浮脂记事 狐之章 其一 Floating Grease Chronicles: Chapter of the Fox (I)

似乎是上古时代，诗还没有在古弁才天国消亡的时期，无名诗人留下的作品。这篇应该是其中一部的卷首。 It seems to be a work left behind by an unknown poet from the earliest ages of ancient Benzaitengoku, when poetry had not yet vanished. This should be t

狐狸是最聪明的动物

Foxes are the wisest of creatures,

他们知晓如何获得大地的礼物

as they know how to harvest Earth's gifts.

温泉池边的硫磺

The sulfur by hot springs,

鸟粪堆里的火硝

the saltpeter in bird droppings.

最聪明的动物在泥坑里洗澡

The wisest creatures bathe in mud pits,

好让火红的皮毛不会点着炸药

so their fiery fur won't ignite the powder.

天火灼烧着没有名字的海岸

The heavenly fire scorches the nameless shore,

此事发生在不久之前的夜晚

on a night not too long ago.

流星的暴雨在夜空乍现

When meteor showers fleeted across the dark sky,

只有狐狸们知道，那也是鲸落的碎片

only foxes knew they were fragments of fallen whales.

最聪明的动物在滩涂地上寻找

The wisest creatures search the tidal flats,

不放过琥珀、龙涎香、以及沉船的星海玻璃

for amber, ambergris, and star-lined glass from sunken ships.

珍珠在这里并不稀奇

Pearls are nothing rare here,

周期蚌咧开长长的大嘴

where periodic clams open their long mouths wide,

镧系和锕系就藏在它的外套膜里

and lanthanides and actinides hide in their mantles.

黏土的大锅，孕育炼金的法术

Clay cauldrons nurture alchemical spells,

世上的眼泪太多

since the world has too many tears,

缺少的是真正的财富

and what's scarce is true wealth.

在那些没有月光的岁月

In those moonless years,

星空只会反射狐狸们狡黠的笑容

the starry sky only reflects the foxes' cunning smiles.