wǒ jiào wāng lǎng

我叫汪朗

My name is Wang Lang

shì wāng céng qí de ér zi

是汪曾祺的儿子

I’m the son of Wang Zengqi

lǎo tóu ér chēng hū shì yuán lái wǒ mā jiào

「老头儿」（称呼）是原来我妈叫

My mom used to him “old man”

wǒ men jiù gēn zhù jiào bei

我们就跟著叫呗

So we called him that after her

yī jiào tā jiù dá yīng

一叫他就答应

And he would respond to it

tā de sūn nǚ wài sūn nǚ yě yī kuài jiào lǎo tóu ér

他的孙女、外孙女也一块叫「老头儿」

His granddaughters also called him “old man”

dà jiā dōu jué dé hěn qīn qiè hěn suí yì

大家都觉得很亲切很随意

We all find calling him “old man” brought us closer together

tā shì wǒ men jiā zhěng tǐ dì wèi shì zuì hòu yī gè

他是我们家，整体地位是最后一个

He, in general, came last in our family

àn chú shī pái wèi tā shì pái dì yī bǎ shǒu

按厨师排位他是排第一把手

But when it came to cooking, he was the best

wǒ men jiā zuò fàn jǐ shí nián dōu shì tā guǎn de

我们家做饭，几十年都是他管的

He was in charge of the kitchen for decades

mǎi cài zuò fàn yī zhí zuò dào duō suì

买菜做饭，一直做到70多岁

He shopped and cooked until his seventies

céng jīng zuò de zuì duō de

曾经做的最多的

And the dish he cooked most often

jiù shì tā lǎo jiā de nà gè dà zhǔ gàn sī

就是他老家的那个大煮干丝

Was Braised Shredded Chicken with Ham and Dried Tofu from his hometown

qǐng niè huá líng chī fàn shí hòu

请聂华苓吃饭时候

When Nieh Hualing was invited over

tā bǎ tāng yě hē le

（她）把汤也喝了

She finished every drop of the dish

zhū dé xī shàng wǒ men jiā nà gè shí hòu yě shì

朱德熙上我们家那个时候也是

And Zhu Dexi also

hěn zì lǜ hěn jīn chí de yī gè rén

很自律，很矜持的一个人

He was a very self-disciplined man with a reserved manner

rán hòu huā la jiù zhěng wǎn duān dào zì jǐ miàn qián

然后哗啦就（整碗）端到自己面前

And he swept the bowl in front of him

lián tāng dài gàn sī quán chī guāng le

连汤带干丝全吃光了

And also finished the whole bowl of it

tā zuò rǔ fǔ ròu bīng táng zhǒu zi dōu hái bù cuò

他做乳腐肉、冰糖肘子都还不错

He made quite good Braised pork and Pork joint stewed with rock sugar

gàn bèi shāo xiǎo luó bo

干贝烧小萝卜

Braised radishes with dried scallop

yóu tiáo sāi ròu xiàn zài zài gāo yóu jiā xiāng nà dōu fēng xíng le

油条塞肉现在在高邮（家乡）那都风行了

Stuffed fried Chinese churros now has gained popularity in Gaoyou

chéng wèi wāng jiā cài de yī gè dài biǎo zuò

成为汪家菜的一个代表作

Become a signature dish of the Wang-style dish

zuò yī dùn fàn

做一顿饭

To prepare one meal

jiǎn jiǎn dān dān de yě dé huā yī gè duō zhōng tóu ba

简简单单的也得花一个多钟头吧

A simple one cost over an hour

nà shí hòu jiā lǐ měi tiān liǎng dùn fàn dōu shì tā guǎn

那时候家里每天两顿饭都是他管

He cooked two times a day

ér qiě mǎi cài tā yě guǎn

而且买菜他也管

And he was also responsible for grocery shopping

tā hái gàn le nà me duō jiā wù shì

他还干了那么多家务事

And he did all the chores around the house

tā hái néng xiě chū nà me duō dōng xī lái

他还能写出那么多东西来

And still he had time to write

xiě le hǎo jǐ wàn zì

写了好几万字

Hundreds of thousands of letters

duō shù dōu shì suì yǐ hòu xiě de

多数都是60岁以后写的

Written after he was 60

tā xiě dōng xī jiù shì yī cì chéng xíng tè bié kuài

他写东西就是一次成型，特别快

He seldom made revisions to his work

tā nà huì de xí guàn jiù shì zǎo shàng qī diǎn qián jiù qǐ lái

他那会的习惯就是早上七点前就起来

Back then he would get up before 7 in the morning

zì jǐ zuò yī wǎn miàn chī

自己做一碗面吃

And fix himself up with a noodle soup

zuò dào tā nà gè shā fā lǐ

坐到他那个沙发里

Then sit on the couch

pào yī bēi nóng chá fēi cháng nóng

泡一杯浓茶，非常浓

With a very strong cup of tea

shuí yě bù lǐ jiù zài zuó mó

谁也不理，就在琢磨

And didn’t talk to anyone

xiǎng hǎo le yǐ hòu

想好了以后

He would ponder on and polish his ideas quietly

zài xiě gè liǎng gè zhōng tóu sān gè zhōng tóu dào tóu le

再写个两个钟头三个钟头，到头了

And write for two to three hours top

yī tiān jiù nà me diǎn xiě zuò shí jiān

一天就那么点写作时间

That’s all

zài xī nán lián dà de shí hòu

在西南联大的时候

When he was in National Southwestern Associated University

tā bù shì nà zhǒng xún guī dǎo jǔ de xué shēng

他不是那种循规蹈矩的学生

He was never an obedient student

jiù shì píng zhù nà gè cái qì

就是凭著那个才气

But simply because of his talent

dāng shí shěn cóng wén xiān shēng de nà jǐ mén kè

当时沈从文先生的那几门课

Mr.Shen Congwen gave him a 120 on his course

mǎn fēn shì fēn shěn xiān shēng gěi le tā fēn

满分是100分，沈先生给了他120分

Whose full mark was 100

tā nián rù de xué

他1939年入的学

He was enrolled in 1939

nián jiù yǒu zuò pǐn fā biǎo

1940年就有作品（发表）

And his works started to be published in 1940

wǒ mā mā yě shì xī nán lián dà de

我妈妈也是西南联大的

My mother also graduated from National Southwestern Associated University

hòu lái wǒ men wèn wǒ mā

后来我们问我妈

Later we asked her

jiù shuō lǎo tóu ér nà shí hòu qióng chéng nà gè yàng zi

就说老头儿那时候穷成那个样子

Old man was penniless as a student

nǐ zěn me hái gēn tā yǒu yì sī a

你怎么还跟他有意思啊？

How come you liked him?

tā shuō yǒu cái yǒu cái

他说，有才有才

She said, I loved his talent

yī kàn nà yǎn jīng liàng liàng de jiù zhī dào yǒu cái

一看那眼睛亮亮的，就知道有才

Look at those eyes, that’s talent glistening

lǎo tóu ér huà huà

老头儿画画

Old man painted

jiù wèi le zhuī qiú yī zhǒng qíng qù de dōng xī

就为了追求一种情趣的东西

For the fun of painting

yǒu yī cì yào huà dài diǎn lǜ de shí zài méi yǒu yán liào le

有一次要画带点绿的，实在没有（颜料）了

One time he needed green paint but didn’t have any at hand

jiù jǐ diǎn bō cài zhī jiù gěi tú shàng le

就挤点菠菜汁就给涂上了

So he used spinach juice instead

hái tǐng yǒu wèi dào

还挺有味道

And it turned out quiet nice

kě shì nà wán yì fàng bù zhù

可是那玩意放不住

But that color didn’t last

nà bō cài zhī màn màn dì yǎng huà le

那菠菜汁慢慢地氧化了

It gradually oxidized

zuì hòu jiù gēn nà xiǎo hái niào de niào

最后就跟那小孩尿的尿

And became something like

liú xià nà hén jì shì de

留下那痕迹似的

Urine stain

hái gěi shuí huà le yī fú huà

还给谁画了一幅画

And another time he was painting for someone

bái yán liào méi yǒu le tā jiù jǐ diǎn yá gāo zài shàng miàn

白颜料没有了，他就挤点牙膏在上面

But couldn’t find white paint, so he filled in with toothpaste

zhè huà běn lái shì lǎo tóu ér huà de yī fú huà

这画本来是老头儿画的一幅画

And this painting

tā sūn nǚ jiù héng tiāo bí zi shù tiāo yǎn shuō

他孙女就横挑鼻子竖挑眼说

His granddaughter was very unhappy with this one

nǐ huà zhè hé huā méi yǒu shuǐ a

你画这荷花没有水啊

There is no water under your lotus

wǒ gěi nǐ tiān diǎn ba

我给妳添点吧

I will add some for you

rán hòu yòu shuō zhè kuài kōng dé tài duō le

然后又说，这块空得太多了

And you shouldn’t leave that much blank

yòu gěi bǔ shàng yī gè huā

又给补上一个花

I will add a flower for you

tā yě bù shēng qì

他也不生气

And it didn’t irritate him at all

tā zuì zǎo lí kāi gāo yóu de shí hòu shì nián

他最早离开（高邮）的时候是1939年

He left Gaoyou in 1939

tā suì

他19岁

When he was 19 years old

nián cái dì yī cì zài huí gāo yóu

1981年才第一次再回高邮

And he didn’t return to Gaoyou until 1981

dōu suì le

都61岁了

When he was 61 years old

xiě zuò quán dōu shì píng suì yǐ qián de jì yì

（写作）全都是凭19岁以前的记忆

So everything he wrote was based on his memory before he was 19

xiě de zhè gè gāo yóu de zhè zhǒng fēng tǔ rén qíng hé gè sè rén wù

写的这个高邮的这种风土人情和各色人物

He wrote about Gaoyou local customs and people

tā suì qīn shēng mǔ qīn jiù méi yǒu le

他3岁亲生母亲就没有了

His mother passed away when he was 3

suǒ yǐ tā de nà zhǒng bǐ jiào mǐn gǎn

所以他的那种比较敏感

Maybe because of that

kàn dōng xī bǐ jiào xì zhì de zhè zhǒng néng lì

看东西比较细致的这种能力

He developed such personality

gēn tā cóng xiǎo méi yǒu mǔ qīn de shēng huó huán jìng

跟他从小没有母亲的生活环境

Very sensitive about things

kě néng yě hái yǒu yī dìng de guān xì

可能也还有一定的关系

That has something to do with his mother I guess

lǎo tóu ér bǎ tā nà gè gǎn qíng dōu cáng zài zuì shēn de nà gè dì fāng

老头儿把他那个感情都藏在最深的那个地方

Old man would hide his feelings deep inside

yī diǎn ér dōu méi liú lù chū lái

一点儿都没流露出来

And refuse to reveal them

biǎo xiàn chū lái de shì tǐng píng dàn de

表现出来的是挺平淡的

He always appeared calm and peaceful

tā rèn wèi shēng huó suī rán cún zài zhù zhǒng zhǒng de bù rú yì

他认为生活虽然存在著种种的不如意

He thought that life could be hard

hái yǒu zhǒng zhǒng de jiān nán

还有种种的艰难

It could go against your will

dàn shì néng gòu huó zhù jiù shì yī gè hěn měi hǎo de shì qíng

但是能够活著就是一个很美好的事情

But to be able to live is lucky enough

tā yuàn yì zài tā de zuò pǐn lǐ tóu tǐ xiàn zhè yī diǎn

他愿意在他的作品里头，体现这一点

And he was generous about saying that with his work

bǎ shēng huó jǐn liàng dì guò dé yǒu diǎn zī wèi

把生活尽量地过得有点滋味

And to live his life to the fullest