Emperor Cuckoo: Human interest in China

She has an astonishing memory 
她记忆力惊人 Tā jìyìlì jīngrén                                             

1. 
Good and bad fortune can be turned into stories; together they add up to a life.   Put that way, a life also is a story.  Everyone is involved in stories. And 92-year-old Sun Jiaxiang also is involved in stories.
幸与不幸，都会变成一个个故事，堆砌成日子。这样说，日子也是故事。 人人都在与故事为伍。今年92岁的孙家香老太，也与故事为伍。
Xìng yǔ búxìng, dū huì biànchéng yígègè gùshi, duīqì chéng rìzi. Zhèyàng shuō, rìzi yě shì gùshi. Rénrén dōu zài yǔ gùshi wéiwǔ. Jīnnián 92 suì de Sūn Jiāxiāng lǎotài, yě yǔ gùshi wéiwǔ. 

[Photo:  92-year-old Sun Jiaxiang  92岁的孙家香老太  92 suì de Sūn Jiāxiāng lǎo tài]

But this elderly lady has an even closer relation to stories, and as a result, she often has played the lead role in "good and bad fortune" stories. Now in her nineties, she's lived a long life, and there's been much good fortune.  But this good fortune has been mixed with countless moments of bad fortune.  She had nine brothers and sisters, six died young.  In 1965, when she was 46 years old, her husband died, and in her middle years she was left without a husband.  In 1989, when she was 70, her second son died--in her old age, she lost a son.
但老人与故事贴得更近，她因此也就常常是“幸与不幸”的主角。九旬高寿，幸之甚也。但这幸，是由无数不幸铺垫而来的。她兄妹9人，却有6个先后夭折。 1965年，孙家香46岁，丈夫病逝，中年丧夫。1989年, 孙家香70岁，次子亡故，老年丧子。
Dàn lǎorén yǔ gùshi tiē dé gèng jìn, tā yīncǐ yě jiù chángcháng shì "xìng yǔ búxìng" de zhǔjué. Jiǔ xún gāoshòu, xìng zhī shèn yě. Dàn zhè xìng, shì yóu wúshù búxìng pūdiàn ér lái de. tā xiōng-mèi 9 rén, què yǒu 6 gè xiān-hòu yāozhé. 1965 nián, Sūn Jiāxiāng 46 suì, zhàngfu bìngshì, zhōng nián sàngfū. 1989 nián, Sūn Jiāxiāng 70 suì, cìzǐ wánggù, lǎonián sàng zǐ 。 

So life piled up the days on her, and was beyond her control.  In the world of story-telling, Sun Jiaxiang was seeking support for the courage to go on--and she has deeply affected the people around her.
这就是生活给她堆砌的日子，由不得她。在故事的世界里，孙家香寻到支撑下去的勇气，并感染身边的人。
Zhè jiù shì shēnghuó gěi tā duīqì de rìzi, yóubùdé tā.  Zài gùshi de shìjiè lǐ, Sūn Jiāxiāng xúndào zhīchēng xiàqu de yǒngqì, bìng gánrǎn shēnbiān de rén. 

2. 
Sun Jiaxiang, a Tujia ethnic minority, was born in 1919 at Wufeng (Tujia ethnic minority autonomous region), Baiguoyuan village, and at the age of 18, she married and went to Changyang's Tujia Chunshuping village to live with her husband, whose family name was Xiao.
孙家香，土家族，1919年出生于五峰土家族自治县白果园村，18岁嫁到长阳土家族自治县椿树坪萧家。
Sūn Jiāxiāng, Tǔjiāzú, 1919 nián chūshēng yú Wǔfēng Tǔjiāzú zìzhìxiàn Báiguǒyuáncūn, 18 suì jià dào Chángyáng Tǔjiāzú zìzhìxiàn Chūnshùpíng Xiāo jiā. 

She has spent her entire life, from her parents' home to married life at her husband's home, in a mountain village as a member of the Tujia ethnic minority group.
从娘家到婆家，她一辈子生活在土家族聚居的山村里。
Cóng niángjiā dào pójiā, tā yí bèizi shēnghuó zài Tǔjiāzú jùjū de shāncūn lǐ. 

She is unable to read her own name, but can recite more than 500 stories, which her mother and her mother-in-law interpreted for her.
她不认识自己的名字，却可以讲500多个故事，这主要来源于母亲和婆母的言传。
Tā bú rènshí zìjǐ de míngzi, què kěyǐ jiǎng 500 duō gè gùshi, zhè zhǔyào láiyuányú mǔqīn hé pómǔ de yánchuán. 

The old lady firmly believes that the people in the stories are real, and that the world of the stories is the real world, and apart from the so-called traditional legends that have been handed down, these stories could happen today.
老人她坚信，故事中的人就是现实中的人，故事世界就是真实世界，故事中所谓传奇之处也能够在现实生活中发生。
Lǎorén tā jiānxìn, gùshi zhōng de rén jiù shì xiànshí zhōng de rén, gùshi shìjiè jiù shì zhēnshí shìjiè, gùshi zhōng suǒwèi chuánqí zhī chù yě nénggòu zài xiànshí shēnghuó zhōng fāshēng. 

She therefore believes the stories are useful, and that good people will be rewarded.
她因此相信故事是有用的，相信好人有好报。
Tā yīncǐ xiāngxìn gùshi shì yǒuyòng de, xiāngxìn hǎorén yǒu hǎobào. 

Since her heart is filled with stories of good people doing good things, and yearning for a good life, her stories always are filled with positive energy, and are forward-looking.  Most have happy endings, and can be a comfort to people, including herself. 
因为心中装满了故事中的好人好事和对美好生活的向往，她的故事总是积极的，向上的。故事大都有好的结局，因此很能安慰人，包括安慰她自己。
Yīnwèi xīnzhōng zhuāngmǎn le gùshi zhōng de hǎorénhǎoshì hé duì méihǎo shēnghuó de xiàngwǎng, tā de gùshi zǒng shì jījí de, xiàngshàng de. gù shi dà dōu yǒu hǎo de jié jú, yīncǐ hěn néng ānwèi rén, bāokuò ānwèi tā zìjǐ. 

The majority of her stories are drawn from children's fairy tales, such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Cinderella"; after all, Western fables and children's fairy tales contain similar views.  When looked at closely, all children's stories communicate simple views on good and evil.
她的故事还以童话居多，诸如“狼外婆”型、“灰姑娘”型，竟与西方寓言、童话不谋而合。细细考量，童话故事传递的是最朴素的善恶观。
Tā de gùshi hái yǐ tónghuà jūduō, zhūrú "Láng wàipó" xíng, "Huīgūniang" xíng, jìng yǔ xīfāng yùyán, tónghuà bùmóu'érhé.  Xìxì kǎoliàng, tónghuà gùshi chuándì de shì zuì pǔsù de shàn'è guān. 

She has an astonishing memory, and her language is amazingly complex and lively, as if she'd been born with this talent.
她记忆力惊人，语言曲折生动，天赋超群。
Tā jìyìlì jīngrén, yǔyán qūzhé shēngdòng, tiānfù chāoqún.

3. 
Her "rise to fame" also had something to do with bad fortune.
她的“出山”，也与不幸有关。
Tā de "chūshān," yě yǔ bùxìng yǒuguān.

In 1988, an official at the Changyang cultural center, Xiao Guosong, suffered a huge misfortune: his young son drowned in the Qing River.  After he finished handling matters related to his son, he came to his aunt Sun Jiaxiang's home--where in his childhood he'd listened to stories.  He had two objectives: one was to collect folktales in the Changyang region, and therefore visiting Sun Jiaxiang was part of his job; the other was to see family, hear stories, and try to ease the pain of grieving.  
1988年7月，长阳文化馆干部萧国松遭遇巨大不幸——小儿子在清江溺亡。萧国松处理完儿子后事，来到婶娘孙家香家——小时听故事的地方。此行有两个目的，一是他正参加中国民间故事集成长阳分卷的搜集整理，拜访孙家香也是他的工作；二是为了见见亲人，听听故事，缓解悲痛。
1988 nián 7 yuè, Chángyáng wénhuàguǎn gànbù Xiāo Guósōng zāoyù jùdà búxìng — — xiǎo érzi zài Qīng Jiāng nì wáng.  Xiāo Guósōng chúlǐ wán érzi hòu shì, lái dào shěnniáng Sūn Jiāxiāng jiā — — xiǎoshí tīng gùshi de dìfang. Cǐ xíng yǒu liǎng gè mùdì, yí shì tā zhèng cānjiā Zhōngguó mínjiān gùshi jí chéng Chǎngyáng fēn juǎn de sōují zhénglǐ, bàifǎng Sūn Jiāxiāng yě shì tā de gōngzuò; èr shì wèile jiànjiàn qīnrén, tīngting gùshi, huǎnjiě bēitòng. 

That evening, Sun Jiaxiang told more than 20 stories, and on the second day, she again told more than 20 stories. After he returned home, he edited the stories into a collection and a manuscript to be published in book form, and attracted the interest of Mr. Han Zhizhong, an expert responsible for collecting the stories.
孙家香当晚讲了20多个故事，第二天又讲了20多个。萧国松返程后，将部分故事编入集成书稿中，引起了负责故事集成的专家韩致中先生的关注。
Sūn Jiāxiāng dāngwǎn jiǎng le 20 duō gè gùshi, dì'èr tiān yòu jiǎng le 20 duō gè. Xiāo Guósōng fǎnchéng hòu, jiāng bùfen gùshi biānrù jíchéng shūgǎo zhōng, yínqǐ le fùzé gùshi jíchéng de zhuānjiā Hán Zhìzhōng xiānsheng de guānzhù. 

On June 6, 1995, Hubei Daily published "King of the Tujia Mountain Stories," and a week later, an overseas edition of People's Daily reprinted it.
1995年6月10日，《湖北日报》登载《土家山寨故事王》，一周后，《人民日报》（海外版）转载。
1995 nián 6 yuè 10 rì, "Húběi rìbào" dēngzǎi "Tǔjiā shānzhài gùshi wáng", yì zhōu hòu, "Rénmín rìbào" (hǎi wài bǎn) zhuánzǎi. 

On April 4, 1997, Hubei Daily published a front-page lead article based on a reporter's essay, "Changyang discovers an outstanding Tujia woman storyteller--elderly Sun Jiaxiang tells almost 300 stories and attracts the attention of academics" ...
1997年4月4日，《湖北日报》头版头条发表了记者见闻的文章《长阳发现一杰出土家族女故事家——孙家香老人讲故事近300个引起学术界重视》...
1997 nián 4 yuè 4 rì, "Húběi rìbào" tóubǎn tóutiáo fābiǎo le jìzhě jiànwén de wénzhāng, "Chángyáng fāxiàn yì jiéchū Tǔjiāzú nǚ gùshijiā -- Sūn Jiāxiāng lǎorén jiǎng gùshi jìn 300 gè yínqǐ xuéshùjiè zhòngshì"...

...and the accompanying article said: "Yesterday, Huazhong Normal University said of her accomplishments that she is 'the pre-eminent Tujia woman storyteller in our country,' and she has been included in national-level research on tellers of folktales and stories."  Li Shouhua, the person responsible for this research group, and chairperson of the Association of Folk Art, said, "According to international standards, to be able to tell 100 stories places you in the ranks of expert storytellers, the Chaoxianzu (Korean ethnic minority) woman Jin Deshun can tell about 170 stories, and Sun Jiaxiang is, as far as I know, the woman storyteller who can tell the most stories."
文章中说，“昨日，华中师大文学院把她作为‘我国第一位杰出土家族女故事家’，列入该院‘民间故事传承人研究’这一国家级课题的重要研究对象。”“该课题组负责人、省民间文艺家协会主席刘守华教授说：‘按照国际通用的标准，能讲100个故事就是大故事家，我国知名的朝鲜族女故事家金德顺能讲170多个故事，孙家香老人是我目前所知道的故事讲得最多的女故事家。’”
...wénzhāng zhōng shuō, "Zuó rì, Huázhōng Shī Dà wénxuéyuàn bǎ tā zuòwéi "Wǒguó dì-yí wèi jiéchū Tǔjiāzú nǚ gùshijiā', lièrù gāi yuàn 'mínjiān gùshi chuánchéng rén yánjiū' zhè yì guójiājí kètí de zhòngyào yánjiū duìxiàng." "Gāi kètí zǔ fùzérén, shěng mínjiān wényìjiā xiéhuì zhǔxí Liú Shǒuhuá jiàoshòu shuō: 'Ànzhào guójì tōngyòng de biāozhǔn, néng jiǎng 100 gè gùshi jiù shì dà gùshijiā, wǒguó zhīmíng de cháoxiānzú nǚgù shi jiā Jīn Déshùn néng jiǎng 170 duō gè gùshi, Sūn Jiāxiāng lǎorén shì wǒ mùqián suǒ zhīdào de gùshi jiǎng dé zuì duō de nǚ gùshi jiā.'"

4. 
In 1998, Xiao Guosong arranged and published "Collected Stories of Sun Jiaxiang," which contains 252 of her best stories, about 250,000 characters, and includes myths about gods, stories about the origins and development of the human race, legendary characters, local legends, animal and plant stories, tales of witchery, fantasies, spirit and ghost stories, and stories about life.  
1998年，萧国松整理的《孙家香故事集》出版，共收录孙家香精华故事252个，计25万字，包括神话、人的起源与发展、人物传说、地方传说、动植物传说、嫁匠传说、幻想故事、鬼狐精怪故事、生活故事。
1998 nián, Xiāo Guósōng zhénglǐ de "Sūn Jiāxiāng gùshi jí" chūbǎn, gòng shōulù Sūn Jiāxiāng jīnghuá gùshi 252 gè, jì 25 wàn zì, bāokuò shénhuà, rén de qǐyuán yǔ fāzhǎn, rénwù chuánshuō, dìfang chuánshuō, dòngzhíwù chuánshuō, jià jiàng chuánshuō, huànxiǎng gùshi, guǐ hú jīngguài gùshi, shēnghuó gùshi. 

Mr. Jia Zhi, a leading authority on Chinese folktales, has written, "Sun Jiaxiang is the Tujiazu number one storyteller, she's skilled in spontaneous storytelling, her narratives are children's stories and fantasies that are rich in educational meaning, and other legends; she's unusally talented, her knowledge and experience can be called "classical," and is more than sufficient to demonstrate to everyone the very fine tradition of Tujiazu folktales; she is to be esteemed and celebrated."
中国民间文艺泰斗贾芝先生这样题词，“孙家香婆婆是土家族的第一个故事家，善于临机应变，讲述富有教育意义的童话幻想故事及其他传说，大放异彩，她的学艺经历与讲‘经’，也足以令人看到土家族的优良文化传统，可歌可贺。”
Zhōngguó mínjiān wényì tàidǒu Jiǎ Zhī xiānsheng zhèyàng tící, "Sūn Jiāxiāng pópó shì Tǔjiāzú de dì-yí gè gùshijiā, shànyú línjīyìngbiàn, jiǎngshù fùyǒu jiàoyù yìyì de tónghuà huànxiǎng gùshi jí qítā chuánshuō, dàfàngyìcǎi, tā de xuéyì jīnglì yǔ jiǎng 'jīng,' yě zúyǐ lìngrén kàndào Tǔjiāzú de yōuliáng wénhuà chuántǒng, kě gē kě hè."

Liu Kuili, professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has this appraisal: "Sun Jiaxiang is an outstanding Hubei province Changyang Tujiazu folktale and storyteller, she is famous in Chinese and in international academic circles, not only is she able to tell many stories, her narrative skills are superb, the content is sound, the plots are stirring, the language is concise and rich in meaning."
中国社会科学院刘魁立教授这样评价，“孙家香是湖北省长阳土家族杰出的民间故事讲述家，在我国以及世界民俗学界有很高声誉，故事不仅多，讲述技艺高超，内容健康，情节动人，语言简约，内涵丰富。”
Zhōngguó Shèhuì Kēxuéyuàn Liú Kuílì jiàoshòu zhèyàng píngjià, "Sūn Jiāxiāng shì Húběi shéng Chǎngyáng Tǔjiāzú jiéchū de mínjiān gùshi jiǎngshùjiā, zài wǒguó yǐjí shìjiè mínsúxué jiè yǒu hěn gāo shēngyù, gùshi bùjǐn duō, jiǎngshù jìyì gāochāo, nèiróng jiànkāng, qíngjié dòngrén, yǔyán jiǎnyuē, nèihán fēngfù."

Source:《湖北日报》 2011-11/08 第06版："用日子注解故事" and online

Stolen time
偷来的时光  Tōu lái de shíguāng

In recent years, literature from Hong Kong and Taiwan has been enjoying a surge in interest, and a group of outstanding contemporary Hong Kong and Taiwanese writers gradually has been gaining recognition by mainland Chinese readers who are familiar with them and like them, and this in turn has caused the publishing world's enthusiasm in recommending works from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
近两年，港台文学的引进热潮中，一批优秀的当代港台小说家渐渐被内地读者所认知、熟悉以及喜爱，因此也使出版界引进港台文学成为一股热流。Jìn liǎng nián, Gǎng-Tái wénxué de yǐnjìn rècháo zhōng, yì pī yōuxiù dí dāngdài Gǎng-Tái xiǎoshuōjiā jiànjiàn bèi nèidì dúzhě suǒ rènzhī, shúxī yǐjí xǐ'ài, yīncǐ yě shǐ chūbǎn jiè yǐnjìn Gǎng-Tái wénxué chéngwéi yì gǔ rèliú. 

Now it is Chen Xue's turn.  An early, popular avant-garde writer who has been widely discussed, a Taiwanese woman who has experience with literary circles focusing attention on her, this week she arrived in Beijing, and brought with her the first mainland publication of one of her books, a representative work called Child on a Bridge.
这次，轮到了陈雪。这个早期以写作前卫辛辣而广受讨论，备受文坛瞩目的台湾女作家，本周来京，带来了她在大陆出版的第一本书，其代表作品《桥上的孩子》。Zhècì, lúndào le Chén Xuě. Zhège zǎoqī yǐ xiězuò qiánwèi xīnlà ér guǎngshòu tǎolùn， bèishòu wéntán zhǔmù de Táiwān nǚzuòjiā, běnzhōu lái Jīng, dàilái le tā zài dàlù chūbǎn de dì-yì běn shū, qí dàibiǎo zuòpǐn 《Qiáo shàng de hái zi》. 

She believes this novel is a "style-transforming work from a relatively mature period" -- a work that has gained the praise of Chinese writers including Hou Xiaoxian, Zhu Tianwen, Liang Wendao, Zhi An, and others famous writers from both sides of the Straits and in the Third World, all of whom recommend reading her.  Interestingly, from her novels you can analyze other dimensions of life, this is not only because of the exquisiteness and humor in her "autobiographical" style, a form which heightens interest, but also because in her "autobiographical style," you can sense the author's perspective on life.
这是她认为“改变风格的作品，比较成熟的作品”，也得到了侯孝贤、朱天文、梁文道、止庵等两岸三地文化名人一致推荐阅读。有意思的是，你可以从她的作品中得到剖析生活的另一个维度，这不仅是在于其“自传”式的细腻与幽微，以形成一种探究的兴味，更在于在这种“自传”中，你可以感受到一个写作者打量生活的角度。Zhè shì tā rènwéi "gǎibiàn fēnggé de zuòpǐn, bǐjiào chéngshu de zuòpǐn," yě dédào le Hóu Xiàoxián, Zhū Tiānwén, Liáng Wéndào, Zhǐ Ān děng liǎng'àn sāndì wénhuà míngrén yízhì tuījiàn yuèdú. Yǒu yìsi de shì, nǐ kéyǐ cóng tā de zuòpǐn zhōng dédào pōuxī shēnghuó de lìng yí gè wéidù, zhè bùjǐn shì zài yúqí "zì zhuàn" shì de xìnì yǔ yōuwēi, yǐ xíngchéng yì zhǒng tànjiū de xìngwèi, gèng zàiyú zài zhè zhǒng "zì zhuàn" zhōng, nǐ kéyǐ gǎnshòudào yí gè xiězuòzhě dǎliang shēnghuó de jiǎodù. 

The substance of the novel, and the stories that take place, are Chen Xue's, and one could say they are identical with the reality of her life. This woman, who appears slender and a bit delicate, with her family once hawked goods from a blanket on the ground, and so has earned the name "wuchang" ["battle drums"], since she had to yell loudly to sell things, and her voice has grown hoarse; she equates appearing on stage as a performer with selling things as she was growing up.
小说的底子，故事的发生，是陈雪的，与她真正的生活可以说是吻合的。这个看上去纤细的女子，是在与家人一起摆地摊卖货，而且是被称作“武场”的大叫大卖、扯破嗓子，连带登上舞台“表演”似的卖货中长大的。Xiǎoshuō de dǐzi, gùshi de fāshēng, shì Chén Xuě de, yǔ tā zhēnzhèng de shēnghuó kéyǐ shuō shì wěnhé de. Zhège kànshàngqù xiānxì de nǘzǐ, shì zài yǔ jiā rén yìqǐ bǎi dìtān mài huò, érqiě shì bèi chēngzuò "wǔ chǎng" de dà jiào dà mài, chěpò sǎngzi, liándài dēngshàng wǔtái "biáo yǎn" shì de mài huò zhōng zhǎngdà de. 

If her life really was this way, she long ago experienced the meshing together of fertility and barrenness, and from that small pile of goods for sale, there unfolded stories for her earliest literary creations..
也许正是如此，她很早就体会到繁华与贫瘠交错间那种独有的冲撞，也使她很早就在小山一般的货物间展开了自己最早故事的创作。Yéxǔ zhèngshì rúcǐ, tā hěn zǎo jiù tǐhuì dào fánhuá yǔ pínjí jiāocuò jiān nà zhǒng dúyǒu de chōngzhuàng, yě shǐ tā hěn zǎojiù zài xiǎoshān yìbān de huòwù jiān zhǎnkāi le zìjǐ zuìzǎo gùshi de chuàngzuò. 

"In the noisy and bustling market, one hand holding plastic bags, one hand taking things from customers and wrapping them, one hand taking money, one hand giving change, haggling over prices with customers, and at the same time carefully making sure no one is stealing anything, and also looking in the distance for the police who come and prevent you from selling, a little girl learned from an early age how to gain skills in any situation.  Sometimes she would jump into the crowd brimming with youth, like a prettily-dressed little girl window-shopping and buying things, sometimes she was that ingratiating, happy little girl at home being embraced by her father and mother ...
“忙碌而嘈杂的闹市里，一手拿着塑料袋,一手拼命把客人递过来的货物包装起来，一手收钱,一手找钱，时而跟客人讨价还价，时而留心有没有人趁乱偷东西，还要注意远方有没有警察来取缔买卖的过程里，小女孩很小就学会了将自己随时抽离所处环境的本事。她有时跳跃进人群里化身成那些青春洋溢、衣着漂亮的女孩仿佛在逛街买东西，有时她混进和乐的家庭里变成爸爸妈妈牵着抱着的小孩……”
“Mánglù ér cáozá de nàoshì lǐ, yìshǒu názhe sùliàodài, yìshǒu pīnmìng bǎ kèrén dì guòlái de huòwù bāozhuāng qǐlái, yìshǒu shōuqián, yìshǒu zhǎoqián, shí'ér gēn kèrén tǎojiàhuánjià, shí'ér liúxīn yǒu méiyǒu rén chèn luàn tōu dōngxi, hái yào zhùyì yuǎnfāng yǒu méiyǒu jǐngchá lái qǔdì mǎimai de guò chéng lǐ, xiǎo nǚhái hěn xiǎo jiù xuéhuì le jiāng zìjǐ suíshí chōulí suǒchù huánjìng de běnshi. Tā yǒushí tiàoyuè jìn rénqún lǐ huàshēn chéng nàxiē qīngchūn yángyì, yīzhuó piàoliang de nǚhái fǎngfú zài guàngjiē mǎi dōngxi, yǒushí tā hùnjìn hélède jiātíng lǐ biànchéng bàba māma qiānzhe bàozhe de xiǎohái..."

Chen Xue, an avant-garde Taiwanese woman writer, says, "In the past I felt inferior about my background, because when I first published I was considered the most avant-garde of the Taiwanese women writers, everyone thought I'd returned from the States, I was always reluctant to leave the nightspots, really fashionable.  But it all was an illusion, I never really did that, it was my friends who brought me to those bars." 　
陈雪说：“我以前很自卑于我的出身，因为我刚出书的时候被当作台湾最前卫的女作家，大家都误以为我是美国回来的，我每天留恋夜店，最时髦。其实都是幻想，我根本没有，我去过酒吧都是朋友带去的。Chén Xuě shuō："Wǒ yǐqián hěn zìbēi yú wǒde chūshēn, yīnwèi wǒ gāng chūshū de shíhou bèi dàngzuò Táiwān zuì qiánwèi de nǚzuòjiā, dàjiā dōu wùyǐwéi wǒ shì Měiguó huílái de, wǒ měitiān liúliàn yèdiàn, zuì shímáo. Qíshí dōu shì huànxiǎng, wǒ gēnběn méiyǒu, wǒ qùguò jiǔbā dōu shì péngyou dàiqù de." 

"In Child on a Bridge, the thing I wanted to encounter was my own inner pain."  A bridge, a little girl, pushing a carriage from one end of the bridge to the other... "But the novel doesn't want to tell the story of one person's life, the novel's perspective is a universal point of view." 
《桥上的孩子》，我想要碰出的东西是我内在的疼痛。” 一座天桥，一个小女孩，推着车从桥的一头跑到另一头。“可是小说不是要讲某人的一生，小说是一个观看世界的角度。”  "Qiáoshàng de háizi," wǒ xiǎngyào pèngchū de dōngxi shì wǒ nèizài de téngtòng."  Yí zuò tiānqiáo, yí gè xiǎonǚhái, tuīzhe chē cóng qiáo de yì tóu pǎodào lìng yì tóu. "Kěshì xiǎoshuō bú shì yào jiǎng mǒurén de yìshēng, xiǎoshuō shì yí gè guānkàn shìjiè de jiǎodù."

Here is a novelist's universal point of view: "I like those moments of plunging into the imagination, the time of writing is 'stolen time', to pass through the imagination is to see in half-light things never before seen, to pass through fiction is to be able to change yourself into a different identity, to arrive at another place where you want to be ... In those days, through writing I experienced 'the power of story-telling' ... Every book was like a different room, each one was a fictional time-space in which to build substantial castles, and each successive book helped me understand what fiction meant to me, taught me I had to write through any difficulties, I had to forge myself into being" ...
这里，是一个小说家观看世界的角度。“我喜爱沉浸于想象的时刻，写作的时刻是‘偷来的时光’，透过想象的微光看见未曾看见的事物，透过虚构让自己能够化身成不同的身份，到达其他想去的地方。那时的我透过写作体会了‘故事的力量’……每一本书都像一个个不同的房间，一个又一个虚拟的时空却建造出坚实的城堡，我透过写一本又一本书让自己更加了解小说之于我的意义，了解我要继续写下去会面对何种困难，我要如何继续锤炼自己。
Zhèlǐ, shì yí gè xiǎoshuōjiā guānkàn shìjiè de jiǎodù 。 "Wǒ xǐ'ài chén jìnyú xiǎngxiàng de shíkè, xiězuò de shíkè shì 'tōulái de shíguāng,' tòuguò xiǎngxiàng de wēiguāng kànjiàn wèicéng kànjiàn de shìwù, tòuguò xūgòu ràng zìjǐ nénggòu huàshēn chéng bùtóng de shēnfèn, dàodá qítā xiǎngqù de dìfang. Nàshí de wǒ tòuguò xiězuò tǐhuì le 'gùshi de lìliàng' … … Měi yì běn shū dōu xiàng yí gè gè bùtóng de fángjiān, yí gè yòu yí gè xūnǐ de shíkōng què jiàn zàochū jiānshí de chéngbǎo, wǒ tòuguò xiě yì běn yòu yì běn shū ràng zìjǐ gèngjiā liáojiě xiǎoshuō zhīyú wǒ de yìyì, liáojiě wǒ yào jìxù xiěxiàqu huì miànduì hézhǒng kùnnan, wǒ yào rúhé jìxù chuíliàn zìjǐ. 

"In my world, that was an ever-changing castle; unable to take root on the ground, the castle always was in motion, passing through time, seeking its own shape.  I remember thinking that continuously writing novels was itself the process of a literary work taking shape, and at the same time I succeeded in reshaping myself.  We all are in the process of taking shape, we all are constantly destroying ourselves, then rebuilding, whatever kind of castle you are building always is smashed by life, your only place of residence is in the rebuilding" ...   
"在我的世界里，那是一座会不断变形的城堡，那是一座无法附着于土地、总是不断迁移着自己的城堡，随着时间经过，它仍在寻找自己的形状。我想起我不断写着小说的那些时刻，那是透过正在成形的作品，又再次成功地重塑了自己。我们都正在成形，且不断被自己摧毁，然后重建，无论是打造什么样的城堡，都是把生命打碎，重新建造起仅属于自己的居所。”
"Zài wǒ de shìjiè lǐ, nà shì yí zuò huì búduàn biànxíng de chéngbǎo, nà shì yí zuò wúfǎ fùzhuó yú tǔdì, zǒng shì búduàn qiānyízhe zìjǐ de chéngbǎo, suízhe shíjiān jīngguò, tā réng zài xúnzhǎo zìjǐ de xíngzhuàng. wǒ xiǎngqǐ wǒ búduàn xiězhe xiǎoshuō de nàxiē shíkè, nà shì tòuguò zhèngzài chéngxíng de zuòpǐn, yòu zàicì chénggōngdì zhòngsù le zìjǐ. Wǒmen dōu zhèngzài chéngxíng, qiě búduàn bèi zìjǐ cuīhuǐ, ránhòu chóngjiàn, wúlùn shì dǎzào shénmeyàng de chéngbǎo, dōu shì bǎ shēngmìng dǎsuì, chóngxīn jiànzào qǐ jǐn shǔyú zìjǐ de jūsuǒ."

Here, life and time are not co-linear.  In much of Taiwanese writing, life in the urban centers is treated as  appealing; in Chen Xue's works, a novelist's story causes the novel's existence and the existence of the novel to merge as one.  This is how she treats it.  As the writer Liang Wendao has said, "Everyone who reads Chen Xue's novels thinks of them as autobiographical, and that is lure of her style, and in them what is dissected is how a person becomes a novelist.  So it is with Child on a Bridge, but that's more than an autobiographical novel; more accurately, after the revelation of life's unpredictability, its seriousness, ruthlessness and riddles, the work as a whole essentially asks how is it possible not to be a novelist, and why is it possible to continue writing." 
这里，生活与时间不再是线性的。在很多港台作家笔下，现代都市生活都有着富于韵味的处理。在陈雪的作品中，一个小说家的故事，使小说的生活与生活的小说合二为一。这是她的处理。正如梁文道所言：“陈雪的小说一向被人读作某种自传，那是陈雪式的诱惑。《桥上的孩子》亦然；只不过这却不是一般意义下的自传小说，而是一个人如何成为一个小说家的剖析。更准确地说，在细密展现了生命的种种不测、沉重、残酷与难解之后，它其实是要质问一个人怎可能不是一个小说家，又为什么还能写得下去。”
Zhè lǐ, shēnghuó yǔ shíjiān búzài shì xiànxìng de. Zài hěn duō Gǎng-Tái zuòjiā bǐxià, xiàndài dūshì shēnghuó dōu yǒu zhe fùyú yùnwèi de chúlǐ. Zài Chén Xuě de zuòpǐn zhōng, yí gè xiǎoshuōjiā de gùshi, shǐ xiǎoshuō de shēnghuó yǔ shēnghuó de xiǎoshuō hé'èr wéiyī.  Zhè shì tā de chúlǐ.  Zhèngrú Liáng Wéndào suǒyán: "Chén Xuě de xiǎoshuō yīxiàng bèi rén dú zuò mǒu zhǒng zìzhuàn, nà shì Chén Xuě shì de yòuhuò. 《Qiáoshàng de háizi》yìrán ； zhǐ búguò zhè què búshì yìbān yìyì xià de zìzhuàn xiǎoshuō, ér shì yí gè rén rúhé chéngwéi yí gè xiǎoshuōjiā de pōuxī. Gèng zhǔnquè dì shuō, zài xìmì zhǎnxiàn le shēngmìng de zhóngzhǒng búcè, chénzhòng, cánkù yǔ nánjiě zhīhòu, tā qíshí shì yào zhì wèn yí gè rén zěn kěnéng búshì yí gè xiǎoshuōjiā, yòu wèishénme hái néng xiědé xiàqu." 

[Note:  We are unable to find a translation of Chen Xue's novel, and cannot say for certain that Child on a Bridge would be an accurate rendering of the Chinese title for any English translation of the novel] 

Source: 《北京晨报》2011-10/29 第A17版：“小说的生活与生活的小说” online