home, she was aware of the difficulties and hardships that our
Party was then undergoing. During the seven years after the outbreak of the War, I
managed to send her several hundred yuan and some photos of myself. Mother was getting
old. She was always thinking of me as I was of her. Last year, a letter from my nephew
says, “Grandma is 85. She’s eager to see you and chat about things that have happened
since you left home…” But I never lived up to her expectation because of my dedication to
the cause of the War of Resistance against Japan.
The most prominent characteristic of mother was her lifelong participation in physical
labour. She did cooking in the kitchen just one minute before giving birth to me. Her
ardent love for agricultural production remained undiminished even in her old age. My
nephew says in another letter to me last year, “because of old age, grandma is no longer in
good health, but she still does manual labour, and is particularly fond of spinning cotton
into yarn…”
I owe mother a debt of gratitude because she taught me how to cope with the
numerous difficulties that I ran into at home so that later during my over 30 years of
military and revolutionary life I have never bowed down to any difficulty. She also
bequeathed me a strong constitution as well as a strong inclination for labour so that I have
been able to work untiringly.
I owe mother s debt of gratitude because she imparted to me knowledge of productive
labour and a revolutionary will, thus enabling me to take to the revolutionary path. By
keeping to this path, I have come to realize more and more clearly that this knowledge of
productive labour and this revolutionary will are the most valuable assets in the world.
Mother is gone and I shall never see her again. This is an ever-lasting sorrow. Mother
is an “ordinary” person and one of the millions of labouring people who have made and are
still making Chinese history. What can I do to repay her my debt of deep gratitude? I swear
to remain ever loyal to our nation and the people, ever loyal to the Chinese Communist
Party—the hope of our nation and the people, so that all those who share the same lot with
my mother may live a happier life. That is what I can do and what I am certainly able to
do.
May mother rest in peace!
________________ ① The troops that rallied against Yuan Shikai when he attempted to restore monarchy in
1916.
② Western-style army organized toward the end of the Qing Dynasty.
③ The United League of China (1905-1912), the antecedent of the Kuomintang.
注释
本文于1944年4月5日发表于《解放日报》上。
(1)“湖广填四川”译为the mass migration of peasants from Huguang to Sichuan Province。“湖^_^本^_^作^_^品^_^由^_^^_^網^_^提^_^供^_^下^_^載^_^與^_^在^_^線^_^閱^_^讀^_^
广”为旧时一个省份。元代湖广相当于今两湖、两广。明清时湖广专指两湖。四川曾因天灾人祸，人口锐减，湖广农民乃大批迁入。
(2)“世代为地主耕种，家境是贫苦的”充为From generation to generation, they tilled land for
landlords only to eke out a bare subsistence，其中only用于不定式前作“结果却……”解，往往表示一种不幸的结果。又to eke out是成语，后面常跟a bare subsistence或a living、an existence、a livelihood等，作“勉强糊口”解。
(3)“母亲是个‘好劳动’”不宜按字面直译，现按“母亲是一个勤劳的妇女”译为Mother was
a hardworking woman。
(4)“一套衣服老大穿过了”意即“衣服因老大长大了而不能继续穿下去”，故译为after the eldest brother had grown out of the home-spun garment，其中had grown out of是习用短语，作had grown too large to fit (clothes)解。
(5)“她的和蔼的性格使她从没有打骂过我们一次，而且也没有和任何人吵过架”译为Amiable
by nature, she never beat or scolded us , let alone quarreled with anybody，其中根据上下文的内涵，把“而且”译为let alone”，作“更不用说”解，是英语成语。
(6)“还周济和照顾比自己更穷的亲戚”译为she often went out of her way to help out those
relatives who were even more needy than herself，其中went out of her way是成语，作“特地”、“不怕麻烦”（to make a special effort, especially in spite of difficulties）解。
(7)“培养出一个读书人来‘支撑门户’”译为so that they could make a scholar of me for the
family to keep up appearances，其中to keep up appearances是英语成语，作“装门面”（to keep up or maintain an outward show）解。又，为了把原文交待清楚，译文中出现添加万分for the family。
(8)“从家信中知道”译为I heard from my home letters，其中my home letters等于my letters from home。
(9)“但是他俩劳动惯了，离开土地就不舒服”译为But, as confi