Literary Master 1983

Chapter 13 United Fruit Company
Professor Chen carefully examined the Spanish letter written by Yu Qie, and Yu Qie was responsible for interpreting it.

"In formal correspondence, use "Estimado/a + first or last name" (Dear Sir or Madam) or "Muy seor/a mío/a" (Dear Sir or Madam)."

"Spanish names often have three or four sections. The first two sections are the person's name, the second to last section is the father's surname, and the last section is the mother's surname. In general, people will address others by the first section of their name plus the father's surname or simply by the father's surname."

“So, García Márquez’s Spanish name is Gabriel García Márquez, and we have to write it down, Professor Chen, is that right?”

Ma Shi Tu was very anxious and asked Professor Chen: "Now that you have finished reading, can you tell me whether this kid can speak Spanish?"

"Yes," Professor Chen said. In order not to overstate his opinion, he adjusted his answer carefully, "He is not very good at it, but 70% of the time."

Ma Shi Tu was overjoyed: "Professor Chen, we invited you here because we need your remaining 30% to help us polish and check."

Ma Shi Tu asked again: "Yu Qie?"

"Eh!"

"What else are you going to write?"

"I would like to express the sincere blessing of the Chinese literary community to Mr. Marquez... What a coincidence, this is also a man with the surname Ma... I hope he will reach greater heights in his future creations!"

"Yu Qie, stop being so funny!" Ma Shi Tu's face immediately turned red. "Also, you have to explain that we are from the Sichuan Provincial Association of Literature. This may be the first time that our Sichuan literary world has come into contact with a Nobel Prize winner. I think this contact is great, but we must also be extremely careful!"

"Okay, we must express the sincere blessings of our Sichuan literary community." Yu Qie agreed readily.

"Does this kid speak Spanish?" Ma Shi Tu asked.

"He'll be 80 percent."

"How come it's 80 percent?"

"Then let's say 75 percent." Professor Chen answered cautiously and conservatively.

"Professor Chen, you...Yu Qie, do you have anything else to say?"

"I want to tell Marquez in the letter that One Hundred Years of Solitude, a realistic work, has attracted widespread love from the Chinese literary community and the Chinese people, and we have benefited a lot from it. I ask him to grant us the copyright..."

"You change this to literature lovers. The Chinese people are too big. We can't afford to write."

"Okay...what about the copyright?"

"We can't afford it either. Besides, we are a red country and have never paid copyright fees. Yu Qie, what else do you want to write?"

Yu Qie was at a loss for words, so he put down his pen and said, "This... The cultures of China and Colombia have a long history, and there are many similarities in literary creation. I hope we can encourage each other to make progress."

"Does this kid really know Spanish? Take a look." Ma Shi Tu brought up the old matter again.

"Seventy-five percent." Professor Chen continued to maintain a conservative attitude.

"Well," Ma Shi Tu was completely convinced that Yu Qie would be able to do it, so he asked, "What else do you want to write?"

"United Fruit Company."

"What is the United Fruit Company?"

Yu Qie told the story of the United Fruit Company of the United States from beginning to end. In the course of its operation, it caused the blood and tears of many Latin American people. In addition to the production, transportation and sales of fruits and other tropical crops, it also operated telephone, telegraph, radio, publishing, power generation and other industries. Each of the United Fruit Company's estates in Central America not only had its own economic system, but also made its own laws and set up its own military camps. It could even arrest and shoot workers at will, becoming a "state within a state" in the local area.

The United Fruit Company also colluded with reactionary forces in various countries to manipulate the politics of those countries.

Later research proved that the "two hundred carriages" and "three thousand workers" mentioned in Márquez's novel were real. Moreover, after the evidence was found, Colombian history textbooks adopted the data in Márquez's novel when describing this period of history, and these data were exactly what he had learned when he was young.

"It's just like when you were young, you liked to gossip everywhere and listen to other people's gossip. Later, when people read your "Ten Night Tales", they found it strange and said you made it up, but it was indeed a ridiculous thing that happened in the Republic of China!" Yu Qie said. "Marquez is also such a person. He is worthy of his surname Ma. You can't write two surnames with one stroke!"

Ma Shi Tu immediately got angry: "Damn American! Doing bad things everywhere!"

Conservative Professor Chen, on the other hand, was completely defeated. He said, "Impossible! The United States is a beautiful country, open and inclusive, representing the world's highest level of productivity and most advanced concept of governance! Comrade Yu, you can't talk nonsense!"

Ma Shi Tu ignored Professor Chen and said to Yu Qie, "Yu Qie, you can't write this. We represent Chinese literature, or at least the literary creators of Sichuan Province. If you want to send this letter to Marquez and let him read it, it must be registered with our Writers Association. Therefore, you are not an ordinary reader."

Professor Chen: "He's right! Comrade Yu, you are publishing these things now, which are unfounded and unwarranted!"

So, this letter written to Marquez did not actually mention the United Fruit Company, but only thanked him for the influence of his works on the current Chinese literary world.

How does this work?
Yu Qi wants to write an academic paper against the hype of magical realism. However, his influence is insignificant and without the endorsement of Marquez, how can he make a splash?

Everyone is preparing to study and learn magical realism, and is proud of it and is enthusiastic about it. Now they want to redefine it, and it cannot be overturned without incredible evidence.

However, this letter cannot be written. It just cannot be written.

Ma Shi Tu came here in person and brought a Spanish professor with him. How could you write under his supervision?
Ultimately, it wasn’t written.

Seeing that he was unhappy, Alai tried to enlighten him: "Yu Che, Mr. Yu! I don't have a single novel, but you already have two. I think the difference between people is huge! Are you a genius who is born with knowledge?"

Yu Qie laughed and said, "Even if I'm a genius, someone has to believe in me, right?"

"I believe you, Yu Qie. Your seminar is almost over, and you are waiting to go to Yanda. However, in the past two weeks, you have never seen the scenery of Chengdu. You have only been to our guesthouse and the provincial library. What a pity. Chengdu is very beautiful."

Alai continued, "I have friends here. I'll find you a bicycle in a few days so you can ride it and relax. The girls in Chengdu are also very beautiful. Go get to know some of them!"

"Alai, thank you so much. I see you've made connections with everyone in the past two weeks. No wonder you'll be promoted to a high position in the future."

Alai waved his hand. "I'm just building relationships. How can I compare with you in writing novels?"

Suddenly, Yu Qie's eyes were on the enamel bowl. "What should I do with this enamel bowl? There's one too many."

"What did Teacher Ma say to you in the end?"

"He told me not to write letters to people as an ordinary reader, because I represent the Writers Association. Alai, I finally understand that if I want to send this letter to Marquez, it must be in the name of the unit so that he will have a chance to read it. But I can't write these things in the name of the unit."

"What if you use your personal name?"

"There are at least a hundred, if not a thousand, readers who write to Marquez every day. How can they read a letter written by a Chinese like me?"

"Yu Qie, take the enamel bowl to Teacher Ma first. This enamel bowl makes me feel uncomfortable. Give it back to Teacher Ma. Go and beg for mercy. Since he left the bowl here, he wants you to find a reason to talk to him. Maybe there will be a chance. What did Sun Wukong do? He went to knock on Patriarch Bodhi's door in the middle of the night."

(End of this chapter)