The Tree

The Tree is a collection of short stories by the French writer Bernard Werber, translated into Chinese by Gong Lei and published in 2018 by Beijing United Publishing Company (Lianhe Duchuang), containing 20 short pieces. The stories fall roughly into three kinds: some look down on humanity from the height of the cosmos or alien races, reducing people who fancy themselves lords of creation to playthings or experimental material for higher beings; some draw on myth, legend, and fantasy, pushing ancient themes to new extremes; and some start from everyday social phenomena, spinning ordinary trifles into absurd outcomes. None is long; each sets up its premise, turns, and concludes within a few thousand characters, yet the landing often carries irony and philosophical reflection. In "A Stone from Beyond the Sky," for instance, humans carefully wrap an object fallen from the heavens, only to discover they are the mussels in which someone else cultivates a pearl; "Number City" constructs a world that knows only ten numerals, where knowledge itself is a controlled object; in "A Journey Through Time and Space," even time travel requires buying return insurance; and "Perfect World" turns fully automated living into a new form of torment. The author says these little stories come from walks, conversations, dreams, and the irritations he wanted to dispel, with only one rule: first pose a question, then resolve it in an unexpected way. The title "The Tree" is both the name of one story and a hint that these short pieces are like seeds taking root and sprouting in the reader's mind. The overall style is light and easy to read, with striking imagination that nonetheless takes a serious look at the human condition.