by Gwee Li Sui
What the selection can therefore offer is a unique literary experience if read in order. It should transport a reader first from a sensation of old times to an ethical tension between history and modernity, between received truths and truths in the making. Then the narrative splinters into modern individual adventures where smallness carries the power of change and can be judged from hindsight as having been inextricable from their respective eras. The book’s end surely returns us to the romance of history that begins it.
淡马锡变形记
作者：王润华
一、淡马锡
我常常在梦中
听见森林野兽的怒吼
诉说第二世纪的淡马锡
是一个以爪哇语发音的
古老城市
像一座海市唇楼
在福康宁山上闪烁
如今考古学家也说
它隐藏在他们所收集
陶瓷、砖瓦的破烂碎片里
残留着中国、印度、锡兰、印尼的泥土与海水
还有香料的气味
季候狂风暴雨
犹记得从第七至十三世纪
苏门答腊的王国
所建立斯利维扎牙王朝
城墙如海啸时波浪擎天
甘蜜胡椒香料推集如山
十四世纪时候
就因为尼拉•乌达玛在河口与鱼尾狮相遇
狮城涌现河口
人民能上山下海
河边的鳄鱼曾听见
十六世纪
葡萄牙人的大炮
炸毁马六甲的城墙
狮子与古代城市
同时消失在热带丛林里
后来西方历史家
坚持殖民者错误的记忆
莱佛士军官登陆新加坡河口
才发现新加坡
一个海盗聚集分赃
小渔村的神话
二、新加坡河
一八一九年一月的中午
一条巨大眼镜蛇
从群山中蜿蜒爬行
穿过茂密的丛林之後
嗅到甘密豆蔻浓浓的香料
还有感染弹药味的东北季候风
笼罩着海湾的沼泽地
愤怒的眼镜蛇
将脖头伸展起来了望
如潮起潮落的海湾
不远的海面
停泊着七艘东印度公司的远征军舰队
七棵椰子树的阴影下
天猛公与莱佛士悄悄走上
马来高脚屋
手持长枪的英军守在门外
听不见他们秘密的谈话
北岸的马来村庄与丛林里的华人
默默的祈祷与烧香
晚上英国军官
带领孟加拉步兵登陆
营火在河面闪烁
法跨尔少校的狗狂吠後
被鳄鱼拖下河里吞噬掉
第二天
岛上第一次响起枪声
被击毙的鳄鱼
被吊在锡米街边的榕树上示众
海盗们不再上岸夜宿
眼镜蛇再也没有膨起头部
如潮起潮落的海湾
威吓侵略的敌人
三、圣淘沙
自从挖掘地下堡垒
西罗索战堡的工程完成后
指挥防卫战的英国军官
一直在地下参谋室
争论侵略与防守战略
生锈的大炮忠诚顽固
瞄准海上浮沉的物体
炮兵的望远镜
发现日本皇军伪装
一阵一阵的浪涛
企图登陆沙滩
过了六十多年
另一种战争袭击狮城
岛上又进行地下挖掘工程
建造巨大的赌场
引诱并围困来自世界各地的敌人
穿制服的荷官
如英国军官
日夜在地下指挥瓮中捉鳖的战略
击败那些伪装游客的敌人
他们公然在樟宜机场空降
从市中心乘大巴士与地铁
一批一批如潮水
涌入圣淘沙名胜世界……
四、南洋大学
1973年底暴风雨开始来袭
沿途摇撼着裕廊路的椰树与芭蕉
我开车经过
南洋大学的大牌坊
发现通向云南园的路还很遥远
但道路已破烂不堪
路面坑坑漥窪……
夹道的红毛丹树与我
早已感觉到那是不吉祥的预兆
尤其黑色的警察车
在那年代
常常进出校园
近年部长也来代校长
校园寂静一片
四脚蛇从沼泽地爬出来四处观望
终于
1979年
讲师与学生都被赶去
武吉知马的星加坡大学上课
1980年的六月
讲师与学生都放假去了
罗里车列队
满载华文书籍
来回的运出校门
又过了几年
小鸟听见相思树
在电锯暴笑声里倒下
沿路那些红毛丹与椰树
变成一座座的组屋
阻挡了我回去怀旧的道路…… 1
五、新加坡之路
1. 隐藏在雨林中的黄泥路
每一条隐藏在雨林中
弯曲，狭小
童年的黄泥路
被机器怪手与铲泥机
残酷屠杀
流血成河
然后整形又变性
强迫延伸拓展
五六线高速公路
是谁铲除方言与原住民的称呼
统一用英文字母
PIE, AYE, CTE, BTE
还有 KJE, TPE, SLE, MCE
于是E氏高速家族便在岛上
横霸道行
但是无论如何取名
如何翻译E的定义
快速还是高速
都是通往争议与讽刺之路
2. 高速公路
我每天驾车
从旭阳升起的东海岸樟宜村
到西边夕阳落下的大士村
从早晨六点到夜晚八点
汽车一辆一辆紧紧跟随
收费之后的高速公路
仍然是畸形停车场
兀兰与大士移民关卡检查站
更像大停车场的进出口
汽车耐心的等着付费
慢慢进去或离开
无论如何取名
如何翻译E的定义
快速还是高速
都充满反讽
都是同样的下场
使新加坡沦落为大停车场
3. 路边树上的小鸟
高速公路付费之后
仍然是一条污浊的河流
河面满是漂浮物
慢慢的在水中滚动
路旁的树木
没有小鸟栖息
乌黑的油烟寄生在树枝上
但不是乌鸦
所以我独自开车时
常常哀伤的吟唱《青春乌曲》
太阳下山明早依旧爬上来
花儿谢了明天还是一样的开
我的青春小鸟一去不回来
我的青春小鸟一去不回来
电灯柱上的小鸟
栖息在电灯柱上
不再是唱歌的燕子，百媚鸟
都是银色的摄像机
这些陆路交通局饲养的小鸟
二十四小时监视录影
; 来去匆匆的车辆
怀疑每个人
都是恐怖分子
都是酒醉、超速驾车
抢劫、杀人后的逃犯
每一支电灯柱上银色的鸟
不会飞翔
忠心守在电灯上
贪心的啄吃
汽车的牌号
英文字母与数目字
是他唯一的粮食
六、新加坡植物园：魔术树
1. 莎函树 Kayu Sahang
午後、
站在热带雨林边缘的莎函树
眼睛被蒙在云层里
手脚都被阳光的金丝绑住
一位女人
穿着浅咖啡色
打折长窄裙
摆出优雅的姿态
拍照
一阵风
几片落叶後
莎函树变了装
同一款时尚风
浅咖啡色
长窄裙
也摆出优雅的姿态
与女子拍照
2. 伞叶棕 Daun Payung
当众人瞄了一眼
贵妇的细长手指上的戒子
高大的棕榈树
摇身一变
一颗巨大的钻石
躺在路边
棕榈叶上的露珠
忘记了
南洋的风雨
和原住民的贫困
带着钻石的想象
在阳光中消失
3. 登布树 Tembusu
一株小小的登布树
二十岁
突然向上升高四十二米
占据了
赤道的天空
抢夺所有的阳光
太阳下山後
赤裸的树干
像夜店女人的身体
愈夜愈芬芳
午夜一过
唤醒整座热带雨林
飞虫与蝙蝠
纷纷飞向
奇异的香味
4. 登布树 Tembusu 之二
当游客仰天眺望
天空只有阳光与白云
登布树像小孩
在植物园的草地上爬行
当当游客摊开五元的钞票
买一碗波波查查
登布树像老人
在钞票背面
以拐杖走路
5. 日落洞树 Jelutong
年轻人说
我是咖啡座的
大阳伞
佛教徒走过
我是七级浮屠
平安夜
我是圣诞树
在槟城
我是乡镇、学校、马路、高速大道
没有人知道我是一棵树
6. 炮弹树 Cannonball Tree
表面上
像赤道的树木
我热情的开花结果
诱惑蜜蜂与小鸟的歌唱
还有夜间飞行的蝙蝠
当海盗与殖民者
从新加坡河登陆
企图砍伐热带雨林
我就愤怒地
将甜蜜的果实
变成土制炮弹
绑在身体上
请别靠近我
我随时准备爆炸
与侵略者同归于尽
7. 莎娜卡树 Saraca Cauliflora
当您的脚步缓缓走过
我赤裸的
曲线玲珑的身体
每一滴汗珠
每一片阳光
纷纷为您
绽开一球一球
黄色的花朵
1 后记：我在1980年的19日那天的日记里，剪贴一张星洲日报报导文学院搬迁的照片，上有说明 文字：“将一箱箱的书本、文件搬到国大去”。我自己在旁边写上：“南大的传统就是这样一箱 箱被搬空了，一场大浩劫”。
Metamorphosis: Temasek
BY WONG YOON WAH
Translated by Jeremy Tiang
1. Temasek
Often in my dreams
I hear the wild roars of jungle beasts
Telling of Temasek in the second century
The Javanese name of
An ancient city
Like a mirage
Sparkling atop Fort Canning Hill
Today archaeologists say
Hidden among its gathered treasures –
Pottery, tile and brick, other fragments –
Are traces of soil and seawater from China, India, Ceylon, Indonesia
And the aroma of spices
The monsoon storms
Recall the seventh to thirteenth century
The Kingdom of Sumatra
And its Srivijaya dynasty
City walls rising to the skies like tsunami waves
Mountains of gambir and peppercorns
And in the fourteenth century
Because of Nila Utama’s river mouth encounter with a merlion
The Lion City surged into being
And its people could travel the wide world
The riverside crocodiles heard
In the sixteenth century
The cannons of the Portuguese
Destroying the walls of Malacca
Lions and ancient cities
Vanished at the same time into tropical jungles
Later, Western historians
Would insist on the faulty memories of colonialists
That only when Lieutenant-Governor Raffles landed at the Singapore River
Was Singapore discovered
A pirate gathering spoils
The myth of a sleepy fishing village
2. The Singapore River
One noontime in January 1819
An enormous cobra
Slithered from among the hills
Through dense undergrowth
And sniffed the heady fragrance of gambir and cardamom
The gunpowder-scented northeast monsoon winds
Shrouding the coastal marshlands
Enraged, the cobra
Raised its head to stare
At the rising and falling coastal waves
Not far away were anchored
Seven expeditionary ships of the East India Company
In the shade of seven coconut trees
The Temenggong and Raffles stealthily entered
A Malay house on stilts
Rifle-wielding British soldiers stood guard outside
Unable to hear their whispered words
And the Chinese in the kampungs and woodlands on the northern bank
Offering silent prayers and incense
In the evening the British official
Led Bangladeshi troops ashore
Their campfires glittering on the river
Major Farquhar’s dog yapped until
It was dragged into the water by a crocodile and swallowed
The next day
The island heard its first gunshots
When the crocodile was killed
And displayed on a banyan tree on Tin Road
The pirates no longer spent their nights on shore
The cobra no longer spread its hood
Like the rising and falling coastal waves
Scaring off invaders
3. Sentosa
After digging an underground bunker
And completing work on Fort Siloso
The commanders of the British defence forces
Remained in their underground strategy room
Discussing tactics for attack and defence
The loyal stubborn cannons covered in rust
Aimed at floating objects at sea
The gunners with their binoculars
Discovering the Japanese Imperial Army’s decoys
Coming in waves
Attempting to land
More than sixty years later
Another sort of invasion hits the Lio
n City
As once more the island is dug up
To build an enormous casino
Enticing, entrapping enemies from all over the world
Uniformed croupiers
Like British soldiers
Devising strategies day and night to capture easy targets
To defeat those enemies disguised as tourists
Openly arriving at Changi Airport
Taking the bus or MRT to the city centre
Waves and waves of them, a flood
Surging into Resorts World Sentosa…
4. Nanyang University
At the end of 1973, storms assaulted this place
Shaking the coconut and banana trees on Jurong Road as they passed
In my car I went through
The arch of Nanyang University
And saw the long road to Yunnan Garden
Now in bad repair
Its surface pitted and potholed…
The rambutan trees along the street and I
Had long since sensed bad omens
Especially the black police cars
In that era
That often drove in and out of campus
Recently the police chief had come looking for our chancellor
The campus was silent
An iguana crawled from the swamp and surveyed its surroundings
Finally
In 1979
Professors and students were dispatched to
Singapore University in Bukit Timah
And in June 1980
When they were on holiday
Relays of lorries
Full of Chinese books
Came in and out of the school gates
Several more years passed
And little birds heard the saga trees
Fall amidst the laughter of chainsaws
And those rambutan and coconut trees by the roadside
Became rows and rows of HDB flats
Blocking the path back to my memories…1
5. The Roads of Singapore
i. Dirt Road Hidden Within the Rainforest
Hidden in the rainforest
Winding and narrow
Every yellow dirt road of my childhood
Has been cruelly murdered by
Diggers and excavators
Blood flowing in rivers
Nature changed, transformed
Forced to stretch and expand