墓碣文 Epitaph

，。I dreamed I was standing face to face with a gravestone, reading the words carved upon it.，，，！The gravestone seemed to be made of sandstone, much of it crumbled away, and moss grew thick upon it, so that only a few lines of text remained!

我: wǒ — I; me; my (HSK 1)
夢見: mèng jiàn — 1. to dream about (sth or sb) 2. to see in a dream (HSK 4)
自己: zì jǐ — oneself; (attributive) one's own (HSK 2)
正: zhēng — first month of the lunar year (HSK 1)
和: Hé — surname He (HSK 1)
墓: mù — 1. grave 2. tomb 3. mausoleum (HSK 6)
碣: jié — stone tablet
對立: duì lì — 1. to oppose 2. to set sth against 3. to be antagonistic to 4. antithetical 5. relative opposite 6. opposing 7. diametrical (HSK 5)
讀: dòu — 1. comma 2. phrase marked by pause (HSK 1)
着: zhāo — variant of 著 (zhāo) (HSK 1)
上面: shàng miàn — 1. on top of 2. above-mentioned 3. also pr. (shàng mian) (HSK 3)
的: de — 1. of; ~'s (possessive particle) 2. (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) 3. (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) 4. (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 (pí gé de) "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的 (pǎo táng r de) "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 (xīn de) "new one") 5. also pr. (dì) or (di) in poetry and songs (HSK 1)
刻: kè — 1. quarter (hour) 2. moment 3. to carve 4. to engrave 5. to cut 6. oppressive 7. classifier for short time intervals (HSK 2)
辭: cí — 1. to resign 2. to dismiss 3. to decline 4. (literary) to take leave 5. (archaic poetic genre) ballad 6. variant of 詞 (cí) (HSK 7-9)
那: Nā — surname Na (HSK 1)
墓: mù — 1. grave 2. tomb 3. mausoleum (HSK 6)
碣: jié — stone tablet
似: shì — used in 似的 (shì de)
是: shì — 1. to be (followed by substantives only) 2. correct; right; true 3. (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well 4. (adverb for emphatic assertion) (HSK 1)
沙石: shā shí — sand and stones
所: suǒ — 1. actually 2. place 3. classifier for houses, small buildings, institutions etc 4. that which 5. particle introducing a relative clause or passive 6. classifier: 個 (gè) (HSK 3)
製: zhì — 1. to manufacture 2. to make (HSK 7-9)
剝落: bō luò — to peel off
很: hěn — 1. very; quite 2. (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) (HSK 1)
多: duō — 1. many; much; more; a lot of 2. too many; in excess 3. (after a numeral) ... odd 4. how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. (duó)) 5. (bound form) multi-; poly- (HSK 1)
又: yòu — 1. (once) again 2. also 3. both... and... 4. and yet 5. (used for emphasis) anyway (HSK 2)
有: yǒu — 1. to have; there is 2. (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意 (yǒu yì) intentional) (HSK 1)
苔蘚: tái xiǎn — moss
叢生: cóng shēng — 1. growing as a thicket 2. overgrown 3. breaking out everywhere (of disease, social disorder etc)
僅: jǐn — 1. barely 2. only 3. merely (HSK 3)
存有: cún yǒu — 1. to hold in storage 2. to retain 3. to harbor (feelings) 4. to entertain (sentiments) 5. (of abstract things) to exist 6. there is
限: xiàn — 1. to limit 2. to restrict 3. (bound form) limit 4. bound (HSK 7-9)
的: de — 1. of; ~'s (possessive particle) 2. (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) 3. (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) 4. (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 (pí gé de) "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的 (pǎo táng r de) "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 (xīn de) "new one") 5. also pr. (dì) or (di) in poetry and songs (HSK 1)
文: Wén — surname Wen (HSK 7-9)
句: gōu — variant of 勾 (gōu) (HSK 2)

『……'......；In the midst of wild singing and frenzy I was seized by a chill;。in the heavens I saw an abyss.；In all eyes I saw nothingness;。……in hopelessness I found salvation......

『……'......，，。There was a wandering soul that turned into a long serpent, with poison fangs in its mouth.，，。……Not to bite others, but biting itself, until at last it perished......

『……'......！……』Go away!......'

，，，。I walked around behind the gravestone, and only then saw a solitary grave, bare of grass or trees, already fallen into ruin.，，，。Through the great gap in it I glimpsed a corpse, its chest and belly both torn open, with neither heart nor liver inside.，。Yet its face showed no trace of sorrow or joy, but was hazy and blurred as though wreathed in smoke.

我: wǒ — I; me; my (HSK 1)
繞: rào — 1. to wind 2. to coil (thread) 3. to rotate around 4. to spiral 5. to move around 6. to go round (an obstacle) 7. to by-pass 8. to make a detour 9. to confuse 10. to perplex (HSK 5)
到: dào — 1. to reach; to arrive 2. to leave for; to go to 3. to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) 4. (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) 5. considerate; thoughtful; thorough (HSK 1)
碣: jié — stone tablet
後: hòu — 1. back 2. behind 3. rear 4. afterwards 5. after 6. later 7. post- (HSK 1)
纔: cái — 1. (variant of 才 (cái)) just now 2. (variant of 才 (cái)) (before an expression of quantity) only (HSK 2)
見: jiàn — 1. to see 2. to meet 3. to appear (to be sth) 4. to interview 5. opinion 6. view (HSK 1)
孤: gū — 1. lone 2. lonely
墳: fén — 1. grave 2. tomb 3. classifier: 座 (zuò) 4. embankment 5. mound 6. ancient book (HSK 7-9)
上: shǎng — used in 上聲 (shǎng shēng) (HSK 1)
無: mó — used in 南無 (nā mó) (HSK 4)
草木: cǎo mù — 1. vegetation 2. plants
且: qiě — 1. and 2. moreover 3. yet 4. for the time being 5. to be about to 6. both (... and...) (HSK 7-9)
已: yǐ — 1. already 2. to stop 3. then 4. afterwards (HSK 3)
頹壞: tuí huài — 1. dilapidated 2. decrepit
卽: jí — 1. variant of 即 (jí) 2. promptly
從: Cóng — surname Cong (HSK 1)
大: dà — 1. big; large; great 2. older (than another person) 3. eldest (as in 大姐 (dà jiě)) 4. greatly; freely; fully 5. (dialect) father 6. (dialect) uncle (father's brother) (HSK 1)
闕: Què — surname Que
口: kǒu — 1. mouth 2. classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc) 3. classifier for bites or mouthfuls (HSK 1)
中: Zhōng — 1. (bound form) China; Chinese 2. surname Zhong (HSK 1)
窺見: kuī jiàn — to catch a glimpse of
死屍: sǐ shī — corpse; dead body
胸: xiōng — 1. chest 2. bosom 3. heart 4. mind 5. thorax
腹: fù — 1. abdomen 2. stomach 3. belly
俱: jù — 1. (literary) all; both; entirely; without exception 2. (literary) to be together 3. (literary) to be alike
破: pò — 1. broken 2. damaged 3. worn out 4. lousy 5. rotten 6. to break, split or cleave 7. to get rid of 8. to destroy 9. to break with 10. to defeat 11. to capture (a city etc) 12. to expose the truth of (HSK 3)
中: Zhōng — 1. (bound form) China; Chinese 2. surname Zhong (HSK 1)
無心: wú xīn — 1. unintentionally 2. not in the mood to
肝: gān — 1. liver (classifier: 葉 (yè)) 2. (slang) to put in long hours, typically late into the night, playing (a video game) 3. (of a video game) involving a lot of repetition in order to progress; grindy (HSK 6)
而: ér — 1. and 2. as well as 3. and so 4. but (not) 5. yet (not) 6. (indicates causal relation) 7. (indicates change of state) 8. (indicates contrast) (HSK 4)
臉: liǎn — 1. face 2. classifier: 張 (zhāng), 個 (gè) (HSK 2)
上: shǎng — used in 上聲 (shǎng shēng) (HSK 1)
卻: què — 1. but 2. yet 3. however 4. while 5. to go back 6. to decline 7. to retreat 8. nevertheless 9. even though (HSK 4)
絕不: jué bù — in no way; not in the least; absolutely not
顯: xiǎn — 1. to make visible 2. to reveal 3. prominent 4. conspicuous 5. (prefix) phanero- (HSK 5)
哀樂: āi yuè — 1. funeral music 2. plaint 3. dirge
之: zhī — 1. (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的 (de)) 2. him 3. her 4. it (HSK 7-9)
狀: zhuàng — 1. (bound form) form; appearance; shape 2. (bound form) state; condition 3. (bound form) to describe 4. (bound form) written complaint; lawsuit 5. (bound form) certificate
但: dàn — 1. but; yet; however; still 2. merely; only; just (HSK 2)
濛: méng — 1. drizzle 2. mist (HSK 6)
濛: méng — 1. drizzle 2. mist (HSK 6)
如: rú — 1. as 2. as if 3. such as (HSK 6)
烟: yān — 1. cigarette or pipe tobacco 2. classifier: 根 (gēn) 3. smoke 4. mist 5. vapour 6. classifier: 縷 (lǚ) 7. tobacco plant 8. (of the eyes) to be irritated by smoke (HSK 3)
然: rán — 1. correct 2. right 3. so 4. thus 5. like this 6. -ly

，！In my doubt and dread I had no time to turn away, and I had already seen the words remaining on the back of the gravestone!

『……'......，。Tearing out my own heart to eat, I wished to know its true taste.，？……The pain of the wound was so fierce, how could I know its true taste?......

『……'......，。After the pain had subsided, I ate it slowly.，？……But the heart had already gone stale, so how could its true taste be known?......

『……'......。Answer me.，！……』Otherwise, go away!......'

。I was about to leave.，，──But the corpse had already sat up in the grave, and though its lips did not move, it spoke —

『，！』'When I have turned to dust, you will see my smile!'

，，。I fled swiftly, not daring to look back, dreading to see it following after me.

（。）(June 17, 1925.)

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What it’s about

A dream of reading a gravestone. The stone is sandstone, badly flaked and overgrown with moss, and only fragments of the inscription are left: caught a chill in the middle of a wild and fevered song; saw the abyss while looking at the sky; saw nothing at all in every pair of eyes; was saved where there was nothing left to hope for. And then: there was a wandering soul that turned into a long snake with poison fangs, and it bit nobody, but bit its own body, and so perished. And then: go away.

He walks round behind the stone and finds the grave itself, bare of grass and trees and already fallen in, and through the gap he sees the corpse — chest and belly split open, no heart and no liver inside, and on the face no grief and no joy, only a mist. Before he can turn away he has read what survives on the back of the stone: it tore out its own heart and ate it, wanting to know the true taste, but the pain was so cruel that the taste could not be known; and when the pain had settled and it ate slowly, the heart had gone stale, so the taste could not be known that way either. Answer me. Otherwise, go away. He turns to leave, and the corpse sits up in the grave and says, without moving its lips: when I have turned to dust, you will see me smile. He runs, not daring to look back, afraid of seeing it come after him.

When it was written 背景

Dated 17 June 1925, the day after 失掉的好地獄, and the shortest of the dreams. It is also, for most readers, the most direct self-portrait in 野草: the snake that eats itself and the corpse with nothing left inside it are both figures for a mind that has turned its scepticism on itself. A learner should be warned that the inscriptions are in classical Chinese, deliberately damaged and printed with ellipses where the stone has flaked — parallel four-character clauses, 于…于…, 何能知, 何由知 — so the quoted lines need much slower reading than anything around them, while the narrator's own sentences are plain and modern. It is a good page for seeing how much of Lu Xun's effect comes from the join between the two registers.

Words in this chapter 生词

碣jié碣jié — stone tablet
濛méngHSK 6濛méng — drizzle · mist (HSK 6)
創痛chuāng tòng創痛chuāng tòng — pain from a wound
哀樂āi yuè哀樂āi yuè — funeral music · plaint · dirge
存有cún yǒu存有cún yǒu — to hold in storage · to retain · to harbor (feelings) · to entertain (sentiments) · (of abstract things) to exist · there is
烟yānHSK 3烟yān — cigarette or pipe tobacco · classifier: 根 (gēn) · smoke · mist · vapour · classifier: 縷 (lǚ) · tobacco plant · (of the eyes) to be irritated by smoke (HSK 3)
窺見kuī jiàn窺見kuī jiàn — to catch a glimpse of
追隨zhuī suíHSK 7-9追隨zhuī suí — to follow · to accompany (HSK 7-9)
酷烈kù liè酷烈kù liè — intense · brutal · fierce
陰面yīn miàn陰面yīn miàn — shady side · dark side
頹壞tuí huài頹壞tuí huài — dilapidated · decrepit
墓mùHSK 6墓mù — grave · tomb · mausoleum (HSK 6)