Ode to Return
—The Four Seasons Walking Out of Ancient Dongba Scriptures
By Lan Xin (Lanxin Samei)
Internationally renowned Chinese writer and poet, the only female inheritor of Dongba culture, Dean of China Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy,Winner of the Premio Letterario Internazionale Francesco Giampietri
Dongba’s Winter
You walk out of the ancient Dongba scriptures
The nimble-flying Alangji bird
Perches on the treetop of a green tree
Shakes its body three times upward
Three pure white feathers float down
The white feathers turn into white snow
White snow is the messenger of winter
Skylarks usher in the north wind
Wagtails bring the dewdrops covering the ground
White cranes summon the snowflakes filling the sky
The diligent have shoes to wear
The lazy walk barefoot
This winter
Is not the time to migrate home
Shall we wait till the warm spring of the third lunar month?
Dongba’s Spring
You walk out of the ancient Dongba scriptures
The nimble-flying Alangji bird
Perches on the treetop of a green tree
Shakes its body three times downward
Three emerald green feathers float down
The green feathers turn into tender grass
Tender grass is the messenger of spring
Trees are clad in emerald gowns
Cuckoos sing on the branches
White muntjacs roar in the pine woods
Pheasants and hill pheasants chirp in the forest
Valiant men lack food grains
Virtuous women waste away
This spring
Is not the time to migrate home either
Shall we wait till the midsummer of the sixth lunar month?
Dongba’s Summer
You walk out of the ancient Dongba scriptures
The nimble-flying Alangji bird
Perches on the treetop of a green tree
Shakes its body three times to the left
Three jet-black feathers float down
The black feathers turn into heavy rain
Heavy rain is the messenger of summer
Slopes are covered with dense grass and woods
Even leopards and tigers with sharp claws
Cannot wander out of the deep mountains and thick forests
Beneath the tree roots down below
Rainwater merges into a river
Even otters and fish
Cannot swim across the rushing gully
This summer
Is still not the time to migrate home
Shall we wait till the golden autumn of the ninth lunar month?
Dongba’s Autumn
You walk out of the ancient Dongba scriptures
The nimble-flying Alangji bird
Perches on the treetop of a green tree
Shakes its body three times to the right
Three golden feathers float down
The golden feathers turn into yellow flowers
Flowers are the messenger of autumn
Yellow flowers, silver flowers and golden flowers
Turquoise flowers and jet-black gem flowers
Bloom everywhere across the land
This autumn
At long last
Is the time to migrate home
Chong Ren Li En, the ancestor of the Naxi (Nakhi) people
Takes his bride Chen Heng Baobai, whom he married in the heavenly realm
Back into the long-missed embrace of Mother Earth
Back to the home where humans dwell
One mother gives birth to three sons
And the three sons are all different from one another
From then on
Upon the land of humans
Three ancient ethnic groups come into being
They build a beautiful homeland together
And live in harmony and happiness
