Prologue

For one who pulls someone’s
Chestnuts out of the fire, he does not easily voice
His pain, hidden at heart

And whose company does the mad sun at Arles keep
By burning thirty-seven times?

How can one draw gold threads
From the broken souls?

All my life, Van Gogh
Is the only one I love as I love his way of turning the world
Into a burning sunflower

序 诗

一个从火中
取栗的人，他不会轻易说出来
那些藏在心中的伤痛

而一颗阿尔的，疯太阳
伴谁：燃烧了三十七次

那些从破损的灵魂里面
怎样才能抽出的金丝线

我一生之中
只热爱凡高，只热爱他把世界
旋转成燃烧的向日葵

Volume One

The power of seeds appears
In the sulphurous stripes of the setting sun
In the ancient-golden waves of the wheat fields
In the light purple plough traces of the soil
And also in the gestures
Firmer than the ancient golden colour of the seed-sowers

上 卷

种子的力量出现了
在落日的硫磺色的条纹上
在麦田的古金色的波浪上
在泥土的淡紫色的犁痕上
也在播种者
比古铜色还要坚定的手势上

Reading The Potato Eaters [Oil on canvas, 1885]

His heart going deeper into Village Nuenen
The sharp-eyed Van Gogh chooses the simple things
To begin on

A spread of light, from above the head, dimly
Illuminates a heap of simple potatoes
Illuminating the resigned expression on the faces of the potato eaters
And illuminating, too, their hands holding the potatoes
In the process of eating
In the family of the poor

This is the order of the world
In which they have to work, putting their hands in the earth
To dig the potatoes out by day, in the same gesture
And to retreat to the thatched hut, sitting around the wooden table
All the hands held towards the plate enabling the
Pained potatoes to begin telling
About the lives of the poor

While you, the potato eaters, truly
Enjoy food from the earth
As thin-faced Van Gogh sees the heart of the village
Leap from the canvas into
The eyes of the world

Van Gogh on The Potato Eaters:

In April 1885, Van Gogh completed his The Potato Eaters at Nuenen. In a letter he wrote to his brother Theo, he explains this great realist work thus: “I have just got back to my residence from my village hut and am continuing to paint by the lamplight. I have been painting this continuously for three days every day from morning till night.” “This obviously is a genuine peasant painting, in my opinion. If there are people who want to see peasants in their Sunday best in this painting, just let them. For me, I believe that rendering them in their rugged manner will produce better results than if I make them attractive in the old style.” “Even though it was a different style, executed in another century, it is unique as it is dug out of the depths of peasant life.” “This is an impression I gained after I spent so many nights doing 40 head portraits and observing by the dim lamplight in my village hut and, for this reason, I am certain that I have done these characters from an entirely different point of view.”

读《吃土豆的人》
1885年 布面油画

深入纽南乡村的心脏
目光敏锐的凡高，选择从一些朴素的
事物身上动笔

一片暗淡地，从头顶打下来的光
把一堆简单的土豆照亮
把吃土豆者，一脸听天由命的神情照亮
也把他们捏土豆的手
照亮在一家穷人
吃土豆的过程中

这是世界的秩序
他们必须劳动着，从泥土里下手
必须用同一种姿势，白天把土豆刨出来
必须退回草屋，围坐在木桌旁
所有伸进盘子里的手，会让有些
疼感的土豆，开始叙述
穷人的生活

吃土豆的人，当你们真实地
享用着大地上的食物时
脸颊消瘦的凡高，却看见了乡村的心脏
让它从一块画布上，跳进
世界的眼睛，

凡高说《吃土豆的人》：
1885年4月，凡高在纽南完成了《吃土豆的人》。他在给提奥的信中这样解释这幅伟大的现实主义作品：“我刚从那幢乡间草屋回到我的住所，在灯光下继续画。我已经连续三天每天从早到晚画这幅画。”“这幅画显然是一幅真正的农民画。我认为是这样。如果有人愿意在画中看到穿着节日盛装的农民的话，那就随他的便吧。就我自己来说，我相信画出他们粗野的样子，要比把他们画成老一套的妩媚的样子，能够得到更好的效果。”“虽然是以一种不同的风格，在另一个世纪画成的，但是它也是从农民生活的深处发掘出来的，是有独创性的”。“这是多少个晚上我在乡间草屋的暗淡灯光下进行观察，画过四十幅油画头像后得到的印象，因此很清楚，我是以一种完全不同的观点来画这些人物的。”

Reading Autumn Landscape [Oil on canvas, 1885]

Hand the autumn over to the far skies
Hand the skies over to the near forest
Hand the forest over to the colours in hand

My thin brother Van Gogh
Hands the autumn landscape near at hand over to Nuenen

In the forest that clouds can’t penetrate
And that wild swans can’t fly over
Only colours can fall, by themselves

My thin brother Van Gogh
Lets Nuenen from near at hand fill with the fall of colours

He lets the skies gain warmth in the forest
He lets the forest gain warmth in the colours
He lets the colours gain warmth in the eyes

My thin brother Van Gogh
Brings warmth of the world, from near at hand

Van Gogh on Autumn Landscape:

In November 1885, Van Gogh completed his Autumn Landscape in Nuenen. In his letter to Theo, he says thus: “My colours now are getting warmer as the initial cold tones have disappeared from my work…. When dealing with my tones, I keep a certain connection with the objects of my portrayal and a certain amount of correctness although I do not really mind whether my colours are exactly the same as the portrayed objects as long as they look beautiful on canvas---as long as they look as beautiful as the objects for, after all, colours in themselves express things.” “For example, when I work on a landscape painting of autumn filled with yellowing leaves, I look at it as a coordination of yellow colours in different levels. Then does it matter if the yellow colours I use are different from or the same with the yellow colours of the leaves? It doesn’t. They bear no relationship whatsoever.” “In figures or landscapes that he does, an artist wants to convince people that objects in a painting and those in a mirror are somewhat different and they are not the same as the imaginary ones or copies of the originals.”

读《秋景》
1885年 布面油画

把秋天交给远处的天空
把天空交给近处的树林
把树林交给手中的色彩

我的瘦哥哥凡高
就近把秋景，交给纽南

云朵不能穿过来的树林
大雁不能飞过来的树林
只有色彩本身能落下来

我的瘦哥哥凡高
就近让纽南，落满色彩

让天空在树林里得到温暖
让树林在色彩里得到温暖
让色彩在眼睛里得到温暖

我的瘦哥哥凡高
就近摸出了，世界的温暖

凡高说《秋景》：
1885年11月，凡高在纽南完成了《秋景》。他在给提奥的信中这样说：“现在我的用色逐渐变暖，最初那种冷调子已从我的画中消失了。......我在处理色调时，保持着跟描绘对象一定的联系和一定的正确性；但是我不太计较我的色彩是否与对象完全一样，只要它在画布上看起来美——跟在对象上看起来一样美，就行了。色彩自身表达某种东西。”“比如，我要描绘一幅满是黄叶的秋景画，我把它看做是黄色个层次间的协调，那么我用的黄色与树叶的黄色是否相同又有什么关系呢？没有，它们没有关系。”“画家在他所描绘的人物或风景上，始终是要让人们相信，绘画与镜子中所反映的对象是有些不一样的，与凭空臆造或者复制原貌是不一样的。”

Reading Sower with Setting Sun (1) [Oil on canvas, 1888]

The power of seeds appears
On the sulphurous stripes of the sun 
On the ancient-golden waves of the wheatfields
On the pale-purple plough-traces of the soil

And also on the gestures of the sowers
Firmer than the ancient-golden colours
The pressure of the sun from the depths of the sky
The pressure of the wheat from the horizon and the pressure
Of the seeds from the heart of hands make it possible for him to convey
On the ripening plain
Information more important than maturity. On the Guanzhong Plain I
Can also hear the sound of seeds when they fall to the earth
On every piece of soil

And the floating colours of the mud
Remind me of my village where a spread of flowering alfalfa
Is sure to turn the fields into an angrily flowering passion
Or pale purple alfalfa flowers, like fires of another kind
Breathe in the sowers as much as possible
When seeds fall as I can feel
A pressure from the heart of the earth

Van Gogh, a saint artist, I have also sowed thus
In the fields and I have also, in the setting sun,
Walked with the faith of seeds except that no one then
Taught me about the power of seeds

Van Gogh on Sower with Setting Sun:

In June 1888, Van Gogh completed his Sower with Setting Sun in Arles. In his letter to Theo he describes this metaphoric painting about the art of life and death. “It is now harvest time. For a week, I have been painting in the wheat fields under the scorching sun, with difficulty. The wheat is a fitting subject for painting the same way flowering fruit trees are.” “A ploughed field with purple clods extends far into the horizon. A sower in blue and white. On the horizon, there is a wheat field with ripening wheat that is not tall and in the middle of the yellow sky there is a yellow sun.” “From my simple description of the tone of the colours, you can get an idea of how important a role colours play in a painting.”

读《落日下的播种者》（1）
1888年 布面油画

种子的力量出现了
在落日的硫磺色的条纹上
在麦田的古金色的波浪上
在泥土的淡紫色的犁痕上

也在播种者
比古铜色还要坚定的手势上
太阳从天空深处的压力
麦子从地平线上的压力，还有种子
从手心的压力，让他在成熟的平原上
把比成熟，还要重要的信息
传递出来。我在关中平原的
哪一块泥土上，也能听见种子
落地的声音

而泥土的浮色
让我想起在乡村，一片苜蓿花
一定会把田野，怒放成多情
或淡紫色的苜蓿花，它像另一种火焰
在种子落地时，尽情呼吸着
播种者，我已感觉出
一种来自地心的压力

画圣凡高，在田野上
我也这样播种过，我也在落日里
带着种子的信仰行走，只是那时
没人教我：想象种子的力量

凡高说《落日下的播种者》：
1888年6月，凡高在阿尔完成了《落日下的播种者》。他在给提奥的信中这样叙述这幅关于生死的艺术之隐喻的画：“现在正是收获时节，我有一个星期在烈日之下，在麦田里艰难地作画。麦子适于入画，正好像开花的果树园适于入画一样。”“一片有着紫色土块的犁过的地，一直伸向地平线；一个穿着蓝色与白色服装的播种人；在地平线上有一片长得不高的、成熟了的麦田；在黄色的天空中有一轮黄色的太阳。”“你可以从我对色调的简单叙述中，了解到这是一幅色彩在其中起着十分重要作用的画。”

Reading The Girl [Oil on canvas, 1888]

Sitting so quiet. The girl from Provence
Except that you need to press the oleander in your hands low
And lower, not letting my excessive vision
Sink into her tight encirclement

There’s a lot to leave out
In revealing a girl’s youth, such auxiliary methods
Not necessary. Leave out the colours on her top
Leave out her skirt colours and leave out the more flirtatious
Colours of the oleander as all I need is the touch of light
On her skin and the red ribbon
On top of her head

And I’d also like her vigilant
Eyesight to last long
And longer. Respect and arrogance
Are the sacrifice of youth
Brought to a girl by this continuously conflicted world. I know
That everything goes fast for the girl
Beginning from when she’s a teenager, including the red ribbon
On her head, no longer like a butterfly
That flies purely

Or, perhaps, in your sad eyes
There is a repeated secret revelation by Van Gogh: Don’t ever
Imagine this world to be perfect as all existence
Begins in pain

Van Gogh on The Girl:

In 1888, when Van Gogh finished The Girl, he said in a letter to Theo, “Do you know who is called Mo Si Mei [La Mousmé] (If you have read Madame Chrysanthème [Pierre Loti’s 1887 semi-autobiographical novel which partly inspired Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 opera, Madama Butterfly], you’ll know). But I’ve just done one. La Mousmé is a Japanese girl aged 14 (but I’ve done a girl from Provence). The painting took me a week to do…The background for the girl is solidly spread with a stone-green white and her top is striped with a blood red and purple, her skirt a deep blue with orange spots, her hair painted with purple, her brows black, her eyelashes and eyes orange and sky-blue. She holds an oleander in her hand and both her hands appear on the painting.”

读《姑娘》
1888年 布面油画

坐得这么静。普罗旺斯少女
只是把你握在手心的夹竹桃，压得低一点
再低一点，不要让我多余的目光
陷入她的重围

可以省略许多
揭示一位少女的青春，不需要这些辅助性的
手法。省略去上衣的色彩
省略去裙子的色彩，省略去夹竹桃
更轻浮的色彩，我只要她皮肤上
那一抹亮色，还有头顶
那一片红丝带

我也只要她警惕的
目光，能保持得长久些
再长久些。尊重与傲慢
都是这个不断冲突着的世界，带给一位少女的
青春之祭。我知道
从十几岁开始，姑娘呵
一切都走得很快，包括头顶的
那片红丝带，不再像蝴蝶
很单纯地飞着

或许，你悲凉的眼神里
有凡高反复的秘示：不要把这个世界
想象得太好，但所有的生存
都要从痛苦开始

凡高说《姑娘》：
1888年，凡高在阿尔完成了《姑娘》。他在写给提奥的信中说：“你知不知道什么叫莫斯梅（你读过《菊子夫人》就会知道），我刚刚画了一个。莫斯梅是十二到十四岁的日本姑娘（我画的是一个普罗旺斯的姑娘）。这幅画花了我一个星期的时间。……姑娘的背景是扎实地涂着石绿色的白色，她的上衣是血红色与紫色的条纹，她的裙子是有着橘黄色打点子的深蓝色，头发上涂着紫色，眉毛是黑色，睫毛、眼睛是橘黄色与普蓝色。她的手里拿着一枝夹竹桃；她的双手都出现在画面上。”

Reading The Man Who Harvests [Oil on canvas, 1889]

We sing of the person who harvests
We sing of the sickle in his hand
We are the Orientals

Like us, Van Gogh
Also saw the man who harvested and he saw the sickle
In his hand. But he could only think of
Things outside the harvesting
From the sharp blade of the sickle, he, uncomfortably, smelt
The smell of death. There was a similar smell
On the fallen wheat and on the naked earth
That gave him a piercing pain on the canvas

The sun that burnt the land
Could cook the wheat in large tracks but could not force the raised sickle
Directly back to the purple mountains by pushing the tragedy
Of harvesting human beings to the shivering colours
Of the land
Oh, Van Gogh, as you stood alone before the window
With iron bars you need to look up more
To the sky then

Van Gogh on The Man Who Harvests:

In June 1889 when Van Gogh completed his The Man Who Harvests in Saint-Rémy, he wrote to Theo in a letter and said: “This study is all yellow, with a thickly piled paint. But the main thing is well rendered, in a succinct way. This is someone whose outlines are made obscure as if he were a devil bent on finishing his work on a hot day. I see the image of death in him. He may be harvesting human beings. For this reason, this is a subject matter that is contrary to my previous paintings of sowers. However, in this Death Deity, there is nothing sad. He is working in the bright sunlight and the sun is shining over everything with a pure-gold light.” “Ah well, The Man Who Harvests is now done, a very succinct work that should be kept at your home. Just as The Bible says, this is the image of death but all I am pursuing is a near smile. Apart from the range of mountains, the painting is all yellow, a pale but vivid yellow.”

读《收割的人》
1889年 布面油画

我们歌唱收割的人
我们歌唱他手里的，那把镰刀
我们是东方人

和我们一样，凡高
也看见过收割的人，看见过他们手里的
那把镰刀，但他能想到的
却是收获以外的事情
从镰刀锋利的刃口上，他十分不安地闻到了
死亡的气息。倒伏的麦子上
裸露的土地上，也有同样的
气息，在画布上刺疼他

烧烤大地的太阳
能把麦子大面积地晒熟，但不能把收割的人
举起来的镰刀，直接逼回去
紫色的山脉，把一场收割
人类的悲剧，推到大地
颤动的色彩里
凡高呵，你孤独地站在有铁栏杆的
窗前，应该多仰视
那时的天空

凡高不歌唱收割的人
凡高不歌唱他手里的，那把镰刀
凡高是西方人

凡高说：《收割的人》：
1889年6月，凡高在圣雷米完成了《收割的人》。他在给提奥的信中说：“这幅习作全是黄色，颜料堆得很厚，但是主要的东西画得很好，很简练。这是一个轮廓画得模糊的人物他好象一个为要在大热天把他的工作做完的魔鬼；我在这个收割的人身上，看到了一个死神的形象，他在收割的也许是人类。因此这是与我以前所画的播种的人相反的题材。但在这个死神身上，却没有一点悲哀的味道；他在明朗的日光下干活，太阳以一种纯金的光普照着万物。”“好啦！《收割的人》画完了。这是非常非常简练的，应该保存在你家里的一幅作品。按照《圣经》中所说，这是一个死神的形象，但是我所追求的是近乎微笑。除了一列紫色的群山以外，这幅画上全是黄色，一种淡淡的、鲜明的黄色。”

Volume Two

A vase, as solemn as a sacred symbol
Tells me, with all its earthy yellow that the earth
When receiving life, reveals its original colour. Silent
In the deep lemon yellow, you break yourself
Into branches of irises, winded with pain
Planted in the world’s
Eyes of everlasting heart pain

下 卷

一只神器，一样庄严的花瓶
用一身土黄色，告诉我泥土
收留生命时，都会显现的原色。静默在
一片柠檬的深黄里，你把自己
也折成几枝，身缠痛苦的
鸢尾花，插在世界
永远心疼的目光里

Reading Sorrow [April, 1882, pencil and black chalk]

A lonely body, curling up on the lonely land
A simple beginning, softened in the simple colours

Woman present, colours present
And a faceful of sorrow, catching at presence 
The abandonee, Van Gogh, sorrowful within, your carbon 
Figure lines, like a knife of tragedy, thrusting into
The heart of the land, with the blowing of a clear wind
The skin of the woman is breaking inch by inch
Breathing in despair
In the shadows cast down by the sky

I am pierced by tens of thousands of arrows
Tears surge, my eyesockets unable to contain the curled up
Body of the abandonee. I can only ask Van Gogh’s soul
To use the same brush to strip the man
Of his straight clothes and kneel on the land
In the face of another life
Within the womb
Of a crying woman, also naked

A master’s voice, angry in the world’s colours
A reader’s voice, burning in the world’s eyes

Van Gogh on Sorrow:

In 1882, Van Gogh, with [the thirty-two year-old pregnant Sien Hoornik] as his model, created his first masterpiece, Sorrow. The artist kept saying, “I’d like to paint something that is moving. Sorrow is a simple beginning. Through figures or landscape, I do not want to express sadness but deep sorrow.” He gave another drawing, Sorrow, to his brother Theo and he explained in a letter, “I think Sorrow is the best figurative painting I’ve ever done which is why I should give this to you as a present. I think the result will be even better if you put it on a grey lining paper with no pattern.”

读《悲哀》
1882年4月 铅笔 黑色粉笔

一个孤独的身子，蜷缩在孤独的大地上
一个朴素的开端，柔和在朴素的色彩里

在场的女人，在场的色彩
还有一脸感伤，在场扑捉
被遗弃者，内心悲哀的凡高，你碳素的
人体线条，像一把刺向，大地心脏的
悲剧之刀，借助清风的吹佛
女人的肌肤，正在寸寸断裂
正在天空，投下的阴影里
绝望地呼吸

我被万箭，突然穿胸
涌出泪水，我的眼眶，装不下被遗弃者
蜷缩的身影。只有恳请凡高之魂
也用同一支画笔，剥去男人
笔挺的衣着，面对腹内
有另一个生命，哭泣的
女人，也赤裸着
在大地上跪下

一位大师的声音，在世界的色彩里愤怒
一位读者的声音，在世界的目光里燃烧

凡高说《悲哀》：
1882年，凡高以西恩为模特，创作了他平生第一件杰作《悲哀》。画家反复说明：“我要画让人感动的画。《悲哀》是一个朴素的开端，我通过人物或风景，想要表达的不是感伤，而是深重的悲哀。”他把另一幅素描《悲哀》送给了弟弟提奥，写信说明：“我认为《悲哀》是我以前没有过的最好的人物画，因此我应该把这幅画送给你。我以为，要是把它贴在没有花纹的灰色衬纸上，效果一定很好。”

Reading The Green Vineyard [Oil on canvas, October 1888]

Lured by the grapes
The clouds are flying towards the earth
From the sky

Wreathed by the clouds
The grapes are dancing from the earth
Towards the sky

Eroded by the green colour
The woman is lowering her head under the umbrella
Towards herself

Urged by Van Gogh
The poet is pouring his heart out
Towards the woman

A different autumn
Hangs, filled with the same grapes
In our heart

Van Gogh on The Green Vineyard:

In October 1888, Van Gogh, in a letter to Paul Gauguin, said, “Recently, I have been doing a number of very exciting things. I am putting this scenery in my painting: the blue sky over a vineyard of green, purple and yellow colours, with purple or orange grapes. There are two little figures like two women holding red umbrellas. There is a small horse-drawn carriage, driven by two grape-pickers, which adds to the joy on the picture. In the near ground, there are grey sands.”

读《绿色的葡萄园》
1888年10月 布面油画

被葡萄诱惑着
云朵，正从天空
向大地飞来

被云朵缭绕着
葡萄，正从大地
向天空起舞

被绿色腐蚀着
女人，正从伞下
向自己低头

被凡高怂恿着
诗人，正从内心
向女人倾诉

不一样的秋天
挂满，我们心中
一样的葡萄

凡高说《绿色的葡萄园》：
1888年10月，凡高在一封致高更的信中说：“最近一段时间，我在做一些特别令人兴奋的事。我正在将这一风景收入画中：蓝天在一大片绿色、紫色、黄色的葡萄园之上，结着紫色或橘色的葡萄。有两个小人像是两个打红阳伞的妇人，有一对葡萄采摘者驾着一辆小马车，使画面看起来更加欢快。近景为灰色的沙子。”

Reading Woman in Drum and Bell Café [Oil on canvas, 1887]

No footsteps or glasses 
That can clash into today’s solitude 

No laughter or cries 
Can decorate today into sorrow

No days or nights
That can pour out today’s expression

And a glass of beer, accompanied by a cigarette
Burns off the youth between the fingers

A critical view of Woman in Drum and Bell Café: *

Reportedly, this portrait was one that merged Agostina [Segatori (artist’s model and actual owner of Drum and Bell Café)] and [the artist John Peter] Russell’s wife, [Marianna Mattiocco (later portrayed by Auguste Rodin’s 1896 sculpture, Minerve sans casque)]. It was done by adopting the methods of the impressionists, similar to works by Manet, Degas and Renoir. The fashionably dressed woman, with the strange headgear, sits alone at the drum-and-bell-shaped table, with a glass of beer on it. She holds a cigarette, looking depressed and bored. Behind her and on the wall, hangs a large-sized portrait of a Japanese geisha (more like a scroll than a print), showing her pursuit of fashion.

* This painting is better known as Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin. Geng Xiang’s title Woman in Drum and Bell Café is presumably influenced by its Chinese translation.

读《铃鼓咖啡馆女郎》
1887年 布面油画

没有脚步，也没有杯盏
碰击出的，今天的孤独

没有笑声，也没有哭泣
装饰出的，今天的忧郁

没有白昼，也没有黑夜
颠倒出的，今天的脸色

一杯啤酒，陪一枝香烟
燃掉夹在，指间的青春

专家评论《铃鼓咖啡馆女郎》：

据说这幅肖像是把巴黎铃鼓咖啡馆女经理阿戈斯蒂娜与画家拉塞尔的妻子两个女人合在一起的形象。这幅油画采用了印象派的手法，类似马奈、德加和雷诺阿的作品。画中头饰怪异、装束奇特的时髦女郎，独自坐在铃鼓形状的桌旁，桌上放着啤酒杯。她手里拿着香烟，神情抑郁，百无聊赖。背后墙上挂着尺寸很大的日本艺妓画像
（似乎不是版画而是卷轴画），表示女主人对时尚的追求。