wǒ wài pó yuán míng jiào pān bái qín

我外婆原名叫潘白琴

My grandma was formerly named Pan Baiqin

nián tā chū shēng zài sū zhōu

1915年她出生在苏州

She was born in 1915 in Suzhou

shì sū zhōu wàng zú pān shì ēn de hòu dài

是苏州望族潘世恩的后代

To the distinguished family of Pan Shien

tā shì zhōng guó zhù míng de qīng lǜ shān shuǐ huà jiā

她是中国著名的青绿山水画家

She’s a renowned painter of green landscape in China

nǚ huà jiā lǐ tóu lái jiǎng

女画家里头来讲

Among all the female painters

tā jiù shì dì yī rén le

她就是第一人了

She’s the top

tā cóng xiǎo jiù shì shòu yì shù xūn táo bāo kuò dàn pí pá

她从小就是受艺术熏陶，包括弹琵琶

Since childhood she had been deeply influenced by art, including playing pipa

xiàn zài wài miàn xiě de nà xiē wén zhāng

现在外面写的那些文章

Now many tabloids

nǐ chāo wǒ wǒ chāo nǐ de

你抄我，我抄你的

Concocting stories

biàn chéng tā shì zài qīng lóu

变成她是在青楼

About her making a living in brothels

hòu lái jiù biàn chéng jì nǚ le

后来就变成妓女了

Or even describing her as a prostitute

bù shì nà me huí shì

不是那么回事

They’re not true

wǒ wài pó de qīn shēng mǔ qīn qù shì le

我外婆的亲生母亲去世了

My grandmother’s mother passed away

zài tā shí jǐ suì de shí hòu

在她十几岁的时候

She went to story houses

dào dāng shí de shū chǎng

到当时的书场

Where people dined and enjoyed performances

chī fàn de dì fāng yě yǒu dàn chàng

吃饭的地方，也有弹唱

To earn a living

rán hòu tā zài nà móu shēng

然后她在那谋生

When she was a teenager

wǒ wài gōng zhāng bó jū gēn wǒ wài pó

我外公（张伯驹）跟我外婆

My grandfather (Zhang Boju) and my grandmother

tōng guò zhāng bó jū fù bèi de yī gè shì jiāo sūn lǚ ān

通过张伯驹父辈的一个世交，孙履安

Were introduced to each other

jiè shào liǎng gè rén xiāng shí

介绍两个人相识

By Sun Lv’an, an old friend of one of grandfather’s elders

hòu lái zài sū zhōu wán hūn de

后来在苏州完婚的

They got married in Suzhou later

wǒ wài gōng gěi tā qǐng le lǎo shī liàn xí huì huà

我外公给她请了老师，练习绘画

My grandfather hired painting teachers for her

wāng mèng shū qí jǐng xī xià rén hǔ

汪孟舒、祁井西、夏仁虎

Like Wang Mengshu, Qi Jingxi, Xia Renhu

zài dāng shí hěn yǒu míng de

在当时很有名的

They were all famous then

tā de lǎo shī gēn tā jiǎng

她的老师跟她讲

They told her

zì gǔ yǐ lái fù nǚ jiù méi yǒu huà shān shuǐ huà de

自古以来，妇女就没有画山水画的

No female had ever painted landscapes since the ancient time

yīn wèi guò qù fù nǚ dōu shì bù chū mén de

因为过去妇女都是不出门的

Because women stayed at home in the past

jī běn shàng dōu shì huà yī xiē huā huā cǎo cǎo de

基本上都是画一些花花草草的

Basically they only drew plants

wǒ wài gōng wài pó chéng hūn zhī hòu

我外公外婆成婚之后

After they got married

tā men jīng cháng yóu lì míng shān dà chuān

他们经常游历名山大川

They often visited well-known mountains and rivers

tā shuō nà zhè gè dōng xī wǒ zěn me bù néng huà ne

她说，那这个东西我怎么不能画呢？

So she said how could I not paint them

tā cóng zhè gè shí hòu jué xīn kāi shǐ huà shān shuǐ huà

她从这个时候决心开始画山水画

Since then she was determined to do landscape paintings

jiào le tā bù dào yī nián jìn bù dé xiāng dāng kuài

教了她不到一年，进步得相当快

She made great progress within a year

zhāng dà qiān dì yī cì kàn dào tā de zuò pǐn

张大千第一次看到她的作品

When Zhang Daqian first saw her work

dāng shí jiù shì jiǎng

当时就是讲

He commented

shén yùn gāo gǔ zhí bī táng rén

神韵高古，直逼唐人

“It has an ancient-time spirit which is almost equal to the Tang charm”

tā de yī fú guì lín shān shuǐ

她的一幅桂林山水

Premier Zhou Enlai

zhōu zǒng lǐ qù kàn

周总理去看

Once saw a painting of Guilin landscapes of her

yī kàn zhè fú huà pǒ yǒu xīn yì

一看这幅画颇有新意

And said it was quite creative

tā yǒu dào yǐng

它有倒影

As it had the reflection in water

zhǐ yǒu zài xī fāng huì huà shàng miàn cái yǒu guāng yǐng de xiào guǒ

只有在西方绘画上面才有光影的效果

Only western-style paintings have light effects

huà zhè gè qīng lǜ shān shuǐ huà

画这个青绿山水画

In green-landscape paintings

zuì hòu dōu shì yào yòng jīn bó

最后都是要用金箔

Gold foil is used

zhēn jīn lái gōu zhè gè xiàn tiáo

真金来勾这个线条

To draw the outlines

tā hěn duō zuò pǐn dōu shì zuò wèi guó lǐ

她很多作品都是作为国礼

Many of her works were sent as national gifts

sòng gěi bāo kuò rì běn de tiān huáng yù rén

送给包括日本的天皇裕仁

To the Emperor Hirohito of Japan

yīng guó de chái qì ěr fū rén

英国的柴契尔夫人

Mrs. Thatcher

měi guó de lǎo bù xī

美国的老布希

And George Bush Senior

tā qí bái shí hú pèi héng děng hé zuò de yī fú huà

她、齐白石、胡佩衡等合作的一幅画

She drew a picture with Qi Baishi and Hu Peiheng

xiàn gěi máo zhǔ xí

献给毛主席

For Chaiman Mao

wài gōng hé wài pó méi yǒu fēn kāi guò

（外公和外婆）没有分开过

(Grandfather and grandmother) They never left each other

zuì kùn nán de shí hòu yě zài yī qǐ

最困难的时候也在一起

Even in the most difficult time

dāng nián bǎng jià de shí hòu

当年绑架的时候

During the kidnap

fēn kāi gè yuè suàn shì zuì zhǎng de shí jiān le

（分开）8个月算是最长的时间了

They were separated for 8 months and it was the longest

nián zǎo shàng wǒ wài gōng qù shàng bān

1941年，早上我外公去上班

In 1941 my grandfather went to work in the morning

bèi zhè gè bǎng fěi bǎng zǒu le

被这个绑匪绑走了

And was abducted on the way

suǒ yào shú jīn ba

索要赎金吧

The kidnappers asked for a big sum of ransom

shù mù hái hěn dà liǎng sān bǎi wàn

数目还很大，两三百万

Over 2 million

jiā lǐ méi yǒu qián

家里没有钱

Our family had no money

dāng shí wǒ wài pó shì hěn zhù jí zhè gè shì qíng

当时我外婆是很著急这个事情

My grandmother was very anxious

sì chù qù còu qián biàn mài tā de shǒu shì

四处去凑钱，变卖她的首饰

She borrowed money and sold her jewels

bǎ tā jiù chū lái

把他救出来

To get him out

wǒ wài pó yào huà yī fú huà

我外婆要画一幅画

Before drawing a picture

kěn dìng shì yào gēn tā xiān shāng liàng

肯定是要跟他先商量

My grandmother would first ask for grandfather’s advice

wǒ huà yī gè shén me tí mù

我画一个什么题目？

Under what theme she should draw

wǒ wài gōng jiù gěi tā chū móu huà cè

我外公就给她出谋划策

Then my husband gave her advices

wǒ wài gōng méi shì le jiù zǒu lái zǒu qù

我外公没事了，就走来走去

When he was free, he walked around

kàn yī kàn tā zuò huà

看一看她作画

And watched her painting

tā shì mǎi cài dài zhù wǒ

她是买菜带著我

She took me to shop for groceries

rán hòu dào liú lí chǎng róng bǎo zhāi

然后到琉璃厂荣宝斋

And also to Liulichang and Rong Bao Zhai

mǎi huì huà yán liào mǎi zhǐ zhāng dōu dài zhù wǒ

买绘画颜料、买纸张都带著我

To buy paints and paper

cóng xiǎo wǒ wài pó tè bié zhù zhòng duì wǒ men de jiào yù

从小我外婆特别注重对我们的教育

My grandmother paid attention to our education since childhood

dāng shí wǒ huà le yī fú shān shuǐ huà

当时我画了一幅山水画

I once drew a landscape picture when I was young

wǒ wài gōng kàn le yǐ hòu jiù jiǎng zhè gè huà dé bù cuò

我外公看了以后就讲这个画得不错

Grandfather saw it and said it was good

rán hòu wǒ wài pó bèi zhù wǒ wài gōng jiù gēn wǒ jiǎng

然后我外婆背著我外公就跟我讲

Then grandmother told me behind his back

nǐ kě bié qiào wěi bā

你可别翘尾巴

“Don’t get cocky”

tā jiù tí xǐng nǐ

她就提醒你

She reminded me

ràng nǐ bù yào qù jiāo ào

让你不要去骄傲

Not to be conceited

měi tiān zǎo chén qǐ lái

每天早晨起来

Every morning after waking up

tā jiù ná shàng yī kuài mǒ bù

她就拿上一块抹布

She grabbed a rag

suǒ yǒu de jiā jù

所有的家具

And wiped the furniture

tā dōu yào qù bǎ tā cā yī biàn

她都要去把它擦一遍

All the furniture

wǒ wài pó zuò xī cān zuò dé hǎo dé hěn

我外婆做西餐做得好得很

My grandmother was good at cooking western meals

yǐ qián gēn é guó rén qīn zì xué guò zuò xī cān

以前跟俄国人亲自学过做西餐

She learned it from Russians

hěn kāi lǎng de yī gè rén

很开朗的一个人

She was outgoing

bái tiān jiā lǐ hái yǒu yīng chóu

白天家里还有应酬

They entertained guests during the daytime

tā zuò huà jiù shì dà bù fēn shí jiān shì kào wǎn shàng

她作画就是大部分时间是靠晚上

So she painted at night

xiǎo shí hòu dōu bù dǒng

小时候都不懂

I didn’t know it when I was young

jiā lǐ lái de zhè xiē rén quán shì míng rén

家里来的这些人，全是名人

All the guests were all celebrities

wǒ men nà gè jiā tíng

我们那个家庭

Our family

hěn shǎo qù shuō zhè xiē shì qíng

很少去说这些事情

Seldom talked about it

nǐ zhǐ yǒu tà tà shí shí qù zuò shì

你只有踏踏实实去做事

You have to be down-to-earth

nǔ lì dì xué xí

努力地学习

And work hard

jīn bì qīng lǜ shān shuǐ huà

金碧青绿山水画

Gold and green landscape paintings

tā suī rán shì xué de shì chuán tǒng

她虽然是学的是传统

Although she learned traditional Chinese painting

dàn shì tā yòu bù jū ní yú zài chuán tǒng dāng zhōng

但是她又不拘泥于在传统当中

But she was not restrained to it

hái zài bù duàn de chuàng xīn dāng zhōng

还在不断的创新当中

She kept bringing forth new ideas

wèi le bǎo hù zǔ guó de chuán tǒng wén huà

为了保护祖国的传统文化

In order to protect traditional culture of her nation

mò mò dì zài gēng yún

默默地在耕耘

She worked hard in a reserved way