Stories of Old Peking (《城南旧事》) portrays the adult world in Peking of the 1930s as seen through the eyes of a little girl. The five sequential stories in the book are well constructed in terms of theme and character development and, as such, can be read as a novel.

　　The stories differ greatly from many other books on life in China, whether they are about the olden times or the present day, in that they do not dwell on politics, nor do they try to make any statements regarding set beliefs of any kind. The stories are simple and direct. Through the eyes and innocent mind of the child, we are let into her world and her feeling and cannot but be moved.

　　The author is well known for her perception and humor, and both these qualities inform her stories. The sense of loss and bewilderment which arouses the child’s awareness of the uncertainties of human relationships, even of life itself, and which finally catapults the child away from childhood joys into the sorrows of the adult world is handled with great sensitivity and lyricism.

作者简介

林海音（1918–2001）

　　出生于日本，成长于北京，1948 年起定居台湾，是一位多产的作家、编辑和出版人，以观察入微，遣词幽默，善用短句，节奏轻快，用语灵活而闻名。1960 年林海音出版小说集《城南旧事》，随即奠定了她在台湾文坛上的基础。本书由五个顺序的故事组成，描写一个台湾家庭于1920年代旅居北京的故事，透过主人翁小英子热切单纯的眼睛观察她周遭的成人世界。林海音以细腻、抒情的笔触，描写本来天真无忧的小英子慢慢领略到人际关系和生命的无常，在迷失和困惑中，告别了童年。《城南旧事》出版后立即成为脍炙人口的作品，并在1982年由上海制片厂改编拍摄为电影。

　　Lin Hai-yin, born in Japan in 1918, is a graduate of the World Journalism College in Peiping She is a prolific writer and had been the editor of the literary page of United Daily News and The Literary Monthly before establishing her own publishing house.

　　Nancy C. Ing studied English literature in the West China Union University, Chengtu. She has translated several collections of short stories and is presently editor of The Chinese PEN, the English quarterly of the Taipei Chinese Center, International P.E.N.

　　Chi Pang-yuan is Professor of English at National Taiwan University and Chief Editor of An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature (2 vols.).

　　本书两位译者，殷张兰熙曾任台湾中华民国笔会英文季刊 The Chinese PEN 总编辑达二十年之久（1972–1992），现为该刊出版人；齐邦媛为台湾大学外文系荣休教授，曾主编《中国现代文学选集》。

　　此中英对照本尚有台湾中央研究院研究员彭小妍博士新序，以为导读。