作者注 · Author's Notes

《左顾右盼》与《Still Looking》

关于李白 · On Li Bai

李白（701—762），唐朝诗人，世称"诗仙"。《静夜思》是他最广为人知的作品之一，仅二十字，却流传千年。

Li Bai (701–762) was a Tang dynasty poet known as the Immortal of Poetry. 《静夜思》, Quiet Night Thought, is among his most beloved works — twenty characters, still read a thousand years later.

诗中没有直接说出"思念"二字。他只给了我们两个动作：举头，低头。两个意象：明月，故乡。情感藏在空白里，由读者自己渡过那道缝隙。这是中国古典诗歌的精髓——克制即技巧，留白即深情。

He never uses the word longing. He gives us two gestures — look up, look down — and two images — the moon, home. The feeling lives in the space between them. The reader crosses that gap alone. This is the essence of classical Chinese poetry: restraint as technique, silence as depth.

举头望明月
低头思故乡

Look up — the moon.
Look down — home.

千年来，无数读者渡过了这道缝隙。它从未合拢。

A thousand years of readers have crossed that gap. It does not close.

月

关于李恩硕 · On Samuel Lee

2025年新加坡大选期间，反对党候选人李恩硕在竞选集会上，将一首华语流行歌改编成演讲。他的副歌是：看左看右，看左看右，寻找前途。这样的心愿，算不算太高？

During Singapore's 2025 General Election, opposition candidate Samuel Lee adapted a Mandarin pop song into a rally speech. His refrain: look left look right, look left look right, searching for a future. Is this ambition considered too high?

片段在网络上广泛流传。他没有赢得议席。后来有人拍到他骑摩托送外卖。再后来，他离开了他的政党。

The clip went viral. He did not win his seat. He was later photographed delivering food on a motorcycle. He subsequently left his party.

他用四个方向寻路，却一无所获。但他继续前行。

He searched in every direction and found nothing. He kept moving.

关于这两首诗 · On the Two Poems

上下、左右，方向不同，却抵达同一个地方。

Up and down. Left and right. Different directions. The same destination.

李白望向两个方向，最终回到原点——离家更远，也更近。李恩硕望向四个方向，仍旧没有前路——却依然在路上。看的动作改变不了任何事。两人都停在原地，只是更清楚地知道自己身在何处。

Li Bai looks in two directions and ends where he started — further from home, and closer to it. Samuel looks in four directions and finds no path — and yet remains on one. The looking changes nothing. Both men are exactly where they began, only more aware of it.

这就是所有方向的共同之处：它们告诉你，你在哪里。

This is what all directions have in common. They show you where you are.

中文版《左顾右盼》以李恩硕开篇，以李白作结。现代的焦虑在前，古典的重量压后，最后落在"故乡"二字上。沉。

The Chinese version 《左顾右盼》 opens with Samuel Lee and closes with Li Bai. Modern anxiety first, ancient weight last, landing on 故乡 — home. Heavy.

英文版《Still Looking》则将顺序颠倒。李白先来，月光与霜，举头低头，一切庄严。然后李恩硕走进来，问起工作前途。月亮忽然变得有点滑稽。这是新加坡的方式——崇高之后，总有一个人问：那你出路在哪里？

The English version, Still Looking, reverses the order. Li Bai arrives first — moonlight, frost, the quiet weight of home. Then Samuel Lee walks in and asks about his career path. The moon becomes slightly absurd. This is the Singaporean condition: after the transcendent, someone always asks — but where is your future?

两首诗，同样的两段文字，顺序不同，情感各异。一首沉，一首笑中带泪。

Two poems. The same two fragments. Different order, different feeling. One heavy, one funny in the way that hurts.

相隔一千三百年，两人做了同一个动作。月亮没有移动。前途尚未出现。我们还在寻找。

Thirteen hundred years apart, two men made the same gesture. The moon has not moved. The career path has not appeared. We are still looking.