«In the Zhuangzi, which he’d just translated with Professor Chakravarti, the phrase tǎntú literally meant ‘a flat road’, metaphorically, ‘a tranquil life’. This was what he wanted: a smooth, even path to a future with no surprises.

The only obstacle, of course, was his conscience.»

— Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang (25%)