That was when the village distributed farm fields to each family by drawing lots. One day, Yüsup’s donkey was walking past Qurban when it farted right in his face. Qurban swung his ketmen and gouged the donkey’s back, leaving a deep gash. Yüsup was indignant.
“A donkey’s just an animal,” said Yüsup. “It doesn’t know any better, and it farts when it has to. Come at me if you’re angry. Why stir things up with an animal?”
“It wasn’t you who farted at me,” retorted Qurban, “why should I look for mada with you? If someone farts in your face, you’d curse him to say the least. And this is a donkey we’re talking about.”
The above text is excerpted from a Chinese novel, 凿空, by Xinjiang-based Liu Liangcheng (刘亮程). The working title is The Audible Annals of Abudan. It is newly translated by Jun Liu (刘浚) and Bruce Humes. To request an excerpt, and for information about foreign language rights, contact Yilin Press’s Ms. Yvonne Wang (王玉强) at wangyuqiang@yilin.com
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