Please call me by my true name

This song was adapted from Thay's poem "Please call me by my true name." Thay wrote this poem back in 1978 when he was helping the boat people from Vietnam and heard the news that a 12-year-old girl drowned herself in the ocean after being raped by a pirate. This is one of Thay's famous poems and my favourite. It is a beautiful expression of understanding, love, and inter-being.

Please call Me By My True Names
請以真實名字呼喚我

Thich Nhat Hanh 一行禪師

Do not say that I will depart tomorrow, even today I still arrive.

不要說我將在明天離去，即使今天我仍在到達。

Look deeply: every second I am arriving

to be a bud on a spring branch,

to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile, learning to sing in my new nest,

to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,

to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
深入觀看：我每秒鐘都在到達
成為春枝上的蓓蕾，
成為一只小小鳥，翅膀依然脆弱，在我的新巢學習歌唱，
成為花蕊中的小毛蟲，
成為藏於石頭中的寶鑽。

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive.
我仍然在到達，才可以歡笑與哭泣，體會恐懼與希望。
我心裡的節奏是所有生命的生與死。

I am a mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,

And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.
我是一只在河面蜕變的蜉蝣，
我是那只小鳥從半空俯衝下把蜉蝣吞掉。

I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond.

And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog.
我是一只在清池裡快樂游泳的青蛙，
我是那條草蛇，沉默地獵食這只青蛙。

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my leg as thin as bamboo sticks.

And I am the arms merchant,selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
我是烏干達的孩童，只剩皮和骨，雙腿瘦如竹杆，
我也是那軍火商人，販賣殺人武器到烏干達。

I am the twelve-year-old girl,refugee on a small boat,

who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate.

And I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

我是那个十二歲女孩，小船上的難民，
遭遇海盜的糟蹋，躍身投進海裡。
我是那個海盜，我的心還不懂了解和愛。

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands.

And I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people,

dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

我是政治局成員，手裡擁有巨大權利，
我是那個需要給人民“償還血債”的人，
在集中營裡慢慢地死去。

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom
in all over the earth.

My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans.
我的喜悅如春天，溫暖讓百花綻放大地。
我的痛楚如淚之河川，延綿充滿四海。

Please call me by my true names,

so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
請以真實名字呼喚我，
讓我同時聽見自己的哭泣和歡笑，
讓我看見自己的歡樂和痛苦是一體。

Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up,

and the door of my heart can be left open,the door of compassion.
請以真實名字呼喚我，讓我醒覺，
讓我心裡之門打開，那扇慈悲之門。