话参克课抑槐某隽艘痪洌�
“就是你考不上，不管你将来做什么，在哪里，我都和你在一起！”
她望着我，眼睛湿润了。我也不知哪儿来的勇气，便拉住她的手，走到灯柱后面，她靠在灯柱上，闭上了眼睛。我吻了她。我们谈恋爱这么长时间，这是我第一次吻她，咸酸的泪水流到我的嘴边。我说：“你怎么了？”她摇摇头，仍然闭着眼睛，随后靠在了我的怀里……
我们如醉如痴，在城墙下走来走去，一直将近半夜。我送她回家的时候，在她家门口，葡萄架下，黑暗中，她又让我吻了她。如今葡萄藤已经早铲除了，架子也拆掉了，这屋里进出的也都是陌生人了。可我永远记得她柔软、无力的嘴唇和头发中的清香在我心中留下的那种颤动和温暖的记忆……
肖玲的信
亲爱的：
你给了我生命的勇气，我会振作起来，我会乖乖地听你的话，把
功课复习好。你放心，我会注意身体，我每天还要锻炼。我现在给自
己安排了一个日程表——早晨六点起床，然后在阳台上做早操，读四
十分钟的俄文，再替奶奶上街买菜。早饭以后，读一小时的古文，主
要是背诵课文，九点以后复习历史或地理，下午就看你指定给我看的
那些参考书和小说。一星期写一篇作文。累的时候唱唱歌，画画画。
晚上的时间属于自由支配，或是陪爸爸、妈妈和奶奶聊一会天，偶尔
也去看电影，但绝不在下午。
我现在又觉得充实了，总是忙碌得很。我给你绣了一块手帕，绣
得不好，可花却是我自己设计的。你不认为这是浪费时间吧？当然，
我不会花很多时间去绣花的。
吻你！
你的玲
（全文完）
Soul Mountain
作者：GaoXingjian
GaoXingjian
TranslationbyMabelLee
ChapterOne
Theoldbusisacityreject。AftershakinginitfortwelvehoursonthepotholedhighwaysinceearlymorningyouarriveinthismountaincountytownintheSouth。
Inthebusstationlitteredwithice…lollipoppapersandsugarcanescraps；youstandwithyourbackpackandabagandlookaroundforawhile。
Peoplearegettingoffthebusorwalkingpast；menhumpingsacksandwomencarryingbabies。Acrowdofyouths；unhamperedbysacksorbaskets；havetheirhandsfree。Theytakesunflowerseedsoutoftheirpockets；tossthemoneatatimeintotheirmouthsandspitouttheshells。Withaloudcrackthekernelsareexpertlyeaten。Tobeleisurelyandcarefreeisendemictotheplace。Theyarelocalsandlifehasmadethemlikethis；theyhavebeenhereformanygenerationsandyouwouldn’tneedtogolookinganywhereelseforthem。Theearliesttoleavetheplace；ofcourseatthetimethisbusstationdidn’texistandprobablythereweren’tanybuses；travelledbyriverintheblackcanopyboatsandoverlandinhiredcartsorbyfootiftheydidn’thavethemoney。Nowadays；aslongastheyarestillabletotraveltheyflockbackhome；evenfromtheothersideofthePacific；arrivingincarsorbigair…conditionedcoaches。Therich；thefamous；andthenothinginparticularallhurrybackbecausetheyaregettingold。Afterall；whodoesn’tlovethehomeoftheirancestors？Ofcoursetheydon’tintendtostaysotheywalkaroundlookingrelaxed；talkingandlaughingloudly；andeffusingfondnessandaffectionfortheplace。Here；whenfriendsmeettheydon’tjustgiveanodorahandshakeinthemeaninglessritualofcitypeople；theyshouttheperson’snameorthumphimontheback。Huggingisalsomonbutnotforwomen；whodon’tdothis。Bythecementtroughwherethebusesarewashed；twoyoungwomenholdhandsastheychat。Thewomenherehavelovelyvoicesandyoucan’thelptakingasecondlook。Theonewithherbacktoyouiswearinganindigo…printheadscarf。Thistypeofscarf；andhowit’stied；datesbackmanygenerationsbutisseldomseennowadays。Youfindyourselfwalkingtowardsthem。Thescarfistiedunderherchinandthetwoendspointup。Shehasabeautifulface。Herfeaturesaredelicate；soisherslimbody。Youpassclosebythem。Theyhavebeenholdinghandsallthistime；bothhaveredcoarsehandsandstrongfingers。Bothareprobablyrecentbridesbackseeingrelativesandfriends；orvisitingparents。Here；thewordxifumeansone’sowndaughter…in…lawandusingitlikerusticNorthernerstorefertoanyyoungmarriedwomanwillimmediatelyincurangryabuse。Ontheotherhand；amarriedwomancallsherownhusbandlaogongyetyourlaogong；andmylaogongarealsoused。Peopleherespeakwithauniqueintonationeventhoughtheyaredescendantsofthesamelegendaryemperorsandareofthesamecultureandrace。
Youyourselfcan’texplainwhyyou’rehere。IthappenedthatyouwereonatrainandthispersonmentionedaplacecalledLingshan。Hewassittingoppositeandyourcupwasnexttohis。Asthetrainmoved；thelidsonthecupsclatteredagainstoneanother。Ifthelidskeptonclatteringorclatteredandthenstopped；thatwouldhavebeentheendofit。However；wheneveryouandhewereabouttoseparatethecups；theclatteringwouldstop；andassoonasyouandhelookedawaytheclatteringwouldstartagain。Heandyoureachedout；butagaintheclatteringstopped。Thetwoofyoulaughedatthesameinstant；putthecupswellapart；andstartedaconversation。Youaskhimwhereheisgoing。
〃Lingshan。〃
〃What？〃
〃Lingshan；lingmeaningspiritorsoul；andshanmeaningmountain。〃
You’vebeentolotsofplaces；visitedlotsoffamousmountains；buthaveneverheardofthisplace。
Yourfriendoppositehasclosedhiseyesandisdozing。Likeanyoneelse；youcan’thelpbeingcuriousandnaturallywanttoknowwhichfamousplacesyou’vemissedonyourtravels。Also；youlikedoingthingsproperlyandit’sannoyingthatthere’saplaceyouhaven’tevenheardabout。YouaskhimaboutthelocationofLingshan。
〃AtthesourceoftheYouRiver；〃hesaysopeninghiseyes。
Youdon’tknowthisYouRiver；either；butareembarrassedaboutaskingandgiveanambiguousnodwhichcanmeaneither〃Isee；thanks〃or〃Oh；Iknowtheplace。〃Thissatisfiesyourdesireforsuperioritybutnotyourcuriosity。Afterawhileyouaskhowtogetthereandtherouteupthemountain。
〃TakethetraintoWuyizhen；thengoupstreambyboatontheYouRiver。〃
〃What’sthere？Scenery？Temples？Historicsites？〃youask；tryingtobecasual。
〃It’sallvirginwilderness。〃
〃Ancientforests？〃
〃Ofcourse；butnotjustancientforests。〃
〃WhataboutWildMen？〃yousay；joking。
Helaughsbutwithoutanysarcasm；andhedoesn’tseemtobemakingfunofhimselfwhichintriguesyouevenmore。Youhavetofindoutmoreabouthim。
〃Areyouanecologist？Abiologist？Ananthropologist？Anarchaeologist？〃
Heshakeshisheadeachtimethensays；〃I’mmoreinterestedinlivingpeople。〃
〃Soyou’redoingresearchonfolkcustoms？You’reasociologist？Ahnographer？Ahnologist？Ajournalist；perhaps？Anadventurer？〃
〃I’manamateurinallofthese。〃
Thetwoofyoustartlaughing。
〃I’manexpertamateurinallofthese！〃
Thelaughingmakesyouandhimcheerful。Helightsacigaretteandcan’tstopashetellsyouaboutthewondersofLingshan。Afterwards；atyourrequest；hetearsuphisemptycigaretteboxanddrawsamapoftherouteupLingshan。
IntheNorth；itisalreadylateautumn。Here；however；thesummerheathasn’tpletelysubsided。Beforesunset；itisstillquitehotinthesunandsweatstartsrunningdownyourback。Youleavethestationtolookaround。There’snothingnearbyexceptforthelittleinnacrosstheroad。It’sanoldstylebuildingwithawoodenshopfrontandanupstairs。Upstairsthefloorboardscreakbadlybutworsestillisthegrimeonthepillowandsleepingmat。Towash；you’dhavetowaittillitwasdarktostripoffandpourwateroveryourselfinthedampnarrowcourtyard。Thisisastopoverforthevillagepeddlersandcraftsmen。
It’swellbeforedark；sothere’splentyoftimetofindsomewhereclean。Youwalkdowntheroadwithyourbackpacktolookoverthelittletown；hopingtofindsomeindication；abillboardoraposter；orjustthename〃Lingshan〃totellyouyou’reontherighttrackandhaven’tbeentrickedintomakingthislongexcursion。Youlookeverywherebutdon’tfindanything。Therewerenotouristslikeyouamongsttheotherpassengerswhogotoffthebus。Ofcourseyou’renotthatsortoftourist；it’sjustwhatyou’rewearing：strongsensiblesportsshoesandabackpackwithshoulderstraps；no…oneelseisdressedlikeyou。Ofcourse；thisisn’toneofthetouristspotsfrequentedbynewlywedsandretirees。Thoseplaceshavebeentransformedbytourism；coachesareparkedeverywhereandtouristmapsareonsale。Touristhats；touristT…shirts；touristsingletsandtouristhandkerchiefsbearingthenameoftheplaceareinallthelittleshopsandstalls；andthenameoftheplaceisusedinthetradenamesofallthe〃foreignexchangecurrencyonly〃hotelsforforeigners；the〃localswithreferencesonly〃hostelsandsanatoriums；andofcoursethesmallprivatehotelspetingforcustomers。Youhaven’tetoenjoyyourselfinoneofthoseplacesonthesunnysideofamountainwherepeoplecongregatejusttolookatandjostleoneanother；andtoaddtothelitterofmelonrind；fruitpeel；softdrinkbottles；cans；cartons；sandwichwrappingsandcigarettebutts。Soonerorlaterthisplacewillalsoboombutyou’reherebeforetheyputupthegaudypavilionsandterraces；beforethereportersewiththeircameras；andbeforethecelebritiesetoputupplaqueswiththeircalligraphy。Youcan’thelpfeelingratherpleasedwithyourselfyetyou’reanxious。There’snosignofanythingherefortourists；haveyoumadeablunder？You’reonlygoingbythemaponthecigaretteboxinyourshirtpocket；whatiftheexpertamateuryoumetonthetrainhadonlyheardabouttheplaceonhistravels？Howdoyouknowhewasn’tjustmakingitallup？Youhaven’teverseentheplacementionedintravelaccountsandit’snotlistedinthemostuptodatetravelmanuals。Ofcourse；itisn’thardtofindplaceslikeLingtai；Lingqiu；LingyanandevenLingshanonprovincialmapsandyouknowverywellthatinthehistoriesandclassics；LingshanappearsinworksdatingbacktotheancientshamanisticworkClassicoftheMountainsandSeas；andtheoldgeographicalgazetteerAnnotatedWaterClassic。ItwasalsoatLingshanthatBuddhaenlightenedtheVenerableMahakashyapa。You’renotstupid；sojustuseyourbrains；firstfindthisplaceWuyizhenonthecigarettebox；forthisishowyou’llgettoLingshan。
Youreturntothebusstationandgointothewaitingroom。Thebusiestplaceinthissmalltownisnowdeserted。Theticketwindowandtheparcelwindowareboardedupfromtheinsidesoknockingisuseless。There’snowheretoasksoyoucanonlygothroughthelistsofstopsabovetheticketwindow：ZhangVillage；SandyFlat；CementFactory；OldHut；GoldenHorse；GoodHarvest；FloodWaters；DragonBay；PeachBlossomHollow…thenameskeepgettingbetter；buttheplaceyouwantisn’tthere。Thisisjustasmalltownbuttherearesev