Pathological
Page 36
Jiji leaned against her, his right hand toying with her crucifix. He asked, “Grandma, what’s this blade made of that’s so sharp? Can I look at it? Dad has one too, but he never lets me play with it.”
Mei Yin carefully pulled off the sheath, and handed the disinfected knife to him. “Here, just be careful with it.”
Jiji cautiously held the crucifix handle, studying the nearly transparent blade. He could just make out the English words Be in awe of nature and Mei Yin’s own initials. He slithered from his grandmother’s lap and began trying it on various objects—medicine containers, drip tubes, stainless steel needles, and so on—enthusiastically slicing them open. The blade went easily through all of them. Jiji was so excited he forgot how much his wound hurt. He knew how much the crucifix meant to his grandma, but in the end he couldn’t stop himself from pleading, “Grandma, will you give this cross to me? I’ll be very careful. I promise not to lose it or hurt anyone.”
Mei Yin looked into his eyes, and couldn’t bear to say no. She took the blade and replaced the sheath, then hung the crucifix around Jiji’s neck. He exclaimed, “Are you giving it to me, Grandma? Are you?”
Mei Yin patted his face and said tenderly, “Yes, I am. It’s yours now. But you have to be careful. It’s a very dangerous toy.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be very careful. Very, very careful!”
Jiji was sleepy now. He crawled back onto his grandma’s lap, snuggled against her chest, and soon fell asleep. Mei Yin hugged him, one hand lingering on his crucifix. She thought she might have been a little rash with the gift. Jiji might have promised faithfully, but he was still a child, and it was probably far too dangerous a toy for him. But she’d promised, and couldn’t go back on her word. They would just have to be careful. She was tired too, and, still holding the child, soon fell soundly asleep.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A master of science fiction, Wang Jinkang won the World Chinese Science Fiction Association’s Nebula Award for best novel in 1997 and the International Science Fiction Conference’s Milky Way Award in 2010. His books include Ant People, Seven-Layered Shell, Life-Death Balance, Time-Space Shift, Sowing Seeds on Mercury, and Human-Like.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Photo © Oliver Rockwell
Jeremy Tiang has translated more than ten books from Chinese, including novels by Zhang Yueran, Yan Geling, and Chan Ho-kei. He has been awarded an NEA Literary Translation Fellowship and People’s Literature Prize. He also writes and translates plays, and his own short story collection, It Never Rains on National Day, was short-listed for the Singapore Literature Prize.