《西夏咒》，陈李凡平翻译，译作名为Curses of the Kingdom of Xixia，纽约州立大学出版社，2023年出版，共687页。

原著：《西夏咒》雪漠著，中国大百科全书出版社/雪漠图书中心，2017年出版，共560 页。

关于灵魂活着、死去和永恒的一个千年故事

——夏威夷大学马诺阿分校中国研究中心名誉副主任Cynthia Ning评论《西夏咒》

夏威夷大学马诺阿分校中国研究中心名誉副主任Cynthia Ning著，刘晓领译

雪漠，原名陈开红，著名小说家、心灵导师，来自中国西北部甘肃省凉州。此文评论的作品是基于纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校的陈李凡平教授翻译的作品Curses of the Kingdom of Xixia。这是一部对蕴含着丰富历史、人文、宗教（包括密乘佛教传说、当地习俗和信仰）小说的不朽诠释，并加入了当地的俗语和对宗教修炼的描述……”（选自译者的序言，第9页）

《西夏咒》，以下简称《咒》，这部书的中文原版内容长达560页，英文译本近700页。作者通过运用严密的、魔幻的和描述性的文字构筑了一部庞大的小说，大量人物故事交织成奇幻的复杂的情景，时间线跨越了1000年的非线性情节。这部作品是对位于藏蒙高原之间、河西走廊的凉州（今武威）一带的深厚历史、神话、传说和精神的探索。曾经的西夏王朝于11世纪初出现在这一带，并在1227年蒙古入侵中原时衰落。西夏人，主要起源于党项族，后来被蒙古和中国王朝所吞并。在《咒》中，作者通过滑稽的、批判的态度来讲述关于这一带人命运的悲剧，就像一幅中国传统的多元风景画缓缓展开，逐步拉开了事件的戏剧性和帷幕，以及对中国过去和近代史、世界事件的解读，形成错综复杂的整体。

根据译者的介绍：“《西夏咒》…以发现“丢失的”手稿作为框架，通过不同的时空，介绍了当地密乘佛教女神（智慧空行母——雪羽儿），守护神（阿甲）与僧侣（“琼”），以及与他们有关的人的故事和历史事件。

开篇奠定了基础：出了西部最大的都城长安（中国古代的都城包括汉唐），沿丝绸之路，继续西行，你就会看到祁连山内的凉州城。凉州城有座睡佛似的山。山上，有个金刚亥母洞，专门供奉密乘“亿万空行母”的主母——金刚亥母（她能够自由的穿行于时空）（第2-3页）。在许多历史时期，人们习惯在这个洞穴里举行会供。这本书提供了凉州（武威）和作者拍摄金刚亥母洞入口的照片，足以看出这是真实的事件。

随着叙述的开始，虚构的叙述者“我”和作者一样，凉州人，是藏传佛教的修习者，来到洞穴里做会供。在一次岩崩之后，他发现了八份手稿被粗糙地捆绑在一起，统称为《西夏咒》。文本是写在羊皮纸上的，主要是用中文和少许的西夏语，内容标记有《梦魇》《阿甲呓语》《空行母应化因缘》《诅咒实录》《遗事历鉴》《胜乐根本续》。叙述者“我”解释道：“它们记载了一个叫“金刚家”的村落的诸多方面。占最多篇幅的，却是一个叫“琼”的僧侣或疯子，跟一个叫雪羽儿的女子的灵魂历程……我花费了几年时间，对那些略显杂乱古奥的文字进行了翻译、疏通、考据、注释、演绎等，并用一种类似白话小说的形式献给读者。”（第5页）。

“金刚家”存在的年代也很是模糊，似乎是西夏，似乎是民国，又似乎是千年里的任何一个朝代。这样也好，因其模糊，本书反而呈现出巨大的混沌感。

从混沌中，大量的叙述结合在一起（就像长轴画卷中的场景）。作者为连续的片段提供了标记，这些片段被进一步分为39章和跋。

一些吸引人的故事包括以下内容：

“阿甲是凉州的守护神，他来自遥远的西夏，据说就出生在那个西夏的岩窟里。据说，阿甲原是西夏的僧人，后来跟当地的一位女子相爱，被视为破戒的僧侣，遭到驱逐，历经磨难，终于证得了世间法八种成就，后被瑜伽大师奶格玛收摄，而位列凉州守护神之列。凉州历史上，跟周边地区有过诸多纠纷，相传阿甲出力不少。”（第22页）

那段历史是可怕的。在西夏时期，被当地人称为“铁鹞子”带着西夏刀、神臂弓，千万个一起涌了来，杀了很多人，以致“血涨了护城河水”。

在“铁鹞子”之后是蒙古人的掠夺部队（1279-1368年），随着流血事件，最终融入了文化大革命（1966-1976年）的恐怖之中。战争和冲突是“人类永恒的诅咒”（第25页），伴随而来的是饥荒年代。“饥饿是历史的梦魇之一”（第35页）

故事中的两个关键人物是凉州的和尚——“琼”，他能够与幽灵交流，还有雪羽儿，也被称为空行母。他们的故事在小说的第一部分是平行讲述的，在中间部分是相互交叉的。

按《空行母应化因缘》的说法，雪羽儿是智慧空行母奶格玛的化身。凉州的长辈们讲了许多关于她的传说。她很漂亮，有惊人的轻功。她能够在饥荒年代为家人偷粮，并有了“飞贼”的名声——她能完成让人难以相信的偷盗壮举，她能身轻如燕地飞过屋顶，而不被人抓住。

至于“琼”，当他在一次寻觅自我之旅结束后，返回凉州时，他“走向金刚亥母洞”。“沿途到处是尸体，多是腿细细的肚子像罗锅的那种，爬满了枣子大的绿头苍蝇。苍蝇们一团团啸叫着，像后来的德国飞机轰炸伦敦一样。它们疯狂鼓噪，边伸出舌头舔食尸液，边在四处流溢的黏液中播种。太阳也疯了，尽情地向尸体泼去火焰，时不时便会有个肚子爆裂，绽出惊天动地的巨响来。天空布满了饿死鬼们。死于非命的他们彻夜号哭。”（选自第36-37页）。

当“琼”回到金刚家时，碰到的第一个人是野蛮的“阿番婆”，待在村口望她唯一的儿子归来。多年之前，她的儿子跟一群骆驼客走的。村里弥漫着一股刺鼻的臭。野蛮的“阿番婆”用一杯水引诱“琼”进入了一个地窖。“琼觉得脑袋很疼，定然是有啥东西碰过它。阿番婆正拿个刀子望着他喘气，琼握住了她的手腕，阿番婆发出几声怪叫。她的口中喷出腐烂的气味，没牙的牙床肿得老高。琼后来知道，她定是吃多了人肉，上火了。”（选自第40页）

“琼”逃脱了，阿番婆最终面临如何活下来的可怕的业力。

“至于雪羽儿，成道前，她被人们称为飞贼；成道后，又被人尊为空行母。”但那个时代和村里人都怪怪地望她。“她后来所受的一系列难以想象的苦难为她增添了耶稣受难般的圣光。”（第48页）。她狂热地努力保护她年迈的母亲，但最终两人都被村人抓住、殴打和折磨。雪羽儿试图背着母亲逃到老山。她们生活了一段时间，但最终她的母亲被抓了，并忍受了折磨（这是小说最残忍的片段之一）。

金刚家的村民通过让妇女“骑木驴”来惩罚她们。“所谓木驴，其实是一种独轮车，没有车排，代之以圆木，形似驴背。驴背上，有一个朝天木桩，圆形，长约五寸，形若阳物。村里若出了淫妇奸妇，就剥光其衣裤，五花大绑，抬上“驴背”，将那木桩，插入其阴道，叫人推了那车，专在凹凸不平处颠。”（第410页）。【在这里，翻译家错误地将五寸（中国的5寸）翻译为“5厘米”——中国的1寸比美国的1英寸略长，所以木橛的长度大约是6.5英寸。】随后是对痛苦场景包括“木驴”两侧沾满血液的描述，作者讽刺批判的描述如下：制作木橛的工匠“找了好多果木，弄了好多形状特异的木橛，用皮匠专用的器具进行打磨，浇以清油，用软羊皮摩擦至黑亮。每有来取经者，他便赐对方一个，叫他直接插入木驴上的孔里。他想，这样定然会减少女人的痛苦。他反而受到了（人民）的谴责。他们说，你是啥意思？你那玩意儿，叫惩治吗？你弄得那样精致，所有的女人都想用呢！”许多年后，（多年之后，他果然弄了好多男根，形状各异，气韵生动，并用他异常精细的皮匠手法打磨得比真品还光滑百倍。他的产品极受欢迎，远销欧美东南亚，创造了很多千万富翁。”（第415页）。可以想象：把雪羽儿的老母亲放在木驴背上的描述，是小说中最令人反胃的故事之一。

随后是叙述用人皮、头骨和腿骨制作木橛的过程，以及将这些物品统称为“皮”的受害者，同样具有挑战性。

故事在人类对堕落、苦难的绝望和屈从，以及对宗教信仰和奋斗的崇敬之间前移着，特别是通过对雪羽儿和琼的人性的描述，以及他们纯洁的爱。也许小说标题中的“咒”也呈现了“旧习俗的咒”。书中经常提到主人翁发现、记忆和利用各种咒语和仪式，来试图克服喧嚣中的障碍。

最终，“雪羽儿”和“琼”一起逃到了老山，最后进入了金刚亥母洞。他们的经历反映了对佛教境界的追求——通过觉醒，获得解脱和永恒。他们得到了熊、一条蟒蛇和一头公牛等动物的帮助。作者运用了拟人化的手法，他们周围的自然世界是活的，比如日头爷升起和落下，村外的两座山是一对夫妻，曾经一样高。”但是后来妻子山和一个男人发生了关系，被丈夫打断了腿；最终这座山变成了矮山”（第453页）。

在整个故事中，叙述者“我”似乎对历史中受委屈的灵魂表示了深深的同情，那些饱受饥饿或折磨、杀戮的人，甚至是那些因饥饿而被迫吃别人的人，他们在几千年里生生灭灭。文中写到你看见许多人在割你的肉。事实上，那里几乎没有肉。你感到很遗憾，因为你吃的肉太少了，连他们都吃不下了。你听到了砰砰的撞击声。你希望你能为未来的读者录制一段视频，以免他们指责雪漠编造了一个荒唐的故事（第479页）。显然，喜剧性的展开有助于减少叙事的严肃性。对那些锲而不舍地读完这部奇幻而不朽的故事的读者们，作者雪漠展示了与他们的共鸣。他称他们为“有缘的人”（第598页）”。这一点可以看出，读者们将会发现雪漠是一个活泼、体贴、有创造力、令人震惊和印象深刻感人的健谈者。

书中谈到雪漠花了十年的时间“闭关”（经过了严格的冥想训练），（因此）他的觉悟……据说使他能够进入并参与不同的生命境界。事实上，小说的奇幻和拟人都是通过如此生动的细节来描述，就好像他真的去过这些地方。

翻译家陈李凡平教授，她首先去过雪漠在广东东莞的住所，会见过雪漠，讨论了她对于《西夏咒》的理解，然后在甘肃凉州（现今武威），雪漠的儿子和读者给她展示了小说中提到的一些遗址。

总之，这部作品对于那些“有缘”的读者是非常鼓舞人心的。

A Millennial Tale of Souls Living, Deceased, and Eternal

Reviewed by Cynthia Ning, associate director emerita, Center for Chinese Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Xue Mo. Curses of the Kingdom of Xixia. Translated by Fan Pen Li Chen, State University of New York Press, 2023. 687 pp.

Original work: 雪漠，《西夏咒》。Encyclopedia of China Publishing House/Xuemo Library Research Center, 2017. 560 pp.

Xue Mo is the pen-name of the acclaimed novelist and spiritual leader CHEN Kaihong, a native of Liangzhou City, Gansu Province, in Northwestern China. The translated version under review here is by Prof. Fan Pen Li Chen of the University of Albany, State University of New York. It is a monumental rendering of a "complex novel (that) embraces history, literature, religion (Tantric Buddhist lore, local customs and beliefs), and is infused with local colloquial expressions and (descriptions of) religious practices..." (from the Translator's Introduction, p. ix)

Curses of the Kingdom of Xixia(hereafter Curses), at 560 pages in the original Chinese and almost 700 pages in translation, is a sprawling novel propelled by dense, evocative, descriptive prose, featuring a panoply of characters whose stories are interwoven into a fantastical, non-linear plot with a timeline spanning over 1,000 years. The work is a deep historical, imagined, mythological and spiritual exploration of a delimited space around Liangzhou (current day Wuwei) in the Hexi Corridor, squeezed between the Tibetan and Mongolian Plateaus. In this region the lost Kingdom of Xixia arose in the early 11th century and crumbled in 1227 during the Mongol invasion of China. The Xixia population, mostly Tangut in origin, was absorbed into the Mongol and Chinese empires that followed. In Curses, the narrative about the fates of the denizens of the region is tragedy recounted with a comic, irreverent spirit. The resulting effect is reminiscent of a classical Chinese multi-scenic handscroll painting unfurling at great length, revealing incrementally the drama of events and tableaux that combine to form a multifaceted whole, with commentary that derives from an understanding of China's past and recent history, and of world events.

Again, from the Translator's Introduction (p. x): "Curses...uses the discovery of "lost" manuscripts as a framing technique for presenting historical events and tales of the avatars of a local Tantric Buddhist goddess (Diamond Maiden Dakini; Vajrayogini; Snow Feather), a tutelary deity (Ajia), and a monk (Jasper), as well as people related to them, through different time(s) and realms."

The opening chapter sets the stage: Leave Chang'an, the capital city of China's ancient dynasties including the Han and Tang, continue westward along the Silk Road and you will find the city of Liangzhou in the Qilian Mountain Range. Just outside the city is a mountain resembling a Sleeping Buddha, and within this mountain is the Diamond Maiden Cave, a grotto dedicated to the leader of the "millions and millions of Dakini goddesses" of Tantric Buddhism, deities who are able to travel freely through the air (空行母) (p. 2-3). Through many historic periods, ritual offerings were habitually made in this cave. So much is real—the book offers photographs of Liangzhou (Wuwei) and the entrance to the Diamond Maiden Cave, taken by the author.

As the narrative begins, the fictional narrator, who, like the author, is a published scholar of Tantric Buddhism and a native of Liangzhou, comes to the cave to make an offering.  In the aftermath of a rockfall, he discovers a cache of eight manuscripts crudely bound together, collectively titled Curses of Xixia西夏咒. The texts are written on sheepskin parchment, largely in Chinese with a smattering of Xixia terms, andlabeledAnnotated Collection of Nightmares, Crazy Ramblings of Ajia, Tale of the Goddess, Family Instructions of Diamond Clan, True Records of the Curses, Historical Mirror of Forgotten Events, and Affairs of the Black Tatars. The narrator elucidates: "(They) recorded events in a village named Diamond Clan, with emphasis on the spiritual journeys of a monk, or madman, named Jasper and a woman named Snow Feather...I spent several years interpreting, clarifying, researching and footnoting the seemingly confusing and antiquated language in order to present them to my readers in a style akin to a vernacular novel" (p. 5).

This Diamond Clan is enigmatic; it could have already existed in Liangzhou during the Xixia period or could have originated much later, maybe even during the Republican Period post-1911. Since the provenance of the manuscripts cannot be ascertained, the narrator points out that "(such) ambiguity enables this book to represent massive chaos." (p. 8)

From the chaos, chunks of narrative coalesce (like scenes in long handscroll). The author helpfully provides labels for successive segments, which are further grouped into a total of 39 chapters and a postface.

Some striking stories include the following.

Ajia is a guardian deity of Liangzhou, born perhaps during the time of the Xixia. He may have been a Buddhist monk who broke his vows, but eventually cultivated spiritual techniques well enough to ascend to the ranks of tutelary deity. Many characters named Ajia appear in the manuscripts and seem to derive from disparate time periods. Eventually someone named Ajia comes to the narrator and becomes his primary teller of tales (p. 22).

The times were hideous. Under the Xixia, heavily armored cavalry called "Iron Hawks" by the local population slaughtered so many people with swords and arrows that the "city moat overflowed with blood" (p. 25). Following the Iron Hawks came the marauding troops of the Mongols (1279–1368), with the bloodletting eventually blending into the horrors of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). War and strife are the "eternal curse of mankind" (p. 25) with concomitant times of famine. "Hunger was one of the nightmares of history" (p. 35).

Two key characters in the story are Jasper, a monk of Liangzhou who was able to communicate with spirits, and Snow Feather, also called the Diamond Maiden. Their stories are told in parallel throughout the first portion of the noveland intersect and intertwinein the middle.

The Tale of the Goddess focuses on Snow Feather, an incarnation of the Wisdom Dakini Goddess Niguma of India. The elders of Liangzhou tell many legends about her. She was beautiful and had breathtaking martial arts skills. With these she was able to steal provisions for her family in times of famine and gained the reputation of a "flying thief"—one who could perform incredible feats of thievery, darting between rooftops as lightly as a feather, and get away without being caught.

As for Jasper, as he returns to Liangzhou from a journey of self-discovery, he "walked toward Diamond Maiden Cave. His path was strewn with corpses—mostly with thin legs, bulging bellies and covered with green-headed flies the size of jujubes. The flies hummed and buzzed, like the German planes when they would later bomb London. They clamored frantically, licking the fluids of the corpses with outstretched tongues and sowing their seeds into the flowing, sticky juices. The sun also became crazed, pouring its flames onto the corpses with abandon. Now and then, the bellow of one of the corpses exploded with an earth-shaking loud bang. The sky was strewn with hungry ghosts. Those who died such untimely deaths wailed throughout the nights" (pp. 36-37).

As he enters Diamond Clan, Jasper encounters Barbarian Hag, a nightmarish old woman who hangs about the entrance, longing for the return of her only son, who had left decades earlier with a camel caravan. The village is imbued with the stench of death, and Barbarian Hag lures Jasper into a cellar with the promise of a drink of water. There she knocks him out with a blow to the head. When he comes to, he sees Barbarian Hag advancing unsteadily toward him with a knife. "Jasper grabbed her wrist, and Barbarian Hag let out an eerie screech. A rotten stench emanated from her mouth. Her toothless gums bulged from swelling. Jasper found out later that she must have accumulated too much heat from eating too much human flesh" (p. 40).

Jasper escapes, and Barbarian Hag eventually faces a horrific karma for how she has chosen to survive.

As for Snow Feather, she completes Buddhist practices and evolves from a flying thief to a Dakini goddess. But the times are as harsh for her as for all around her. "The incredible tribulations she endured, comparable to the ordeals endured by Christ, later endowed her with an aura of holiness" (p. 48). She works feverishly to protecther aging mother, butboth are eventually caught, beaten, and tortured. Snow Feather attempts to escape into the mountains with her mother on her back. They survive for a period, but eventually her mother is captured, and endures torture in one of the most sadistic segments of the novel.

The villagers of Diamond Clan punish women by having them "ride the wooden donkey." "The wooden donkey was, in fact, a single-wheeled cart. Instead of a seat, there's a round trunk resembling the back of a donkey. Upon the back of the "donkey" was affixed an upright wooden rod about five centimeters long that resembled a phallus. Whenever a lascivious or adulterous woman was discovered in the village, she would be stripped naked, trussed up tightly, and placed on the back of the "donkey" with the rod in her vagina. Someone would be ordered to push the cart and have it toss about on a particularly bumpy road" (p. 410). [Here the translator errs in rendering 五寸(five Chinese inches) as "five centimeters"—a Chinese inch is slightly longer than a U.S. customary inch, so the length of the phallus is approximately 6.5 inches.] Subsequent scenes of suffering include descriptions of the blood that covered the sides of the "donkey", but the author's satirical irreverence is demonstrated in the following: The craftsman who crafted the upright rods "collected wood from fruit trees and fashioned many strangely shaped rods, which he polished with leather-working implements. He then doused them with oil and buffed them with soft sheepskin until they were glossy black...He thought surely this would lessen the suffering of the women...He was castigated by (the people) instead. They said, "What were you trying to do? Do you call what you made punishment? You made them so well that all the women would want to use them!"... Many years later, (the craftsman) fashioned many lifelike dildos of different shapes and polished them until they were a hundred times smoother than the real thing, using his skills as an expert leather craftsman. His products were so popular that they were exported to Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, and created many millionaires" (p. 415).

Back to mimesis: the description of Snow Feather's old mother placed on the back of the wooden donkey is one of the most stomach-churning of the novel.

A subsequent description of the process of making ritual implements out of human skin, skull and leg bones, and the victims from whom these items are obtained named collectively as "leather", is equally challenging.

The narrative moves between despair and resignation to human depravity and suffering, and veneration for religious faith and striving, in particular through the character and purity of Snow Feather and Jasper. Perhaps the "curses" in the title of the novel might also rendered "ritual incantations." The narrative makes frequent mention of various spells, incantations and ritual offerings the main characters discover, memorize and make use of to try to overcome obstacles in their chaotic environment.

Eventually they escape together into the mountains and finally into the Diamond Maiden Cave. Their passage reflects the quest for the Buddhist paradise of the soul—for non-attachment and permanence through enlightenment. They are aided by bears and a python and a bull, among others. The natural world around them is alive and anthropomorphic: Grandpa Sun rises and sets, and two mountains outside the village "were a husband and wife couple, and used to be of the same height. But the wife mountain had an affair with a person later, and had her legs broken by her husband; so she ended up shorter" (p. 453).

Throughout the story, the narrator seems to be expressing deep sympathy for the wronged souls of history, those who starved or were tortured, eaten, or killed, or even those driven to eating others through hunger, who appear and disappear through thousands of years. "You saw many men slicing your flesh. In fact, there was very little meat. You felt sorry that you had so little meat that they couldn't eat their fill...You heard the sound of smacking. You wished you could have video-recorded the scene for future readers lest they accuse Xue Mo of concocting a cock-and-bull tale" (p. 479). Evidently, comedic remove helps to alleviate the grimness of the narrative.

The author Xue Mo expresses sympathy for his readers—those whopersevere in slogging through his fantastical, monumental story. He calls them "readers with karmic affinity (for the subject)" (p. 598). In return, they will likely find him a lively, thoughtful, creative, shocking and profoundly moving conversationalist.

Xue Mo "spent ten years "shut-in" ([undergoing] voluntary confinement with a rigorous regime of meditation), (as a result of which) the spiritual enlightenment he...attained purportedly enabled him to enter and engage with different realms of reality. Indeed, both (the) fantastic and mimetic realms (of the novel) are depicted with such graphic minutiae that it is as if he actually visited these places" (translator's introduction; pp. ix-x).

As for the translator Prof. Fan Pen Li Chen, she traveled first to Dongguan, Guangdong, to meet with Xue Mo at his then residence to discuss her understanding of Curses with him in person, and then to Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei) in Gansu, where Xue Mo's son and spiritual followers showed her some of the sites mentioned in the novel.

The resultant work is inspirational for those "with karmic affinity."