江苏太仓作家、世界华文微型小说研究会会长凌鼎年的第61本集子《风光旖旎的世界——凌鼎年微型小说精品》（双语版），2022年3月在美国华盛顿作家出版社出版。该书由澳籍中国学者郑苏苏翻译，是以西苑出版社2017年12月出版的《永远的箫声》一书为蓝本翻译的，共收录50篇微型小说作品，约16万字。澳洲作家，曾任澳大利亚驻广州总领馆二等秘书Patrick McGowan(中文名字:麦高文)为翻译集子写了《逍遥游——发自澳洲麦高文的心声》的代序。
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凌鼎年的作品题材涉及面广，故事精彩，寓意深刻，手法多变，语言精炼，阅读之，既是文学的享受，也是轻松学习英语、汉语的好文本。
《风光旖旎的世界——凌鼎年微型小说精品》（双语版）定价13.5美元。亚马逊网全球发行，美国、英国、德国、法国、意大利、加拿大、日本、澳大利亚、爱沙尼亚等国家有纸质书与电子版书邮购，荷兰、巴西、墨西哥、印度等有电子版书邮购。华盛顿作家出版社主要出版英汉双语纸本书、英文纸本书、中文电子书，出版后通过亚马逊网站（Amazon）向全球发行，进入图书馆采购系统。
郑苏苏在2019年翻译过凌鼎年的微型小说集子《五彩缤纷的世界》，在美国南方出版社出版，亚马逊全球发行。作为《五彩缤纷的世界》之姐妹集，为了组合成一个翻译系列，本书取名为《风光旖旎的世界》，郑苏苏正在翻译的凌鼎年的第三本微型小说集子取名为《扑朔迷离的世界》，预计6月完成翻译。
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附凌鼎年原作与郑苏苏翻译的英文版
荷香茶（小说）
凌鼎年
周家世居古庙镇好几代了，早先是镇上的大户人家。到周寒冰
父亲这一代已败落了，所幸的是周寒冰父亲留给了他一栋平房。房
是老房子，不起眼，院子很大，院中还有个小水池，依稀能见旧时
私家园林的轮廓。
周寒冰最喜欢的是周敦颐的《爱莲说》，认为这是周家的骄傲
。虽说查了几次也未查到他是周敦颐一脉后裔的文字证据，但他自
认为至少是周敦颐的精神后裔。
有了这种想法后，他把业余时间全放到了种荷上。他把淤塞的
小池拓宽拓阔，把池中之泥堆成土坡，坡上植梅，池中种荷。开春
，他欣赏“小荷才露尖尖角，早有蜻蜓立上头”的景色；入夏，他
陶醉于“映日荷花别样红”的意境里；深秋，他体会“留得残荷听
雨声”的趣味。
渐渐，周寒冰不满足于一般性地种一池荷花了，他开始搜寻荷
花佳品。功夫不负有心人，他先后觅到了大洒锦、重台莲、并蒂莲
、红千叶、寿星桃、千瓣莲、大碧莲、中日友谊莲等名贵品种。像
大洒锦，花型大，香味浓，颜色奇，白底红边蓝镶条，宛如荷花中
的皇后。周寒冰对这亭亭净植，香远益清的花中君子爱之日深。推
而广之，他又爱上了碗莲，他种了一盆又一盆，其中有“白雪公主
”“娇客”“娃娃莲”“醉杯”等皆是名品名种。几年下来，他家
里，院中有荷，池中有荷，窗台有荷，书桌上有荷，大大小小，一
百多盆，每到夏秋之际，周寒冰观叶观花观莲，真所谓其乐无穷。
他客厅里挂的是《墨荷图》《菡萏图》《接天莲叶无穷碧》，
书桌玻璃台板下压的是他自摄的荷花照片，他还请同邑的大书法家
苏人望先生题写了“国香轩”的斋名，一看便知主人乃真正爱荷人
。
常言道“物以类聚，人以群分”，周寒冰交结了一帮荷友，荷
花盛开期间，隔三差五小聚赏荷。偶尔还有外地光临小镇的文艺界
朋友慕名前来赏荷呢。
凡有客至，周寒冰必以上好的碧螺春茶待客。若是稀客，又是
性情中人，若他提前三天知道的话，周寒冰就以荷香茶来待客。
据说荷香茶乃元代大画家倪云林之发明。
周寒冰待夜色漫开，暑气消散后，取龙井一撮，用洁净的白纱
布包之，然后选一朵晨来刚开的荷花，放在莲房之上。荷花特点，
朝开暮合，夜晚放入，那茶叶即被荷花瓣包裹住了，待清晨荷花绽
放时取出。吸收异味乃茶叶之特性，尤以龙井为最，这一小包龙井
茶经一夜之吸收，荷香尽吸其中，花露也尽吸其中。可挂阴凉之处
晾干，夜来再放入，晨来再取出，再晾干，如是三夜。此龙井茶叶
既得荷花之馨香，又得天地之精华。再用洁净之水泡之，立时清香
扑鼻，闻之荷香缕缕，呷之沁人心脾，即便最挑剔的老茶客也常常
赞不绝口。
荷香茶有季节性，因此能在周寒冰家喝到荷香茶的并不多。
一日，娄城的摄影家裘一鸣打电话来说要拍些荷花照片。
裘一鸣以拍花鸟鱼虫照片见长，特别是拍静物，确实有自己独
特的心得。
这次海内外数家单位联合举办“2009国际荷花摄影大赛”，这
是国际性大赛，裘一鸣自然看重，拍花本是他的强项，他一副志在
必得的样子。据说不少参赛者都涌到苏州拙政园、南浔小莲庄去取
景头了。裘一鸣寻思，园林里的荷不免大路货，且你能拍，他也能
拍，缺乏与众不同的竞争力。如何发挥静物的特点，又在取景上避
免雷同呢？裘一鸣想到了周寒冰家的荷花。说起来仅一面之交，交
情不深。不过无妨，裘一鸣甚至认为有些事，浅交比深交好，君子
之交淡如水嘛。
裘一鸣在娄城文艺界是有点知名度的。周寒冰对这位同道的拜
访，很是高兴，已预先准备了荷香茶。如今古庙镇也用上了自来水
，或许是水质污染的关系，用自来水烧开后泡出的荷香茶那味总逊
色好几分。因此周寒冰都是用井水的。当然，按古人说法，最好是
无根之水，即天落水。也是巧，前天一场雨，周寒冰收好一小缸夏
雨水呢。
裘一鸣一到，好客的周寒冰就要泡荷香茶待之。裘一鸣摆摆手
说：“先别忙喝茶，早晨的光线最柔和，最适合拍带露荷花。先拍
摄，再喝茶，好不好？”
这种艺术家的敬业态度立时博得了周寒冰的好感。于是，两人
来到院中，周寒冰如数家珍地一一告知这盆叫什么名，那盆叫什么
名，这盆以花型大闻名，那盆以香气足传世……
裘一鸣心不在焉地听着，他的眼睛却如鹰隼般扫视着每片叶，
每朵花，从不同的角度捕捉着别具一格的画面构图。“好花，太好
了。”不一会儿，他就沉浸在自己的发现之中，似乎已忘了周寒冰
的存在。
周寒冰倒并不在乎他这种态度，他反认为搞艺术的就该有这种
痴迷劲头。
裘一鸣拍了几张后，发现周寒冰一直在身边陪着就对他说：“
你忙你的，我一个人拍，静心些。”
周寒冰想想也是，怕干扰了裘一鸣的构思，就悄悄回了屋。他
泡好了荷香茶，只待裘一鸣拍好，一起赏荷品茗，聊上一聊。
裘一鸣整整拍了两个小时才恋恋不舍地回到屋来，那脸上抑制
不住兴奋。他望着那满院的荷花说：“如果我家有这么多荷花，每
天早上来选景拍几张，不获奖我不姓裘。”
“随时欢迎你来拍。”周寒冰很真诚。
“我走了，荷香茶下次来喝。我得赶紧回去冲印出来，所谓先
睹为快。”
周寒冰虽觉遗憾，却很理解他，一直把裘一鸣送到门口。
送走裘一鸣后，周寒冰才发现裘一鸣为拍摄到理想的荷花图，
做了不少所谓的艺术加工，诸如这盆摘掉一柄荷叶，那盆剪掉一朵
荷花插在这盆里，或者剪了几盆的莲子，集中插一盆中……
周寒冰对荷花感情之深，有如生命，他甚至连残荷都轻易不剪
枝修叶，没想到裘一鸣他会如此对待神圣的荷花。周寒冰对他的好
印象一下丧失殆尽。周寒冰气呼呼地回到屋里把为裘一鸣泡的荷香
茶泼了，心里想，幸亏他没喝，他这种人不配喝荷香茶。
荷香茶
The Lotus-Scented Tea
Having dwelled in Gumiaozhen Town for several
generations, the Zhous used to be a rich and influential
family. By the time Zhou Hanbing’s father inherited the
family estate, the household had come down in the world.
Fortunately, his father has left a one-storied house to
him. Being an old house, it is not attractive in appearance
but it has a large courtyard. With a pond in it, the
courtyard now still faintly reveals the remaining charm of
a private garden which existed a long time ago.
Zhou Hanbing is very fond of Ode to the Lotus Flowers
written by Zhou Dunyi (a philosopher of the Northern Song
Dynasty). He feels proud of this famous writer who wrote
the beautiful prose. Though he has failed to find out,
through repeated research, any written evidence that he is
a real descendant of Zhou Dunyi, he still considers himself
a spiritual descendant of this great writer.
Ever since he had this idea in mind, he has spent all
his spare time on lotus growing. He has had the silted-up
pond expanded horizontally and vertically and then, with
the mud dredged from the pond, he has heaped up the earthen
slope. He has planted plum trees on the slope and grows
lotus in the pond. When spring begins, he enjoys the scene
of ‘a new bud has just appeared in the shape of a tiny
spearhead, whereas a dragonfly is already resting on this
nice point.’ At the beginning of summer, he is intoxicated
with the artistic ambience of ‘the lotus flowers in the
sun appearing especially red.’ In late autumn, he savours
the pleasure of ‘listening to the sound of rain pattering
on withered lotus leaves.’
Gradually, Zhou Hanbing became less and less satisfied
with the state of growing a pond of only ordinary lotus. He
began to seek rare species of lotus. As hard work always
yields results, he has found one after another valuable
species such as Large Blotched, Heavy Lotus, Twin Flowers
on One Stalk, Red Chiba, Longevity Peach, Thousand Petals,
Big Lotus and Sino-Japanese Friendship Lotus. The species
called Large Blotched has large flowers, overpowering scent
and unique colour — its white petals are rimmed with red.
All these splendid features make it appear as the queen of
lotus. Zhou’s affection for lotus, the noble flower which
stands straight and gracefully and spreads its sweet scent
quite far, grows stronger and stronger. His fondness of
lotus extends and he also loves its analogue — nelumbo
nucifera. He grows one pot after another of this tiny
lotus. The rare species he has collected include ‘Snow
White’, ‘Charming Visitor’, ‘Baby Lotus’ and ‘Drunken
Cup’. Several years’ collection and cultivation have seen
lotus growing everywhere in Zhou’s home: in the courtyard,
in the pond, on the windowsills as well as on his desk. Big
or small, there are altogether more than 100 pots of lotus
in his home. Every year when summer is changing into
autumn, it is an immense pleasure for him to appreciate the
beauty of lotus by viewing their leaves and flowers.
Hanging on the wall of his living room are three
paintings — ‘Lotus Flowers Painted in Black Ink’, ‘The
Picture of Lotus Flowers’ and ‘The boundless green of
lotus leaves stretches far into the horizon’. Photographs
of lotus flowers which have come from his own camera are
placed under the glass top of his desk. He asked a famous
calligrapher named Su Renwang, who is his fellow townsman,
to write an inscription for his home which he calls ‘the
House of National Flowers’. This name is a clear
indication of the fact that the owner of the house is an
authentic lotus lover.
As a saying goes, “Things of a kind come together,
people of a mind fall into the same group.” Zhou has made
friends with a group of lotus lovers. When lotus flowers
are in full blossom, they often have casual get-togethers
to feast their eyes on lotus flowers. Occasionally, there
are people of the art and literary circles who, attracted
to Zhou’s lotus garden by its reputation, have come from
other cities to delight in viewing Zhou’s lotus flowers.
Whenever he has visitors, Zhou always brews best-quality
Biluochun tea to treat his guests. If the visitor is a rare
guest and also an unsophisticated person and if Zhou is
informed of his coming three days in advance, he will
prepare lotus-scented tea to treat this guest.
It is said that lotus-scented tea was invented by Ni
Yunlin, a famous painter of the Yuan Dynasty.
Zhou waits until the darkness of night has prevailed in
the sky and the heat in the air has dissipated. Then he
gets a pinch of Longjing tea leaves and use a piece of
clean gauze to wrap these leaves. He selects a lotus flower
which has just bloomed in the morning and places the ‘tea-
bag’ on top of the pistil. A lotus flower opens in the
morning and closes at night. So if the ‘tea-bag’ is
placed on top of the pistil in the evening, the tea leaves
will soon be wrapped by the petals. Next day on early
morning the ‘tea-bag’ will be taken out when the flower
is in full bloom. Tea leaves have a specific property of
absorbing a strange odour and Longjing tea leaves top
others in this respect. This tiny bag of Longjing tea
leaves, having breathed in and out overnight, has absorbed
the fragrance of a lotus flower and has also taken in the
moisture of dew which stayed on the petals. The wet ‘tea-
bag’ can be air-dried in a shady and cool spot. When
evening comes it will be placed on top of the pistil of a
newly opened lotus flower; the next morning it will be
taken out from inside the flower and then air-dried. The
whole process will be repeated and when the third night is
past, the Longjing tea leaves have not only absorbed the
lotus aroma but also breathed in the essence of the
universe. As soon as clean boiling water is poured into the
container with this tea-bag in it, a delicate fragrance
will assail the nostrils. The tea gives out the smell of
fragrant lotus flowers. A sip of it makes you feel
refreshed all over your body. Even the most choosy,
experienced tea lovers very often cannot stop praising this
unique tea.
The lotus-scented tea is a seasonal delicacy. Therefore,
not many people have had the luck of tasting it in Zhou
Hanbing’s home.
One day Qiu Yiming, a photographer from Louchen made a
telephone call to Zhou Hanbing, saying that he would like
to visit Zhou’s home to take photographs of lotus flowers.
Qiu Yiming is especially good at photography involving
flowers, birds, fish and insects. His photos, still-life
photography in particular, have a distinctive style of
their own.
The ‘2009 International Lotus-Flower-Themed
Photographic Competition’, which is jointly sponsored by
various overseas and domestic organizations, is a major
international competition. It is surely regarded as very
important by Qiu. As still-life photography of flowers is
his forte, Qiu is determined to win. It is said that quite
a few competitors have swarmed to the Humble
Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou or the Little Lotus
Village in Nanxun. Qiu was pondering that the lotus flowers
in public gardens are too common. Besides, everybody can
take pictures of those flowers, thus making their photos
lack competitiveness as they are not different from the
common run. How to make full use of the characteristic of
still life? How to avoid similarities in finding a view to
shoot? Qiu Yiming thought of the lotus flowers in Zhou
Hanbing’s home. Regarding their relationship, they had met
only once and they were only on nodding terms.
However, Qiu reckoned that under certain circumstances a
nodding acquaintance might be better than a close
relationship, just as the saying goes, “A hedge between
keeps friendship green.”
Qiu Yiming has some fame in the art and literary circles
of Loucheng. Zhou felt very happy to know that this
personage, also a lotus lover, was coming to visit him. He
had prepared in advance lotus-scented tea. Now the
residents of Gumiaozhen Town have running water to use.
Probably because of water pollution, lotus-scented tea
brewed by running water does not taste good enough.
Therefore, Zhou always uses well water to make this special
tea. Of course, according to the conventional practice of
ancient people, the best way was to use ‘water without
roots’, or in other words, ‘water coming from heaven’.
It so happened that there had been rain the day before
yesterday and Zhou had collected a jar of summer rain
water.
When Qiu Yiming arrived, Zhou was ready to brew lotus-
scented tea to treat him. Qiu waved his hand and said:
“There is no hurry to drink tea. The morning light is soft
and it’s good for taking pictures of lotus flowers with
dew. Is it all right to take pictures first and then drink
tea?”
This professional dedication of real artists immediately
made a good impression on the host. So the two went to the
courtyard. Having everything at his fingertips, Zhou told
Qiu what species this pot of lotus was and what that one
was called; this species was noted for its large-sized
flowers and that one was famous for the overpowering
fragrance of its flowers, so on and so forth.
Listening to Zhou absent-mindedly, the photographer,
like a hawk searching for prey, passed his eyes over each
individual leaf and every single flower. Viewing from
different angles, he was seeking the best composition for a
unique picture to be taken. “Beautiful flowers! Absolutely
wonderful!” He was immersed in his own findings and seemed
to forget Zhou’s existence.
Zhou did not care about Qiu’s attitude toward him. On
the contrary, he considered this to be the kind of
infatuation a real artist should have.
It was not until he had snapped several pictures that
Qiu found Zhou had been by his side all along. He said to
Zhou: “Don’t worry about me. I will be able to
concentrate my mind if I take pictures on my own.”
Zhou considered what Qiu had said to be true. In order
not to disturb Qiu’s concentration on his work, he quietly
went back to his room. He brewed lotus-scented tea and
intended to wait for Qiu to come to enjoy the tea together
and have a chat as well when the photographer had finished
his work.
Two whole hours had passed before Qiu reluctantly came
back to the room. His face was beaming with excitement.
Looking at the lotus flowers which could be seen everywhere
in the courtyard, Qiu uttered: “If I had so many lotus
flowers at home and I were able to take several pictures
every morning, I would be a damned fool should I fail to
win a big prize.”
“You may come to take pictures at any time,” Zhou said
in all sincerity.
“I have to go now and I will taste lotus-scented tea
next time. I should go home to develop and print the
snapshots as soon as possible. This is what we describe as
taking delight in seeing unknown treasure first in time.”
Though feeling a little regret, Zhou understood this
fellow’s eagerness in seeing his work. He accompanied Qiu
to the door.
Only after he had seen Qiu off did he find that this
photographer, in order to get ideal pictures of lotus
flowers, had done a lot of “artistic treatment”, such as
getting rid of a lotus leaf in this pot or cutting a flower
and removing it from that pot to another one. Worst of all,
he cut lotus pods from several pots to put them together
into a single pot.
Zhou cherishes a deep affection for lotus flowers and
sees them as his own life. Even with withered lotus plants,
he seldom prunes or trims their stems and leaves. He did
not expect that this artist would mistreat the sacred lotus
flowers. The good impression that Qiu left on him had
suddenly vanished. He sailed into his room in a huff and
threw away the lotus-scented tea he had made for Qiu. He
said to himself: “Luckily he didn’t drink it. This type
of person does not deserve to enjoy this noble tea.”
药膳大师（小说）
凌鼎年
在娄城餐饮界，有个不成文的规矩：凡开张饭店的，你不请市
里的头儿脑儿可以，不请场面上露脸的那些款爷富婆可以，但假如
你不请戚梦箫光临，不请他说几句好听的，那我敢打赌，你这饭店
的生意必好不到哪儿去。
为何？
难道说这戚梦箫比市长还市长，比书记还书记？
嗨，你还真的说对了一半，戚梦箫在餐饮界的知名度牛着呢，
外号“美食家”。据说其祖父是清朝皇宫里的御厨，其父亲曾是上
海国际饭店特聘掌厨。他本人呢，虽不是啥名厨，却整理出版过一
本《娄城历代名菜谱》，还被《美食家》杂志特聘为刊物顾问，连
省电视台摄像人员也专程到娄城为他拍摄了《娄城美食家》的专题
片。
由于他有如此知名度，娄城的那些老饕们自然十分注意他的动
向，他不肯捧场的饭店，他们自然也极少光临。如果戚梦箫在哪个
饭桌上哪个场合说了某某厨师，或某某菜味道不错，那必有不少人
会慕名去尝一尝。影响最大的一招是戚梦箫闲来无事时还会写篇千
把字文，或介绍一只传统名菜、或介绍一道特色名点，文中间或还
会批评、表扬一两家饭店或起色了或滑坡了，这就使得戚梦箫的一
言一行在一定程度上影响着娄城的餐饮界。因此，宾馆、饭店、酒
家的老板谁不巴结他？只要他一到，“戚老，戚老”“老法师”“
美食家”之称呼就不绝于耳，必上最好的菜，最靓的汤，让他品评
，请他指点，唯恐怠慢了他，得罪了他。
却偏偏有不识相，不拎行情的。这不，刚开张的大学士街的“
王记药膳菜馆”，竟没有请戚梦箫。
据知内情人透露，开张前有人提议不请谁都可以，戚梦箫是非
请不可的，谁知菜馆的总经理王一脉竟然大言不惭说：“酒香不怕
巷子深”，似乎对戚梦箫不屑一顾。
“王记药膳菜馆”的反常举动引起了媒体的好奇，他们很想知
道菜馆吸引顾客的绝招何在，就去采访了王一脉。
王一脉告知记者：四百多年前李时珍来娄城拜访其先祖王世贞
时，请王世贞为《本草纲目》写序，这本《本草纲目》在王世贞处
一放就放了十年，直到1590年王世贞临死前才看完了全书，写出了
序言。其实有一个细节外人不知，王世贞请人抄录了其中的药膳部
分，共有400多个食疗医方呢，这个食疗医方成了他们王家的传家宝
。现在传到了他手里，他正是根据这些食疗医方才开这爿药膳馆的
——哇，来头还不小呢，老记者们一个个顿时来了兴趣，要请王总
经理详谈一下有关药膳知识。
谁知这一问，问到了王一脉的脉上，他侃侃而谈起来，什么“
虚者补之”“实者泻之”“寒者热之”“热者寒之”；什么“肺宜
辛，心宜甘，脾宜苦，肝宜酸，肾宜咸”；什么“春不食肝，夏不
食心，秋不食肺，冬不食肾”……
一套一套的，听得见多识广的老记者们也一愣一愣的。王一脉
趁热打铁，邀请老记者们吃一顿便饭，尝一尝他的手艺，免得被人
说“天桥的把式——光说不练。”
老记者们已被他说得口水都要滴出来了，都说：“你不请我们
吃，我们也不走了。”
王一脉叫手下端来了玉米须炖龟、姜汁拌海螺、泥鳅钻豆腐、
百合鲤鱼、天冬炖鸡、陈皮扒鸭掌、杜仲腰花、荸荠狮子头、枸杞
汁熏麻雀；素菜类有琥珀莲子、冬菇萝卜球、口蘑椒油小白菜、酿
煎青椒、韭菜炒胡桃、葵花豆腐；还有竹荪芙蓉汤与茯苓烙饼小点
心，最后上了芡实粉与山药粥各一盆。
吃得老记者们一个个都说：“味道好极了！”
王一脉呢在边上介绍如何选料、用料、配料，如何掌握刀法、
器具、火候，如何做到形、色、香、味俱全，还一口气说了要“不
偏不倚，不过不离，不韧不糜，不老不嫩，不坚不滑，不燥不寒，
不涩不腻，不咸不淡，不艳不暗，不大不小”，听得老记者们个个
目瞪口呆，其中一个专跑饮食条线的老记者由衷地说道：“你王总
才是真正的美食家，今天我们算是开了眼界，享了口福，饱了耳福
。”
第二天，市报上一篇《访药膳大师王一脉》的专访登了将近半
版，还配发了照片。
电视台则在《生活》栏播放了《别具一格的药膳菜》；电台则
播了《真正的美食家王一脉访谈录》；网站还把“陈皮野兔肉”“
田七鸡杂炖鲫鱼”“东坡童子甲鱼”“绿豆汤西瓜盅”“蟹黄鱼翅
”“当归枸杞鸡”“壮阳乌龟汤”等盆菜的照片也上了网。
这股宣传势头使得“王记药膳菜馆”一时名声大噪，食客盈门
。
戚梦箫原本以为王记药膳菜馆早晚会请他的，但现在看来这种
可能性很小很小，他有点坐不住了。他是个吃遍娄城皆上宾的美食
家，现在如此美食品尝不到，他浑身难受。从另一方面讲，他也实
在想去实地看一看、品一品，到底是名大于实呢，还是实大于名，
可他又实在不好意思自己跑上门去吃。总算有人看出了道道，请了
戚梦箫去品尝药膳菜。
戚梦箫去之前，特地翻了唐代孟洗的《食疗本草》、南唐陈士
良的《食性本草》、明代汪颖的《食物本草》等，以防到时出洋相
。
无论怎么说，戚梦箫乃老吃客了，嘴早吃得极刁极刁，但当他
品尝了百花鱼肚、香酥飞龙、柳蒸羊羔、蝴蝶海参、卤猴头菌、燕
窝人参羹等药膳菜后，一语不发。席散后，他突然大喊道：“你们
把老板叫出来！”
请客者蓦然一惊，怕戚梦箫说出些不得体的话来，忙说：“戚
老，你今天喝多了，走吧，走吧。”
哪想到戚梦箫坚持不肯走，非要见王一脉不可。
王一脉见是戚梦箫，忙说：“失敬失敬！”
戚梦箫也不客套，直截了当说：“虚头话不说了，拿笔墨来
！”
笔墨拿上来后，戚梦箫略一凝神，提笔写下了“良厨有如良医
，诚药膳大师也”。落上款后，他笔一扔，头也不回地走了。
药膳大师
The Medicated Diet Master
In Loucheng catering circles there is an unwritten
convention: when a restaurant is going to open for
business, it is acceptable not to invite leaders of the
municipal government to the dinner table for the
celebration; it is also no problem not to invite those male
and female moneybags who love to make a public appearance.
However, if you do not invite Qi Mengxiao to be
present at the dinner party, nor do you ask him to say some
fine words, I bet that the business of your restaurant is
to be far from good.
Why?
Is Qi Mengxiao more powerful than the mayor? Is he
more influential than the Party secretary?
Hey, you almost put it right! His fame in the catering
circles is so high that he has earned the nickname
“Gourmet”. It is said that his grandfather was an
imperial chef in the palace of the Qing Dynasty and his
father was specially hired as the chief cook by the
Shanghai International Hotel. Though Qi himself is not
anything like a famous chef, he has compiled and published
a cookbook entitled “Loucheng’s Famous Recipes of All
Ages”. He has been invited to be a consultant by the
Gourmet Magazine. Even the cameraman of the provincial TV
station made a special trip to Loucheng to shoot a
television special about him which was named “The Gourmet
of Loucheng”.
As Qi is so famous in Loucheng, those gourmands in
this city naturally pay much attention to what he is up to.
If a restaurant failed to get his support, it was only
natural that this restaurant would be rarely visited by
those people. If Qi, on this or that occasion, praised a
chef or said that he had found a dish quite delicious,
there would be many people who were attracted to the
restaurant where that chef was cooking or that particular
dish was on its menu. The most influential thing is his
one-thousand-character essays which he writes in his spare
time. In his essays he either introduces a traditional dish
or recommends a specialty delicacy. Between the lines he
may say something about one or two restaurants, praising a
restaurant for making progress in its cooking skill or
criticizing another for going downhill in its cuisine. All
this has made what Qi says and does, to a certain extent,
produce an impact on the catering circles of Loucheng City.
Among the bosses of guesthouses, hotels and restaurants,
which of them did not try to carry favour with him? Every
time he comes to attend a dinner party, various respectful
forms of address such as “venerable Qi”, “revered old
Qi”, “Old Master” and “Gourmet”, one after another can
be heard. Well-prepared dishes and very nice soups are
presented to him for appraisal and advice. All these have
to be done for fear that he might find them lacking in
proper etiquette and respect.
Nobody expected that there would be somebody who was
so tactless as not to follow the herd. Here it is: the
newly opened Mr Wang’s Medicated Food Restaurant on
Daxieshi Street, to everyone’s surprise, did not invite Qi
Mengxiao.
It was revealed by an insider that before the
restaurant began doing business somebody made a suggestion
that it would be alright not to invite anybody else but Qi
Mengxiao. He was the only one who should be invited. Quite
unexpectedly, Wang Yimai, the general manager of the
restaurant bragged unblushingly: “Good wine sells well
even deep in an outlying lane.” It seemed as if Wang Yimai
regarded Qi Mengxiao as unworthy of notice.
The unusual behaviour of Mr Wang’s Medicated Food
Restaurant aroused the curiosity of the media. They were
eager to know what kind of secret recipe this restaurant
had to attract customers and interviewed him.
Mr Wang told the journalists such a story: More than
400 years ago when Li Shizhen came to Loucheng to visit Mr
Wang’s ancestor— Wang Shizhen (a famous writer of the
Ming Dynasty), the former asked the latter to write a
preface to his book “Compendium of Materia Medica” (a
classical work on Chinese materia medica compiled by Li
Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty). This book remained idle in
Wang Shizhen’s home for 10 years. It was not until the
year 1590 when Wang Shizhe was approaching his end that he
had just finished reading it and wrote the preface. As a
matter of fact, there was a detail which was unknown by
outsiders. Wang Shizhen asked someone to copy out from the
book the medicated diet part. This part contained
altogether over 400 food therapy prescriptions and became
an heirloom of the Wang Family. It has now passed on to Mr.
Wang. Based on these food therapy prescriptions he has
established this medicated food restaurant. —Wow, what
strong backing he has! The interest of all the senior
journalists present was immediately aroused. They asked
General Manager Wang to give a detailed account of what
medicated food was.
By coincidence their query happened to be his
favourite topic. He began to talk with ease and assurance.
First he talked about various therapies: diseases of the
deficiency type should be treated with replenishing
methods; a sickness coming from overeating should be
treated by a formula for purgation; symptoms caused by cold
factors should be treated by giving thermal therapy; a heat
syndrome should be treated with drugs of a cold nature.
Then he related what kind of food was good for our organs:
pungent food is good for the lung; sweet food for the
heart; bitter food for the spleen; sour food for the liver;
salty food for the kidney. He also stated what food should
be abstained from what season: no animal livers in spring;
no animal hearts in summer; no animal lungs in autumn; no
animal kidneys in winter, and so on and so forth. One
theory after another was released. Even those senior
journalists who were experienced and knowledgeable were
stunned by what they heard. Seizing time by the forelock,
Mr Wang invited the journalists to have an informal dinner
to test his cooking skill. He did not want other people to
regard him as something like “the masters in Tianqiao, all
for show and no real stuff.”
The journalists, whose mouths were already watering
after hearing his narration, said in chorus: “Even if you
didn’t invite us, we wouldn’t leave.”
Mr Wang told his assistants to bring in a variety of
dishes. They were stewed turtle with corn tassel, loach
dipped into bean curd, carp cooked with lily bulbs, stewed
chicken with lucid asparagus, braised duck webs seasoned
with dried tangerine peel, stir-fried pork kidney with bark
of eucommia, meatballs containing water chestnut, smoked
sparrows seasoned with Chinese wolfberry juice. There were
also dishes mainly made of vegetables, i.e. lotus seeds
cooked to have an amber appearance, meatballs containing
mushroom and radish, green pepper stuffed with minced pork,
stir-fried chives and walnuts, bean curd dotted with
sunflower seeds. The dishes were followed by two desserts:
bamboo fungus and egg soup, Fuling pancake. The last
presented to the dinner table were a bowl of porridge of
seed powder of gordon euryale and a bowl of Chinese yam
porridge.
The journalists were so impressed by the food that
they all uttered: “The taste is marvellous indeed!”
Standing by the dinner table, Mr Wang explained to
them how to select, use and assort food ingredients; how to
bring into full play the skill with kitchen knives; how to
make better use of cooking utensils and how to control the
strength and duration of fire in cooking; how to make every
dish superb in appearance, colour, smell and taste. Then he
rattled off the importance of being “just right in taste
and flavour”, ‘just right in cuisine and food”,
“neither tough nor pulpy”, “neither overdone nor too
rare”, “neither using foodstuffs which may cause
indigestion nor selecting anything that may induce
lientery”, “neither containing food ingredients which may
produce dry heat nor adding anything that may bring
coldness into the body”, “neither acerbic nor greasy”,
“just right in saltiness”, “neither too bright nor too
dark”, “neither too big nor too small”, etc. Mr Wang’s
narration dumbfounded all the listeners. One of them, a
senior journalist who specialised in writing reports on
catering topics said sincerely: “It is you, General
Manager Wang, who can be regarded as a real epicure.
Today’s experience is an eye-opener to us. Today we not
only have the luck to enjoy delicious food but also have
the gratification of listening to a wonderful lecture on
food and cooking.”
On the following day a special article after the
interview appeared in the city newspaper. Entitled
“Interviewing Medicated Diet Master Wang Yimai”, this
article occupied nearly half a page with photos attached.
The local TV station broadcasted in its “Life forum”
a program “The Medicated Diet with a Unique Style”. The
radio station put on air “An Interview with a Real Epicure
Wang Yinai”. A website demonstrated to viewers various
photos such as “hare’s meat seasoned with dried tangerine
peel”, “braised crucian carp and chicken giblets mixed
with pseudo-ginseng”, “Dongpo-style stewed young
turtle”, “mung bean soup contained in the rind of half a
watermelon”, “braised golden crab-spawn and shark’s
fin”, “chicken cooked with Chinese angelica and barbary
wolfberry fruit”, “tortoise soup for producing a viagra-
like effect”.
This momentum of publicity has helped Mr Wang’s
Medicated Food Restaurant shoot to fame overnight, and thus
making it packed with customers.
Originally Qi Mengxiao had thought that Mr Wang’s
Medicated Food Restaurant would invite him to its dinner
table. However, it appeared that the possibility of his
being invited was very slim. He began to fidget at this
awkward situation. He is a gourmet who had tasted every
delicious food which could be found on the menu of this or
that restaurant in Loucheng and who had been treated by all
the restaurants in this city as a distinguished guest. Now
he did not have the luck to taste such wonderful food. He
was feeling completely uncomfortable. On the other hand,
deep in his mind he was anxious to go to that restaurant to
have a look and try the taste of its food. He was eager to
make an assessment to find out in this case whether the
facts spoke louder than the fame, or vice versa. However,
he would feel embarrassed to go to the restaurant on his
own and dine there
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