The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun by Lu Xun & Xun Lu

Author:Lu Xun & Xun Lu [Xun, Lu & Lu, Xun]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Lu; Xun, Short Stories (single author), Fiction, General, China, Classics, Short Stories, China - Social life and customs
ISBN: 9780140455489
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2009-10-15T04:49:15.890000+00:00

A HAPPY FAMILY

(After Xu Qinwen1)

‘… whatever he writes – or chooses not to write – is an expression of the self; a shaft of sunlight blazing out from an infinite light source, not the occasional spark struck from a flint. This – only this – is the true art, written by the true artist… while I… What does it all mean?’

He interrupted his stream of consciousness by leaping out of bed. He knew what he had to do: sell some articles to sustain life. Happiness Monthly was his organ of choice – because they paid well. But he needed a big idea to get them interested. The right kind of big idea… What are the youth of today thinking about?… Probably love, marriage, family life – that kind of thing… Fine: family life it is, then. But what sort of thing should it be?… No, they won’t accept that. No point in sounding negative, but… A few steps took him to his writing desk, where he sat down, pulled out a piece of green-lined paper and, resigning himself to the whole loathsome business, dashed off a title: ‘A Happy Family’.

He immediately stalled and stared up at the ceiling, considering where to place this happy family of his. ‘Beijing?’ he wondered. ‘No. It’s a morgue of a city – even the air smells dead. I suppose I could put them in a high-walled compound… but the air might still get in over the top. No… Jiangsu and Zhejiang are too unstable; Fujian’s even worse. There’s already fighting in Sichuan and Guangdong. Shandong, then, or Henan? Too many bandits. Someone’s bound to get kidnapped – and there goes my happy family. The foreign concessions in Shanghai and Tianjin are too expensive… I can’t have them live abroad, ridiculous idea. All I know about Yunnan and Guizhou is there’s no decent transport there…’ And on he went, unable to think of a suitable setting. He contemplated inventing somewhere and calling it A—: ‘Too risky. They say readers don’t like you using Roman letters to stand in for names any more. Best not chance it. But where am I going to put them? There’s fighting in Hunan, too, rents are too high in Dalian, yet more bandits in the north-east…’ On he went, frustrated by the search for a place, until he settled, eventually, back on ‘A—’.

‘Fine, A— it is. Now, back to the family itself: a husband and wife – a love match, naturally. Forty clauses in their prenuptial agreement, to make sure everything’s good and clear, and perfectly free and equal. They’re both exquisite specimens – physically and intellectually. Both graduates… Studying in Japan isn’t fashionable any more… the West – yes, they went to university in the West. The husband wears Western suits, his starched collars as white as snow. The wife’s hair is perfectly permed and set, her perfect white teeth permanently arranged into a perfect smile. But she dresses in the Chinese style – ’

‘No! Twenty-five pounds!’

He glanced involuntarily out of the window, following the direction of the man’s voice.

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