Contemporary Chinese Short-Short Stories: A Parallel Text

When I was about seventeen or eighteen years old, a thought obsessed me like a puzzle—what would we four brothers end up doing when we grew up? Zhou Second, Zhou Third, and Zhou Fourth were still in middle school or elementary school; every life was a mystery waiting to unfold through time.

When he was young, Zhou Second was a handsome, shy boy with dark eyes and black hair, and few words. When he started school, his grades were unpredictable and fluctuated drastically. To put it bluntly, he was a very smart boy who loved to fool around with bad kids and who was too susceptible to their influence. Father’s way of dealing with him was to get him transferred whenever his grades dropped below a certain level. When new to a school and a stranger to the place and people, Zhou Second’s grades would skyrocket. He could even make it to the position of head boy or class leader.

But the good times never lasted. Whether it took as long as half a year or as short as two months, Zhou Second would get involved with the worst students in the class. When it eventually got so bad that he secretly used the class fund to treat his buddies to kebab, he would get transferred again. When he was a junior in middle school, he abandoned the pen for the sword, robbing people of their army caps, raising wolfhounds, and brandishing swords and spears. His grades hit the floor. Everyone sighed, “What a pity, Zhou Second, a great piece of steel has been made into a dog’s chain.”

When educated youth began being sent down to the countryside, Zhou Second went to live and work with a production team in Miquan County. Since the county was near us, he could come home a couple of times each month. White Warrior brand shoes were in style at the time, and Zhou Fourth got a pair. But he wouldn’t wear them when Zhou Second came home. He treasured them so much that he hid them carefully, fearful that Zhou Second would snatch them away. Zhou Second never said a word about the shoes, nor did he go look for them when he was home. He acted as if he had no interest in them at all. The day Zhou Second left, the first thing Zhou Fourth asked after school, before he even entered the house, was, “Is he gone?” Mom answered, “Yes, he is.” Before he could put down his backpack, Zhou Fourth dove headlong into the chicken coop to search for the shoes he’d hidden there. His head still in the coop, we heard his muffled crying—Zhou Second had taken the shoes. Soon after, when Zhou Second came back again, he left the pair of shoes, now filthy, as he walked off to Miquan.

Zhou Fourth painstakingly scrubbed, dried, and powdered the shoes before he hid them between the inner layers deep inside our parents’ spring bed. But when Zhou Second left for Miquan after his next visit, we heard Zhou Fourth’s muffled crying again from under the bed.

Zhou Second, talented at locating hidden things with great dexterity and preternatural swiftness, always found what he was looking for without really having to search for it. He ended up working for the Public Security Bureau. He served in local police stations and soon held the position of captain. He had cracked quite a few criminal cases and had proven himself particularly good at finding stolen goods. When asked how, he answered with a smile, “I know how a bad guy’s mind works—not that different from mine a while back.”

Zhou Third was two years younger than Zhou Second. Nearsighted since childhood, he had a thick pair of glasses that hung on his little nose. Skinny, he moved a half-beat faster than most people. He ate like there was no tomorrow, a behavior for which he was reprimanded frequently.

Since fifth grade, he had been in love with Reference News, and read the paper every day with great relish. By the time he was a sixth grader, he had learned the map of the world by heart and knew heads of state, capitals, and current affairs as well as the palms of his own hands. After graduating from a teachers college, he taught at a trade school in the suburbs. Suddenly one day, he came to town to tell me that Xingjiang TV station was advertising in the newspaper for editors and journalists and that he had signed up for the qualification exam.

They say that many people registered for the exam, among them journalist majors who had graduated from famous universities. In the face of such enormous obstacles, Zhou Third felt that he was at a disadvantage from the start. When the results were announced, who’d have thought, Zhou Third would place first? He has worked as an editor and a journalist for Xingjiang TV station to this very day.

Zhou Fourth had small eyes, a big nose, and yellowish hands as a boy. Some people said that he looked like “The Owl” in the Yugoslavian film The Bridge; others thought he resembled the German lieutenant in Walter Defends Sarajevo; still others believed that he had the eyes and the nose of Jackie Chan; anyway, he had the look of a man of prowess.

Zhou Fourth seldom wore new clothes, and always had to squeeze into the hand-me-downs that were too small for his brothers. Worn and tattered, the clothes left him bare-chested. He had a bulging round tummy as a child and drank unboiled water in the cold of winter—he didn’t give a damn.

At fifteen Zhou Fourth was already strong and sturdy. Once I tried casually to tap him on the head. Unexpectedly, he ducked and, following the momentum, crouched in a horse-riding stance, his right arm looping around my legs. Suddenly he straightened up, lifting me halfway in the air. Smiling up at me, he asked, “Still want a fight, Bro?”

At fifteen Zhou Fourth had already taken it upon himself to protect me. One day, we were watching a movie in the assembly hall. I was in the front row and he was sitting far in the back. I got into a quarrel with a bunch of punks behind me while trying to defend an elderly person. After a few words, the leader of the group leaped out of his seat, ready to strike. Before I could react, smack, a loud slap on his face returned him to his seat. I looked, and saw Zhou Fourth. He pointed at the guy with rage: “You move again, and I’ll squish you like a gnat!”

Zhou Tao (1946–) defies any label of identification. A Han Chinese by birth, he spent the first few years of his life floundering in wartime China between Shanxi and Hebei. He settled down in Xinjiang at the age of nine with his parents. Now 70, Zhou Tao refers to himself as a “northwestern barbarian” (西北胡儿 xībĕi húer), that is, a man of complex cultural existence who owes his very being to the interactions of his culture of origin with that of Uighurs, Kazakhs, Hui, Uzbeks, and Tajiks in Xinjiang for six decades. Zhou Tao also perceives himself as a Han Chinese whose ancesters, to use his own words, “have been a barbarian, a nomad, an assassin, and a savage beauty.” He entered Xinjiang University in 1965 and majored in Uighur. An active Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution and a sent-down youth in 1971 to 1972, Zhou Tao had a chance to see China and learn the hardship of earning his own living by farming. When working for the City of Kashi in 1979, he made a name for himself with the publication of the long poem August Orchard (八月的果园). As a result, he was specially recruited by the military and became a salaried professional writer at the rank of company commander in the Culture Department of Urumqi Military Area Command.

Now a poet and essayist of national fame at the rank of a major general, Zhou Tao has become a literary phenomenon. In place of a long list of awards, we recall here some of the efforts made to describe him: “the representative of the New Frontier Poetry,” “a Xinjiang literary giant,” “one of the Three Musketeers of Military Literature,” “the soul of the city,” and “the reincarnation of a Himalaya eagle.” People often present Zhou Tao’s works, especially Rare Bird (稀世之鸟) and Grazing Along the Great Wall (游牧长城), to departing friends as a “precious Xinjiang local specialty.” Zhou Tao credits his success to the advantages that “cultural hybridization” has brought him—the combined strength of Islamic civilization, the cultures of Central Asia, the unrestrained life on the prairie, and their enrichment of and impact on the culture of the Central Plains.

究竟	jiūjìng	in the end; actually	你究竟是爱她还是爱我？
谜底	mídĭ	answer to a riddle	他五秒钟就猜中了谜底。
模样周正	móyàng zhōu zhèng	good-looking; having good features	他的五个儿子，就老二的模样还算周正。
揭开	jiēkāi	uncover; reveal	怎样才能把谜底揭开？
腼腆	miăntiăn	shy	那小姑娘腼腆得可爱！
落差	luòchā	drop height	这里河水的落差是三米。
厮混	sīhùn	fool around	别和坏孩子厮混在一起！
对策	duìcè	countermeasure	你有解决问题的对策吗？
人生地疏	rénshēngdìshū	not familiar	这里人生地疏，你出去散步别走太远了。
骤(升/降)	zhòu(shēng/jiàng)	suddenly; swiftly (rise/fall)	今天气温骤降三十度。
学习委员	xuéxí wĕiyuán	a class committee member with study-related duties	在班里当学习委员的同学学习成绩一定要好。
私自	sīzì	without permission	你是军人，没有命令不可私自行动！
班费	bānfèi	class fund	“班费”是一个班级的活动经费。
同伙	tónghuŏ	partner (in crime)	他抢银行的同伙被警察抓住了两个。
弃	qì	give up	他十八岁弃学从军，成了一名职业军人。
舞枪弄刀	wŭqiāngnòngdāo	brandish swords and spears	你是个女孩子，怎么也喜欢舞枪弄刀的？
众	zhòng	many people	春日到，众鸟欢叫。
皆	jiē	each; all	爱美之心，人皆有之。
叹	tàn	sigh	她叹了口气说，可惜了。
曰	yuē	say	“子曰”就是 “孔子说” 的意思。
打(铁/链子)	dă(tiĕ/liànzi)	forge (iron/chain)	谁会用最好的钢铁去打小钉子？
(下乡)插队	(xiàxiāng)chāduì	go live and work in a production team in the countryside	文革期间，很多中学毕业生都下乡插过队。
唯恐	wéikŏng	fear	他唯恐自己的藏匿处被警察发现。
藏匿	cángnì	conceal; hide
晾干	liànggān	air-dry	这么潮湿的天气，洗好的衣服一天都晾不干。
上	shàng	apply	他用各色彩笔给画上色。
夹层	jiācéng	inner layer	这种冰砖有巧克力夹层！
神出鬼没	shénchūguĭmò	come and go like a shadow; elusive	那小偷神出鬼没，很难抓到。
东翻西找	dōngfānxīzhăo	search everywhere	他东翻西找也没发现任何犯罪证据。
每每	mĕimĕi	often	她每每独自饮酒到深夜。
手到擒来	shŏudàoqínlái	capture easily	我去抓他定会手到擒来。
破案	pò’àn	solve a case	这位警察是破案高手。
以…为能事	yĭ…wéinéngshì	be particularly good at something bad	他以陷害他人为能事。
赃物	zāngwù	stolen goods	他能猜到小偷匿藏赃物的地方。
遭	zāo	meet with	这几年他连遭不幸。
津津有味	jīnjīnyŏuwèi	be very fond of	这本书他读得津津有味。
了如指掌	liăorúzhĭzhăng	know…like the palm of one’s own hand	妈妈对我的那点儿心事了如指掌。
甚众	shèn zhòng	quite a few	反对他的人不少，可拥护他的人也甚众。
输人一筹	shū rén yì chóu	be a leg down on someone	没上过名校的人常会在竞争时觉得输人一筹。
干(编辑)	gàn (biānji)	work (as an editor)	他一家三代都是干公安的。
中尉	zhōngwèi	lieutenant	上尉是中尉的上级吗？
酷似	kùsì	be exactly like	他长得酷似他的母亲。
一副…模样	yí fù…móyàng	wear an air of	你看那孩子，一副天真可爱的模样。
敞胸露怀	chăngxiōnglùhuái	bare-chested	这么冷的天，你敞胸露怀的，要生病的！
满不在乎	mănbúzàihu	do not care at all	他很讲究穿，对吃却满不在乎。
入伍从军	rùwŭcóngjūn	join the military	他十八岁那年入伍从军，一辈子没离开部队。
率领	shuàilĭng	lead; command	他率领一个小分队去敌后寻找雷恩。
驰骋	chíchĕng	gallop	在人生的旅途上自由驰骋是很多人的梦想。
俨然	yănrán	just like	你穿上这身西服，俨然是个大人了。
马步(下蹲)	măbù (xiàdūn)	straddle (squat) as though riding a horse	“马步”就是像骑着一匹马那样的步法。
箍	gū	hoop; bind	他用双臂紧紧箍住我，让我动弹不得。
后生可畏	hòushēngkĕwèi	the young are to be respected	长江后浪推前浪，后生可畏啊！
担负	dānfù	shoulder	我是大哥，得担负关照弟、妹的责任。
打抱不平	dăbàobùpíng	defend someone against an injustice	哥哥为人正直，总爱打抱不平。
二流子	èrliūzi	loafer; rascal	二流子好吃懒做。
争执	zhēngzhí	argue	他们常争执可从不动手。
为首的	wéishŏude	headed by; the head	在这个原始的部落，为首的是一位老妇人。
一跃而起	yí yuè ér qĭ	jump up	他听到枪声一跃而起。
一记耳光	yí jì ĕrguāng	a slap in the face	弟弟恶狠狠地给了那小子一记响亮的耳光。
恶狠狠	èhĕnhĕn	ferociously
捏	niē	nip; squeeze	她用手捏死了一只蚂蚁。
臭虫	chòuchóng	bugs	我被臭虫咬得睡不着。
干净利落	gānjìnglìluò	neat; neatly	她做事干净利落，从不拖泥带水。
冲锋陷阵	chōngfēngxiànzhèn	charge and shatter enemy positions	打仗时他冲锋陷阵不怕死，是个好战士！