Old things in the south

Chapter 29

If I like everything in Peking, that’s not the case.In this cold winter weather, I couldn't help but think of a person who entered my memory very early, because this kind of person didn't come across by chance, but has existed for a long time, that is, some beggars in Peking.

Memories should be beautiful things, beggars are disappointing, but after all, they are characters that I often see in my life, and because of those characters, they have given me some ideas.

I remember a Western novel that described a poor child who came out to beg because his mother was sick and couldn’t work. When he told the story to passers-by, the passers-by didn’t believe him, so he took people to his house to have a look. When passers-by saw that the mother was sick in bed, they generously donated money.Since then, the child's mother has been "making the truth into a fake", pretending to be sick in bed every day, and asking the child to go on the road and bring someone back to "visit".This is a story about defrauding human sympathy with children and illnesses.This kind of thing can happen at any time and anywhere. For example, on the streets of Taipei, women teach children to pester passers-by to buy lottery tickets, which is a similar style.These remind me of a kind of beggar in Peking called "Selling Donger".

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the weather was so cold that splashing water turned into ice, "sell jelly" (all male beggars) were born, with disheveled hair, muddy face, two bare legs, tied at the knees, The last circle of drama newspapers.The same is true for the body, bare back, wrapped in a layer of newspaper paper, and covered with one or two broken sacks.Then, shrinking his neck, trembling, his teeth chattering, he stretched out his hand to beg for everyone.To win people's sympathy and charity by being cold and naked.However, in my memory, I have been afraid of seeing that since I was a child, not only did not arouse my sympathy, but I hated it.This kind of beggar is called "selling Dong'er".

What I hate the most is Mother Song. If Aimi refuses to wear more clothes, she will mock me:
"What are you doing? Selling jelly? Go without clothes!"

"Selling Donger" has become a common joke in Peking because of a type of beggar.

The theater newspapers wrapped around Donger’s body were all taken off public billboards. The theater newspapers in various theaters were usually written in red and green ink on white paper, and one was pasted every day. These days, it's quite thick, and when you take it off and wrap it around your legs, it's said that it also has the effect of heat preservation.

As for beggars who dust people with a rag duster for a while, they are called "sand grandchildren"; But it also belongs to Chen Guzi and Rotten Sesame. It would be disappointing to talk too much, so let's not recall them!

(End of this chapter)