Translated by 1 Zhang Peiji, selected from Zhang Peiji's translation, 1999, Selected Modern Prose of China (in Chinese and English), Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Translation 2 translated by Liu Shicong, selected from Qiao Ping, Zhai, 1999, Excellent Prose 108 (Chinese-English/English-Chinese comparison), Nanjing: Yilin Publishing House.
Translation 1
weeds
There is a story like this:
Someone asked, "What is the greatest power on earth?" The answers vary. Someone said, "Elephant." Some people say, "the lion." Someone jokingly said, "Buddha's fierce eyebrows protect the law." But of course, no one knows how strong the patron saint should be.
All the answers are irrelevant. The greatest thing on earth is the seeds of plants. The great power that a seed can produce is unparalleled. This is another story:
The bones that make up the human skull are so tightly and perfectly combined that no physiologist or anatomist can separate them without damaging them. As it happens, at someone's suggestion, the seeds of some plants are placed in a human skull to be dissected, and then heated and humidified to make them grow. Once they start to grow, they will release a great force to separate all the skulls and keep them intact. Without any mechanical power, this is impossible. Look, how powerful the seeds of plants are!
This story may be a bit too unusual for you to understand. Have you seen the growth of bamboo shoots? Or young grass growing under a pile of rubble or rocks? In order to seek sunshine and survive, no matter how heavy the rocks overhead are, or how narrow the gap between them is, young plants have to stubbornly go through twists and turns and reach the ground. When the root of the seedling is deeply rooted in the soil, it will push the new bud to the ground. The irresistible force it has accumulated is enough to overturn any rock that gets in the way. Look, how powerful the seeds are!
Although no one calls grass a husky, its power is unparalleled. This is invisible vitality to the naked eye. As long as there is life, it will show itself. The Republic of China is completely helpless in the face of this kind of power. It is a force that keeps fighting forever, a force that is persevering and can calmly face temporary setbacks, and a force that is persevering and never gives up until it reaches its goal.
When a seed falls under ruins instead of fertile soil, it never sighs in despair, because encountering obstacles means honing itself. Undaunted grass, it begins its life with tough branches. It is fitting that the proud grass should laugh at the potted flowers in the glass room.
Translation 2
weeds
There is a story like this:
Someone asked, "What is the most powerful thing in the world?"
There are all kinds of answers.
"Elephant," someone said.
"Lion," said another.
"Buddha's guardian soldier," said another half jokingly. No one knows how powerful the Buddha's guardian soldiers are.
In fact, none of the answers are correct. The most powerful thing in the world is the seeds of plants. The power shown by a seed is simply unparalleled. This is another story:
The bones of the human skull are so tightly connected that physiologists and anatomists can't successfully separate them by any means. Then someone invented a method. He put some plant seeds into the skull to be dissected and provided the necessary temperature and moisture to make them germinate. Once the seed germinated, it showed a terrible power, with which he successfully opened the human skull that could not be opened even by mechanical means. This story tells us how powerful plant seeds are.
You may think that this is an unusual story that ordinary people can't understand. Well, have you seen how bamboo shoots grow? Have you ever seen how fragile grass grows from the ruins? In order to get sunshine and let its will work, no matter how heavy the rocks are and how narrow the space between them is, it will inevitably wind up, the roots will drill down and the new buds will grow up. This is an irresistible force. Any rock that gets in the way will be overturned. This once again shows how powerful seeds are.
Although the grass has never been said to be strong, its strength is unparalleled in the world. This is an invisible life force. As long as there is life, power will appear. The rock on it is not so heavy as to prevent it from growing, because it is a force that keeps growing for a period of time, because it is an elastic force that can shrink and expand, and because it is a tenacious force that will not stop growing until it grows.
The seeds did not choose to fall on fertile land, but fell on the ruins. If it is full of life, it will never be pessimistic or sad, because it is tempered by resistance and pressure. The grass that fought its way out from the moment it was born can be called "strong" and "tenacious"; Only the grass struggling to climb up from birth has the right to laugh at potted plants in glass greenhouses with legitimate pride.