Here is the entire text of Fire from the Sun, as one PDF file per chapter.
There are 76 chapters altogether, organized in 3 books. There is also a brief postscript (part of the story), and a glossary of operatic terms. Each of these items is linked here as a PDF file, for which you will need the Acrobat reader. (You probably have it, if you use the Internet much.) These are small files, average size 70-80K, and should download very quickly.
Each chapter is "set up" with an epigrammatic couplet, in the style of old Chinese novels. I have included these couplets here, as a rough guide to events; though a particular couplet may not make sense until you have read the chapter …
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| Book 1 | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1 | New Costumes at the Swimming Pool We Have Friends All Over the World! |
| Chapter 2 | A Fairy Weeps a Lake of Tears Moon Pearl Dances in the Bamboo Grove |
| Chapter 3 | A Bird Who Takes Fright at the Sound of the Bow The Liang Family Entertains Ardent Young Guests |
| Chapter 4 | Down with Bourgeois Things! Father Becomes a Big Character Poster |
| Chapter 5 | Moon Pearl No Longer Cares for Loquats A Scholar Unwisely Speaks His Mind |
| Chapter 6 | The Wood Has Been Made Into A Boat Through the Palace of Green Porcelain to the Willow Palisade |
| Chapter 7 | Flat All Around Brings Forth an Upright Official An Enterprising Young Man Tells of His Conquests |
| Chapter 8 | Clean Up the Class Ranks! Weilin Joins a Daring Expedition |
| Chapter 9 | Mother Divulges a Terrible Secret The Barefoot Doctor Shows His Art |
| Chapter 10 | Weilin Ventures a Bold Suggestion An Old Campaigner Earns Merit for His Next Life |
| Chapter 11 | Strange Blessings Fall on Weilin's Head A Brief Experience of the Seafaring Life |
| Chapter 12 | If You Don't Love Opera, You're Not a Human Being Half Brother Answers Chairman Mao's Call |
| Chapter 13 | A Startling Demonstration of the Power of Poetry Peach Blossom Lets Down the School |
| Chapter 14 | Moon Pearl Makes the Acquaintance of Yellow Tiger A Situation in the Affairs of Our Country |
| Chapter 15 | A Young Man's Tears Flow at Parting An American President Makes Little Impression |
| Chapter 16 | Big Ten Bestows Favor on the Han Family Moon Pearl Encounters a Potent Demon |
| Chapter 17 | Words of Encouragement Beneath the White Stupa An Old Revolutionary's Principles Come Under Siege |
| Chapter 18 | Moon Pearl Seeks Divine Assistance Strange Portents Foretell Great Changes |
| Chapter 19 | The Stage Trembles As a Great Man Departs The White-Haired Girl Takes a Victim |
| Chapter 20 | Comrade Deng Xiaoping Finds Food for His Soul Father Returns to His Principles |
| Chapter 21 | A Great Party Shows Symptoms of Decline Moon Pearl Receives a New Name |
| Chapter 22 | The World's Greatest Tenor Enters the Middle Kingdom Teacher Powell Bids Farewell to a Favorite Student |
| Chapter 23 | Father Regrets Past Indulgence Secretary Kang Conducts a Special Examination |
| Chapter 24 | An Offering Declined, an Offering Accepted A Famous Boxer Displays True Compassion |
| Chapter 25 | Fourth Uncle Holds a Full Month Party Hong Kong — A Paradise for Shoppers! |
| Chapter 26 | When Constabulary Duty's To Be Done The Excellent and Manly Game of Rugby Football |
| Chapter 27 | Holly and Ivy Prompt Certain Significant Changes Christmas Feasting Recalls a King of Ancient Times |
| Chapter 28 | The Voice of a Goddess Touches Weilin's Heart A Lookout Helps Further Some Business Discussions |
| Chapter 29 | A Foreign Official Shows Skill in Rhetoric The Wu Clan Takes in an Orphan |
| Chapter 30 | One Romantic Young Lady Endures a Rebuff Another is Broken by Despair |
| Chapter 31 | Thought Processes of a Mathematician The Hazards of Playing the Financial Markets |
| Chapter 32 | Excessive Purity Turns Away Affection Weilin Finds the Tinder Box At Last |
| Chapter 33 | Enterprise Blossoms in the Middle Kingdom Big Fu is Overwhelmed by Greatness |
| Chapter 34 | Pilgrimage to the White Goddess Harmony Disturbed by Strange Events |
| Book 2 | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 35 | Moon Pearl Ventures to the Far West A Fellow Traveler Hopes for News from India |
| Chapter 36 | A Brief Introduction to the Culture of Our National Minorities Why Are There So Few Trees in Tibet? |
| Chapter 37 | Johnny Liu Waits for an East Wind Unexpected Encounter on the Mountaintop |
| Chapter 38 | Secretary Ma Speaks Out Against Demons Norbu Swears a Solemn Oath |
| Chapter 39 | Does Heaven Speak? Old Bolmo Rescues a Snake |
| Chapter 40 | Secretary Ma Loses His Temper The Demographics of Our Western Regions Explained |
| Chapter 41 | When the Lips Are Gone, the Teeth Are Cold Signor Cinelli Honors the Privileges of Royalty |
| Chapter 42 | Some Speculations on the Diffusion of Culture Moon Pearl Undergoes an Audition |
| Chapter 43 | A Suitably Poetic Welcome to Shakespeare's Island Diplomatic Skills on Display at a Royal Palace |
| Chapter 44 | Mr Lubetsky Psychoanalyzes a Voice A Visit to the Land of Saints and Scholars is Mooted |
| Chapter 45 | Fate Fulfills a Rash Vow An Experience Too Strange for Words |
| Chapter 46 | A Chance Encounter by the Ice Dragon Solitary Pleasures Prevail Over Party Spirit |
| Chapter 47 | Tales of Success in the Land of Opportunity An Intimate Alliance With a Trusted Friend |
| Chapter 48 | Discontent in Wealth, High Above the City An Old Acquaintance Has Taken Poetic Advice |
| Chapter 49 | A Great Man Regrets His Flippancy Moon Pearl's Guiren Brings Her a Triumph |
| Chapter 50 | A Romantic Tragedy Has Weilin's Full Attention The Way That Can Be Spoken Of Is Not the True Way |
| Chapter 51 | From the Top of Mount Tai the World Looks Small Some Illusions the Mathematical Temperament is Prone To |
| Chapter 52 | Precious Jade Reveals His Nature St Agatha Watches Over the Dance of Three |
| Chapter 53 | A High Mandarin Pursues Enlightenment Significance of a Good Municipal Water Supply |
| Chapter 54 | A Rare, Illegal Delicacy Proves Disappointing The Lotus Is Broken But the Threads Still Connect |
| Chapter 55 | Johnny Liu Mates Expedience with Sincerity A Chivalrous Gentleman Performs a Second Rescue |
| Chapter 56 | Moon Pearl Finds Solace at the Seashore And Braves the Lions in an Ancient Arena |
| Chapter 57 | Money Can Move the Gods An Ironically-Named Heroine Comes to Grief |
| Chapter 58 | Technology Holds Many Traps for the Sly Man A Mountain of Troubles Turns the Thoughts to Home |
| Book 3 | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 59 | Teacher Zou Makes an Attractive Offer The Students of Beijing Petition the Emperor |
| Chapter 60 | Importance of Showing the Correct Attitude A Sentimental Education |
| Chapter 61 | An Ancient Philosopher Teaches Us All A Lesson The Flowers of May Bloom in the Wild |
| Chapter 62 | Seventeen-Arch Bridge Leads to a Temple Ghost An Appearance on Stage Brings Old Friends Together |
| Chapter 63 | Moon Pearl Performs an Act of Deception Norbu Seeks the Consolations of Religion |
| Chapter 64 | Wang Senior's Speech Fails to Persuade The People Confront Their Army |
| Chapter 65 | Half Brother Offers His Opinion Our Nation's Leaders Fuss and Fret |
| Chapter 66 | Who'd Miss Out on a Revolution? Yuehan Attains His Heart's Desire |
| Chapter 67 | Beneath a Fallen Nest, How Can There Be Unbroken Eggs? Norbu Goes in Search of a Classmate |
| Chapter 68 | A Perilous Journey, A Fragrant Haven The Secret of Great Opera Singers Revealed |
| Chapter 69 | A Worldly Man Yearns for Tranquility A Kind Protector Bids a Warrior's Farewell |
| Chapter 70 | Two Scholars Guard a Precious Treasure There is No Armor Against Fate |
| Chapter 71 | A New Year Brings New Life Tasting the Air in a Famous Park |
| Chapter 72 | News from a Place Far Away Three Calls on the Thatched Hut |
| Chapter 73 | Reminder of a Promise Long Forgotten A Maker of Wigs Lifts Moon Pearl's Spirits |
| Chapter 74 | I Have Lived for Art, I Have Lived for Love A Loyal Foster Parent Seeks Comfort |
| Chapter 75 | An Invalid is Transported to the Seaside Painting the Eyes of the Dragon |
| Chapter 76 | A Hero Crosses the Ocean to Find Shelter Weilin Voyages Beyond the River of Stars |
| Postscript |
| An Operatic Glossary |