Modern Chinese Essays

情与美——白先勇的痴恋与追求 Pai’s Lifelong Pursuit of Love and Beauty 白先勇《台北人》小说开头引唐朝诗人刘禹锡的《乌衣巷》，这是《台北人》的基调，其实也是白先勇的人生写照。 Kenneth Pai opens Taipei People (a collection of 14 short stories) with the Tang-Dynasty poem Blacktail Row by Liu Yuxi. This poem sets the tone for the entire book, and in fact traces out a thumbnail sketch of Pai’s own life. 将军之子、名门之后，随国民政府播迁来台，飞入寻常百姓家的他，依然在文学、戏剧各领域引领风骚，留下婉转动人的啁啁燕语。 As the son of […]

吃亏是福 Suffering a LossIs a Blessing 郑荣升 马秉义译 前些日子,五弟和弟妹来城里看我,吃饭时提出要我给他们写一幅书法横幅,回去挂客厅里, 一是可以起装饰作用,二是能够反映他们的志趣,词呢, 要我看着写。五弟夫妇为人忠厚老实,与人交往,宁可自己吃亏,从不沾别人便宜。据此,我当时就写了郑板桥的“吃亏是福”四个大字送给他们。五弟看了,连连说这词好, 很富有哲理,可弟妹不太赞成, 她笑着冲五弟说:好什么呀, 这些年咱们尽吃亏了,也没见福在哪里。屋里若再挂上这么几个字,咱们这一辈子还不光吃亏呀!五弟憨厚地一笑, 说你知道什么呀,还是这词好, 吃点亏不错。人和人相处,要都想沾便宜, 那还成个什么样子? My fifth younger brother and his wife came to town to see me the other day. They asked me during the meal time to write them a script banner, which they could hang on the wall in their

当时是六月十八日，早晨较凉快，我带一仆人先到胥江渡口登上小船等待。不久芸果然乘小轿来到，我们解开缆绳乘船离开了虎啸桥。此刻，渐渐看见湖面上风帆急，沙鸥飞。 This was on the eighteenth day of the sixth moon. That day, I brought a servant and arrived first at Hsukiang Ferry, where I waited for her in the boat. By and by, Yun arrived in a sedan-chair, and we started off, passing by the Tiger’s Roar Bridge, where the view opened up and