Synopses of Selected Stories  

      Waiting for them to Sweeten （上糖）(5000 words) – What is the best metaphor for explaining courtship to a complete novice? When a haulage manager takes on a new long distance driver he warns him against striking up casual dalliances on the road. Women like watermelons take a lot of sun and water to ripen and yet after that patience is still needed for the fruit or the romance to become fully sweet.

       In a Winter Season （过冬）(5000 words) – Even in the depths of Xinjiang, there is no escaping from progress. An elderly former herdsman is less than impressed when his children try to entice him from his riverside home with promises of KFC and cappuccino in the city.

      Golden Altai （金色阿尔泰）(20 000 words) – In the 1950s the borderlands between Xinjiang and Russia were less than scrupulously policed. From the ranks of the Kazakh herdsmen there emerges a leader with shades of Genghis Khan, who is willing to put even his own life on the line to resist rustlers.

     A Bout of Bragging (5000 words) – Strong liquor makes men boastful and sentimental. When imbibed with certain plants from the Xinjiang prairies, the effect is possibly hallucinogenic. Hong Ke’s first major foray into magic realism.

     The Tears of the Tree （树泪）(5000 words) – In the autumn do the trees simply shed leaves or do tears fall down at the same time? In the eyes of a lovelorn mower either phenomenon is perfectly conceivable.

      Hometown （故乡） (20 000 words) – Seen by critics as marking a new phase in Hong Ke’s writing, his 2015 novella shared a national literary award with Ye Guangqin’s Sunlight Palace. Zhou Jian has a charming fiancée and his career ought to be burgeoning. Unbeknownst to his family, he is on the cusp of a quarter life crisis which threatens to take an existential turn. A lifeline is thrown to him by his Mongolian aunt Golden Flower, whose intuitive approach to the tribulations of the world has already proved the salvation of his restless uncle.

                                  2005年与贾平凹老师和吴克敬先生

                     吴克敬作品选

                 Selected Works By Wu Kejing

The Author:

       The home village of Wu Kejing (born 1954) stands only a stone’s throw from the renowned Famen Temple (reputed to house a finger bone of the Buddha). Originally a carpenter by trade, his short stories and novels capture with veracity the lives of ordinary craftsmen and artisans in the Gunazhong Plain. His friend Professor Yang Lesheng has commented that “There is a kind of power behind his works; they are full of concern and passion. He allows his readers to observe the lives of subalterns. Facing up to adversity they wish to cry, but have no tears.”

       In recent years Wu Kejing has been daring and unabashed in trying to depict the harsher side of life in rural China during the mid-twentieth. At times, notably in The Champion Scholar Sheep, his realism is suffused with absurd humour.

      The author has won numerous domestic literary awards, including the Lu Xun Prize, and is currently Writer-in-Residence at Northwest University, Xi’an.

          Keywords: Rural life, social change, poverty alleviation, sex

                        Synopses of Selected Stories (Partial)

         The Blood Red Sun (5000 words) – In the hard times of the Great Leap Forward Date Stone’s father wonders how his father manages to scrape a living as a barber when no one has the money to pay for his services. Slowly he comes to learn about his family’s history of beggary and what “going out on the streets” really entails. 

       The Ghost Marriage (8000 words) – In the Guanzhong Plain for adults to die single is a matter of familial shame. Faced with not only loss but ignominy, there are those who prefer to engineer betrothals between their loved one and a deceased neighbour.

      The Flower Widow (5000 words) – Years after her death, the Flower Widow is fondly remembered across several villages. It is not just that her bound feet left prints in the earth as delicate as Go counters or that she never burst the seams of her minute antique qipao. How could she offer so many labouring jobs in times of famine and not raise suspicion from  the authorities? Somehow this idiosyncratic benefactress more than had the measure of her neighbours.

       The Champion Scholar Sheep (25 000 words) – With his stunted growth and maudlin, paralyzed father, Feng Laicai has had to endure a lifetime of bullying from his fellow villagers. Chosen as the ambassador for trialling the imported “Boer Goat,” however, he fast becomes a local celebrity. Well, one of his flock comes to overshadow his owner and is set on an unlikely track which culminates in holding elected office.

                                       罗宾博士与作家方英文

                                方英文作品选

     Selected Works By Fang Yingwen

          Fang Yingwen (born 1958) is a native of the mountainous Zhen’an County in the south of Shaanxi Province. Graduating from Northwest University in Xi’an in 1983, he was transferred by the government to Shangluo City, around 150 kilometres from his birthplace. Tasked with promoting cultural activities in that underdeveloped region, for a decade he spent his spare time refining his witty prose writing and calligraphy. The former has been praised by Jia Pingwa for its “clever, witty, humorous, quirky way of narration.” The latter, meanwhile, is now highly sought-after and commissioned specimens command bullish prices. Upon returning to Xi’an in his thirties he garnered acclaim for his first collection of short stories and went onto secure the Liu Qing Literary Award for his debut novel Falling Red (Luo Hong) (published in 2002 and reissued in an expanded form in 2015). He won further plaudits for his second novel Back Garden (Hou Huayuan) (2008) and in May 2013 was elected Vice-chairman of Shaanxi Writers Association.

Synopses of Selected Stories and Prose (Partial)

                                                  (选题报告)

Mi Xia (4700 words) （迷霞）- is characteristic of his recent work. Not so much nostalgic as provocative, it pushes at the envelope as to how behaviour in the society of the not-so-distant past might be depicted in print. Framed by the voice of the author himself, the story hearkens back to the early 1980s. Not only was matrimony the proscribed norm, but the government-sponsored Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign branded as taboo any behavior that appeared louche or redolent of Western decadence. For a brief time, outlandish hairdos and costumes, not to mention glamour magazines, were objects of censure. Intimations of extramarital passion were simply beyond the pale.

The Language of Sunshine (1500 words) - a reminiscence of his burgeoning friendship with the wheelchair-bound latchkey kid next-door.

Feelings among a heap of women (1000 words) - a witty take upon the awkwardness professional Chinese men encounter when trying to convince female counterparts that they have sympathy for the feminist cause.

Eating Soft Food (1000 words) - ponders the modern phenomena whereby certain husbands find themselves economically-dependent upon their ambitious wives (metaphorically-speaking their “meals” are considered bland and easy to chop-up and digest) 

                    写给母亲 

 Written for my Mother

       贾平凹 

               Jia Pingwa

                    胡宗锋 罗宾•吉尔班克  译

                                       Translated from the Chinese by Hu Zongfeng & Robin Gilbank

人活着的时候，只是事情多，不计较白天和黑夜。人一旦死了日子就堆起来：算一算，再有二十天，我妈就三周年了。 

When people are alive, they do not care about day and night because they can only occupy themselves with a finite number of matters. Once a person has passed away, the days pile up: according to my reckoning, in twenty day’s time it will be my mother’s third anniversary.

三年里，我一直有个奇怪的想法，就是觉得我妈没有死，而且还觉得我妈自己也不以为她就死了。常说人死如睡，可睡的人是知道要睡去，睡在了床上，却并不知道在什么时候睡着的呀。我妈跟我在西安生活了十四年，大病后医生认定她的各个器官已在衰竭，我才送她回棣花老家维持治疗。每日在老家挂上液体了，她也清楚每一瓶液体完了，儿女们会换上另一瓶液体的，所以便放心地闭了眼躺着。到了第三天的晚上，她闭着的眼是再没有睁开，但她肯定还是认为她在挂液体了，没有意识到从此再不醒来，因为她躺下时还让我妹把给她擦脸的毛巾洗一洗，梳子放在了枕边，系在裤带上的钥匙没有解，也没有交代任何后事啊。

During these three years, I have been seized by a queer sensation, namely I have felt that my mother is not actually gone. I have also felt that my mother shares the sense that she is not departed either. It is said that dying is like going to sleep, but while the sleeper knows he must slumber on a bed he does not know when exactly he will drift off. For fourteen years, my mother lived together with me in Xi’an. After a serious illness, the doctor confirmed that all of her organs were in a state of terminal exhaustion. I then decided to send her back to our home village of Dihua, where she might continue to receive care. Every day, in my home village, she knew that once one bag of intravenous medicine was spent, her children would feed another into the drip. She simply shut her eyes and lay down there at ease. On the third night, her closed eyes did not open, but she was certain that the drip remained attached. She must not have realized that thereafter she would never regain consciousness because when she lay down she asked my younger sister to wash her brow-mopping towel. The comb lay beside her pillow. The key tied to her belt stayed fastened. She did not convey her final wishes.  

三年以前我每打喷嚏，总要说一句：这是谁想我呀？我妈爱说笑，就接茬说：谁想哩，妈想哩！这三年里，我的喷嚏尤其多，往往错过吃饭时间，熬夜太久，就要打喷嚏，喷嚏一打，便想到我妈了，认定是我妈还在牵挂我哩。 

Three years ago, whenever I sneezed I would always ask “who is missing me?” My mother loved to crack jokes. She would pick up where I left off and say “who is missing? Your mother is missing you!” During these three years, I have sneezed with greater regularity. Usually, when I am late for a meal or stay up for too long I will sneeze. When I sneeze I think of my mother and I am certain that my mother is still missing me.  

我妈在牵挂着我，她并不以为她已经死了，我更是觉得我妈还在，尤其我一个人静静地待在家里，这种感觉就十分强烈。我常在写作时，突然能听到我妈在叫我，叫得很真切，一听到叫声我便习惯地朝右边扭过头去。从前我妈坐在右边那个房间的床头上，我一伏案写作，她就不再走动，也不出声，却要一眼一眼看着我，看得时间久了，她要叫我一声，然后说：世上的字你能写完吗，出去转转么。现在，每听到我妈叫我，我就放下笔走进那个房间，心想我妈从棣花来西安了？当然是房间里什么也没有，却要立上半天，自言自语我妈是来了又出门去街上给我买我爱吃的青辣子和萝卜了。或许，她在逗我，故意藏到挂在墙上的她那张照片里，我便给照片前的香炉里上香，要说上一句：我不累。

My mother is missing me. She does not believe that she has passed away. I even firmly believe that my mother is still alive. This feeling is especially intense when I stay quietly alone at home. Often, when I am writing I will suddenly hear that my mother is calling me. The voice is real and sincere. On hearing her call, I will customarily twist my head to the right. Before, my mother used to perch on the edge of the bed in the room to the right-hand side. When I craned over and began to write, she would stop walking around and make not a peep. Instead she would keep her eyes fixed on me. After having stared at me for a long time, she would call out for me and then say, “Can you finish writing all the words in the world? Go out and walk for a while.” Now, whenever, I hear that my mother is calling me I will lay down my pen and walk into the room. I wonder if my mother has come to Xi’an from Dihua? Of course, there is nothing in the room, but I will stand there for a long time and say to myself that my mother has returned, but popped out onto the street to buy my favourite green peppers and radishes. Or perhaps, she is pulling my leg? She is deliberately hiding behind her portrait that hangs on the wall. I will then burn incense in the censing bowl in front of the picture and add one sentence: “I am not tired.”

 整整三年了，我给别人写过十多篇文章，却始终没给我妈写过一个字，因为所有的母亲，儿女们都认为是伟大又善良，我不愿意重复这些词语。我妈是一位普通的妇女，缠过脚，没有文化，户籍还在乡下，但我妈对于我是那样的重要。已经很长时间了，虽然再不为她的病而提心吊胆了，可我出远门，再没有人啰啰嗦嗦地叮咛着这样叮咛着那样，我有了好吃的好喝的，也不知道该送给谁去。

Over those three years, I have composed dozens of articles for others, but never written one single character for my mother. This is because in the eyes of their children all mothers are great and kind. I do not want to repeat this cliché. My mother was an ordinary woman with bound feet. She was illiterate and her household registration certificate was still that of a peasant. However, my mother was so important to me. After a long, long time the thought of her illness no longer sends my heart into my mouth. And yet whenever I prepare to venture to a distant place there is no longer anybody to nag me about doing this and doing that. When I am given fine food and drink, I no longer know to whom I should send them.

 在西安的家里，我妈住过的那个房间，我没有动一件家具，一切摆设还原模原样，而我再没有看见过我妈的身影。我一次又一次难受着又给自己说，我妈没有死，她是住回乡下老家了。今年的夏天太湿太热，每晚被湿热醒来，恍惚里还想着该给我妈的房间换个新空调了。待清醒过来，又宽慰着我妈在乡下的新住处里，应该是清凉的吧。

In my home in Xi’an, I have not moved a stick of furniture in the room where my mother formerly lived. Everything has been left in its original state. On the other hand, I have never glimpsed my mother’s shadow. Again and again, I have repeated gravely to myself: “My mother is not dead. She has gone down to live in the countryside.” This summer it is too hot and humid. Every night when the heat and humidity wakes me, in a trance I think that I should install new air-conditioning for my mother. When I spring back to my senses, I comfort myself that my mother is living in a new place in the countryside. That place must be cool.  

 三周年的日子一天天临近，乡下的风俗是要办一场仪式的，我准备着香烛花果，回一趟棣花了。但一回棣花，就要去坟上，现实告诉着我，妈是死了，我在地上，她在地下，阴阳两隔，母子再也难以相见，顿时热泪肆流，长声哭泣啊。

The date of the third anniversary is drawing near. According to the custom of the countryside we should hold a special ceremony. I am preparing candles, incense, and fruit, ready to go back to Dihua. But once I return to Dihua, I have to visit her grave. The reality is that my mother has passed away. I am on the ground and she is beneath it. Life and death separate us. The mother and son can never cross paths again. Tears cascade down my face accompanied by a long wail.

    2017年4月7日，南苏丹教育部骨干教师代表团访问西北大学，我为该代表团讲述的是“中国故事”。

                                                  讲座中 

                 贾平凹《关于小说》笔记

                                                                 北京：生活•读书•知识 三联书店2015年

           文学是人学。人不是捏弄成的泥胎，不是斧子砍成的木偶。人，就是有血

有肉、有喜、怒、哀、乐。

             ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“爱和情——《满月儿》创作之外 第1页

             从内容到形式，你找到独特二字，你便站得住脚了。

             ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“《使短篇小说短起来——自我告诫之一”第9页

             当然，作家的任务不仅仅是写出当前农村这种形势是好还是坏这样一个主题，重要的是写出这个大背景下人的变化。

                我总是从对待土地的观念上，对待传统道德观念上入手的，想从各个方面探讨农民的心理结构的变化。

               但有一点必然肯定的是，作为一个作家，必须满腔热忱地及时反映出这个时代的农民，要写出农村在这场变革中的动态，更要写出农村的动态正是这场变革的必然的基因。

         正因为都是好人，他们在目前的变革中发生了微妙的变化！也正是这种微妙的变化才构成了当今农村最丰富的内容。

                                                                                 写于1984年8月27日

               ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“关于《九叶树》的通信”第13-15页

        我特别喜欢看一些外国人研究中国古典艺术的专论，这是一种无形中的中西融合，从中确实使我大有启示。

                                                                                                          写于1985年

                     ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“我的追求”第25页

             文学的试验阶段，最忌讳的是自我封闭，自己洋洋自得的一些东西常常使自己形成一个很硬的壳，到一定程度，便非破壳不可。这就像蚕生茧，并不是为了自杀，到一定的时候，新的生命会咬破这个茧，出来的不再是一个爬行动物而是飞行物了。故反思在创作中万万少不得。

             我明白从事文学需要自信，但这种自信就慢慢让我在自卑中去完成吧。    

                                                                                                                    写于1986年5月3日

               ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“对《火纸》要说的”第28-29页

一个时代有一个时代的作品，我应该为其而努力。现在不是产生绝对权威的时候，政治上不可能再出现毛泽东，文学上也不可能再会有托尔斯泰了。中西的文化深层结构都在发生着各自的裂变，怎样写这个令人振奋又令人痛苦的裂变过程，我觉得这其中极有魅力，尤其作为中国的作家怎样把握自己民族文化的裂变，又如何在形式上不以西方人的那种焦点透视法而运用中国画的散点透视法来进行，那将是多有趣的试验!

                                                                                  写于1986年7月

                                  ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“《浮躁》序言二”第33页

                   在古老的民族性的故事里，以现代人的眼光来写，写出现代的意识来。

   ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“《战胜自己——《贾平凹小说选集》序》”第36页

    世界的趋向是东西方文化的交流汇合，只能在各自发展中取得理解和鼓励，接受一切长处。而任何偏见只能使我们的脚步受阻。

 传统文化的裂变，是必然的，其裂变的痛苦过程，也是我们每一个人亲身所能感受到的。

                                                                                                                                      1987年

                 ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“《故里》跋”第42页

           但是，到了今日，我们的文学还在关注着叙写着现实和历史，又怎样才具有现代意识、人类意识呢？我们的眼睛就得朝着人类先进的方面注目，当然不是说我们同样去写地球面临的毁灭，人类寻找新家园的作品，这恐怕我们也写不好。却能做到的是清醒、正视和解决哪些问题是我们通往人类最先进方面的障碍，比如在民族的性情上、文化上、体质上、政治生态和自然生态环境上、行为习惯上，怎样不再卑怯和暴戾，怎样不再虚妄和阴暗？怎样才真正的公平和富裕，怎样活得有尊严和自在。只有这样做了，这就是我们提供的中国经验，我们的生存和文学也将是远景大光明，对人类和世界的贡献也将是特殊的声响和色彩。

                                                                                                                                   2012年8月14日

                   ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“《带灯》后记” 第228页

            中国在经历着巨大的社会转型，一切都在发生着变化，而且这种变化越来越急速，让我们措手不及，让我们瞠目结舌，它的夸张和疯狂甚至让人不知了怎么活人。

                                                                                                               第235页

       一是中国文化形成了中国人的文学审美，而在新的社会转型期，矛盾集中，问题成堆，文学必须要面对现实。中国作家从来都有传统的文人精神，即担当意识。

第237页

                                                                                                                                 2013年8月

                        ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“责任与风度” 

中国在长期的封闭和落后之后，实行改革开放，首先是发展经济，而当今的经济发展是全球化的，当中国的经济得到了巨大的发展，它必定改变着国家结构，改变着人的观念、思维，也随之改变了中国的文学。

             所以，在中国的改革中，中国的文学犹如一层冰，一旦有了太阳，它就发出光亮，它在融化，解冻，裂开，然后是大河流动，汹涌而去。

                                                                                                                                 第240页

           因为中国积贫积弱的时间太长太久，改革开放后，人们狂热的追求发达国家的技术与产品，却对发达国家的管理文化中所强调的坦率诚实漠不关心，使我的信仰丢失，对中国文化传统轻蔑和抛弃。

                                                                                                                                 第241页

天上的太阳照耀着地球，当然也照耀着中国。中国土地的土层是深厚的，土里依然有各种颜色，这些颜色依然会以花的形式表现出来。中国人和地球是那个别的种族的人是一样，但他是黄皮肤黑眼睛，所产的苹果或许没有地球上另外的苹果大，但它的水分或许更多，甜度更浓。

      特有的地域和特有的文化，决定了中国特有的国情、世情、民情，在这样的国情、世情、民情下产生的中国文学，必然是独特的故事，别有情致的文字。

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中国的文化几千年没有断裂和消亡，它是最顽强的文化，在这种文化背景下发生的故事，才是我们文学要写出的东西，写出来才可能是中国式的，是不模糊的，效仿别人的，是不可替代的。天之所以高，在于它有日月星辰，地之所以厚，在于它能藏污纳垢，这天是人类的天，这地是中国的地，我们在当下的中国，写作就像仰望天的星空，而写出地的污垢和污垢怎样化作肥料后长出多色花木。这样，文学才可能让世界上更多的人读出启示，读出兴趣。

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中国当下的文学在创造什么，为整个世界提供了什么，这是最重要的问题。

                                                                                                                               第246页

                                                                                                          2013年12月

                    ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“命运决定了我们是这样的文学品种”  

     现在一些寺院门口的素食馆，不老实的卖素饭素菜，偏要以豆腐萝卜造出个鸡的形状，猪的味道，佛门讲究不杀生，但手不杀生了心里却杀生，岂不更违法？要写出真实得需要真诚，如今却多戏谑调侃和伪饰，能做到真诚已经很难了。

     写作因人而异，各有各的路数，生一堆火，越添柴火焰越大，而水越深流越平静，火焰是热闹的，炙热的，是人是兽都看得见，以细辩波纹看水的流深，那只有船家渔家知道。

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                                                                                                                                2014年3月21日

——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“《老生》后记”  

   解读中国的故事，就是让人知道这是中国的故事，并从故事中能读到当今中国是什么样子，中国人的生存状态和精神状态，能读出中国的气派、味道和意义。

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    如果把阳光比喻人类共同的东西，我们的作品一定要穿过这些云朵直至阳光处。而同时，我们是生存在某一朵云下，即便这云在下雨下冰雹，我们也不必从这朵云下跑去另一朵云下，就在这一朵云下努力穿过去阳光处，这朵云是我们的生存环境，在穿过时就是我们的表现形式。      

                                                                                                         第261页

                                                                                                                             2014年8月17日

         ——引自贾平凹著《关于小说》“在第三次汉学家文学翻译国际研讨会上的讲话” 

聚焦远程办公

4/ What Is Telecommuting? 什么是远程办公?………魏新俊 译

7/ 10 Top Telecommuting Jobs to Live Abroad十大跨国远程办公职位………郭晶晶 贺莺 译

17/ Before You Decide to Telecommute在决定远程办公之前………杨心彤 译

21/ Get More Done: 18 Tips for Telecommuters远程办公提速增效的十八条秘诀………苏相宜 译

29/ The Future of Business: Telecommuting商务发展的未来：远程办公………唐毅 译

32/ As Telecommuting Rises, Here’s How to Keep Tabs on Your Team远程办公下的团队管理方略………郝福合 译

文苑

38/ The Doctor, His Wife and the Clock (Excerpt I) 医生、妻子与时钟（节选一）………闻春国 译

43/ Where Go the Boats 船儿漂流到何方………骆海辉 译析

环球万象

47/ The Incredible Thing We Do During Conversations 交谈的神奇之处………蒋威 译

科技天地

53/ Elephants in Angola Have Learned to Navigate Minefields on Their Own 安哥拉大象无师自通越雷区………刘莹霈 译 仲文明 审订

网络时代

56/ Is Digital Hoarding a Mental Disorder? 数字囤积是精神疾病吗？………莫昕 译

艺坛

61/ Home from Sea《出海归来》………爱艺 译

史海钩沉

63/ How Europe Conquered the World 过去欧洲何以征服世界………王飞云 译 白丽梅 审订

行走天下

70/ The Top Seven Places to Retire 七地养老，无憾人生！………吴真真 译 闫冉 审订

圣经故事

80/ A Day with Jesus (I) 耶稣的一天（一）………任东升 译

心境

84/ The Psychological Comforts of Storytelling 讲故事的心理慰藉………郭亚文 译

词林漫步

91/ 漫话机器人………陈德彰

96/ “三好学生”如何翻译好？………常玉田

谭译录

106/ 时代の句变（八）………重光会 编

108/ My Side of the Mountain(Excerpt III) 《我的山林》（节选三）………吴文安 译析

112/ 写给母亲 Written for My Mother………胡宗锋  罗宾·吉尔班克 译

心怡集

116/ 勤勉不懈“守夜人”………金圣华

应试点津

118/ 雅思写作题材解析及习作修改（九）——文化类………唐老雅

英伦学堂

123/ A Hidden Gem………Jenny Wilde

资讯

46/ 订购信息………《英语世界》发行部

126/ 翻译擂台（第15期）………《英语世界》编辑部

刊名题字………钱锺书

封面远程办公………咸青华

封底阿瑟·休斯：《出海归来》………爱艺