第八章
他的嘶啞的粗野的叫哮在沙漠裏傳蕩著，沙漠卻靜默著，無邊龍際地、呼吸著死亡的氣猙獰地靜默著，顯得無動於衷。人類對它來說太渺小了。
“爸爸，我害怕。”女兒沙柳走過來抓住老頭的胳膊，輕輕說，“咱們回家吧，我真想家，我才發現哪兒也沒有咱們家好，沒有咱們的沙佗子好，我一輩子哪兒也不去了……”沙柳俯身抱起那三隻小狐患， 緊緊地貼在身上，感到了三隻小生靈的生命的溫暖和親切。
他們出發了，向著東方，向著綠色的家鄉，死漠裏留下了一行不屈的腳印。沙漠的風又起了，從他們後邊呼嘯著、追逐著，掩埋著他們的腳印、驅趕著他們的身軀，欲想吞沒他們，並越過他們一直向東方撲卷過去……and tossed it away, howling like a beast, "Damnyou, you desert demon! it's all your fault. I hateyou. Who let you out of the bottle? Who wasit?"
His hoarse voice bellowed over the quiet,boundless desert, which felt nothing andbreathed death. To the desert, men were in-significant.
"I'm scared, dad." Willow came up andtook his arm. "Let's go home. I miss it. That'sthe best place, at home on our sand dunes. I'llnever leave them. " She picked up the three cubsand clutched the warm little lives close to herbody.
They started out eastwards, to their greenhome, leaving firm footprints in the barrenwaste. The wind rose again, chasing after themand covering up their footprints, pushing themalong, trying to swallow and overtake them as itswooped into the east.Translated by Yu Fanqin科爾沁沙地上的一眼活泉
郭雪波和他的沙漠小說
徐澳貴
具有蒙古族血統的青年作家郭雪波的第一篇沙漠小說《沙狐》於1985年發表後，《中國文學》於1987年第4期譯載了這篇小說。在美國出版的《國際短篇小說選》也予以轉載。他從事編輯工作的同時致力於小說創作。
繼《沙狐》之後，郭雪波的沙漠小說一發不可收，先後發表了《沙狼》、《沙葬》、《沙祭》等一係列沙漠小說。另外，他出版了同樣以沙漠為背景的《火宅》、《錫林河的女神》兩部長篇小說。《火宅》是《荒漠三部曲》的第一部，他正在寫第Spring on the Horqin Sands-Guo Xuebo and His Desert Fiction
In 1985, the young Mongolian writer GuoXuebo published "The Sand Fox", his first shortnovel about the desert The work later appeared inEnglish and French in Chinese Literature, Winter1987 and in the American publication Short StoryInternational. Guo Xuebo is literary director of apublishing house.
"The Sand Fox" marks the beginning of a se-ries of desert fiction : "The Iesert Wolf ", "TheSand Burial", "The Sand Sacrifice", "The Fiery二部。這些小說通過各個角度再現了內蒙古東部科爾沁沙地的艱苦、複雜、驚險的生存環境，謳歌了生命的堅韌、頑強、不屈不撓。
當我問及他為何選擇沙漠作為小說的題材時，他說，我從娘肚子出生時，接觸這個世界的第一種東西就是沙。家鄉的母親們生孩子，都在炕上鋪一層幹軟舒適的細沙，來迎接即將誕生的生命。大概這就是我和沙子結下不解之緣的根由。我對沙漠太熟悉了。孩提時代光著屁股在沙佗子上追兔子，挖“酸不溜”，摘野杏，采山烏拉兒，撅一根細柳條子當馬騎，弄得渾身上下全是黃沙土，到晚上跳進沙窪地裏的水池裏嬉水 童年是難忘的。
郭雪波，1948年生於內蒙古庫倫旗，這裏處於科爾沁沙地。他的祖先是從山東過來的漢族，和這裏的蒙古族通婚，並在這塊蒙、漢、滿、回、朝鮮等民族雜居的地方一直生存繁衍下來。這塊地方原先以畜牧業為主，現在是以農業為主。這裏是藏龍臥虎之地。在本世紀二、三十年代，這裏曾爆發了以蒙古族嘎達梅林為首的反抗壓迫和掠奪的人民起義，為此，民間還Residence" and The Goddess of Xilin River. TheFiery Residence is the first work in Guo's desert tril-ogy. He is currently working on the second. Hisfiction portrays the hardships. dangers and com-plexities of life on the Horqin Sands of Inner Mon-golia, and extols life's tenacity and strength.
I asked Guo why he set his fiction in thedesert. "The first thing I saw when I came into thisworld was sand," he replied pensively. "The wom-en where I come from would spread dry, comfort-able sand on the kang when they gave birth. That'sprobably why I have an affinity with sand. I knowthe desert all too well. When I was a child, I wouldrun naked after hares on the sand dunes, dig outedible roots and break off thin branches of willowto make a horse to ride: I'd cover myself all overwith yellow sand and splash in small pools in thelow-lying land-childhood is unforgettable."
Guo Xuebo was born in Oure Banner on InnerMongolia's Horqin Sands in 1948. His Han fore-bears from Shandong Province had married Mongo-lians and coexisted on the land with Mongolians.Manchurians, Huis and Koreans. In the past, thelocal economy was based mainly on animal hus-bandry, but today is mainly agricultural. In the1920s and '30s there was an uprising against oppres-sion led by a Mongolian named Gadameilin. A long產生了《嘎達梅林》這部敘事長詩這裏的人文環境複雜，民族矛盾交錯，但蒙古族文化略占優勢
中篇小說《沙祭》中所描述的“安代”舞就是流傳於內蒙古東部蒙古族勞動人民中間的一種古老民間舞蹈，一般在驅鬼避邪、祭天祭神、治病消災、喜慶聚會時群歌群舞，粗獷豪邁。蒙古族向來以能歌善舞著稱。郭雪波的父親是木匠，也是用蒙古語說唱的民間藝人，因此他也有機會了解到許多家鄉的人和事。郭雪波的文學才能也許就是從他的父輩那裏得到薰陶的。他在中專畢業後，曾到離庫倫旗一、二百裏的科左中旗工作了七年。就在這期間，他發表了處女作《高高的烏蘭‘哈達’》《《解放軍文藝》1975.1)。在這七年裏，他先後當過縣廣播站編輯、縣文化館和地區歌舞團的創作員，經常下基層，甚至插隊勞動。在這荒蠻而貧痔的土地上，他挖過野菜，放過牛，遇過狼。他那時很野，喜歡沙漠上的動植物，常常冒險，敢闖險地，敢騎烈馬。有一次他去打獵，被打中的野鴨落在湖裏，他下水去撈， 自己差點兒也沉到湖底。又有一次，他被烈馬顛下馬narrative poem of the same name is popular in thearea.
The social environment, therefore, with itsdominant Mongolian culture, is complex and full ofethnic conflict. The "Andai" dance described in"The Sand Sacrifice" is a traditional Mongolian folkdance popular in eastern Inner Mongolia. Thisbold, free dance is usually performed at exorcisingor sacrificial rites, to cure disease or dispel disaster,or at celebratory gatherings. The Mongolians arerenowned for their singing and dancing. GuoXuebo's father is a carpenter and balladeer whotalks and sings in Mongolian. People would oftengather around to listen to the stories his father told.This kept the budding writer informed about villageaffairs, and was his earliest source of literary inspi-ration. After graduating from a technical school.Guo Xuebo worked for seven years in Horgin LeftWing Middle Banner about a hundred kilometersfrom Qure Banner. During this period he publishedhis first work "High, High Ulanhot" in PLA Artand Literature in 1975. In his seven years there heworked as editor at the county broadcasting stationand scriptwriter at the cultural center and the pre-fecture song and dance ensemble. He also did phys-ical work in a village. Here, on this desolatestretch of land, he dug up edible wild plants and背，掛在馬鞍上，被馬拖著奔跑，如果半途被摔在地上，人就沒命了，幸好他挺到馬停下來的時候。艱苦的環境錘煉了他的堅韌而勇敢的性格。
1977年，愛好文藝的郭雪波考上了北京中央戲劇學院。1980年，他從學院戲文係畢業後，參加了中國社科院統考被錄用為實習研究員，在內蒙古社科院文學所研究蒙古族曆史文化和文學。兩年後，由於生活的波折和熱衷於文學創作，他回到科爾沁，然而，家鄉的嚴重沙化使他憂心如焚。他寫道：“家鄉曾是頗有名氣的地方，稱為科爾沁草原，綠浪、白雲、牛羊、遼闊得讓人陶醉的原野，美得都使人靈魂震顫。現在這些都遠逝了。家鄉現在已改稱為800裏瀚海
科爾沁沙地，全國十二大沙漠地之一。聯合國來人調查過，藍眼珠的‘大鼻子’說：“可怕的奇跡。”誰創造了這個奇跡？問家鄉的當權者，問駝背的老人，問沙沱子上撒籽的莊稼漢。他們搖頭，茫然。反正得有個活法兒：開墾草地，要糧要吃，犁尖翻開薄薄一層植被，放出了植被下沉睡多年的惡魔 沙漠。於是，風吹走了雨herded cattle, and sometimes even encounteredwolves. His spirit of adventure, his love of desertflora and fauna and his passion for riding frequent-ly led him to perilous places. One day, while hewas out hunting, he shot a wild duck that fell into alake. He almost drowned himself when he tried topull it out. On another occasion, he was thrown offthe horseback and would have been killed if he haddropped to the ground-fortunately he had clungto the saddle until the horse stopped running. Suchexperiences forged his strong, brave character.