Translation of Twig 枝丫 Zhīyā into English

With my lower intermediate level of Mandarin Chinese proficiency, with the invaluable assistance of Mary, Hóu Huìyǐng, and others, I am writing Twig 枝丫 Zhīyā, a serialized fantasy novel in Simplified Chinese characters for fellow intermediate level readers.

Since I am trying to think and write in Chinese, I don’t have an original English version. But I have pasted the text from the first chapters into Google Translate and have copied the result below.

Through Chapter 8 is about 2,800 words.

Except for a few typographical corrections, the English text is unedited. The style is very rough. In contrast, the Chinese is as beautiful and compassionate as I, with Mary’s help, can make it.

Links to all related sources are on the for students page.

With questions or comments, please contact Anne Giles.

Chapter 1: True self

The first part

Lao Li closed the white curtains in the kitchen and sat down at the table. It’s a little hot at home in his Beijing hutong. Lao Li’s face was pale and expressionless. He picked up a knife and made a cut on his finger.

The tree inside him trembled and screamed. Lao Li started to sweat.

The wound hurt. He let the blood flow into an empty yellow bowl. He could see a branch sticking out from his finger.

Lao Li picked up the clip and began to pull out the branch. He kept pulling it out until he felt like he was going to faint.

When he pulled out an arm-long branch, he cut the branch off at his finger with a knife and wrapped the finger with a bandage.

In an unknown time, in a forgotten past, as children, a sapling was placed in people’s bodies. The tree grew next to their bones. Like everyone else, Lao Li had a sapling put into his body when he was a child. Because of his knife, part of Lao Li’s tree disappeared.

The tree affects how people feel, think, say and do. The true self is still there, but the tree affects its choices.

Lao Li took a rest. After pulling the tree out of his body, he estimated that there would still be about twelve meters of branches, and then the tree would leave his body.

Lao Li poured the blood into the sink and washed the dishes. He cut the branches into small pieces, put them in a bag, and put the bag in the refrigerator. After a while, he will throw the bag into the trash can.

The second part

How to pull out the tree is a secret, passed down from generation to generation. The tree is rarely removed. It hurts so much. But Lao Li is willing to take risks. He wants to feel how his true self lives.

What is the difference between one before and one after? He really doesn’t know.

Lao Li remembers the first night he and his wife were in bed together. They were both scared. Later, she became silent. What if they are their true selves? If there were not such a terrible branch, would their hearts be moved? Would they be surprised? As if the sun and moon shine together?

Old Li knew why people kept their trees. He understood that it was easier to have someone tell them what to do. What if the tree tells them what to do, but they don’t do it? The tree inside them will make them tremble with fear, so it’s best to do as it says.

In the kitchen, Lao Li opened the curtains. His grandson entered the kitchen with Sunshine. Lao Li knew that in his grandson’s little body, the tree began to grow. Lao Li’s tree made him believe that everything about his grandson belonged to this tree. However, Lao Li knew that his grandson still had a true self.

Suddenly, Lao Li saw the sun shining on his grandson’s face. Lao Li was very touched. He knew he would tell his grandson the secret of how to pull out the tree branch by branch. Lao Li touched his grandson’s bright face with his newly freed hand.

Chapter 2: Freedom brings trouble

In the morning, Xiao Li quickly left his home in Beijing Hutong. On the way to work at Safe New Energy Company, Xiao Li remembered his father asking him to tell Li Xiaoxiao about the tree. Every time his mind touched this thought, the tree inside him trembled, frightening him and throwing him off balance.

He struggled to keep walking while the tree trembled. Xiao Li remembers the discussion with his father.

“Don’t you want him to be free?” Lao Li asked.

“Dad, freedom?! Freedom brings trouble!”, Xiao Li said loudly.

Xiao Li’s tree whispered: “You talk too much, talk less.”

“Because of this tree, we don’t have freedom and can’t help ourselves. This is already very troublesome.” Lao Li said.

As Xiao Li walked, he heard his tree whisper: “This is the best for everyone.”

“Oh, Dad, this is a difficult question to answer. Don’t ask me this,” Xiao Li said.

“You must ask,” Lao Li said.

There is a puddle on the road. The surface of the puddle shone with rainbow light, but it was broken by Xiao Li’s shoes.

Chapter 3: Full of fragrance

Liu Yinuo walked into her favorite hutong bookstore.

“Boss Zhang, long time no see. Has the cookbook you ordered for me arrived?” Liu Yinuo asked.

“No,” Boss Zhang said. “Check out this new book, it just arrived.”

Liu Yinuo felt a familiar ambivalence. She doesn’t want to read this book. But when her boss said, “Do this or that,” she would always say, cautiously, “Okay.”

She said, “Okay.”

Five years ago, Liu Yinuo’s stepfather insisted that the tree master pull the tree out of her body. Mom cried, but it didn’t change stepfather’s mind.

Although this was very painful, Liu Yinuo’s stepfather insisted on doing it.

Why did her stepfather ask for this? She didn’t know.

What is the difference between one before and one after? She really doesn’t know.

Liu Yinuo acted like she had a tree. She said, “Okay.” She smiled. She works hard. She tries to be like everyone else.

For dinner, she cooked intricate dishes from recipes that filled her alley apartment with the aroma of ginger, cloves and garlic.

Late at night, she looked at the bright moonlight in front of her bed, longing for love.

Chapter 4: Meeting

Boss Zhang opened the front door of his bookstore and let Lao Li in. They nodded to each other but said nothing. Boss Zhang looked at the alleys on the left and right. There was no one there, so he closed the door.

Boss Zhang closed the front door of his bookstore and they walked into his back room. In this back room, they sat with everyone else at the table. Lao Li smelled the garlic, onions and chilies in Boss Zhang’s dinner. He heard the rustling of paper in some people’s hands.

They were trying not to let the tree make them shiver. He could imagine all the trees whispering, “You talk too much, talk less.”

Among the people around the table, Lao Li saw the light of hope on their faces. He nodded to his neighbor Mrs. Shi.

“Let the meeting begin,” Boss Zhang said. “Please tell us your progress. Lao Li, tell us the first part first.”

“I have pulled out branches that are almost one meter long,” Lao Li said. “But the most important question is: ‘How do we get more people to join us? How do we help people value their authentic selves?'”

“These are the main issues,” Mrs. Shi said.

“I’m old,” Lao Li said, “I don’t have much time left.”

“I don’t have much time left,” said Boss Zhang.

Lao Li thought of his dear wife again, who had become silent. She’s gone. Lao Li misses her.

Although he kept calling her name, she would no longer respond.

“Deep in my heart, there is a desire to experience the fulfillment of being a human being. I believe I have never truly loved,” Lao Li said.

“To truly give love and receive love,” Zhang said, “we all must be free.”

Chapter 5: At the window

Liu Yinuo queued at her favorite snack window. This Hutong chef adds ginger while making pancakes. She thought it was very delicious. Suddenly, her phone fell to the ground. The man behind her picked it up and gave it to her.

“Excuse me, thank you,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Is it not broken? Can it be used again?”

“Wait a minute…it works, it’s not broken! Thank you!”

Through the reflection of the mobile phone screen, Liu Yinuo saw his face.

“I think I know you! Do you work at Safe New Energy Company?”

“Yes. My last name is Li. What about you?”

“I work there too. My surname is Liu.”

“Ms. Liu, do you like this chef?” Xiao Li asked.

“like.”

“Yeah. I think this chef uses star anise as well as the emperor’s chef. His dishes taste like heaven, so delicious.” Xiao Li said.

The tree whispered: “You talk too much, talk less.”

Xiao Li thought it would be best to do as the tree said. But he felt the familiar ambivalence, he didn’t want to say that, he wanted to tell his true feelings.

“Wow! Really?” Yinuo said. “I really like the way he uses ginger!”

“Yeah,” Xiao Li said.

Oh, Yinuo thought. I made his tree talk to him, maybe I spoke too enthusiastically.

After the chef finished making the pancakes, he wrapped the hot pancakes with a piece of paper.

After Yinuo paid with her mobile phone, the chef handed her the wrapped pancakes.

“See you at the company!” Yinuo said.

“Okay.” Xiao Li said.

Xiao Li also paid with his mobile phone. The chef handed him the wrapped pancake.

As Xiao Li ate, he thought, and he remembered his father’s question: “Don’t you want him to be free?”

Xiao Li thought, where is my freedom?

The tree whispered: “This is the best for everyone.”

Chapter Six: A Lesson

“Mom!” Xiaoxiao Li said.

Xiao Li sat down next to his son. Xiaoxiao Li raised the phone with his chubby little hands. From the screen of his mobile phone, Xiao Li heard his wife say, “Xiao Xiao Li! Have you eaten?” The two people’s faces were shining.

“I haven’t eaten,” said Xiaoxiao Li.

“What are you going to eat?” Xiao Li’s mother, Xiao Li’s wife, asked.

“I plan to eat tomato and egg noodles!” Xiaoxiao Li replied.

“Can daddy cook?” her mother asked.

“Yes! Dad is the best chef.”

“No, no,” Xiao Li said.

“What are you doing?” Mom asked.

“Of course I’m sitting next to Dad. What about you?”

“No one is sitting next to me. I miss you and your dad.”

After calling Xiaoxiao Li’s mother every night, Xiao Li starts cooking, and their kitchen is filled with the aroma of onions and garlic.

He misses his wife.

Xiao Li’s wife also works at Safe New Energy Company, in the research and development department. Now, she is doing research on automotive lithium-ion batteries in Shanghai. Her tree told her that it was important to go to Shanghai. So, it’s best to do what it says.

“I miss my mom,” Xiaoxiao Li said.

The tree whispered to Xiao Li: “He talks too much, tell him to talk less.”

“You talk too much, talk less. It’s ‘thinking’, not ‘missing’.”

“Dad, why?”

Suddenly, Xiao Li saw a change on his son’s face. Xiaoxiao Li looked shocked and distressed. He lowered his head and said nothing, and began to cry silently.

Xiao Li looked at his son helplessly. The tree in his body made him tremble with fear.

Xiaoxiao Li’s tree was teaching him a lesson.

“Are you okay?” Xiao Li asked his dear son after a while.

“It’s okay,” Xiaoxiao Li said softly.

Chapter 7: Company meeting

In the conference room of Safe New Energy Company, Xiao Li sat at the table with his colleagues.

The curtains in the conference room were open, and the sun shone in. The building was so high that from the windows he could not see the streets and alleys below.

In the expressions on the faces of the people around the table, Xiao Li saw something he expected to see: control. Their trees control them. He looked at the bright sunlight on the table and longed for openness and creativity. Xiao Li expected another boring meeting.

Xiao Li was surprised when the woman he saw at the snack window came in. What is she doing here?

“Let the meeting begin,” the boss said, standing. “Let me introduce you. This is Liu Yinuo. She is a new member in our cooperative project.”

Xiao Li and everyone said: “Welcome Miss Liu.”

The boss and Liu Yinuo sat down.

The boss took a file out of his folder. Suddenly, the document fell to the ground. Everyone saw the boss’s fingers trembling.

“Miss Liu, why are you doing this? Be careful, okay?” the boss said.

Before she leaned over to pick up the documents, Xiao Li saw the sunlight outside the window shining on Liu Yinuo’s face.

Did Xiao Li see an expression on her face? She should have controlled her expression.

But, he believed he saw…what? ……angry? Does this situation make her angry? No, he couldn’t have seen that emotion, he must have seen it wrong.

“I’m sorry. Thank you for your suggestion, I understand,” Liu Yinuo said while picking up the paper.

After the meeting, Xiao Li approached her.

“Is your phone okay?” Xiao Li asked.

“Huh? Oh, hello. Very good,” Liu Yinuo seemed to be trying to smile a little.

“It wasn’t you who dropped the file, it was the boss who dropped it, right?” Xiao Li said. The tree shook inside him, but he got through it.

“I have to be more careful. I should go. Goodbye,” Liu Yinuo said.

“See you tomorrow at the lunch window, okay?”

Xiao Li didn’t know why he said that, but he said it.

Xiao Li’s tree whispered: “You talk too much, talk less.”

Liu Yinuo wait a moment.

“Okay,” she said.

Chapter 8: The sun came and the sun left

From his kitchen, Lao Li [Old Li] looked out of his open window. In the courtyard, he saw the garden of his neighbor, Mrs. Shi. Her golden rain tree was big and bright, and it looked as if the sun itself had come to their yard just to sit and rest for a while.

Lao Li was in his kitchen cooking dinner. He cooked a few simple dishes. Early in the morning, he turned on the rice cooker. Now the smell of hot rice filled his alley kitchen. He took out his pan to stir-fry. Soon, the smell of rice joined the smell of pork, onions, and garlic.

As Lao Li ate, he thought.

He had wanted to pull the tree out a long time ago. Before, pain was the most difficult problem.

How did Old Li deal with the pain? How did he continue to do what he had to do despite the pain? He thought about it many times and tried many methods. He discovered something very strange. If he imagined that the pain was not in his body but walking side by side with him, he could handle it.

He realized that his body and the pain coexisted, but there was a space between the two. His real self and the pain were separate and different. The pain had some power over him, but not completely. In this way, Lao Li could handle the pain.

At the sink, Lao Li washed his pan, yellow bowl, and chopsticks. He dried the dishes with a towel, and then he put them in the cabinet.

Could he teach Xiao Li to imagine that the pain was not inside his body but walking with him? Could Lao Li teach him to see that there was a space between them? Was it too complicated?

Lao Li looked out the window. The sun had left. In the dusk, he saw only a simple courtyard and a simple golden rain tree.

To be continued…