Zhou Jianren

Zhou Jianren's "White Fruit Tree" is an article that describes the ginkgo tree (also known as the white fruit tree). Through delicate observation and vivid description, it showcases the natural characteristics and cultural significance of the ginkgo tree. 白果树 Ginkgo Tree 文/周建人 译/张梦井、杜耀文 上海真是热闹的地方，也许特别在热天的时候，牌声。留声机或无线电的声音，有时更有爆仗声，往往闹得人不能睡觉。这实在是很窘的。有时候，譬如灯下写了点东西，看看时候已经十一点钟了，赶紧睡下，想望早点睡熟，以便明天起来好做事情。偏偏这边邻居的牌声还没有停止，那边又开起留声机来了。逢年过节还要放爆仗，这自然更其挡不住。而且常常这等声音还没有闹了，卖馄饨的又来了。广东馄饨担是敲竹板的，发出必必剥剥尖脆的声音，本地馄饨担是敲竹筒的，发出沉重的钝声。我的故乡也有这样的馄饨担，但是用短木棒敲在竹筒上，声音比较的低些，上海的馄饨担往往用短铁棒来敲，声音也就特别响亮了。有时候刚把思想制止住，正要睡去，接连的被外面闯进来的声浪数次闹醒之后，便会许多时期睡不着。第二天因为睡眠不足，身体觉得不清爽，就不能好好的做事情了。 Shanghai is indeed a rustling place, perhaps especially in the hot days. All the noises of cards playing, gramophone, wireless radio and sometimes even noise of crackers, often make people unable to sleep. This is indeed very hard for me. For example, sometimes when I am writing under a lamp, seeing it is already eleven at night, I would hurry to sleep so as to get up earlier the next morning to do something useful. But it happens that the noise of my neighbour’s card playing has not yet stopped when dumpling sellers come again. In Guangdong, dumpling soup sellers used to knock bamboo clappers, producing a sharp cracking noise. But here the dumpling sellers knock bamboo pipes, producing a heavy, dull noise. In my home village there are also such dumpling soup peddlers, but they knock bamboo pipes with a short wooden stick, resulting in a low noise. In Shanghai the dumpling soup peddlers often…