Journal of Italian Translation - Brooklyn College - Academic Home ...

Gaoheng Zhang / Francesca Bellino
and opinions of those who are waiting for the TV news to give the
latest report on the quake.
Placed at the center of the big hall, the TV set is beautified with
a big vase of colorful artificial flowers. Small groups of people fix
their gaze on it, waiting to learn Rome’s destiny. Pan Na Na takes
a quick glance at the screen and then looks the other way immediately,
not paying a bit of attention to the flowers. She doesn’t want
to know anything any more. Now her only desire is to be alone for
at least half an hour.
She walks swiftly toward the parking lot, opens the trunk of
her BMW to let in air for the boxes of food, takes her seat in the front,
and reclines it. Hugging her bulging purse on her lap, she closes
her eyes. She tries to relax and dream about having no fears. She
wishes to become rich and enjoy her wealth in Italy and in China.
She imagines herself being eternal, ageless, and stretched out in
a field of flowers beside a limpid creek that gushes faithfully and
glitteringly as it caresses her feet. She looks upward and smiles
at the sun and moon together. The bleating of baby goats reaches
her from afar. An unknown feeling of peacefulness envelops her
whole body.
All of a sudden, she sees a rain composed of colossal numerals
of four falling down from the sky. The dream becomes nightmarish.
To her people, the number four signifies death. Hit by this peculiar
rain, she is submerged by an infinite quantity of fours that immobilizes
her and leaves her gasping for air. With nowhere to escape,
death comes looking for her, and she is incapable of resisting it.
She lets out a long and liberating shriek, something that she must
have meant to do for days. This sound alarms Wen Sen Zuo who
comes running immediately, red in the face and out of breath. He
has heard and recognized the voice of his wife in spite of the clamor
in the hall and the extremely high volume of the TV.
“Na Na, what happened?” He asks worriedly, running awkwardly
toward her. When he reaches the car, he is unsure how to
react to the situation. Rather than trying to save his wife from her
nightmare, he is petrified by the scene unfolding before his disbe-
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