patteren:
111208;682
series: magnificat;152
| patteren:
111208;682 |
| shellac7
Never dreaming that after hearing his little sister dubbed Xiao Zhu, that is, Little Pig all her life he would hear his own daughter dubbed with the same epithet, Homer’s cheek involuntarily twitches. He glances at Mrs. Chu with a gaze that expresses both disbelief and total comprehension. The ritual, borne out of a time when the travail of birth yielded danger to both infant and mother, is that to deceive the malignant spirits who might plunder the newborn’s soul, parents and loved ones would often say phrases such as Oh, what a stinky pig when their precious little girl is born or Oh, isn’t this the ugliest little dog when their darling little boy is born. As a boy, Homer often wondered if these spirits were blind or plain stupid to be fooled in such a blatant manner. Homer’s little sister, on the other hand, had no knowledge that such was the tradition on a continent half an equator away. Growing up in Ann Arbor, Isis grew up thinking that she was given that term of endearment because of certain physical traits she exhibited. For unlike Homer who is wiry, olive-toned, and gaunt, Isis is cherubic, apricot-toned, and all cheeks. In Isis’s view, Homer was far more fortunate; his nick name was simply Ge Ge, that is, Older Brother. “Ge Ge,” addresses Mrs. Chu in mandarin, “when your firstborn girl is one month, we’ll have the banquet. When she comes, Isis will help me arrange everything. Your father has many friends in this city; he’s an important man.” |
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