W0men and Bandits 女人和土匪

           

作家公告：

我欲将《传教士和他的女儿》、《女人和土匪》的英译本陆续发在我的博客上，欲寻找经济人及翻译家！

众所周知，竞争诺贝尔文学奖必须要有很好的翻译家，而我的经纪人告诉我，我的两部英文本都翻译得不好！因作家不懂英文，希望我的博友们看过该英译本后，能否出手帮助，请告诉你的邮箱及合作条件，我将与你洽谈並将中文原著版本传给你！

 

----张宗銘

 

 

W0men and Bandits

女人和土匪

Zongming Zhang

张宗銘 著

Translated by Tangjin Xiao

肖唐金 译

 

 

 

Preface by the author

China is entering an era of opening-up and reform. No longer is there a strong antipathy against the social injustice as in Mr. Lu Xun’s times of the 1930s. No longer is there a strong fear for being wronged as rightists or reactionaries as in Mr. Mole Guo and Mr. Jin Ba’s times of the 1960s. The time has come for a writer like me to have the literary works translated into English, which are to be read by the people all over the world. The time has come for a writer like me to bid for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

My literary creation has covered three decades. Once I told an international friend of mine that I had three wishes to be realized in my life. First, it is my wish that my works can give an account of the hard times from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the conclusion of the Great Cultural Revolution. Through these works the readers can bear in mind the unforgettable history involving the Chinese Communist Party and the poor people. Second, it is my wish that I can vote for the Chinese local leadership. The vote will go to the leaders involved through their promise for their planned work and my trust in their competence. Third, it is my wish that I can win the Nobel Prize for Literature in my life. With the publication of my English version works and the recommendations from professors of literature and linguists I hope the luck will visit me one day.

A brief introduction to Women and Bandits

Dai Min was a beautiful girl of Buyi nationality. She was born into a poor farmer’s family in Huaxi, a suburb of Guiyang City, the capital of Guizhou Province. At 16 he was married to Zhang Yunchang, a 28-year-old landlord with much land and fortune. Thus, she became a landlady with a possession of much dry and paddy land.

Shortly after the founding of People’s Republic of China, Zhang Yunchang was beaten to death by the oppressed farmers. Dai Min became a widow with two sons. She was deprived of her land and fortune, and her family life fell into a miserable state. Then, Liu Lijing, a Kuomintang bandit who loved Dai came to her rescue. He was about to take Dai and her two sons abroad when the militiamen besieged them. Fortunately, Lai Fu, the Japanese dog she raised helped them out of the trouble. In the fight the dog died. Later, Dai and her sons went begging in Guiyang and they had to stay in the house of General Zhang Yunxuan (who rebelled against the Kuomintang army for the Communists), her husband’s cousin.

Tang Weiqi (Zhang Yunxuan’s wife) was a devout Christian. On an eve of Christmas she held a party against the then government’s orders. She thus suffered a lot physically and mentally. Tang, Dai and the others underwent a series of dramatic events during this transitional period.