Semi-Vegetarianism(半素食主義)

[羅拔]

Semi-Vegetarianism

Some asked why I am a semi-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To Bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat is Murder", The Smith said.
So go, be your Buddha or Saint.
I am just a poet, never far from Hell.


半素食主義

他們問為何我是半素食者
我說
要多些草
埋我胃裡的屍體

或許是瞎說
或許我是鮑伊的信徒
不能停留，必得改變

他們問為何我不是素食者
史密斯樂團說：肉是謀殺
去吧，去當個活佛或聖徒
我只是個詩人，不曾遠離地獄

[若爾。諾爾]

Hi Robert: LTNS! How's life?

Below is a quick review, just FYI.


Some asked why I am a partial-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat is murder,” the smith said.
So go, be your Buddha or saint.
I am just a poet, never far from hell.

Note: I do not understand the reference to “Smith”. “the smith” is technically the same as “the blacksmith”. “Smith”, capitalized, is reference to a person named Smith, in which case the line should read, “Meat is murder,” Smith said. No definite article should be there if this is a formal noun. I am not sure which this one is.

Best regards!

Semi-Vegetarianism

Some asked why I am a semi-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To Bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat is Murder", The Smith said.
So go, be your Buddha or Saint.
I am just a poet, never far from Hell.


半素食主義

他們問為何我是半素食者
我說
要多些草
埋我胃裡的屍體

或許是瞎說
或許我是鮑伊的信徒
不能停留，必得改變

他們問為何我不是素食者
史密斯樂團說：肉是謀殺
去吧，去當個活佛或聖徒
我只是個詩人，不曾遠離地獄

[羅拔]

Dear Noelle:
LTNS. Not bad recently! Thank you!
The Smith is a rock and roll band which is very famous around the 80's. They have one great album titled "Meat is Murder". That's why I put it in my poem.
And thank you so much for your suggestion. Here is the revised English version:


Semi-vegetarianism

Some asked why I am a partial-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat is murder,” the smith said.
So go, be your Buddha or saint.
I am just a poet, never far from hell.

[若爾。諾爾]

Hi Robert:

I looked up the band and the song. The official name of the band is The Smiths, with an “s” on the end. That would have clarified it, to have had that “s” on the end, referring to a group. So I put that in my corrections, below. Also, that leaves “Meat Is Murder” as the title of a song with all capitals. So, thanks for clarifying this – it did help for me to understand the poem. I had not been aware of this band and its music.

I still cannot find the word “semi-vegetarian” anywhere. That doesn’t make it invalid, necessarily, but I’m not exactly sure what a “semi”-vegetarian even is. But I looked up the lyrics of their song, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. Not only is meat not good for your health, but it also causes cruel suffering of living creatures in both their raising (most on factory farms these days) and their violent slaughter.

Anyway, I think the version below is right with this clarification now. I am not sure that someone could not now understand it, with the title of the song and the name of the band capitalized, as they should be. That alone should be sufficient for someone to look them up and understand.I also understood right away that David Bowie was a vegetarian –

Sorry about that, Robert. I was paying too much attention on the English version, and forgot about the Chinese version that states clearly about the band. My bad.

-----------
Semi-Vegetarianism

Some asked why I am a semi-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat Is Murder,” The Smiths said.

So go, be your Buddha or saint.
I am just a poet, never far from hell.

Dear Noelle:
LTNS. Not bad recently! Thank you!
The Smith is a rock and roll band which is very famous around the 80's. They have one great album titled "Meat is Murder". That's why I put it in my poem.
And thank you so much for your suggestion. Here is the revised English version:


Semi-vegetarianism

Some asked why I am a partial-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat is murder,” the smith said.
So go, be your Buddha or saint.
I am just a poet, never far from hell.

[羅拔]

Dear Noelle:
Thank you so much. And the revised version is below:


Semi-Vegetarianism

Some asked why I am a semi-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."

Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."

Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat Is Murder,” The Smiths said.

So go, be your Buddha or saint.
I am just a poet, never far from hell.


In fact, I am not sure if David Bowie is a vegetarian or not. The reason I want to mentioned him in my poem is emphasizing his faith of "change"--not being fixed in a single status. As I used to love meat, I would like to try some vegetarian food.
And I love The Smith's lyric and their music is good as well! Cheers!

Best,
Rob Chen