The Complete Translation Collection of Ba Jin - Volume 7

Author: Akutagawa Ryūzō (Japan) / Others
Translator: Ba Jin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-06-01
Features:
Excerpt:
Night at the Border
Character List:
ōno Saburō: Owner of the Land Reclamation Office
The Masked Man: ōno's Shadow
ōno Yuki: ōno's Wife
ōno Midori: Their Eldest Daughter
ōno Jirō: Their Second Son
ōno Goro: Their Third Son
Traveler Couple and Children
Anrichka: An Ainu①
Location: Hokkaido, part of the Tenryū Plain.
Set Design: On the left side of the stage is a plain covered in snow. In the distance, snow-covered mountains at the border are visible, with traces of snowmobiles shining. On the right is the interior of the ōno Land Reclamation Office. The middle and left sides of the room have glass windows, with a door on the left side leading outside. Another door on the right leads to the inner room. The building is not luxurious but sturdy. Thick icicles hang from the edges of the glass windows, like swords. In the center of the house is a large fireplace, with a roaring fire burning inside. A large iron pot is filled with boiling water. Near the middle window stands a table with a chair and a large oil lamp hanging beside it. Three account books are placed on the table, and next to the right door stands a small cash box. Everything evokes the life of successful pioneers in early Hokkaido.
Scene [At the beginning of the play, everyone in the room gathers around the fireplace drinking kudzu tea. Only the head of the household sits at the table writing something. The wife is preparing kudzu tea for her three children. From her appearance, she seems much younger than her actual age.
Woman: [Holding a cup of kudzu tea] Mother, the wind is howling outside, and it must be snowing! Look at all the snow on the windows.
Mother: [Preparing the tea, slightly lifting her head] Oh, if it keeps snowing like this, the Netto Line may not run again. I've never experienced such heavy snow in my life, though I've lived in Hokkaido for over twenty years. But this is the first time I've seen snow like this this year.
Fortunately, Father came back yesterday. If he had to return on a night like this, we would have no peace at all!
Postscript:
Afterword by Shu Ji: This volume contains seven works: four plays, one novella, a short story collection, and a poetry collection. Except for the four-act play Night Never Ends, the other three plays were translated from Esperanto. The novella Spring in Autumn is the original Esperanto work. The short story collection Laughter, which includes two stories translated from Esperanto, and the song The Song of the Rebel from The Song of the Rebel, which features the Russian folk song Volga, Volga, were also translated from Esperanto. I began self-studying Esperanto in Nanjing in 1924 and 1925. Before that, in Chengdu, I had already written articles recommending Esperanto. At the end of 1928, I returned to Shanghai and, through the introduction of my friend Sofy, joined the Shanghai Esperanto Society. I stayed in the society for nearly a month until I rented an apartment. At that time, Sofy had just gotten married and also needed to rent an apartment, so we rented a room together. In Baoguangli, I lived in the back building, and I worked in the downstairs living room. Sofy was still working as a secretary for the Esperanto Society and went to the society's office in the evenings. He invited me along. After dinner, we took a walk to Hongxing Lane, where there was only one civil servant. I corrected the homework of students from the correspondence school. There wasn't much work, and it was easy to handle. What made me happy was that there were two bookshelves filled with books and periodicals in Esperanto. At that time, I had little work, and I was satisfied with the opportunity to read so many Esperanto books and periodicals. I read many books and wrote many articles during that period. On Sundays, we also went to participate in member activities, made many friends, and I really liked that place. However, less than three years later, after the "September 18th Incident," Sofy moved, and no longer went to Hongxing Lane. The Esperanto Society in Hongxing Lane, along with the two precious bookshelves, was soon destroyed by the Japanese invaders' artillery. From then on, I gradually lost contact with those sincere friends, and I still miss them today. I also began translating Esperanto works around that time. In just a short three or four years, I translated these four works. Except for The Dance of the Skulls, the original texts were borrowed from Hongxing Lane. The Dance of the Skulls, as mentioned in the preface, was bought from an old book stall by the Seine River in Paris. This Esperanto translation includes three short plays by Akutagawa Ryūzō, who is an Esperanto speaker. The idea of human love moved my heart. Several years later, I met Mr. Akutagawa Ryūzō in Tokyo. He came to the farewell banquet for the Chinese Writers' Delegation. Unsurprisingly, our second meeting in 1961 was our last. An eighty-year-old man, still full of the love of humanity; still believing that spring would never die; still believing in all the fountains and grasslands of the world. His granddaughter had committed suicide, so he organized the "Phoenix Society" for young people, encouraging them to pursue truth, persist in struggle, never abandon their responsibilities, and never bow their heads in the face of difficulties. He passionately told the Japanese youth, "In any difficult situation, cherish your life, love life, and work hard to transform today's society." The Dance of the Skulls was published in two editions by Kaiping Books. The translator signed "Everything," and the readers didn't know who it was, so it was never reprinted. The other three translations:
- The Flower of the Stranger by Ami?o, which was published in The Monthly Novel Report in 1930, was later published as a small booklet by Sofy and is now out of print.
- In 1940, it was reprinted in the "Translation Small Treasury" by Cultural Life Publishing House.
- The Death of Danton by A. Tolstoy was submitted to Kaiping for publication, and the editor asked me to write an introduction about the French Revolution. This book is also out of print.
- Only the novella Spring in Autumn by the Hungarian Esperanto writer Yuli Báki remains in circulation. This is a story about two orphans who meet at a market and see spring in autumn. It attracted the hearts of many young people in the 1930s.
Compiling this volume, even if my friends read it softly, reminds me of many things. After the destruction of Hongxing Lane, during the "Great Leap Forward," I had the opportunity to revisit Esperanto literature. After the "Great Leap Forward" ended, I still said that I would dedicate my remaining energy to social causes, including the Esperanto movement. In 1980, encouraged by my beloved deceased friend Hu Yuzhi, I went to Stockholm to attend an international conference and still believed that I could do a lot for the Esperanto movement. The experiences at the Swedish conference strengthened my belief, and with my friends around me, I saw the light of the future and believed that the common language of the world could develop rapidly. Unexpectedly, in 1982, I broke my bone in a fall and was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. My physical condition gradually deteriorated, and now I have been fighting the disease for over ten years. My promise to dedicate myself to Esperanto has become empty words. Thinking of my friends' disappointment in me, I feel extremely ashamed. The manuscript for this volume was also based on the revised translations from Xu Shanshu's edited Ba Jin and Esperanto. I haven't met Xu Shanshu, but I have corresponded with him a few times. He compiled this book with great care in collecting the translations. He worked while ill, but he couldn't see the book when it was published. The proofreader was Li Shijun. I thank him for correcting my mistakes. Due to my limited mobility and difficulty writing, I have much to say but cannot express it fully. I dedicate this volume to my friends in the Esperanto movement. Let these few words replace my endless gratitude, bid farewell to my Esperanto friends, and I wish you all the best. The future of Esperanto is boundless.
Ba Jin
January 29, 1996