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Williams Tomb 　　The World of Chinese is happy to present modern Chinese fiction from young Chinese writers in our new column， Dragon’s Digest. This issue， we bring you an excerpt from “Williams’ Tomb” （《威廉姆斯之墓》W8ili1nm^s～ Zh～ M） from author Di An （笛安）. Born in Shanxi Province， Di An published her first novel in 2005， “Farewell to Heaven” （《告别天堂》G3obi9 Ti`nt1ng）， and in 2008 her story “Yuanji” （《圆寂》， “Parinirvana”） won the China Novel Biennale prize. Di An won the most promising newcomer at the Chinese Literature Media Awards for “Memory in the City of the Dragon”（《西决》X～ Ju9）， the first novel of her “the City of Dragon Trilogy”. The novel saw sales of over 700，000， followed by the successful sequels， “Memory in the City of the Dragon II” （《东霓》D4ng N！） and “III” （《南音》N1n Y～n）. 　　When I was younger， he’d always say to me， “Son， be brave.”“Bravery” was a medicine that healed everything： you chewed it and swallowed it so it could treat the laughing and shaking shadows made by trees on the curtains， or the green bug called the “looper”that lowers itself without a care from the sky. It could treat the piercing cold that comes when you have to leave your bed on a cold winter morning. It could treat the kids who were bigger than me and used to bully me， or the repugnant teachers and words they wretchedly declaimed， the solemn norms of the world. I still don’t understand why I don’t hate those things that make me afraid， yet I am so determined to hate “bravery.”Or perhaps I’m just choosing a soft fruit to squeeze because the “fear” is so powerful， or maybe it’s because “bravery”is something that invaded me， while the “fear” comes from within me and belongs wholly to me. I said before that I must chew it and swallow it. It’s very bitter. So I can say simply that I am not a brave person. In fact， “not brave” is a polite， neutral， and civilized way of saying it. Father used other words to describe me：“limp dick，” for example， or “hopeless case，” or “snot bag” ―this one in