Now the first thing, I think, which will strike you in the old Chinese type of humanity is that there is nothing wild, savage or ferocious in him. 我以为，在古老的中国式人性中最先打动你们的一点是，真正的中国人从不野蛮、不残忍，也不凶恶。 In fact, the one word, it seems to me, which will sum up the impression which the Chinese type of humanity makes upon you is the […]
Gu Hongming ~《辜鸿铭论中国人的礼仪》 with English Translations Read More »
张贤亮·《男人的一半是女人》（节选）英译 Half Man is Woman (Excerpt) Zhang Xianliang “‘八年啦，别提啦！’”她笑着，学了一句革命样板戏《智取威虎山》里的唱词。随后，两脚倒着把我埋下的土踩瓷实，眼睛看着地面说，“这八年，结了两次婚，离了两次婚，就这些。幸亏没生娃娃。” ‘Me? Don’t even ask.’ She laughed, as she reeled off a line from a model revolutionary play. Then she stamped down the earth that I had shoveled in. ‘Eight years: I married twice and divorced twice. That was about it. Luckily there weren’t any children.’ 我不停地干着活，一点也不惊奇。我看见、听见的出乎意料的事太多了，到后来，竟没有一件事能出乎我的意料。她不那样生活还能怎样生活？幸福是一种奇迹，不幸才是常规。她对我的坎坷也没有感到惊奇。这样，我们倒是真正地相互理解了。她不说那些安慰的话语也好，这些年，我最怕那种老太婆式的絮絮叨叨的同情。
Zhang Xianliang: Half Man is Woman (Excerpt) ~张贤亮·《男人的一半是女人》 with English Translations Read More »
磕磕绊绊到百年 Quarrels and Squabbles Enliven a Marriage 丁敏 Ding Min 街头，偶遇多日不见的好友，正与未婚夫一起选购结婚用品，花花绿绿五彩缤纷的东西，抱了满怀。我独被一摞镀光的小号铝盆吸引，数了数足有四五个。朋友笑道：“成了新家，少不了要用，淘米，洗菜，作汤盆、菜碗都可以。又光洁又明亮，多好看。是吧？”她把头一歪，娇憨地看了看未婚夫。那高高大大的未婚夫回了一个蓄满温情的微笑。 One day in the street I ran into a good friend whom I had not seen for along time. She was shopping with her fiancé for their wedding. In her arms were many fancy and gaudy things, among which I was particularly attracted by
中国的日夜 Days and Nights of China 张爱玲 Eileen Chang 去年秋冬之交我天天去买菜。有两趟买菜回来竟做出一首诗，使我自己非常诧异而且快乐。一次是看见路上洋梧桐的落叶，极慢极慢的掉下一片来，那姿势从容得奇怪。我立定了看它，然而等不及它到地我就又往前走了，免得老站在那里像是发呆。走走又回头去看了个究竟。以后就写了这个： In the days between autumn and winter last year, I went every day to buy vegetables. Twice, I was able to write a poem on the way to market, which left me both surprised and delighted. The first came when I saw the leaves falling
Eileen Chang: Days and Nights of China ~张爱玲《中国的日夜》 with English Translations Read More »
谎言三叶草 My Three-leafed Clover of Lying 毕淑敏 Bi Shumin 人总是要说谎的，谁要是说自己不说谎，这就是一个彻头彻尾的谎言。有的人一生都在说谎，他的存在就是一个谎言。有的人偶尔说谎，除了他自己，没有人知道这是一个谎言。谎言在某些时候只是说话人的善良愿望，只要不害人，说说也无妨。 Everybody lies. It wound be a barefaced lie if anybody claims that he or she has never told a lie. Some people have been lying since they learned to speak, their whole existence constituting a web of lies. Others occasionally tell a lie and keep
Bi Shumin: My Three-leafed Clover of Lying ~毕淑敏《谎言三叶草》 with English Translations Read More »
土地 The Earth 余华 Yu Hua 我觉得土地是一个充实的令人感激的形象，比如是一个祖父，是我们的老爷子。这个历尽沧桑的老人懂得真正的沉默，任何惊喜和忧伤都不会打动他。他知道一切，可是他什么都不说，只是看着，看着日出和日落，看着四季的转换，看着我们的出生和死去。我们之间的相爱和勾心斗角，对他来说都是一回事。 The word “farmland” is imbued with an apparent generosity; to me it means the earth. The earth has a fulfilled and touching image, like a grandfather, the old man of the family. This old man has seen much of life and he understands the real meaning of silence;
Yu Hua: The Earth ~余华《土地》 with English Translations Read More »
夏丏尊 / 著 蔡力坚 / 译 在我过去四十余年的生涯中，冬的情味尝得最深刻的，要算十年前初移居白马湖的时候了。十年以来，白马湖已成了一个小村落，当我移居的时候，还是一片荒野。春晖中学的新建筑巍然矗立于湖的那一面，湖的这一面的山脚下是小小的几间新平屋，住着我和刘君心如两家。此外两三里内没有人烟。一家人于阴历十一月下旬从热闹的杭州移居这荒凉的山野，宛如投身于极带中。 The winter chill I experienced some ten years ago by Lake Baima remains the most vivid memory about winter in my forty-plus years of life. When my family moved there, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, though a small village has sprung up since then. On
Winter at Lake Baima ~ 夏丏尊《白马湖之冬》with English Translations Read More »
湖心亭看雪 Viewing the Snow Scene from the Mid-Lake Pavilion 张岱 Zhang Dai 崇祯五年十二月，余住西湖。大雪三日，湖中人、鸟声俱绝。 In the twelfth month of the fifth year of the Chongzhen Reign (1632), while staying by the West Lake, I saw snow falling continuously for three days. After that, there were no signs of human beings nor sounds of birds on the
怒 Anger 梁实秋 Liang Shih-chiu 一个人在发怒的时候，最难看。纵然他平素面似莲花，一旦怒而变青变白，甚至面色如土，再加上满脸的筋肉扭曲，眦裂发指，那副面目实在不仅是可憎而已。俗语说，“怒从心上起，恶向胆边生”，怒是心理的也是生理的一种变化。人逢不如意事，很少不勃然变色的。年少气盛，一言不合，怒气相加，但是许多年事已长的人，往往一样的火发暴躁。我有一位姻长，已到杖朝之年，并且半身瘫痪，每晨必阅报纸，戴上老花镜，打开报纸，不久就要把桌子拍得山响，吹胡瞪眼，破口大骂。报上的记载，他看不顺眼。不看不行，看了呕气。这时候大家躲他远远的，谁也不愿逢彼之怒。过一阵雨过天晴，他的怒气消了。 A person looks his ugliest when angry. In anger, a face that is normally as beautiful as a lotus blossom will tun livid and pale, even ashen. This, plus the contorted muscles on his face, his staring eyes and bristling hair, will indeed make a person’s countenance more than
Liang Shih-chiu: Anger ~ 梁实秋·《怒》with English Translations Read More »
黄昏 Dusk 何其芳 He Qifang 马蹄声，孤独又忧郁地自远至近，洒落在沉默的街上如白色的小花朵。我立住。一乘古旧的黑色马车，空无乘人，纡徐地从我身侧走过，疑惑着是载着黄昏，沿途散下它阴暗的影子，遂又自近而远地消失了。 The sound of horses’ hooves, lonely and melancholy, draws near and scatters on the pitch-black road like tiny white flower-buds. I stand still. A black, old-fashioned carriage, without a soul on board, slowly passes by. I suspect it carries dusk, casting its dark shadow along the road; and then
He Qifang: Dusk ~ 何其芳·《黄昏》with English Translations Read More »
