Modern Chinese Essays – Page 2

Shen Congwen: Chest Precipice (Excerpt)~《箱子岩（节选）》（沈从文）with English Translations

箱子岩（节选） Chest Precipice (Excerpt) 文/沈从文译/戴乃迭十五年以前，我有机会独坐一只小篷船，沿辰河上行，停船在箱子岩脚下。一列青黛崭削的石壁，夹江高矗，被夕阳烘炙成为一个五彩屏障。石壁半腰约百米高的石缝中，有古代巢居者的遗迹，石罅隙间横横的悬撑起无数巨大横梁，暗红色长方形大木柜尚依然好好的搁在木梁上。岩壁断折缺口处，看得见人家茅棚同水码头，上岸喝酒下船过渡人也得从这缺口通过。那一天正是五月十五，河中人过大端阳节。箱子岩洞窟中最美丽的三只龙船，早被乡下人拖出浮在水面上。船只狭而长，船舷描绘有朱红线条，全船坐满了青年桨手，头腰各缠红布。鼓声起处，船便如一支没羽箭，在平静无波的长潭中来去如飞。河身大约一里路宽，两岸皆有人看船，大声呐喊助兴。且有好事者，从后山爬到悬岩顶上去，把“铺地锦”百子边炮从高岩上抛下，尽边炮在半空中爆裂，形成一团团五彩碎纸云尘，彭彭彭彭的边炮声与水面船中锣鼓声相应和。引起人对于历史回溯发生一种幻想，一点感慨。 Fifteen years ago I chanced to charter a little boat with a bamboo canopy to sail up the River Chen. We stopped at the foot of Chest Precipice. The river here was flanked by looming black cliffs irradiated by the setting sun into a prismatic screen. In crevices […]

Shen Congwen: Chest Precipice (Excerpt)~《箱子岩（节选）》（沈从文）with English Translations Read More »

Zhou Jianren: Ginkgo Tree ~《白果树》（周建人） with English Translations

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白果树 Ginkgo Tree 文/周建人译/张梦井、杜耀文上海真是热闹的地方，也许特别在热天的时候，牌声。留声机或无线电的声音，有时更有爆仗声，往往闹得人不能睡觉。这实在是很窘的。有时候，譬如灯下写了点东西，看看时候已经十一点钟了，赶紧睡下，想望早点睡熟，以便明天起来好做事情。偏偏这边邻居的牌声还没有停止，那边又开起留声机来了。逢年过节还要放爆仗，这自然更其挡不住。而且常常这等声音还没有闹了，卖馄饨的又来了。广东馄饨担是敲竹板的，发出必必剥剥尖脆的声音，本地馄饨担是敲竹筒的，发出沉重的钝声。我的故乡也有这样的馄饨担，但是用短木棒敲在竹筒上，声音比较的低些，上海的馄饨担往往用短铁棒来敲，声音也就特别响亮了。有时候刚把思想制止住，正要睡去，接连的被外面闯进来的声浪数次闹醒之后，便会许多时期睡不着。第二天因为睡眠不足，身体觉得不清爽，就不能好好的做事情了。 Shanghai is indeed a rustling place, perhaps especially in the hot days. All the noises of cards playing, gramophone, wireless radio and sometimes even noise of crackers, often make people unable to sleep. This is indeed very hard for me. For example, sometimes when I am writing under a

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Ye Shengtao: Morning Glory ~ 《牵牛花》（叶圣陶）with English Translations

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牵牛花 Morning Glory 文/叶圣陶译/张梦井、杜耀文手种牵牛花，接连有三四年了。水门汀地没法下种，种在十来个瓦盆里。泥是今年又明年反复用着的，无从取得新的泥来加入。曾与铁路轨道旁种地的那个北方人商量，愿出钱向他买一点儿，他不肯。 I have been planting morning glories for three to four years now. As morning glories can not be planted on cement floors, I plant them in many clay pots. As there is no place to get new earth to add in, the earth in the pots is used repeatedly

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Zhang Xiaofeng: Meditating on Springs of the Past ~ 《春之怀古》（张晓风） with English Translations

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春之怀古 Meditating on Springs of the Past 文/张晓风译/张梦井、杜耀文春天必然曾经是这样的：从绿意内敛的山头，一把雪再也撑不住了，噗嗤的一声，将冷面笑成花面，一首澌澌然的歌便从云端唱到山麓，从山麓唱到低低的荒村，唱入篱落，唱入一只小鸭的黄蹼，唱入软溶溶的春泥——软如一床新翻的棉被的春泥。 Spring must have been like this: on top of the hill where spring has settled, the last traces of snow’s grip weaken. With a snicker, it smiles like a flower under a cold face. Then from the clouds a faint song would flow over the

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Lu Xun: Preface to “Call to Arms” ~ 《呐喊》自序with English Translations

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《呐喊》自序 Preface to “Call to Arms” (December 3, 1922) 文/鲁迅译/杨宪益、戴乃迭我在年青时候也曾经做过许多梦，后来大半忘却了，但自己也并不以为可惜。所谓回忆者，虽说可以使人欢欣，有时也不免使人寂寞，使精神的丝缕还牵着已逝的寂寞的时光，又有什么意味呢，而我偏苦于不能全忘却，这不能全忘的一部分，到现在便成了《呐喊》的来由。 When I was young I, too, had many dreams. Most of them came to be forgotten, but I see nothing in this to regret. For although recalling the past may make you happy, it may sometimes also make you lonely, and there is

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Age-old Stories~《古老的故事》（司马中原） with English Translations

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古老的故事 Age-old Stories 文/司马中原译/张梦井杜耀文最好是夜晚，我们同坐在山间的木屋里，四面都是高耸的森林。远在我们来到这世界之前，在拨开寒云也望不见的年代，这些树便迎着风霜雨雪茁生了。人类的故事在它们听来算得上是古老的么？人的一生总是短暂的，李白的诗里有过这样的吟咏：“高堂明镜悲白发，朝如青丝暮成雪。” It’s better at night, when we all sit together in a wooden hut in the mountains with towering trees around. Long before we came to this world in the times which are too far back to see even by dispelling away the cold clouds of history, these trees

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Zhu Ziqing: Spring ~朱自清《春》 with English Translations

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春文/朱自清译/葛浩文（Howard Goldblatt）盼望着，盼望着，东风来了，春天的脚步近了。 Oh, the waiting, the waiting! Finally the east winds begin to blow, and spring is just around the corner. 一切都像刚睡醒的样子，欣欣然张开了眼。山朗润起来了，水涨起来了，太阳的脸红起来了。 The world seems to have awakened from its slumber as, excitedly, it opens its eyes. The mountains take on a luster, the waters start to rise, and there is

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Bing Xin: On Life~《谈生命》（冰心） with English Translations

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谈生命冰心 On Life Bing Xin 我不敢说生命是什么，我只能说生命像什么。 I would not venture to say what Life is; I would only say what Life is like. 生命像向东流的一江春水，他从最高处发源，冰雪是他的前身。他聚集起许多细流，合成一股有力的洪涛，向下奔注，他曲折的穿过了悬崖峭壁，冲倒了层沙积土，挟卷着滚滚的沙石，快乐勇敢地流走，一路上他享受着他所遭遇的一切：有时候他遇到巉岩前阻，他愤激地奔腾了起来，怒吼着，回旋着，前波后浪地起伏催逼，直到冲倒了这危崖，他才心平气和地一泻千里。有时候他经过了细细的平沙，斜阳芳草里，看见了夹岸红艳的桃花，他快乐而又羞怯，静静地流着，低低地吟唱着，轻轻地度过这一段浪漫的行程。 Life begins like a nascent river flowing eastward, having emerged from ice and snow somewhere up high. Converging with many a rivulet to form a powerful torrent, he embarks on

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Feng Jicai: Spring Transport Is a Cultural Phenomenon~ 《春运是一种文化现象》（冯骥才）with English Translations

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春运是一种文化现象 Spring Transport Is a Cultural Phenomenon 冯骥才 Feng Jicai （孟庆升、刘士聪译）如今，报知春节迫近的已经不再是腊八粥的香味，而是媒体上充满压力的热火朝天的春运了。每入腊月，春运有如飓风来临，很快就势头变猛，愈演愈烈；及至腊月底那几天，春运可谓排山倒海，不可阻遏。 Today, the advent of Spring Festival is no longer heralded by the aroma of laba porridge1, but by the hustle and bustle of Spring transport, or “Spring travel” from the passengers’ point of view, that gets thickly covered in the media. When the year enters its

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Hu shi: An optimist looks at china~ 《乐观看中国》（胡适）with English Translations

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An optimist looks at china 乐观看中国胡适（彭萍　译） It is in the direction of abolishing the numerous evils of the old tradition that China has achieved the greatest success in the past few decades. She has successfully prohibited the foot-binding which has been a terrible curse to Chinese womanhood for at least a thousand years. 过去数十年间，中国在抛弃很多传统恶习方面取得了巨大成功。中国已成功废除缠足。要知道，至少一千年来，缠足一直是中国妇女可怕的梦魇。 The hereditary absolute

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