The Complete Works of Lu Xun's Novels

Chapter 14

I don't fish for shrimps on this day, and I don't eat much.Mother was very embarrassed and had no way to think about it.At dinner time, my grandmother finally noticed it too, and said that I should be upset, they were too negligent, and it was never in the etiquette of hospitality.After eating, the teenagers who had seen the play also gathered together, happily speaking about the play.Only I did not speak; they all sighed and expressed sympathy.Suddenly, one of the smartest Shuangxi, as if enlightened, suggested, "Big ship? Isn't Eighth Uncle's ship has come back?" A dozen other teenagers also got enlightened, and immediately got up, saying that they could sit on this ship with me. go together.I am happy.However, the grandmother was afraid that she was a child and unreliable; the mother also said that if adults were asked to go with them, they would all have jobs during the day, and it would be unreasonable to ask him to stay up late.While hesitating, Shuangxi saw the truth again, and said loudly again, "I guarantee it! The boat is big; Brother Xun never runs around; we are all water-savvy!"

True!Among the dozen or so teenagers, none of them knew how to swim, and two or three were good at swimming.

Grandmother and mother believed it too, so they stopped denying it and smiled.We immediately coaxed out the door.

My heavy heart suddenly relaxed, and my body seemed to stretch to an indescribable size.As soon as I went out, I saw a white-covered sailing boat moored in Pingqiao under the moonlight. Everyone jumped out of the boat, Shuangxi pulled out the front pole, Ah Fa pulled out the back pole, the younger ones sat with me in the cabin, the older ones Gather at the stern.When my mother sent it out and ordered "be careful", we had already started the boat, knocked on the bridge stone, stepped back a few feet, and stepped forward to get out of the bridge.So we set up two sculls, one for two people, changing one mile and one scull, some talking, some shouting, and the sound of the gurgling bow of the boat, flying in the river with green bean and wheat fields on the left and right. General radial Zhao Zhuang forward.

The fragrance from the beans and wheat on both sides of the river and the aquatic plants at the bottom of the river is mixed in the water vapor and blows towards the face; the moonlight is dim in the water vapor.The pale black undulating mountains, like leaping iron spines, ran far to the stern, but I still thought the boat was slow.They changed hands four times, and gradually saw Zhaozhuang vaguely, and seemed to hear a song blowing, and there was still some fire, which was supposed to be a stage, but maybe it was a fishing fire.

That sound was probably a fife, with a gentle and melodious sound, which calmed my heart, but I felt lost again, and felt that I wanted to be diffused with him in the night air containing the fragrance of beans, wheat, and algae.

The fire was approaching, and it turned out to be a fishing fire; I just remembered that it wasn't Zhaozhuang that I saw earlier.It was a clump of pines and pine forests facing the bow. I also visited last year and saw a broken stone horse lying on the ground and a stone sheep squatting in the grass.After passing the forest, the boat bends into Chagang, so Zhaozhuang is really in sight.

The most eye-catching thing is a stage standing on the open space facing the river outside the village. In the moonlit night in the distance, it is almost indistinguishable from the space. I suspect that the fairyland I have seen in the painting appears here.At this moment, the boat moved faster, and after a while, characters appeared on the stage, moving red and green, and in the river near the stage, there were dark boat canopies of people watching the theater.

"There isn't much space near the stage, let's take a look from afar," Ah Fa said.

At this time the boat was slow, and it would arrive soon, but it was not close to the stage, so everyone had to get off the pole, which was farther than the shed facing the stage.In fact, our white-covered ship would not want to be with a black-covered ship, let alone there is no open space...

In the rush to stop the boat, I saw a black bearded man with four flags on his back holding a long gun on the stage, fighting with a group of shirtless people.Shuangxi said that it was the well-known iron-headed old man who could turn 84 somersaults in a row, and he had personally counted them in the past.

We all huddled on the bow of the boat to watch the battle, but the iron-headed old man didn't turn somersaults, only a few shirtless people turned over. After turning over for a while, they all went in, and then a little girl came out, babbling. Sing.Shuangxi said, "There are few spectators at night, and the hard-headed old men are also slack. Who will show their talents to Baidi?" At night, I went to bed early, and there were only dozens of idlers from this village and neighboring villages standing there.The family members of the local rich men in the black-covered boats are there, but they don't care about watching the theater, and most of them come to the stage to eat cakes, fruits and melon seeds.So it can be regarded as white ground.

However, I don't mean to care about somersaults.What I would most like to see is a snake spirit covered with a white cloth, holding a rod-like snake head on its head with both hands, followed by a tiger wearing a yellow cloth.But after waiting for a long time, I didn't see him. Although Xiaodan went in, a very old Xiaosheng came out immediately.I'm a little tired, so I asked Guisheng to buy soy milk.He went away for a while, then came back and said, "No. The deaf man who sells soy milk has gone back too. There are some in the daytime, and I drank two bowls. Now go get a ladle of water for you to drink."

I didn't drink water, and continued to watch, but I couldn't tell what I saw. I just felt that the actor's face was gradually becoming a little strange, and the facial features were becoming less obvious, as if they were integrated into one piece, and there was no difference between high and low.The younger ones yawned a lot, and the older ones kept talking to themselves.Suddenly a clown in a red shirt was tied to a pillar and was whipped by a man with a gray beard, and everyone cheered up and watched with a smile.For the night, I thought it was really the best deal.

However, Lao Dan finally came out.Lao Dan was the thing I was most afraid of, especially if he sat down and sang.At this time, seeing that everyone was disappointed, I realized that their opinions were in line with mine.That old dan was just walking up and down singing at first, but then she sat down on a high chair in the middle.I was very worried, but Shuangxi and the others began to curse.I waited patiently. After a long time, I saw the old dancer raised his hand. I thought he was about to stand up, but unexpectedly he put it down slowly and continued to sing.Several people in the boat couldn't help panting, and the rest also yawned.Finally Shuangxi couldn't stand it any longer and said, "I'm afraid he might not finish singing until dawn, so it's better for us to go."Everyone immediately agreed, and they were as enthusiastic as they were when the boat was sailing. Three or four people rushed to the stern of the boat, pulled out the poles, retreated a few feet, turned the bow of the boat, took up the scull, cursed at Lao Dan, and headed towards the pine forest.

The moon hadn't set yet, as if it hadn't been a long time since watching a play, and once they left Zhaozhuang, the moonlight looked extraordinarily bright and clear.Looking back at the stage in the light of lights, it looks like it has not yet arrived, and it is as ethereal as a fairy mountain pavilion, covered with red clouds.The fife was blowing to my ears again, very melodious; I suspected that Lao Dan had already gone in, but I was too embarrassed to say go back and watch.

Not long after, the pines and bolins were already behind the boat, and the boat was not slow, but the surrounding darkness was only thick, so it was already late at night.They were talking about actors, scolding, laughing, and they were rocking the boat hard.This time the sound of the rushing water at the bow was even louder. The boat was like a big white fish jumping in the waves with a group of children on its back. Several old fishermen who had been fishing overnight also stopped their boats to watch and applaud.

It was about a mile away from Pingqiao Village, but the boat was slow, and the boatmen said they were tired because they were working too hard, and they had nothing to eat for a long time.This time I came up with Guisheng, who said Luo Handou ① was in full bloom, and the firewood was ready, so we could steal some to cook.Everyone agreed, and immediately stopped the boat near the shore; in the fields on the shore, there were firm Luo Handou.

"Ah, Ah Fa, this side belongs to your family, and this side belongs to Lao Liu's family, which side should we steal?" Shuangxi jumped down first, and said on the shore.

We all jumped ashore too.While jumping, Ah Fa said, "Wait a minute, let me take a look." Then he touched it back and forth, straightened up and said, "Steal ours, ours is much bigger." He agreed. , everyone dispersed in the bean field of Ah Fa's house, each picked a large handful, and threw them into the cabin.Shuangxi thought that no matter how much they stole, Ah Fa's mother would cry if she found out, so they each went to Father Liuyi's field and stole another big handful.

Some of the older ones among us were still slowly rocking the boat, some went to the back cabin to light the fire, and the younger ones and I peeled beans.Soon the beans were ripe, and even though the boat was floating on the water, they gathered around and ate them with their hands.After eating the beans, they sailed again and washed the utensils. The pods and shells were all thrown into the river, leaving no traces.Shuangxi was worried about using the salt and firewood on Eighth Granduncle's boat. The old man was very careful, he must know, and he would scold him.However, after everyone discussed it, it came down to not being afraid.If he scolds, we will ask him to return a dead tallow tree we picked up on the shore last year, and we will call him "eight mangy" to his face.

"They're all back! There's something wrong there. I said it was guaranteed!" Shuangxi suddenly said loudly from the bow of the boat.

I looked towards the bow, and there was Pingqiao ahead.There was a person standing on the foot of the bridge, but it was my mother, and Shuangxi was talking to Yi.I went out of the front cabin, and the boat entered Pingqiao, stopped the boat, and we all went ashore one after another.Mother was a little angry, saying that it was past the third watch, why did she come back so late, but she was also happy, and smiled and invited everyone to eat fried rice.

Everyone said that they had eaten a snack and were thirsty, so it would be better to go to bed early, so they went back.

The next day, I didn't get up until noon, and I didn't hear any entanglements related to the Eight Gonggong Yanchai incident, so I went fishing for shrimps in the afternoon.

"Shuangxi, you bastards, did you steal my beans yesterday? You refused to pick them properly and trampled a lot of them." When I looked up, it was Mr. Liuyi who had returned from selling the beans in a boat. There was a pile of beans left in the belly of the boat.

"Yes. We treat guests. We didn't want yours back then. You see, you scared my shrimp away!" Shuangxi said.

When Father Liuyi saw me, he stopped his boat, and said with a smile, "A treat?——This is what it should be." So he said to me, "Brother Xun, how was the show yesterday?"

I nodded and said, "Okay."

"Can the beans be eaten?"

I nodded again and said, "Very good."

Unexpectedly, Eunuch Liuyi was very grateful, he raised his thumb, and said proudly, "This is really a educated person who came out of a big town to know the goods! My bean seeds are carefully selected, and the country people don't know them." At any rate, they say that my beans are not as good as others’. I’m going to give some to our aunt to taste today...” So he drove over in a boat.

When my mother asked me to go back to have dinner, there was a large bowl of cooked Luo Han beans on the table, which was given to my mother and me by Liu Yi.I heard that he also praised me very much to my mother, saying, "I have knowledge at a young age, and I will definitely win the first prize in the future. Auntie, your blessing can be guaranteed." The beans were so good.

Really, until now, I have never eaten as good beans as that night again—nor have I seen such a good show as that night.

October [-].

This article was originally published in No. 13, Volume 12, Shanghai "Fiction Monthly" in December [-].

(End of this chapter)