真是奇怪！都已經好幾百年了
那名「去蘇州賣鴨蛋」的男子（註一）
為什麼還未從傳說裡回來？
是被什麼迷住了嗎？
那邊會有什麼可以迷住人？
是那些特別細的絲綢？
是那些亭台樓閣畢集的拙政園？
是那些超俗的寒山寺、靈隱寺？
是那些雄峙的虎丘斜塔、六和斜塔？
是那些水光瀲灩的西湖、錢塘江？
是那些特別美豔的女人？
還是進了蘇杭就如進了天堂？（註二）
果真奇怪！都已經好幾百年了
那名「去蘇州賣鴨蛋」的男子
到現在還沒回來……
註一：「去蘇州賣鴨蛋」，台諺，謂人死亡。據傳有清一代，台籍人士夥同友人遊蘇州，為當地美女所迷，不歸，友人回台後，不敢將實情告知其妻，委稱在蘇州賣鴨蛋，遂成此台諺。
註二：馬可波羅稱蘇州為東方的威尼斯，俗諺亦說：「上有天堂，下有蘇杭。」此處用以呼應前節「去蘇州賣鴨蛋」。
A Short Poem of Suzhou and Hangzhou Hsu chiCheng
How strange! Hundreds of years have past
Why hasn’t the man, “Who went to Suzhou to sell eggs”*1
Come back from the legend?
What was he confused with?
What can let one be confused there?
Is it the soft silk?
The Humble Administrator’s Garden with many pavilions and buildings?
Unconventional Hanshan Temple or Temple of Soul’s retreat?
The Leaning Tower of Tiger Hill or Liuhe Leaning Tower?
The sparkling West Lake or Qiantang River?
The pretty women there?
Or living in Suzhou and Hangzhou as if living in the paradise?
Really strange! Hundreds of years have past
Yet the man “Who went to Suzhou to sell eggs”
Hasn’t come back…
*1.”Who went to Suzhou to sell eggs”—a folk legend in Taiwan, which means death of man. A story in going around that in the Qing Dynasty, a Taiwaner went sightseeing in Suzhou with one of his pals, he was confused with a pretty woman there and resided in Suzhou. When his pal returned, he dare not to tell the truth to his wife
, and lied that the Taiwaner stayed to in Suzhou for selling eggs. From then on, this folk legend started to spread widely in Taiwan.
*2.Marco Polo called Suzhou “Venice in the east,” and there goes a popular saying that “Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth”. Here , I use this popular saying to work in concert with “Went to Suzhou to sell eggs”.
