The Seventh Day (30 page)

Wu Chao broke off his account and came to an abrupt halt as he gazed at the view before him. A look of awe appeared on his face, for now he saw for the first time the scene that had made such an impression on me—streams flowing, grass covering the ground, trees in luxuriant growth, with fruit hanging from their branches and heart-shaped leaves that fluttered to a heartbeat rhythm. And people—some fully fleshed, many just bones—were strolling at leisure, back and forth.

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.”

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.

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.