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Text B What Is Essential Is That Names Be Right（第1页）

TextB“WhatIsEssentialIsThat”

Eileeng

TranslatedbyKarenKingsbury

[1]IMYSELFhaveanunbearablyvulgarname，amwellawareofthefadhavenoplanstogeit。ButIremaierestedinpeople’snames。

[2]Togivesomeoneanameisasimpleandsmall-scaleactof。Wheriarchofdaysgonebywouldsitihhisfeetproppeduponafbrazier，smokingae，andpieforanewlyarrivedgrandson，hiswordwasall。IftheboywascalledGuaehreshold），hewouldendupdoioredatesofthefamilyhouse。IfhewascalledZuyiralPrivilege）zu（IheAor），hewouldbepelledalwaystorememberhisforebears。IfhewascalledHesheng（LotusBorn），hislifewouldtakeohingofthegofapoersinnovelsaside，therearen’tmanypeoplewhoseelydescribewhattheyarelikeiy（aheoppositeisthedthessomethingtheyneedorlaeoftenpoorpeoplehavenameslikeJingui[GoldPrecious]，AhFu[Richie]，Dayou[HaveaLot]。）Butnomatterhoworinwhatmaablybeeehappearandcharatheprocessapressionofaperson。Andthisiswhynamingisakiion。

[3]IwouldliketogivesomeohoughI’veyettohavetheopportunitytodoso。Itseemsthatosandsastersirysidehavethisright。Besidesthese，wemustalsoinerablegentlemenandgranddameswhirlsanddancehallmadamswhwomen。Suchashamethatthesepeoplearesosloppyiioies，siheyrelyentirelyolekidsareinvariablycalledMaotou（Kid），ErMaotou（Kidwo），SanMaotou（KidtheThird）;servantgirlsbeeRuyi（AsYouWish）;andtaxidancersaregivenfnsoundingnameslikeManna。

[4]Catholicpriestsapastivebabieshey’rebaptized（thismustbeopelliies），buttheyrayveryfarfromtheee，Mary，ah。IonpiledtwoorthreehundredonlyusedEnglishnamesfirls，andI’mafraidthatmylistprettymuchexhauststhepossibilities，evenifthereareafewthatIleftout。sarehandeddown，andablyselefolklorictraditiioushistory，tothepointwhereonerunseverywhereihesameabore!There’sanoldjoke:someohroughtheentireBibleinsearchofarelativelydistiname。Hetriumphantlyinformshispastorthathe’sdeenooneelsehaseverusedbefore:Satan。

[5]Asforesepeople，wehaveallofWangYubigdiaryofwhichtosearchforjustacoupleofcharacterstorepresehsudanceofchoices，itseemsunfivablethattherearesomepeoplewhtoletthemselvesbecalledthingslikeXiuzhen（PredZiji）。

[6]Appropriatehernovel，e，nisimportantisthattheycreateaclearimagethatresohapersoy。Wheheneer，Ilikelhtheclassifiedads，spes，andlistsofretsofscholarshipsandsmallbusinessloans，becauseIwillusuallyfindsomegoodhere。g-ying（FirewoodPhoenixFlower）andMaoYi-jian（FrugalThatch），foriyouseetheflesh-and-bloodfiguresjustwaitingtefrombehindthenames?OneneedhardlymentionMaoYi-jian’smiserablepenury。g-yingnotonlysouomeoftheproverbial“preciousdaughterofahumblehome”;hernamesouhasastoryjustwriggli，afolksytaleofabeautifulgirlrisiion。Iwouldlovetowriteastoryiureinwhichgyingistheheroine。

[7]Somepeoplesaythatanameismerelyacipher，withoutanyintrinsiifiakethisargumentinprihemselveswritiheimprintoftheirowncarefullycraftedpennames。Ofcourse，thisisanaturalimpulse。Whoamodesiretodistinguishhimselffromthecrowd?Evenifwelivedinaureworldiizenwasassignedanumberlikeaprisoherewerenohehemselves，eaumberwouldstillinescapablytakeonitsowndistinotation。Threeandsevelyhandsomenumbers，whiletwoesoffasratherstaid。InZhangHenshui’sQinhuaiShijia（TheHouseofQinhuai）themischievousgirliscalledXiao（LittleSpring），whileEr（Seg）ishermodestairingsister。InYeshehenight），thereisthevirtuousDingErhe（SeonyDing）aiouslyalSeissTian。

[8]Althoughamovementtopromotetheuseofsignsinsteadofnameseverbepushedthroughtosuccessful，itisirelyunreasoioheexplexityofames。Assoonasyourfeethittheground，yivehepast，petnameswerewithgreatliketheperfunctorysortsofesontoday，suan（Girlie）andBaobao（Baby）。Forthevastmajirls，thepetheoheywilleverget。Siheyareogotosyway，thereislittleusegivingthemanimpressive“se”，aheymarrytheywillimmediatelylosewhateverseheymightoncehavehad，beerelyMissZhahelike。Everythingaboutawomanshouldcarrywithitatouystery，andforthisreason，aetnameislightly。Intheboudoirpoetryofeseethatanewlywedgroomwhoopenlycallsoutthebride’seisseeherremissandhislapsedeservingofapoutingreproach。

[9]Littleboyswriteouttheirsesinpainstakicharatheirfirstcharacterprimers。Ifaboyshouldgrowuptobeanofficial，thishenbeesanofficialtitle，theinvoofwhichwillberestrictedtosuperiorsinthebureaucrats，andteachers。Healsohasamoreinformal“stylename”forusebyfrieivesbelongingtothesamegeiohereisalsoathirdiskeptiheseliterarysobriquetsarerelativelyfreeofrestri。Suamebehonorofthepurchaseofaparticularlyfibegedaftermovibegedwhenhebeeswildlyihanadwantstomaketheliaisonpubliamesaremeanttosuggeststatesofmind，whyshouldatanytimeoranyplaaemoods?

[1xiongZhuaoryofLoversandHeroes），YoungMasterAnhasaChamberWife”aChamberWife”。Heissionsacarvedplaquetobeplacedabovethedoortotheeasterreads“Banxiangshi”（Fragraalboudoir）ahewesterreads“Banxiangshi”（FragrantpanioesontocallhimselftheBaalpanionlord）。WhenOldMahesesigperturbed，viewingthemasdubiousmarkersofdestothedegeyofromahispassageoftehindignationagaiyraylefamily，soubiquitousandievenwhenasonchoosesaperfectlyharmlesssobriquet，thepatriarchstillfeelspelledtointerfere。Surelyallthenamesighesooenjoyhisownwives?Andwasitnothisownfatherwhedhisunionwiththesewomeheseobjes，however，IstillhavequiteabitofsympathyforOldManAn，ifonlybecausegsuperfluoussobriquetsis，afterall，aratheriion。

[11]eretoaiononamorefuallevel?Whyeverwouldsomeonefeelpelledtohaveseveralhefirstplace?Because，itseems，eadividualismultifaceted。Whatafatherseesinapersonandwhatthefheofficeseesoftheverysamepersoelydifferentmatters，madeshdifferentialsofpoweraiveposition。Somepeopleliketoplastertheirwallswithmirrorsfromthegtothefloorsothattheywillalwaysbeabletotakestockefromseveraldifferentairiakiranamesisasimilarsortofinflatioifself-inflationdoesnoharmtoothers，ithusingitasameansofamusingoneself?Asortofspiritualsuperfluityitmaywellbe，butweesehavealentfateiy。

[12]Thedesireforthoseintheworldoutsidetotakeainone’snameisaherdifferentmatter。Perhapswereallybelievethatwhenareaderseesourlatestin，theysay，“Oh，GongyangHuan。Whenhisfirstpieceublished，hewasstillgoingbythenameZangSunDidong，aedamanuscripttosudsue，hewentbyMingDi，buthe’salsobeencalledBaiBo，referredtoonouLian，ahewriterwhogoesbyYingYuanisreallyhim，too，asisDuanDai，atleastagtosomepeople。Insudsueer，hisbylineisDongfangMaozhi，butwheiorforawomen’smagaziemporarilytakesonanappropriatelyfeminizedLinYan，alsoknownasNuGui。”Evenapromipublicfigurewhopeopletoesthtbeaccusedofuravagaions。Howmuchthemoresoawriter?

[13]Ifpeopledowhattheyareexpectedtodo，theyreceivetheexpetnitioenyearsorso，whentheyhavefiheyhavesetouttodoorsimplyore，theyarefottey’smemoryisn，andthatisasitshouldbe，andnoonereallyhasarighttoplain。。。butthereareagreatmanythingsouttherethatpeopleought，butdonot，remember!

[14]WhenIwasstillinschool，therewereatleasttwootherpeoplewhohadthesamenameasIdid，aothinkitwasfunnyingoodtaste。Whentheeseteacherscalledouttheroll，theynevermispronouname;wheeachersreadoutanamelikeWuWanyuntheyinvariablyranintodifficulties，asiftheirtoiedi。Butwhentheyreadmyalwaysloudandercy!

[15]RetlyI’vebeguntothinkthatIoughttobedissatisfiedwithmyname。Whyshouldn’tIadopttwolovelyandprofoundcharaakeaheyawhetherI’mreallylovelyandprofouheymightatleastpreventabadfirstimpressiononmyreaders。Iseemtorememberthatsomeoheartofsuginpublishiaoingapositivelyeffulgentname。”Coulditbetrue（asfuciussaid）that“ifthenameisi，wordswillnotfollow。Ifwordsdonotfollow，deedswillgounaplished”?

[16]aisanationofwords。erormetwithmisfortune，hewouldimmediatelygethehereignperiodiurry’slutheyeartoe。WhatusedtobetheTwelfthYearoftheMartialAdventwouldsuddeheInauguralYearreatCelebration，thusputtieendtothesufferi。Anexcessivefaithinthepowerofwordsisourmostdistieristic。

[17]Everythingindsjustalittlebittoogood，rollsjustalittletooeasilyoffthetoaihingthatsoundsorlooksbadfromtheoutsideisnecessarilyuseful，butthemostusefulpeopleareofteordinary。IamwillingtokeepmyunbearablyvulgarnameasawarniImustfindawaytoridmyselfofthefussihwordsofthetypicalwell-readiualaolookforlifethroughitsessentials:wood，rice，oil，salt，soap，water，andsun。

[18]Thisstoryhaswounditswaybacktothebeginning。Wantingtobeeanordinarypersonandstartingfromthefaehasanorditedlyanotherformof“wordworship”。Perhapsthesearemerelyexcuses。ThereasonIfeelsudattaeistiedupwithmymemoryofhowIed。WheherproclaimedthatIshouldbesenttosyfatherraisedahugestormofprotestaogivehist。Finally，mymotherpersonallycarriedmetoschooloverhisloudprotests，likeakidnapper。Asshefilledouttheschistrationcard，shehesitated，uainwhatedown。MyehadbeenZhangYing，butthatsouooreedyanddull。Sheprainstherhandandthoughtforamomentbef，“Let’stranscribeylishoebeing。”Sheallaogeitsomedaybutneverdid;noanttogeitany

Notes

1。Eileeng（1920-1995）:Shewasaesewriter。Sheisnotedforherfiwritingsthatdealwiththeteweenmenandwomeninlove，andaresideredbysomesoeseliteratureoftheperiod。

2。“WhatIsEssentialIsThat”:galludestothewordsoffualects。Askedbyadisciplewhatthefirstprihttobe，fuciusreplies，“Whatisessentialisthatthe。”Withoutsucharees，heues，“wordswillnotfollow—Ifwordsdonotfollow，deedswillgounaplished。。。”

3。WangYunwu（1888-1979）:Hewasformaheeditor-ihelargestandmostiialShanghaipublishihemoderheercialPress，aswellastheihe“fourdexingsystemusedinmaerdiaries。