Chapter 33 (1/2)
T/N: Any notes at the end of relevant paragraphs that are indicated with an asteriskare usually my own translation notes, unless I say otherwise in square brackets Words in square brackets [] in sentences are words I added for clearer
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Chapter 33: Who ohom?
I wake up and find Pusysdeva squatting right next toat my face with a complicated look in his eyes I step out of the bed without a word Today is ings into the two Northface backpacks and will beup with the caravan of merchants soon
After putting onthere I lift the pillow up and still don't see it I look around to see if it has fallen off so Where can it be?
”Stop looking for it,” Pusysdeva speaks up at last with a tired voice, ”I've already hidden it”
”You…” Angered, I yell out: ”How could you do that?! Return it to me!”
”Without that big bracelet, you will not be able to return to the sky”
”You!”
I can't believe he dared to come up with such a foolhardy plan!
”Return my watc— spot, the consequences will be disastrous”
”Consequences?” He smiles at me with a devil-may-care attitude ”You mean I will fly to sky?”
”No” Without the anti-radiation jacket, he will not be able to fly anywhere ”At that tiht will flare out, and if it shi+nes on you, after a few seconds, your body will i to scare hies of death
”Fine, I will not touch anything But I' that bracelet still”
Pusysdeva acts as if he doesn't knohat fear is, rins at me
”If you think you can find that bracelet in my room then feel free to search for it”
”What do you want, Pusysdeva?” Tired, I lean back against the bed post Why does he always like tothese tih turmoil as it is?
”What I want, don't you already know?” Hered ”I know you don't love ht for a bit more time”
I biteto face him head on
”It's futile,” I tell him
”So what?”
He suddenly becoet ready, it's tio!”
”Go where?”
”The old fortress Tagan Me andyou there”
I basically got h I don't want to, I couldn't resist his strength, so I can only s back the bile rising up in er] and sit still Pusysdeva and four of his friends frouards escort me out of the Kuchan palace
The carriage rocks back and forth as it travels I sit inside staring off into space So within me; I can neither push it out nor s it down
Early yesterday , I had hid myself at a corner of the temple and observed him from afar Lots of people had co people from Subashi+ City A sea of people crowded around the te it hard foratop the caneck and firmly tell myself to not blink even once There was a sea of people separating us, but I could still see the melancholy reflected in his eyes When Rajiva lifted his hand up, the movement pulled back his sleeve and revealed the faded sandalwood prayer beads My hand subconsciously moved to touch the Atlas silk scarf onout Rajiva's eyes darted around, searching, but to no avail He cast his head down in defeat and tugged his camel forward
The band of peoplein the wind, until they disappeared around a corner of the Tian Shan range I could not hold back my tears then
The carriage continues to rock and shile I sit in a daze, lost in nore the angry look in Pusysdeva's eyes, quickly eat whatever, and withdraw to my tent
He follows after ainst hih before stepping out
We arrive at Tagan late afternoon of the next day, when the sun has begun to set on the cruht, I' of terrible sadness I have never felt as resigned as I do now about my work In thathere to investigate and determine the exact location of this fortress, a place that is now nothing but o Hus in the 21st century are constantly changing at the speed of light Who even has the patience nowadays to stop and learn about things from the past?
The saoes for Rajiva Aside from those who specialize in Buddhist studies and history, how many people out there know of his existence, his contributions? japanese ani people's lives today, but how many of those youths know that the translations of their beloved characters' names into Chinese, names that are hard to pronounce like Ashura [Asura], Yasha-ō [Yaksha], Kendappa-ō [Gandharva], Kakura-ō [Garuda], etc, are all based on Rajiva's works?
[T/N: I could be wrong, but I think Xiao Chun/Ai Qing is a published in 1989 by CLAMP as their debut work; on that basis, I thus put the japanese character nas the characters were based on]
I reluctantly pull out my research tools Whether I feel like it or not, I ht just explode fro inside!
In the beginning, I refuse to let Pusysdeva help, but he keeps stealing ive up and let him do whatever he wants
In the evening, we set up ca on a piece of naan bread, and with each bite I s, I soon realize that I have truly 'given up' I stare blankly at the cru its shadow on the ground I wonder where he is now, if he's also sitting in front of a bonfire with a troubled heart, thinking about a certain 'soht now? I recall the first tiht like this in the er then, eyes shi+ning bright, looking atcuriosity
”What are you thinking about?”
A cup of water appears in front ofat me Sparks of fire are reflected in his eyes He looks so much like Rajiva!
I accept the cup and hold it with both hands
”This place used to be the ions Ban Chao and his son's adion, which lasted for ions, as well as the history of Kucha”
Pusysdeva sits next tofire in the front
”Tell me about him [Ban Chao]”
”I really admire Ban Chao His faer sister Ban Zhao—ell-known historians and scribes during the Han Dynasty [206 BCE-220 CE] Ban Chao hiinally but later renounced the pen for the sword”
Ban Gu, with the help of Ban Zhao, composed what beca the Western, or Former Han dynasty fro in 23 CE This as modeled after the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian
I took a sip of the water before continuing with the retell
”[In 138 BCE,] E Qian [a diplooal was to build alliances The offer was this: If the Western tribes agree to surrender to the Han, on top of not having to pay tributes, the Han court will even reward theical advances of the Central Plains This tactic was conu's violent conquests of the Western Regions That's why, for a period of tiered the Xiongnu greatly But at the end of the [Wester or For usurped the throne [and founded the Xin Dynasty], plunging the world into chaos, allowing the Xiongnu the chance to rise up and take control of the Western Regions again In the early days of En [the start of Eastern or Later Han Dynasty] over the newly unified empire, he was more concerned with doet involved with the Western Regions This policy persisted until his son, E, succeeded the throne and at last ordered Dou Gu to lead an attack against North Xiongnu It was the start of a new chapter in history, and thus began the story of the heroic Ban Chao”
Zhang Qian's accounts of his travels to the Western Regions were a major source of cultural and socio-economic data for Sima Qian in his Records, as well as Ban Gu and Ban Zhao in theirs