Fortress Besieged

Author: Qian Zhongshu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: The content of this book: The Red Sea has been passed, and the ship is sailing on the Indian Ocean. The sun still sets late and rises early, occupying most of the night. The night seems like paper soaked in oil, becoming translucent. It is embraced by the sun, indistinguishable from it. Perhaps it is intoxicated by the sun, so the night after the sunset and the fading of the evening glow also carries a drunken red hue. When the red fades and the intoxication wears off, the sleeper in the cabin wakes up covered in sticky sweat, takes a bath, and hurries to the deck to blow the sea breeze—the new day begins. This is late July, corresponding to the San Fu period in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, the hottest time of the year. It was even hotter in China than usual, and after the event, everyone called it a sign of war, because it was the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937).