All For a Son

Lesson 23

                                       All For a Son

                                            Text A

    The desire for a son and heir is common to all mankind. In our country, especially, to have as many male descendents as possible has always been regarded as the greatest blessing¹ in life. The failure to produce a male heir was considered the most unfilial of all unfilial crimes. A man was justified² to cast away his wife and take another if she failed to bear him a son. For the rich, the problem could be solved by taking a concubine or several concubines.

    All traditional ideas die hard. The desire for ason is as strong as ever, and the problem has been aggravated³ by our onechild family planning policy. Hence the numerous tragedies and comedies we hear and read so often. There are fathers who drop down in a faint when they hear their wives have given birth to daughters. There are "guerrilla" couples who roam from place to place dodging⁵ family planning officials to give one birth after another until they finally have a son.

But more often we hear of tragedies of wives being ill treated by their husbands and by their parents-in-law because they failed to give birth to sons. Recently I saw a photograph in Yangcheng Evening showing a woman with a baby in her arms appealing to passers-by in the street. The caption⁶ says she is telling people of her plight⁷ of being thrown out into the street with her baby girl by her husband'sfamily, all because she has given birth to a daughter instead of a son. I remember some time ago reading about a man pushing his three-year-old daughter down a well.

 Fortunately the girl was saved by someone who happaned to pass by. The man only got a year and a half imprisonment⁸ for attempted murder. To my mind , he was just as guilty as if the girl had really drowned.
    By comparison, the story of Zhou Chenghu, an ordinary farmer of Changning County in Sichuan Province arouses more ridicule⁹ than indignation.

    Zhou's parents had died when he was still young, and he was the only son to carry on the family line. He had married early when he was only twenty. The first child was a girl, so he tried again, and the second child born the following year was also a girl. Zhou was vexed¹⁰ but still not unduly¹¹ worried, but when the third birth turned out to be a girl too, he could sit tight no more. He began to consult doctors, quacks¹², witches, and fortune-tellers.

One geomancer told him that his ancestral graves were wrongly located, so he dug up his mother's grave and had her remains¹³ reburied. But that didn't seem to help him as he had a fourth daughter. Now really desperate he disturbed the dead again and had his father reburied this time. But it seemed nothing could help, for the fifth was still a daughter. In the meantime he had incurred¹⁴ upon himself heavy fines for violating family planning laws.

Another geomancer told him that the gods would help him if he had a temple archway built. What would he not do as long as he could get a son? So no expenses were spared and he did as the geomancer told him. But the gods remained unmoved and gave him another girl. As the newborn baby uttered her first cry upon entering this world, her father began to wail¹⁵ most miserably¹⁶.

    He was now a bitterly disappointed and broken man. He became a heavy drinker. He habitually¹⁷ beat up his wife and daughters for no reasons at all. He had nothing to live for. He felt he could not look people in the face because he had no son. When the whole village had electric lights installed, he had to go without because he had no rnoney. In fact, his debts ran to four figures and he could see no way of repaying them.

    Then one day early this year, after loading himself heavy with drink, Zhou Chenghu ended his own miserable¹⁸ life at the age of forty. Perhaps he was not as guilty as the man who tried to drown his own daughter, but to leave his wife and six daughters to fend¹⁹ for themselves, though no crime was certainly not excusable. And all because he had no son!

                                             Text B

    After ignoring family planning policies and siring three girls Zhang, who lives in a village in Henan Province, finally got the son he was waiting for this year.
    Despite the heavy fines exacted for breaking the regulations on family planning, Zhang was overjoyed.
    The honest and simple peasant does not hesitate when asked why he so much desired a son. "Why? Who'll support me when I get old?"

    Actually there are some homes for old folks in the village and nearby. But though he supposes they live well there, Zhang still does not believe the old folks are happy.
    "It's just so-so there. Wlio knows what it'll be like over there when I get old. It's better to have a son," Zhang said.
    And a son-in-law cannot be depended on to support him, says Zhang.

    A son-in-law who lives with his wife's family is looked down on by the community. He cannot be expected to replace a naturalson.
    A family nearby ha's four sons. Life became very hard when the two older sons got married. However., the third son says he would rather be a bachelor for life than risk having to take in some day his wife's aged⁴ parents.

    As China's family planning programme enters the 1990s, traditional ideas on family life are posing the major barriers to limiting China's population.
    These ideas have formed over thousands of years.
    The concept of "more sons, more happiness" still exists in some rural areas , especially in poor and remote ones.
    For some families, the presence of several sons gives parents a feeling of protection. Families with no boys , or few boys, may feel intimidated²⁰ by families with many sons.

    Another problem the country must face is early marriages. A survey in a town in Zhecheng County shows young people marrying earlier than the law prescribes.
    Some are engaged by the age of 15. Parents dream of grandchildren,
and sometimes they encourage early marriages, ignoring the government's call for "marriage at mature ages ".
    Changing these ideas is hard as tens of millions of peasants are illiterate²¹.

 

                                Additional Information

    Wang is a school teacher in Shimen in east Sichuan. At 36 he was still a lonely bachelor and was likely to remain one until one day towards the end of 1988 he happened to read in the matrimonial column of a magazine an advertisement which read; Yang, a woman of 31 who is a family planning officer in a certain township in south Sichuan, seeks a reliable and understanding man for a spouse²² having been disappointed in her first love affair by the man she has lost her heart to . . . '

    Somehow this advertisement appealed to Wang greatly. After much thought he plucked up his courage and wrote to this woman Yang. It was first love letter he had written in his life. To his surprise and great joy he got a very warm response. Things went so smoothly²³ in fact that very soon the woman appeared before him in flesh and blood, with a divorce certificate in her 6and to prove that she was a free woman and was sincere in .

 her desire to marry him. Wang could hardly believe in his own luck, and so with great haste he said good-bye to his bachelor life. On the wedding night , however, he got a great shock when he discovered that his bride was already three months pregnant. But he was a reasonable man, and instead of blaming her he did his best to console her, assuring her that nothing could alter his love for her.

    And he was as good as his words , so the newly-wed couple lived in harmony and bliss²⁴ until half a year later when Yang gave birth to a lovely plump son. Wang cared for the mother and child as if he was the real father.
    Then on the day of the full month of the baby, Wang came home from school to find that his wife had prepared a small feast.Overjoyed and teuched by this show of affection,he nevertheless admonished²⁵ her for overtiring herself while secretly congratulating himself for having found such a considerate and loving wife.

    Then, before he had finished eating and with the wine still warm in his heart , Yang suddenly said to him : "Happily we got together, now let us gladly part!" Wang could hardly believe his ears. "Please don't talk such nonsense!"
    "I'm not talking nonsense. We have to divorce. To be quite honest, I don't find it easy leaving you like this, and I feel very sad having cheated you. You are a very good man. But I was a happily married woman with a lovely daughter. Our only regret was having no son. What were we to do? I couldn't very well give a second birth, especially as I am a family planning officer.

So my husband and I worked out this plan ...We agreed to divorce temporarily after having made sure I was prcgnant again. I had secretly gone to see a doctor and he had given me hope that it was likely going to be a boy, and so we went ahead with our plan. After I put out fhe advertisement, I got many offers We picked on you for two reasons. First, you are a teacher and therefore are likely to be a reasonable man and would not make things difficult for me. Secondly²⁶, you are no longer so young and would not be too choosy and therefore would readily take me ... Now you know all. Say whatever you like. Curse me, call me names ... All I ask is that you forgive me and let me go back to my former husband."

    Wang was dumb-founded. In vain he tried to plead and remonstrate²⁷, and begged her to stay. But Yang was adamant²⁸. "I still love my former husband.
Our divorce was not for real in the first place. If you don't let me go. you can only keep my body, but you can't keep my heart. I had madeit clear in my advertisement that I had lost my heart to my first love!"

    In the end the good, honest Wang had to agree to divorce hcr and let her go. Left alone again, Wang thought not only of the injury done to himself,but the deceit and trickery on the part of the couple to dodge²⁹ the law, and the woman was supposed to be some sort of officer of the law too. Could such a monstrous³⁰ thing be allowed? Was the force of feudal³¹ ideas so much stronger than the force of law?
    We may well ask the same questions.

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

3 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

5 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

6 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

8 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

9 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

10 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

12 quacks   

abbr.quacksalvers 庸医，骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 )；江湖郎中；（鸭子的）呱呱声v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I went everywhere for treatment, tried all sorts of quacks. 我四处求医，看过了各种各样的江湖郎中。 来自辞典例句
• Hard-working medical men may come to be almost as mischievous as quacks. 辛勤工作的医生可能变成江湖郎中那样的骗子。 来自辞典例句

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

15 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

16 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 habitually   

ad.习惯地，通常地

参考例句：

• The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
• Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰，我来到他的椅子跟前。

18 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

19 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

20 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

22 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

23 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

24 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

25 admonished   

v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责

参考例句：

• She was admonished for chewing gum in class. 她在课堂上嚼口香糖，受到了告诫。
• The teacher admonished the child for coming late to school. 那个孩子迟到，老师批评了他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

27 remonstrate   

v.抗议，规劝

参考例句：

• He remonstrated with the referee.他向裁判抗议。
• I jumped in the car and went to remonstrate.我跳进汽车去提出抗议。

28 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

29 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

30 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

31 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。