Evaluation dataset
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nlpfun
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I did not leave that night—Chen Qingyang caught me and asked me to stay in the name of our great friendship.
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She admitted that she'd been wrong to slap me, and that she hadn't treated me well.
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But she said my great friendship was phony, and the reason I had tricked her into coming was to study her anatomy.
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I said if she thought I was a faker, why did she believe me?
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I did want to study her anatomy, but that was with her permission, too.
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If she didn't like the idea, she could have told me before.
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In any case, slapping me was unfair.
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She laughed hard for a while and said she simply couldn't bear the sight of that thing on my body.
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It looked silly and shameless, and whenever she saw him, she just couldn't help getting angry.
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We didn't have a stitch on while we argued.
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My little Buddha still stuck out, glittering in the moonlight as if wrapped in plastic.
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I was a little offended by what she said and she realized that too.
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So to make peace, she softened her tone and said, "Anyway, he is breathtakingly ugly—don't you agree?"
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Standing there like an angry cobra, the thing was indeed homely.
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I said, since you don't even want to look at him, let's just forget the whole thing.
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I began to put on my pants, but again she said, Don't!
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So I started smoking.
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The moment I had the cigarette finished, she embraced me and we did it on the grass.
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Until my twenty-first birthday I was a virgin, but that night I lured Chen Qingyang up the mountain with me.
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At first there was moonlight, then the moon set and a sky full of stars came out, as numerous as dewdrops in the morning.
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There was no wind that night either; the mountain was very still.
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Having made love to Chen Qingyang, I was no longer a virgin.
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However, I wasn't feeling happy at all.
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That was because when I was doing it, she didn't make a sound; she simply put her arms under her head and looked at me in a very thoughtful way.
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So from beginning to end it was just my solo performance.
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In fact, I didn't last too long.
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I finished almost right away.
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After that I was angry and upset.
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Chen Qingyang said she couldn't believe it:
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I actually had the impudence to display my ugly male organ in front of her, without feeling the least embarrassed.
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The thing didn't feel embarrassed either; it just forced its way straight into the hole between her thighs.
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Because there is this hole in a woman's body, a man thinks he has to use it, which just doesn't make sense.
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When she had a husband before, he did this to her every day.
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All the time she kept the question to herself, waiting for the day when he felt ashamed of himself and would explain why he did this to her.
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But he never apologized, and then he went to prison.
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These were things I didn't want to hear.
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So I asked her if she hadn't felt like doing it, why had she agreed?
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She said she didn't want to be considered small-minded.
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I said, You're a small-minded person anyway.
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Then she said, Never mind, let's not fight about it.
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She told me to return that evening, and we'd try it one more time.
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Maybe she'd like it.
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I didn't say anything.
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In the foggy dawn, I left her and went down the mountain to herd buffalo.
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I didn't go to see her that night, instead I went to the hospital, the reason being: when I got to the cattle pen in the morning, a bunch of people couldn't wait for me and had opened the pen and dragged the buffalo out.
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Everyone was trying to pick out a strong one for plowing the fields.
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A local youth called Shan Men Er was pulling out a large white one.
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I went over to tell him that the buffalo had been bitten by a poisonous snake and couldn't work.
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He didn't seem to hear me, so I snatched the tether from him and he slapped me without thinking.
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I shoved him right in the chest, pushing him down on his butt.
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Then people began to gather, forming a tight ring around us and urging us to fight.
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With the students from Beijing on one side and the country boys on the other, everyone chose a weapon, either a wooden stick or a leather belt.
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They argued for a while, then decided not to fight but to make Shan Men Er and I wrestle.
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Unable to beat me at wrestling, Shan Men Er began to punch me.
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I kicked him into a manure pit right in front of the cattle pen for a shit bath.
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He got up, grabbed a pitchfork, and tried to stab me, but somebody stopped him.
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That was what happened in the morning.
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When I came back from herding buffalo in the evening, the team leader accused me of beating peasants, saying that he was going to call a meeting to denounce me.
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I told him that he could take his chances and give me trouble, but I was no pushover.
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I also told him that I would get some people together for a gang fight.
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The team leader said he didn't want to give me a hard time; it was Shan Men Er's mother who was giving him a hard time.
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The woman was a widow, a real bitch.
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He said that's the way it goes around here.
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Later he said he was not going to arrange a denouncing meeting but a helping meeting.
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I could just stand in front of people and do a self-criticism.
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If I still didn't agree, he was going to let the widow come after me.
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The meeting was a complete mess.
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The locals all talked at once, saying that the city students had gone too far—we not only took their chickens and stole their dogs, but also beat their people.
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The city students said, That's bullshit!
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Who stole your chickens and dogs?
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Did you catch us in the act?
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We're here to build up our country's borderland.
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We aren't some criminals in exile.
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Why should we put up with casual slander?
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Standing in front of the crowd, I didn't do self-criticism but called them names.
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I didn't expect Shan Men Er's mother to sneak up from behind, pick up a heavy stool, and slam my lower back, right on my old injury.
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I passed out instantly.
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By the time I came around, Luo Xiaosi had gathered a group of city students and was threatening to burn the cattle pen.
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He also said he'd make Shan Men Er's mother pay with her life.
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The team leader took a bunch of locals to stop them.
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Meanwhile, the vice team leader told someone to take me to the hospital on an ox cart.
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The nurse said they shouldn't try to move me since my back was broken, and I'd be done for.
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I said, My back seems OK and you guys can just carry me.
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However, since none of them was sure about whether or not my back was broken, they were all afraid to move me.
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So I had no choice but to stay put.
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Finally, the team leader came over and said, Go phone Chen Qingyang.
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Let her check his back.
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After a short while, Chen Qingyang ran over, with messy hair and puffy eyelids.
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The first thing she said was: Don't worry.
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If you're paralyzed, I'll take care of you for the rest of my life.
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Then she checked my back and her diagnosis was the same as mine.
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So they carried me to the ox cart and sent me to the hospital at the farm headquarters.
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That night Chen Qingyang accompanied me to the hospital and waited until the x-ray of my lower back was developed.
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She left after making sure everything was fine.
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She said she would come back to visit me in a couple of days, but she never did.
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I was hospitalized for a whole week, and once I could get around, I went straight back to see her.
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When I walked into Chen Qingyang's clinic, I carried so many things on my back that my pack was overflowing.
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In addition to a wok, bowls, a basin, and ladle, there was enough food for two of us to eat for an entire month.
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When she saw me come into her clinic, she gave me a faint smile and said, Are you completely recovered?
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Where are you going with all that stuff?
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I said I was going to the Qingping thermal springs to bathe.
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She leaned back languidly in her chair and said, That's a great idea.
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The thermal springs might cure your old injury.
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I said I wasn't really going to the thermal springs.
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I just wanted to stay on the back slope of the mountain for a few days.
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She said there is nothing on the back of the mountain.
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Better go to the thermal springs.
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The Qingping thermal springs were mud pools located in a valley, surrounded by nothing but wild, grassy hills.
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The people who built huts on the hills and lived there year-round were usually patients with a variety of diseases.
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If I went there, not only wouldn't it cure the pain in my lower back, but worse, I might get leprosy.
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However, the lowland on the back slope of the deserted mountain was crisscrossed with gullies and ditches; and fragrant grass grew lush in the sparse woods.
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I could build a thatched hut in some deserted spot, an empty mountain with no human trace—gurgling water with fallen petals.
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A place like that would help cultivate morality and nourish the inner nature.
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When Chen Qingyang heard this she couldn't help smiling.
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How do you get to that place?
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Maybe I'll go there to visit you.
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I gave her directions and even made a map for her, and then went into the mountains alone.
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After I got to the desolate mountainside, Chen Qingyang didn't come to see me right away.
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The strong wind of the dry season blew endlessly, shaking the thatched hut.
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Sitting in a chair and listening to the sound of the wind, Chen Qingyang would look back at what happened and begin to have doubts about everything.
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It was hard for her to believe that she had come to these backwoods in a haze, had begun to be called damaged goods for no reason, and then turned into real damaged goods.
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The whole thing was just unbelievable.
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Chen Qingyang said that sometimes she would step out of her room and look in the direction of the back slope of the mountain, seeing the many paths winding through the valley and leading deep into the mountains.
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My words still echoed in her ears.
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She knew that any of those paths would take her to me.
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There was no doubt about it.
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But the more certain something was, the more doubtful it became.
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Maybe the path didn't lead anywhere; maybe Wang Er was not in the mountains; maybe Wang Er didn't exist at all.
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A couple of days later, Luo Xiaosi brought several people to the hospital to see me.
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No one in the hospital had ever heard of Wang Er, so nobody knew where he had gone.
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At the time the hospital was rampant with hepatitis.
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The uninfected patients all fled to their homes to recuperate, and the doctors went down to the production team to provide medical care.
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Luo Xiaosi came back to the fourteenth team and found my stuff gone, so he went to ask the team leader whether he had seen me.
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The team leader said, Who's Wang Er?
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Never heard of him.
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Luo Xiaosi said, Just a few days ago you called a meeting to denounce him, and the vixen hit him with a stool and almost killed him.
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Having been reminded that way, the team leader was even more reluctant to refresh his memory about me.
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It just so happened that at the time a relief delegation from Beijing was coming to investigate how the city students were treated in the countryside, especially whether any had been tied up, beaten, or forced to marry the locals.
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Because of this, the team leader was even more unwilling to remember me.
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Luo Xiaosi then made his way to the fifteenth team, asking Chen Qingyang whether she had seen me, and hinting in a roundabout sort of way that she'd had an indecent relationship with me.
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Chen Qingyang then told him that she knew nothing about me.
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By the time Luo Xiaosi left, Chen Qingyang was confused.
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It seemed many people didn't believe Wang Er so much as existed.
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That's what confused people.
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What everyone thinks exists must not exist, because everything before our eyes is illusion; what everyone doesn't think exists must exist, like Wang Er.
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If he didn't exist, where did his name come from?
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Unable to overcome her curiosity, Chen Qingyang finally dropped everything and went up the mountain to look for me.
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After the vixen knocked me out with a stool, Chen Qingyang ran all the way down the mountain to see me.
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She even cried in public and declared that if I didn't recover, she would take care of me all her life.
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It turned out not only did I live, but I wasn't even paralyzed, which was a good thing for me though she wasn't crazy about it.
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It was almost as if she'd confessed publicly that she was damaged goods.
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If I'd died, or become paralyzed, it would have then been morally justified.
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But I had only stayed in the hospital for a week and then run away.
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To her, I was the precise image of someone seen from behind, hurrying down the mountain, a man in her memory.
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She didn't want to make love to me, nor did she want to carry on a love affair with me either.
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So, without a very important reason, her visiting me would be the act of a woman who was truly damaged goods.
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Chen Qingyang said that when she decided to head up the mountain to search for me, she didn't have anything on under her white smock.
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Dressed like this, she crossed a stretch of hills behind the fifteenth team.
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Those hills were thick with grass, and under the grass lay red soil.
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In the morning the wind blew down the mountain to the plateau, cold as a mountain spring, and in the afternoon the wind returned, full of heat and dust.
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Chen Qingyang came riding on a white wind to look for me.
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The wind got under her clothes and flowed all over her body, like caresses and lips.
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In fact, she didn't really need me, nor did she have to find me.
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When people said she was damaged goods and I was her lover, she came to see me every day.
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It seemed necessary back then, though.
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Ever since she admitted in public she was damaged goods, and I was her lover, no one said she was damaged goods anymore, let alone mentioned my name in front of her (except for Luo Xiaosi).
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People were so afraid of this kind of damaged-goods behavior in broad daylight that they didn't even dare talk about it.
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As for the Beijing relief delegation sent to investigate the city students' situation, everyone in the local area knew about it except for me.
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That was because lately I had been off herding buffalo, which required going out early in the morning and coming back late at night; besides that, I had a bad reputation and no one bothered to tell me.
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Later, when I was in the hospital, nobody came to see me either.
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When I left the hospital, I went deep into the mountains almost right away.
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I saw only two people before my trip, one of whom was Chen Qingyang, who hadn't mentioned it; the other one was our team leader, who also hadn't said anything other than telling me to take a good rest at the thermal springs.
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I told him that I didn't have anything (food, utensils, etc.), so I couldn't go to the thermal springs.
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He said he could lend me some things.
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I told him that I might not be able to return them.
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He said it didn't matter.
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So I borrowed plenty of homemade smoked meat and sausages.
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Chen Qingyang didn't give me the information because she didn't care about it—she was not one of the city students.
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The team leader didn't tell me because he thought I knew already.
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He also thought that since I took so much food with me I probably wouldn't come back.
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That was why when Luo Xiaosi asked him where Wang Er had gone, he said, Wang Er?
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Who's Wang Er?
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Never heard of him.
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For those like Luo Xiaosi, it would have been a great advantage to find me—I could prove that the city students in the area were treated badly, often beaten senseless.
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For our team leader, my nonexistence was very convenient, because then no one could prove any of the city students had been beaten senseless.
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To me, it didn't really matter whether I existed or not.
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If no one came to look for me, I could grow some corn around the place and never leave.
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So I didn't really care whether I existed or not.
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I also thought about the problem of whether I existed or not in my little thatched hut.
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For example, others believed that Chen Qingyang had slept with me and that proved my existence.
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In Luo Xiaosi's words, Wang Er and Chen Qingyang took off their pants and screwed.
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Actually he didn't see any of it, but the extent of his imagination was that we took off our pants.
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And there was Chen Qingyang, who said that I hurried down the mountain in my green fatigues.
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It never crossed my mind that I didn't look back as I walked.
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Since I couldn't imagine these things, they must be evidence of my existence.
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Then there was this little Buddha of mine, stiff and straight, and that was something I couldn't invent either.
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I always expected Chen Qingyang to come to see me, but she never came.
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By the time she finally showed up, I had learned not to expect her.
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I used to believe that Chen Qingyang would come to see me immediately after I went up the mountain, but I was wrong.
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I waited for a long time and then decided to give up.
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I sat in my little hut, listening to the leaves rustling all over the mountain, finally reaching a state where object and subject were both forgotten.
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I listened to the mighty air currents surging over my head, and just then a wave rose from my soul, as flowers bloom in the midst of the mountains and bamboo husks fall from the shoots and the bamboo stands up straight.
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When the wave receded, I would rest calmly, but I wanted to dance while the wave was at its peak.
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Chen Qingyang arrived at my thatched hut precisely at that moment and caught sight of me sitting naked on the bamboo bed.
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My penis was like a skinned rabbit, red, shiny, and a foot long, frankly erect.
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Panicked, Chen Qingyang immediately screamed.
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Chen Qingyang's search for me could be summed up as follows:
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Two weeks after I went into the mountains, she went up the mountains to look for me.
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It was only two o'clock in the afternoon, but she took off her underwear, like women who sneak out for sex at midnight, and wore only a white smock, walking barefoot in the mountains.
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She crossed a sunlit meadow, entered a dry gully, and walked for a long time.
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Even through the maze of gullies, she didn't make a single wrong turn.
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Later she emerged from the gully, walked into a valley facing the sun, and saw a thatched hut that seemed newly built.
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If there had been no Wang Er to tell her the route, she wouldn't have been able to find such a tiny hut in the vast, wild mountains.
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But as she entered the hut and saw Wang Er sitting on the bed, his little Buddha stiff, she was frightened into screaming.
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Later Chen Qingyang said she just couldn't believe everything she had experienced was real, because something real needs to have a cause.
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Yet at the time she just took off her white smock, sat beside me, and stared at my little Buddha, thinking he was the color of a burn scar.
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Just then my thatched hut began to shake in the wind, streams of sunlight leaked through the roof and spattered her body, like stars.
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I reached out my hand and touched her nipples, until her face flushed and her nipples turned hard.
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Suddenly she woke from her trance, her face blushing with embarrassment.
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Then she embraced me tightly.
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It was the second time that I made love to Chen Qingyang.
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When we first made love, many details puzzled me.
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Not until much later did I finally figure out how much she had really taken to heart being called damaged goods.
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Since she couldn't prove she wasn't damaged goods, she consented to becoming damaged goods, like the women caught in the act and summoned on stage to confess the details of their adultery.
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The confessions would reach a point when the audience, unable to restrain themselves, their faces twisted into hundreds of masks of lust, would shout, Tie her up!
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Then someone would rush onto the stage and bind her into the loops of a five-petal knot with thin hemp twine.
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She stood like this in front of the crowd, submitting herself to all the shame and insults.
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That didn't bother her at all.
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She wouldn't have been afraid of being stripped naked, strapped to a millstone, and thrown into a pond; nor would she have feared being forced to dress up, like the wives and concubines of wealthy men, their faces covered with water-soaked yellow paper, sitting upright until they smothered to death.
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No, these things wouldn't have bothered her at all.
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She was not the least bit worried about becoming actual damaged goods, which she much preferred to being damaged goods in name only.
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What disgusted her was the act that made her damaged goods.
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When I made love to Chen Qingyang, a lizard crawled out of a crack in the wall and crossed the ground in the middle of the room, moving intermittently.
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Then suddenly startled, it fled quickly, disappearing into the sunshine outside the door.
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Just at that moment Chen Qingyang's moans flooded out, filling the entire room.
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I was scared and stopped, leaning over her body.
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But she pinched my leg and said: Hurry, you idiot!
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I sped up and waves of vibration passed through me as if from the earth's core.
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Afterward, she said she had fallen deep into sin and karma would catch up with her sooner or later.
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When she said that, the band of flush was fading from her chest.
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At the time we hadn't finished our business yet.
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So she made it sound like she would only be punished for what she had just done.
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Suddenly a shudder traveled from the top of my head to my tailbone and I began to ejaculate wildly.
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Since this had nothing to do with her, perhaps I would be the only one punished for it.
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Later Chen Qingyang told me that Luo Xiaosi had looked for me everywhere.
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He went to the hospital, and people there told him that I didn't exist; then he went to our team leader, who also said that I didn't exist; finally, he went to Chen Qingyang.
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Chen Qingyang told him that since everyone said he didn't exist, maybe he didn't.
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She had no problem with that.
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When he heard this, Luo Xiaosi couldn't help crying.
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I felt very strange after I heard her words.
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I shouldn't come into existence simply because a vixen hit me, nor should I stop existing because she hit me.
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Actually, my existence was an indisputable fact.
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So I became obsessed.
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To prove the indisputable fact, I went down the mountain the day the relief delegation arrived and took part in the delegation's hearing.
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After the hearing, the team leader said, You don't look sick at all.
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I think you'd better come back to feed the pigs.
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He also arranged for people to trail Chen Qingyang and me, trying to catch us in the act of adultery.
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Of course, it was not easy to catch me because I walked so fast.
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No one could successfully track me.
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However, this got me into a lot more trouble.
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By then I began to realize that it was really unnecessary for me to prove my existence to others.
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When I fed the pigs for the production team, every day I had to carry buckets of water.
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It was really a tiring job, and impossible to slack off.
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The pigs would squeal if they didn't get enough food.
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I had to chop tons of vegetables and cut piles of wood.
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Originally there had been three women to do the job, but now the team leader assigned it all to me.
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I found that I could not manage three women's work, especially when my back hurt.
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I really wanted to prove that I didn't exist then.
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At night Chen Qingyang and I would make love in my small hut.
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In those days, I was full of respect for the task, enthusiastic about every kiss and caress.
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Whether it was the classical missionary position, or man-from-behind position, man-from-side position, or woman-on-top position, I performed them in sober earnest.
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Chen Qingyang was very satisfied with my performance, and so was I.
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At those moments, I felt it was unnecessary to prove my existence.
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I drew a conclusion from these experiences: never let other people pay attention to you!
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Beijingers say: Better a thief should steal from you than keep you in mind.
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You should never let other people keep you in mind.
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After a while, the city students in our team were all transferred to other positions; the men landed work at the candy factory, and the women got to teach at the agricultural middle school.
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I was the only one left feeding those pigs.
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According to them that was because I was not reeducated enough, but Chen Qingyang said it was because someone kept me in mind.
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This "someone" might have been the military deputy on our farm.
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She also said the military deputy was a jerk.
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She used to work in the hospital, but when the military deputy tried to grope her, she gave him a big slap, and afterward, she was sent down to the fifteenth production team to work as a team doctor.
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The fifteenth team's water was bitter, and there wasn't much to eat either.
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She got used to it after a while.
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But it was clear from the start the military deputy just wanted to make trouble for her.
|
||||
Chen Qingyang said that the military deputy would definitely not go easy on me, perhaps I would be kept-in-mind half to death.
|
||||
I said: What can he do to me?
|
||||
If things get really bad, I can simply run the hell away.
|
||||
What happened later all started there.
|
||||
That morning, right at dawn, I went down the mountain to feed the pigs.
|
||||
As I passed the village well, I saw the military deputy at the well stand brushing his teeth.
|
||||
He took the brush out of his mouth and talked to me with a mouth full of froth.
|
||||
I thought he was very disgusting, so I left without a word.
|
||||
Shortly afterward, he ran to the pigpen and shouted at me: How dare you walk away from me like that?
|
||||
I kept silent as I heard the words.
|
||||
Even when he accused me of playing dumb, I still said nothing.
|
||||
After a while I walked away again.
|
||||
The military deputy came to our team to do some grassroots investigation and then stayed.
|
||||
According to him, he wouldn't give up until he made Wang Er talk.
|
||||
His visit could be accounted for in two ways: one was that he came down to our team for the investigation, but when he met someone like me who played dumb with him, he got pissed off and decided to stay; the other was that he came down to our team not for investigation, but to pick on me, after hearing that Chen Qingyang and I had a love affair.
|
||||
Whatever brought him to our team, I made up my mind to stay mute.
|
||||
He couldn't do anything about it.
|
||||
The military deputy had a talk with me, asking me to write a confession.
|
||||
He said that the masses were very angry about my love affair with Chen Qingyang.
|
||||
If I didn't confess, he would mobilize the masses to deal with me.
|
||||
He also said my behavior met the criteria for my classification as one of "the bad elements," and I should be punished by the proletarian dictatorship.
|
||||
I could have defended myself by saying I didn't have a love affair.
|
||||
Who could prove I did?
|
||||
But I just stared at him, like a wild boar, like an idiot, like a male cat staring at a female one, until his anger vanished under my stare.
|
||||
Then he let me go.
|
||||
In the end, he still couldn't get anything out of me.
|
||||
He wasn't even sure whether I was a mute or not.
|
||||
People told him that I wasn't a mute.
|
||||
He couldn't be sure since he had never heard me speak a single word.
|
||||
To this day, whenever he thinks of me, he still can't figure out if I am mute or not.
|
||||
It makes me very happy whenever I think about it.
|
||||
316
data/mac/dev/en/001.tok
Normal file
316
data/mac/dev/en/001.tok
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,316 @@
|
||||
i do not leave that night — chen qingyang catch i and ask i to stay in the name of we great friendship .
|
||||
she admit that she have be wrong to slap i , and that she have not treat i well .
|
||||
but she say my great friendship be phony , and the reason i have trick she into come be to study she anatomy .
|
||||
i say if she think i be a faker , why do she believe i ?
|
||||
i do want to study she anatomy , but that be with she permission , too .
|
||||
if she do not like the idea , she could have tell i before .
|
||||
in any case , slapping i be unfair .
|
||||
she laugh hard for a while and say she simply could not bear the sight of that thing on my body .
|
||||
it look silly and shameless , and whenever she see he , she just could not help get angry .
|
||||
we do not have a stitch on while we argue .
|
||||
my little buddha still stick out , glitter in the moonlight as if wrap in plastic .
|
||||
i be a little offended by what she say and she realize that too .
|
||||
so to make peace , she soften she tone and say , " anyway , he be breathtakingly ugly — do not you agree ? "
|
||||
stand there like a angry cobra , the thing be indeed homely .
|
||||
i say , since you do not even want to look at he , let 's just forget the whole thing .
|
||||
i begin to put on my pants , but again she say , do not !
|
||||
so i start smoking .
|
||||
the moment i have the cigarette finish , she embrace i and we do it on the grass .
|
||||
until my twenty-first birthday i be a virgin , but that night i lure chen qingyang up the mountain with i .
|
||||
at first there be moonlight , then the moon set and a sky full of star come out , as numerous as dewdrop in the morning .
|
||||
there be no wind that night either ; the mountain be very still .
|
||||
have make love to chen qingyang , i be no longer a virgin .
|
||||
however , i be not feel happy at all .
|
||||
that be because when i be do it , she do not make a sound ; she simply put she arm under she head and look at i in a very thoughtful way .
|
||||
so from begin to end it be just my solo performance .
|
||||
in fact , i do not last too long .
|
||||
i finish almost right away .
|
||||
after that i be angry and upset .
|
||||
chen qingyang say she could not believe it :
|
||||
i actually have the impudence to display my ugly male organ in front of she , without feel the least embarrassed .
|
||||
the thing do not feel embarrassed either ; it just force its way straight into the hole between she thigh .
|
||||
because there be this hole in a woman 's body , a man think he have to use it , which just do not make sense .
|
||||
when she have a husband before , he do this to she every day .
|
||||
all the time she keep the question to herself , wait for the day when he feel ashamed of himself and would explain why he do this to she .
|
||||
but he never apologize , and then he go to prison .
|
||||
these be thing i do not want to hear .
|
||||
so i ask she if she have not feel like do it , why have she agree ?
|
||||
she say she do not want to be consider small-minded .
|
||||
i say , you be a small-minded person anyway .
|
||||
then she say , never mind , let 's not fight about it .
|
||||
she tell i to return that evening , and we would try it one more time .
|
||||
maybe she would like it .
|
||||
i do not say anything .
|
||||
in the foggy dawn , i leave she and go down the mountain to herd buffalo .
|
||||
i do not go to see she that night , instead i go to the hospital , the reason being : when i get to the cattle pen in the morning , a bunch of people could not wait for i and have open the pen and drag the buffalo out .
|
||||
everyone be try to pick out a strong one for plow the field .
|
||||
a local youth call shan men er be pull out a large white one .
|
||||
i go over to tell he that the buffalo have be bite by a poisonous snake and could not work .
|
||||
he do not seem to hear i , so i snatch the tether from he and he slap i without think .
|
||||
i shove he right in the chest , push he down on he butt .
|
||||
then people begin to gather , form a tight ring around we and urge we to fight .
|
||||
with the student from beijing on one side and the country boy on the other , everyone choose a weapon , either a wooden stick or a leather belt .
|
||||
they argue for a while , then decide not to fight but to make shan men er and i wrestle .
|
||||
unable to beat i at wrestle , shan men er begin to punch i .
|
||||
i kick he into a manure pit right in front of the cattle pen for a shit bath .
|
||||
he get up , grab a pitchfork , and try to stab i , but somebody stop he .
|
||||
that be what happen in the morning .
|
||||
when i come back from herd buffalo in the evening , the team leader accuse i of beat peasant , say that he be go to call a meeting to denounce i .
|
||||
i tell he that he could take he chance and give i trouble , but i be no pushover .
|
||||
i also tell he that i would get some people together for a gang fight .
|
||||
the team leader say he do not want to give i a hard time ; it be shan men er 's mother who be give he a hard time .
|
||||
the woman be a widow , a real bitch .
|
||||
he say that be the way it go around here .
|
||||
later he say he be not go to arrange a denounce meeting but a help meeting .
|
||||
i could just stand in front of people and do a self-criticism .
|
||||
if i still do not agree , he be go to let the widow come after i .
|
||||
the meeting be a complete mess .
|
||||
the local all talk at once , say that the city student have go too far — we not only take they chicken and steal they dog , but also beat they people .
|
||||
the city student say , that be bullshit !
|
||||
who steal you chicken and dog ?
|
||||
do you catch we in the act ?
|
||||
we be here to build up we country 's borderland .
|
||||
we be not some criminal in exile .
|
||||
why should we put up with casual slander ?
|
||||
stand in front of the crowd , i do not do self-criticism but call they name .
|
||||
i do not expect shan men er 's mother to sneak up from behind , pick up a heavy stool , and slam my lower back , right on my old injury .
|
||||
i pass out instantly .
|
||||
by the time i come around , luo xiaosi have gather a group of city student and be threaten to burn the cattle pen .
|
||||
he also say he would make shan men er 's mother pay with she life .
|
||||
the team leader take a bunch of local to stop they .
|
||||
meanwhile , the vice team leader tell someone to take i to the hospital on a ox cart .
|
||||
the nurse say they should not try to move i since my back be break , and i would be do for .
|
||||
i say , my back seem ok and you guy can just carry i .
|
||||
however , since none of they be sure about whether or not my back be break , they be all afraid to move i .
|
||||
so i have no choice but to stay put .
|
||||
finally , the team leader come over and say , go phone chen qingyang .
|
||||
let she check he back .
|
||||
after a short while , chen qingyang run over , with messy hair and puffy eyelid .
|
||||
the first thing she say be : do not worry .
|
||||
if you be paralyzed , i 'll take care of you for the rest of my life .
|
||||
then she check my back and she diagnosis be the same as mine .
|
||||
so they carry i to the ox cart and send i to the hospital at the farm headquarters .
|
||||
that night chen qingyang accompany i to the hospital and wait until the x-ray of my lower back be develop .
|
||||
she leave after make sure everything be fine .
|
||||
she say she would come back to visit i in a couple of day , but she never do .
|
||||
i be hospitalize for a whole week , and once i could get around , i go straight back to see she .
|
||||
when i walk into chen qingyang 's clinic , i carry so many thing on my back that my pack be overflow .
|
||||
in addition to a wok , bowl , a basin , and ladle , there be enough food for two of we to eat for a entire month .
|
||||
when she see i come into she clinic , she give i a faint smile and say , be you completely recover ?
|
||||
where be you go with all that stuff ?
|
||||
i say i be go to the qingping thermal spring to bathe .
|
||||
she lean back languidly in she chair and say , that be a great idea .
|
||||
the thermal spring might cure you old injury .
|
||||
i say i be not really go to the thermal spring .
|
||||
i just want to stay on the back slope of the mountain for a few day .
|
||||
she say there be nothing on the back of the mountain .
|
||||
better go to the thermal spring .
|
||||
the qingping thermal spring be mud pool located in a valley , surround by nothing but wild , grassy hill .
|
||||
the people who build hut on the hill and live there year-round be usually patient with a variety of disease .
|
||||
if i go there , not only would not it cure the pain in my lower back , but worse , i might get leprosy .
|
||||
however , the lowland on the back slope of the desert mountain be crisscross with gully and ditch ; and fragrant grass grow lush in the sparse wood .
|
||||
i could build a thatched hut in some desert spot , a empty mountain with no human trace — gurgle water with fall petal .
|
||||
a place like that would help cultivate morality and nourish the inner nature .
|
||||
when chen qingyang hear this she could not help smile .
|
||||
how do you get to that place ?
|
||||
maybe i 'll go there to visit you .
|
||||
i give she direction and even make a map for she , and then go into the mountain alone .
|
||||
after i get to the desolate mountainside , chen qingyang do not come to see i right away .
|
||||
the strong wind of the dry season blow endlessly , shake the thatched hut .
|
||||
sit in a chair and listen to the sound of the wind , chen qingyang would look back at what happen and begin to have doubt about everything .
|
||||
it be hard for she to believe that she have come to these backwoods in a haze , have begin to be call damage goods for no reason , and then turn into real damage goods .
|
||||
the whole thing be just unbelievable .
|
||||
chen qingyang say that sometimes she would step out of she room and look in the direction of the back slope of the mountain , see the many path wind through the valley and lead deep into the mountain .
|
||||
my word still echo in she ear .
|
||||
she know that any of those path would take she to i .
|
||||
there be no doubt about it .
|
||||
but the more certain something be , the more doubtful it become .
|
||||
maybe the path do not lead anywhere ; maybe wang er be not in the mountain ; maybe wang er do not exist at all .
|
||||
a couple of day later , luo xiaosi bring several people to the hospital to see i .
|
||||
no one in the hospital have ever hear of wang er , so nobody know where he have go .
|
||||
at the time the hospital be rampant with hepatitis .
|
||||
the uninfected patient all flee to they home to recuperate , and the doctor go down to the production team to provide medical care .
|
||||
luo xiaosi come back to the fourteenth team and find my stuff go , so he go to ask the team leader whether he have see i .
|
||||
the team leader say , who be wang er ?
|
||||
never hear of he .
|
||||
luo xiaosi say , just a few day ago you call a meeting to denounce he , and the vixen hit he with a stool and almost kill he .
|
||||
have be remind that way , the team leader be even more reluctant to refresh he memory about i .
|
||||
it just so happen that at the time a relief delegation from beijing be come to investigate how the city student be treat in the countryside , especially whether any have be tie up , beat , or force to marry the local .
|
||||
because of this , the team leader be even more unwilling to remember i .
|
||||
luo xiaosi then make he way to the fifteenth team , ask chen qingyang whether she have see i , and hint in a roundabout sort of way that she would have a indecent relationship with i .
|
||||
chen qingyang then tell he that she know nothing about i .
|
||||
by the time luo xiaosi leave , chen qingyang be confuse .
|
||||
it seem many people do not believe wang er so much as exist .
|
||||
that be what confuse people .
|
||||
what everyone think exist must not exist , because everything before we eye be illusion ; what everyone do not think exist must exist , like wang er .
|
||||
if he do not exist , where do he name come from ?
|
||||
unable to overcome she curiosity , chen qingyang finally drop everything and go up the mountain to look for i .
|
||||
after the vixen knock i out with a stool , chen qingyang run all the way down the mountain to see i .
|
||||
she even cry in public and declare that if i do not recover , she would take care of i all she life .
|
||||
it turn out not only do i live , but i be not even paralyzed , which be a good thing for i though she be not crazy about it .
|
||||
it be almost as if she would confess publicly that she be damage goods .
|
||||
if i would die , or become paralyzed , it would have then be morally justified .
|
||||
but i have only stay in the hospital for a week and then run away .
|
||||
to she , i be the precise image of someone see from behind , hurry down the mountain , a man in she memory .
|
||||
she do not want to make love to i , nor do she want to carry on a love affair with i either .
|
||||
so , without a very important reason , she visit i would be the act of a woman who be truly damage goods .
|
||||
chen qingyang say that when she decide to head up the mountain to search for i , she do not have anything on under she white smock .
|
||||
dress like this , she cross a stretch of hill behind the fifteenth team .
|
||||
those hill be thick with grass , and under the grass lay red soil .
|
||||
in the morning the wind blow down the mountain to the plateau , cold as a mountain spring , and in the afternoon the wind return , full of heat and dust .
|
||||
chen qingyang come ride on a white wind to look for i .
|
||||
the wind get under she clothes and flow all over she body , like caress and lip .
|
||||
in fact , she do not really need i , nor do she have to find i .
|
||||
when people say she be damage goods and i be she lover , she come to see i every day .
|
||||
it seem necessary back then , though .
|
||||
ever since she admit in public she be damage goods , and i be she lover , no one say she be damage goods anymore , let alone mention my name in front of she ( except for luo xiaosi ) .
|
||||
people be so afraid of this kind of damaged-goods behavior in broad daylight that they do not even dare talk about it .
|
||||
as for the beijing relief delegation send to investigate the city student ' situation , everyone in the local area know about it except for i .
|
||||
that be because lately i have be off herd buffalo , which require go out early in the morning and come back late at night ; besides that , i have a bad reputation and no one bother to tell i .
|
||||
later , when i be in the hospital , nobody come to see i either .
|
||||
when i leave the hospital , i go deep into the mountain almost right away .
|
||||
i see only two people before my trip , one of whom be chen qingyang , who have not mention it ; the other one be we team leader , who also have not say anything other than tell i to take a good rest at the thermal spring .
|
||||
i tell he that i do not have anything ( food , utensil , etc. ) , so i could not go to the thermal spring .
|
||||
he say he could lend i some thing .
|
||||
i tell he that i might not be able to return they .
|
||||
he say it do not matter .
|
||||
so i borrow plenty of homemade smoked meat and sausage .
|
||||
chen qingyang do not give i the information because she do not care about it — she be not one of the city student .
|
||||
the team leader do not tell i because he think i know already .
|
||||
he also think that since i take so much food with i i probably would not come back .
|
||||
that be why when luo xiaosi ask he where wang er have go , he say , wang er ?
|
||||
who be wang er ?
|
||||
never hear of he .
|
||||
for those like luo xiaosi , it would have be a great advantage to find i — i could prove that the city student in the area be treat badly , often beaten senseless .
|
||||
for we team leader , my nonexistence be very convenient , because then no one could prove any of the city student have be beat senseless .
|
||||
to i , it do not really matter whether i exist or not .
|
||||
if no one come to look for i , i could grow some corn around the place and never leave .
|
||||
so i do not really care whether i exist or not .
|
||||
i also think about the problem of whether i exist or not in my little thatched hut .
|
||||
for example , other believe that chen qingyang have sleep with i and that prove my existence .
|
||||
in luo xiaosi 's word , wang er and chen qingyang take off they pants and screw .
|
||||
actually he do not see any of it , but the extent of he imagination be that we take off we pants .
|
||||
and there be chen qingyang , who say that i hurry down the mountain in my green fatigue .
|
||||
it never cross my mind that i do not look back as i walk .
|
||||
since i could not imagine these thing , they must be evidence of my existence .
|
||||
then there be this little buddha of mine , stiff and straight , and that be something i could not invent either .
|
||||
i always expect chen qingyang to come to see i , but she never come .
|
||||
by the time she finally show up , i have learn not to expect she .
|
||||
i use to believe that chen qingyang would come to see i immediately after i go up the mountain , but i be wrong .
|
||||
i wait for a long time and then decide to give up .
|
||||
i sit in my little hut , listen to the leaf rustling all over the mountain , finally reach a state where object and subject be both forget .
|
||||
i listen to the mighty air current surge over my head , and just then a wave rise from my soul , as flower bloom in the midst of the mountain and bamboo husk fall from the shoot and the bamboo stand up straight .
|
||||
when the wave recede , i would rest calmly , but i want to dance while the wave be at its peak .
|
||||
chen qingyang arrive at my thatched hut precisely at that moment and catch sight of i sit naked on the bamboo bed .
|
||||
my penis be like a skin rabbit , red , shiny , and a foot long , frankly erect .
|
||||
panic , chen qingyang immediately scream .
|
||||
chen qingyang 's search for i could be sum up as follow :
|
||||
two week after i go into the mountain , she go up the mountain to look for i .
|
||||
it be only two o'clock in the afternoon , but she take off she underwear , like woman who sneak out for sex at midnight , and wear only a white smock , walk barefoot in the mountain .
|
||||
she cross a sunlit meadow , enter a dry gully , and walk for a long time .
|
||||
even through the maze of gully , she do not make a single wrong turn .
|
||||
later she emerge from the gully , walk into a valley face the sun , and see a thatched hut that seem newly build .
|
||||
if there have be no wang er to tell she the route , she would not have be able to find such a tiny hut in the vast , wild mountain .
|
||||
but as she enter the hut and see wang er sit on the bed , he little buddha stiff , she be frighten into scream .
|
||||
later chen qingyang say she just could not believe everything she have experience be real , because something real need to have a cause .
|
||||
yet at the time she just take off she white smock , sit beside i , and stare at my little buddha , think he be the color of a burn scar .
|
||||
just then my thatched hut begin to shake in the wind , stream of sunlight leak through the roof and spatter she body , like star .
|
||||
i reach out my hand and touch she nipple , until she face flush and she nipple turn hard .
|
||||
suddenly she wake from she trance , she face blush with embarrassment .
|
||||
then she embrace i tightly .
|
||||
it be the second time that i make love to chen qingyang .
|
||||
when we first make love , many detail puzzle i .
|
||||
not until much later do i finally figure out how much she have really take to heart be call damage goods .
|
||||
since she could not prove she be not damage goods , she consent to become damage goods , like the woman catch in the act and summon on stage to confess the detail of they adultery .
|
||||
the confession would reach a point when the audience , unable to restrain themselves , they face twist into hundred of mask of lust , would shout , tie she up !
|
||||
then someone would rush onto the stage and bind she into the loop of a five-petal knot with thin hemp twine .
|
||||
she stand like this in front of the crowd , submit herself to all the shame and insult .
|
||||
that do not bother she at all .
|
||||
she would not have be afraid of be strip naked , strap to a millstone , and throw into a pond ; nor would she have fear be force to dress up , like the wife and concubine of wealthy man , they face cover with water-soaked yellow paper , sit upright until they smother to death .
|
||||
no , these thing would not have bother she at all .
|
||||
she be not the least bit worried about become actual damage goods , which she much prefer to be damage goods in name only .
|
||||
what disgust she be the act that make she damage goods .
|
||||
when i make love to chen qingyang , a lizard crawl out of a crack in the wall and cross the ground in the middle of the room , move intermittently .
|
||||
then suddenly startle , it flee quickly , disappear into the sunshine outside the door .
|
||||
just at that moment chen qingyang 's moan flood out , fill the entire room .
|
||||
i be scared and stop , lean over she body .
|
||||
but she pinch my leg and say : hurry , you idiot !
|
||||
i speed up and wave of vibration pass through i as if from the earth 's core .
|
||||
afterward , she say she have fall deep into sin and karma would catch up with she sooner or later .
|
||||
when she say that , the band of flush be fading from she chest .
|
||||
at the time we have not finish we business yet .
|
||||
so she make it sound like she would only be punish for what she have just do .
|
||||
suddenly a shudder travel from the top of my head to my tailbone and i begin to ejaculate wildly .
|
||||
since this have nothing to do with she , perhaps i would be the only one punish for it .
|
||||
later chen qingyang tell i that luo xiaosi have look for i everywhere .
|
||||
he go to the hospital , and people there tell he that i do not exist ; then he go to we team leader , who also say that i do not exist ; finally , he go to chen qingyang .
|
||||
chen qingyang tell he that since everyone say he do not exist , maybe he do not .
|
||||
she have no problem with that .
|
||||
when he hear this , luo xiaosi could not help cry .
|
||||
i feel very strange after i hear she word .
|
||||
i should not come into existence simply because a vixen hit i , nor should i stop exist because she hit i .
|
||||
actually , my existence be a indisputable fact .
|
||||
so i become obsess .
|
||||
to prove the indisputable fact , i go down the mountain the day the relief delegation arrive and take part in the delegation 's hearing .
|
||||
after the hearing , the team leader say , you do not look sick at all .
|
||||
i think you would better come back to feed the pig .
|
||||
he also arrange for people to trail chen qingyang and i , try to catch we in the act of adultery .
|
||||
of course , it be not easy to catch i because i walk so fast .
|
||||
no one could successfully track i .
|
||||
however , this get i into a lot more trouble .
|
||||
by then i begin to realize that it be really unnecessary for i to prove my existence to other .
|
||||
when i feed the pig for the production team , every day i have to carry bucket of water .
|
||||
it be really a tiring job , and impossible to slack off .
|
||||
the pig would squeal if they do not get enough food .
|
||||
i have to chop ton of vegetable and cut pile of wood .
|
||||
originally there have be three woman to do the job , but now the team leader assign it all to i .
|
||||
i find that i could not manage three woman 's work , especially when my back hurt .
|
||||
i really want to prove that i do not exist then .
|
||||
at night chen qingyang and i would make love in my small hut .
|
||||
in those day , i be full of respect for the task , enthusiastic about every kiss and caress .
|
||||
whether it be the classical missionary position , or man-from-behind position , man-from-side position , or woman-on-top position , i perform they in sober earnest .
|
||||
chen qingyang be very satisfied with my performance , and so be i.
|
||||
at those moment , i feel it be unnecessary to prove my existence .
|
||||
i draw a conclusion from these experience : never let other people pay attention to you !
|
||||
beijinger say : better a thief should steal from you than keep you in mind .
|
||||
you should never let other people keep you in mind .
|
||||
after a while , the city student in we team be all transfer to other position ; the man land work at the candy factory , and the woman get to teach at the agricultural middle school .
|
||||
i be the only one leave feed those pig .
|
||||
accord to they that be because i be not reeducate enough , but chen qingyang say it be because someone keep i in mind .
|
||||
this " someone " might have be the military deputy on we farm .
|
||||
she also say the military deputy be a jerk .
|
||||
she use to work in the hospital , but when the military deputy try to grope she , she give he a big slap , and afterward , she be send down to the fifteenth production team to work as a team doctor .
|
||||
the fifteenth team 's water be bitter , and there be not much to eat either .
|
||||
she get use to it after a while .
|
||||
but it be clear from the start the military deputy just want to make trouble for she .
|
||||
chen qingyang say that the military deputy would definitely not go easy on i , perhaps i would be kept-in-mind half to death .
|
||||
i say : what can he do to i ?
|
||||
if thing get really bad , i can simply run the hell away .
|
||||
what happen later all start there .
|
||||
that morning , right at dawn , i go down the mountain to feed the pig .
|
||||
as i pass the village well , i see the military deputy at the well stand brushing he tooth .
|
||||
he take the brush out of he mouth and talk to i with a mouth full of froth .
|
||||
i think he be very disgusting , so i leave without a word .
|
||||
shortly afterward , he run to the pigpen and shout at i : how dare you walk away from i like that ?
|
||||
i keep silent as i hear the word .
|
||||
even when he accuse i of play dumb , i still say nothing .
|
||||
after a while i walk away again .
|
||||
the military deputy come to we team to do some grassroot investigation and then stay .
|
||||
accord to he , he would not give up until he make wang er talk .
|
||||
he visit could be account for in two way : one be that he come down to we team for the investigation , but when he meet someone like i who play dumb with he , he get piss off and decide to stay ; the other be that he come down to we team not for investigation , but to pick on i , after hear that chen qingyang and i have a love affair .
|
||||
whatever bring he to we team , i make up my mind to stay mute .
|
||||
he could not do anything about it .
|
||||
the military deputy have a talk with i , ask i to write a confession .
|
||||
he say that the mass be very angry about my love affair with chen qingyang .
|
||||
if i do not confess , he would mobilize the mass to deal with i .
|
||||
he also say my behavior meet the criterion for my classification as one of " the bad element , " and i should be punish by the proletarian dictatorship .
|
||||
i could have defend myself by say i do not have a love affair .
|
||||
who could prove i do ?
|
||||
but i just stare at he , like a wild boar , like a idiot , like a male cat stare at a female one , until he anger vanish under my stare .
|
||||
then he let i go .
|
||||
in the end , he still could not get anything out of i .
|
||||
he be not even sure whether i be a mute or not .
|
||||
people tell he that i be not a mute .
|
||||
he could not be sure since he have never hear i speak a single word .
|
||||
to this day , whenever he think of i , he still can not figure out if i be mute or not .
|
||||
it make i very happy whenever i think about it .
|
||||
420
data/mac/dev/en/002
Normal file
420
data/mac/dev/en/002
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,420 @@
|
||||
The boots reached the door, and came on into the room.
|
||||
Trinket peeped out from behind the table-cloth.
|
||||
From the size of his footwear, the new arrival seemed to be a boy like himself.
|
||||
He heaved a sigh of relief, and put the pancake in his mouth.
|
||||
He didn't dare to take a bite out of it, but softened it with his saliva, and then swallowed it silently down.
|
||||
Meanwhile he could hear noisy munching coming from the table above him.
|
||||
The new boy was clearly tucking in.
|
||||
'Why, he's just another scavenger like me!' thought Trinket to himself.
|
||||
'I'll jump out and scare him off, then I can carry on eating to my heart's content.'
|
||||
His thoughts ran on: 'What a fool I was just now!
|
||||
I should have stuffed a whole plateful in my pocket and buggered off!
|
||||
This isn't like home.
|
||||
They wouldn't miss a little thing like that, or expect me to pay for it!'
|
||||
All of a sudden there was a series of noisy thumps.
|
||||
The new scavenger had started hitting something.
|
||||
His curiosity aroused, Trinket poked his head out from under the table.
|
||||
What he saw was a boy of fourteen or fifteen, in a short gown, punching at one of the bags that hung from the beam.
|
||||
After a while, the boy moved across and started attacking one of the oxhide cut-outs.
|
||||
He struck the figure first on the chest with one fist, then reached forward with both hands and grappled it by the waist, forcing it to the ground.
|
||||
It was very much the same sort of technique as the one used by the Manchu wrestlers in the inn the previous day.
|
||||
Trinket chuckled to himself and darted out from beneath the table.
|
||||
'Why fight a dummy!' he cried.
|
||||
'Why not try me?'
|
||||
The other boy's first reaction was one of alarm, at the sight of this strange apparition with its head swathed in bandages.
|
||||
But alarm quickly turned to delight when he realized that he had found a sparring partner.
|
||||
'Very well!' he replied.
|
||||
'On guard!'
|
||||
Trinket sprang forward and seized the boy's arms, intending to give him a sharp twist, but the boy turned smartly, and hooked him with his right foot, sending Trinket crashing to the floor.
|
||||
'You're hopeless!' he jeered.
|
||||
'You obviously don't know the first thing about wrestling!'
|
||||
'Who says I don't!' protested Trinket, leaping to his feet again and reaching for the boy's left leg.
|
||||
The boy made a grab for his back, but this time Trinket dodged in time and the boy seized a handful of air.
|
||||
Trinket recalled Whiskers' fight with the seven wrestlers at the inn, and shot out a quick left that caught the boy hard, fair and square, on the lower cheek.
|
||||
The boy stood there stunned for a few seconds, and a momentary look of anger came into his eyes.
|
||||
'You're hopeless!' cried Trinket with a grin.
|
||||
'You obviously don't know the first thing about wrestling.'
|
||||
The boy said nothing, but feinted with his left fist.
|
||||
Trinket fell for it and dodged, and as he did so, the boy's elbow came crashing across into his midriff and winded him completely.
|
||||
He crumpled up and fell to the ground in excruciating pain.
|
||||
The boy now came at Trinket from behind, slipped both hands under his arms and laced his hands together around his throat, throttling him, and pressing him harder and harder down on to the ground.
|
||||
Trinket kicked frantically with his right foot, but then the boy loosed his hands and gave him a terrific shove which sent him rolling across the room like a puppy chasing its own tail.
|
||||
Trinket was furious.
|
||||
He came tumbling back, wrapped both arms round the boy's legs, and tugged at him with all his might.
|
||||
The boy crashed down right on top of him.
|
||||
He was quite a bit bigger than Trinket, and had soon succeeded in throttling him again and pinning him to the ground.
|
||||
Trinket began to choke, thrashed out with his feet to extricate himself, and finally managed to wriggle on top of the boy and hold him down.
|
||||
He was too light to maintain the upper hand for long, however, and soon the boy was back on top of him again.
|
||||
Ever a crafty fighter, Trinket now let go of the boy's legs, got behind him, and landed him a good kick on the backside.
|
||||
The boy quickly grabbed his right leg and tugged at it, sending Trinket crashing down on his back.
|
||||
The boy leapt astride him, pinned his head to the floor, and cried: 'Well!
|
||||
Surrender?'
|
||||
Trinket had meanwhile managed to hook his left foot round the boy's waist, and started to rub it up and down the small of his back.
|
||||
The boy, it transpired, was extremely ticklish, and he couldn't help giggling, and loosened his grasp.
|
||||
Trinket seized his chance, leapt up, and pinned his opponent down by the throat.
|
||||
The boy now used a standard wrestling ploy, gripping Trinket by the back of the neck and pulling him to the ground with considerable force.
|
||||
Trinket went out like a light.
|
||||
When he regained consciousness, he found that he was temporarily immobilized.
|
||||
The boy burst out laughing.
|
||||
'Well?
|
||||
Had enough?
|
||||
Give in?'
|
||||
But Trinket was not finished yet.
|
||||
He eventually succeeded in jumping up and landing a head-butt right in the boy's midriff.
|
||||
The boy groaned and staggered back a few steps.
|
||||
Trinket lunged after him, the boy leant a little to one side, put out a leg, and brought him tumbling to the floor.
|
||||
Trinket reached out frantically as he fell, clutching at the boy's legs, and the two of them went down together.
|
||||
They struggled for a while, each one gaining the upper hand for a moment, then going under, ringing the changes more than a dozen times, until finally they were in a complete deadlock, panting and staring fixedly at each other.
|
||||
And then suddenly, at exactly the same moment, they both burst out laughing.
|
||||
There was something about the clinch they were in that struck them both as terribly funny.
|
||||
Slowly they let go.
|
||||
The boy reached out a hand and began removing the bandages from Trinket's face.
|
||||
'What did you want to wrap your face up for?'
|
||||
Trinket was about to snatch the bandages back, when he reflected that the boy had already seen most of his face and that it would achieve nothing.
|
||||
'I didn't want anyone to recognize me taking the cake.'
|
||||
'I see,' said the boy, chuckling and standing up.
|
||||
'So you make a habit of coming here and taking food, do you?'
|
||||
'No, I don't,' said Trinket.
|
||||
As he rose to his feet, he stole a closer glance at his opponent: there was something at once impressive and attractive about the boy's features, a clearness of brow, a noble look in the eyes, an expression in the face, that drew Trinket towards him.
|
||||
'What's your name?' asked the boy.
|
||||
'Laurel,' replied Trinket.
|
||||
'And yours?'
|
||||
After a moment's hesitation the boy replied: 'Mine's . . .
|
||||
People call me Misty.
|
||||
Which of the Goong-goongs do you work for?'
|
||||
'I'm with Hai Goong-goong.'
|
||||
Misty nodded, and used Trinket's bandages to mop the sweat from his brow.
|
||||
He helped himself to a cake.
|
||||
Trinket was not going to be outdone.
|
||||
If this young fellow could continue calmly scavenging, so could he.
|
||||
He popped another slice of layer cake nonchalantly into his mouth.
|
||||
'I can see you've never done any wrestling,' laughed Misty.
|
||||
'But you're a quick mover all the same!
|
||||
You managed to get away that time.
|
||||
A few more goes and I'd have had you, though—'
|
||||
'Is that right?' protested Trinket.
|
||||
'Come on then: let's see—'
|
||||
'At you!'
|
||||
The two of them set to again.
|
||||
Misty clearly knew a few wrestling moves, and was the older and stronger of the two.
|
||||
But Trinket had the benefit of years of experience in the streets of Yangzhou, where he'd had to deal with all manner of bullies and thugs, big and small, and in this respect he was definitely Misty's superior.
|
||||
But for one reason or another (partly Whiskers' lecture, partly because this was, after all, only 'play-fighting' and not in deadly earnest) he didn't avail himself of a single one of the dubious tricks at which he excelled: the finger-twist, the pigtail-pull, the throat-bite, the eye-poke, the ear-yank, the grip-o'-the-balls.
|
||||
As a result he eventually came off the loser again, with Misty sitting on his back, and no hope of throwing him off.
|
||||
'Surrender?'
|
||||
'Never!'
|
||||
Misty burst out laughing and jumped up.
|
||||
Trinket went for him again, but this time Misty shook his head.
|
||||
'No more for today!
|
||||
Tomorrow, if you like.
|
||||
But I don't see the point: you'll never be able to beat me!'
|
||||
Trinket was not having this.
|
||||
He pulled a piece of silver from his pocket, about three taels' worth: 'Tomorrow we fight for money!
|
||||
You'd better bring three taels yourself!'
|
||||
Misty seemed somewhat taken aback by this but then concurred.
|
||||
'All right.
|
||||
We fight for money.
|
||||
I'll bring my stake.
|
||||
See you here at noon tomorrow.'
|
||||
'Live or die!
|
||||
Excellent kungfu!
|
||||
My word is my wand!' cried Trinket, and Misty burst out laughing.
|
||||
'It certainly is!'
|
||||
And with that he left the room.
|
||||
Trinket helped himself to a big handful of cakes and stuffed them inside his jacket.
|
||||
Then he too left the room.
|
||||
As he went, he found himself thinking of Whiskers' heroic stand at Victory Hill: now there was a man!
|
||||
Whiskers had pledged his word to fight, and nothing could have stood between him and the fulfilment of that pledge, not the walls of his prison cell, not even his own wounds.
|
||||
How many times Trinket had sat listening to the storytellers' tales, and how many times he'd dreamed of one day being a hero himself—Trinket the Brave Man and True!
|
||||
Now, he'd said he would fight, and there could be no going back!
|
||||
He had pledged his word!
|
||||
And if he was to be a man of his word, he would have to forget about escape—at least for the time being.
|
||||
He would have to go back to the old eunuch that evening.
|
||||
He therefore decided to retrace his steps to the room where they had been gambling earlier in the day — and from there he took a direction opposite to the one he had taken earlier (which had led him deeper and deeper into the mansion), followed two covered walkways, vaguely remembered one or two shrubs he had passed by in the courtyards on the way, and somehow, by hook or by crook, navigated his way back to the old eunuch's quarters.
|
||||
As he drew near the entrance, he heard the old fellow coughing.
|
||||
'Goong-goong?
|
||||
Are you feeling any better?'
|
||||
'Better my arse!' muttered the eunuch.
|
||||
'Get a move on, will you!'
|
||||
Trinket hurried over to him.
|
||||
Old Hai was sitting at a table (the broken one had been replaced).
|
||||
''How much did you win?'
|
||||
'I won a dozen taels,' replied Trinket.
|
||||
'But I—'
|
||||
'You what?' snapped the eunuch.
|
||||
'I lent them to Wu.'
|
||||
In actual fact he'd won twenty and lent twelve to Wu: the remaining eight he wished to hang on to.
|
||||
Old Hai scowled at him.
|
||||
'What do you want to go lending money to that Wu fellow for?
|
||||
He doesn't even work in the Upper Library, dammit!
|
||||
You could at least have lent to one of the Wen brothers!'
|
||||
Trinket didn't follow this at all.
|
||||
'But they didn't ask me for a loan.'
|
||||
'Then you should have found a way to offer one.
|
||||
Have you forgotten everything I ever told you?'
|
||||
'It's just that. . . what with killing that boy yesterday, I can't seem to think straight, it must have gone clean out of my mind.
|
||||
I ought to have lent the money to one of the Wen brothers, that's right, I remember now, you told me.'
|
||||
Old Hai humphed.
|
||||
'What's so alarming about killing?
|
||||
I suppose you're only a child though, you've never done it before.
|
||||
Now, about the book— I hope you haven't forgotten.'
|
||||
'The book?'
|
||||
Old Hai humphed again.
|
||||
'Have you forgotten everything?'
|
||||
'Goong-goong, I... I've got this terrible headache . . . and I'm so worried about your cough ...
|
||||
I just can't keep my mind on anything!'
|
||||
'Very well.
|
||||
Come over here!'
|
||||
'Yes, Goong-goong!'
|
||||
Trinket walked a few steps closer.
|
||||
'I'm going to repeat it for you once more.
|
||||
Forget this time, and I shall kill you.'
|
||||
'Yes, Goong-goong!' piped Trinket, thinking to himself, 'Just say it once, and I'll never forget it, not in a hundred years!'
|
||||
'Listen: you're to win money from the Wen brothers.
|
||||
Then you're to lend them money, the more the better.
|
||||
Then, after a few days you're to ask them to take you to the Upper Library.
|
||||
They'll have to say yes, if they owe you money.
|
||||
If they try to fob you off, you tell them that I'll report them to the Chief Librarian;
|
||||
I'll tell him they refuse to pay their debts, and ask him to wait for His Majesty to—'
|
||||
'His Majesty?'
|
||||
'What?'
|
||||
'Oh . . . nothing.'
|
||||
'If they ask you why you want to go to the Upper Library, you say that you're longing for a glimpse of His Majesty, so you just want a chance to perform some little errand there.
|
||||
Of course the Wen brothers won't let you see His Majesty; when they take you, His Majesty won't even be in the Upper Library.
|
||||
That's when you find a way to steal the book . . .'
|
||||
Something was beginning to fall into place in Trinket's mind, with all these references to 'His Majesty'.
|
||||
'Could this be the Palace, the Forbidden City itself!' he thought silently to himself.
|
||||
'Have I been wrong all this time, about it being the number one whore-house in Peking?
|
||||
Aiyeeh! Of course!
|
||||
That must be it!
|
||||
These people are all eunuchs working for the Emperor. . .'
|
||||
As a boy, Trinket had heard people talk about the Emperor, the Empress, Princes and Princesses, Palace Ladies, Palace Eunuchs, but he hadn't the faintest idea what these grand beings actually looked like.
|
||||
All he knew was that the Emperor wore a Dragon Robe.
|
||||
In Yangzhou he'd seen all sorts of plays, but the eunuchs on stage were never dressed anything like Old Hai, or his new gambling friend Wu.
|
||||
And the stage eunuchs always held those long horsehair fly-whisks, and kept waving them around in the air.
|
||||
And anyway, he had never understood a word of what they were singing.
|
||||
So this was what real Palace Eunuchs were like!
|
||||
'Cripes!' he cried silently to himself.
|
||||
That means I've become a little Palace Eunuch myself!
|
||||
I've lost my balls!'
|
||||
'Did you take in what I said just now?' growled Old Hai.
|
||||
'Yes, Goong-goong, yes!
|
||||
I've got to go to His Majesty's Upper Library!'
|
||||
'And why have you got to go?
|
||||
To play?'
|
||||
'To steal a book.'
|
||||
'Which book?'
|
||||
'I... I... can't remember.'
|
||||
'I'll tell you once more.
|
||||
And this time, don't forget.
|
||||
It's a Sutra, called the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections.
|
||||
It's very old.
|
||||
There are several copies of it.
|
||||
Just bring them all to me.
|
||||
Got it?
|
||||
Now—what's it called?'
|
||||
'The Sutra in Forty-Two Sections.'
|
||||
Trinket sounded very pleased with himself.
|
||||
'What are you so happy about?' snapped the old eunuch.
|
||||
'I'm just happy about. . . about remembering it the minute you mentioned it again.'
|
||||
In actual fact, when Old Hai had spoken of stealing a book, Trinket's heart had sunk.
|
||||
The 'stealing' part was no problem; it was the 'book' part that presented what seemed at first like an insurmountable obstacle.
|
||||
The trouble was that Trinket could barely read.
|
||||
He couldn't decipher more than a word or two, let alone book titles.
|
||||
Then he heard the eunuch say that the book was the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections, and his heart leapt: what the word Sutra looked like he had not the foggiest notion, but numbers were something he could read.
|
||||
So the second part of the title was a walk-over!
|
||||
Wasn't that sufficient reason to be pleased?
|
||||
'Now,' went on Old Hai, 'if you go stealing books from the Upper Library, you've got to be very smart, very careful.
|
||||
If anyone spots you, you're as good as dead.
|
||||
A hundred times over.'
|
||||
'I know,' said Trinket.
|
||||
He suddenly thought of something, and added: 'If I did get caught, I'd never dream of dragging you into it, Goong-goong!'
|
||||
Old Hai heaved a strangely unconcerned sigh.
|
||||
'Drag me in or drag me out, it's all the same to me . . .'
|
||||
He had another coughing fit, and went on: 'You've done quite well today.
|
||||
At least you've won something.
|
||||
What did the others think?
|
||||
Were they suspicious?'
|
||||
Trinket chortled.
|
||||
'Oh no, why should they be?'
|
||||
He was about to boast, but thought better of it.
|
||||
'Well then, don't sit around doing nothing.
|
||||
Eat your lunch, and if you've no jobs to do, go and practise with the dice!'
|
||||
'Yes, Goong-goong!'
|
||||
Trinket walked across to the dining-table, where bowls and chopsticks had been laid, four dishes and a soup, all untouched.
|
||||
'Goong-goong, aren't you eating?
|
||||
Let me serve you!'
|
||||
'I'm not hungry.
|
||||
You go ahead.'
|
||||
Trinket was delighted, and without bothering to fill his bowl with rice, he attacked a dish of stewed meat.
|
||||
The food was cold, but he was hungry, and to him it was indescribably delicious.
|
||||
'I wonder where they get the food from?
|
||||
Oh well, I'd better not ask too many questions, just keep my eyes open and pick things up one at a time.
|
||||
If this really is the Forbidden City, then old Wu and the Wen brothers and little Misty must all of them be eunuchs.
|
||||
I wonder what the actual Emperor and Empress look like?
|
||||
I must try and get a look.
|
||||
Then one day when I'm back at home, ha ha!
|
||||
I can tell people who I've seen.
|
||||
Just imagine the look on their faces!
|
||||
'I wonder if Whiskers got out safe?
|
||||
They didn't say anything about someone getting caught when we were gambling . . .
|
||||
Most probably he got away all right.'
|
||||
When he had finished eating, he went through the motions of practising with the dice so as not to arouse the old eunuch's suspicions, throwing them noisily across the table.
|
||||
After a while his eyelids began to feel heavy.
|
||||
He hadn't slept all night.
|
||||
In minutes he was sound asleep.
|
||||
He slept till evening, when a junior eunuch brought in their supper.
|
||||
Trinket waited on Old Hai as he ate a bowl of rice, and then helped him to bed.
|
||||
Afterwards he went to lie down on the smaller bed, thinking to himself: 'Tomorrow, whatever else happens, I must win my fight with Misty!'
|
||||
He lay there, trying to remember Whiskers' fight with the wrestlers in the tavern.
|
||||
He wished he could remember the details more clearly.
|
||||
'If only I'd taken old Whiskers up on his offer!
|
||||
With him as my teacher I could have learnt a thing or two on the way up here, and then I could have put Misty in his place—even though he is stronger than I am.
|
||||
If he gets me on the ground again tomorrow, I'll die of shame!
|
||||
Little White Dragon—forget it!
|
||||
I'd never dare show my face among the Brothers!'
|
||||
Suddenly a thought occurred to him.
|
||||
'The wrestlers were no match for Whiskers; but Whiskers was no match for Old Turtle-head—why don't I get him to teach me a few moves?'
|
||||
He asked the old eunuch at once: 'Goong-goong, if you want me to go stealing books from the Upper Library, there's just one problem.'
|
||||
'What's that?'
|
||||
'Well, after today's game, I met this . . . little eunuch, who stood in my way and asked me to give him some of my winnings.
|
||||
I wouldn't, so we ended up fighting.
|
||||
That's why I was so late for lunch.'
|
||||
'He beat you, presumably.'
|
||||
'He was bigger than me, and stronger.
|
||||
He says I've got to fight with him every day, until I can beat him.
|
||||
Then he'll let me off.'
|
||||
'What was the little fellow's name?
|
||||
Which part of the Palace was he from?'
|
||||
'He's called Misty.
|
||||
I don't know where he's from.'
|
||||
'You must have been acting too pleased with yourself after your win—that's probably what annoyed him.'
|
||||
'I won't let him get away with it!
|
||||
I'm going to fight him tomorrow!
|
||||
But I just wonder if I can beat him.'
|
||||
Old Hai humphed.
|
||||
'You want to wangle some moves out of me, don't you?
|
||||
The answer's no, so it's no use trying.'
|
||||
'Clever Old Turtle-head!' thought Trinket, silently cursing to himself.
|
||||
This little fellow Misty,' he began again, out loud, 'he wasn't such a good fighter really.
|
||||
I wouldn't need to learn much to beat him.
|
||||
I don't need you to teach me, either.
|
||||
I had him on the ground today, it's just that he was too strong for me: he managed to buck me off.
|
||||
Tomorrow I'll get a proper grip on him.
|
||||
That should fix the little bugger!'
|
||||
He had been trying so hard all day to keep his language clean.
|
||||
'If you want to stop him bucking you, that's easy!' said Old Hai.
|
||||
'I didn't think it would be hard.
|
||||
I just get him in a good shoulder grip, then—'
|
||||
'That's no good!
|
||||
Bucking comes from the lower back.
|
||||
You have to knee him on the vital point in the small of his back.
|
||||
Come over here and I'll show you.'
|
||||
Trinket hopped out of bed and was at Old Hai's bedside in a trice.
|
||||
The old eunuch felt around in the small of his back and pressed lightly.
|
||||
Trinket felt his whole body go limp.
|
||||
'Can you remember that?'
|
||||
'Yes, I'll try it out tomorrow.
|
||||
Let's hope it works.'
|
||||
'Works?
|
||||
Of course it will work.
|
||||
It's absolutely foolproof!'
|
||||
Old Hai reached out his hand and pressed lightly on either side of Trinket's neck.
|
||||
Trinket let out a gasp of pain.
|
||||
He had a choking sensation in his chest, and could hardly breathe.
|
||||
'Get him on these two points,' said Hai, 'and he'll have no strength to fight with.'
|
||||
Trinket was pleased as punch.
|
||||
'Well, that's it then!
|
||||
Tomorrow, I win!'
|
||||
Trinket went back to bed, and fell asleep dreaming of Misty surrendering to the Little White Dragon!
|
||||
Wu came to fetch him again the following morning.
|
||||
It was the Wen brothers' turn to be bankers.
|
||||
Trinket had soon managed to win over twenty taels off them.
|
||||
It was a bad day for the bank altogether.
|
||||
In less than an hour they had to pay out fifty taels, which was all they had.
|
||||
Trinket lent them another twenty, and by the end of the day's play that was all gone too.
|
||||
All Trinket could think about was his appointment with Misty.
|
||||
As soon as the gambling was over, he hurried to the 'cake room'.
|
||||
The table was piled high again with good things to eat, and this time Trinket tucked in with a vengeance.
|
||||
Then he heard the flip-ploy of cloth boots again.
|
||||
He ducked under the table, just in case it turned out to be someone other than Misty.
|
||||
'Laurel!
|
||||
Laurel!'
|
||||
It was Misty's voice calling from the doorway.
|
||||
Trinket sprang out, and with a big grin on his face, called back: 'Live or die!'
|
||||
'I live, you die!' laughed Misty, striding into the room.
|
||||
Trinket noticed at once that he was wearing a completely new outfit, and couldn't help feeling jealous.
|
||||
'Huh!' he muttered to himself.
|
||||
'Just you wait!
|
||||
You won't be so pleased when I've made a big rip in that smart gown of yours!'
|
||||
He let out a great war cry and threw himself straight into the attack.
|
||||
'Excellent kungfu!' cried his opponent, grappling him with both arms, and delivering a swinging kick with his left foot.
|
||||
Trinket lost his balance, tottered and fell, bringing Misty down with him.
|
||||
As Trinket rolled and spun round, he managed to pin Misty face down on the floor.
|
||||
He remembered Old Hai's little demonstration, and felt for the vital point in the small of Misty's back.
|
||||
But he had never done this sort of thing before, and it was hard to find the point at his very first attempt.
|
||||
Misty meanwhile had spun round, gripped Trinket's left arm, and twisted it back.
|
||||
'Hey!' screamed Trinket, 'that's not fair!
|
||||
Twisting my arm like that!'
|
||||
That's what wresding's all about!' laughed Misty.
|
||||
'Who says it's not fair!'
|
||||
Trinket took advantage of the fact that Misty was busy speaking and momentarily off his guard, to launch a counter-attack.
|
||||
He brought his head down with all his might on to Misty's back, shot his right hand under his armpit, and flung him up into the air as hard as he could.
|
||||
Misty went flying over his head and landed widi a crash on the ground.
|
||||
He leapt to his feet again, crying: 'So you know the Bucking Antelope too!'
|
||||
Trinket had never even heard of the Antelope.
|
||||
He'd just been improvising and thrashing around, and somehow or other had managed to outwit his opponent.
|
||||
He was pretty chuffed.
|
||||
'The Antelope is nothing!' he cried.
|
||||
'I know plenty more, and they're a lot worse.
|
||||
You haven't seen anything yet!'
|
||||
'Perfect!' cried Misty in delight.
|
||||
'Go to!'
|
||||
Trinket engaged in a quick moment's reflection: 'Misty has obviously had lessons—that's why he keeps getting the better of me.
|
||||
But that's no problem.
|
||||
All I have to do is watch his moves and copy them.
|
||||
He can throw me a few times— I'll soon get the hang of it.'
|
||||
Misty started coming at him.
|
||||
Trinket lunged back, but it was a feint: Misty stepped aside, let Trinket surge on, and chopped him on the back with the side of his hand.
|
||||
Trinket was unable to rein himself in, and went crashing to the ground.
|
||||
Misty gave a great cry of delight, leapt forwards, and planted himself astride Trinket's back.
|
||||
'Surrender?'
|
||||
'No!
|
||||
Never!' protested Trinket,
|
||||
but when he tried to straighten himself up and get to his feet, he felt a sudden numbness in the small of his back.
|
||||
Misty had beaten him to it!
|
||||
He had pressed on exactly the spot Old Hai had been trying to teach him the previous evening.
|
||||
After struggling futilely for a moment longer, he finally gave up.
|
||||
'All right!' he cried.
|
||||
This time I surrender!'
|
||||
Misty laughed and set him free.
|
||||
As Trinket got up, he suddenly shot out one of his feet.
|
||||
Misty toppled over, and Trinket punched him in the small of the back.
|
||||
Misty gave a cry of pain and bent double.
|
||||
Trinket leapt on him from behind and gripped him tightly round the throat with both his hands.
|
||||
Misty lost consciousness for an instant, and fell flat on the ground.
|
||||
Trinket held on and demanded triumphantly: 'Surrender?'
|
||||
Misty gave a little grunt.
|
||||
Then suddenly he drove his elbows hard into Trinket's ribs, and Trinket went reeling over on to the floor, screaming with pain, certain that he must have several broken bones.
|
||||
Misty spun round and sat astride his chest, once more the victor, though this time a winded and exhausted one, panting for breath.
|
||||
'Do . . . you . . . give in?'
|
||||
'Give in my arse!' panted Trinket back.
|
||||
The answer's no!
|
||||
A hundred times no!
|
||||
You were lucky just now, that's all!'
|
||||
'Then get up ... and fight!'
|
||||
Trinket stretched and heaved with all his might (what little of it he had left), but his opponent was still astride his aching ribs, and his efforts were to no avail.
|
||||
After several more minutes of futile struggle, he surrendered yet again.
|
||||
Misty rose to his feet.
|
||||
His arms were sore and limp with exhaustion.
|
||||
Trinket staggered to his feet and took a few tottering steps across the room.
|
||||
'Tomorrow . . . tomorrow I'll take you on again . . . and I'll beat you for sure!'
|
||||
Misty laughed.
|
||||
'If we fight a hundred times, you'll. . . you'll always lose!
|
||||
If you've got the guts, come again tomorrow!'
|
||||
'You're probably the one who's not got the guts!
|
||||
I'm not afraid.
|
||||
Live or die!
|
||||
My word is my wand!'
|
||||
They had both been quite carried away by the fighting, and neither of them had mentioned the money, or the bet they had laid.
|
||||
Or to be strictly accurate, Misty didn't mention it, and since he didn't, Trinket was more than happy to pretend to have forgotten.
|
||||
If he had emerged the victor, it would have been a very different story.
|
||||
420
data/mac/dev/en/002.tok
Normal file
420
data/mac/dev/en/002.tok
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,420 @@
|
||||
the boot reach the door , and come on into the room .
|
||||
trinket peep out from behind the table-cloth .
|
||||
from the size of he footwear , the new arrival seem to be a boy like himself .
|
||||
he heave a sigh of relief , and put the pancake in he mouth .
|
||||
he do not dare to take a bite out of it , but soften it with he saliva , and then swallow it silently down .
|
||||
meanwhile he could hear noisy munch come from the table above he .
|
||||
the new boy be clearly tuck in .
|
||||
' why , he be just another scavenger like i ! ' think trinket to himself .
|
||||
' i 'll jump out and scare he off , then i can carry on eat to my heart 's content . '
|
||||
he thought run on : ' what a fool i be just now !
|
||||
i should have stuff a whole plateful in my pocket and bugger off !
|
||||
this be not like home .
|
||||
they would not miss a little thing like that , or expect i to pay for it ! '
|
||||
all of a sudden there be a series of noisy thump .
|
||||
the new scavenger have start hit something .
|
||||
he curiosity arouse , trinket poke he head out from under the table .
|
||||
what he see be a boy of fourteen or fifteen , in a short gown , punch at one of the bag that hang from the beam .
|
||||
after a while , the boy move across and start attack one of the oxhide cut-out .
|
||||
he strike the figure first on the chest with one fist , then reach forward with both hand and grapple it by the waist , force it to the ground .
|
||||
it be very much the same sort of technique as the one use by the manchu wrestler in the inn the previous day .
|
||||
trinket chuckle to himself and dart out from beneath the table .
|
||||
' why fight a dummy ! ' he cry .
|
||||
' why not try i ? '
|
||||
the other boy 's first reaction be one of alarm , at the sight of this strange apparition with its head swathe in bandage .
|
||||
but alarm quickly turn to delight when he realize that he have find a spar partner .
|
||||
' very well ! ' he reply .
|
||||
' on guard ! '
|
||||
trinket spring forward and seize the boy 's arm , intend to give he a sharp twist , but the boy turn smartly , and hook he with he right foot , send trinket crash to the floor .
|
||||
' you be hopeless ! ' he jeer .
|
||||
' you obviously do not know the first thing about wrestle ! '
|
||||
' who say i do not ! ' protest trinket , leap to he foot again and reach for the boy 's left leg .
|
||||
the boy make a grab for he back , but this time trinket dodge in time and the boy seize a handful of air .
|
||||
trinket recall whisker ' fight with the seven wrestler at the inn , and shoot out a quick left that catch the boy hard , fair and square , on the lower cheek .
|
||||
the boy stand there stunned for a few seconds , and a momentary look of anger come into he eye .
|
||||
' you be hopeless ! ' cry trinket with a grin .
|
||||
' you obviously do not know the first thing about wrestling . '
|
||||
the boy say nothing , but feint with he left fist .
|
||||
trinket fall for it and dodge , and as he do so , the boy 's elbow come crash across into he midriff and wind he completely .
|
||||
he crumple up and fall to the ground in excruciating pain .
|
||||
the boy now come at trinket from behind , slip both hand under he arm and lace he hand together around he throat , throttle he , and press he harder and harder down on to the ground .
|
||||
trinket kick frantically with he right foot , but then the boy loose he hand and give he a terrific shove which send he roll across the room like a puppy chase its own tail .
|
||||
trinket be furious .
|
||||
he come tumble back , wrap both arm round the boy 's leg , and tug at he with all he might .
|
||||
the boy crash down right on top of he .
|
||||
he be quite a bit bigger than trinket , and have soon succeed in throttle he again and pin he to the ground .
|
||||
trinket begin to choke , thrash out with he foot to extricate himself , and finally manage to wriggle on top of the boy and hold he down .
|
||||
he be too light to maintain the upper hand for long , however , and soon the boy be back on top of he again .
|
||||
ever a crafty fighter , trinket now let go of the boy 's leg , get behind he , and land he a good kick on the backside .
|
||||
the boy quickly grab he right leg and tug at it , send trinket crash down on he back .
|
||||
the boy leap astride he , pin he head to the floor , and cry : ' well !
|
||||
surrender ? '
|
||||
trinket have meanwhile manage to hook he left foot round the boy 's waist , and start to rub it up and down the small of he back .
|
||||
the boy , it transpire , be extremely ticklish , and he could not help giggling , and loosen he grasp .
|
||||
trinket seize he chance , leap up , and pin he opponent down by the throat .
|
||||
the boy now use a standard wrestling ploy , grip trinket by the back of the neck and pull he to the ground with considerable force .
|
||||
trinket go out like a light .
|
||||
when he regain consciousness , he find that he be temporarily immobilize .
|
||||
the boy burst out laughing .
|
||||
' well ?
|
||||
have enough ?
|
||||
give in ? '
|
||||
but trinket be not finish yet .
|
||||
he eventually succeed in jump up and land a head-butt right in the boy 's midriff .
|
||||
the boy groan and stagger back a few step .
|
||||
trinket lunge after he , the boy lean a little to one side , put out a leg , and bring he tumble to the floor .
|
||||
trinket reach out frantically as he fall , clutch at the boy 's leg , and the two of they go down together .
|
||||
they struggle for a while , each one gain the upper hand for a moment , then go under , ring the change more than a dozen time , until finally they be in a complete deadlock , panting and stare fixedly at each other .
|
||||
and then suddenly , at exactly the same moment , they both burst out laughing .
|
||||
there be something about the clinch they be in that strike they both as terribly funny .
|
||||
slowly they let go .
|
||||
the boy reach out a hand and begin remove the bandage from trinket 's face .
|
||||
' what do you want to wrap you face up for ? '
|
||||
trinket be about to snatch the bandage back , when he reflect that the boy have already see most of he face and that it would achieve nothing .
|
||||
' i do not want anyone to recognize i take the cake . '
|
||||
' i see , ' say the boy , chuckle and stand up .
|
||||
' so you make a habit of come here and take food , do you ? '
|
||||
' no , i do not , ' say trinket .
|
||||
as he rise to he foot , he steal a closer glance at he opponent : there be something at once impressive and attractive about the boy 's feature , a clearness of brow , a noble look in the eye , a expression in the face , that draw trinket towards he .
|
||||
' what be you name ? ' ask the boy .
|
||||
' laurel , ' reply trinket .
|
||||
' and yours ? '
|
||||
after a moment 's hesitation the boy reply : ' mine 's . . .
|
||||
people call i misty .
|
||||
which of the goong-goong do you work for ? '
|
||||
' i be with haus goong-goong . '
|
||||
misty nod , and use trinket 's bandage to mop the sweat from he brow .
|
||||
he help himself to a cake .
|
||||
trinket be not go to be outdo .
|
||||
if this young fellow could continue calmly scavenging , so could he .
|
||||
he pop another slice of layer cake nonchalantly into he mouth .
|
||||
' i can see you have never do any wrestling , ' laugh misty .
|
||||
' but you be a quick mover all the same !
|
||||
you manage to get away that time .
|
||||
a few more go and i would have have you , though — '
|
||||
' be that right ? ' protest trinket .
|
||||
' come on then : let 's see — '
|
||||
' at you ! '
|
||||
the two of they set to again .
|
||||
misty clearly know a few wrestling move , and be the older and stronger of the two .
|
||||
but trinket have the benefit of year of experience in the street of yangzhou , where he would have to deal with all manner of bully and thug , big and small , and in this respect he be definitely misty 's superior .
|
||||
but for one reason or another ( partly whiskers ' lecture , partly because this be , after all , only ' play-fight ' and not in deadly earnest ) he do not avail himself of a single one of the dubious trick at which he excel : the finger-twist , the pigtail-pull , the throat-bite , the eye-poke , the ear-yank , the grip-o ' - the-ball .
|
||||
as a result he eventually come off the loser again , with misty sit on he back , and no hope of throw he off .
|
||||
' surrender ? '
|
||||
' never ! '
|
||||
misty burst out laughing and jump up .
|
||||
trinket go for he again , but this time misty shake he head .
|
||||
' no more for today !
|
||||
tomorrow , if you like .
|
||||
but i do not see the point : you 'll never be able to beat i ! '
|
||||
trinket be not have this .
|
||||
he pull a piece of silver from he pocket , about three tael ' worth : ' tomorrow we fight for money !
|
||||
you would better bring three tael yourself ! '
|
||||
misty seem somewhat take aback by this but then concur .
|
||||
' all right .
|
||||
we fight for money .
|
||||
i 'll bring my stake .
|
||||
see you here at noon tomorrow . '
|
||||
' live or die !
|
||||
excellent kungfu !
|
||||
my word be my wand ! ' cry trinket , and misty burst out laughing .
|
||||
' it certainly be ! '
|
||||
and with that he leave the room .
|
||||
trinket help himself to a big handful of cake and stuff they inside he jacket .
|
||||
then he too leave the room .
|
||||
as he go , he find himself thinking of whisker ' heroic stand at victory hill : now there be a man !
|
||||
whisker have pledge he word to fight , and nothing could have stand between he and the fulfilment of that pledge , not the wall of he prison cell , not even he own wound .
|
||||
how many time trinket have sit listen to the storyteller ' tale , and how many time he would dream of one day be a hero himself — trinket the brave man and true !
|
||||
now , he would say he would fight , and there could be no go back !
|
||||
he have pledge he word !
|
||||
and if he be to be a man of he word , he would have to forget about escape — at least for the time be .
|
||||
he would have to go back to the old eunuch that evening .
|
||||
he therefore decide to retrace he step to the room where they have be gamble earlier in the day — and from there he take a direction opposite to the one he have take earlier ( which have lead he deeper and deeper into the mansion ) , follow two covered walkway , vaguely remember one or two shrub he have pass by in the courtyard on the way , and somehow , by hook or by crook , navigate he way back to the old eunuch 's quarter .
|
||||
as he draw near the entrance , he hear the old fellow cough .
|
||||
' goong-goong ?
|
||||
be you feel any better ? '
|
||||
' better my arse ! ' mutter the eunuch .
|
||||
' get a move on , will you ! '
|
||||
trinket hurry over to he .
|
||||
old hai be sit at a table ( the broken one have be replace ) .
|
||||
'' how much do you win ? '
|
||||
' i win a dozen tael , ' reply trinket .
|
||||
' but i — '
|
||||
' you what ? ' snap the eunuch .
|
||||
' i lend they to wu . '
|
||||
in actual fact he have win twenty and lend twelve to wu : the remain eight he wish to hang on to .
|
||||
old hai scowl at he .
|
||||
' what do you want to go lend money to that wu fellow for ?
|
||||
he do not even work in the upper library , dammit !
|
||||
you could at least have lend to one of the wen brother ! '
|
||||
trinket do not follow this at all .
|
||||
' but they do not ask i for a loan . '
|
||||
' then you should have find a way to offer one .
|
||||
have you forget everything i ever tell you ? '
|
||||
' it be just that . . . what with killing that boy yesterday , i can not seem to think straight , it must have go clean out of my mind .
|
||||
i ought to have lend the money to one of the wen brother , that be right , i remember now , you tell i . '
|
||||
old hai humph .
|
||||
' what be so alarming about kill ?
|
||||
i suppose you be only a child though , you have never do it before .
|
||||
now , about the book — i hope you have not forget . '
|
||||
' the book ? '
|
||||
old hai humph again .
|
||||
' have you forget everything ? '
|
||||
' goong-goong , i. . . i have get this terrible headache . . . and i be so worried about you cough ...
|
||||
i just can not keep my mind on anything ! '
|
||||
' very well .
|
||||
come over here ! '
|
||||
' yes , goong-goong ! '
|
||||
trinket walk a few step closer .
|
||||
' i be go to repeat it for you once more .
|
||||
forget this time , and i shall kill you . '
|
||||
' yes , goong-goong ! ' pipe trinket , think to himself , ' just say it once , and i 'll never forget it , not in a hundred year ! '
|
||||
' listen : you be to win money from the wen brother .
|
||||
then you be to lend they money , the more the better .
|
||||
then , after a few day you be to ask they to take you to the upper library .
|
||||
they 'll have to say yes , if they owe you money .
|
||||
if they try to fob you off , you tell they that i 'll report they to the chief librarian ;
|
||||
i 'll tell he they refuse to pay they debt , and ask he to wait for he majesty to — '
|
||||
' he majesty ? '
|
||||
' what ? '
|
||||
' oh . . . nothing . '
|
||||
' if they ask you why you want to go to the upper library , you say that you be longing for a glimpse of he majesty , so you just want a chance to perform some little errand there .
|
||||
of course the wen brother will not let you see he majesty ; when they take you , he majesty will not even be in the upper library .
|
||||
that be when you find a way to steal the book . . . '
|
||||
something be begin to fall into place in trinket 's mind , with all these reference to ' he majesty ' .
|
||||
' could this be the palace , the forbidden city itself ! ' he think silently to himself .
|
||||
' have i be wrong all this time , about it be the number one whore-house in peke ?
|
||||
aiyeeh ! of course !
|
||||
that must be it !
|
||||
these people be all eunuch work for the emperor . . . '
|
||||
as a boy , trinket have hear people talk about the emperor , the empress , princes and princesses , palace ladies , palace eunuchs , but he have not the faintest idea what these grand being actually look like .
|
||||
all he know be that the emperor wear a dragon robe .
|
||||
in yangzhou he would see all sort of play , but the eunuch on stage be never dress anything like old hai , or he new gambling friend wu .
|
||||
and the stage eunuch always hold those long horsehair fly-whisk , and keep wave they around in the air .
|
||||
and anyway , he have never understand a word of what they be singing .
|
||||
so this be what real palace eunuch be like !
|
||||
' cripes ! ' he cry silently to himself .
|
||||
that mean i have become a little palace eunuch myself !
|
||||
i have lose my ball ! '
|
||||
' do you take in what i say just now ? ' growl old hai .
|
||||
' yes , goong-goong , yes !
|
||||
i have get to go to he majesty 's upper library ! '
|
||||
' and why have you get to go ?
|
||||
to play ? '
|
||||
' to steal a book . '
|
||||
' which book ? '
|
||||
' i. . . i. . . can not remember . '
|
||||
' i 'll tell you once more .
|
||||
and this time , do not forget .
|
||||
it be a sutra , call the sutra in forty-two sections .
|
||||
it be very old .
|
||||
there be several copy of it .
|
||||
just bring they all to i .
|
||||
get it ?
|
||||
now — what be it call ? '
|
||||
' the sutra in forty-two sections . '
|
||||
trinket sound very pleased with himself .
|
||||
' what be you so happy about ? ' snap the old eunuch .
|
||||
' i be just happy about . . . about remember it the minute you mention it again . '
|
||||
in actual fact , when old hai have speak of steal a book , trinket 's heart have sink .
|
||||
the ' steal ' part be no problem ; it be the ' book ' part that present what seem at first like a insurmountable obstacle .
|
||||
the trouble be that trinket could barely read .
|
||||
he could not decipher more than a word or two , let alone book title .
|
||||
then he hear the eunuch say that the book be the sutra in forty-two section , and he heart leap : what the word sutra look like he have not the foggiest notion , but number be something he could read .
|
||||
so the second part of the title be a walk-over !
|
||||
be not that sufficient reason to be please ?
|
||||
' now , ' go on old hai , ' if you go steal book from the upper library , you have get to be very smart , very careful .
|
||||
if anyone spot you , you be as good as dead .
|
||||
a hundred time over . '
|
||||
' i know , ' say trinket .
|
||||
he suddenly think of something , and add : ' if i do get catch , i would never dream of drag you into it , goong-goong ! '
|
||||
old hai heave a strangely unconcerned sigh .
|
||||
' drag i in or drag i out , it be all the same to i . . . '
|
||||
he have another cough fit , and go on : ' you have do quite well today .
|
||||
at least you have win something .
|
||||
what do the other think ?
|
||||
be they suspicious ? '
|
||||
trinket chortle .
|
||||
' oh no , why should they be ? '
|
||||
he be about to boast , but think better of it .
|
||||
' well then , do not sit around do nothing .
|
||||
eat you lunch , and if you have no job to do , go and practise with the dice ! '
|
||||
' yes , goong-goong ! '
|
||||
trinket walk across to the dining-table , where bowl and chopstick have be lay , four dish and a soup , all untouched .
|
||||
' goong-goong , be not you eat ?
|
||||
let i serve you ! '
|
||||
' i be not hungry .
|
||||
you go ahead . '
|
||||
trinket be delighted , and without bother to fill he bowl with rice , he attack a dish of stewed meat .
|
||||
the food be cold , but he be hungry , and to he it be indescribably delicious .
|
||||
' i wonder where they get the food from ?
|
||||
oh well , i would better not ask too many question , just keep my eye open and pick thing up one at a time .
|
||||
if this really be the forbidden city , then old wu and the wen brother and little misty must all of they be eunuch .
|
||||
i wonder what the actual emperor and empress look like ?
|
||||
i must try and get a look .
|
||||
then one day when i be back at home , ha ha !
|
||||
i can tell people who i have see .
|
||||
just imagine the look on they face !
|
||||
' i wonder if whisker get out safe ?
|
||||
they do not say anything about someone get catch when we be gamble . . .
|
||||
most probably he get away all right . '
|
||||
when he have finish eating , he go through the motion of practise with the dice so as not to arouse the old eunuch 's suspicion , throw they noisily across the table .
|
||||
after a while he eyelid begin to feel heavy .
|
||||
he have not sleep all night .
|
||||
in minute he be sound asleep .
|
||||
he sleep till evening , when a junior eunuch bring in they supper .
|
||||
trinket wait on old hai as he eat a bowl of rice , and then help he to bed .
|
||||
afterwards he go to lie down on the smaller bed , think to himself : ' tomorrow , whatever else happen , i must win my fight with misty ! '
|
||||
he lay there , try to remember whisker ' fight with the wrestler in the tavern .
|
||||
he wish he could remember the detail more clearly .
|
||||
' if only i would take old whiskers up on he offer !
|
||||
with he as my teacher i could have learn a thing or two on the way up here , and then i could have put misty in he place — even though he be stronger than i be .
|
||||
if he get i on the ground again tomorrow , i 'll die of shame !
|
||||
little white dragon — forget it !
|
||||
i would never dare show my face among the brother ! '
|
||||
suddenly a thought occur to he .
|
||||
' the wrestler be no match for whisker ; but whiskers be no match for old turtle-head — why do not i get he to teach i a few move ? '
|
||||
he ask the old eunuch at once : ' goong-goong , if you want i to go steal book from the upper library , there be just one problem . '
|
||||
' what be that ? '
|
||||
' well , after today 's game , i meet this . . . little eunuch , who stand in my way and ask i to give he some of my winnings .
|
||||
i would not , so we end up fighting .
|
||||
that be why i be so late for lunch . '
|
||||
' he beat you , presumably . '
|
||||
' he be bigger than i , and stronger .
|
||||
he say i have get to fight with he every day , until i can beat he .
|
||||
then he 'll let i off . '
|
||||
' what be the little fellow 's name ?
|
||||
which part of the palace be he from ? '
|
||||
' he be call misty .
|
||||
i do not know where he be from . '
|
||||
' you must have be act too pleased with yourself after you win — that be probably what annoy he . '
|
||||
' i will not let he get away with it !
|
||||
i be go to fight he tomorrow !
|
||||
but i just wonder if i can beat he . '
|
||||
old hai humph .
|
||||
' you want to wangle some move out of i , do not you ?
|
||||
the answer 's no , so it be no use try . '
|
||||
' clever old turtle-head ! ' think trinket , silently cursing to himself .
|
||||
this little fellow misty , ' he begin again , out loud , ' he be not such a good fighter really .
|
||||
i would not need to learn much to beat he .
|
||||
i do not need you to teach i , either .
|
||||
i have he on the ground today , it be just that he be too strong for i : he manage to buck i off .
|
||||
tomorrow i 'll get a proper grip on he .
|
||||
that should fix the little bugger ! '
|
||||
he have be try so hard all day to keep he language clean .
|
||||
' if you want to stop he buck you , that be easy ! ' say old hai .
|
||||
' i do not think it would be hard .
|
||||
i just get he in a good shoulder grip , then — '
|
||||
' that be no good !
|
||||
buck come from the lower back .
|
||||
you have to knee he on the vital point in the small of he back .
|
||||
come over here and i 'll show you . '
|
||||
trinket hop out of bed and be at old hai 's bedside in a trice .
|
||||
the old eunuch feel around in the small of he back and press lightly .
|
||||
trinket feel he whole body go limp .
|
||||
' can you remember that ? '
|
||||
' yes , i 'll try it out tomorrow .
|
||||
let 's hope it work . '
|
||||
' works ?
|
||||
of course it will work .
|
||||
it be absolutely foolproof ! '
|
||||
old hai reach out he hand and press lightly on either side of trinket 's neck .
|
||||
trinket let out a gasp of pain .
|
||||
he have a choke sensation in he chest , and could hardly breathe .
|
||||
' get he on these two point , ' say hai , ' and he 'll have no strength to fight with . '
|
||||
trinket be please as punch .
|
||||
' well , that be it then !
|
||||
tomorrow , i win ! '
|
||||
trinket go back to bed , and fall asleep dream of misty surrender to the little white dragon !
|
||||
wu come to fetch he again the follow morning .
|
||||
it be the wen brother ' turn to be banker .
|
||||
trinket have soon manage to win over twenty tael off they .
|
||||
it be a bad day for the bank altogether .
|
||||
in less than a hour they have to pay out fifty tael , which be all they have .
|
||||
trinket lend they another twenty , and by the end of the day 's play that be all go too .
|
||||
all trinket could think about be he appointment with misty .
|
||||
as soon as the gambling be over , he hurry to the ' cake room ' .
|
||||
the table be pile high again with good thing to eat , and this time trinket tuck in with a vengeance .
|
||||
then he hear the flip-ploy of cloth boot again .
|
||||
he duck under the table , just in case it turn out to be someone other than misty .
|
||||
' laurel !
|
||||
laurel ! '
|
||||
it be misty 's voice call from the doorway .
|
||||
trinket spring out , and with a big grin on he face , call back : ' live or die ! '
|
||||
' i live , you die ! ' laugh misty , stride into the room .
|
||||
trinket notice at once that he be wear a completely new outfit , and could not help feeling jealous .
|
||||
' huh ! ' he mutter to himself .
|
||||
' just you wait !
|
||||
you will not be so pleased when i have make a big rip in that smart gown of yours ! '
|
||||
he let out a great war cry and throw himself straight into the attack .
|
||||
' excellent kungfu ! ' cry he opponent , grapple he with both arm , and deliver a swing kick with he left foot .
|
||||
trinket lose he balance , totter and fall , bring misty down with he .
|
||||
as trinket roll and spin round , he manage to pin misty face down on the floor .
|
||||
he remember old hai 's little demonstration , and feel for the vital point in the small of misty 's back .
|
||||
but he have never do this sort of thing before , and it be hard to find the point at he very first attempt .
|
||||
misty meanwhile have spin round , grip trinket 's left arm , and twist it back .
|
||||
' hey ! ' scream trinket , ' that be not fair !
|
||||
twist my arm like that ! '
|
||||
that be what wresding 's all about ! ' laugh misty .
|
||||
' who say it be not fair ! '
|
||||
trinket take advantage of the fact that misty be busy speaking and momentarily off he guard , to launch a counter-attack .
|
||||
he bring he head down with all he might on to misty 's back , shoot he right hand under he armpit , and fling he up into the air as hard as he could .
|
||||
misty go fly over he head and land widus a crash on the ground .
|
||||
he leap to he foot again , cry : ' so you know the buck antelope too ! '
|
||||
trinket have never even hear of the antelope .
|
||||
he would just be improvise and thrash around , and somehow or other have manage to outwit he opponent .
|
||||
he be pretty chuffed .
|
||||
' the antelope be nothing ! ' he cry .
|
||||
' i know plenty more , and they be a lot worse .
|
||||
you have not see anything yet ! '
|
||||
' perfect ! ' cry misty in delight .
|
||||
' go to ! '
|
||||
trinket engage in a quick moment 's reflection : ' misty have obviously have lesson — that be why he keep get the better of i .
|
||||
but that be no problem .
|
||||
all i have to do be watch he move and copy they .
|
||||
he can throw i a few time — i 'll soon get the hang of it . '
|
||||
misty start come at he .
|
||||
trinket lunge back , but it be a feint : misty step aside , let trinket surge on , and chop he on the back with the side of he hand .
|
||||
trinket be unable to rein himself in , and go crash to the ground .
|
||||
misty give a great cry of delight , leap forwards , and plant himself astride trinket 's back .
|
||||
' surrender ? '
|
||||
' no !
|
||||
never ! ' protest trinket ,
|
||||
but when he try to straighten himself up and get to he foot , he feel a sudden numbness in the small of he back .
|
||||
misty have beat he to it !
|
||||
he have press on exactly the spot old hai have be try to teach he the previous evening .
|
||||
after struggle futilely for a moment longer , he finally give up .
|
||||
' all right ! ' he cry .
|
||||
this time i surrender ! '
|
||||
misty laugh and set he free .
|
||||
as trinket get up , he suddenly shoot out one of he foot .
|
||||
misty topple over , and trinket punch he in the small of the back .
|
||||
misty give a cry of pain and bent double .
|
||||
trinket leap on he from behind and grip he tightly round the throat with both he hand .
|
||||
misty lose consciousness for a instant , and fall flat on the ground .
|
||||
trinket hold on and demand triumphantly : ' surrender ? '
|
||||
misty give a little grunt .
|
||||
then suddenly he drive he elbow hard into trinket 's rib , and trinket go reel over on to the floor , scream with pain , certain that he must have several broken bone .
|
||||
misty spin round and sit astride he chest , once more the victor , though this time a winded and exhaust one , pant for breath .
|
||||
' do . . . you . . . give in ? '
|
||||
' give in my arse ! ' pant trinket back .
|
||||
the answer 's no !
|
||||
a hundred time no !
|
||||
you be lucky just now , that be all ! '
|
||||
' then get up ... and fight ! '
|
||||
trinket stretch and heave with all he might ( what little of it he have leave ) , but he opponent be still astride he ache rib , and he effort be to no avail .
|
||||
after several more minute of futile struggle , he surrender yet again .
|
||||
misty rise to he foot .
|
||||
he arm be sore and limp with exhaustion .
|
||||
trinket stagger to he foot and take a few totter step across the room .
|
||||
' tomorrow . . . tomorrow i 'll take you on again . . . and i 'll beat you for sure ! '
|
||||
misty laugh .
|
||||
' if we fight a hundred time , you 'll . . . you 'll always lose !
|
||||
if you have get the gut , come again tomorrow ! '
|
||||
' you be probably the one who be not get the gut !
|
||||
i be not afraid .
|
||||
live or die !
|
||||
my word be my wand ! '
|
||||
they have both be quite carry away by the fighting , and neither of they have mention the money , or the bet they have lay .
|
||||
or to be strictly accurate , misty do not mention it , and since he do not , trinket be more than happy to pretend to have forget .
|
||||
if he have emerge the victor , it would have be a very different story .
|
||||
386
data/mac/dev/en/003
Normal file
386
data/mac/dev/en/003
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,386 @@
|
||||
Qin-shi was surprised to hear Bao-yu call out her childhood name in his sleep, but did not like to pursue the matter.
|
||||
As she stood wondering, Bao-yu, who was still bemused after his dream and not yet in full possession of his faculties, got out of bed and began to stretch himself and to adjust his clothes, assisted by Aroma.
|
||||
As she was doing up his trousers, her hand, chancing to stray over his thigh, came into contact with something cold and sticky which caused her to draw it back in alarm and ask him if he was all right.
|
||||
Instead of answering, he merely reddened and gave the hand a squeeze.
|
||||
Aroma had always been an intelligent girl.
|
||||
She was, in any case, a year or two older than Bao-yu and had recently begun to have some understanding of the facts of life.
|
||||
Observing the condition that Bao-yu was in, she therefore had more than an inkling of what had happened.
|
||||
Abandoning her question, she busied herself with his clothes, her cheeks suffused by a crimson blush of embarrassment.
|
||||
When he was properly dressed, they went to rejoin Grandmother Jia and the rest.
|
||||
There they bolted a hurried supper and then slipped back to the other house, where Aroma profited from the absence of the nurses and the other maids to take out a clean undergarment for Bao-yu to change into.
|
||||
'Please, Aroma,' Bao-yu shamefacedly entreated as she helped him change, 'please don't tell anyone!'
|
||||
Equally ill at ease, Aroma giggled softly.
|
||||
'Why did you...?' she began to ask.
|
||||
Then, after glancing cautiously around, began again.
|
||||
'Where did that stuff come from?'
|
||||
Bao-yu blushed furiously and said nothing.
|
||||
Aroma stared at him curiously and continued to giggle.
|
||||
After much hesitation he proceeded to give her a detailed account of his dream.
|
||||
But when he came to the part of it in which he made love to Two-in-one, Aroma threw herself forward with a shriek of laughter and buried her face in her hands.
|
||||
Bao-yu had long been attracted by Aroma's somewhat coquettish charms and tugged at her purposefully, anxious to share with her the lesson he had learned from Disenchantment.
|
||||
Aroma knew that when Grandmother Jia gave her to Bao-yu she had intended her to belong to him in the fullest possible sense, and so, having no good reason for refusing him, she allowed him, after a certain amount of coy resistance, to have his way with her.
|
||||
From then on Bao-yu treated Aroma with even greater consideration than before, whilst Aroma for her part redoubled the devotion with which she served him.
|
||||
But of this, for the time being, no more.
|
||||
The inhabitants of the Rong mansion, if we include all of them from the highest to the humblest in our total, numbered more than three hundred souls, who produced between them a dozen or more incidents in a single day.
|
||||
Faced with so exuberant an abundance of material, what principle should your chronicler adopt to guide him in his selection of incidents to record?
|
||||
As we pondered the problem where to begin, it was suddenly solved for us by the appearance as it were out of nowhere of someone from a very humble, very insignificant household who, on the strength of a very tenuous, very remote family connection with the Jias, turned up at the Rong mansion on the very day of which we are about to write.
|
||||
Their name was Wang and they were natives of these parts.
|
||||
A grandfather had held some very small official post in the capital and had there become acquainted with Wang Xi-feng's grandfather, the father of Lady Wang.
|
||||
Conceiving an admiration for the power and prestige of this greater namesake, he had sought to link his family with the latter's clan by becoming his adoptive nephew.
|
||||
Only Lady Wang and her elder brother – Wang Xi-feng's father – who chanced at that time to be staying with their parent on his tour of duty at the capital, knew anything about this.
|
||||
The other members of the clan were unaware that any such relationship existed.
|
||||
The grandfather had long since died, leaving an only son called Wang Cheng who, having fallen on hard times, had moved back into the countryside somewhere outside the capital.
|
||||
Wang Cheng in his turn had died leaving a son called Gou-er, who had married a girl from a family called Liu and now had two children, a son called Ban-er and a daughter called Qing-er.
|
||||
The four of them depended on agriculture for their living, and since, with Gou-er himself busy most of the day on the land and his wife busy about the farm drawing water, pounding grain, and the like, there was no one to look after Qing-er and her little brother, Gou-er invited his mother-in-law, old Grannie Liu, to come and live with them.
|
||||
This Grannie Liu was an ancient widow-woman, rich in experience of the world, who, having no son or daughter-in-law to cherish her, eked out her solitary existence by scratching a livelihood from a miserable half-acre of land.
|
||||
She therefore embraced her son-in-law's invitation with alacrity and threw herself enthusiastically into the business of helping the young couple to make a living.
|
||||
The season was now at the turn between autumn and winter.
|
||||
The cold weather was beginning, but none of the preparations for winter had yet been made.
|
||||
By drinking to allay his anxiety, Gou-er merely put himself more out of temper.
|
||||
He returned home to vent some of his spleen on his long-suffering wife.
|
||||
Grannie Liu could eventually stomach no more of his wife-baiting and intervened on her daughter's behalf.
|
||||
'Now look here, son-in-law: probably you will think me an interfering old woman; but we country folk have to be grateful for what is in the pot and cut down our appetites to the same measure.
|
||||
When you were little your Ma and Pa could afford to indulge you; so now you're grown-up you spend all your money as soon as you've got any, without stopping to count the cost; then, when it's all gone, you start making a fuss.
|
||||
But what sort of way is that for a grown man to behave ?
|
||||
'Now where we live may be out in the country, but it's still "in the Emperor's shadow", as they say.
|
||||
Over there in the city the streets are paved with money just waiting for someone to go and pick it up.
|
||||
What's the sense in rampaging around here at home when you could go out and help yourself?'
|
||||
'It's easy for you to sit on your backside and talk,' said Gou-er rudely, 'but what do you expect me to do?
|
||||
Go out and rob?'
|
||||
'No one's asking you to rob,' said Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'But can't we all sit down peaceably and think of a way?
|
||||
Because if we don't, the money isn't going to come walking in the door of its own accord.'
|
||||
Gou-er snorted sarcastically.
|
||||
'If there were a way, do you suppose I should have waited till now before trying it out?
|
||||
There are no tax-collectors in my family and no mandarins among my friends.
|
||||
What way could there be of laying my hands on some money?
|
||||
Even if I did have rich friends or relations, I'm not so sure they would want to be bothered with the likes of us.'
|
||||
'I wouldn't say that,' said Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'Man proposes, God disposes.
|
||||
It's up to us to think of something.
|
||||
We must leave it to the good Lord to decide whether He'll help us or not.
|
||||
Who knows, He might give us the opportunity we are looking for.
|
||||
'Now I can think of a chance you might try.
|
||||
Your family used to be connected with the Wang clan of Nanking.
|
||||
Twenty years ago the Nanking Wangs used to be very good to you folk.
|
||||
It's only because of late years you have been too stiff-necked to approach them that they have become more distant with you.
|
||||
'I can remember going to their house once with my daughter.
|
||||
The elder Miss Wang was a very straightforward young lady, very easy to get on with, and not at all high and mighty.
|
||||
She's now the wife of the younger of the two Sir Jias in the Rong mansion.
|
||||
They say that now she's getting on in years she's grown even more charitable and given to good works than she was as a girl.
|
||||
Her brother has been promoted; but I shouldn't be surprised if she at least didn't still remember us.
|
||||
Why don't you try your luck with her?
|
||||
You never know, she might do something for you for the sake of old times.
|
||||
She only has to feel well disposed and a hair off her arm would be thicker than a man's waist to poor folks like us!'
|
||||
'That's all very well, Mother,' put in Gou-er's wife, 'but just take a look at us!
|
||||
What sort of state are we in to go calling on great folks like them?
|
||||
I doubt the people at the door would bother to tell them we were there.
|
||||
Who's going to all that trouble just to make a fool of themselves?'
|
||||
Gou-er's cupidity, however, had been aroused by the words of his mother-in-law, and his reaction to them was less discouraging than his wife's.
|
||||
'Well, if it's as you say, Grannie, and being as you've already seen this lady, why not go there yourself and spy out the land for us?'
|
||||
'Bless us and save us!' said Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'You know what they say: "A prince's door is like the deep sea."
|
||||
What sort of creature do you take me for?
|
||||
The servants there don't know me; it would be a journey wasted.'
|
||||
'That's no problem,' said Gou-er.
|
||||
'I'll tell you what to do.
|
||||
You take young Ban-er with you and ask for Old Zhou that stayed in service with your lady after she married.
|
||||
If you tell them you've come to see him, it will give you an excuse for the visit.
|
||||
Old Zhou once entrusted a bit of business to my father.
|
||||
He used to be very friendly with us at one time.'
|
||||
'I knew all about that,' said Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'But it's a long time since you had anything to do with him and hard to say how he may prove after all these years.
|
||||
Howsomever.
|
||||
Being a man, you naturally can't go in your present pickle; and a young married woman like my daughter can't go gallivanting around the countryside showing herself to everybody.
|
||||
But as my old face is tough enough to stand a slap or two, it's up to me to go.
|
||||
So be it, then.
|
||||
If any good does come of the visit, we shall all of us benefit.'
|
||||
And so, that very evening, the matter was settled.
|
||||
Next day Grannie Liu was up before dawn.
|
||||
As soon as she had washed and done her hair, she set about teaching Ban-er a few words to say to the ladies at the great house – an exercise to which he submitted cheerfully enough, as would any little boy of four or five who had been promised an outing to the great city.
|
||||
That done, she set off on her journey, and in due course made her way to Two Dukes Street.
|
||||
There, at each side of the stone lions which flanked the gates of the Rong Mansion, she saw a cluster of horses and palanquins.
|
||||
Not daring to go straight up, she first dusted down her clothes and rehearsed Ban-er's little repertoire of phrases before sidling up to one of the side entrances.
|
||||
A number of important-looking gentlemen sat in the gateway sunning their bellies and discoursing with animated gestures on a wide variety of topics.
|
||||
Grannie Liu waddled up to them and offered a respectful salutation.
|
||||
After looking her up and down for a moment or two, they asked her her business.
|
||||
Grannie Liu smiled ingratiatingly.
|
||||
'I've come to see Old Zhou that used to be in service with Her Ladyship before she married.
|
||||
Could I trouble one of you gentlemen to fetch him out for me?'
|
||||
The gentlemen ignored her request and returned to their discussion.
|
||||
After she had waited there for some considerable time one of them said,' If you stand at that gate along there on the corner, someone from inside the house should be coming out presently.'
|
||||
But a more elderly man among them protested that it was 'a shame to send her on a fool's errand', and turning to Grannie Liu he said, 'Old Zhou is away in the South at the moment, but his missus is still at home.
|
||||
She lives round at the back.
|
||||
You'll have to go from here round to the back gate in the other street and ask for her there.'
|
||||
Grannie Liu thanked him and trotted off with little Ban-er all the way round to the rear entrance.
|
||||
There she found a number of sweetmeat vendors and toy-sellers who had set their wares down outside the gate and were being beseiged by a crowd of some twenty or thirty noisy, yelling children.
|
||||
She grabbed a small urchin from their midst and drew him towards her.
|
||||
'Tell me, sonny, is there a Mrs Zhou living here?'
|
||||
The urchin stared back at her impudently.
|
||||
'Which Mrs Zhou?
|
||||
There are several Mrs Zhous here.
|
||||
What's her job?'
|
||||
'She's the Mrs Zhou that came here with Her Ladyship when she was married.'
|
||||
'That's easy,' said the urchin.
|
||||
'Follow me!'
|
||||
He led Grannie Liu into a rear courtyard.
|
||||
'That's where she lives,' he said, pointing in the direction of a side wall.
|
||||
Then, bawling over the wall, 'Mrs Zhou, there's an old woman come to see you!'
|
||||
Zhou Rui's wife came hurrying out and asked who it was.
|
||||
'How are you, my dear?' said Grannie Liu, advancing with a smile.
|
||||
Zhou Rui's wife scrutinized her questioningly for some moments before finally recognizing her.
|
||||
'Why, it's Grannie Liu!
|
||||
How are you?
|
||||
It's so many years since I saw you last, I'd forgotten all about you!
|
||||
Come in and sit down!'
|
||||
Grannie Liu followed her cackling.
|
||||
'You know what they say: "Important people have short memories."
|
||||
I wouldn't expect you to remember the likes of us!'
|
||||
When they were indoors, Zhou Rui's wife ordered her little hired help to pour out some tea.
|
||||
'And hasn't Ban-er grown a big boy!' said Zhou Rui's wife; then, after a few inquiries about the various things that had happened since they last met, she asked Grannie Liu about her visit.
|
||||
'Were you just passing by, or have you come specially?'
|
||||
'Well, of course, first and foremost we came to see you,' replied Grannie Liu mendaciously, 'but we were also hoping to pay our respects to Her Ladyship.
|
||||
If you could take us to see her, that would be very nice; but if that's not possible, perhaps we could trouble you just to give her our regards.'
|
||||
From the tone of this reply Zhou Rui's wife was already able to make a pretty good guess as to the real purpose of the old woman's visit; but because some years previously her husband had received a lot of help from Gou-er's father in a dispute over the purchase of some land, she could not very well reject Grannie Liu now, when she came to her as a suppliant.
|
||||
She was, in any case, anxious to demonstrate her own importance in the Jia household; and so the answer she gave her was a gracious one.
|
||||
'Don't you worry, Grannie!
|
||||
After you've made such a long pilgrimage, we won't let you go home without seeing a real Buddha!
|
||||
By rights, of course, Callers and Visitors has nothing to do with me.
|
||||
You see, we each have our own jobs here.
|
||||
My man's is collecting the half-yearly rents in the spring and autumn; and when he's not doing that, he takes the young masters out when they go on visits.
|
||||
That's all he ever does.
|
||||
Now my job is to attend to their ladyships and the young mistresses when they go out.
|
||||
But being as how you are a relation of Her ladyship, and since you've put your confidence in me and turned to me to help you, I don't mind breaking the rules for once and taking in a message.
|
||||
'There's only one thing, though.
|
||||
I don't expect you know, but things here are very different from what they were five years ago.
|
||||
Nowadays Her Ladyship doesn't run things here any longer.
|
||||
It's Master Lian's wife who does all the managing –
|
||||
You'll never guess who that is:
|
||||
Her Ladyship's niece Wang Xi-feng.
|
||||
You know, Her Ladyship's eldest brother's daughter, that we used to call "Feng-ge" when she was a child.'
|
||||
'Bless you, my dear, for being such a help!' said Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'Oh Grannie, how can you say such a thing?' said Zhou Rui's wife demurely.
|
||||
'You know what the old saying is, "He who helps others helps himself."
|
||||
It's only a question of saying a few words.
|
||||
No trouble at all.'
|
||||
So saying, she instructed the little maid to slip quietly round to the back of old Lady Jia's quarters and ask if they were serving lunch yet.
|
||||
The little maid departed on her errand and the two women resumed their conversation.
|
||||
'This Mrs Lian,' said Grannie Liu: 'she can't be more than eighteen or nineteen years old.
|
||||
She must be a very capable young woman.
|
||||
Fancy her being able to run a great household like this!'
|
||||
'Oh Grannie, you have no idea!' said Zhou Rui's wife.
|
||||
'Mrs Lian may be young, but when it comes to doing things, she's got an older head on her shoulders than any I've ever come across.
|
||||
She's grown up to be a real beauty too, has Mrs Lian.
|
||||
But sharp!
|
||||
Well, if it ever comes to a slanging match, she can talk down ten grown men any day of the week!
|
||||
Wait till you meet her, and you'll see what I mean.
|
||||
There's only one thing, though.
|
||||
She's a bit too strict with those beneath her.'
|
||||
As she was speaking, the little maid came back, her errand completed.
|
||||
'They've finished serving lunch at Her Old Ladyship's.
|
||||
Mrs Lian is still there.'
|
||||
Zhou Rui's wife hurriedly rose to her feet and urged Grannie Liu to do likewise.
|
||||
'Quick!
|
||||
After she comes out from there she'll be free for a few minutes while she has her meal.
|
||||
We must try and catch her then.
|
||||
If we delay a moment longer, people will start coming in with messages and we shan't have a chance to speak to her.
|
||||
And once she goes off for her afternoon nap, we've really lost her!'
|
||||
Grannie Liu got off the kang, adjusted her clothing, conducted Ban-er through a rapid revision of his little stock of phrases and followed Zhou Rui's wife through various twists and turns to Jia Lian's quarters.
|
||||
Just before they reached them, Zhou Rui's wife planted them both in a covered passage-way while she went on ahead round the screen wall and into the gate of the courtyard.
|
||||
First ascertaining that Wang Xi-feng had not yet left Lady Jia's, she sought out Xi-feng's chambermaid and principal confidante, Patience, and primed her with a full account of Grannie Liu's antecedents.
|
||||
'She has come all this way today to pay her respects,' she concluded.
|
||||
'At one time Her Ladyship used to see quite a lot of her, which is why I thought it would be in order for me to bring her in.
|
||||
I thought I would wait for the young mistress to come back and explain it all to her.
|
||||
I hope she won't be angry with me for pushing myself forward.'
|
||||
Patience at once made up her mind what to do.
|
||||
'Let them come in here.
|
||||
They can sit here while they are waiting.'
|
||||
Zhou Rui's wife went off again to fetch her charges.
|
||||
As they ascended the steps to the main reception room, a little maid lifted up the red carpet which served as a portiere for them to enter.
|
||||
A strange, delicious fragrance seemed to reach forward and enfold them as they entered, producing in Grannie Liu the momentary sensation that she had been transported bodily to one of the celestial paradises.
|
||||
Their eyes, too, were dazzled by the bright and glittering things that filled the room.
|
||||
Temporarily speechless with wonder, Grannie Liu stood wagging her head, alternating clicks of admiration with pious ejaculations.
|
||||
From the glittering reception room they passed to a room on the east side of it in which Jia Lian's baby daughter slept.
|
||||
Patience, who was standing by the edge of the kang, made a rapid assessment of Grannie Liu and judged it sufficient to greet her with a civil 'how-do-you-do' and an invitation to be seated.
|
||||
Grannie Liu looked at the silks and satins in which Patience was dressed, the gold and silver ornaments in her hair, her beauty of feature which in every respect corresponded with what she had been told of Wang Xi-feng, and taking the maid for the mistress, was on the point of greeting her as 'Gou-er's aunt', when Zhou Rui's wife introduced her as' Miss Patience'.
|
||||
Then, when Patience shortly afterwards addressed Zhou Rui's wife as 'Mrs Zhou', she knew that this was no mistress but a very high-class maid.
|
||||
So Grannie Liu and Ban-er got up on the kang at one side, while Patience and Zhou Rui's wife sat near the edge of it on the other, and a little maid came in and poured them all some tea.
|
||||
Grannie Liu's attention was distracted by a persistent tock tock tock tock not unlike the sound made by a flour-bolting machine, and she could not forbear glancing round her from time to time to see where it came from.
|
||||
Presently she caught sight of a sort of boxlike object fastened to one of the central pillars of the room, and a thing like the weight of a steelyard hanging down from it, which swung to and fro in ceaseless motion and appeared to be the source of the noise which had distracted her.
|
||||
'I wonder what that can be,' she thought to herself, 'and what it can be used for?'
|
||||
As she studied the strange box, it suddenly gave forth a loud dong! like the sound of a bronze bell or a copper chime, which so startled the old lady that her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
|
||||
The dong! was followed in rapid succession by eight or nine others, and Grannie Liu was on the point of asking what it meant, when all the maids in the house began scurrying about shouting, 'The mistress!
|
||||
The mistress!
|
||||
She'll be coming out now!' and Patience and Zhou Rui's wife hurriedly rose to their feet.
|
||||
'Just stay here, Grannie,' they said.
|
||||
'When it is time for you to see her, we shall come in and fetch you'; and they went off with the other servants to greet their mistress.
|
||||
As Grannie Liu sat in silence, waiting with bated breath and head cocked to one side for her summons, she heard a far-off sound of laughter, followed presently by a sound of rustling dresses as between ten and twenty women entered the reception room and passed from it into the room beyond.
|
||||
Then two or three women bearing large red lacquer boxes took up their positions on the side nearest the room in which she sat and stood there waiting to be called.
|
||||
A voice in the far room called out,' Serve now, please!' at which, to judge from the noises, most of the women scuttled off, leaving only the few who were waiting at table.
|
||||
A long silence ensued in which not so much as a cheep could be heard; then two women came in bearing a small, low table which they set down on the kang.
|
||||
It was covered with bowls and dishes containing all kinds of meat and fish, only one or two of which appeared to have been touched.
|
||||
At the sight of it Ban-er set up a clamour for some meat and was silenced by Grannie Liu with a resounding slap.
|
||||
Just at that moment Zhou Rui's wife appeared, her face all wreathed in smiles, and advanced towards Grannie Liu beckoning.
|
||||
Grannie Liu slipped off the kang, lifted down Ban-er, and exchanged a few hurried whispers with her in the reception room before waddling into the room beyond.
|
||||
A dark-red patterned curtain hung from brass hooks over the doorway.
|
||||
Inside, under the window in the south wall, there was a kang covered with a dark-red carpet.
|
||||
At the east end of the kang, up against the wooden partition wall, were a backrest and bolster, both covered in gold brocade, and a large flat cushion for sitting on, also glittering with gold thread.
|
||||
Beside them stood a silver spittoon.
|
||||
Wang Xi-feng had on a little cap of red sable, which she wore about the house for warmth, fastened on with a pearl-studded bandeau.
|
||||
She was dressed in a sprigged peach-pink gown, with an ermine-lined skirt of dark-red foreign crepe underneath it, and a cloak of slate-blue silk with woven coloured insets and lining of grey squirrel around her shoulders.
|
||||
Her face was exquisitely made-up.
|
||||
She was sitting on the edge of the kang, her back straight as a ramrod, with a diminutive pair of tongs in her hand, removing the spent charcoal from a portable hand-warmer.
|
||||
Patience stood beside her carrying a covered teacup on a tiny inlaid lacquer tray.
|
||||
Xi-feng appeared not to have noticed her, for she neither reached out for the cup nor raised her head, but continued picking ab-sorbedly at her hand-warmer.
|
||||
At last she spoke: 'Why not ask them in, then?'
|
||||
As she did so, she raised her head and saw Zhou Rui's wife with her two charges already standing in front of her.
|
||||
She made a confused movement as if to rise to her feet, welcomed the old lady with a look of unutterable benevolence, and almost in the same breath said rather crossly to Zhou Rui's wife, 'Why didn't you tell me?'
|
||||
By this time Grannie Liu was already down on her knees and had touched her head several times to the floor in reverence to her 'Aunt Feng'.
|
||||
'Stop her, Zhou dear !' said Xi-feng in alarm.
|
||||
'She mustn't do that,
|
||||
I am much too young!
|
||||
In any case, I don't know her very well.
|
||||
I don't know what sort of relations we are and what I should call her.'
|
||||
'This is the Grannie Liu I was just telling you about,' said Zhou Rui's wife.
|
||||
Xi-feng nodded, and Grannie Liu sat herself down on the edge of the kang.
|
||||
Ban-er at once hid himself behind her back and neither threats nor blandishments would induce him to come out and make a bow to his 'Auntie'.
|
||||
'Relations don't come to see us much nowadays,' said Xi-feng affably.
|
||||
'We are getting to be quite strangers with everybody.
|
||||
People who know us realize that it is because you are tired of us that you don't visit us oftener; but some spiteful people who don't know us so well think it's our fault, because we have grown too proud.'
|
||||
Grannie Liu invoked the Lord Buddha in pious disavowal of so shocking a view.
|
||||
'It's hard times that keeps us away.
|
||||
We can't afford to visit.
|
||||
We are afraid that if we came to see you looking the way we are, you would disown us; and even the people at the gate might think we were tramps!'
|
||||
'Now you are really being too hard on us!
|
||||
What if Grandfather did make a little bit of a name for himself and we do hold some miserable little appointment?
|
||||
What does it all amount to?
|
||||
It's all empty show, really.
|
||||
You know what they say: "Even the Emperor has poor relations."
|
||||
It would be strange indeed if we didn't have a few!'
|
||||
She turned to Zhou Rui's wife.
|
||||
'Have you told Her Ladyship yet?'
|
||||
'No, ma'am.
|
||||
I was waiting for your instructions.'
|
||||
'Go and have a look, then.
|
||||
If she has anyone with her, you had better leave it; but if she is free, tell her about their visit and see what she says.'
|
||||
Zhou Rui's wife departed on her errand.
|
||||
Xi-feng told one of the servants to give Ban-er a handful of sweets, and had just begun a desultory conversation with Grannie Liu when a number of domestics and underlings of either sex arrived to report on their duties.
|
||||
'I am entertaining a guest,' said Xi-feng to Patience when she came in to announce their arrival.
|
||||
'Let them leave it until this evening.
|
||||
But if anyone has important business, bring them in and I will deal with it now.'
|
||||
Patience went out and returned a minute later to say that she had asked them and no one had any business of special importance, so she had sent them all away.
|
||||
Xi-feng nodded.
|
||||
At this point Zhou Rui's wife returned with a message for Xi-feng.
|
||||
'Her Ladyship says she isn't free today, but that if you will entertain them for her, it will be just the same as if she were to receive them herself.
|
||||
She says please thank them very much for coming.
|
||||
And she says if it's just an ordinary visit she has nothing more to add; but if they have anything particular to say, she says tell them that they can say it to you instead.'
|
||||
'I hadn't anything particular in mind,' said Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'Only to look in on Her Ladyship and your mistress.
|
||||
Just a visit to relations.'
|
||||
'Well all right then, if you are sure you have nothing to say.
|
||||
But if you have got anything to say, you really ought to tell the mistress.
|
||||
It will be just the same as if you were to say it to Her Ladyship.'
|
||||
Zhou Rui's wife darted a meaningful look at Grannie Liu as she said this.
|
||||
Grannie Liu perfectly well understood the significance of this look, and a blush of shame overspread her face.
|
||||
Yet if she did not speak up now, what would have been the purpose of her visit?
|
||||
She forced herself to say something.
|
||||
'By rights I ought not to mention it today, seeing that this is our first meeting: but as I have come such a long way to see you, it seems silly not to speak...'
|
||||
She had got no further when the pages from the outer gate announced the arrival of 'the young master from the Ning mansion' and Xi-feng gestured to her to stop.
|
||||
'It's all right.
|
||||
There is no need to tell me.'
|
||||
She turned to the pages.
|
||||
'Where is Master Rong, then?'
|
||||
A man's footstep sounded outside and a fresh-faced, willowy youth of seventeen or eighteen in elegant and expensive-looking winter dress came into the room.
|
||||
Grannie Liu, acutely embarrassed in this male presence, did not know whether to sit or stand, and looked round her in vain for somewhere to hide herself.
|
||||
Xi-feng laughed at her discomfiture.
|
||||
'Don't mind him; just stay where you are!
|
||||
It's only my nephew.'
|
||||
With a good deal of girlish simpering Grannie Liu sat down again, perching herself obliquely on the extreme edge of the kang.
|
||||
Jia Rong saluted his aunt Manchu fashion.
|
||||
'My father is entertaining an important visitor tomorrow and he wondered if he might borrow the little glass screen that your Uncle Wang's wife gave you, to put on our kang while he is there.
|
||||
We can let you have it back again as soon as he has gone.'
|
||||
'You are too late,' said Xi-feng.
|
||||
'I lent it yesterday to someone else.'
|
||||
Jia Rong flashed a winning smile at her and half-knelt on the side of the kang.
|
||||
'If you won't lend it, my father will say that I didn't ask properly and I shall get a beating.
|
||||
Come on, Auntie, be a sport!
|
||||
Just for my sake!'
|
||||
Xi-feng smiled maliciously.
|
||||
'I don't know what's so special about my family's things.
|
||||
Heaven knows, you have enough stuff of your own over there; yet you have only to set eyes on anything of ours, and you want it for yourselves.'
|
||||
Jia Rong's smile flashed again.
|
||||
'Please, Auntie!
|
||||
Be merciful!'
|
||||
'If it's the tiniest bit chipped,' said Xi-feng, 'I'll have the hide off you!'
|
||||
She ordered Patience to take the key of the upstairs room and get some reliable servants to carry it over.
|
||||
Delighted with his good luck, Jia Rong hurriedly forestalled her.
|
||||
'I'll get some of my own people to carry it.
|
||||
Don't put yours to a lot of trouble!' and he hurried out.
|
||||
Xi-feng suddenly seemed to remember something, and called to him through the window, 'Rong, come back!'
|
||||
Servants in the yard outside dutifully took up the cry, 'Master Rong, you're wanted back again!'
|
||||
Jia Rong came hurrying back, wreathed in smiles, and looked at Xi-feng with eyebrows arched inquiringly.
|
||||
Xi-feng, however, sipped very intently from her teacup and mused for a while, saying nothing.
|
||||
Suddenly her face flushed and she gave a little laugh: 'It doesn't matter.
|
||||
Come back again after supper.
|
||||
I've got company now, and besides, I don't feel in the mood to tell you.'
|
||||
'Yes, Aunt,' said Jia Rong, and pursing his lips up in a complacent smile he sauntered slowly out of the room.
|
||||
Having all this while had time to collect herself, Grannie Liu began her speech again:
|
||||
'The real reason I have brought your little nephew here today is because his Pa and Ma haven't anything in the house to eat, and the weather is getting colder, and – and – I thought I'd bring him here to see you...'
|
||||
She gave Ban-er a despairing push.
|
||||
'What did your Pa tell you to say when we got here?
|
||||
What was it he sent us for?
|
||||
Look at you!
|
||||
All you can do is sit there eating sweets!'
|
||||
It was abundantly clear to Xi-feng that the old lady was too embarrassed to go on, and she put her out of her misery with a gracious smile.
|
||||
'It's quite all right.
|
||||
There is no need to tell me.
|
||||
I quite understand.'
|
||||
She turned to Zhou Rui's wife.
|
||||
'I wonder if Grannie has eaten yet today?'
|
||||
'We were on our way first thing this morning,' Grannie Liu chimed in.
|
||||
'There was no time to think about eating.'
|
||||
Xi-feng gave orders for a meal to be brought in, and Zhou Rui's wife went out and presently reappeared with a guest's portion of various choice dishes on a little table, which she set down in the east wing, and to which she then conducted Grannie Liu and Ban-er for their meal.
|
||||
'Zhou, dear,' said Xi-feng, 'will you keep them company and see that they have enough to eat?
|
||||
I shan't be able to sit with them myself.'
|
||||
Then calling her aside for a moment she asked, 'What did Her Ladyship say when you went to report about them just now?'
|
||||
'She said they don't really belong to the family but were adopted into the clan years ago when your grandfather and theirs were working in the same office.
|
||||
She said they haven't been round much of late years, but in the old days when they used to visit us we never sent them back empty-handed.
|
||||
She said it was nice of them to come and see us today and we should be careful to treat them considerately.
|
||||
And she said if they appear to want anything, she would leave it to you to decide what we should do for them.'
|
||||
'No wonder!' exclaimed Xi-feng when she had heard this account.
|
||||
'I couldn't understand how they could be really related to us if I had never even heard of them.'
|
||||
While they were talking, Grannie Liu came back from the other room having already finished eating, smacking her lips and sucking her teeth appreciatively, and voicing her thanks for the repast.
|
||||
'Sit down,' said Xi-feng with a smile.
|
||||
'I have something to say to you.
|
||||
I quite understand what you were trying to tell me just now.
|
||||
As we are relations, we ought by rights not to wait for you to come to our door before helping you when you are in trouble; but there are so many things to attend to in this family, and now that Her Ladyship is getting on a bit she doesn't always remember them all.
|
||||
And since I took over the management of the household, I find there are quite a lot of relations that I don't even know about.
|
||||
And then again, of course, though we may look thriving enough from the outside, people don't realize that being a big establishment like ours carries its own difficulties.
|
||||
They won't believe it if you tell them, but it's true.
|
||||
However, since you have come such a long way, and since this is the first time you have ever said a word about needing help, we obviously can't let you go back empty-handed.
|
||||
Fortunately it so happens that I still haven't touched any of the twenty taels of silver that Her Ladyship gave me the other day to make clothes for the maids with.
|
||||
If you don't mind it being so little, you are very welcome to take it.'
|
||||
When Grannie Liu heard Xi-feng talk about 'difficulties' she concluded that there was no hope.
|
||||
Her delight and the way in which her face lit up with pleasure when she heard that she was, after all, to be given twenty taels of silver can be imagined.
|
||||
'We knew you had your troubles,' she said, 'but as the saying goes, "A starved camel is bigger than a fat horse."
|
||||
Say what you like, a hair plucked from your arm is thicker than a man's waist to folks like us!'
|
||||
Horrified by the crudity of these expressions, Zhou Rui's wife, who was standing by, was meanwhile signalling frantically to the old lady to stop.
|
||||
But Xi-feng laughed quite unconcernedly and told Patience to wrap up the silver and also to fetch a string of cash to go with it.
|
||||
The money was set down in front of Grannie Liu.
|
||||
'Here is the twenty taels of silver,' said Xi-feng.
|
||||
'Take this for the time being to make some winter clothes for the children with.
|
||||
Some time later on, when you have nothing better to do, look in on us for a day or two for kinship's sake.
|
||||
It's late now, so I won't try to keep you.
|
||||
Give our regards to everybody who ought to be remembered when you get back!'
|
||||
She rose to her feet, and Grannie Liu, with heartfelt expressions of gratitude, picked up the money and followed Zhou Rui's wife out of the room.
|
||||
'My dear good woman,' said the latter when they were out of earshot, 'whatever came over you?
|
||||
First, when you met her, you couldn't get a word out; then, when you did start talking, it was all "your nephew" this and "your nephew" that!
|
||||
I hope you won't mind my saying so, but even if the child was a real nephew you would still need to go a bit easy on the familiarities.
|
||||
Now Master Rong, he is her real nephew.
|
||||
That's the sort of person a lady like that calls "nephew" .
|
||||
Where she would come by a nephew like this one, I just do not know!'
|
||||
'My dear,' replied Grannie Liu with a laugh, 'when I saw the pretty little darling sitting there, I took such a liking to her that my heart was too full to speak.'
|
||||
Back in Zhou Rui's quarters the two women sat talking for a while.
|
||||
Grannie Liu wanted to leave a piece of silver to buy something for the Zhou children with, but Zhou Rui's wife said she wouldn't hear of it and refused absolutely to accept anything.
|
||||
And so, with many expressions of gratitude, the old lady took her leave and set out once more through the back gate of the mansion.
|
||||
And if you want to know what happened after she had left, you will have to read the next chapter.
|
||||
386
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|
||||
qin-shus be surprise to hear bao-yu call out she childhood name in he sleep , but do not like to pursue the matter .
|
||||
as she stand wonder , bao-yu , who be still bemused after he dream and not yet in full possession of he faculty , get out of bed and begin to stretch himself and to adjust he clothes , assist by aroma .
|
||||
as she be do up he trousers , she hand , chance to stray over he thigh , come into contact with something cold and sticky which cause she to draw it back in alarm and ask he if he be all right .
|
||||
instead of answering , he merely redden and give the hand a squeeze .
|
||||
aroma have always be a intelligent girl .
|
||||
she be , in any case , a year or two older than bao-yu and have recently begin to have some understanding of the fact of life .
|
||||
observe the condition that bao-yu be in , she therefore have more than a inkling of what have happen .
|
||||
abandon she question , she busy herself with he clothes , she cheek suffuse by a crimson blush of embarrassment .
|
||||
when he be properly dress , they go to rejoin grandmother jia and the rest .
|
||||
there they bolt a hurry supper and then slip back to the other house , where aroma profit from the absence of the nurse and the other maid to take out a clean undergarment for bao-yu to change into .
|
||||
' please , aroma , ' bao-yu shamefacedly entreat as she help he change , ' please do not tell anyone ! '
|
||||
equally ill at ease , aroma giggle softly .
|
||||
' why do you ... ? ' she begin to ask .
|
||||
then , after glance cautiously around , begin again .
|
||||
' where do that stuff come from ? '
|
||||
bao-yu blush furiously and say nothing .
|
||||
aroma stare at he curiously and continue to giggle .
|
||||
after much hesitation he proceed to give she a detailed account of he dream .
|
||||
but when he come to the part of it in which he make love to two-in-one , aroma throw herself forward with a shriek of laughter and bury she face in she hand .
|
||||
bao-yu have long be attract by aroma 's somewhat coquettish charm and tug at she purposefully , anxious to share with she the lesson he have learn from disenchantment .
|
||||
aroma know that when grandmother jia give she to bao-yu she have intend she to belong to he in the fullest possible sense , and so , have no good reason for refuse he , she allow he , after a certain amount of coy resistance , to have he way with she .
|
||||
from then on bao-yu treat aroma with even greater consideration than before , whilst aroma for she part redouble the devotion with which she serve he .
|
||||
but of this , for the time be , no more .
|
||||
the inhabitant of the rong mansion , if we include all of they from the highest to the humblest in we total , number more than three hundred soul , who produce between they a dozen or more incident in a single day .
|
||||
face with so exuberant a abundance of material , what principle should you chronicler adopt to guide he in he selection of incident to record ?
|
||||
as we ponder the problem where to begin , it be suddenly solve for we by the appearance as it be out of nowhere of someone from a very humble , very insignificant household who , on the strength of a very tenuous , very remote family connection with the jias , turn up at the rong mansion on the very day of which we be about to write .
|
||||
they name be wang and they be native of these part .
|
||||
a grandfather have hold some very small official post in the capital and have there become acquaint with wang xi-feng 's grandfather , the father of lady wang .
|
||||
conceive a admiration for the power and prestige of this greater namesake , he have seek to link he family with the latter 's clan by become he adoptive nephew .
|
||||
only lady wang and she elder brother – wang xi-feng 's father – who chance at that time to be stay with they parent on he tour of duty at the capital , know anything about this .
|
||||
the other member of the clan be unaware that any such relationship exist .
|
||||
the grandfather have long since die , leave a only son call wang cheng who , have fall on hard time , have move back into the countryside somewhere outside the capital .
|
||||
wang cheng in he turn have die leave a son call gou-er , who have marry a girl from a family call liu and now have two child , a son call ban-er and a daughter call qing-er .
|
||||
the four of they depend on agriculture for they living , and since , with gou-er himself busy most of the day on the land and he wife busy about the farm drawing water , pound grain , and the like , there be no one to look after qing-er and she little brother , gou-er invite he mother-in-law , old grannie liu , to come and live with they .
|
||||
this grannie liu be a ancient widow-woman , rich in experience of the world , who , have no son or daughter-in-law to cherish she , eke out she solitary existence by scratch a livelihood from a miserable half-acre of land .
|
||||
she therefore embrace she son-in-law 's invitation with alacrity and throw herself enthusiastically into the business of help the young couple to make a living .
|
||||
the season be now at the turn between autumn and winter .
|
||||
the cold weather be begin , but none of the preparation for winter have yet be make .
|
||||
by drink to allay he anxiety , gou-er merely put himself more out of temper .
|
||||
he return home to vent some of he spleen on he long-suffering wife .
|
||||
grannie liu could eventually stomach no more of he wife-baiting and intervene on she daughter 's behalf .
|
||||
' now look here , son-in-law : probably you will think i a interfere old woman ; but we country folk have to be grateful for what be in the pot and cut down we appetite to the same measure .
|
||||
when you be little you ma and pa could afford to indulge you ; so now you be grown-up you spend all you money as soon as you have get any , without stop to count the cost ; then , when it be all go , you start make a fuss .
|
||||
but what sort of way be that for a grown man to behave ?
|
||||
' now where we live may be out in the country , but it be still " in the emperor 's shadow " , as they say .
|
||||
over there in the city the street be pave with money just wait for someone to go and pick it up .
|
||||
what be the sense in rampage around here at home when you could go out and help yourself ? '
|
||||
' it be easy for you to sit on you backside and talk , ' say gou-er rudely , ' but what do you expect i to do ?
|
||||
go out and rob ? '
|
||||
' no one 's ask you to rob , ' say grannie liu .
|
||||
' but can not we all sit down peaceably and think of a way ?
|
||||
because if we do not , the money be not go to come walk in the door of its own accord . '
|
||||
gou-er snort sarcastically .
|
||||
' if there be a way , do you suppose i should have wait till now before try it out ?
|
||||
there be no tax-collector in my family and no mandarin among my friend .
|
||||
what way could there be of lay my hand on some money ?
|
||||
even if i do have rich friend or relation , i be not so sure they would want to be bother with the likes of we . '
|
||||
' i would not say that , ' say grannie liu .
|
||||
' man propose , god dispose .
|
||||
it be up to we to think of something .
|
||||
we must leave it to the good lord to decide whether he 'll help we or not .
|
||||
who know , he might give we the opportunity we be look for .
|
||||
' now i can think of a chance you might try .
|
||||
you family use to be connect with the wang clan of nanking .
|
||||
twenty year ago the nanking wangs use to be very good to you folk .
|
||||
it be only because of late year you have be too stiff-necked to approach they that they have become more distant with you .
|
||||
' i can remember go to they house once with my daughter .
|
||||
the elder miss wang be a very straightforward young lady , very easy to get on with , and not at all high and mighty .
|
||||
she be now the wife of the younger of the two sir jias in the rong mansion .
|
||||
they say that now she be get on in year she be grow even more charitable and give to good work than she be as a girl .
|
||||
she brother have be promote ; but i should not be surprise if she at least do not still remember we .
|
||||
why do not you try you luck with she ?
|
||||
you never know , she might do something for you for the sake of old time .
|
||||
she only have to feel well disposed and a hair off she arm would be thicker than a man 's waist to poor folk like we ! '
|
||||
' that be all very well , mother , ' put in gou-er 's wife , ' but just take a look at we !
|
||||
what sort of state be we in to go call on great folk like they ?
|
||||
i doubt the people at the door would bother to tell they we be there .
|
||||
who be go to all that trouble just to make a fool of themselves ? '
|
||||
gou-er 's cupidity , however , have be arouse by the word of he mother-in-law , and he reaction to they be less discouraging than he wife 's .
|
||||
' well , if it be as you say , grannie , and be as you have already see this lady , why not go there yourself and spy out the land for we ? '
|
||||
' bless we and save we ! ' say grannie liu .
|
||||
' you know what they say : " a prince 's door be like the deep sea . "
|
||||
what sort of creature do you take i for ?
|
||||
the servant there do not know i ; it would be a journey waste . '
|
||||
' that be no problem , ' say gou-er .
|
||||
' i 'll tell you what to do .
|
||||
you take young ban-er with you and ask for old zhou that stay in service with you lady after she marry .
|
||||
if you tell they you have come to see he , it will give you a excuse for the visit .
|
||||
old zhou once entrust a bit of business to my father .
|
||||
he use to be very friendly with we at one time . '
|
||||
' i know all about that , ' say grannie liu .
|
||||
' but it be a long time since you have anything to do with he and hard to say how he may prove after all these year .
|
||||
howsomever .
|
||||
be a man , you naturally can not go in you present pickle ; and a young married woman like my daughter can not go gallivant around the countryside show herself to everybody .
|
||||
but as my old face be tough enough to stand a slap or two , it be up to i to go .
|
||||
so be it , then .
|
||||
if any good do come of the visit , we shall all of we benefit . '
|
||||
and so , that very evening , the matter be settle .
|
||||
next day grannie liu be up before dawn .
|
||||
as soon as she have wash and do she hair , she set about teaching ban-er a few word to say to the lady at the great house – a exercise to which he submit cheerfully enough , as would any little boy of four or five who have be promise a outing to the great city .
|
||||
that do , she set off on she journey , and in due course make she way to two dukes street .
|
||||
there , at each side of the stone lion which flank the gate of the rong mansion , she see a cluster of horse and palanquin .
|
||||
not daring to go straight up , she first dust down she clothes and rehearse ban-er 's little repertoire of phrase before sidle up to one of the side entrance .
|
||||
a number of important-looking gentleman sit in the gateway sun they belly and discourse with animated gesture on a wide variety of topic .
|
||||
grannie liu waddle up to they and offer a respectful salutation .
|
||||
after look she up and down for a moment or two , they ask she she business .
|
||||
grannie liu smile ingratiatingly .
|
||||
' i have come to see old zhou that use to be in service with she ladyship before she marry .
|
||||
could i trouble one of you gentleman to fetch he out for i ? '
|
||||
the gentleman ignore she request and return to they discussion .
|
||||
after she have wait there for some considerable time one of they say , ' if you stand at that gate along there on the corner , someone from inside the house should be come out presently . '
|
||||
but a more elderly man among they protest that it be ' a shame to send she on a fool 's errand ' , and turn to grannie liu he say , ' old zhou be away in the south at the moment , but he missus be still at home .
|
||||
she live round at the back .
|
||||
you 'll have to go from here round to the back gate in the other street and ask for she there . '
|
||||
grannie liu thank he and trot off with little ban-er all the way round to the rear entrance .
|
||||
there she find a number of sweetmeat vendor and toy-seller who have set they wares down outside the gate and be be beseige by a crowd of some twenty or thirty noisy , yell child .
|
||||
she grab a small urchin from they midst and draw he towards she .
|
||||
' tell i , sonny , be there a mrs zhou live here ? '
|
||||
the urchin stare back at she impudently .
|
||||
' which mrs zhou ?
|
||||
there be several mrs zhous here .
|
||||
what be she job ? '
|
||||
' she be the mrs zhou that come here with she ladyship when she be marry . '
|
||||
' that be easy , ' say the urchin .
|
||||
' follow i ! '
|
||||
he lead grannie liu into a rear courtyard .
|
||||
' that be where she live , ' he say , point in the direction of a side wall .
|
||||
then , bawl over the wall , ' mrs zhou , there be a old woman come to see you ! '
|
||||
zhou rui 's wife come hurry out and ask who it be .
|
||||
' how be you , my dear ? ' say grannie liu , advance with a smile .
|
||||
zhou rui 's wife scrutinize she questioningly for some moment before finally recognize she .
|
||||
' why , it be grannie liu !
|
||||
how be you ?
|
||||
it be so many year since i see you last , i would forget all about you !
|
||||
come in and sit down ! '
|
||||
grannie liu follow she cackling .
|
||||
' you know what they say : " important people have short memory . "
|
||||
i would not expect you to remember the likes of we ! '
|
||||
when they be indoors , zhou rui 's wife order she little hire help to pour out some tea .
|
||||
' and have not ban-er grow a big boy ! ' say zhou rui 's wife ; then , after a few inquiry about the various thing that have happen since they last meet , she ask grannie liu about she visit .
|
||||
' be you just pass by , or have you come specially ? '
|
||||
' well , of course , first and foremost we come to see you , ' reply grannie liu mendaciously , ' but we be also hope to pay we respects to she ladyship .
|
||||
if you could take we to see she , that would be very nice ; but if that be not possible , perhaps we could trouble you just to give she we regard . '
|
||||
from the tone of this reply zhou rui 's wife be already able to make a pretty good guess as to the real purpose of the old woman 's visit ; but because some year previously she husband have receive a lot of help from gou-er 's father in a dispute over the purchase of some land , she could not very well reject grannie liu now , when she come to she as a suppliant .
|
||||
she be , in any case , anxious to demonstrate she own importance in the jia household ; and so the answer she give she be a gracious one .
|
||||
' do not you worry , grannie !
|
||||
after you have make such a long pilgrimage , we will not let you go home without see a real buddha !
|
||||
by rights , of course , callers and visitors have nothing to do with i .
|
||||
you see , we each have we own job here .
|
||||
my man 's be collect the half-yearly rent in the spring and autumn ; and when he be not do that , he take the young master out when they go on visit .
|
||||
that be all he ever do .
|
||||
now my job be to attend to they ladyship and the young mistress when they go out .
|
||||
but be as how you be a relation of she ladyship , and since you have put you confidence in i and turn to i to help you , i do not mind break the rule for once and take in a message .
|
||||
' there be only one thing , though .
|
||||
i do not expect you know , but thing here be very different from what they be five year ago .
|
||||
nowadays she ladyship do not run thing here any longer .
|
||||
it be master lian 's wife who do all the managing –
|
||||
you 'll never guess who that be :
|
||||
she ladyship 's niece wang xi-feng .
|
||||
you know , she ladyship 's eldest brother 's daughter , that we use to call " feng-ge " when she be a child . '
|
||||
' bless you , my dear , for be such a help ! ' say grannie liu .
|
||||
' oh grannie , how can you say such a thing ? ' say zhou rui 's wife demurely .
|
||||
' you know what the old saying be , " he who help other help himself . "
|
||||
it be only a question of say a few word .
|
||||
no trouble at all . '
|
||||
so say , she instruct the little maid to slip quietly round to the back of old lady jia 's quarter and ask if they be serve lunch yet .
|
||||
the little maid depart on she errand and the two woman resume they conversation .
|
||||
' this mrs lian , ' say grannie liu : ' she can not be more than eighteen or nineteen year old .
|
||||
she must be a very capable young woman .
|
||||
fancy she being able to run a great household like this ! '
|
||||
' oh grannie , you have no idea ! ' say zhou rui 's wife .
|
||||
' mrs lian may be young , but when it come to do thing , she be get a older head on she shoulder than any i have ever come across .
|
||||
she be grow up to be a real beauty too , have mrs lian .
|
||||
but sharp !
|
||||
well , if it ever come to a slanging match , she can talk down ten grown man any day of the week !
|
||||
wait till you meet she , and you 'll see what i mean .
|
||||
there be only one thing , though .
|
||||
she be a bit too strict with those beneath she . '
|
||||
as she be speak , the little maid come back , she errand complete .
|
||||
' they have finish serve lunch at she old ladyship 's .
|
||||
mrs lian be still there . '
|
||||
zhou rui 's wife hurriedly rise to she foot and urge grannie liu to do likewise .
|
||||
' quick !
|
||||
after she come out from there she 'll be free for a few minute while she have she meal .
|
||||
we must try and catch she then .
|
||||
if we delay a moment longer , people will start come in with message and we sha not have a chance to speak to she .
|
||||
and once she go off for she afternoon nap , we have really lose she ! '
|
||||
grannie liu get off the kang , adjust she clothing , conduct ban-er through a rapid revision of he little stock of phrase and follow zhou rui 's wife through various twist and turn to jia lian 's quarter .
|
||||
just before they reach they , zhou rui 's wife plant they both in a covered passage-way while she go on ahead round the screen wall and into the gate of the courtyard .
|
||||
first ascertain that wang xi-feng have not yet leave lady jia 's , she seek out xi-feng 's chambermaid and principal confidante , patience , and prime she with a full account of grannie liu 's antecedent .
|
||||
' she have come all this way today to pay she respects , ' she conclude .
|
||||
' at one time she ladyship use to see quite a lot of she , which be why i think it would be in order for i to bring she in .
|
||||
i think i would wait for the young mistress to come back and explain it all to she .
|
||||
i hope she will not be angry with i for push myself forward . '
|
||||
patience at once make up she mind what to do .
|
||||
' let they come in here .
|
||||
they can sit here while they be wait . '
|
||||
zhou rui 's wife go off again to fetch she charge .
|
||||
as they ascend the step to the main reception room , a little maid lift up the red carpet which serve as a portiere for they to enter .
|
||||
a strange , delicious fragrance seem to reach forward and enfold they as they enter , produce in grannie liu the momentary sensation that she have be transport bodily to one of the celestial paradise .
|
||||
they eye , too , be dazzle by the bright and glittering thing that fill the room .
|
||||
temporarily speechless with wonder , grannie liu stand wag she head , alternate click of admiration with pious ejaculation .
|
||||
from the glitter reception room they pass to a room on the east side of it in which jia lian 's baby daughter sleep .
|
||||
patience , who be stand by the edge of the kang , make a rapid assessment of grannie liu and judge it sufficient to greet she with a civil ' how-do-you-do ' and a invitation to be seat .
|
||||
grannie liu look at the silk and satin in which patience be dress , the gold and silver ornament in she hair , she beauty of feature which in every respect correspond with what she have be tell of wang xi-feng , and take the maid for the mistress , be on the point of greet she as ' gou-er 's aunt ' , when zhou rui 's wife introduce she as ' miss patience ' .
|
||||
then , when patience shortly afterwards address zhou rui 's wife as ' mrs zhou ' , she know that this be no mistress but a very high-class maid .
|
||||
so grannie liu and ban-er get up on the kang at one side , while patience and zhou rui 's wife sit near the edge of it on the other , and a little maid come in and pour they all some tea .
|
||||
grannie liu 's attention be distract by a persistent tock tock tock tock not unlike the sound make by a flour-bolting machine , and she could not forbear glance round she from time to time to see where it come from .
|
||||
presently she catch sight of a sort of boxlike object fasten to one of the central pillar of the room , and a thing like the weight of a steelyard hang down from it , which swing to and fro in ceaseless motion and appear to be the source of the noise which have distract she .
|
||||
' i wonder what that can be , ' she think to herself , ' and what it can be use for ? '
|
||||
as she study the strange box , it suddenly give forth a loud dong ! like the sound of a bronze bell or a copper chime , which so startle the old lady that she eye nearly pop out of she head .
|
||||
the dong ! be follow in rapid succession by eight or nine other , and grannie liu be on the point of ask what it mean , when all the maid in the house begin scurry about shout , ' the mistress !
|
||||
the mistress !
|
||||
she 'll be come out now ! ' and patience and zhou rui 's wife hurriedly rise to they foot .
|
||||
' just stay here , grannie , ' they say .
|
||||
' when it be time for you to see she , we shall come in and fetch you ' ; and they go off with the other servant to greet they mistress .
|
||||
as grannie liu sit in silence , wait with bated breath and head cock to one side for she summons , she hear a far-off sound of laughter , follow presently by a sound of rustling dress as between ten and twenty woman enter the reception room and pass from it into the room beyond .
|
||||
then two or three woman bear large red lacquer box take up they position on the side nearest the room in which she sit and stand there wait to be call .
|
||||
a voice in the far room call out , ' serve now , please ! ' at which , to judge from the noise , most of the woman scuttle off , leave only the few who be wait at table .
|
||||
a long silence ensue in which not so much as a cheep could be hear ; then two woman come in bear a small , low table which they set down on the kang .
|
||||
it be cover with bowl and dish contain all kind of meat and fish , only one or two of which appear to have be touch .
|
||||
at the sight of it ban-er set up a clamour for some meat and be silence by grannie liu with a resounding slap .
|
||||
just at that moment zhou rui 's wife appear , she face all wreathe in smile , and advance towards grannie liu beckon .
|
||||
grannie liu slip off the kang , lift down ban-er , and exchange a few hurry whisper with she in the reception room before waddle into the room beyond .
|
||||
a dark-red pattern curtain hang from brass hook over the doorway .
|
||||
inside , under the window in the south wall , there be a kang cover with a dark-red carpet .
|
||||
at the east end of the kang , up against the wooden partition wall , be a backrest and bolster , both cover in gold brocade , and a large flat cushion for sit on , also glitter with gold thread .
|
||||
beside they stand a silver spittoon .
|
||||
wang xi-feng have on a little cap of red sable , which she wear about the house for warmth , fasten on with a pearl-studded bandeau .
|
||||
she be dress in a sprigged peach-pink gown , with a ermine-lined skirt of dark-red foreign crepe underneath it , and a cloak of slate-blue silk with weave coloured inset and lining of grey squirrel around she shoulder .
|
||||
she face be exquisitely made-up .
|
||||
she be sit on the edge of the kang , she back straight as a ramrod , with a diminutive pair of tong in she hand , remove the spend charcoal from a portable hand-warmer .
|
||||
patience stand beside she carry a covered teacup on a tiny inlaid lacquer tray .
|
||||
xi-feng appear not to have notice she , for she neither reach out for the cup nor raise she head , but continue pick ab-sorbedly at she hand-warmer .
|
||||
at last she speak : ' why not ask they in , then ? '
|
||||
as she do so , she raise she head and see zhou rui 's wife with she two charge already stand in front of she .
|
||||
she make a confused movement as if to rise to she foot , welcome the old lady with a look of unutterable benevolence , and almost in the same breath say rather crossly to zhou rui 's wife , ' why do not you tell i ? '
|
||||
by this time grannie liu be already down on she knee and have touch she head several time to the floor in reverence to she ' aunt feng ' .
|
||||
' stop she , zhou dear ! ' say xi-feng in alarm .
|
||||
' she must not do that ,
|
||||
i be much too young !
|
||||
in any case , i do not know she very well .
|
||||
i do not know what sort of relation we be and what i should call she . '
|
||||
' this be the grannie liu i be just tell you about , ' say zhou rui 's wife .
|
||||
xi-feng nod , and grannie liu sit herself down on the edge of the kang .
|
||||
ban-er at once hide himself behind she back and neither threat nor blandishments would induce he to come out and make a bow to he ' auntie ' .
|
||||
' relation do not come to see we much nowadays , ' say xi-feng affably .
|
||||
' we be get to be quite stranger with everybody .
|
||||
people who know we realize that it be because you be tire of we that you do not visit we oftener ; but some spiteful people who do not know we so well think it be we fault , because we have grow too proud . '
|
||||
grannie liu invoke the lord buddha in pious disavowal of so shocking a view .
|
||||
' it be hard time that keep we away .
|
||||
we can not afford to visit .
|
||||
we be afraid that if we come to see you look the way we be , you would disown we ; and even the people at the gate might think we be tramp ! '
|
||||
' now you be really be too hard on we !
|
||||
what if grandfather do make a little bit of a name for himself and we do hold some miserable little appointment ?
|
||||
what do it all amount to ?
|
||||
it be all empty show , really .
|
||||
you know what they say : " even the emperor have poor relation . "
|
||||
it would be strange indeed if we do not have a few ! '
|
||||
she turn to zhou rui 's wife .
|
||||
' have you tell she ladyship yet ? '
|
||||
' no , ma'am .
|
||||
i be wait for you instruction . '
|
||||
' go and have a look , then .
|
||||
if she have anyone with she , you have better leave it ; but if she be free , tell she about they visit and see what she say . '
|
||||
zhou rui 's wife depart on she errand .
|
||||
xi-feng tell one of the servant to give ban-er a handful of sweet , and have just begin a desultory conversation with grannie liu when a number of domestic and underling of either sex arrive to report on they duty .
|
||||
' i be entertain a guest , ' say xi-feng to patience when she come in to announce they arrival .
|
||||
' let they leave it until this evening .
|
||||
but if anyone have important business , bring they in and i will deal with it now . '
|
||||
patience go out and return a minute later to say that she have ask they and no one have any business of special importance , so she have send they all away .
|
||||
xi-feng nod .
|
||||
at this point zhou rui 's wife return with a message for xi-feng .
|
||||
' she ladyship say she be not free today , but that if you will entertain they for she , it will be just the same as if she be to receive they herself .
|
||||
she say please thank they very much for come .
|
||||
and she say if it be just a ordinary visit she have nothing more to add ; but if they have anything particular to say , she say tell they that they can say it to you instead . '
|
||||
' i have not anything particular in mind , ' say grannie liu .
|
||||
' only to look in on she ladyship and you mistress .
|
||||
just a visit to relation . '
|
||||
' well all right then , if you be sure you have nothing to say .
|
||||
but if you have get anything to say , you really ought to tell the mistress .
|
||||
it will be just the same as if you be to say it to she ladyship . '
|
||||
zhou rui 's wife dart a meaningful look at grannie liu as she say this .
|
||||
grannie liu perfectly well understand the significance of this look , and a blush of shame overspread she face .
|
||||
yet if she do not speak up now , what would have be the purpose of she visit ?
|
||||
she force herself to say something .
|
||||
' by rights i ought not to mention it today , see that this be we first meeting : but as i have come such a long way to see you , it seem silly not to speak ... '
|
||||
she have get no further when the page from the outer gate announce the arrival of ' the young master from the ning mansion ' and xi-feng gesture to she to stop .
|
||||
' it be all right .
|
||||
there be no need to tell i . '
|
||||
she turn to the page .
|
||||
' where be master rong , then ? '
|
||||
a man 's footstep sound outside and a fresh-faced , willowy youth of seventeen or eighteen in elegant and expensive-looking winter dress come into the room .
|
||||
grannie liu , acutely embarrass in this male presence , do not know whether to sit or stand , and look round she in vain for somewhere to hide herself .
|
||||
xi-feng laugh at she discomfiture .
|
||||
' do not mind he ; just stay where you be !
|
||||
it be only my nephew . '
|
||||
with a good deal of girlish simpering grannie liu sit down again , perch herself obliquely on the extreme edge of the kang .
|
||||
jia rong salute he aunt manchu fashion .
|
||||
' my father be entertain a important visitor tomorrow and he wonder if he might borrow the little glass screen that you uncle wang 's wife give you , to put on we kang while he be there .
|
||||
we can let you have it back again as soon as he have go . '
|
||||
' you be too late , ' say xi-feng .
|
||||
' i lend it yesterday to someone else . '
|
||||
jia rong flash a win smile at she and half-knelt on the side of the kang .
|
||||
' if you will not lend it , my father will say that i do not ask properly and i shall get a beating .
|
||||
come on , auntie , be a sport !
|
||||
just for my sake ! '
|
||||
xi-feng smile maliciously .
|
||||
' i do not know what be so special about my family 's thing .
|
||||
heaven know , you have enough stuff of you own over there ; yet you have only to set eye on anything of ours , and you want it for yourselve . '
|
||||
jia rong 's smile flash again .
|
||||
' please , auntie !
|
||||
be merciful ! '
|
||||
' if it be the tiniest bit chip , ' say xi-feng , ' i 'll have the hide off you ! '
|
||||
she order patience to take the key of the upstairs room and get some reliable servant to carry it over .
|
||||
delighted with he good luck , jia rong hurriedly forestall she .
|
||||
' i 'll get some of my own people to carry it .
|
||||
do not put yours to a lot of trouble ! ' and he hurry out .
|
||||
xi-feng suddenly seem to remember something , and call to he through the window , ' rong , come back ! '
|
||||
servant in the yard outside dutifully take up the cry , ' master rong , you be want back again ! '
|
||||
jia rong come hurry back , wreathe in smile , and look at xi-feng with eyebrow arched inquiringly .
|
||||
xi-feng , however , sip very intently from she teacup and muse for a while , say nothing .
|
||||
suddenly she face flush and she give a little laugh : ' it do not matter .
|
||||
come back again after supper .
|
||||
i have get company now , and besides , i do not feel in the mood to tell you . '
|
||||
' yes , aunt , ' say jia rong , and purse he lip up in a complacent smile he saunter slowly out of the room .
|
||||
have all this while have time to collect herself , grannie liu begin she speech again :
|
||||
' the real reason i have bring you little nephew here today be because he pa and ma have not anything in the house to eat , and the weather be get colder , and – and – i think i would bring he here to see you ... '
|
||||
she give ban-er a despairing push .
|
||||
' what do you pa tell you to say when we get here ?
|
||||
what be it he send we for ?
|
||||
look at you !
|
||||
all you can do be sit there eat sweet ! '
|
||||
it be abundantly clear to xi-feng that the old lady be too embarrassed to go on , and she put she out of she misery with a gracious smile .
|
||||
' it be quite all right .
|
||||
there be no need to tell i .
|
||||
i quite understand . '
|
||||
she turn to zhou rui 's wife .
|
||||
' i wonder if grannie have eat yet today ? '
|
||||
' we be on we way first thing this morning , ' grannie liu chime in .
|
||||
' there be no time to think about eating . '
|
||||
xi-feng give order for a meal to be bring in , and zhou rui 's wife go out and presently reappear with a guest 's portion of various choice dish on a little table , which she set down in the east wing , and to which she then conduct grannie liu and ban-er for they meal .
|
||||
' zhou , dear , ' say xi-feng , ' will you keep they company and see that they have enough to eat ?
|
||||
i sha not be able to sit with they myself . '
|
||||
then call she aside for a moment she ask , ' what do she ladyship say when you go to report about they just now ? '
|
||||
' she say they do not really belong to the family but be adopt into the clan year ago when you grandfather and theirs be work in the same office .
|
||||
she say they have not be round much of late year , but in the old day when they use to visit we we never send they back empty-handed .
|
||||
she say it be nice of they to come and see we today and we should be careful to treat they considerately .
|
||||
and she say if they appear to want anything , she would leave it to you to decide what we should do for they . '
|
||||
' no wonder ! ' exclaim xi-feng when she have hear this account .
|
||||
' i could not understand how they could be really related to we if i have never even hear of they . '
|
||||
while they be talk , grannie liu come back from the other room have already finish eating , smack she lip and suck she tooth appreciatively , and voice she thanks for the repast .
|
||||
' sit down , ' say xi-feng with a smile .
|
||||
' i have something to say to you .
|
||||
i quite understand what you be try to tell i just now .
|
||||
as we be relation , we ought by rights not to wait for you to come to we door before help you when you be in trouble ; but there be so many thing to attend to in this family , and now that she ladyship be get on a bit she do not always remember they all .
|
||||
and since i take over the management of the household , i find there be quite a lot of relation that i do not even know about .
|
||||
and then again , of course , though we may look thrive enough from the outside , people do not realize that be a big establishment like ours carry its own difficulty .
|
||||
they will not believe it if you tell they , but it be true .
|
||||
however , since you have come such a long way , and since this be the first time you have ever say a word about need help , we obviously can not let you go back empty-handed .
|
||||
fortunately it so happen that i still have not touch any of the twenty tael of silver that she ladyship give i the other day to make clothes for the maid with .
|
||||
if you do not mind it be so little , you be very welcome to take it . '
|
||||
when grannie liu hear xi-feng talk about ' difficulty ' she conclude that there be no hope .
|
||||
she delight and the way in which she face light up with pleasure when she hear that she be , after all , to be give twenty tael of silver can be imagine .
|
||||
' we know you have you trouble , ' she say , ' but as the say go , " a starve camel be bigger than a fat horse . "
|
||||
say what you like , a hair pluck from you arm be thicker than a man 's waist to folk like we ! '
|
||||
horrify by the crudity of these expression , zhou rui 's wife , who be stand by , be meanwhile signalling frantically to the old lady to stop .
|
||||
but xi-feng laugh quite unconcernedly and tell patience to wrap up the silver and also to fetch a string of cash to go with it .
|
||||
the money be set down in front of grannie liu .
|
||||
' here be the twenty tael of silver , ' say xi-feng .
|
||||
' take this for the time be to make some winter clothes for the child with .
|
||||
some time later on , when you have nothing better to do , look in on we for a day or two for kinship 's sake .
|
||||
it be late now , so i will not try to keep you .
|
||||
give we regard to everybody who ought to be remember when you get back ! '
|
||||
she rise to she foot , and grannie liu , with heartfelt expression of gratitude , pick up the money and follow zhou rui 's wife out of the room .
|
||||
' my dear good woman , ' say the latter when they be out of earshot , ' whatever come over you ?
|
||||
first , when you meet she , you could not get a word out ; then , when you do start talk , it be all " you nephew " this and " you nephew " that !
|
||||
i hope you will not mind my say so , but even if the child be a real nephew you would still need to go a bit easy on the familiarity .
|
||||
now master rong , he be she real nephew .
|
||||
that be the sort of person a lady like that call " nephew " .
|
||||
where she would come by a nephew like this one , i just do not know ! '
|
||||
' my dear , ' reply grannie liu with a laugh , ' when i see the pretty little darling sit there , i take such a liking to she that my heart be too full to speak . '
|
||||
back in zhou rui 's quarter the two woman sit talk for a while .
|
||||
grannie liu want to leave a piece of silver to buy something for the zhou child with , but zhou rui 's wife say she would not hear of it and refuse absolutely to accept anything .
|
||||
and so , with many expression of gratitude , the old lady take she leave and set out once more through the back gate of the mansion .
|
||||
and if you want to know what happen after she have leave , you will have to read the next chapter .
|
||||
245
data/mac/dev/en/004
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data/mac/dev/en/004
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@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
|
||||
ON HER SIXTEENTH birthday, my grandma was betrothed by her father to Shan Bianlang, the son of Shan Tingxiu, one of Northeast Gaomi Township's richest men.
|
||||
As distillery owners, the Shans used cheap sorghum to produce a strong, high-quality white wine that was famous throughout the area.
|
||||
Northeast Gaomi Township is largely swampy land that is flooded by autumn rains; but since the tall sorghum stalks resist waterlogging, it was planted everywhere and invariably produced a bumper crop.
|
||||
By using cheap grain to make wine, the Shan family made a very good living, and marrying my grandma off to them was a real feather in Great-Granddad's cap.
|
||||
Many local families had dreamed of marrying into the Shan family, despite rumours that Shan Bianlang had leprosy.
|
||||
His father was a wizened little man who sported a scrawny queue on the back of his head, and even though his cupboards overflowed with gold and silver, he wore tattered, dirty clothes, often using a length of rope as a belt.
|
||||
Grandma's marriage into the Shan family was the will of heaven, implemented on a day when she and some of her playmates, with their tiny bound feet and long pigtails, were playing beside a set of swings.
|
||||
It was Qingming, the day set aside to attend ancestral graves; peach trees were in full red bloom, willows were green, a fine rain was falling, and the girls' faces looked like peach blossoms.
|
||||
It was a day of freedom for them.
|
||||
That year Grandma was five feet four inches tall and weighed about 130 pounds.
|
||||
She was wearing a cotton print jacket over green satin trousers, with scarlet bands of silk tied around her ankles.
|
||||
Since it was drizzling, she had put on a pair of embroidered slippers soaked a dozen times in tong oil, which made a squishing sound when she walked.
|
||||
Her long shiny braids shone, and a heavy silver necklace hung around her neck – Great-Granddad was a silversmith.
|
||||
Great-Grandma, the daughter of a landlord who had fallen on hard times, knew the importance of bound feet to a girl, and had begun binding her daughter's feet when she was six years old, tightening the bindings every day.
|
||||
A yard in length, the cloth bindings were wound around all but the big toes until the bones cracked and the toes turned under.
|
||||
The pain was excruciating.
|
||||
My mother also had bound feet, and just seeing them saddened me so much that I felt compelled to shout: 'Down with feudalism!
|
||||
Long live liberated feet!'
|
||||
The results of Grandma's suffering were two three-inch golden lotuses, and by the age of sixteen she had grown into a well-developed beauty.
|
||||
When she walked, swinging her arms freely, her body swayed like a willow in the wind.
|
||||
Shan Tingxiu, the groom's father, was walking around Great-Granddad's village, dung basket in hand, when he spotted Grandma among the other local flowers.
|
||||
Three months later, a bridal sedan chair would come to carry her away.
|
||||
Grandma was lightheaded and dizzy inside the stuffy sedan chair, her view blocked by a red curtain that gave off a pungent mildewy odour.
|
||||
She reached out to lift it a crack – Great-Granddad had told her not to remove her red veil.
|
||||
A heavy bracelet of twisted silver slid down to her wrist, and as she looked at the coiled-snake design her thoughts grew chaotic and disoriented.
|
||||
A warm wind rustled the emerald-green stalks of sorghum lining the narrow dirt path.
|
||||
Doves cooed in the fields.
|
||||
The delicate powder of petals floated above silvery new ears of waving sorghum.
|
||||
The curtain, embroidered on the inside with a dragon and a phoenix, had faded after years of use, and there was a large stain in the middle.
|
||||
Summer was giving way to autumn, and the sunlight outside the sedan chair was brilliant.
|
||||
The bouncing movements of the bearers rocked the chair slowly from side to side; the leather lining of their poles groaned and creaked, the curtain fluttered gently, letting in an occasional ray of sunlight and, from time to time, a whisper of cool air.
|
||||
Grandma was sweating profusely and her heart was racing as she listened to the rhythmic footsteps and heavy breathing of the bearers.
|
||||
The inside of her skull felt cold one minute, as though filled with shiny pebbles, and hot the next, as though filled with coarse peppers.
|
||||
After Shan Tingxiu had spotted Grandma, a stream of people came to congratulate Great-Granddad and Great-Grandma.
|
||||
Grandma pondered what it would be like to mount to the jingle of gold and dismount to the tinkle of silver, but what she truly longed for was a good husband, handsome and well educated, a man who would treat her gently.
|
||||
As a young maiden, she had embroidered a wedding trousseau and several exquisite pictures for the man who would someday become my granddad.
|
||||
Eager to marry, she heard innuendos from her girlfriends that the Shan boy was afflicted with leprosy, and her dreams began to evaporate.
|
||||
Yet, when she shared her anxieties with her parents, Great-Granddad hemmed and hawed, while Great-Grandma scolded the girlfriends, accusing them of sour grapes.
|
||||
Later on, Great-Granddad told her that the well-educated Shan boy had the fair complexion of a young scholar from staying home all the time.
|
||||
Grandma was confused, not knowing if this was true or not.
|
||||
After all, she thought, her own parents wouldn't lie to her.
|
||||
Maybe her girlfriends had made it all up.
|
||||
Once again she looked forward to her wedding day.
|
||||
Grandma longed to lose her anxieties and loneliness in the arms of a strong and noble young man.
|
||||
Finally, to her relief, her wedding day arrived, and as she was placed inside the sedan chair, carried by four bearers, the horns and woodwinds fore and aft struck up a melancholy tune that brought tears to her eyes.
|
||||
Off they went, floating along as though riding the clouds or sailing through a mist.
|
||||
Shortly after leaving the village, the lazy musicians stopped playing, while the bearers quickened their pace.
|
||||
The aroma of sorghum burrowed into her heart.
|
||||
Full-voiced strange and rare birds sang to her from the fields.
|
||||
A picture of what she imagined to be the bridegroom slowly took shape from the threads of sunlight filtering into the darkness of the sedan chair.
|
||||
Painful needle pricks jabbed her heart.
|
||||
'Old Man in heaven, protect me!'
|
||||
Her silent prayer made her delicate lips tremble.
|
||||
A light down adorned her upper lip, and her fair skin was damp.
|
||||
Every soft word she uttered was swallowed up by the rough walls of the carriage and the heavy curtain before her.
|
||||
She ripped the tart-smelling veil away from her face and laid it on her knees.
|
||||
She was following local wedding customs, which dictated that a bride wear three layers of new clothes, top and bottom, no matter how hot the day.
|
||||
The inside of the sedan chair was badly worn and terribly dirty, like a coffin; it had already embraced countless other brides, now long dead.
|
||||
The walls were festooned with yellow silk so filthy it oozed grease, and of the five flies caught inside, three buzzed above her head while the other two rested on the curtain before her, rubbing their bright eyes with black stick-like legs.
|
||||
Succumbing to the oppressiveness in the carriage, Grandma eased one of her bamboo-shoot toes under the curtain and lifted it a crack to sneak a look outside.
|
||||
She could make out the shapes of the bearers' statuesque legs poking out from under loose black satin trousers and their big, fleshy feet encased in straw sandals.
|
||||
They raised clouds of dust as they tramped along.
|
||||
Impatiently trying to conjure up an image of their firm, muscular chests, Grandma raised the toe of her shoe and leaned forward.
|
||||
She could see the polished purple scholar-tree poles and the bearers' broad shoulders beneath them.
|
||||
Barriers of sorghum stalks lining the path stood erect and solid in unbroken rows, tightly packed, together sizing one another up with the yet unopened clay-green eyes of grain ears, one indistinguishable from the next, as far as she could see, like a vast river.
|
||||
The path was so narrow in places it was barely passable, causing the wormy, sappy leaves to brush noisily against the sedan chair.
|
||||
The men's bodies emitted the sour smell of sweat.
|
||||
Infatuated by the masculine odour, Grandma breathed in deeply – this ancestor of mine must have been nearly bursting with passion.
|
||||
As the bearers carried their load down the path, their feet left a series of V imprints known as 'tramples' in the dirt, for which satisfied clients usually rewarded them, and which fortified the bearers' pride of profession.
|
||||
It was unseemly to 'trample' with an uneven cadence or to grip the poles, and the best bearers kept their hands on their hips the whole time, rocking the sedan chair in perfect rhythm with the musicians' haunting tunes, which reminded everyone within earshot of the hidden suffering in whatever pleasures lay ahead.
|
||||
When the sedan chair reached the plains, the bearers began to get a little sloppy, both to make up time and to torment their passenger.
|
||||
Some brides were bounced around so violently they vomited from motion sickness, soiling their clothing and slippers; the retching sounds from inside the carriage pleased the bearers as though they were giving vent to their own miseries.
|
||||
The sacrifices these strong young men made to carry their cargo into bridal chambers must have embittered them, which was why it seemed so natural to torment the brides.
|
||||
One of the four men bearing Grandma's sedan chair that day would eventually become my granddad – it was Commander Yu Zhan'ao.
|
||||
At the time he was a beefy twenty-year-old, a pallbearer and sedan bearer at the peak of his trade.
|
||||
The young men of his generation were as sturdy as Northeast Gaomi sorghum, which is more than can be said about us weaklings who succeeded them.
|
||||
It was a custom back then for sedan bearers to tease the bride while trundling her along: like distillery workers, who drink the wine they make, since it is their due, these men torment all who ride in their sedan chairs – even the wife of the Lord of Heaven if she should be a passenger.
|
||||
Sorghum leaves scraped the sedan chair mercilessly when, all of a sudden, the deadening monotony of the trip was broken by the plaintive sounds of weeping – remarkably like the musicians' tunes – coming from deep in the field.
|
||||
As Grandma listened to the music, trying to picture the instruments in the musicians' hands, she raised the curtain with her foot until she could see the sweat-soaked waist of one of the bearers.
|
||||
Her gaze was caught by her own red embroidered slippers, with their tapered slimness and cheerless beauty, ringed by halos of incoming sunlight until they looked like lotus blossoms, or, even more, like tiny goldfish that had settled to the bottom of a bowl.
|
||||
Two teardrops as transparently pink as immature grains of sorghum wetted Grandma's eyelashes and slipped down her cheeks to the corners of her mouth.
|
||||
As she was gripped by sadness, the image of a learned and refined husband, handsome in his high-topped hat and wide sash, like a player on the stage, blurred and finally vanished, replaced by the horrifying picture of Shan Bianlang's face, his leprous mouth covered with rotting tumours.
|
||||
Her heart turned to ice.
|
||||
Were these tapered golden lotuses, a face as fresh as peaches and apricots, gentility of a thousand kinds, and ten thousand varieties of elegance all reserved for the pleasure of a leper?
|
||||
Better to die and be done with it.
|
||||
The disconsolate weeping in the sorghum field was dotted with words, like knots in a piece of wood:
|
||||
A blue sky yo – a sapphire sky yo – a painted sky yo – a mighty cudgel yo – dear elder brother yo – death has claimed you – you have brought down little sister's sky yo –.
|
||||
I must tell you that the weeping of women from Northeast Gaomi Township makes beautiful music.
|
||||
During 1912, the first year of the Republic, professional mourners known as 'wailers' came from Qufu, the home of Confucius, to study local weeping techniques.
|
||||
Meeting up with a woman lamenting the death of her husband seemed to Grandma to be a stroke of bad luck on her wedding day, and she grew even more dejected.
|
||||
Just then one of the bearers spoke up: 'You there, little bride in the chair, say something!
|
||||
The long journey has bored us to tears.'
|
||||
Grandma quickly snatched up her red veil and covered her face, gently drawing her foot back from beneath the curtain and returning the carriage to darkness.
|
||||
'Sing us a song while we bear you along!'
|
||||
The musicians, as though snapping out of a trance, struck up their instruments.
|
||||
A trumpet blared from behind the chair:
|
||||
'Too-tah – too-tah –'
|
||||
'Poo-pah – poo-pah –'
|
||||
One of the bearers up front imitated the trumpet sound, evoking coarse, raucous laughter all around.
|
||||
Grandma was drenched with sweat.
|
||||
Back home, as she was being lifted into the sedan chair, Great-Grandma had exhorted her not to get drawn into any banter with the bearers.
|
||||
Sedan bearers and musicians are low-class rowdies capable of anything, no matter how depraved.
|
||||
They began rocking the chair so violently that poor Grandma couldn't keep her seat without holding on tight.
|
||||
'No answer?
|
||||
Okay, rock!
|
||||
If we can't shake any words loose, we can at least shake the piss out of her!'
|
||||
The sedan chair was like a dinghy tossed about by the waves, and Grandma held on to the wooden seat for dear life.
|
||||
The two eggs she'd eaten for breakfast churned in her stomach, the flies buzzed around her ears; her throat tightened, as the taste of eggs surged up into her mouth.
|
||||
She bit her lip.
|
||||
Don't throw up, don't let yourself throw up! she commanded herself.
|
||||
You mustn't let yourself throw up, Fenglian.
|
||||
They say throwing up in the bridal chair means a lifetime of bad luck. . . .
|
||||
The bearers' banter turned coarse.
|
||||
One of them reviled my great-granddad for being a money-grabber, another said something about a pretty flower stuck into a pile of cowshit, a third called Shan Bianlang a scruffy leper who oozed pus and excreted yellow fluids.
|
||||
He said the stench of rotten flesh drifted beyond the Shan compound, which swarmed with horseflies. . . .
|
||||
'Little bride, if you let Shan Bianlang touch you, your skin will rot away!'
|
||||
As the horns and woodwinds blared and tooted, the taste of eggs grew stronger, forcing Grandma to bite down hard on her lip.
|
||||
But to no avail.
|
||||
She opened her mouth and spewed a stream of filth, soiling the curtain, towards which the five flies dashed as though shot from a gun.
|
||||
'Puke-ah, puke-ah.
|
||||
Keep rocking!' one of the bearers roared.
|
||||
'Keep rocking.
|
||||
Sooner or later she'll have to say something.'
|
||||
'Elder brothers . . . spare me . . .'
|
||||
Grandma pleaded desperately between agonising retches.
|
||||
Then she burst into tears.
|
||||
She felt humiliated; she could sense the perils of her future, knowing she'd spend the rest of her life drowning in a sea of bitterness.
|
||||
Oh, Father, oh, Mother.
|
||||
I have been destroyed by a miserly father and a heartless mother!
|
||||
Grandma's piteous wails made the sorghum quake.
|
||||
The bearers stopped rocking the chair and calmed the raging sea.
|
||||
The musicians lowered the instruments from their rousing lips, so that only Grandma's sobs could be heard, alone with the mournful strains of a single woodwind, whose weeping sounds were more enchanting than any woman's.
|
||||
Grandma stopped crying at the sound of the woodwind, as though commanded from on high.
|
||||
Her face, suddenly old and desiccated, was pearled with tears.
|
||||
She heard the sound of death in the gentle melancholy of the tune, and smelled its breath; she could see the angel of death, with lips as scarlet as sorghum and a smiling face the colour of golden corn.
|
||||
The bearers fell silent and their footsteps grew heavy.
|
||||
The sacrificial choking sounds from inside the chair and the woodwind accompaniment had made them restless and uneasy, had set their souls adrift.
|
||||
No longer did it seem like a wedding procession as they negotiated the dirt road; it was more like a funeral procession.
|
||||
My grandfather, the bearer directly in front of Grandma's foot, felt a strange premonition blazing inside him and illuminating the path his life would take.
|
||||
The sounds of Grandma's weeping had awakened seeds of affection that had lain dormant deep in his heart.
|
||||
It was time to rest, so the bearers lowered the sedan chair to the ground.
|
||||
Grandma, having cried herself into a daze, didn't realise that one of her tiny feet was peeking out from beneath the curtain; the sight of that incomparably delicate, lovely thing nearly drove the souls out of the bearers' bodies.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao walked up, leaned over, and gently – very gently – held Grandma's foot in his hand, as though it were a fledgling whose feathers weren't yet dry, then eased it back inside the carriage.
|
||||
She was so moved by the gentleness of the deed she could barely keep from throwing back the curtain to see what sort of man this bearer was, with his large, warm, youthful hand.
|
||||
I've always believed that marriages are made in heaven and that people fated to be together are connected by an invisible thread.
|
||||
The act of grasping Grandma's foot triggered a powerful drive in Yu Zhan'ao to forge a new life for himself, and constituted the turning point in his life – and the turning point in hers as well.
|
||||
The sedan chair set out again as a trumpet blast rent the air, then drifted off into obscurity.
|
||||
The wind had risen – a northeaster – and clouds were gathering in the sky, blotting out the sun and throwing the carriage into darkness.
|
||||
Grandma could hear the shh-shh of rustling sorghum, one wave close upon another, carrying the sound off into the distance.
|
||||
Thunder rumbled off to the northeast.
|
||||
The bearers quickened their pace.
|
||||
She wondered how much farther it was to the Shan household; like a trussed lamb being led to slaughter, she grew calmer with each step.
|
||||
At home she had hidden a pair of scissors in her bodice, perhaps to use on Shan Bianlang, perhaps to use on herself.
|
||||
The holdup of Grandma's sedan chair by a highwayman at Toad Hollow occupies an important place in the saga of my family.
|
||||
Toad Hollow is a large marshy stretch in the vast flatland where the soil is especially fertile, the water especially plentiful, and the sorghum especially dense.
|
||||
A blood-red bolt of lightning streaked across the northeastern sky, and screaming fragments of apricot-yellow sunlight tore through the dense clouds above the dirt road, when Grandma's sedan chair reached that point.
|
||||
The panting bearers were drenched with sweat as they entered Toad Hollow, over which the air hung heavily.
|
||||
Sorghum plants lining the road shone like ebony, dense and impenetrable; weeds and wildflowers grew in such profusion they seemed to block the road.
|
||||
Everywhere you looked, narrow stems of cornflowers were bosomed by clumps of rank weeds, their purple, blue, pink, and white flowers waving proudly.
|
||||
From deep in the sorghum came the melancholy croaks of toads, the dreary chirps of grasshoppers, and the plaintive howls of foxes.
|
||||
Grandma, still seated in the carriage, felt a sudden breath of cold air that raised tiny goosebumps on her skin.
|
||||
She didn't know what was happening, even when she heard the shout up ahead:
|
||||
'Nobody passes without paying a toll!'
|
||||
Grandma gasped.
|
||||
What was she feeling?
|
||||
Sadness?
|
||||
Joy?
|
||||
My God, she thought, it's a man who eats fistcakes!
|
||||
Northeast Gaomi Township was aswarm with bandits who operated in the sorghum fields like fish in water, forming gangs to rob, pillage, and kidnap, yet balancing their evil deeds with charitable ones.
|
||||
If they were hungry, they snatched two people, keeping one and sending the other into the village to demand flatbreads with eggs and green onions rolled inside.
|
||||
Since they stuffed the rolled flatbreads into their mouths with both fists, they were called 'fistcakes'.
|
||||
'Nobody passes without paying a toll!' the man bellowed.
|
||||
The bearers stopped in their tracks and stared dumbstruck at the highwayman of medium height who stood in the road, his legs akimbo.
|
||||
He had smeared his face black and was wearing a conical rain hat woven of sorghum stalks and a broad-shouldered rain cape open in front to reveal a black buttoned jacket and a wide leather belt, in which a protruding object was tucked, bundled in red satin.
|
||||
His hand rested on it.
|
||||
The thought flashed through Grandma's mind that there was nothing to be afraid of: if death couldn't frighten her, nothing could.
|
||||
She raised the curtain to get a glimpse of the man who ate fistcakes.
|
||||
'Hand over the toll, or I'll pop you all!'
|
||||
He patted the red bundle.
|
||||
The musicians reached into their belts, took out the strings of copper coins Great-Granddad had given them, and tossed these at the man's feet.
|
||||
The bearers lowered the sedan chair to the ground, took out their copper coins, and did the same.
|
||||
As he dragged the strings of coins into a pile with his foot, his eyes were fixed on Grandma.
|
||||
'Get behind the sedan chair, all of you.
|
||||
I'll pop if you don't!'
|
||||
He thumped the object tucked into his belt.
|
||||
The bearers moved slowly behind the sedan chair.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao, bringing up the rear, spun around and glared.
|
||||
A change came over the highwayman's face, and he gripped the object at his belt tightly.
|
||||
'Eyes straight ahead if you want to keep breathing!'
|
||||
With his hand resting on his belt, he shuffled up to the sedan chair, reached out, and pinched Grandma's foot.
|
||||
A smile creased her face, and the man pulled his hand away as though it had been scalded.
|
||||
'Climb down and come with me!' he ordered her.
|
||||
Grandma sat without moving, the smile frozen on her face.
|
||||
'Climb down, I said!'
|
||||
She rose from the seat, stepped grandly onto the pole, and alit in a tuft of cornflowers.
|
||||
Her gaze travelled from the man to the bearers and musicians.
|
||||
'Into the sorghum field!' the highwayman said, his hand still resting on the red-bundled object at his belt.
|
||||
Grandma stood confidently; lightning crackled in the clouds overhead and shattered her radiant smile into a million shifting shards.
|
||||
The highwayman began pushing her into the sorghum field, his hand never leaving the object at his belt.
|
||||
She stared at Yu Zhan'ao with a feverish look in her eyes.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao approached the highwayman, his thin lips curled resolutely, up at one end and down at the other.
|
||||
'Hold it right there!' the highwayman commanded feebly.
|
||||
'I'll shoot if you take another step!'
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao walked calmly up to the man, who began backing up.
|
||||
Green flames seemed to shoot from his eyes, and crystalline beads of sweat scurried down his terrified face.
|
||||
When Yu Zhan'ao had drawn to within three paces of him, a shameful sound burst from his mouth, and he turned and ran.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao was on his tail in a flash, kicking him expertly in the rear.
|
||||
He sailed through the air over the cornflowers, thrashing his arms and legs like an innocent babe, until he landed in the sorghum field.
|
||||
'Spare me, gentlemen!
|
||||
I've got an eighty-year-old mother at home, and this is the only way I can make a living.'
|
||||
The highwayman skilfully pleaded his case to Yu Zhan'ao, who grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, dragged him back to the sedan chair, threw him roughly to the ground, and kicked him in his noisy mouth.
|
||||
The man shrieked in pain; blood trickled from his nose.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao reached down, took the thing from the man's belt, and shook off the red cloth covering, to reveal the gnarled knot of a tree.
|
||||
The men all gasped in amazement.
|
||||
The bandit crawled to his knees, knocking his head on the ground and pleading for his life.
|
||||
'Every highwayman says he's got an eighty-year-old mother at home,' Yu Zhan'ao said as he stepped aside and glanced at his comrades, like the leader of a pack sizing up the other dogs.
|
||||
With a flurry of shouts, the bearers and musicians fell upon the highwayman, fists and feet flying.
|
||||
The initial onslaught was met by screams and shrill cries, which soon died out.
|
||||
Grandma stood beside the road listening to the dull cacophony of fists and feet on flesh; she glanced at Yu Zhan'ao, then looked up at the lightning-streaked sky, the radiant, golden, noble smile still frozen on her face.
|
||||
One of the musicians raised his trumpet and brought it down hard on the highwayman's skull, burying the curved edge so deeply he had to strain to free it.
|
||||
The highwayman's stomach gurgled and his body, racked by spasms, grew deathly still; he lay spread-eagled on the ground, a mixture of white and yellow liquid seeping slowly out of the fissure in his skull.
|
||||
'Is he dead?' asked the musician, who was examining the bent mouth of his trumpet.
|
||||
'He's gone, the poor bastard.
|
||||
He didn't put up much of a fight!'
|
||||
The gloomy faces of the bearers and musicians revealed their anxieties.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao looked wordlessly first at the dead, then at the living.
|
||||
With a handful of leaves from a sorghum stalk, he cleaned up Grandma's mess in the carriage, then held up the tree knot, wrapped it in the piece of red cloth, and tossed the bundle as far as he could; the gnarled knot broke free in flight and separated from the piece of cloth, which fluttered to the ground in the field like a big red butterfly.
|
||||
Yu Zhan'ao lifted Grandma into the sedan chair.
|
||||
'It's starting to rain,' he said, 'so let's get going.'
|
||||
Grandma ripped the curtain from the front of the carriage and stuffed it behind the seat.
|
||||
As she breathed the free air she studied Yu Zhan'ao's broad shoulders and narrow waist.
|
||||
He was so near she could have touched the pale, taut skin of his shaved head with her toe.
|
||||
The winds were picking up, bending the sorghum stalks in ever deeper waves, those on the roadside stretching out to bow their respects to Grandma.
|
||||
The bearers streaked down the road, yet the sedan chair was as steady as a skiff skimming across whitecaps.
|
||||
Frogs and toads croaked in loud welcome to the oncoming summer rainstorm.
|
||||
The low curtain of heaven stared darkly at the silvery faces of sorghum, over which streaks of blood-red lightning crackled, releasing ear-splitting explosions of thunder.
|
||||
With growing excitement, Grandma stared fearlessly at the green waves raised by the black winds.
|
||||
The first truculent raindrops made the plants shudder.
|
||||
The rain beat a loud tattoo on the sedan chair and fell on Grandma's embroidered slippers; it fell on Yu Zhan'ao's head, then slanted in on Grandma's face.
|
||||
The bearers ran like scared jackrabbits, but couldn't escape the prenoon deluge.
|
||||
Sorghum crumpled under the wild rain.
|
||||
Toads took refuge under the stalks, their white pouches popping in and out noisily; foxes hid in their darkened dens to watch tiny drops of water splashing down from the sorghum plants.
|
||||
The rainwater washed Yu Zhan'ao's head so clean and shiny it looked to Grandma like a new moon.
|
||||
Her clothes, too, were soaked.
|
||||
She could have covered herself with the curtain, but she didn't; she didn't want to, for the open front of the sedan chair afforded her a glimpse of the outside world in all its turbulence and beauty.
|
||||
245
data/mac/dev/en/004.tok
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245
data/mac/dev/en/004.tok
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@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
|
||||
on her sixteenth birthday , my grandma be betroth by she father to shan bianlang , the son of shan tingxiu , one of northeast gaomi township 's richest man .
|
||||
as distillery owner , the shans use cheap sorghum to produce a strong , high-quality white wine that be famous throughout the area .
|
||||
northeast gaomi township be largely swampy land that be flood by autumn rain ; but since the tall sorghum stalk resist waterlogging , it be plant everywhere and invariably produce a bumper crop .
|
||||
by use cheap grain to make wine , the shan family make a very good living , and marry my grandma off to they be a real feather in great-granddad 's cap .
|
||||
many local family have dream of marry into the shan family , despite rumour that shan bianlang have leprosy .
|
||||
he father be a wizened little man who sport a scrawny queue on the back of he head , and even though he cupboard overflow with gold and silver , he wear tattered , dirty clothes , often use a length of rope as a belt .
|
||||
grandma 's marriage into the shan family be the will of heaven , implement on a day when she and some of she playmate , with they tiny bind foot and long pigtail , be play beside a set of swing .
|
||||
it be qingming , the day set aside to attend ancestral grave ; peach tree be in full red bloom , willow be green , a fine rain be fall , and the girl ' face look like peach blossom .
|
||||
it be a day of freedom for they .
|
||||
that year grandma be five foot four inch tall and weigh about 130 pound .
|
||||
she be wear a cotton print jacket over green satin trousers , with scarlet band of silk tie around she ankle .
|
||||
since it be drizzle , she have put on a pair of embroidered slipper soak a dozen time in tong oil , which make a squish sound when she walk .
|
||||
she long shiny braid shine , and a heavy silver necklace hang around she neck – great-granddad be a silversmith .
|
||||
great-grandma , the daughter of a landlord who have fall on hard time , know the importance of bind foot to a girl , and have begin bind she daughter 's foot when she be six year old , tighten the binding every day .
|
||||
a yard in length , the cloth binding be wind around all but the big toe until the bone crack and the toe turn under .
|
||||
the pain be excruciate .
|
||||
my mother also have bind foot , and just see they saddened i so much that i feel compel to shout : ' down with feudalism !
|
||||
long live liberated foot ! '
|
||||
the result of grandma 's suffering be two three-inch golden lotus , and by the age of sixteen she have grow into a well-developed beauty .
|
||||
when she walk , swing she arm freely , she body sway like a willow in the wind .
|
||||
shan tingxiu , the groom 's father , be walk around great-granddad 's village , dung basket in hand , when he spot grandma among the other local flower .
|
||||
three month later , a bridal sedan chair would come to carry she away .
|
||||
grandma be lighthead and dizzy inside the stuffy sedan chair , she view block by a red curtain that give off a pungent mildewy odour .
|
||||
she reach out to lift it a crack – great-granddad have tell she not to remove she red veil .
|
||||
a heavy bracelet of twisted silver slide down to she wrist , and as she look at the coiled-snake design she thought grow chaotic and disoriented .
|
||||
a warm wind rustle the emerald-green stalk of sorghum line the narrow dirt path .
|
||||
dove coo in the field .
|
||||
the delicate powder of petal float above silvery new ear of wave sorghum .
|
||||
the curtain , embroider on the inside with a dragon and a phoenix , have fade after year of use , and there be a large stain in the middle .
|
||||
summer be give way to autumn , and the sunlight outside the sedan chair be brilliant .
|
||||
the bounce movement of the bearer rock the chair slowly from side to side ; the leather lining of they pole groan and creak , the curtain flutter gently , let in a occasional ray of sunlight and , from time to time , a whisper of cool air .
|
||||
grandma be sweating profusely and she heart be race as she listen to the rhythmic footstep and heavy breathing of the bearer .
|
||||
the inside of she skull feel cold one minute , as though fill with shiny pebble , and hot the next , as though fill with coarse pepper .
|
||||
after shan tingxiu have spot grandma , a stream of people come to congratulate great-granddad and great-grandma .
|
||||
grandma ponder what it would be like to mount to the jingle of gold and dismount to the tinkle of silver , but what she truly long for be a good husband , handsome and well educate , a man who would treat she gently .
|
||||
as a young maiden , she have embroider a wedding trousseau and several exquisite picture for the man who would someday become my granddad .
|
||||
eager to marry , she hear innuendo from she girlfriend that the shan boy be afflict with leprosy , and she dream begin to evaporate .
|
||||
yet , when she share she anxiety with she parent , great-granddad hem and haw , while great-grandma scold the girlfriend , accuse they of sour grape .
|
||||
later on , great-granddad tell she that the well-educated shan boy have the fair complexion of a young scholar from stay home all the time .
|
||||
grandma be confuse , not know if this be true or not .
|
||||
after all , she think , she own parent would not lie to she .
|
||||
maybe she girlfriend have make it all up .
|
||||
once again she look forward to she wedding day .
|
||||
grandma long to lose she anxiety and loneliness in the arm of a strong and noble young man .
|
||||
finally , to she relief , she wedding day arrive , and as she be place inside the sedan chair , carry by four bearer , the horn and woodwind fore and aft strike up a melancholy tune that bring tear to she eye .
|
||||
off they go , float along as though ride the cloud or sailing through a mist .
|
||||
shortly after leave the village , the lazy musician stop play , while the bearer quicken they pace .
|
||||
the aroma of sorghum burrow into she heart .
|
||||
full-voiced strange and rare bird sing to she from the field .
|
||||
a picture of what she imagine to be the bridegroom slowly take shape from the thread of sunlight filter into the darkness of the sedan chair .
|
||||
painful needle prick jab she heart .
|
||||
' old man in heaven , protect i ! '
|
||||
she silent prayer make she delicate lip tremble .
|
||||
a light down adorn she upper lip , and she fair skin be damp .
|
||||
every soft word she utter be swallow up by the rough wall of the carriage and the heavy curtain before she .
|
||||
she rip the tart-smelling veil away from she face and lay it on she knee .
|
||||
she be follow local wedding custom , which dictate that a bride wear three layer of new clothes , top and bottom , no matter how hot the day .
|
||||
the inside of the sedan chair be badly worn and terribly dirty , like a coffin ; it have already embrace countless other bride , now long dead .
|
||||
the wall be festoon with yellow silk so filthy it ooze grease , and of the five fly catch inside , three buzz above she head while the other two rest on the curtain before she , rub they bright eye with black stick-like leg .
|
||||
succumb to the oppressiveness in the carriage , grandma ease one of she bamboo-shoot toe under the curtain and lift it a crack to sneak a look outside .
|
||||
she could make out the shape of the bearer ' statuesque leg poke out from under loose black satin trousers and they big , fleshy foot encase in straw sandal .
|
||||
they raise cloud of dust as they tramp along .
|
||||
impatiently try to conjure up a image of they firm , muscular chest , grandma raise the toe of she shoe and lean forward .
|
||||
she could see the polish purple scholar-tree pole and the bearer ' broad shoulder beneath they .
|
||||
barrier of sorghum stalk line the path stand erect and solid in unbroken row , tightly pack , together size one another up with the yet unopened clay-green eye of grain ear , one indistinguishable from the next , as far as she could see , like a vast river .
|
||||
the path be so narrow in place it be barely passable , cause the wormy , sappy leaf to brush noisily against the sedan chair .
|
||||
the man 's body emit the sour smell of sweat .
|
||||
infatuate by the masculine odour , grandma breathe in deeply – this ancestor of mine must have be nearly burst with passion .
|
||||
as the bearer carry they load down the path , they foot leave a series of v imprint know as ' trample ' in the dirt , for which satisfied client usually reward they , and which fortify the bearer ' pride of profession .
|
||||
it be unseemly to ' trample ' with a uneven cadence or to grip the pole , and the best bearer keep they hand on they hip the whole time , rock the sedan chair in perfect rhythm with the musician ' haunting tune , which remind everyone within earshot of the hidden suffering in whatever pleasure lay ahead .
|
||||
when the sedan chair reach the plain , the bearer begin to get a little sloppy , both to make up time and to torment they passenger .
|
||||
some bride be bounce around so violently they vomit from motion sickness , soil they clothing and slipper ; the retch sound from inside the carriage please the bearer as though they be give vent to they own misery .
|
||||
the sacrifice these strong young man make to carry they cargo into bridal chamber must have embittered they , which be why it seem so natural to torment the bride .
|
||||
one of the four man bear grandma 's sedan chair that day would eventually become my granddad – it be commander yu zhan ' ao .
|
||||
at the time he be a beefy twenty-year-old , a pallbearer and sedan bearer at the peak of he trade .
|
||||
the young man of he generation be as sturdy as northeast gaomi sorghum , which be more than can be say about we weakling who succeed they .
|
||||
it be a custom back then for sedan bearer to tease the bride while trundle she along : like distillery worker , who drink the wine they make , since it be they due , these man torment all who ride in they sedan chair – even the wife of the lord of heaven if she should be a passenger .
|
||||
sorghum leave scrape the sedan chair mercilessly when , all of a sudden , the deadening monotony of the trip be break by the plaintive sound of weep – remarkably like the musician ' tune – come from deep in the field .
|
||||
as grandma listen to the music , try to picture the instrument in the musician ' hand , she raise the curtain with she foot until she could see the sweat-soaked waist of one of the bearer .
|
||||
she gaze be catch by she own red embroidered slipper , with they tapered slimness and cheerless beauty , ringed by halo of incoming sunlight until they look like lotus blossom , or , even more , like tiny goldfish that have settle to the bottom of a bowl .
|
||||
two teardrop as transparently pink as immature grain of sorghum wet grandma 's eyelash and slip down she cheek to the corner of she mouth .
|
||||
as she be grip by sadness , the image of a learn and refine husband , handsome in he high-topped hat and wide sash , like a player on the stage , blur and finally vanish , replace by the horrifying picture of shan bianlang 's face , he leprous mouth cover with rot tumour .
|
||||
she heart turn to ice .
|
||||
be these taper golden lotus , a face as fresh as peach and apricot , gentility of a thousand kind , and ten thousand variety of elegance all reserve for the pleasure of a leper ?
|
||||
better to die and be do with it .
|
||||
the disconsolate weep in the sorghum field be dot with word , like knot in a piece of wood :
|
||||
a blue sky yo – a sapphire sky yo – a paint sky yo – a mighty cudgel yo – dear elder brother yo – death have claim you – you have bring down little sister 's sky yo – .
|
||||
i must tell you that the weep of woman from northeast gaomi township make beautiful music .
|
||||
during 1912 , the first year of the republic , professional mourner know as ' wailer ' come from qufu , the home of confucius , to study local weep technique .
|
||||
meet up with a woman lament the death of she husband seem to grandma to be a stroke of bad luck on she wedding day , and she grow even more dejected .
|
||||
just then one of the bearer speak up : ' you there , little bride in the chair , say something !
|
||||
the long journey have bore we to tear . '
|
||||
grandma quickly snatch up she red veil and cover she face , gently draw she foot back from beneath the curtain and return the carriage to darkness .
|
||||
' sing we a song while we bear you along ! '
|
||||
the musician , as though snap out of a trance , strike up they instrument .
|
||||
a trumpet blare from behind the chair :
|
||||
' too-tah – too-tah – '
|
||||
' poo-pah – poo-pah – '
|
||||
one of the bearer up front imitate the trumpet sound , evoke coarse , raucous laughter all around .
|
||||
grandma be drench with sweat .
|
||||
back home , as she be be lift into the sedan chair , great-grandma have exhort she not to get draw into any banter with the bearer .
|
||||
sedan bearer and musician be low-class rowdy capable of anything , no matter how depraved .
|
||||
they begin rock the chair so violently that poor grandma could not keep she seat without hold on tight .
|
||||
' no answer ?
|
||||
okay , rock !
|
||||
if we can not shake any word loose , we can at least shake the piss out of she ! '
|
||||
the sedan chair be like a dinghy toss about by the wave , and grandma hold on to the wooden seat for dear life .
|
||||
the two egg she would eat for breakfast churn in she stomach , the fly buzz around she ear ; she throat tighten , as the taste of egg surge up into she mouth .
|
||||
she bite she lip .
|
||||
do not throw up , do not let yourself throw up ! she command herself .
|
||||
you must not let yourself throw up , fenglian .
|
||||
they say throw up in the bridal chair mean a lifetime of bad luck . . . .
|
||||
the bearer ' banter turn coarse .
|
||||
one of they revile my great-granddad for be a money-grabber , another say something about a pretty flower stick into a pile of cowshit , a third call shan bianlang a scruffy leper who ooze pus and excrete yellow fluid .
|
||||
he say the stench of rotten flesh drift beyond the shan compound , which swarm with horsefly . . . .
|
||||
' little bride , if you let shan bianlang touch you , you skin will rot away ! '
|
||||
as the horn and woodwind blare and toot , the taste of egg grow stronger , force grandma to bite down hard on she lip .
|
||||
but to no avail .
|
||||
she open she mouth and spew a stream of filth , soil the curtain , towards which the five fly dash as though shot from a gun .
|
||||
' puke-ah , puke-ah .
|
||||
keep rock ! ' one of the bearer roar .
|
||||
' keep rock .
|
||||
sooner or later she 'll have to say something . '
|
||||
' elder brother . . . spare i . . . '
|
||||
grandma plead desperately between agonising retch .
|
||||
then she burst into tear .
|
||||
she feel humiliate ; she could sense the peril of she future , know she would spend the rest of she life drown in a sea of bitterness .
|
||||
oh , father , oh , mother .
|
||||
i have be destroy by a miserly father and a heartless mother !
|
||||
grandma 's piteous wail make the sorghum quake .
|
||||
the bearer stop rock the chair and calm the rage sea .
|
||||
the musician lower the instrument from they rousing lip , so that only grandma 's sob could be hear , alone with the mournful strain of a single woodwind , whose weep sound be more enchanting than any woman 's .
|
||||
grandma stop cry at the sound of the woodwind , as though command from on high .
|
||||
she face , suddenly old and desiccated , be pearl with tear .
|
||||
she hear the sound of death in the gentle melancholy of the tune , and smell its breath ; she could see the angel of death , with lip as scarlet as sorghum and a smile face the colour of golden corn .
|
||||
the bearer fall silent and they footstep grow heavy .
|
||||
the sacrificial choke sound from inside the chair and the woodwind accompaniment have make they restless and uneasy , have set they soul adrift .
|
||||
no longer do it seem like a wedding procession as they negotiate the dirt road ; it be more like a funeral procession .
|
||||
my grandfather , the bearer directly in front of grandma 's foot , feel a strange premonition blaze inside he and illuminate the path he life would take .
|
||||
the sound of grandma 's weep have awaken seed of affection that have lie dormant deep in he heart .
|
||||
it be time to rest , so the bearer lower the sedan chair to the ground .
|
||||
grandma , have cry herself into a daze , do not realise that one of she tiny foot be peek out from beneath the curtain ; the sight of that incomparably delicate , lovely thing nearly drive the soul out of the bearer ' body .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao walk up , lean over , and gently – very gently – hold grandma 's foot in he hand , as though it be a fledgling whose feather be not yet dry , then ease it back inside the carriage .
|
||||
she be so move by the gentleness of the deed she could barely keep from throw back the curtain to see what sort of man this bearer be , with he large , warm , youthful hand .
|
||||
i have always believe that marriage be make in heaven and that people fate to be together be connect by a invisible thread .
|
||||
the act of grasp grandma 's foot trigger a powerful drive in yu zhan ' ao to forge a new life for himself , and constitute the turn point in he life – and the turn point in hers as well .
|
||||
the sedan chair set out again as a trumpet blast rent the air , then drift off into obscurity .
|
||||
the wind have rise – a northeaster – and cloud be gather in the sky , blot out the sun and throw the carriage into darkness .
|
||||
grandma could hear the shh-shh of rustling sorghum , one wave close upon another , carry the sound off into the distance .
|
||||
thunder rumble off to the northeast .
|
||||
the bearer quicken they pace .
|
||||
she wonder how much farther it be to the shan household ; like a truss lamb be lead to slaughter , she grow calmer with each step .
|
||||
at home she have hide a pair of scissors in she bodice , perhaps to use on shan bianlang , perhaps to use on herself .
|
||||
the holdup of grandma 's sedan chair by a highwayman at toad hollow occupy a important place in the saga of my family .
|
||||
toad hollow be a large marshy stretch in the vast flatland where the soil be especially fertile , the water especially plentiful , and the sorghum especially dense .
|
||||
a blood-red bolt of lightning streak across the northeastern sky , and scream fragment of apricot-yellow sunlight tear through the dense cloud above the dirt road , when grandma 's sedan chair reach that point .
|
||||
the panting bearer be drench with sweat as they enter toad hollow , over which the air hang heavily .
|
||||
sorghum plant line the road shine like ebony , dense and impenetrable ; weed and wildflower grow in such profusion they seem to block the road .
|
||||
everywhere you look , narrow stem of cornflower be bosome by clump of rank weed , they purple , blue , pink , and white flower wave proudly .
|
||||
from deep in the sorghum come the melancholy croak of toad , the dreary chirp of grasshopper , and the plaintive howl of fox .
|
||||
grandma , still seat in the carriage , feel a sudden breath of cold air that raise tiny goosebump on she skin .
|
||||
she do not know what be happen , even when she hear the shout up ahead :
|
||||
' nobody pass without pay a toll ! '
|
||||
grandma gasp .
|
||||
what be she feeling ?
|
||||
sadness ?
|
||||
joy ?
|
||||
my god , she think , it be a man who eat fistcake !
|
||||
northeast gaomi township be aswarm with bandit who operate in the sorghum field like fish in water , form gang to rob , pillage , and kidnap , yet balance they evil deed with charitable one .
|
||||
if they be hungry , they snatch two people , keep one and send the other into the village to demand flatbread with egg and green onion roll inside .
|
||||
since they stuff the rolled flatbread into they mouth with both fist , they be call ' fistcake ' .
|
||||
' nobody pass without pay a toll ! ' the man bellow .
|
||||
the bearer stop in they track and stare dumbstruck at the highwayman of medium height who stand in the road , he leg akimbo .
|
||||
he have smear he face black and be wear a conical rain hat weave of sorghum stalk and a broad-shouldered rain cape open in front to reveal a black buttoned jacket and a wide leather belt , in which a protrude object be tuck , bundle in red satin .
|
||||
he hand rest on it .
|
||||
the thought flash through grandma 's mind that there be nothing to be afraid of : if death could not frighten she , nothing could .
|
||||
she raise the curtain to get a glimpse of the man who eat fistcake .
|
||||
' hand over the toll , or i 'll pop you all ! '
|
||||
he pat the red bundle .
|
||||
the musician reach into they belt , take out the string of copper coin great-granddad have give they , and toss these at the man 's foot .
|
||||
the bearer lower the sedan chair to the ground , take out they copper coin , and do the same .
|
||||
as he drag the string of coin into a pile with he foot , he eye be fix on grandma .
|
||||
' get behind the sedan chair , all of you .
|
||||
i 'll pop if you do not ! '
|
||||
he thump the object tuck into he belt .
|
||||
the bearer move slowly behind the sedan chair .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao , bring up the rear , spin around and glare .
|
||||
a change come over the highwayman 's face , and he grip the object at he belt tightly .
|
||||
' eye straight ahead if you want to keep breathing ! '
|
||||
with he hand rest on he belt , he shuffle up to the sedan chair , reach out , and pinch grandma 's foot .
|
||||
a smile crease she face , and the man pull he hand away as though it have be scald .
|
||||
' climb down and come with i ! ' he order she .
|
||||
grandma sit without move , the smile freeze on she face .
|
||||
' climb down , i say ! '
|
||||
she rise from the seat , step grandly onto the pole , and alit in a tuft of cornflower .
|
||||
she gaze travelled from the man to the bearer and musician .
|
||||
' into the sorghum field ! ' the highwayman say , he hand still rest on the red-bundled object at he belt .
|
||||
grandma stand confidently ; lightning crackle in the cloud overhead and shatter she radiant smile into a million shift shard .
|
||||
the highwayman begin push she into the sorghum field , he hand never leave the object at he belt .
|
||||
she stare at yu zhan ' ao with a feverish look in she eye .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao approach the highwayman , he thin lip curl resolutely , up at one end and down at the other .
|
||||
' hold it right there ! ' the highwayman command feebly .
|
||||
' i 'll shoot if you take another step ! '
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao walk calmly up to the man , who begin back up .
|
||||
green flame seem to shoot from he eye , and crystalline bead of sweat scurry down he terrify face .
|
||||
when yu zhan ' ao have draw to within three pace of he , a shameful sound burst from he mouth , and he turn and run .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao be on he tail in a flash , kick he expertly in the rear .
|
||||
he sail through the air over the cornflower , thrash he arm and leg like a innocent babe , until he land in the sorghum field .
|
||||
' spare i , gentleman !
|
||||
i have get a eighty-year-old mother at home , and this be the only way i can make a living . '
|
||||
the highwayman skilfully plead he case to yu zhan ' ao , who grab he by the scruff of the neck , drag he back to the sedan chair , throw he roughly to the ground , and kick he in he noisy mouth .
|
||||
the man shriek in pain ; blood trickle from he nose .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao reach down , take the thing from the man 's belt , and shake off the red cloth cover , to reveal the gnarled knot of a tree .
|
||||
the man all gasp in amazement .
|
||||
the bandit crawl to he knee , knock he head on the ground and plead for he life .
|
||||
' every highwayman say he be get a eighty-year-old mother at home , ' yu zhan ' ao say as he step aside and glance at he comrade , like the leader of a pack size up the other dog .
|
||||
with a flurry of shout , the bearer and musician fall upon the highwayman , fist and foot fly .
|
||||
the initial onslaught be meet by scream and shrill cry , which soon die out .
|
||||
grandma stand beside the road listen to the dull cacophony of fist and foot on flesh ; she glance at yu zhan ' ao , then look up at the lightning-streaked sky , the radiant , golden , noble smile still freeze on she face .
|
||||
one of the musician raise he trumpet and bring it down hard on the highwayman 's skull , bury the curved edge so deeply he have to strain to free it .
|
||||
the highwayman 's stomach gurgle and he body , rack by spasm , grow deathly still ; he lay spread-eagled on the ground , a mixture of white and yellow liquid seep slowly out of the fissure in he skull .
|
||||
' be he dead ? ' ask the musician , who be examine the bent mouth of he trumpet .
|
||||
' he be go , the poor bastard .
|
||||
he do not put up much of a fight ! '
|
||||
the gloomy face of the bearer and musician reveal they anxiety .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao look wordlessly first at the dead , then at the living .
|
||||
with a handful of leaf from a sorghum stalk , he clean up grandma 's mess in the carriage , then hold up the tree knot , wrap it in the piece of red cloth , and toss the bundle as far as he could ; the gnarled knot break free in flight and separate from the piece of cloth , which flutter to the ground in the field like a big red butterfly .
|
||||
yu zhan ' ao lift grandma into the sedan chair .
|
||||
' it be start to rain , ' he say , ' so let 's get go . '
|
||||
grandma rip the curtain from the front of the carriage and stuff it behind the seat .
|
||||
as she breathe the free air she study yu zhan ' ao 's broad shoulder and narrow waist .
|
||||
he be so near she could have touch the pale , taut skin of he shave head with she toe .
|
||||
the wind be pick up , bend the sorghum stalk in ever deeper wave , those on the roadside stretch out to bow they respects to grandma .
|
||||
the bearer streak down the road , yet the sedan chair be as steady as a skiff skim across whitecap .
|
||||
frog and toad croak in loud welcome to the oncoming summer rainstorm .
|
||||
the low curtain of heaven stare darkly at the silvery face of sorghum , over which streak of blood-red lightning crackle , release ear-splitting explosion of thunder .
|
||||
with grow excitement , grandma stare fearlessly at the green wave raise by the black wind .
|
||||
the first truculent raindrop make the plant shudder .
|
||||
the rain beat a loud tattoo on the sedan chair and fall on grandma 's embroidered slipper ; it fall on yu zhan ' ao 's head , then slant in on grandma 's face .
|
||||
the bearer run like scared jackrabbit , but could not escape the prenoon deluge .
|
||||
sorghum crumple under the wild rain .
|
||||
toads take refuge under the stalk , they white pouch pop in and out noisily ; fox hide in they darkened den to watch tiny drop of water splash down from the sorghum plant .
|
||||
the rainwater wash yu zhan ' ao 's head so clean and shiny it look to grandma like a new moon .
|
||||
she clothes , too , be soak .
|
||||
she could have cover herself with the curtain , but she do not ; she do not want to , for the open front of the sedan chair afford she a glimpse of the outside world in all its turbulence and beauty .
|
||||
312
data/mac/dev/en/005
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312
data/mac/dev/en/005
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,312 @@
|
||||
The Film Studio
|
||||
FOUR DECADES THE story spans, and it all began the day she went to the film studio.
|
||||
The day before, Wu Peizhen had agreed to take Wang Qiyao to have a look around the studio.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen was a rather careless girl.
|
||||
Under normal circumstances, she would have suffered from low self-esteem because of her homeliness, but because Peizhen came from a well-to-do family and people always doted on her, she had developed unaffected into an outgoing young lady.
|
||||
What would have been poor self-esteem was replaced by a kind of modesty—modesty ruled by a practical spirit.
|
||||
In her modesty, she tended to exaggerate other people's strengths, place them on a pedestal, and offer them her devotion.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao never had to worry about Wu Peizhen being jealous of her—and she certainly had no reason to be jealous of Wu Peizhen.
|
||||
On the contrary, she even felt a bit bad for Wu Peizhen—because she was so ugly.
|
||||
This compassion predisposed Wang Qiyao to be generous, but naturally this generosity did not extend any further than Wu Peizhen.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen's carelessness was the function of an uncalculating mind.
|
||||
She appreciated Wang Qiyao's magnanimity and tried even harder to please her as though repaying her kindness.
|
||||
Basking in each other's company, they became the best of friends.
|
||||
But Wang Qiyao's decision to befriend Wu Peizhen meant, in some way, that she was pushing a heavy load onto Wu Peizhen's shoulders.
|
||||
Her beauty highlighted Wu Peizhen's unattractive appearance; her meticulousness highlighted Wu Peizhen's lack of care; her magnanimity highlighted Wu Peizhen's indebtedness.
|
||||
It was a good thing that Wu Peizhen could take it; after all, the weight of everyday living did not rest as heavily on her.
|
||||
This was partly because she had plenty of psychic capital to draw on, but also because she simply did not mind.
|
||||
Things came easy to her and she was willing to bear more than her share.
|
||||
Thus an equilibrium of give-and-take was maintained between the two girls and they grew closer by the day.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen had a cousin who did lighting at the film studio.
|
||||
Occasionally he would come over to see her.
|
||||
In that khaki uniform of his, with its copper buttons, he came across as a bit flashy.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen really could not have cared less about him; the only reason she kept him around was for Wang Qiyao.
|
||||
The film studio was the stuff of girls' dreams—a place where romance is created, the kind that appears on the silver screen in movies that everyone knows as well as the off-screen type that one hears about in the enchanting gossip and rumors surrounding the lives of film stars.
|
||||
The former is fake but appears real; the latter is real but seems fake.
|
||||
To live in the world of the film studio is to lead a dual life.
|
||||
Girls like Wu Peizhen who had all of their needs taken care of seldom wallowed in dreams; moreover, as the only girl in a house full of boys, she grew up playing boys' games and never learned the social skills and canniness most girls picked up.
|
||||
However, after making friends with Wang Qiyao, she became more thoughtful.
|
||||
She came to see the film studio as a gift that she could offer to Wang Qiyao.
|
||||
She arranged everything carefully, only informing Wang Qiyao after she had already set a date, and was surprised when Wang Qiyao greeted the news with apparent indifference, claiming a prior engagement.
|
||||
This compelled Wu Peizhen to try to change Wang Qiyao's mind by exaggerating the glamour of the film studio, combining stories her cousin bragged about with others from her own imagination.
|
||||
Before long, it was more like Wang Qiyao was doing her a favor by going with her.
|
||||
By the time Wang Qiyao finally gave in and agreed to go some other time, Wu Peizhen was acting as if yet another gift that she herself had to be thankful for had been bestowed upon her, and she ecstatically scurried off to find her cousin to change the date.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao did not, in fact, have any prior engagement, nor was she as reluctant as she appeared; this was simply the way she conducted herself—the more interested she was in something, the more she held back.
|
||||
This was her means of protecting herself—or then again, was it part of a strategy of disarming an antagonist by pretending to set her free?
|
||||
Whatever the reason behind her action, it was impenetrable to Wu Peizhen.
|
||||
On her way to her cousin's place, she was consumed with gratitude for Wang Qiyao; all she could think about was how much face Wang Qiyao had given her by agreeing to the invitation.
|
||||
The cousin was the son of Wu Peizhen's uncle on her mother's side.
|
||||
This uncle was the black sheep of the family.
|
||||
He had driven a silk shop in Hangzhou into the ground and Wu Peizhen's mother had dreaded his visits because all he ever wanted from her was money or grain.
|
||||
After she gave him some heavy doses of harsh words and turned him away empty-handed several times, he gradually stopped coming around and eventually broke off all relations.
|
||||
Then one day his son had showed up at her door wearing that khaki uniform with copper buttons and carrying two boxes of vegetarian dim sum as if they represented some kind of announcement.
|
||||
Ever since then he would come by once every two months or so and tell them stories about the film studio.
|
||||
Nobody in the house was interested in his stories—nobody, that is, except Wu Peizhen.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen went to the address in Qijiabing in search of her cousin.
|
||||
All around were thatch-covered shacks surrounded by small unmarked trails that extended in different directions, making it virtually impossible to find one's way.
|
||||
People stared at her.
|
||||
One glance told them that she was an outsider, but just as she was getting ready to ask directions they would immediately look away.
|
||||
She finally found her cousin's place, only to discover that he was not home.
|
||||
The young man who shared the shack with her cousin asked her in.
|
||||
He was wearing a pair of glasses and a set of coarse cotton clothes.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen was a bit shy and waited outside.
|
||||
This naturally drew more curious gazes.
|
||||
It was not until dusk that her cousin finally staggered in with a greasy paper bag holding a pig's head or some other cheap meat he had bought over at the butcher's shop.
|
||||
By the time Wu Peizhen got home, her family was already at the dinner table and she had to fib about where she had been.
|
||||
But she didn't have an ounce of regret; even when later that evening she saw the blisters on the soles of her feet from all that walking, she still felt that it was all worth it.
|
||||
That night she even had a dream about the film studio.
|
||||
She dreamed of an elegantly dressed woman under the mercury-vapor lamps.
|
||||
When the woman turned to her and smiled, Wu Peizhen saw that she was none other than Wang Qiyao; she was so excited that she woke up.
|
||||
Her feelings for Wang Qiyao were a bit like the puppy love that a teenage boy feels for a girl for whom he is willing to go to the edge of the earth.
|
||||
She opened her eyes in the pitch-dark bedroom and wondered: Just what kind of place is this film studio anyway?
|
||||
When the day finally arrived, Wu Peizhen's excitement far surpassed that of Wang Qiyao; she could barely contain herself.
|
||||
A classmate asked them where they were off to.
|
||||
"Nowhere," Wu Peizhen casually responded, as she gave Wang Qiyao a knowing pinch on the arm.
|
||||
Then she pulled Wang Qiyao aside and told her to hurry up, as though afraid that that their classmate would catch up and force them to let her in on their pleasure.
|
||||
The whole way there Wu Peizhen couldn't stop jabbering, attracting curious glances from people on the street.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao warned her several times to get hold of herself.
|
||||
Finally she had to stop in her tracks and declare she wasn't going any further—they had not even set foot in the studio and Wu Peizhen had already embarrassed her enough.
|
||||
Only then did Wu Peizhen cool down a bit.
|
||||
To get to the studio they had to take the trolley and make a transfer.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen's cousin was waiting for them at the entrance; he gave each of them an ID tag to clip on her chest so that they would look like employees: that way they could wander around wherever their hearts desired.
|
||||
Once inside, they walked through an empty lot littered with wooden planks, discarded cloth scraps, and chunks of broken bricks and tiles—it looked like a cross between a dump and a construction site.
|
||||
Everyone approaching went at a hurried pace with their heads down.
|
||||
The cousin also moved briskly, as if he had something urgent to take care of.
|
||||
The two girls were left straggling behind, holding hands, trying their best to keep up.
|
||||
It was three or four o'clock, the sunlight was waning and the wind picked up, rustling their skirts.
|
||||
Both of them felt a bit gloomy and Wu Peizhen fell silent.
|
||||
After going a few hundred steps, their journey began to feel interminable, and the girls began to lose patience with the cousin, who slowed down to regale them with some of the rumors floating around the studio; his comments, however, seemed to be neither here nor there.
|
||||
Before their visit all of those anecdotes seemed real, but once they had seen the place everything was now entirely unreliable.
|
||||
Numbness had taken hold of them by the time they entered a large room the size of a warehouse, where uniformed workers scurried back and forth, up and down scaffolding, all the while calling out orders and directions.
|
||||
But they did not see a soul who even faintly resembled a movie star.
|
||||
Thoroughly disoriented, they simply trailed after Wu Peizhen's cousin, but had to watch their heads one second and their feet another, for there were ropes and wires overhead and littering the ground.
|
||||
They moved in and out from illuminated areas into patches of darkness and seemed to have completely forgotten their objective and had no idea where they were—all they did was walk.
|
||||
After what seemed an eternity, Wu Peizhen's cousin finally stopped and had them stand off to one side—he had to go to work.
|
||||
The place where they were left standing was bustling with activity; everyone seemed to be doing something as they moved briskly around the girls.
|
||||
Several times, rushing to get out of one person's way, they bumped into someone else.
|
||||
But they had yet to lay eyes on anyone who looked like a movie star.
|
||||
They were both getting anxious, feeling that the whole trip was a mistake.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen could hardly bring herself to look Wang Qiyao in the eye.
|
||||
All of a sudden, the lights in the room lit up like a dozen rising suns, blinding them.
|
||||
After their eyes adjusted they made out a portion of the warehouse-like room that had been arranged to look like one half of a bedroom.
|
||||
That three-walled bedroom seemed to be the set, but everything inside was peculiarly familiar.
|
||||
The comforter showed signs of wear, old cigarette butts were left in the ashtray, even the handkerchief on the nightstand beside the bed had been used, crumpled up into a ball—as if someone had removed a wall in a home where real people were living to display what went on within.
|
||||
Standing there watching they were quite excited, but at the same time irritated because they were too far away to hear what was being said on set.
|
||||
All they could see was a woman in a sheer nightgown lying on a bed with wrinkled sheets.
|
||||
She tried to lie in several different positions; on her side one moment, on her back the next, and for a while even in a strange position where half her body extended off the bed onto the floor.
|
||||
All this became somewhat boring.
|
||||
The lights turned on and off.
|
||||
In the end, the woman in bed stopped moving and stayed still in the same position for quite some time before the lights once again dimmed.
|
||||
When the lights came back on, everything seemed different.
|
||||
During the previous few takes the light had been marked by an unbridled brilliance.
|
||||
This time they seemed to be using a specialized lighting, the kind that illuminates a room during a pitch-black night.
|
||||
The bedroom set seemed to be further away, but the scene became even more alive.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao was taking in everything.
|
||||
She noticed the glow emitting from the electric lamp and the rippling shadows of the lotus-shaped lampshade projecting onto the three walls of the set.
|
||||
A powerful sense of déjà vu gripped her, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember where she had seen this scene before.
|
||||
Only after shifting her gaze to the woman under the lamplight did she suddenly realize that the actress was pretending to be dead—but she could not tell if the woman was meant to have been murdered or to have committed suicide.
|
||||
The strange thing was that this scene did not appear terrifying or foreboding, only annoyingly familiar.
|
||||
She could not make out the woman's features; all she could see was her head of disheveled hair strewn out along the foot of the bed.
|
||||
The woman's feet faced the headboard and her head lay propped against the foot of the bed, her slippers scattered on opposite sides of the room.
|
||||
The film studio was a hubbub of activity, like a busy dockyard.
|
||||
With all the cries of "Camera" and "OK" rising and falling amid the clamor, the woman was the only thing that did not move, as if she had fallen into an eternal slumber.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen was the first to lose her patience; after all, she was the more brazen one.
|
||||
She pulled Wang Qiyao away so they could go look around other parts of the studio.
|
||||
Their next stop was a three-walled hotel lobby where a fight scene was being shot.
|
||||
All of the actors, in suits and leather dress shoes, were standing around when suddenly a poor fellow in tattered clothes walked onto the set and slapped the hotel manager across the face.
|
||||
The way the action was carried out looked a bit ridiculous; the actor produced the slapping sound with his left hand as he slapped the restaurant owner with his right, but his timing was impeccable and one could hardly tell it was fake.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen liked this scene much more than the first.
|
||||
She watched them do take after take without getting bored, the whole time exclaiming how much fun it was.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao, however, grew impatient and said that the first one was much more interesting.
|
||||
She said that it was a serious film, unlike this one, which was pure buffoonery, no better than a circus sideshow.
|
||||
The two returned to the first set only to discover that everyone had gone.
|
||||
Even the bed had been taken away, leaving only a few workers behind to straighten up the remaining items on set.
|
||||
The girls wondered if they had gone to the wrong place and were about to go look elsewhere when Wu Peizhen's cousin suddenly called out to them.
|
||||
As it happened, he was one of the workers breaking down the set.
|
||||
He told them to wait a little while, and then he would take them to watch a special effects shoot that was going on at one of the other sets!
|
||||
They had no choice but to stand off to one side and wait idly.
|
||||
Someone asked the cousin who his guests were and he told him.
|
||||
But when the man asked where they went to school, the cousin was stumped and Wu Peizhen had to answer for herself.
|
||||
The man flashed them a smile, revealing a set of white teeth that shimmered in the darkness of the studio.
|
||||
He was the director, the cousin later told them.
|
||||
He had studied abroad and was also a screenwriter; in fact he had written and directed the scene they had earlier seen being filmed.
|
||||
The cousin told them all this as he led them off to see the special effects shoot, where they saw smoke, fire, even ghosts.
|
||||
Once again the technical people were doing all the work while the actors did virtually nothing.
|
||||
Asked by Wu Peizhen if they could see some movie stars, the cousin looked embarrassed.
|
||||
He told them that there was not a single big star on any of the sets that day, explaining that it was not every day that big movie stars had scenes.
|
||||
The studio simply could not schedule things the way they would like—they had to work around the stars' schedules.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen caught her cousin in a lie.
|
||||
"Didn't you tell us that you are always running into all these big name stars at the studio every day?" she protested.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao took pity on the cousin and tried to smooth things over.
|
||||
"It's getting dark.
|
||||
We had better come back some other time.
|
||||
Our parents will be worried!"
|
||||
As the cousin led them toward the exit they once again ran into the director.
|
||||
Not only did he remember them, he addressed them jocularly as "the girls from So-and-so middle school"—Wang Qiyao and Wu Peizhen turned a bright red.
|
||||
On the ride home, neither was in the mood to talk and they sat silently, listening to the ringing bells of the trolley.
|
||||
The trolley was half empty; the after-work rush hour was over and Shanghai's nightlife had yet to begin.
|
||||
The girls' experience at the film studio was not exactly as expected; it was difficult to say whether it was disappointing or whether they had had the time of their lives—the one thing for sure was that they were both exhausted.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen had never had her sights set on the studio.
|
||||
Her reason for going rested entirely in making Wang Qiyao happy, so naturally she had hoped it would be a wonderful trip.
|
||||
Just what was so wonderful about the film studio, however, Wu Peizhen had not the slightest clue—she had to wait for Wang Qiyao's reaction to find out.
|
||||
The impression the film studio left on Wang Qiyao, on the other hand, was much more complicated.
|
||||
It was not nearly as magical a place as she had imagined, yet because it appeared so ordinary it gave her the impression that it was within her grasp—but just what was it that she could grasp?
|
||||
She had yet to figure that out.
|
||||
Her initial hopes may have been dampened, but the anxiety that came with anticipation had been relieved.
|
||||
In the days following their visit to the film studio, Wang Qiyao did not utter a single word about their trip, and this left Wu Peizhen quite depressed.
|
||||
She was afraid that Wang Qiyao had not liked the studio and the whole trip had been a complete waste.
|
||||
Then one day she told Wang Qiyao in a confessional tone that her cousin had invited them back to the film studio but she had already declined the offer.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao rounded on her.
|
||||
"How could you do that?
|
||||
He is trying to be nice to us!"
|
||||
Wu Peizhen's eyes widened in disbelief.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao felt a bit uncomfortable under her stare.
|
||||
Turning her face away, she said, "What I mean is, you should show the guy some respect.
|
||||
After all, he's your cousin!"
|
||||
This was one occasion when even Wu Peizhen saw through Wang Qiyao.
|
||||
But far from belittling her friend for being phony, Wu Peizhen felt a tenderness well up in her heart.
|
||||
Although on the outside she looks like a grownup, deep down she is still a child!
|
||||
Wu Peizhen thought to herself.
|
||||
At that moment, her feeling for Wang Qiyao approached maternal love—a love that encompassed all.
|
||||
From then on the film studio became a place for frequent visits.
|
||||
They learned quite a few inside secrets about filmmaking.
|
||||
They learned that movies are never shot in sequence, but are made one scene at a time and only edited together in the final stages.
|
||||
The set locations may have been dilapidated and in disrepair, but the images captured by the camera were always perfectly beautiful.
|
||||
On one or two occasions they actually saw some of those famous movie stars, who sat in front of the camera doing nothing, like a collection of idle props.
|
||||
Films scripts were revised at random, and in the blink of an eye even the dead could come back to life.
|
||||
The girls made their way backstage, and as they rubbed their hands against the mysterious machinery that made images come to life, their hearts seemed to undergo a kind of transformation.
|
||||
Time spent in a film studio is never humdrum; the experience always hints at life's greater meaning.
|
||||
This is especially true for the young, who cannot yet completely distinguish truth from fiction and the real from the make-believe, and especially during that era—when movies had already become an important part of our everyday lives.
|
||||
Camera
|
||||
Wang Qiyao had learned that the most critical moment in making a film came the second that the director calls, "Camera."
|
||||
Everything up to that point boils down to preparation and foreshadowing, but what happens afterward?
|
||||
It ends forever.
|
||||
She came to understand the significance of the word "Camera": it announced a kind of climax.
|
||||
Sometimes the director let them look through the camera and what they saw through its lens was always gorgeous; the camera had the power to filter out all of the chaos and disarray.
|
||||
It had the power to make what was dark and dismal glimmer with light.
|
||||
Inside the camera was a different world.
|
||||
After editing and postproduction, only the pure essence would remain.
|
||||
The director became quite close with the girls and they eventually stopped blushing in his presence.
|
||||
A few times, when Wu Peizhen's cousin was not in the studio, they even went straight to look for the director.
|
||||
He had given them the nicknames "Zhen Zhen" and "Yao Yao," as if they were characters in his latest movie.
|
||||
Behind their backs he described Zhen Zhen to his colleagues as a graceless servant girl right out of Dream of the Red Chamber, a little cleaning maid who thinks she is special just because she is employed in a large, wealthy household.
|
||||
Yao Yao he described as a proper miss who acted the part of a rich official's daughter, like the tragic lover Zhu Yingtai.
|
||||
He treated Wu Peizhen as if she were a child; he loved to tease her and play little jokes on her.
|
||||
He promised to put Wang Qiyao in a scene in one of his movies as soon as the opportunity arose.
|
||||
Who knows?
|
||||
Because her coquettish eyes resembled Ruan Lingyu's, they might even be able to capitalize on the audience's nostalgia for the dead movie star and make Wang Qiyao into a new diva of the screen.
|
||||
Although he seemed to be kidding, this was the director's reserved and humorous way of making a promise.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao naturally did not take him too seriously, but she did kind of like being compared to Ruan Lingyu.
|
||||
Then one day the director telephoned Wang Qiyao at home to have her come down to the studio for a screen test.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao's heart raced and her hands grew clammy.
|
||||
She was unsure if this was the opportunity she had been waiting for.
|
||||
She wondered: Could my big chance really come this easily?
|
||||
She could not believe it, neither did she dare not to believe it.
|
||||
Deep down her heart was in knots.
|
||||
At first she did not want to tell Wu Peizhen about it.
|
||||
She planned to sneak off alone and return before anyone noticed that she was gone.
|
||||
In case nothing came of the screen test, it would be her own little secret and she could pretend that nothing had ever happened.
|
||||
But then, just before the day of her screen test, she broke down and asked Wu Peizhen to go with her so that she would not be too nervous.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao did not sleep well the night before; her face appeared thinner than usual and she had dark rings around her eyes.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen naturally jumped for joy as all kinds of wild ideas went flying through her head.
|
||||
In no time she was talking about organizing press conferences for Wang Qiyao, who regretted telling her friend about the screen test.
|
||||
Neither of them paid attention during their classes that afternoon.
|
||||
When school finally let out the two rushed out of the gate and hopped onto the trolley car.
|
||||
Most of the passengers at that time of the day were housewives with cloth bags in hand, wearing wrinkled cheongsams, the seams of their stockings running crookedly up the back of their legs.
|
||||
They either had messy, disheveled hair or, if they had just walked out of the beauty salon, hair that look like a helmet.
|
||||
Their faces were rigid, as if nothing in the world concerned them.
|
||||
Even the trolley seemed to be afflicted with an air of apathy as it rattled along the tracks.
|
||||
Amid this sea of indifference, Wang Qiyao and Wu Peizhen were animated and alive.
|
||||
Though neither said a word, centuries of anticipation and excitement were brewing inside them.
|
||||
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Shanghai boulevards were suffused with weariness, preparing to sign out and change shifts.
|
||||
The sun hung in the western sky above the apartment buildings, glowing ripe and golden.
|
||||
Their hearts were filled with anticipation as if they were about to begin a brand-new day.
|
||||
The director led them into the dressing room and had a makeup artist work on Wang Qiyao.
|
||||
Seeing herself reflected in the mirror, Wang Qiyao could not help feeling that her face was small and her features plain—she realized that a miracle would not occur—and this depressed her.
|
||||
She became completely resigned as the makeup man worked on her.
|
||||
She even closed her eyes for a while to avoid looking in the mirror, uncomfortable and anxious only to get everything over and done with.
|
||||
She even got neurotic and thought that the makeup man, impatient to get finished with her, was applying the makeup hurriedly and crudely.
|
||||
When she opened her eyes once again and looked, she saw the awkward expression of someone who had no desire to be there.
|
||||
The harsh, unmodulated light of the dressing room made everything appear commonplace.
|
||||
Losing all confidence in herself, Wang Qiyao decided to simply let everything ride; she focused on watching the makeup man gradually transform her into someone else—a stranger she did not recognize.
|
||||
It was then that she began to calm down and her tensions eased.
|
||||
By the time the makeup man finished his job, she had even started to regain her sense of humor and joked around a bit with Wu Peizhen, who remarked that Wang Qiyao looked like the Lady in the Moon descending into the secular world, whereupon Wang Qiyao quipped that if she were a Lady in the Moon, she was the kind whose image was found on boxes of mooncakes.
|
||||
The two of them had a good laugh.
|
||||
Once this happened, Wang Qiyao's expression relaxed, her powdered face lit up, and she came to life.
|
||||
As she returned the gaze of the beauty in the mirror, the image she saw no longer seemed quite as distant and unrecognizable.
|
||||
Before long the director sent someone over to escort Wang Qiyao to the set, Wu Peizhen naturally following close behind.
|
||||
The lights were already set up and Wu Peizhen's cousin was up on the scaffolding, smiling down at them.
|
||||
The director, on the other hand, became serious and cold, as if he did not even know them.
|
||||
He had Wang Qiyao sit on a bed.
|
||||
It was a Nanjing-style bed with ornate flower patterns carved into the woodwork, a mirror set into the headboard, and high bed curtains all around—all the signs of rustic elegance.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao was to play a bride in a traditional wedding ceremony.
|
||||
She would be wearing a crimson bridal veil over her head when the groom entered and he would pull it away, slowly revealing her face.
|
||||
The director explained that her character had to be bashful and charming, filled with longing and uncertainty; he unloaded these adjectives on her all at once, expecting her to capture them all with a single expression.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao nodded, but deep down she was completely lost and had no idea where to begin.
|
||||
But having decided to let everything ride, she was actually quite calm and composed.
|
||||
She was aware of everything going on around her, down to the shouts of "Camera" coming from the adjacent set.
|
||||
The next thing she knew, a crimson bridal veil came down over her head.
|
||||
Suddenly everything was swathed in darkness.
|
||||
In that instant her heart began pounding like a drum.
|
||||
She understood that her moment had come and fear welled up inside her as her knees began to tremble faintly.
|
||||
The set lights came on, transforming the darkness into a thick crimson hue.
|
||||
Suddenly she felt feverish, and the tremors worked their way from her knees up through her body.
|
||||
Even her teeth began to chatter.
|
||||
All the mystery and grandeur of the film studio hung suspended in the light shimmering outside her veil.
|
||||
Someone came and straightened out her clothing and then quickly walked off set.
|
||||
The air whisked against her as he passed by.
|
||||
The crimson veil fluttered a bit, for a moment softening the anxieties of that afternoon.
|
||||
She heard a series of "okay"s repeating in rhythmic succession around her, as if converging upon a common target.
|
||||
Finally came the word, "Camera."
|
||||
Wang Qiyao's breathing stopped.
|
||||
She could not catch her breath.
|
||||
She could hear the film running through the camera, a mechanical sound that seemed to override everything.
|
||||
Her mind just went blank.
|
||||
When a hand pulled away her wedding veil, she was so startled that she shrank back with fright.
|
||||
"Cut," the director yelled.
|
||||
The set lights went dim, the crimson veil went back over her head, and they took it once more from the top.
|
||||
As they redid the scene, everything grew fuzzy.
|
||||
Things faded off into the distance, never to reappear, as if they had been an illusion.
|
||||
Then Wang Qiyao snapped out of her daze, her shivering ceased, and her heart rate returned to normal.
|
||||
Her eyes adjusted to the darkness once more and through the wedding veil she could make out silhouettes of people moving around.
|
||||
The set lights came up and this time the shouts of "OK" sounded perfunctory.
|
||||
When the word "Camera" was called out, it too seemed little more than a formality—but this formality still carried with it an air of authority, of unwavering power.
|
||||
She began to prepare the emotions the director wanted to see on her face; the only problem was that she had no inkling of how to act bashful or charming, or what it meant to be filled with longing and uncertainty.
|
||||
Human emotions are not simple symbols that can be called up at will.
|
||||
The crimson wedding veil was lifted to reveal a rigid expression; even the bit of natural charm that she normally had about her was frozen.
|
||||
As soon as he saw her through the eye of the camera, the director sensed that he had made a mistake; Wang Qiyao's was not an artistic beauty, but quite ordinary.
|
||||
It was the kind of beauty to be admired in by close friends and relatives in her own living room, like the shifting moods of everyday life; a retrained beauty, it was not the kind that made waves.
|
||||
It was real, not dramatic—the kind of beauty that people noticed on the street and photo studios displayed in their front windows.
|
||||
Through the camera's lens, it was simply too bland.
|
||||
The director was disappointed, but his disappointment was partly for Wang Qiyao's sake.
|
||||
Her beauty will be buried and lost to the world, he said to himself.
|
||||
Later, in order to make things up to her, he had a photographer friend of his do a photo shoot for her—but this photo shoot turned into something quite extraordinary.
|
||||
One of the photos even made it into the inside front cover of Shanghai Life with the caption, "A Proper Young Lady of Shanghai."
|
||||
And so that is how the screen test ended, just another trifling incident in the life of the film studio.
|
||||
After that, Wang Qiyao stopped going.
|
||||
She wanted to forget the whole affair—that it had ever happened.
|
||||
But the image of that crimson wedding veil and the dazzling studio lights were already imprinted in her mind and reappeared whenever she closed her eyes.
|
||||
There was a strange frisson attached to that scene; it was the most dramatic moment in Wang Qiyao's quiet life.
|
||||
The moment had come and gone in an instant, but it added a dab of melancholic color to her heart.
|
||||
Occasionally, on her way home from school, something would unexpectedly stir up her memory of the screen test.
|
||||
Wang Qiyao was sixteen years old at the time, but that one day's experience left her with the feeling that she had already been through a lot—she felt much older than sixteen.
|
||||
She started to avoid Wu Peizhen, as if the latter had stolen some secret from her.
|
||||
Whenever Wu Peizhen invited her out after school, Wang Qiyao would almost always find some excuse not to go.
|
||||
Several times Wu Peizhen even went to Wang Qiyao's apartment to look for her, but each time Wang Qiyao had the maidservant say that she was not home.
|
||||
Sensing that she was being avoided, Wu Peizhen felt heartbroken, but she held on to the hope that Wang Qiyao would eventually come back to her.
|
||||
Her friendship changed into a kind of pious waiting; she did not even look for any new girlfriends, afraid that they might take Wang Qiyao's place.
|
||||
Wu Peizhen had a faint notion that the reason Wang Qiyao was avoiding her had something to do with that failed screen test, so she too stopped going to the film studio, even breaking off contact with her cousin.
|
||||
The screen test became a source of sorrow for both of them, leaving them with a deep sense of defeat.
|
||||
Things gradually got to the point where they were no longer on speaking terms: running into one another at school, each would make haste to awkwardly get out of the other's way.
|
||||
They sat on opposite sides of the classroom, but, though their eyes never met, they could always feel one another's' presence.
|
||||
A wall of pity grew between them.
|
||||
The incident at the film studio ended with the word "camera," and the result was what they call in the industry a "freeze frame."
|
||||
Gone, never to return, but the memory hangs on for all eternity.
|
||||
Their after-school lives gradually returned to normal; but things were not really the same—something had been snatched away.
|
||||
They were hurt, but neither could say where the pain was.
|
||||
At their girls' school, where rumors usually flew rampant, not a soul knew about Wang Qiyao's screen test; they had succeeded in keeping it completely under wraps.
|
||||
It was implicitly understood between them that they should never broach the subject.
|
||||
Actually, just to be chosen by a director for a screen test would already have been a great honor in the eyes of most girls—any hopes of getting a part would be a long shot in a long shot.
|
||||
This was also what Wang Qiyao thought at first, but once she reached that stage everything changed.
|
||||
Suddenly, a price had been exacted and loss was imminent.
|
||||
Only because Wu Peizhen stepped out of her own shoes and empathized completely with her friend was she able to understand the grief Wang Qiyao was going through.
|
||||
312
data/mac/dev/en/005.tok
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@@ -0,0 +1,312 @@
|
||||
the film studio
|
||||
four decade the story span , and it all begin the day she go to the film studio .
|
||||
the day before , wu peizhen have agree to take wang qiyao to have a look around the studio .
|
||||
wu peizhen be a rather careless girl .
|
||||
under normal circumstance , she would have suffer from low self-esteem because of she homeliness , but because peizhen come from a well-to-do family and people always dote on she , she have develop unaffected into a outgoing young lady .
|
||||
what would have be poor self-esteem be replace by a kind of modesty — modesty rule by a practical spirit .
|
||||
in she modesty , she tend to exaggerate other people 's strength , place they on a pedestal , and offer they she devotion .
|
||||
wang qiyao never have to worry about wu peizhen be jealous of she — and she certainly have no reason to be jealous of wu peizhen .
|
||||
on the contrary , she even feel a bit bad for wu peizhen — because she be so ugly .
|
||||
this compassion predispose wang qiyao to be generous , but naturally this generosity do not extend any further than wu peizhen .
|
||||
wu peizhen 's carelessness be the function of a uncalculating mind .
|
||||
she appreciate wang qiyao 's magnanimity and try even harder to please she as though repay she kindness .
|
||||
bask in each other 's company , they become the best of friend .
|
||||
but wang qiyao 's decision to befriend wu peizhen mean , in some way , that she be push a heavy load onto wu peizhen 's shoulder .
|
||||
she beauty highlight wu peizhen 's unattractive appearance ; she meticulousness highlight wu peizhen 's lack of care ; she magnanimity highlight wu peizhen 's indebtedness .
|
||||
it be a good thing that wu peizhen could take it ; after all , the weight of everyday living do not rest as heavily on she .
|
||||
this be partly because she have plenty of psychic capital to draw on , but also because she simply do not mind .
|
||||
thing come easy to she and she be willing to bear more than she share .
|
||||
thus a equilibrium of give-and-take be maintain between the two girl and they grow closer by the day .
|
||||
wu peizhen have a cousin who do lighting at the film studio .
|
||||
occasionally he would come over to see she .
|
||||
in that khaki uniform of he , with its copper button , he come across as a bit flashy .
|
||||
wu peizhen really could not have care less about he ; the only reason she keep he around be for wang qiyao .
|
||||
the film studio be the stuff of girl ' dream — a place where romance be create , the kind that appear on the silver screen in movie that everyone know as well as the off-screen type that one hear about in the enchanting gossip and rumor surround the life of film star .
|
||||
the former be fake but appear real ; the latter be real but seem fake .
|
||||
to live in the world of the film studio be to lead a dual life .
|
||||
girl like wu peizhen who have all of they need take care of seldom wallow in dream ; moreover , as the only girl in a house full of boy , she grow up play boy ' game and never learn the social skill and canniness most girl pick up .
|
||||
however , after make friend with wang qiyao , she become more thoughtful .
|
||||
she come to see the film studio as a gift that she could offer to wang qiyao .
|
||||
she arrange everything carefully , only inform wang qiyao after she have already set a date , and be surprise when wang qiyao greet the news with apparent indifference , claim a prior engagement .
|
||||
this compel wu peizhen to try to change wang qiyao 's mind by exaggerate the glamour of the film studio , combine story she cousin brag about with other from she own imagination .
|
||||
before long , it be more like wang qiyao be do she a favor by go with she .
|
||||
by the time wang qiyao finally give in and agree to go some other time , wu peizhen be act as if yet another gift that she herself have to be thankful for have be bestow upon she , and she ecstatically scurry off to find she cousin to change the date .
|
||||
wang qiyao do not , in fact , have any prior engagement , nor be she as reluctant as she appear ; this be simply the way she conduct herself — the more interested she be in something , the more she hold back .
|
||||
this be she means of protect herself — or then again , be it part of a strategy of disarm a antagonist by pretend to set she free ?
|
||||
whatever the reason behind she action , it be impenetrable to wu peizhen .
|
||||
on she way to she cousin 's place , she be consume with gratitude for wang qiyao ; all she could think about be how much face wang qiyao have give she by agree to the invitation .
|
||||
the cousin be the son of wu peizhen 's uncle on she mother 's side .
|
||||
this uncle be the black sheep of the family .
|
||||
he have drive a silk shop in hangzhou into the ground and wu peizhen 's mother have dread he visit because all he ever want from she be money or grain .
|
||||
after she give he some heavy dose of harsh word and turn he away empty-hand several time , he gradually stop come around and eventually break off all relation .
|
||||
then one day he son have show up at she door wear that khaki uniform with copper button and carry two box of vegetarian dim sum as if they represent some kind of announcement .
|
||||
ever since then he would come by once every two month or so and tell they story about the film studio .
|
||||
nobody in the house be interested in he story — nobody , that be , except wu peizhen .
|
||||
wu peizhen go to the address in qijiabing in search of she cousin .
|
||||
all around be thatch-covered shack surround by small unmarked trail that extend in different direction , make it virtually impossible to find one 's way .
|
||||
people stare at she .
|
||||
one glance tell they that she be a outsider , but just as she be get ready to ask direction they would immediately look away .
|
||||
she finally find she cousin 's place , only to discover that he be not home .
|
||||
the young man who share the shack with she cousin ask she in .
|
||||
he be wear a pair of glass and a set of coarse cotton clothes .
|
||||
wu peizhen be a bit shy and wait outside .
|
||||
this naturally draw more curious gaze .
|
||||
it be not until dusk that she cousin finally stagger in with a greasy paper bag hold a pig 's head or some other cheap meat he have buy over at the butcher 's shop .
|
||||
by the time wu peizhen get home , she family be already at the dinner table and she have to fib about where she have be .
|
||||
but she do not have a ounce of regret ; even when later that evening she see the blister on the sole of she foot from all that walking , she still feel that it be all worth it .
|
||||
that night she even have a dream about the film studio .
|
||||
she dream of a elegantly dress woman under the mercury-vapor lamp .
|
||||
when the woman turn to she and smile , wu peizhen see that she be none other than wang qiyao ; she be so excited that she wake up .
|
||||
she feeling for wang qiyao be a bit like the puppy love that a teenage boy feel for a girl for whom he be willing to go to the edge of the earth .
|
||||
she open she eye in the pitch-dark bedroom and wonder : just what kind of place be this film studio anyway ?
|
||||
when the day finally arrive , wu peizhen 's excitement far surpass that of wang qiyao ; she could barely contain herself .
|
||||
a classmate ask they where they be off to .
|
||||
" nowhere , " wu peizhen casually respond , as she give wang qiyao a know pinch on the arm .
|
||||
then she pull wang qiyao aside and tell she to hurry up , as though afraid that that they classmate would catch up and force they to let she in on they pleasure .
|
||||
the whole way there wu peizhen could not stop jabber , attract curious glance from people on the street .
|
||||
wang qiyao warn she several time to get hold of herself .
|
||||
finally she have to stop in she track and declare she be not go any further — they have not even set foot in the studio and wu peizhen have already embarrassed she enough .
|
||||
only then do wu peizhen cool down a bit .
|
||||
to get to the studio they have to take the trolley and make a transfer .
|
||||
wu peizhen 's cousin be wait for they at the entrance ; he give each of they a id tag to clip on she chest so that they would look like employee : that way they could wander around wherever they heart desire .
|
||||
once inside , they walk through a empty lot litter with wooden plank , discard cloth scrap , and chunk of broken brick and tile — it look like a cross between a dump and a construction site .
|
||||
everyone approach go at a hurry pace with they head down .
|
||||
the cousin also move briskly , as if he have something urgent to take care of .
|
||||
the two girl be leave straggle behind , hold hand , try they best to keep up .
|
||||
it be three or four o'clock , the sunlight be wane and the wind pick up , rustling they skirt .
|
||||
both of they feel a bit gloomy and wu peizhen fall silent .
|
||||
after go a few hundred step , they journey begin to feel interminable , and the girl begin to lose patience with the cousin , who slow down to regale they with some of the rumor float around the studio ; he comment , however , seem to be neither here nor there .
|
||||
before they visit all of those anecdote seem real , but once they have see the place everything be now entirely unreliable .
|
||||
numbness have take hold of they by the time they enter a large room the size of a warehouse , where uniformed worker scurry back and forth , up and down scaffolding , all the while call out order and direction .
|
||||
but they do not see a soul who even faintly resemble a movie star .
|
||||
thoroughly disoriented , they simply trail after wu peizhen 's cousin , but have to watch they head one second and they foot another , for there be rope and wire overhead and litter the ground .
|
||||
they move in and out from illuminate area into patch of darkness and seem to have completely forget they objective and have no idea where they be — all they do be walk .
|
||||
after what seem a eternity , wu peizhen 's cousin finally stop and have they stand off to one side — he have to go to work .
|
||||
the place where they be leave standing be bustling with activity ; everyone seem to be do something as they move briskly around the girl .
|
||||
several time , rush to get out of one person 's way , they bump into someone else .
|
||||
but they have yet to lay eye on anyone who look like a movie star .
|
||||
they be both get anxious , feel that the whole trip be a mistake .
|
||||
wu peizhen could hardly bring herself to look wang qiyao in the eye .
|
||||
all of a sudden , the light in the room light up like a dozen rise sun , blind they .
|
||||
after they eye adjust they make out a portion of the warehouse-like room that have be arrange to look like one half of a bedroom .
|
||||
that three-walled bedroom seem to be the set , but everything inside be peculiarly familiar .
|
||||
the comforter show sign of wear , old cigarette butt be leave in the ashtray , even the handkerchief on the nightstand beside the bed have be use , crumple up into a ball — as if someone have remove a wall in a home where real people be live to display what go on within .
|
||||
stand there watch they be quite excited , but at the same time irritated because they be too far away to hear what be be say on set .
|
||||
all they could see be a woman in a sheer nightgown lie on a bed with wrinkled sheet .
|
||||
she try to lie in several different position ; on she side one moment , on she back the next , and for a while even in a strange position where half she body extend off the bed onto the floor .
|
||||
all this become somewhat boring .
|
||||
the light turn on and off .
|
||||
in the end , the woman in bed stop move and stay still in the same position for quite some time before the light once again dim .
|
||||
when the light come back on , everything seem different .
|
||||
during the previous few take the light have be mark by a unbridled brilliance .
|
||||
this time they seem to be use a specialize lighting , the kind that illuminate a room during a pitch-black night .
|
||||
the bedroom set seem to be further away , but the scene become even more alive .
|
||||
wang qiyao be take in everything .
|
||||
she notice the glow emit from the electric lamp and the ripple shadow of the lotus-shaped lampshade project onto the three wall of the set .
|
||||
a powerful sense of déjà vu grip she , but no matter how hard she try , she could not remember where she have see this scene before .
|
||||
only after shift she gaze to the woman under the lamplight do she suddenly realize that the actress be pretend to be dead — but she could not tell if the woman be mean to have be murder or to have commit suicide .
|
||||
the strange thing be that this scene do not appear terrifying or foreboding , only annoyingly familiar .
|
||||
she could not make out the woman 's feature ; all she could see be she head of disheveled hair strew out along the foot of the bed .
|
||||
the woman 's foot face the headboard and she head lay prop against the foot of the bed , she slipper scatter on opposite side of the room .
|
||||
the film studio be a hubbub of activity , like a busy dockyard .
|
||||
with all the cry of " camera " and " ok " rise and fall amid the clamor , the woman be the only thing that do not move , as if she have fall into a eternal slumber .
|
||||
wu peizhen be the first to lose she patience ; after all , she be the more brazen one .
|
||||
she pull wang qiyao away so they could go look around other part of the studio .
|
||||
they next stop be a three-walled hotel lobby where a fight scene be be shoot .
|
||||
all of the actor , in suit and leather dress shoe , be stand around when suddenly a poor fellow in tattered clothes walk onto the set and slap the hotel manager across the face .
|
||||
the way the action be carry out look a bit ridiculous ; the actor produce the slapping sound with he left hand as he slap the restaurant owner with he right , but he timing be impeccable and one could hardly tell it be fake .
|
||||
wu peizhen like this scene much more than the first .
|
||||
she watch they do take after take without get bored , the whole time exclaim how much fun it be .
|
||||
wang qiyao , however , grow impatient and say that the first one be much more interesting .
|
||||
she say that it be a serious film , unlike this one , which be pure buffoonery , no better than a circus sideshow .
|
||||
the two return to the first set only to discover that everyone have go .
|
||||
even the bed have be take away , leave only a few worker behind to straighten up the remain item on set .
|
||||
the girl wonder if they have go to the wrong place and be about to go look elsewhere when wu peizhen 's cousin suddenly call out to they .
|
||||
as it happen , he be one of the worker break down the set .
|
||||
he tell they to wait a little while , and then he would take they to watch a special effect shoot that be go on at one of the other set !
|
||||
they have no choice but to stand off to one side and wait idly .
|
||||
someone ask the cousin who he guest be and he tell he .
|
||||
but when the man ask where they go to school , the cousin be stump and wu peizhen have to answer for herself .
|
||||
the man flash they a smile , reveal a set of white tooth that shimmer in the darkness of the studio .
|
||||
he be the director , the cousin later tell they .
|
||||
he have study abroad and be also a screenwriter ; in fact he have write and direct the scene they have earlier see be film .
|
||||
the cousin tell they all this as he lead they off to see the special effect shoot , where they see smoke , fire , even ghost .
|
||||
once again the technical people be do all the work while the actor do virtually nothing .
|
||||
ask by wu peizhen if they could see some movie star , the cousin look embarrassed .
|
||||
he tell they that there be not a single big star on any of the set that day , explain that it be not every day that big movie star have scene .
|
||||
the studio simply could not schedule thing the way they would like — they have to work around the star ' schedule .
|
||||
wu peizhen catch she cousin in a lie .
|
||||
" do not you tell we that you be always run into all these big name star at the studio every day ? " she protest .
|
||||
wang qiyao take pity on the cousin and try to smooth thing over .
|
||||
" it be get dark .
|
||||
we have better come back some other time .
|
||||
we parent will be worry ! "
|
||||
as the cousin lead they toward the exit they once again run into the director .
|
||||
not only do he remember they , he address they jocularly as " the girl from so-and-so middle school " — wang qiyao and wu peizhen turn a bright red .
|
||||
on the ride home , neither be in the mood to talk and they sit silently , listen to the ringing bell of the trolley .
|
||||
the trolley be half empty ; the after-work rush hour be over and shanghai 's nightlife have yet to begin .
|
||||
the girl ' experience at the film studio be not exactly as expect ; it be difficult to say whether it be disappointing or whether they have have the time of they life — the one thing for sure be that they be both exhaust .
|
||||
wu peizhen have never have she sight set on the studio .
|
||||
she reason for go rest entirely in make wang qiyao happy , so naturally she have hope it would be a wonderful trip .
|
||||
just what be so wonderful about the film studio , however , wu peizhen have not the slightest clue — she have to wait for wang qiyao 's reaction to find out .
|
||||
the impression the film studio leave on wang qiyao , on the other hand , be much more complicated .
|
||||
it be not nearly as magical a place as she have imagine , yet because it appear so ordinary it give she the impression that it be within she grasp — but just what be it that she could grasp ?
|
||||
she have yet to figure that out .
|
||||
she initial hope may have be dampen , but the anxiety that come with anticipation have be relieve .
|
||||
in the day follow they visit to the film studio , wang qiyao do not utter a single word about they trip , and this leave wu peizhen quite depress .
|
||||
she be afraid that wang qiyao have not like the studio and the whole trip have be a complete waste .
|
||||
then one day she tell wang qiyao in a confessional tone that she cousin have invite they back to the film studio but she have already decline the offer .
|
||||
wang qiyao round on she .
|
||||
" how could you do that ?
|
||||
he be try to be nice to we ! "
|
||||
wu peizhen 's eye widen in disbelief .
|
||||
wang qiyao feel a bit uncomfortable under she stare .
|
||||
turn she face away , she say , " what i mean be , you should show the guy some respect .
|
||||
after all , he be you cousin ! "
|
||||
this be one occasion when even wu peizhen see through wang qiyao .
|
||||
but far from belittle she friend for be phony , wu peizhen feel a tenderness well up in she heart .
|
||||
although on the outside she look like a grownup , deep down she be still a child !
|
||||
wu peizhen think to herself .
|
||||
at that moment , she feeling for wang qiyao approach maternal love — a love that encompass all .
|
||||
from then on the film studio become a place for frequent visit .
|
||||
they learn quite a few inside secret about filmmaking .
|
||||
they learn that movie be never shoot in sequence , but be make one scene at a time and only edit together in the final stage .
|
||||
the set location may have be dilapidated and in disrepair , but the image capture by the camera be always perfectly beautiful .
|
||||
on one or two occasion they actually see some of those famous movie star , who sit in front of the camera do nothing , like a collection of idle prop .
|
||||
film script be revise at random , and in the blink of a eye even the dead could come back to life .
|
||||
the girl make they way backstage , and as they rub they hand against the mysterious machinery that make image come to life , they heart seem to undergo a kind of transformation .
|
||||
time spend in a film studio be never humdrum ; the experience always hint at life 's greater meaning .
|
||||
this be especially true for the young , who can not yet completely distinguish truth from fiction and the real from the make-believe , and especially during that era — when movie have already become a important part of we everyday life .
|
||||
camera
|
||||
wang qiyao have learn that the most critical moment in make a film come the second that the director call , " camera . "
|
||||
everything up to that point boil down to preparation and foreshadowing , but what happen afterward ?
|
||||
it end forever .
|
||||
she come to understand the significance of the word " camera " : it announce a kind of climax .
|
||||
sometimes the director let they look through the camera and what they see through its lens be always gorgeous ; the camera have the power to filter out all of the chaos and disarray .
|
||||
it have the power to make what be dark and dismal glimmer with light .
|
||||
inside the camera be a different world .
|
||||
after editing and postproduction , only the pure essence would remain .
|
||||
the director become quite close with the girl and they eventually stop blush in he presence .
|
||||
a few time , when wu peizhen 's cousin be not in the studio , they even go straight to look for the director .
|
||||
he have give they the nickname " zhen zhen " and " yao yao , " as if they be character in he latest movie .
|
||||
behind they back he describe zhen zhen to he colleague as a graceless servant girl right out of dream of the red chamber , a little cleaning maid who think she be special just because she be employ in a large , wealthy household .
|
||||
yao yao he describe as a proper miss who act the part of a rich official 's daughter , like the tragic lover zhu yingtai .
|
||||
he treat wu peizhen as if she be a child ; he love to tease she and play little joke on she .
|
||||
he promise to put wang qiyao in a scene in one of he movie as soon as the opportunity arise .
|
||||
who know ?
|
||||
because she coquettish eye resemble ruan lingyu 's , they might even be able to capitalize on the audience 's nostalgia for the dead movie star and make wang qiyao into a new diva of the screen .
|
||||
although he seem to be kidding , this be the director 's reserved and humorous way of make a promise .
|
||||
wang qiyao naturally do not take he too seriously , but she do kind of like be compare to ruan lingyu .
|
||||
then one day the director telephone wang qiyao at home to have she come down to the studio for a screen test .
|
||||
wang qiyao 's heart race and she hand grow clammy .
|
||||
she be unsure if this be the opportunity she have be wait for .
|
||||
she wonder : could my big chance really come this easily ?
|
||||
she could not believe it , neither do she dare not to believe it .
|
||||
deep down she heart be in knot .
|
||||
at first she do not want to tell wu peizhen about it .
|
||||
she plan to sneak off alone and return before anyone notice that she be go .
|
||||
in case nothing come of the screen test , it would be she own little secret and she could pretend that nothing have ever happen .
|
||||
but then , just before the day of she screen test , she break down and ask wu peizhen to go with she so that she would not be too nervous .
|
||||
wang qiyao do not sleep well the night before ; she face appear thinner than usual and she have dark ring around she eye .
|
||||
wu peizhen naturally jump for joy as all kind of wild idea go fly through she head .
|
||||
in no time she be talk about organize press conference for wang qiyao , who regret tell she friend about the screen test .
|
||||
neither of they pay attention during they class that afternoon .
|
||||
when school finally let out the two rush out of the gate and hop onto the trolley car .
|
||||
most of the passenger at that time of the day be housewife with cloth bag in hand , wear wrinkled cheongsam , the seam of they stocking run crookedly up the back of they leg .
|
||||
they either have messy , disheveled hair or , if they have just walk out of the beauty salon , hair that look like a helmet .
|
||||
they face be rigid , as if nothing in the world concern they .
|
||||
even the trolley seem to be afflict with a air of apathy as it rattle along the track .
|
||||
amid this sea of indifference , wang qiyao and wu peizhen be animated and alive .
|
||||
though neither say a word , century of anticipation and excitement be brew inside they .
|
||||
at three o'clock in the afternoon , the shanghai boulevard be suffuse with weariness , prepare to sign out and change shift .
|
||||
the sun hang in the western sky above the apartment building , glowing ripe and golden .
|
||||
they heart be fill with anticipation as if they be about to begin a brand-new day .
|
||||
the director lead they into the dress room and have a makeup artist work on wang qiyao .
|
||||
see herself reflect in the mirror , wang qiyao could not help feeling that she face be small and she feature plain — she realize that a miracle would not occur — and this depress she .
|
||||
she become completely resign as the makeup man work on she .
|
||||
she even close she eye for a while to avoid look in the mirror , uncomfortable and anxious only to get everything over and do with .
|
||||
she even get neurotic and think that the makeup man , impatient to get finish with she , be apply the makeup hurriedly and crudely .
|
||||
when she open she eye once again and look , she see the awkward expression of someone who have no desire to be there .
|
||||
the harsh , unmodulated light of the dress room make everything appear commonplace .
|
||||
lose all confidence in herself , wang qiyao decide to simply let everything ride ; she focus on watch the makeup man gradually transform she into someone else — a stranger she do not recognize .
|
||||
it be then that she begin to calm down and she tension ease .
|
||||
by the time the makeup man finish he job , she have even start to regain she sense of humor and joke around a bit with wu peizhen , who remark that wang qiyao look like the lady in the moon descend into the secular world , whereupon wang qiyao quip that if she be a lady in the moon , she be the kind whose image be find on box of mooncake .
|
||||
the two of they have a good laugh .
|
||||
once this happen , wang qiyao 's expression relax , she powdered face light up , and she come to life .
|
||||
as she return the gaze of the beauty in the mirror , the image she see no longer seem quite as distant and unrecognizable .
|
||||
before long the director send someone over to escort wang qiyao to the set , wu peizhen naturally follow close behind .
|
||||
the light be already set up and wu peizhen 's cousin be up on the scaffolding , smile down at they .
|
||||
the director , on the other hand , become serious and cold , as if he do not even know they .
|
||||
he have wang qiyao sit on a bed .
|
||||
it be a nanjing-style bed with ornate flower pattern carve into the woodwork , a mirror set into the headboard , and high bed curtain all around — all the sign of rustic elegance .
|
||||
wang qiyao be to play a bride in a traditional wedding ceremony .
|
||||
she would be wear a crimson bridal veil over she head when the groom enter and he would pull it away , slowly reveal she face .
|
||||
the director explain that she character have to be bashful and charming , fill with longing and uncertainty ; he unloaded these adjective on she all at once , expect she to capture they all with a single expression .
|
||||
wang qiyao nod , but deep down she be completely lose and have no idea where to begin .
|
||||
but have decide to let everything ride , she be actually quite calm and compose .
|
||||
she be aware of everything go on around she , down to the shout of " camera " come from the adjacent set .
|
||||
the next thing she know , a crimson bridal veil come down over she head .
|
||||
suddenly everything be swathe in darkness .
|
||||
in that instant she heart begin pound like a drum .
|
||||
she understand that she moment have come and fear well up inside she as she knee begin to tremble faintly .
|
||||
the set light come on , transform the darkness into a thick crimson hue .
|
||||
suddenly she feel feverish , and the tremor work they way from she knee up through she body .
|
||||
even she tooth begin to chatter .
|
||||
all the mystery and grandeur of the film studio hang suspend in the light shimmering outside she veil .
|
||||
someone come and straighten out she clothing and then quickly walk off set .
|
||||
the air whisk against she as he pass by .
|
||||
the crimson veil flutter a bit , for a moment soften the anxiety of that afternoon .
|
||||
she hear a series of " okay " s repeat in rhythmic succession around she , as if converge upon a common target .
|
||||
finally come the word , " camera . "
|
||||
wang qiyao 's breathing stop .
|
||||
she could not catch she breath .
|
||||
she could hear the film run through the camera , a mechanical sound that seem to override everything .
|
||||
she mind just go blank .
|
||||
when a hand pull away she wedding veil , she be so startle that she shrink back with fright .
|
||||
" cut , " the director yell .
|
||||
the set light go dim , the crimson veil go back over she head , and they take it once more from the top .
|
||||
as they redo the scene , everything grow fuzzy .
|
||||
thing fade off into the distance , never to reappear , as if they have be a illusion .
|
||||
then wang qiyao snap out of she daze , she shiver cease , and she heart rate return to normal .
|
||||
she eye adjust to the darkness once more and through the wedding veil she could make out silhouette of people move around .
|
||||
the set light come up and this time the shout of " ok " sound perfunctory .
|
||||
when the word " camera " be call out , it too seem little more than a formality — but this formality still carry with it a air of authority , of unwavering power .
|
||||
she begin to prepare the emotion the director want to see on she face ; the only problem be that she have no inkling of how to act bashful or charming , or what it mean to be fill with longing and uncertainty .
|
||||
human emotion be not simple symbol that can be call up at will .
|
||||
the crimson wedding veil be lift to reveal a rigid expression ; even the bit of natural charm that she normally have about she be freeze .
|
||||
as soon as he see she through the eye of the camera , the director sense that he have make a mistake ; wang qiyao 's be not a artistic beauty , but quite ordinary .
|
||||
it be the kind of beauty to be admire in by close friend and relative in she own living room , like the shift mood of everyday life ; a retrain beauty , it be not the kind that make wave .
|
||||
it be real , not dramatic — the kind of beauty that people notice on the street and photo studio display in they front window .
|
||||
through the camera 's lens , it be simply too bland .
|
||||
the director be disappointed , but he disappointment be partly for wang qiyao 's sake .
|
||||
she beauty will be bury and lose to the world , he say to himself .
|
||||
later , in order to make thing up to she , he have a photographer friend of he do a photo shoot for she — but this photo shoot turn into something quite extraordinary .
|
||||
one of the photo even make it into the inside front cover of shanghai life with the caption , " a proper young lady of shanghai . "
|
||||
and so that be how the screen test end , just another trifling incident in the life of the film studio .
|
||||
after that , wang qiyao stop go .
|
||||
she want to forget the whole affair — that it have ever happen .
|
||||
but the image of that crimson wedding veil and the dazzling studio light be already imprint in she mind and reappear whenever she close she eye .
|
||||
there be a strange frisson attach to that scene ; it be the most dramatic moment in wang qiyao 's quiet life .
|
||||
the moment have come and go in a instant , but it add a dab of melancholic color to she heart .
|
||||
occasionally , on she way home from school , something would unexpectedly stir up she memory of the screen test .
|
||||
wang qiyao be sixteen year old at the time , but that one day 's experience leave she with the feeling that she have already be through a lot — she feel much older than sixteen .
|
||||
she start to avoid wu peizhen , as if the latter have steal some secret from she .
|
||||
whenever wu peizhen invite she out after school , wang qiyao would almost always find some excuse not to go .
|
||||
several time wu peizhen even go to wang qiyao 's apartment to look for she , but each time wang qiyao have the maidservant say that she be not home .
|
||||
sense that she be be avoid , wu peizhen feel heartbroken , but she hold on to the hope that wang qiyao would eventually come back to she .
|
||||
she friendship change into a kind of pious waiting ; she do not even look for any new girlfriend , afraid that they might take wang qiyao 's place .
|
||||
wu peizhen have a faint notion that the reason wang qiyao be avoid she have something to do with that fail screen test , so she too stop go to the film studio , even break off contact with she cousin .
|
||||
the screen test become a source of sorrow for both of they , leave they with a deep sense of defeat .
|
||||
thing gradually get to the point where they be no longer on speak term : run into one another at school , each would make haste to awkwardly get out of the other 's way .
|
||||
they sit on opposite side of the classroom , but , though they eye never meet , they could always feel one another 's ' presence .
|
||||
a wall of pity grow between they .
|
||||
the incident at the film studio end with the word " camera , " and the result be what they call in the industry a " freeze frame . "
|
||||
go , never to return , but the memory hang on for all eternity .
|
||||
they after-school life gradually return to normal ; but thing be not really the same — something have be snatch away .
|
||||
they be hurt , but neither could say where the pain be .
|
||||
at they girl ' school , where rumor usually fly rampant , not a soul know about wang qiyao 's screen test ; they have succeed in keep it completely under wrap .
|
||||
it be implicitly understand between they that they should never broach the subject .
|
||||
actually , just to be choose by a director for a screen test would already have be a great honor in the eye of most girl — any hope of get a part would be a long shot in a long shot .
|
||||
this be also what wang qiyao think at first , but once she reach that stage everything change .
|
||||
suddenly , a price have be exact and loss be imminent .
|
||||
only because wu peizhen step out of she own shoe and empathize completely with she friend be she able to understand the grief wang qiyao be go through .
|
||||
272
data/mac/dev/en/006
Normal file
272
data/mac/dev/en/006
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,272 @@
|
||||
Wang Miao drove along Jingmi Road until he was in Miyun County.
|
||||
From there he headed to Heilongtan, climbed up the mountain along a winding road, and arrived at the radio astronomy observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Astronomical Center.
|
||||
He saw a line of twenty-eight parabolic antenna dishes, each with a diameter of nine meters, like a row of spectacular steel plants.
|
||||
At the end were two tall radio telescopes with dishes fifty meters in diameter, built in 2006.
|
||||
As he drove closer, Wang could not help but think of the background in the picture of Ye and her daughter.
|
||||
But the work of Sha Ruishan, Ye's student, had nothing to do with these radio telescopes.
|
||||
Dr. Sha's lab was mainly responsible for receiving the data transmitted from three satellites: the Cosmic Background Explorer, COBE, launched in November of 1989 and about to be retired; the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, WMAP, launched in 2003; and Planck, the space observatory launched by the European Space Agency in 2009.
|
||||
Cosmic microwave background radiation very precisely matched the thermal black body spectrum at a temperature of 2.7255 K and was highly isotropic—meaning nearly uniform in every direction—with only tiny temperature fluctuations at the parts per million range.
|
||||
Sha Ruishan's job was to create a more detailed map of the cosmic microwave background using observational data.
|
||||
The lab wasn't very big.
|
||||
Equipment for receiving satellite data was squeezed into the main computer room, and three terminals displayed the information sent by the three satellites.
|
||||
Sha was excited to see Wang.
|
||||
Clearly bored with his long isolation and happy to have a visitor, he asked Wang what kind of data he wanted to see.
|
||||
"I want to see the overall fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background."
|
||||
"Can you ... be more specific?"
|
||||
"What I mean is ...
|
||||
I want to see the isotropic fluctuation in the overall cosmic microwave background, between one and five percent," he said, quoting from Shen's email.
|
||||
Sha grinned.
|
||||
Starting at the turn of the century, the Miyun Radio Astronomy Observatory had opened itself to visitors.
|
||||
In order to earn some extra income, Sha often played the role of tour guide or gave lectures.
|
||||
This was the grin he reserved for tourists, as he had grown used to their astounding scientific illiteracy.
|
||||
"Mr. Wang, I take it you're not a specialist in the field?"
|
||||
"I work in nanotech."
|
||||
"Ah, makes sense.
|
||||
But you must have some basic understanding of the cosmic microwave background?"
|
||||
"I don't know much.
|
||||
I know that as the universe cooled after the big bang, the leftover 'embers' became the cosmic microwave background.
|
||||
The radiation fills the entire universe and can be observed in the centimeter wavelength range.
|
||||
I think it was back in the sixties when two Americans accidentally discovered the radiation when they were testing a supersensitive satellite reception antenna—"
|
||||
"That's more than enough," Sha interrupted, waving his hands.
|
||||
"Then you must know that unlike the local variations we observe in different parts of the universe, the overall fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background is correlated with the expansion of the universe.
|
||||
It's a very slow change measured at the scale of the age of the universe.
|
||||
Even with the sensitivity of the Planck satellite, continuous observation for a million years might not detect any such shift.
|
||||
But you want to see a five percent fluctuation tonight?
|
||||
Do you realize what that would mean?
|
||||
The universe would flicker like a fluorescent tube that's about to burn out!"
|
||||
And it will be flickering for me, Wang thought.
|
||||
"This must be some joke from Professor Ye," Sha said.
|
||||
"Nothing would please me more than to discover that it was a joke," Wang said.
|
||||
He was about to tell Sha that Ye didn't know the details of his request, but he was afraid that Sha would then refuse to help him.
|
||||
"Well, since Professor Ye asked me to help you, let's do the observation.
|
||||
It's not a big deal.
|
||||
If you just need one percent precision, data from the antique COBE is sufficient."
|
||||
As he spoke, Sha typed quickly at the terminal.
|
||||
Soon a flat green line appeared on the screen.
|
||||
"This curve is the real-time measurement of the overall cosmic microwave background—oh, calling it a straight line would be more accurate.
|
||||
The temperature is 2.725±0.002K.
|
||||
The error range is due to the Doppler effect from the motion of the Milky Way, which has already been filtered out.
|
||||
If the kind of fluctuation you anticipate—in excess of one percent—occurs, this line would turn red and become a waveform.
|
||||
I would bet that it's going to stay a flat green line until the end of the world, though.
|
||||
If you want to see it show the kind of fluctuation observable by the naked eye, you might have to wait until long after the death of the sun."
|
||||
"I'm not interfering in your work, am I?"
|
||||
"No.
|
||||
Since you need such low precision, we can just use some basic data from COBE.
|
||||
Okay, it's all set.
|
||||
From now on, if such great fluctuations occur, the data will be automatically saved to disk."
|
||||
"I think it might happen around one o'clock A.M."
|
||||
"Wow, so precise!
|
||||
No problem, since I'm working the night shift, anyway.
|
||||
Have you had dinner yet?
|
||||
Good, then I'll take you on a tour."
|
||||
The night was moonless.
|
||||
They walked along the row of antenna dishes, and Sha pointed to them.
|
||||
"Breathtaking, aren't they?
|
||||
It's too bad that they are all like the ears of a deaf man."
|
||||
"Why?"
|
||||
"Ever since construction was completed, interference has been unceasing in the observational bands.
|
||||
First, there were the paging stations during the eighties.
|
||||
Now, it's the scramble to develop mobile communications networks and cell towers.
|
||||
These telescopes are capable of many scientific tasks—surveying the sky, detecting variable radio sources, observing the remains of supernovae—but we can't perform most of them.
|
||||
We've complained to the State Regulatory Radio Commission many times, never with any results.
|
||||
How can we get more attention than China Mobile, China Unicom, China Netcom?
|
||||
Without money, the secrets of the universe are worth shit.
|
||||
At least my project only depends on satellite data and has nothing to do with these 'tourist attractions.'"
|
||||
"In recent years, commercial operation of basic research has been fairly successful, like in high-energy physics.
|
||||
Maybe it would be better if the observatories were built in places farther away from cities?"
|
||||
"It all comes down to money.
|
||||
Right now, our only choice is to find technical means to shield against interference.
|
||||
Well, it would be much better if Professor Ye were here.
|
||||
She accomplished a lot in this field."
|
||||
So the topic of conversation turned to Ye Wenjie.
|
||||
And from her student, Wang finally learned about her life.
|
||||
He listened as Sha told of how she witnessed the death of her father during the Cultural Revolution, how she was falsely accused at the Production and Construction Corps, how she then seemed to disappear until her return to Beijing at the beginning of the nineties, when she began teaching astrophysics at Tsinghua, where her father had also taught, until her retirement.
|
||||
"It was only recently revealed that she had spent more than twenty years at Red Coast Base."
|
||||
Wang was stunned.
|
||||
"You mean, those rumors—"
|
||||
"Most turned out to be true.
|
||||
One of the researchers who developed the deciphering system for the Red Coast Project emigrated to Europe and wrote a book last year.
|
||||
Most of the rumors you hear came out of that book.
|
||||
Many who participated in Red Coast are still alive."
|
||||
"That is ... a fantastical legend."
|
||||
"Especially for it to happen during those years—absolutely incredible."
|
||||
They continued to speak for a while.
|
||||
Sha asked the purpose behind Wang's strange request.
|
||||
Wang avoided giving a straight answer, and Sha didn't press.
|
||||
The dignity of a specialist did not allow Sha to express too much interest in a request that clearly went against his professional knowledge.
|
||||
Then they went to an all-night bar for tourists and sat for two hours.
|
||||
As Sha finished one beer after another, his tongue loosened even more.
|
||||
But Wang became anxious, and his mind kept returning to that green line on the terminal in Sha's office.
|
||||
It was only at ten to one in the morning that Sha finally gave in to Wang's repeated pleas to go back to the lab.
|
||||
The spotlights that had lit up the row of radio antennas had been turned off, and the antennas now formed a simple two-dimensional picture against the night sky like a series of abstract symbols.
|
||||
All of them gazed up at the sky at the same angle, as though waiting expectantly for something.
|
||||
The scene made Wang shudder despite the warmth of the spring evening.
|
||||
He was reminded of the giant pendulums in Three Body.
|
||||
They arrived back at the lab at one.
|
||||
As they looked at the terminal, the fluctuation was just getting started.
|
||||
The flat line turned into a wave, the distance between one peak and the next inconstant.
|
||||
The line's color became red, like a snake awakening after hibernation, wriggling as its skin refilled with blood.
|
||||
"It must be a malfunction in COBE!"
|
||||
Sha stared at the waveform, terrified.
|
||||
"It's not a malfunction."
|
||||
Wang's tone was exceedingly calm.
|
||||
He had learned to control himself when faced with such sights.
|
||||
"We'll know soon enough," Sha said.
|
||||
He went to the other two terminals and typed rapidly to bring up the data gathered by the other two satellites, WMAP and Planck.
|
||||
Now three waveforms moved in sync across the three terminals, exactly alike.
|
||||
Sha took out a notebook computer and rushed to turn it on.
|
||||
He plugged in a network cable and picked up the phone.
|
||||
Wang could tell from the one-sided conversation that he was trying to get in touch with the Ürümqi radio astronomy observatory.
|
||||
He didn't explain to Wang what he was doing, his eyes locked onto the browser window on the notebook.
|
||||
Wang could hear his rapid breathing.
|
||||
A few minutes later, a red waveform appeared in the browser window, moving in step with the other three.
|
||||
The three satellites and the ground-based observatory confirmed one fact: The universe was flickering.
|
||||
"Can you print out the waveform?" Wang asked.
|
||||
Sha wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and nodded.
|
||||
He moved his mouse and clicked "Print."
|
||||
Wang grabbed the first page as soon as it came out of the laser printer, and, with a pencil, began to match the distance between the peaks with the Morse code chart he took out of his pocket.
|
||||
short-long-long-long-long, short-long-long-long-long, long-long-long-long-long, long-long-long-short-short, long-long-long-short-short-short, short-short-long-long-long, short-long-long-long-long, long-long-long-short-short-short, short-short-short-long-long, long-long-short-short-short.
|
||||
That's 1108:21:37, Wang thought.
|
||||
short-long-long-long-long, short-long-long-long-long, long-long-long-long-long, long-long-long-short-short, long-long-long-short-short-short, short-short-long-long-long, short-long-long-long-long, long-long-long-short-short-short, short-short-short-long-long, long-short-short-short-short—that's 1108:21:36.
|
||||
The countdown continued at the scale of the universe.
|
||||
Ninety-two hours had already elapsed, and only 1,108 hours remained.
|
||||
Sha paced back and forth anxiously, pausing from time to time to look at the sequence of numbers Wang was writing down.
|
||||
"Can't you tell me what's going on?" he shouted.
|
||||
"I can't possibly explain this to you, Dr. Sha.
|
||||
Trust me."
|
||||
Wang pushed away the pile of papers filled with waveforms.
|
||||
As he stared at the sequence of numbers, he said, "Maybe the three satellites and the observatory are all malfunctioning."
|
||||
"You know that's impossible!"
|
||||
"What if it's sabotage?"
|
||||
"Also impossible!
|
||||
To simultaneously alter the data from three satellites and an observatory on Earth?
|
||||
You're talking about a supernatural saboteur."
|
||||
Wang nodded.
|
||||
Compared to the idea of the universe flickering, he would prefer a supernatural saboteur.
|
||||
But Sha then deprived him of this last glimmer of hope.
|
||||
"It's easy to confirm this.
|
||||
If the cosmic microwave background is fluctuating this much, we should be able to see it with our own eyes."
|
||||
"What are you talking about?
|
||||
The wavelength of the cosmic microwave background is seven centimeters.
|
||||
That's five orders of magnitude longer than the wavelength of visible light.
|
||||
How can we possibly see it?"
|
||||
"Using 3K glasses."
|
||||
"Three-K glasses?"
|
||||
"It's a sort of science toy we made for the Capital Planetarium.
|
||||
With our current level of technology, we could take the six-meter horn antenna used by Penzias and Wilson almost half a century ago to discover the cosmic microwave background and miniaturize it to the size of a pair of glasses.
|
||||
Then we added a converter in the glasses to compress the detected radiation by five orders of magnitude so that seven-centimeter waves are turned into visible red light.
|
||||
This way, visitors can put on the glasses at night and observe the cosmic microwave background on their own.
|
||||
And now, we can use it to see the universe flicker."
|
||||
"Where can I find these glasses?"
|
||||
"At the Capital Planetarium.
|
||||
We made more than twenty pairs."
|
||||
"I must get my hands on a pair before five."
|
||||
Sha picked up the phone.
|
||||
The other side picked up only after a long while.
|
||||
Sha had to expend a lot of energy to convince the person awakened in the middle of the night to go to the planetarium and wait for Wang's arrival in an hour.
|
||||
As Wang left, Sha said, "I won't go with you.
|
||||
What I've seen is enough, and I don't need any more confirmation.
|
||||
But I hope that you will explain the truth to me when you feel the time is right.
|
||||
If this phenomenon should lead to some research result, I won't forget you."
|
||||
Wang opened the car door and said, "The flickering will stop at five in the morning.
|
||||
I'd suggest you not pursue it after this.
|
||||
Believe me, you won't get anywhere."
|
||||
Sha stared at Wang for a long time and then nodded.
|
||||
"I understand.
|
||||
Strange things have been happening to scientists lately...."
|
||||
"Yes."
|
||||
Wang ducked into the car.
|
||||
He didn't want to discuss the subject any further.
|
||||
"Is it our turn?"
|
||||
"It's my turn, at least."
|
||||
Wang started the engine.
|
||||
An hour later, Wang arrived at the new planetarium and got out of the car.
|
||||
The bright lights of the city penetrated the translucent walls of the immense glass building and dimly revealed its internal structure.
|
||||
Wang thought that if the architect had intended to express a feeling about the universe, the design was a success:
|
||||
The more transparent something was, the more mysterious it seemed.
|
||||
The universe itself was transparent; as long as you were sufficiently sharp-eyed, you could see as far as you liked.
|
||||
But the farther you looked, the more mysterious it became.
|
||||
The sleepy-eyed planetarium staffer was waiting by the door for Wang.
|
||||
He handed him a small suitcase and said, "There are five pairs of 3K glasses in here, all fully charged.
|
||||
The left button switches it on.
|
||||
The right dial is for adjusting brightness.
|
||||
I have a dozen more pairs upstairs.
|
||||
You can look as much as you like, but I'm going to take a nap now in the room over there.
|
||||
This Dr. Sha must be mental."
|
||||
He went into the dim interior of the planetarium.
|
||||
Wang opened the suitcase on the backseat of his car and took out a pair of 3K glasses.
|
||||
It resembled the display inside the panoramic viewing helmet of the V-suit.
|
||||
He put the glasses on and looked around.
|
||||
The city looked the same as before, only dimmer.
|
||||
Then he remembered that he had to switch them on.
|
||||
The city turned into many hazy glowing halos.
|
||||
Most were fixed, but a few flickered or moved.
|
||||
He realized that these were sources of radiation in the centimeter range, all now converted to visible light.
|
||||
At the heart of each halo was a radiation source.
|
||||
Because the original wavelengths were so long, it was impossible to see their shapes clearly.
|
||||
He lifted his head and saw a sky glowing with a faint red light.
|
||||
Just like that, he was seeing the cosmic microwave background.
|
||||
The red light had come from more than ten billion years ago.
|
||||
It was the remnants of the big bang, the still-warm embers of Creation.
|
||||
He could not see any stars.
|
||||
Normally, since visible light would be compressed to invisible by the glasses, each star should appear as a black dot.
|
||||
But the diffraction of centimeter-wave radiation overwhelmed all other shapes and details.
|
||||
Once his eyes had grown used to the sight, Wang could see that the faint red background was indeed pulsing.
|
||||
The entire sky flickered, as if the universe was but a quivering lamp in the wind.
|
||||
Standing under the flashing dome of the night sky, Wang suddenly felt the universe shrink until it was so small that only he was imprisoned in it.
|
||||
The universe was a cramped heart, and the red light that suffused everything was the translucent blood that filled the organ.
|
||||
Suspended in the blood, he saw that the flickering of the red light was not periodic—the pulsing was irregular.
|
||||
He felt a strange, perverse, immense presence that could never be understood by human intellect.
|
||||
Wang took off the 3K glasses and sat down weakly on the ground, leaning against the wheel of his car.
|
||||
The city at night gradually recovered the reality of visible light.
|
||||
But his eyes roamed, trying to capture other sights.
|
||||
By the entrance of the zoo across the street, there was a row of neon lights.
|
||||
One of the lights was about to burn out and flickered irregularly.
|
||||
Nearby, a small tree's leaves trembled in the night breeze, twinkling without pattern as they reflected streetlight.
|
||||
In the distance, the red star atop the Beijing Exhibition Center's Russian-style spire reflected the light from the cars passing below, also twinkling randomly....
|
||||
Wang tried to interpret the flickers as Morse code.
|
||||
He even felt that the wrinkles in the flags flapping next to him and the ripples in the puddle on the side of the road might be sending him messages.
|
||||
He struggled to understand all the messages, and felt the passing of the countdown, second by second.
|
||||
He didn't know how long he stayed there.
|
||||
The planetarium staffer finally emerged and asked him whether he was done.
|
||||
But when he saw Wang's face, sleep disappeared from the staffer's eyes and was replaced by fear.
|
||||
He packed up the 3K glasses, stared at Wang for a few seconds, and quickly left with the suitcase.
|
||||
Wang took out his mobile and dialed Shen Yufei's number.
|
||||
She picked up right away.
|
||||
Perhaps she was also suffering from insomnia.
|
||||
"What happens at the end of the countdown?" Wang asked.
|
||||
"I don't know."
|
||||
She hung up.
|
||||
What can it be?
|
||||
Maybe my own death, like Yang Dong's.
|
||||
Or maybe it will be a disaster like the great tsunami that swept through the Indian Ocean more than a decade ago.
|
||||
No one will connect it to my nanotech research.
|
||||
Could it be that every previous great disaster, including the two World Wars, was also the result of reaching the end of ghostly countdowns?
|
||||
Could it be that every time there was someone like me, who no one thought of, who bore the ultimate responsibility?
|
||||
Or maybe it signals the end of the whole world.
|
||||
In this perverse world, that would be a relief.
|
||||
One thing was certain.
|
||||
No matter what was at the end of the countdown, in the remaining one thousand or so hours, the possibilities would torture him cruelly, like demons, until he suffered a complete mental breakdown.
|
||||
Wang ducked back into the car and left the planetarium.
|
||||
Just before dawn, the roads were relatively empty.
|
||||
But he didn't dare to drive too fast, feeling that the faster the car moved, the faster the countdown would go.
|
||||
When a glimmer of light appeared in the eastern sky, he parked and walked around aimlessly.
|
||||
His mind was empty of thoughts: Only the countdown pulsed against the dim red background of cosmic radiation.
|
||||
He seemed to have turned into nothing but a simple timer, a bell that tolled for he knew not whom.
|
||||
The sky brightened.
|
||||
He was tired, so he sat down on a bench.
|
||||
When he lifted his head to see where his subconscious had brought him, he shivered.
|
||||
He sat in front of St. Joseph's Church at Wangfujing.
|
||||
In the pale white light of dawn, the church's Romanesque vaults appeared as three giant fingers pointing out something in space for him.
|
||||
As Wang got up to leave, he was held back by a snippet of hymnal music.
|
||||
It wasn't Sunday, so it was likely a choir rehearsal.
|
||||
The song was "Come, Gracious Spirit, Heavenly Dove."
|
||||
As he listened to the solemn, sacred music, Wang Miao once again felt that the universe had shrunk until it was the size of an empty church.
|
||||
The domed ceiling was hidden by the flashing red light of the background radiation, and he was an ant crawling through the cracks in the floor.
|
||||
He felt a giant, invisible hand caressing his trembling heart, and he was once again a helpless babe.
|
||||
Something deep in his mind that had once held him up softened like wax and collapsed.
|
||||
He covered his eyes and began to cry.
|
||||
Wang's cries were interrupted by laughter.
|
||||
"Hahaha, another one bites the dust!"
|
||||
He turned around.
|
||||
Captain Shi Qiang stood there, blowing out a mouthful of white smoke.
|
||||
272
data/mac/dev/en/006.tok
Normal file
272
data/mac/dev/en/006.tok
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,272 @@
|
||||
wang miao drive along jingmi road until he be in miyun county .
|
||||
from there he head to heilongtan , climb up the mountain along a wind road , and arrive at the radio astronomy observatory of the chinese academy of sciences ' national astronomical center .
|
||||
he see a line of twenty-eight parabolic antenna dish , each with a diameter of nine meter , like a row of spectacular steel plant .
|
||||
at the end be two tall radio telescope with dish fifty meter in diameter , build in 2006 .
|
||||
as he drive closer , wang could not help but think of the background in the picture of ye and she daughter .
|
||||
but the work of sha ruishan , ye 's student , have nothing to do with these radio telescope .
|
||||
dr. sha 's lab be mainly responsible for receive the datum transmit from three satellite : the cosmic background explorer , cobe , launch in november of 1989 and about to be retire ; the wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe , wmap , launch in 2003 ; and planck , the space observatory launch by the european space agency in 2009 .
|
||||
cosmic microwave background radiation very precisely match the thermal black body spectrum at a temperature of 2.7255 k and be highly isotropic — meaning nearly uniform in every direction — with only tiny temperature fluctuation at the part per million range .
|
||||
sha ruishan 's job be to create a more detailed map of the cosmic microwave background use observational datum .
|
||||
the lab be not very big .
|
||||
equipment for receive satellite datum be squeeze into the main computer room , and three terminal display the information send by the three satellite .
|
||||
sha be excite to see wang .
|
||||
clearly bore with he long isolation and happy to have a visitor , he ask wang what kind of datum he want to see .
|
||||
" i want to see the overall fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background . "
|
||||
" can you ... be more specific ? "
|
||||
" what i mean be ...
|
||||
i want to see the isotropic fluctuation in the overall cosmic microwave background , between one and five percent , " he say , quote from shen 's email .
|
||||
sha grin .
|
||||
start at the turn of the century , the miyun radio astronomy observatory have open itself to visitor .
|
||||
in order to earn some extra income , sha often play the role of tour guide or give lecture .
|
||||
this be the grin he reserve for tourist , as he have grow use to they astounding scientific illiteracy .
|
||||
" mr. wang , i take it you be not a specialist in the field ? "
|
||||
" i work in nanotech . "
|
||||
" ah , make sense .
|
||||
but you must have some basic understanding of the cosmic microwave background ? "
|
||||
" i do not know much .
|
||||
i know that as the universe cool after the big bang , the leftover 'em ber ' become the cosmic microwave background .
|
||||
the radiation fill the entire universe and can be observe in the centimeter wavelength range .
|
||||
i think it be back in the sixty when two americans accidentally discover the radiation when they be test a supersensitive satellite reception antenna — "
|
||||
" that be more than enough , " sha interrupted , wave he hand .
|
||||
" then you must know that unlike the local variation we observe in different part of the universe , the overall fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background be correlate with the expansion of the universe .
|
||||
it be a very slow change measure at the scale of the age of the universe .
|
||||
even with the sensitivity of the planck satellite , continuous observation for a million year might not detect any such shift .
|
||||
but you want to see a five percent fluctuation tonight ?
|
||||
do you realize what that would mean ?
|
||||
the universe would flicker like a fluorescent tube that be about to burn out ! "
|
||||
and it will be flicker for i , wang think .
|
||||
" this must be some joke from professor ye , " sha say .
|
||||
" nothing would please i more than to discover that it be a joke , " wang say .
|
||||
he be about to tell sha that ye do not know the detail of he request , but he be afraid that sha would then refuse to help he .
|
||||
" well , since professor ye ask i to help you , let 's do the observation .
|
||||
it be not a big deal .
|
||||
if you just need one percent precision , datum from the antique cobe be sufficient . "
|
||||
as he speak , sha type quickly at the terminal .
|
||||
soon a flat green line appear on the screen .
|
||||
" this curve be the real-time measurement of the overall cosmic microwave background — oh , call it a straight line would be more accurate .
|
||||
the temperature be 2.725 ± 0.002 k.
|
||||
the error range be due to the doppler effect from the motion of the milky way , which have already be filter out .
|
||||
if the kind of fluctuation you anticipate — in excess of one percent — occur , this line would turn red and become a waveform .
|
||||
i would bet that it be go to stay a flat green line until the end of the world , though .
|
||||
if you want to see it show the kind of fluctuation observable by the naked eye , you might have to wait until long after the death of the sun . "
|
||||
" i be not interfere in you work , be i ? "
|
||||
" no. .
|
||||
since you need such low precision , we can just use some basic datum from cobe .
|
||||
okay , it be all set .
|
||||
from now on , if such great fluctuation occur , the datum will be automatically save to disk . "
|
||||
" i think it might happen around one o'clock a.m. "
|
||||
" wow , so precise !
|
||||
no problem , since i be work the night shift , anyway .
|
||||
have you have dinner yet ?
|
||||
good , then i 'll take you on a tour . "
|
||||
the night be moonless .
|
||||
they walk along the row of antenna dish , and sha point to they .
|
||||
" breathtaking , be not they ?
|
||||
it be too bad that they be all like the ear of a deaf man . "
|
||||
" why ? "
|
||||
" ever since construction be complete , interference have be unceasing in the observational band .
|
||||
first , there be the paging station during the eighty .
|
||||
now , it be the scramble to develop mobile communication network and cell tower .
|
||||
these telescope be capable of many scientific task — survey the sky , detect variable radio source , observe the remains of supernova — but we can not perform most of they .
|
||||
we have complain to the state regulatory radio commission many time , never with any result .
|
||||
how can we get more attention than china mobile , china unicom , china netcom ?
|
||||
without money , the secret of the universe be worth shit .
|
||||
at least my project only depend on satellite datum and have nothing to do with these ' tourist attraction . ' "
|
||||
" in recent year , commercial operation of basic research have be fairly successful , like in high-energy physics .
|
||||
maybe it would be better if the observatory be build in place farther away from city ? "
|
||||
" it all come down to money .
|
||||
right now , we only choice be to find technical means to shield against interference .
|
||||
well , it would be much better if professor ye be here .
|
||||
she accomplish a lot in this field . "
|
||||
so the topic of conversation turn to ye wenjie .
|
||||
and from she student , wang finally learn about she life .
|
||||
he listen as sha tell of how she witness the death of she father during the cultural revolution , how she be falsely accuse at the production and construction corps , how she then seem to disappear until she return to beijing at the beginning of the ninety , when she begin teach astrophysics at tsinghua , where she father have also teach , until she retirement .
|
||||
" it be only recently reveal that she have spend more than twenty year at red coast base . "
|
||||
wang be stunned .
|
||||
" you mean , those rumor — "
|
||||
" most turn out to be true .
|
||||
one of the researcher who develop the decipher system for the red coast project emigrate to europe and write a book last year .
|
||||
most of the rumor you hear come out of that book .
|
||||
many who participate in red coast be still alive . "
|
||||
" that be ... a fantastical legend . "
|
||||
" especially for it to happen during those year — absolutely incredible . "
|
||||
they continue to speak for a while .
|
||||
sha ask the purpose behind wang 's strange request .
|
||||
wang avoid give a straight answer , and sha do not press .
|
||||
the dignity of a specialist do not allow sha to express too much interest in a request that clearly go against he professional knowledge .
|
||||
then they go to a all-night bar for tourist and sit for two hour .
|
||||
as sha finish one beer after another , he tongue loosen even more .
|
||||
but wang become anxious , and he mind keep return to that green line on the terminal in sha 's office .
|
||||
it be only at ten to one in the morning that sha finally give in to wang 's repeat plea to go back to the lab .
|
||||
the spotlight that have light up the row of radio antenna have be turn off , and the antenna now form a simple two-dimensional picture against the night sky like a series of abstract symbol .
|
||||
all of they gaze up at the sky at the same angle , as though wait expectantly for something .
|
||||
the scene make wang shudder despite the warmth of the spring evening .
|
||||
he be remind of the giant pendulum in three body .
|
||||
they arrive back at the lab at one .
|
||||
as they look at the terminal , the fluctuation be just get start .
|
||||
the flat line turn into a wave , the distance between one peak and the next inconstant .
|
||||
the line 's color become red , like a snake awakening after hibernation , wriggle as its skin refill with blood .
|
||||
" it must be a malfunction in cobe ! "
|
||||
sha stare at the waveform , terrify .
|
||||
" it be not a malfunction . "
|
||||
wang 's tone be exceedingly calm .
|
||||
he have learn to control himself when face with such sight .
|
||||
" we 'll know soon enough , " sha say .
|
||||
he go to the other two terminal and type rapidly to bring up the datum gather by the other two satellite , wmap and planck .
|
||||
now three waveform move in sync across the three terminal , exactly alike .
|
||||
sha take out a notebook computer and rush to turn it on .
|
||||
he plug in a network cable and pick up the phone .
|
||||
wang could tell from the one-sided conversation that he be try to get in touch with the Ürümqi radio astronomy observatory .
|
||||
he do not explain to wang what he be do , he eye lock onto the browser window on the notebook .
|
||||
wang could hear he rapid breathing .
|
||||
a few minute later , a red waveform appear in the browser window , move in step with the other three .
|
||||
the three satellite and the ground-based observatory confirm one fact : the universe be flicker .
|
||||
" can you print out the waveform ? " wang ask .
|
||||
sha wipe away the cold sweat on he forehead and nod .
|
||||
he move he mouse and click " print . "
|
||||
wang grab the first page as soon as it come out of the laser printer , and , with a pencil , begin to match the distance between the peak with the morse code chart he take out of he pocket .
|
||||
short-long-long-long-long , short-long-long-long-long , long-long-long-long-long , long-long-long-short-short , long-long-long-short-short-short , short-short-long-long-long , short-long-long-long-long , long-long-long-short-short-short , short-short-short-long-long , long-long-short-short-short .
|
||||
that be 1108:21:37 , wang think .
|
||||
short-long-long-long-long , short-long-long-long-long , long-long-long-long-long , long-long-long-short-short , long-long-long-short-short-short , short-short-long-long-long , short-long-long-long-long , long-long-long-short-short-short , short-short-short-long-long , long-short-short-short-short — that be 1108:21:36 .
|
||||
the countdown continue at the scale of the universe .
|
||||
ninety-two hour have already elapse , and only 1,108 hour remain .
|
||||
sha pace back and forth anxiously , pause from time to time to look at the sequence of number wang be write down .
|
||||
" can not you tell i what be go on ? " he shout .
|
||||
" i can not possibly explain this to you , dr. sha .
|
||||
trust i . "
|
||||
wang push away the pile of papers fill with waveform .
|
||||
as he stare at the sequence of number , he say , " maybe the three satellite and the observatory be all malfunction . "
|
||||
" you know that be impossible ! "
|
||||
" what if it be sabotage ? "
|
||||
" also impossible !
|
||||
to simultaneously alter the datum from three satellite and a observatory on earth ?
|
||||
you be talk about a supernatural saboteur . "
|
||||
wang nod .
|
||||
compare to the idea of the universe flickering , he would prefer a supernatural saboteur .
|
||||
but sha then deprive he of this last glimmer of hope .
|
||||
" it be easy to confirm this .
|
||||
if the cosmic microwave background be fluctuate this much , we should be able to see it with we own eye . "
|
||||
" what be you talk about ?
|
||||
the wavelength of the cosmic microwave background be seven centimeter .
|
||||
that be five order of magnitude longer than the wavelength of visible light .
|
||||
how can we possibly see it ? "
|
||||
" use 3k glass . "
|
||||
" three-k glass ? "
|
||||
" it be a sort of science toy we make for the capital planetarium .
|
||||
with we current level of technology , we could take the six-meter horn antenna use by penzias and wilson almost half a century ago to discover the cosmic microwave background and miniaturize it to the size of a pair of glass .
|
||||
then we add a converter in the glass to compress the detect radiation by five order of magnitude so that seven-centimeter wave be turn into visible red light .
|
||||
this way , visitor can put on the glass at night and observe the cosmic microwave background on they own .
|
||||
and now , we can use it to see the universe flicker . "
|
||||
" where can i find these glass ? "
|
||||
" at the capital planetarium .
|
||||
we make more than twenty pair . "
|
||||
" i must get my hand on a pair before five . "
|
||||
sha pick up the phone .
|
||||
the other side pick up only after a long while .
|
||||
sha have to expend a lot of energy to convince the person awaken in the middle of the night to go to the planetarium and wait for wang 's arrival in a hour .
|
||||
as wang leave , sha say , " i will not go with you .
|
||||
what i have see be enough , and i do not need any more confirmation .
|
||||
but i hope that you will explain the truth to i when you feel the time be right .
|
||||
if this phenomenon should lead to some research result , i will not forget you . "
|
||||
wang open the car door and say , " the flickering will stop at five in the morning .
|
||||
i would suggest you not pursue it after this .
|
||||
believe i , you will not get anywhere . "
|
||||
sha stare at wang for a long time and then nod .
|
||||
" i understand .
|
||||
strange thing have be happen to scientist lately .... "
|
||||
" yes . "
|
||||
wang duck into the car .
|
||||
he do not want to discuss the subject any further .
|
||||
" be it we turn ? "
|
||||
" it be my turn , at least . "
|
||||
wang start the engine .
|
||||
a hour later , wang arrive at the new planetarium and get out of the car .
|
||||
the bright light of the city penetrate the translucent wall of the immense glass building and dimly reveal its internal structure .
|
||||
wang think that if the architect have intend to express a feeling about the universe , the design be a success :
|
||||
the more transparent something be , the more mysterious it seem .
|
||||
the universe itself be transparent ; as long as you be sufficiently sharp-eyed , you could see as far as you like .
|
||||
but the farther you look , the more mysterious it become .
|
||||
the sleepy-eyed planetarium staffer be wait by the door for wang .
|
||||
he hand he a small suitcase and say , " there be five pair of 3k glass in here , all fully charge .
|
||||
the left button switch it on .
|
||||
the right dial be for adjust brightness .
|
||||
i have a dozen more pair upstairs .
|
||||
you can look as much as you like , but i be go to take a nap now in the room over there .
|
||||
this dr. sha must be mental . "
|
||||
he go into the dim interior of the planetarium .
|
||||
wang open the suitcase on the backseat of he car and take out a pair of 3k glass .
|
||||
it resemble the display inside the panoramic view helmet of the v-suit .
|
||||
he put the glass on and look around .
|
||||
the city look the same as before , only dimmer .
|
||||
then he remember that he have to switch they on .
|
||||
the city turn into many hazy glowing halo .
|
||||
most be fix , but a few flicker or move .
|
||||
he realize that these be source of radiation in the centimeter range , all now convert to visible light .
|
||||
at the heart of each halo be a radiation source .
|
||||
because the original wavelength be so long , it be impossible to see they shape clearly .
|
||||
he lift he head and see a sky glowing with a faint red light .
|
||||
just like that , he be see the cosmic microwave background .
|
||||
the red light have come from more than ten billion year ago .
|
||||
it be the remnant of the big bang , the still-warm ember of creation .
|
||||
he could not see any star .
|
||||
normally , since visible light would be compress to invisible by the glass , each star should appear as a black dot .
|
||||
but the diffraction of centimeter-wave radiation overwhelm all other shape and detail .
|
||||
once he eye have grow use to the sight , wang could see that the faint red background be indeed pulsing .
|
||||
the entire sky flicker , as if the universe be but a quiver lamp in the wind .
|
||||
stand under the flash dome of the night sky , wang suddenly feel the universe shrink until it be so small that only he be imprison in it .
|
||||
the universe be a cramped heart , and the red light that suffuse everything be the translucent blood that fill the organ .
|
||||
suspend in the blood , he see that the flickering of the red light be not periodic — the pulse be irregular .
|
||||
he feel a strange , perverse , immense presence that could never be understand by human intellect .
|
||||
wang take off the 3k glass and sit down weakly on the ground , lean against the wheel of he car .
|
||||
the city at night gradually recover the reality of visible light .
|
||||
but he eye roam , try to capture other sight .
|
||||
by the entrance of the zoo across the street , there be a row of neon light .
|
||||
one of the light be about to burn out and flicker irregularly .
|
||||
nearby , a small tree 's leaf tremble in the night breeze , twinkle without pattern as they reflect streetlight .
|
||||
in the distance , the red star atop the beijing exhibition center 's russian-style spire reflect the light from the car pass below , also twinkle randomly ....
|
||||
wang try to interpret the flicker as morse code .
|
||||
he even feel that the wrinkle in the flag flap next to he and the ripple in the puddle on the side of the road might be send he message .
|
||||
he struggle to understand all the message , and feel the passing of the countdown , second by second .
|
||||
he do not know how long he stay there .
|
||||
the planetarium staffer finally emerge and ask he whether he be do .
|
||||
but when he see wang 's face , sleep disappear from the staffer 's eye and be replace by fear .
|
||||
he pack up the 3k glass , stare at wang for a few seconds , and quickly leave with the suitcase .
|
||||
wang take out he mobile and dial shen yufei 's number .
|
||||
she pick up right away .
|
||||
perhaps she be also suffer from insomnia .
|
||||
" what happen at the end of the countdown ? " wang ask .
|
||||
" i do not know . "
|
||||
she hang up .
|
||||
what can it be ?
|
||||
maybe my own death , like yang dong 's .
|
||||
or maybe it will be a disaster like the great tsunami that sweep through the indian ocean more than a decade ago .
|
||||
no one will connect it to my nanotech research .
|
||||
could it be that every previous great disaster , include the two world war , be also the result of reach the end of ghostly countdown ?
|
||||
could it be that every time there be someone like i , who no one thought of , who bear the ultimate responsibility ?
|
||||
or maybe it signal the end of the whole world .
|
||||
in this perverse world , that would be a relief .
|
||||
one thing be certain .
|
||||
no matter what be at the end of the countdown , in the remain one thousand or so hour , the possibility would torture he cruelly , like demon , until he suffer a complete mental breakdown .
|
||||
wang duck back into the car and leave the planetarium .
|
||||
just before dawn , the road be relatively empty .
|
||||
but he do not dare to drive too fast , feeling that the faster the car move , the faster the countdown would go .
|
||||
when a glimmer of light appear in the eastern sky , he park and walk around aimlessly .
|
||||
he mind be empty of thought : only the countdown pulsed against the dim red background of cosmic radiation .
|
||||
he seem to have turn into nothing but a simple timer , a bell that toll for he know not whom .
|
||||
the sky brighten .
|
||||
he be tired , so he sit down on a bench .
|
||||
when he lift he head to see where he subconscious have bring he , he shiver .
|
||||
he sit in front of st. joseph 's church at wangfujing .
|
||||
in the pale white light of dawn , the church 's romanesque vault appear as three giant finger point out something in space for he .
|
||||
as wang get up to leave , he be hold back by a snippet of hymnal music .
|
||||
it be not sunday , so it be likely a choir rehearsal .
|
||||
the song be " come , gracious spirit , heavenly dove . "
|
||||
as he listen to the solemn , sacred music , wang miao once again feel that the universe have shrink until it be the size of a empty church .
|
||||
the domed ceiling be hide by the flash red light of the background radiation , and he be a ant crawl through the crack in the floor .
|
||||
he feel a giant , invisible hand caress he tremble heart , and he be once again a helpless babe .
|
||||
something deep in he mind that have once hold he up soften like wax and collapse .
|
||||
he cover he eye and begin to cry .
|
||||
wang 's cry be interrupt by laughter .
|
||||
" hahaha , another one bite the dust ! "
|
||||
he turn around .
|
||||
captain shi qiang stand there , blow out a mouthful of white smoke .
|
||||
15436
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15436
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data/mac/dev/en/overlap.emb
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user