Dịch từ nguyên tác Anh văn, “Dragon”, trong Tales of the Chinese
Zodiac, của Jenn Reese.
Dragon
In the Year of the Dragon, Kwong found a glittering scale by the well
and brought it home to his wife, for it reminded him of the sea. No matter
how he held the scale, or how dim the light, the scale shimmered and
glowed like the sun dancing on the surface of the ocean: blue, green, and
smelling of salt.
Lian, Kwong's wife, was delighted with the scale and hung it in the
kitchen, where she could look at it all day while she worked. Lian began
spending more and more time gazing at the scale. The bread burned and the
rice cooked so long it became one white, gooey mass.
When Kwong called her to bed one night, she did not come. He found
her sitting on a chair in front of the scale and staring at its surface.
"What do you see that entrances you so?" he asked her.
"A princess," Lian said. "A princess of the deep ocean, with long hair
like tendrils of thick kelp and eyes pure white, like pearls, glowing in the
smooth green skin of her face. She is wearing a flowing dress and near it,
little silvery fish dance and sparkle in patterns. Also," Lian said, "she is my
daughter."
Kwong grunted. He loved his wife, but did not care for this madness.
That night he had suffered through a dinner of burnt fish and cold tea.
