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sid_guardian2019-01-04 06:09 pm
Bai Yu’s reading of “I Like” by Zhang Xiaofeng
白宇 | 榜樣閱讀 | 正文閱讀張曉風的作品《我喜歡》 Links to youtube video
It’s pretty long, so I’ve translated in paragraphs and left timestamps in between each. Full translation under cut. (Video is not subbed as I post this)
00:13
What is the meaning of life? Humanity has always pondered over this question. In the 19th century, philosophers of existentialism suggested that every person should give their own life meaning, to live passionately and sincerely, to treat others with sincerity, to discover the beauty in living, to admire minute, real happiness. You will find that, in early morning dew dripping between grasses, in the varicoloured light of the sunset cooled and mellowed by evening breeze, all of it is this world giving back to you with sincerity.
00:44
Hello everyone, I’m today’s reader, Bai Yu. The piece I’m reading today is an excerpt from the celebrated prose essay writer Zhang Xiaofeng’s “I Like.” And now, we enter the reading segment.
1:03
I like being alive; life is like this, so brimming with delight.
1:09
I like the sunshine in winter, the way it unfolds in the hazy fog of dawn. I like that portion of mild and distant serenity; I like that light and heat given without clamour. Come noon, the playground is full of people leisurely sitting, sunning; that primal and genuine imagery always manages to profoundly touch my heart.
1:30
I like to tread narrow mountain footpaths in the spring breeze, with strawberries solicitously, diligently blooming and clustering with fruit like red lanterns all along the way. I like raising my head to see the sharp points of young buds on the tree tops; the youngest and most tender yellow green blushing with a hint of innocent pink, as if preparing to offer something, to present something. That poise so weak and yet overflowing with life would often teach me some of the most beautiful truths in its wordlessness.
2:00
I like to look at a patch of neatly laid out, glossy and shiny field full of young shoots. Those tiny seedlings lining up tightly together are like a finely woven rug, knitted to completion by gathering so many blue-green feathers, always rousing my desire to lie down atop of it.
2:17
I like the eternal days of summer; I like to sit alone on a windy balcony near the mountains at dusk. In the little valley, wind cutting through the rice paddies makes waves through the water, and the beautiful fragrance of rice surges forth like raging torrents. Slowly, the magnificent red wispy clouds of sunset are washed clean, and the gentle night stars ascend to their places one by one. I like to admire such a staged set; I like to sit in that comfortable box seat.
2:45
I like to look at the hills full of reeds as they brighten in autumn wind cold and mournful — on the hillside, by the water, so beautiful, forlorn. That time, Liu told me that in a dream he gained a line of poetry: misty trees flowering reeds joining the white of rivers. The conceptual imagery is beautiful to the extreme, but the level and oblique tones are hard to pronounce. He wants to put together an entire quatrain, but he does not have the heart to change it. He wants to write a counterpoint and tie it into antiquity style, but however much painstaking effort he puts in he could not come up with an adequate line. And so even today it remains a single line of poetry; a kind of beautiful and isolated artistic concept.
3:28
I also like dreams; I like the enjoyment of fantasy I can have in dreams. I keep dreaming that I can fly, that I can jump over hills and streams. I keep dreaming of fantastical colours and pleasing figures: I dreamt of a brown steed, its glossy mane rising with the wind; I dreamt of flocks of wild geese resting in clusters of grass by a river bank; I dreamt of a sea of lotus flowers, entirely boundless, flaunting their nebulous fragrance and beauty far and wide — these are all things I have never seen in my everyday life. The most unforgettable was that time I dreamt of watching the sunrise on an unbroken chain of purple mountain peaks; they must not have been purple to begin with — it is only the bluish-green jade of distant mountains reflecting the red sun as it begin to rise that such a peculiar scene could be realised in a dream.
4:20
In between night reading, I like to open the curtains and look at the sky, to look at a vast sky brimming with stars, as brilliant as a garden full of spring flowers. I like even more to watch the slightly swaying lamplight in the bends of distant mountain paths: so blurry and veiled; so feeble and delicate. Could it be that among them another person is also reading in the night?
4:40
I like the dry river banks even more so, with climbing plants growing all over that reaches up to a person’s shoulder. At sunset, as far as the eyes can see are endless white stones possessing such a feeling of boundless melancholy. The stones are all stacked on top of one another, folding even the fervent moods of a person’s heart layer upon layer. I like that kind of mood — as if you’re listening to someone calling out in a ravine, the unending haunting echo that bleakly repeats and repeats.
5:07
I like what other people don’t notice, like the cypress that no one pays attention to on the lawn. Every time I walk by it I must stop to sniff at its thread of clean sweet scent, to take a look at its humble bearing. There are times I suspect whether it is humble, for maybe it doesn’t even know the existence of the dragon juniper. Perhaps even though it knows of the existence of the dragon juniper, it doesn’t consider the difference between what’s grand and what’s commonplace; for in truth, there isn’t much difference between what’s grand and what’s commonplace.
5:48
What I like to the utmost, with a liking bearing a few parts awe and reverence, is the ocean. That vastness, that lofty distance like diluted ink, all of it enchants me. And that majestic ambience, that steadfast manner, and immeasurable depth, always raising its wordless challenge towards humankind.
6:10
I like home; I never knew before that I would like home this much. Every time I come back from the outside, the moment I laid eyes on that narrow red door I would be filled with such happiness and pride. I have a home — what a wonderful thing that is!
6:26
I like — I like. All this, I like with a deep fondness! I like how in my heart I can be filled with so many kinds of ‘like’!
6:49
I like this essay; it contains a sincere fondness of life, it reveals what the author saw, what gave her heart delight, and as you read it you can feel a sense of tranquility. It is a very beautiful essay. I hope that everyone can like what I shared. In the end, I am going to recommend a book, it is Yu Hua’s “Alive.” I hope that everyone can pay close attention to life itself, to treat the world with sincerity, especially to treat oneself with sincerity. Just like what the essay said at the beginning, “I like being alive; life is like this, so brimming with delight.”
TN. “I Like” is one of my favourite things, so I also made a full translation of it. Tumblr Post. Dreamwidth.
I didn’t sub the above video because I didn’t want to time 8+ minutes of uninterrupted speech. If anyone wants to sub it with my script, feel free to do so.
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If it's not too much to ask -- does he recommend books often? Is this kind of sharing very frequent between Chinese celebs/fandom?
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