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Dragon Inn
- East Asia Program, Cornell University
- Chapter
- Additional Information
279 Dragon Inn February 1966. Wang Wen-hsing’s only novella was written after “The Black Gown” as a preparation for writing novels. He began it while still in the United States but completed it following his return to Taiwan after receiving his MFA degree from the University of Iowa. “Dragon Inn” is about several Guomindang officers, their dangerous journeys into exile from Shanxi province in mainland China to Taiwan, and their reunion there. In this work, Wang returned to the language style used in “Midsummer on the Prairie.” v I By noon, the commotion in the market had calmed down considerably . At this time of day, the market was like a deserted beehive in June with only two or three bees left buzzing about, the buzzing being was the voices of vendors who were trying to sell what remained of their merchandise. A hot wind flapped the canvas awnings. On the dry ground beneath the awnings lay cut-open watermelons, piles of white radish and prickly yellow-green pineapples, which attracted swarms of flies. Occasionally the wind puffed up some of the awnings, revealing now and then the grayish sky they normally concealed, as well as a few betel palm trees with their thin trunks and the tile-covered eaves of the Confucian Temple that lay to the east. If the wind blew just a little harder, a few more awnings would be turned up and an old wooden structure on the corner just opposite the market would come into view. A large black board hung in the middle of the building inscribed with gilded characters: “Dragon Inn.” 280 v novella A stillness began to settle over the market, the silence broken only occasionally by the sound of voices haggling over prices—the vendors were lowering them grudgingly in order to sell off what remained of the day’s merchandise. Soon, even these sounds ceased, and the only people who passed through the market were pedestrians who did not even glance at the stalls. As the awnings flapped in the wind, from time to time the words “Dragon Inn” were revealed. This “Dragon Inn,” which stood in the semitropical sunlight, was a restaurant. The proprietor, who hailed from Shanxi province in China, came to Taiwan to flee the Communist takeover. He came alone and penniless. When he first arrived , he collected cigarette butts during the day and slept on the streets at night. Later, with a little help from some Shanxi friends, he put some money together and opened a streetside food stall that served a variety of lamb dishes. Who would have thought his business would boom and, within a few years, that he would amass quite a fortune. The successful entrepreneur bought this old building and opened a restaurant that served Shanxi cuisine, which attracted all kinds of patrons longing for hometown fare. There was a couplet hanging in the main hall upstairs that read, “Old friends drink wine together when far they roam; Dragon Inn is where we gather and remember our Shanxi home.” This couplet, presented by a famous personage originally from Shanxi, summed up customers’ feelings about the restaurant. Because business boomed and a steady stream of guests flocked to its door from morning to night, the vagrant who had built his business up from nothing had, amazingly enough, become a wealthy and successful businessman. On the road leading to the restaurant a small jeep with a canvas top appeared. The jeep slowly drew nearer, sounding its horn several times along the way, and eventually pulled up at the Dragon Inn’s door. A man in a white cotton dress shirt emerged from the jeep and stood at attention. Then a tall, thin, middle-aged man dressed in the khaki summer uniform of an army officer climbed out. This man also stepped to the side and extended an arm into the vehicle. An old man with a back bent like a bow emerged from the jeep. The two men standing on either side helped him alight. The [3.146.34.191] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 22:52 GMT) dragon inn v 281 man in uniform leaned into the vehicle and said, “Old Liu, go home and wait for my call.” The man’s uniform had a gold star pinned to the left collar. “Yes, Sir,” the driver answered. The man in uniform moved to the old man’s left and, with the other man walking on the old man’s right, they headed...