He turned to me in astonishment, and his perplexed expression seemed to be posing an inquiry.
“Go on over,” I said to him. “The tree leaves there will beckon you, the rocks will smile to you, the river will greet you. There’s no poverty here and no riches; there’s no sorrow and no pain; no grievances and no hate….Here everyone finds equality in death.”
“What’s the name of this place?” he asked.
“The land of the unburied.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yu Hua is the author of five novels, six story collections, and four essay collections. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He has received many awards, including the James Joyce Award, France’s Prix Courrier International, and Italy’s Premio Grinzane Cavour. Yu Hua lives in Beijing.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Allan H. Barr is the translator of Yu Hua’s debut novel, Cries in the Drizzle, his essay collection China in Ten Words, and his short story collection Boy in the Twilight. He teaches Chinese at Pomona College in California.