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Thread: A Happy Hero

  1. #1
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Post A Happy Hero

    Prologue I: Guo DaLu and Wang Dong

    -----
    Guo DaLu’s character matched his name, he truly was a very DaLu person. “DaLu” meant very straightforward, carefree, even a little dense. No matter what the situation, he would not put it to heart.

    And yet Wang Dong never moves. [*Dong means motion.]

    -----
    Straightforward people were usually poor. Guo DaLu was especially poor, ridiculously poor.

    He actually shouldn’t have been so poor.

    Originally, it could be said that he was a man who had a lot of money. When a wealthy person suddenly becomes poor, there can only be two reasons: One, he was stupid. Or two, he was lazy.

    Guo DaLu was not stupid, he could do a lot more than most people, and do them better. For example, when it came to riding horses, he could ride the fastest horse and the wildest horse.

    When it came to swords, with one stab he could penetrate iron body armor as well as a willow catkin floating with the spring breeze.

    If you were his friend, and met him when his mood was especially good, he might jump into the river and catch some carps with his bare hands as well as some wild geese, and make a dish of steamed fish and roasted duck for you to munch on. After eating his dishes, it’s guaranteed you won’t be disappointed.

    His cooking skill was not below that of any of the famous chefs from the capital.

    His can perform song renditions on the pipa that would make you think he had been performing since birth.

    Some people believe that other than giving birth, he could do anything.

    He was also not lazy, not only that but he would constantly be searching for something to do. And the things he has done have not been few. So how could a person like him become poor?

    The first thing he tried his hand at was escorting goods.

    When he first made his debut, his parents had just died and he either sold or gave away the family’s dwelling and properties. He wanted to rely on his own talent, and enter the martial world.

    Of course he wasn’t a very good businessman, nor was he ever interested in being a good businessman, so he only made 170 liang from selling land that should have been worth 300 liang. And after adding up all the things he gave away to poor relatives and friends, what he had left wasn’t much.

    But there was still enough for him to purchase a good horse, forge a fast sword, rest at the best inns, and eat at the best restaurants.

    Back then it was Spring. Spring was a season when business for escort agencies were at their best. [*No, not escorts as in prostitutes. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0"> Escorts as in the people who guard transported goods.]

    When business is peaking for the escort agencies, that is also the time when business peaks for the robbers.

    ZhongYuan Escort Agency’s boss was Luo ZhenYi. Although he wasn’t old, his worldly experience was, so naturally he understood how it works. Therefore when he was on the road, he was especially careful. It was Spring and the goods he was protecting was not light.

    However it is not enough to be careful when you’re an escort. Your martial arts also had to be strong, and your luck had to be good.

    Luo ZhenYi’s martial arts was not weak, but this time his luck was not good to have unexpectedly encountered the most troublesome criminal in the Two Rivers, the OuYang Brothers.

    The OuYang Brothers were not two people, nor were they three, or four......OuYang Brothers was just one person.

    Although he was only one person, he was more harder to defeat than forty people. His left hand wielded a short sabre, his right hand wielded a long sabre, and at the same time he could still fire off seven or eight different types of hidden weapons. Very few people can tell where his hidden weapons came from.

    Luo ZhenYi also couldn’t tell. First he evaded three “Embroidered Headpiece Flower Bolts”, and one “Moon Chasing Meteor Arrow”, but who knew that with a flip of his sabre, OuYang Brothers shot out another pair of Mother and Child Frost Needles.

    Deadly needles, even their victims couldn’t figure out where they had come from.

    Luo ZhenYi’s right shoulder got hit with these needles, and although he didn’t die immediately, all he could manage to do now was wait for OuYang Brothers to come take his life.

    Even if OuYang Brothers didn’t want his life, with his merchandise lost, he could only hang himself and take his own life.

    At this moment, a speeding horse suddenly approached. The horse was fast, but the person was faster. Before the horse even reached them, it’s rider was already there. OuYang Brothers could only see someone fall from the air, and before he had time to release one of his seven or eight hidden weapons, his left and right arteries were already severed by this person’s sword.

    This rescuer dropping from the air was naturally Guo DaLu.

    Luo ZhenYi was not only grateful towards his rescuer, but also admired him. After dropping off the merchandise, he insisted on inviting him back to the agency.

    Guo DaLu naturally went, as he didn’t have anything more important to do anyway.

    Even if he did have pressing matters, he’d still go.

    This was his first time fighting. He suddenly discovered that not only was his martial arts decent, his luck at meeting people was also good.

    Luo ZhenYi was a bit perplexed and asked: “With great skills such as Brother Guo’s, why not become an escort?”.

    Guo DaLu did not ask: “Why must a good martial artist become an escort?”.

    He only thought that being an escort would be very prestigious, very interesting.

    For a person who just entered the martial world to become the assistant boss of an escort bureau, it was sufficiently prestigious, sufficiently remarkable!

    The only thing Guo DaLu was a little disappointed about was that ZhongYuan Escort Agency wasn’t the biggest escort agency in ZhongYuan. In fact, it wasn’t even counted among the top tier of agencies there.

    He waited many days before he finally got his first assignment, and it wasn’t even a big assignment. Just helping someone from KaiFeng deliver a few thousand dollars to LuoYang.

    The journey wasn’t far, the merchandise wasn’t big, and with such an assistant boss, the boss was naturally able to feel relieved and remained at home to comfortably recover from his injuries.
    Last edited by TigerWong; 06-20-03 at 01:20 AM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Oh yeah, just so nobody thinks this is fan-fiction and wonders what the heck it's doing here, this is a translation of a Gu Long novel: Huan Le Ying Xiong. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

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    Junior Member GoldenArm's Avatar
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    Good! Good! another translation! Tiger in the hizzzouse! <IMG SRC="smilies/ninja.gif" border="0">

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    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    It was still Spring, early morning. The escort carts started on their way.

    The year starts with Spring, the day starts with the morning, it was a good beginning.

    The escort banner fluttered in the wind, the shouts of the men resonated loud and clear. Guo DaLu wore a purple vest, with a sheathed sword by his belt and riding a large white horse. The Spring sun was starting to rise, it’s rays shining warmly on his body and washing across distant jade mountains, young swallows were building nests in the trees.

    His heart felt very happy and satisfied.

    He only hoped to encounter some bandits. It was not entirely because he wished to prove his worth or raise his prestige. It was because he wanted to make a few more friends.

    The more friends the better. He liked having friends. If he could become friends with people like that, it would be an exciting and interesting thing. And if could pursuade them to change their evil ways, that would be more wonderful than mere words could describe.

    Then he really met some.

    But unfortunately the ones he met were not the type of wealth sharing, hearty eating, hard drinking bandits he’d imagined. Nor did they appear to be the heroic types whose word was their bond and whom would take a few sabre blows for their fellow mates. The ones he encountered were just a group of small-time thieves, with ashen faces as if they haven’t eaten for three days. Their clothes were covered with patches, and even their sabres were rusty.

    Although Guo DaLu was disappointed, he’d already met them so there wasn’t anything he could do about it. First he needed to show off a couple of his moves to stop them in their tracks, then patiently lecture them, hoping that they would turn over a new leaf, become peaceful citizens, and no longer disgrace their ancestors.

    At first, his martial arts scared them so much that they were dumbstruck like chickens, but then his teachings got them so emotional, tears flowed out their eyes. Each one of them was determined to become a better person.

    “But none of us have any talent, what can we possibly do? If we don’t rob, I’m afraid all of us will starve to death.”.

    “Starting a small business is not bad, even if you only sell steamed buns it’s still better than being bandits.”.

    “But without a bit of money, what kind of business can we start? Might as well die.”.

    These people, with tears flowing out of their eyes and mucus coming out of their noses, were really a pitiful sight.

    Guo DaLu was almost moved to tears as well.

    “No money, that’s easy. I have money.”.

    Wasn’t the merchandise carts filled with money?

    You can’t really start a small business with little money, when Guo DaLu does something he does it in a big way.

    “Everybody gets 100 liang.”.

    Everyone thanked him profusely, and afterwards they left with cheers. Even from far away, one could hear them say: “Our benefactor is not only a brave hero, he is simply a saint.”.

    Guo DaLu’s heart was also burning with emotion: “Man is inherantly good, if one wasn’t forced with no other options, who would want to become a robber?”.

    By the time he calmed down, he suddenly discovered two things: One, more than half the money in the carts have been distributed away.

    Two, that money wasn’t his.

    The other escorts in the group all looked at him with wide eyes and gaping mouths. No one could tell what they all thought of him.

    A big hero? A saint? Or a retard?

    With more than half the merchandise gone, the agency naturally had to compensate for it.

    When Guo DaLu returned to the agency, his heart did not feel entirely right, but he was also not too discomforted.

    He had confidence that he could make up for this loss, people with talent all have this kind of confidence.

    “I bought my horse for 280 liang, and I still have more than 700 liang on me, that adds up to be a bit over 1000 liang. Let’s pay them back first and talk later.”.

    What about the rest?

    “If the agency can help cover the rest, I can slowly pay it back with my salary as assistant escort boss.”.

    For the ZhongYuan Escort Agency to have been able to hire an assistant boss such as himself, in the future it’s fame would surely gradually increase, it’s business would surely get better and better. Of course, his salary couldn’t be too small, he’d be able to repay everything in no time.

    Luo ZhenYi was listening to him this whole time, listening until he was completely dumbfounded, listening in total shock.

    Guo DaLu was still self-assured, because he thought the plan he came up with made a lot of sense.

    He couldn’t imagine that Luo ZhenYi would suddenly kneel down.

    Luo ZhenYi wasn’t kneeling to ask him to stay, it was to thank him for saving his life and begging him to leave, the quicker the better, the farther the better.

    “You rescued me, I’m helping you pay your debt, let’s call it even. I’ve never seen anyone like you before, Master Guo, I can only pray that I never will again.

    Therefore Guo DaLu left.
    Last edited by TigerWong; 06-16-03 at 12:14 AM.

  5. #5
    Junior Member GotIt's Avatar
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    Default Regarding Translation

    Hiya Tiger and Co. [GoldenArm. haha],
    Congrats to being the first and second to posting here.
    -
    Thks for the translation TigerWong. Reading it now.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    What happened to the Big Time Celebrity Translation?

    Thanks anyway for translating another story.

  7. #7
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    I still plan on continuing with the Big Time Celebrity translation. But although I think that is a great story, I decided to step away a bit and translate something I haven't read yet just to keep things fresh for myself (I'm only a few chapters ahead of the parts I've posted) I hope you guys enjoy this one, I've heard good things about it...

  8. #8
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    But where would he go? Right now, even though his belt still carried a sword, even though his clothes were still fresh, he no longer had his big white horse. The few remaining pieces of money he had were no longer enough to allow him to stay at the finest inns. Even if he ate steamed buns and slept on hard pallets, it would not last him several days.

    Did Guo DaLu feel a little nervous, a little uncomfortable?

    Nope, he didn’t care at all.

    For a talented man such as himself, why should he fear that there wouldn’t be any rice to eat? How could that not be a joke?

    He still searched out the best restaurant, with good wine and good dishes, and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

    Any man who finished a good meal would be in an especially good mood. Besides, after having six or seven servings of wine, even the most despicable people would become lovable in his eyes.

    Therefore he gave all the money he had left to that lovable waiter. Therefore when he stepped out the door, his wallet was washed clean.

    Where would the next meal come from? He didn’t have a clue.

    But how was that of any concern? Now the only thing that mattered was finding a comfortable place to sleep.

    “Tomorrow is another day”. No matter what the situation may be, come tomorrow there is always a solution. To worry about tomorrow’s affairs right now would be pointless.

    Guo DaLu yawned, and sauntered into the city’s best inn.

    He only forgot one thing.

    Although an inn’s door was always open and it was very easy to walk in, when it comes time to walk out, it gets much harder. If you didn’t have any money in your pockets, they will not let you saunter out.

    Of course Guo DaLu wouldn’t just slip out or bring shame upon himself, so how would he manage?

    During this time he became a little worried and paced a few circles around the courtyard. Suddenly he spotted a red strip of paper attached to a wall that said: “Urgently hiring chefs.”.

    So Guo DaLu became a chef.

    With the escort job, from start to finish, he still managed to last half a month.

    As a chef he lasted three days.

    During those three days, he used up more than twenty catties of oil, dropped more than thirty bowls, and broke more than forty plates.

    The only reason they were patient with him, was because the dishes Guo DaLu prepared were actually quite decent. Sometimes finding a good chef was much harder than finding a good wife, but when Guo DaLu dropped a pan of sweet and sour fish on a customer’s face they just couldn’t take it anymore.

    That customer only criticized his fish as being too bland and asked that he put more salt on it. Guo DaLu’s temper flared up and he pointed at the man’s nose scolding loudly: “Have you ever eaten sweet and sour fish? Have you ever even eaten fish? You can’t make sweet and sour fish too salty, don’t you know that?!”.

    If every chef was that ferocious, would anyone dare come in anymore?

    At this point, even if they had allowed him to stay on, he no longer felt like continuing anymore. After three days of being a chef, his only reward was that his entire body had another layer of grease and smoke, and his pockets were still empty.
    Last edited by TigerWong; 06-16-03 at 03:34 AM.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    If Guo Jing is seen by some as JY's Forrest Gump, is Guo DaLu his counterpart in GL's universe?

    This guy is so straight that he is "dumb"

  10. #10
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Heh, Guo DaLu is quite a character. I was thinking the same thing when I was reading it (that he was like Forrest Gump). But wait until you meet his friends.

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    Senior Member Athena's Avatar
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    Hmm! Good that you're doing this, Tigerwong! I have heard great things about this novel too. I look forward to your translations.
    So huge, so hopeless, to conceive
    As these that twice befell
    Parting is all we know of heaven
    And all we need of hell.

    Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

  12. #12
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Thanks! Since you're already doing one of my favorites, I had to find something else.

    But you might be better off just picking it up and reading it. Much faster that way.
    Last edited by TigerWong; 06-16-03 at 03:41 PM.

  13. #13
    Senior Member Anonymous's Avatar
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    Thumbs up Thks

    Hiya gys,
    Thks TigerWong for this new translation.
    -
    Translation is as interesting as the other translations in this forum, meaning of excellent quality.
    -
    So far, the hero is a mixed bag. haha. Especially when he gave his employer's money to thieves. 0.o First time I read a hero did this.

  14. #14
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Of course, Guo DaLu wasn’t concerned at all. He was willing to do anything, why should he be worried?

    The question was, what should he do?

    Guo DaLu started to think and pondered for half a day before suddenly realizing that most of the things he could do required spending money -- riding horses, drinking wine, giving flowers, giving orders. Can these things earn him any money?

    Luckily there were still a couple of things that could earn him some money, for example, singing.

    When he sang in the past, people usually applauded him. One person even asked him: “Did you learn how to sing in your mother’s womb?”.

    And someone else said: “With that voice of his and further musical study, if he really decided to become a singer, all the other performers won’t have anything to eat.”.

    Although Guo DaLu didn’t want to take other people’s food, his belly started to sing a song of emptyness.

    Therefore he went to a restaurant he has never been to before, and prepared to sing.

    As soon as he went upstairs, all the waiters immediately surrounded him, laughing with him, pouring tea and handing out towels and asking: “What would Master like to eat today? What would you like to drink? Today’s fish was especially delivered here on a fast horse from JiangNan, do you want us to freshly kill one to accompany some thirty year old ShaoXing wine?”.

    With such a stylish man like Guo DaLu, if the waiters didn’t suck up to him, who else would they badger?

    Guo DaLu’s face reddened as if he’s already had the ShaoXing wine, “I’m here to perform songs”, how would he even be able to say something like this now?

    After a long pause, he finally started to say: “I’m actually looking for someone......” before he finished his sentence, he was quickly shooed downstairs and out the door like he was being chased by whips.

    Of course he couldn’t blame the waiters, he could only blame himself for not being able to look like a song performer.

    “Alas, it seems that if someone looks too good he can also lose out, maybe it’d be better if I were uglier.”.

    Although Guo DaLu was sighing, he had the sudden urge to go look in a mirror.

    If he can’t sing, what should he do now?

    “The Heavens granted me this pair of clever hands, theres gotta be something I can do.”.

    Guo DaLu has always been happy with his pair of hands.

    He stared at his strong fingers, and suddenly thought of something that had always been a part of the martial world.

    “Yes, I’ll sell my skill on the streets, with my martial arts who wouldn’t be able to appreciate it?”.

    Guo DaLu was so happy he even forgot about the hunger in his belly, and wondered why he didn’t think of this great idea two days ago.

    Although the sky was dark, the streets were still very crowded.

    Guo DaLu picked the busiest corner, and prepared to perform.

    But before starting, it felt like he should first give some kind of introductory speech.

    What should he say?

    Guo DaLu didn’t have any problems talking when he shouldn’t, but when it came time for him to say something, he couldn’t come up with anything.

    “It’s not big deal if I don’t say anything, besides people will be coming to see me perform not listen to me talk; Just as soon as I reveal my skills theres no doubt that people will start crowding around to watch.”.

    So Guo DaLu pulled back his sleeves, tucked in his shirt, and started performing his flashiest fist techniques.

    When he punched, his fists looked like wild tigers leaping from the forest. His kicks were like dragons entering the sea. Images of his fists flew everywhere, the force of their wind whoosed in the air. Naturally, every move was a display of true kung fu.

    But not only did people not crowd around, they moved far, far away. Even some of the more courageous people, only dared to stand behind the corner of a building and sneaked peeks.

    “That person on the street started swinging his fists for no reason, what’s his problem?”.

    At first, Guo DaLu still thought everything was cool, but then he gradually realized that something was not right.

    Luckily he caught on to this quickly.

    “What I’m displaying is true kung fu, no fancy stuff. Of course these ordinary people can’t appreciate that. Fine, I’ll just show them something startling to get their attention.”.

    After realizing this point, Guo DaLu suddenly spun his body around and “BANG!”, with one punch he smashed a big hole in the wall behind him. “BANG!”, with one foot he kicked down a stone pillar they use to tie horses to -- of course, his pants ripped while he was doing this.

    With screams of terror, everyone on the streets scattered. A few shops even locked their doors, all because of this lunatic out on the street who must have taken the wrong medicine. So this was the result of Guo DaLu’s attempt at showcasing his martial arts talent, all the time he spent practising his fists and displaying his earth-moving strength and all he ended up with was some ripped trousers.

    Why wasn’t his story as interesting as those soul-stirring heroes?

    Can’t be helped, there are many things in this world that sound great when you listen to them, but isn’t so great when you’re experiencing them.

  15. #15
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Oh, and thanks for reading (this one seems to be getting more attention than my other one ever did ). I'm glad you guys get to enjoy some of Gu Long's less familiar works (as well as old favorites like Dagger Lee).

  16. #16
    Senior Member Goofy's Avatar
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    Yeah, another story to read.

    Actually, I like the Big Celebrity but hope to see a happier fate for our girl.

    I have never heard of this one either and looking forward to reading it.

    thanks TigerWong.
    "History's third dimension is always fiction."
    -- The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse

  17. #17
    Moderator Noodles's Avatar
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    I like this guy so far, pretty cool. Thx Tiger for translating , gonna have to go find a copy of this. I was actually lookiing forward to somemore of Big Celebrity but this is just as good.
    I'm worse at what I do best
    And for this gift I feel blessed

  18. #18
    Member bigstick's Avatar
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    So far is this all part of the Prologue or has chptr 1 already started?

  19. #19
    Senior Member TigerWong's Avatar
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    Hey, I'm glad there were some who liked Big Time Celebrity. I definitely plan to return to that one sometime. Tian SiSi always cracks me up and it was starting to get to the parts where the fighters show up.

    Actually, the feel of this novel is kinda similiar. Very lighthearted and it takes the time to develop the characters, making sure the readers know exactly what these guys' personalities are before the real story starts. There are 3 long prologues introducing the heroes, the first is almost done. Then chapter one of our gang's grand adventure will begin.

  20. #20
    Member bigstick's Avatar
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    Wow 3 prologues. There was enough happening already in just the prologue that I thought chptr 1 must have started already. Thanx TigerWong for the great translation.

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