自己的头发扯得像鸟窝似的，愤怒地为自己的财产报仇，打翻了好几只猴子。它们实在是太不小心了。在这个镇上，没有人不知道夏拉大娘的名声。
猴子们惊慌地左顾右盼，“哈努曼，哈努曼。”它们仿佛在重复这个名字，还伸手向上指着。
“哈努曼？别拿猴王吓唬我。”酒吧老板郝富老爷说。他喜欢恶狠狠地盯着对方，一边用多毛的大拇指玩弄着一把大折刀，一边宣判结果。除了开酒吧之外，他还是镇上的法官。“我宣布你们全部被逮捕了，你们将要么被绞死要么被溺死——这一点我还没完全想好。”
早在很久以前我们就知道，天空的某个地方一定有颗猴子星，因为总有些猴子会落到我们地球上来。它们全都丑陋无比。要是它们被镇上的人发现，多半会被痛殴一顿，要是抓到它们的人输了钱，也有可能把它们干掉。不管什么时候，它们总是威胁说，猴王哈努曼，猴王哈努曼。有个猴王哈努曼会来替它们讨回公道的。现在我们一听到哈努曼的名字就会哈哈大笑。
他们把剩下的猴子痛揍了一顿，然后把它们送往屠宰场，那儿后面有一排铁笼子，也用来临时关押犯人，因为屠宰场的老板孟撸老爷正好也是我们的镇长。孩子们跟在后面朝队伍里扔香蕉皮和小石块。我们都讨厌它们那张猴子脸，它没少让孩子们做噩梦。
大人们收拾干净那些猴子后，掉过头来发现了我们。我们开始逃跑了。我们跑啊跑，跑得像风一样快。我们推开空气，踩得大地梆梆作响，跑得气喘吁吁。我们喜欢疯跑。看那些个野女孩。夫人们看见了准会这么说。她们会拉紧胖宝宝的手，闪身让开，不让闪亮的绸缎沾上我们身上的污垢。胖宝宝用粘粘的小爪子巴住她们的胳膊冲我们笑。我们跑啊跑，一直跑到心脏都要从胸腔里跳出来了，就摔倒在冰凉的街道上喘气。天还没全亮。我们仰卧着就能看到一颗颗苍白的星星正在往地平线上飘散。我非常喜欢星星，要知道，我的家人就在上面的某个地方享福呢。它们小小的，发着青豆一样的光芒，看上去非常遥远，但我不灰心，知道有一天我也终于会到达那儿。
橘子镇本来就是个希望之镇。所有的人都到这儿来寻找希望。
Translation - English One
Before it was even light out, a ship from the Planet of the Monkeys floated down to the port of Tangerine Town. That was the first big thing that happened that day. As it fell, it knocked over the chicken coop and clothesline at Madame Xiala’s inn. It also blew over the big sign and the antenna dish at the Relay Bar, which, needless to say, upset everyone in town.
By the time those monkeys had rumbled out of their ship, a lot of townspeople had already gathered in the lot in front of the bar. The old men spit their tobacco derisively at the monkeys’ feet, while the ladies hung back, gloved hands elegantly covering their mouths. Joy Su and Ivy were slipping back and forth through the crowd, taking advantage of everyone’s attention being drawn away from us. Felix Su had pushed up to the front and grabbed onto one of the monkeys. He was becoming more and more naughty lately, and none of us could keep him in sight. In all, the three of us netted three wallets and a pocket watch.
The monkeys hung their heads dejected; it was really quite pitiful, but they would get no sympathy from this crowd. The way they looked, there wasn’t anything good you could say about them. I mean really! Their heads were bald like aluminum pots, and their chins were narrow, and came to a point like an olive. They weren’t quite as big as dogs, and they dressed in strange and ragged clothes, exposing the golden fur on their backs. They each had three eyes which flashed fierce looks. As soon as you saw them, you knew they were nothing good.
“We come in peace,” said the monkey leader, raising its hands high. Sargon, who ran the general store, buried a bullet right between its three eyes, spattering brains and blood everywhere. This made the customers standing nearby in their new clothes very unhappy. It also startled the monkeys, and sent them crowding backwards over each other ridiculously, like tomatoes rolling over each other in a basket, as they huddled together in a panic. “We came out of a wish for commerce with you,” another alien said. “We have brought trade-goods. Why not talk about this . . . .” His voice and accent were very strange, and sounded for all the world like a monkey’s chattering. They had come to do business. The adults started laughing so hard they were falling out of their chairs; more than a few cracked their heads on the ground. “I’ve dug three wells this year, and every one has been just sand, not a drop of water.” Old man Yi Rong, the farmer, was staring furiously at the monkeys, his eyes burning almost red. He had a farm in the desert west of town, but the harvests were terrible. “It’s all those monkeys’ fault. Anything bad that comes down on us is followed by those monkeys. I say we just get rid of them.”
Sargon calmly blew the smoke off his gun’s barrel. His other job was the district sheriff, so he always took care to look cool. “Stop it,” he said sternly, “we don’t deal with monkeys.” Madame Xiala drew herself up haughtily, and waved her clothes rod over the monkeys’ heads. She loudly proclaimed, “Don’t you know that destruction of private property is a capital offense?” She gathered her hair up like a nest, and in revenge for her property knocked quite a few monkeys over. It’s true, they were much too careless about where they landed. Everyone in town knew the name of Madame Xiala.
The monkeys looked around, terrified. “Hanuman, Hanuman.” They seemed to be repeating the name over and over, stretching their arms to the skies.
“Hanuman? Don’t threaten me with the Monkey God,” old man Hao Fu, the bar’s owner, said. He liked to viciously stare at you, rubbing his thumbs over his big pocketknife as he handed down judgment. In addition to owning the bar, he was also the town judge. “I hereby pronounce you all under arrest. As to whether you will be hanged or drowned – I haven’t decided that yet.”
We have known for a long time that, somewhere out in space, there is a monkey planet. We know this because there are always monkeys falling down to earth, each of them incomparably hideous. If they get discovered by the townspeople, they are mostly beaten ferociously. If the people who discover them have suffered some misfortune recently, the monkeys may be killed on the spot. No matter what, they always threaten us with “Hanuman the Monkey King, Hanuman the Monkey King.” Like there is some King Hanuman of the Monkeys out there who will come and avenge them. So by this point, whenever we heard the name Hanuman we would all laugh out loud.
They beat the remaining monkeys thoroughly, and then took them to the slaughterhouse, where they put them in the iron cage around the back. That cage was also used to hold criminals before trying them, since the butcher, old man Meng Lu, was also our mayor. The children in the back threw banana peels and small stones at them as they trooped by. We all hated those monkey faces; they gave all us children nightmares.
After the adults had cleaned up after the monkeys, they looked down and noticed us. We started to run. We ran and ran, as fast as the wind. We split the air, thundering down the way, running until we were left panting. We ran like madmen. Look at those wild girls, the ladies would say as they saw us. They would tug on the hands of their fat babies, and step aside to let us pass so we wouldn’t stain their bright silks with our filth. Their fat babies’ sticky paws would be folded under their arms, laughing at us. We ran and ran, ran until our hearts almost burst from our chests and we fell gasping onto the cool street. It still wasn’t all the way light out. We could still make out a few alabaster stars wafting down toward the horizon. I love the stars, if you want to know. My family is living it up in one of those places up there. They look so small, twinkling like tiny beans, and they seem so far away, but I never lose hope. I know that one day I will join them up there.
Tangerine Town was originally a place full of hope. Everyone came to Tangerine Town in search of hope.
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