刚到学校

平时，这里的人问：

Usually, people here ask:

“你怎么变成今天的自己？”

“How did you become who you are today?”

我说：“我从那里来。”

I say, “I come from there.”

那里的人刚问：“你什么时候回来？”

The people there just asked, “When are you coming back?”

“最近太忙”——我说了好多年

“I’ve been too busy lately”—I’ve said that for years.

别问我从哪里来，问那里的人

Do not ask me where I come from; ask the people there.

我说那里是我的——那里还认识我吗？

I say that place is mine—but does that place still know me?

我有时间说那里，没有时间回那里

I have time to talk about that place, but no time to go back there.

我说我从那里来，怎么不在那里？

I say I come from there—how come I am not there?

刚才还说：“没有那里，哪有今天的我？”

Just now I was still saying, “Without that place, where would the me of today be?”

刚刚听见“回去帮忙”

I had just heard, “Go back and help out.”

马上变成：“我最近很忙”

Immediately it became: “I have been really busy lately.”

我拿得快，怎么给得这么慢？

I am quick to take—how come I am this slow to give?

别人认识那里，马上认识我

Other people know that place and immediately know me.

那里的人最近见过我吗？

Have the people there seen me lately?

我拿那里的过去，来说今天的我

I use that place's past to talk about who I am today.

那里的今天，怎么又不是我的事？

How come that place's present is, again, none of my business?

我说那里教我做真的自己

I say that place taught me to be my real self.

真的自己，只在这里说？

My real self—only talked about here?

那里要的，不是我又说一次

What that place wants is not for me to say it one more time.

是我回去一次，是我帮忙一次

It is for me to go back once, to help out once.

别问我从哪里来，问那里的人

Do not ask me where I come from; ask the people there.

我说那里是我的——那里还认识我吗？

I say that place is mine—but does that place still know me?

我有时间说那里，没有时间回那里

I have time to talk about that place, but no time to go back there.

我说我从那里来，怎么不在那里？

I say I come from there—how come I am not there?

前年我说没有时间

The year before last, I said I had no time.

后来有了时间，人还是不在

Later I had time, but I still was not there.

前天我又说没有时间

The day before yesterday, again I said I had no time.

今天还是这样说

Today I am still saying it this way.

我说秋天回去最好

I say autumn is the best time to go back.

秋天到了，我还是说很忙

Autumn arrived; I still said I was busy.

最好的时间，怎么总是明天？

How come the best time is always tomorrow?

明天到了，回去又变成“后来”

Tomorrow arrived; returning turned into “later” again.

我说我的一半还在那里

I say half of me is still there.

我不给那里半个小时

I will not give that place half an hour.

我说那里是我的

I say that place is mine.

我的时间，怎么一点都不是那里的？

How come not one bit of my time belongs to that place?

回去要走多久？一刻

How long does it take to go back? A quarter hour.

那里的人等了多久？好久

How long did the people there wait? A long time.

路没有变远

The road did not get farther.

好多年，我总说“后来”

For years, I kept saying “later.”

别问我从哪里来，问那里的人

Do not ask me where I come from; ask the people there.

我说那里是我的——那里还认识我吗？

I say that place is mine—but does that place still know me?

我有时间说那里，没有时间回那里

I have time to talk about that place, but no time to go back there.

我说我从那里来，怎么不在那里？

I say I come from there—how come I am not there?

最后——“我从那里来”

Finally—“I come from there.”

这样说没有错

Saying this is not wrong.

错的是，我只爱那里的过去

What is wrong is that I love only the past of that place.

不爱那里的现在

I do not love its present.

那里的人认识的，也是过去的我

What the people there know is also the me of the past.