Short Stories in Chinese

New Penguin Parallel Text

Edited by John Balcom
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A dual-language edition of Chinese stories—many appearing in English for the first time
 
This new volume of eight short stories, with parallel translations, offers students at all levels the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of contemporary literature from the world’s most spoken language, without having to constantly to refer back to a dictionary.
 
The stories—many of which appear here in English for the first time—are by well-known writers as well as emerging voices. From a story by Li Rui about the honest simplicity of a Shanxi farmer to one by Ma Yuan exposing the seamy underside of contemporary urban society, they are infused with both rural dialect and urban slang and feature a wide range of styles and points of view.
 
Complete with notes, the stories make excellent reading in either language.
Table of Contents

Introduction

“O, Xiangxue” —Tie Ning (b. 1957), translated by John Balcom

“The Ancestor” —Bi Feiyu (b. 1964), translated by John Balcom

“Dog” —Cao Naiqian (b. 1949), translated by John Balcom

“Plow Ox” —Li Rui (b. 1950), translated by John Balcom

“The Mistake” —Ma Yuan (b. 1953), translated by John Balcom

“Lanterns for the Dead” —Jiang Yun (b. 1954), translated by John Balcom

“Greasy Moon” —Jia Pingwa (b. 1953), translated by John Balcom

“Receiving the Precepts” —Wang Zengqi (1970–1997), translated by John Balcom

Notes on Chinese Texts

About

A dual-language edition of Chinese stories—many appearing in English for the first time
 
This new volume of eight short stories, with parallel translations, offers students at all levels the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of contemporary literature from the world’s most spoken language, without having to constantly to refer back to a dictionary.
 
The stories—many of which appear here in English for the first time—are by well-known writers as well as emerging voices. From a story by Li Rui about the honest simplicity of a Shanxi farmer to one by Ma Yuan exposing the seamy underside of contemporary urban society, they are infused with both rural dialect and urban slang and feature a wide range of styles and points of view.
 
Complete with notes, the stories make excellent reading in either language.

Excerpt

Table of Contents

Introduction

“O, Xiangxue” —Tie Ning (b. 1957), translated by John Balcom

“The Ancestor” —Bi Feiyu (b. 1964), translated by John Balcom

“Dog” —Cao Naiqian (b. 1949), translated by John Balcom

“Plow Ox” —Li Rui (b. 1950), translated by John Balcom

“The Mistake” —Ma Yuan (b. 1953), translated by John Balcom

“Lanterns for the Dead” —Jiang Yun (b. 1954), translated by John Balcom

“Greasy Moon” —Jia Pingwa (b. 1953), translated by John Balcom

“Receiving the Precepts” —Wang Zengqi (1970–1997), translated by John Balcom

Notes on Chinese Texts

PRH Education High School Collections

All reading communities should contain protected time for the sake of reading. Independent reading practices emphasize the process of making meaning through reading, not an end product. The school culture (teachers, administration, etc.) should affirm this daily practice time as inherently important instructional time for all readers. (NCTE, 2019)   The Penguin Random House High

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Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

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PRH Education Classroom Libraries

“Books are a students’ passport to entering and actively participating in a global society with the empathy, compassion, and knowledge it takes to become the problem solvers the world needs.” –Laura Robb   Research shows that reading and literacy directly impacts students’ academic success and personal growth. To help promote the importance of daily independent

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