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Gish Jen: Well, it is true. You know I mean, I hadn't really thought about it until right now. You know.
任碧莲:的确 我其实到现在也没想清楚。
I mean I hadn't meant for her to be sort of an exemplary American.
我的意思是我没有为她准备的是一种典型的美国人形象。
But it is true that one of the gifts of these figures who are kind of one foot in one world and one foot the other,
但这确实是上天给这些人的礼物之一就是有些人在这个世界插一脚，在另个世界也插一脚，
is that, I mean they can speak not only to all different kinds of immigrants but also to all kinds of Americans
也就是，她们不仅可以和不同的移民交谈，也能和所有的美国人相处，
and then somehow to bridge these many cultures. And I had Amy point out you know that the gap between the religious and the scientific is a least as large as the gap between any two cultural groups.
然后弥合这些文化。并且，我和艾米指出宗教和科学的差距，就像两个文化之间的差距一样那么大。
And in Hadie's case its true. Hadie Cun is 68,
从Hadie身上可以体现，她68了，
she is a Chinese immigrant who is actually half American before she came to America
她是一个中国移民，其实可以算的上半个美国人了在她来美国之前，
and because on her father's side she is descended from Confucius
因为在她父亲看来她受儒家文化熏陶，
but on her mother's side she is the daughter of an immigrant, a missionary, a Christian missionary from Iowa.
但在她妈妈看来她是移民的女儿，一个传教士，一个来自衣阿华州的基督教传教士。
And I think, since I will have to read a little bit, I'll read one of these passages
并且我也想，我必须读懂一点，我也会读一篇
where I think you can see a little bit of how she is able to negotiate,
我认为你可以明白她如何可以在这两个世界互相协商的文章。
maybe, between worlds in this section she is experiencing something that I think a lot of immigrants experience
在这一部分中，她经历了我认为很多移民所经历的，
which is the sensation of being in one world while a string pulls on you from another.
就像感觉在一个世界里，然而一个绳子却在另一个世界拉着你。
In her case, the string is coming in the form of emails which she is getting from her relatives in China.
在她身上，绳子来自于她从她中国亲戚那里收到的信件。
They are very upset because they're having bad luck.
他们非常难过因为他们运气差。
And they feel that the bad luck is because Hadie's parents are not buried in the right place and its bad feng-shui.
并且他们觉得，厄运来自于她的父母没有葬在好的地方，风水不好。
