Farewell To My Concubine – Lillian Lee (1)

Dieyi won- dered. His knees wobbled, and the sword shook in his hand. Chills, alternating with feverish sweats, passed over his body. Overcome with drowsiness, he wanted just to lie down, to drift off. It must have been the wine. “Shall we sing a duet?” Yuan was asking him. “Come, let’s take this opportunity to do some playacting!” He was a talented amateur, and once he had put on his makeup, wouldn’t he also be General Xiang Yu? Dieyi al- lowed Yuan to rub on his rouge for him, and Yuan did it carefully and delicately, as though he were stroking a piece of fine jade.

Relaxed by the wine, Siye sang first: “Our fields lie fallow—we must return, We’ve followed the army these many leagues But for whom?” Hand in hand, the two men sang their duet. Aided by the wine, they surrendered themselves to the opera. “My lady,” Siye recited. “I hear the enemy singing the songs of our land of Chu all around us. Does this mean that Liu Bang has occupied our kingdom? All is lost!” Dieyi sang through his tears: “Enemy troops surround us, Singing the songs of Chu, they mock us.

My lord is doomed, I have nowhere to turn.” He extended his arm languidly and flourished the sword. Siye snatched it away. Farewell to My Concubine “This isn’t a prop! It’s real!” He looked into Dieyi’s eyes probingly. “You don’t believe me?” Yuan made a tiny cut in Dieyi’s collar. Dieyi shrank back with a fearful whimper, and Yuan cackled and made another false pass with the blade before flinging it aside.

Grabbing Dieyi’s limp body, Yuan pushed him down onto the table. He pressed his coarse face against Dieyi’s rosy skin as though he were crushing the petals of a peach blossom. With their two painted and patterned faces, they were actors performing in some bizarre theater. Dieyi realized that Yuan Siye wanted him, but it was too late to escape.

Dieyi had stumbled into a savage realm of purple, car- mine, and black, where a bat darker than the depths of hell beat its wings and attacked. He fell forward as it spread itself on top of him, glaring with bloodshot eyes. Hundreds of tiny knives stabbed him as it raked at his flesh with its hands and teeth.

He struggled to fight it off, knowing that it wouldn’t be satisfied until it had torn him to pieces. Blood covered his body, and his breath came in short, painful gasps. The clock, imprisoned in its glass case, groaned faintly. Far off, a somber bell tolled the first watch of the long night.

The Milky Way blazed in the heavens, and the morning star winked its tired eye. Soon it would be light. Dieyi sat alone in a ricksha, hugging the sword tightly to his chest. Filled with shame, he wrapped his cloak around himself more securely.

Translated by Andrea Lingenfelter Farewell to My Concubine is a story of jealousy and passion set against the exhilarating spectacle of the Peking opera. One of the most unusual epic romances of all time, the novel moves swiftly from the decadent glamour of 1930s China through the horrors of the Japanese occu- pation right up to Hong Kong in the 1980s. This rivet- ing and sensual story could only have come from the pen of Lilian Lee, one of the Chinese reading world’s most beloved and best-selling authors—introduced to international acclaim with the 1 992 publication of her novel The Last Princess ofManchuria.

In 1 930s China, Peking opera was a luxurious enter- tainment for the privileged class—but only children from the poorest families were sent to opera schools to train as actors. Farewell toMy Concubine begins when Xiao Douzi is brought to an opera school—and aban- doned there by his mother, a prostitute who can no longer care for him. With seeds of bitterness sown in his soul, the nine-year-old boy endures hardships and misery to learn and perfect his craft. He befriends and then falls in love with an older, stronger boy, who becomes his guardian, protector, and best friend.

As the boys mature, they are assigned to learn the specific roles of the opera. Xiao Douzi is selected to learn the female part; iiis protector trains for the wamor’s role. Farewell to My Concubine focuses on the all- consuming love Xiao Douzi holds for his friend, and the beautiful female courtesan who comes between (continued on back flap) 20060555 r & ri j> I 4t\” Sierra Vista Library 2950 E.

Tac Sierra Vista, AZ 85635-3M9 ALSO BY LILIAN LEE The Last Princess of Manchuria Sierra Vista Public Library 2950 E. Tacoma St. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 http://www.archive.org/details/farewelltomyconcOOIipi C? *>*^fy ini «=*_ M

Tacoma St. Sierra Vista, AZ 85635-3899 Copyright © 1992 by Li Pik-Wah English translation copyright © 1993 by Andrea Lingenfelter and William Morrow and Company, Inc. First published in Chinese by Cosmos Books, Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to Permissions Department, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y.

10019. It is the policy of William Morrow and Company, Inc., and its imprints and affiliates, recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, to print the books we publish on acid-free paper, and we exert our best efforts to that end. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Li, Pi-hua. [Pa-wang pieh Chi. English] Farewell to my concubine / Lilian Lee : translated by Andrea Lingenfelter.

p. cm. Translation of: Pa-wang pieh Chi.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: ea0135759a888ad5
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 17,710,885 bytes (16.89 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 0688120202
• Pages: 281
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 341.42 minutes
• Total Words: 68,283
• Total Characters: 385,427
• Average Words per Page: 243.0
• Average Characters per Page: 1371.63

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