The Complete Works of Lu Xun's Novels

Chapter 17

"Until now, taking advantage of the free time during the annual vacation, I have to go back to the south to bury him." He drank another glass of wine, looked out the window, and said, "How can this be the case over there? In the snow There will be flowers, and it will not freeze under the snow. Just the day before yesterday, I bought a small coffin in the city—because I expected that the one under the ground should have rotted long ago—with cotton wool and quilts, I hired four coffins. Geotechnical workers, I went to the countryside to be buried. I was suddenly very happy at that time, willing to dig a grave and see the bones of my little brother who was once very close to me: I have never experienced these things in my life. When I got to the cemetery, Sure enough, the river just gnawed in, and it was less than two feet away from the grave. The poor grave has not been cultivated for two years, and it has been leveled. I stood in the snow, pointed at him decisively and said to the earthworker, "Dig it!" "I am really a mediocre person. I felt that my voice was a bit strange at this time. This order was also the greatest order in my life. But the earthworkers were not surprised and started digging. I went over to look at the cave, and sure enough, the coffin was almost rotten, leaving only a pile of wood threads and small pieces of wood. My heart was trembling, and I went to push these away, very carefully, to take a look at my coffin. Little brother, it was unexpected! Bedding, clothes, bones, nothing. I thought, these are all gone, I have always heard that the most difficult thing to rot is hair, maybe there is still. I lay down, it should be a pillow Look carefully in the soil where it is, but there is no trace. There is no trace!"

I suddenly saw that the circles of his eyes were slightly red, but I knew immediately that he was drunk.He doesn't eat much food, but just keeps drinking wine. He has already drank more than a catty, and his expression and behavior have become lively. He is approaching the Lu Weifu I saw before. Turning around, also holding the wine glass, listening silently directly opposite.

"Actually, we don't need to move any more. We just need to level the ground and sell the coffin; that's all. It's a bit strange for me to sell the coffin, but as long as the price is extremely cheap, the original shop will take it. At least I can get it back." A few pennies for wine. But I don’t like this, I still spread out the bedding, wrapped some soil where his body was before with cotton, wrapped it up, packed it in a new coffin, and transported it to the cemetery where my father was buried. He was buried next to his grave. Because bricks were used outside, I was busy for most of the day yesterday: supervisor. But this finally completed one thing, enough to deceive my mother and make her feel more at ease. ——Ah, You look at me like this, do you blame me for being so different from before? Yes, I also remember that when we went to the Town God’s Temple to pluck off the beards of the gods, we talked about the methods of reforming China for days and ended up fighting Time. But that’s how I am now, perfunctory and nonchalant. I sometimes think to myself that if my former friends see me, I’m afraid they won’t recognize me as a friend.—But I’m like this now.”

He took out another cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

"Looking at your expression, you seem to have some expectations of me--I am naturally much more numb now, but I can still see some things. This makes me very grateful, but it also makes me very disturbed: I am afraid that I will finally fail. An old friend who still has good intentions for me..." He stopped suddenly, took a few puffs of cigarettes, and then said slowly, "Just today, before I came to this stone house, I did it. It's a boring thing, but it's something I'm willing to do. My former neighbor on the east side is Changfu, a boatman. He has a daughter named A Shun. You may have seen her when you came to my house, but you I must not have noticed, because she was still young at that time. Later she was not good-looking, but she had a normal thin melon-seeded face and yellow skin; her eyes were very big, her eyelashes were very long, and the whites of her eyes were as green as night It’s a sunny day in the north, and it’s a windless sunny day in the north, so the place here is not so clear. She is very capable. She lost her mother in her teens, and she relied on her to take care of her two younger siblings, and she had to serve her father. She was considerate in everything; She is also economical, but her family has gradually become stable. Almost none of the neighbors did not praise her, and even Chang Fu often said some words of gratitude. This time when I left and came back, my mother remembered her again. For a long time. She said that she once knew that Shun Gu was beaten by her father because she saw someone wearing red velvet flowers on her hair and wanted one herself, but she couldn't get it. Later, the eye sockets were still red and swollen for two or three days. This kind of velvet flower is something from other provinces, and it can’t be bought in S City. How can she get it? When I go back to the south this time, I asked me to buy two to give her. .

"I don't feel bored with this job, but I like it very much. For Ah Shun, I am really willing to contribute. The year before last, when I came back to pick up my mother, one day, Chang Fu was at home. I started chatting with him. He wanted to treat me to snacks, buckwheat flour, and told me that what was added was white sugar. You think, a boatman who can have white sugar at home is by no means a poor boatman, so he also eats it. It’s very generous. I was persuaded, so I agreed, but asked to use only a small bowl. He was also very sophisticated, so he told Ah Shun, “They literati don’t know how to eat. You can use a small bowl and add more sugar.” !' However, when it was prepared and served, I was still taken aback. It was a big bowl, enough for me to eat for a day. But compared with Changfu's bowl, mine was indeed a small bowl. I never had I have eaten buckwheat flour before, but this time I tasted it, it was really unpalatable, but it was very sweet. I took a few mouthfuls and thought about not eating, but accidentally, I suddenly saw Ah Shun standing far away in the corner of the room , I immediately lost the courage to put down the bowls and chopsticks. I saw her expression, which was fear and hope, probably because she was afraid that she might not make it well. May we have a delicious meal. I know that if there are more than half of the bowl left, I must I was very disappointed and sorry. I decided at the same time, let go of my throat and drank it down, eating almost as fast as Changfu. From this I know the pain of hard eating. I only remember eating as much as I was a child. A bowl of granulated sugar mixed with roundworm powder is so difficult. However, I don’t complain, because the smug smile she smiled when she came to clean up the empty bowl was more than enough to make up for my pain. So I Even though I was so full that I couldn't sleep well and had a series of nightmares, I still wished her a happy life and wished the world a better place for her. However, these meanings are just the traces of my old dreams, and immediately Laugh at yourself, then forget about it.

"I didn't know that she had been beaten for a velvet flower, but as soon as my mother mentioned it, she remembered the buckwheat flour, and she became diligent. I searched in Taiyuan first, but there was nothing. ; all the way to Jinan..."

There was a rustling sound outside the window, and a lot of snow slid down from a camellia tree that was bent by him. The branches were straight and straight, showing the fat black leaves and blood-red flowers.The leaden color of the sky became thicker, and the little birds were chirping. It was probably dusk, and the ground was covered with snow again. There was no food to be found, and they all rushed back to their nests early to rest.

"All the way to Jinan," he continued, looking out the window, turning around and drinking a glass of wine, taking a few more puffs of his cigarette. "I just bought velvet flowers. I don't know if it's the kind that made her get beaten, but it's made of velvet. I don't know whether she likes dark or light colors, so I bought a bright red one. Bring all the pink ones here.

"It was this afternoon, as soon as I finished eating, I went to see Changfu. I delayed a day because of this. His home is still there, but it looks a little dark, but I'm afraid it's just my own feeling. .His son and second daughter—Azhao, both stood at the door, growing up. Azhao didn’t look like her sister at all, she looked like a ghost, but when she saw me walking towards her house, she ran away Go into the house. I asked the boy, knowing that Chang Fu was not at home. "Where's your eldest sister?" He immediately opened his eyes and asked me why I was looking for her, and he seemed to be viciously about to pounce on me and bite me .I hesitated and retreated, I am perfunctory now...

"You don't know, I'm more afraid of visiting people than before. Because I already know how much I hate, even I hate myself, so why should I knowingly make people secretly unhappy? But this time I have to do it It's done, so after thinking about it, I finally returned to the firewood shop diagonally opposite the door. The owner's mother, Grandma Laofa, is still there, and she still knows me, so she invited me to sit in the shop Yes. After we exchanged a few pleasantries, I explained the reason for returning to S City and finding Changfu. Unexpectedly, she sighed and said:
"'Unfortunately, Aunt Shun is not lucky enough to wear this velvet flower.'"

"So she told me in detail, saying, 'Since last spring, she has been thin and yellow, and then she burst into tears, and asked her why, but she didn't tell her; I couldn't stop getting angry and scolded her for being old and going crazy. But at the beginning of autumn, she didn't have a slight cold at first, but finally lay down and couldn't get up since then. It wasn't until a few days before her death that she was willing to tell Changfu, She has long been like her mother, who vomits redness and sweats from time to time. But she hides it from time to time, lest he will worry about it. One night, her uncle Chang Geng came to borrow money again—this is a common thing—— ——When she refused, Chang Geng sneered and said: Don't be arrogant, your man is worse than me! She has been worried since then, and she was shy, so she couldn't ask, so she had to cry. How could it be too late to tell her the angry words? Besides, she didn’t believe it, and instead said: Fortunately, I’m already like this, so it doesn’t matter.’”

"She also said, 'If her man is really inferior to Chang Geng, it would be terrible! He is not comparable to a chicken thief, what is that? But when he came to deliver the funeral, I saw him with my own eyes, His clothes were clean, and he was a decent person. He said with tears in his eyes that he had spent half his life on a boat, saved up money to hire a woman, but died again. It can be seen that he is really a good person. Chang Geng said everything It’s a lie. It’s a pity that Gu Shun would believe such a slanderous lie and lose her life for nothing. ——But I can’t blame anyone, I can only blame Gu Shun for not having such a good fortune.’”

"That's all right, my work is over again. But what about the two velvet flowers that I brought with me? Well, I asked her to send A Zhao. As soon as A Zhao saw me, he ran away and probably regarded me as a A wolf or something, I really don’t want to send her off.——But I will give her off, and I just need to say to my mother that Ah Shun likes it when he sees it. What are these boring things? .After the new year in a daze, I still teach my 'Zi Ri Shi Yun' to go."

"Did you teach 'Zi Ri Shi Yun'?" I felt strange and asked.

"Naturally. Do you still think ABCD is taught? I was two students first, one read "Book of Songs" and the other read "Mencius". Recently I added another one, a woman, who read "Naughty Girls". I don't even teach arithmetic. , it’s not that I don’t teach, they don’t.”

"I really didn't expect you to teach such books, . . . "

"Their father wants them to read this. I'm someone else, so I have nothing to do. What are these nonsense? Just do whatever you want..."

His face was already flushed, and he seemed to be a little drunk, but his eyes were depressed again.I sighed slightly and had nothing to say for a moment.There was a commotion on the stairs, and several drinkers crowded up: the first was a short man with a bloated round face; the second was long, with a red nose conspicuously showing on his face; The building trembled as he walked.I looked at Lu Weifu in a blink of an eye, and he was looking at me in a blink of an eye, so I asked the waiter to settle the bill.

"Can you still support your life with this?" I asked as I prepared to leave.

"Yes.—I have 20 yuan a month, and I can't be perfunctory."

"So, what are you going to do in the future?"

"In the future?——I don't know. Do you think that what we planned at that time has a good result? I don't know anything now, I don't even know what will happen tomorrow, and even the last minute..."

The waiter brought the bill and handed it to me; he was no longer as humble as when he first arrived, he just glanced at me, then smoked, and let me pay the bill.

We walked out of the store together. The hotel where he lived was in the opposite direction to mine, and we parted at the door.I walked towards my hotel alone, feeling refreshed as the cold wind and snow flakes hit my face.Seeing that the sky is already dusk, the houses and streets are all woven in the pure white and uncertain net of dense snow.

February [-], [-]
This article was originally published on May 15, [-], No. [-], Volume [-] of "Novel Monthly"
happy family

——Imitation of Xu Qinwen①
"...It's up to you whether you do it or not; that work, like the light of the sun, emerges from an infinite source of light, unlike stone fire, which is hammered out of iron and stone. This is true art. The author, too He is the real artist.—And I,... what is this?..." He thought of this, and suddenly jumped up from the bed.He had already thought about it before, and he had to earn a few manuscript fees to support his life; the place to submit manuscripts was first decided to be the Happiness Monthly Newspaper, because the pens seemed to be relatively abundant.But the work must have a scope, otherwise, I am afraid it will not be accepted.The scope is the scope... What is the big question in the minds of young people today? ...Probably quite a few, or a lot of love, marriage, family and so on. ... Yes, many of them are bored and discussing these things.Then, come to do the family.But how to do it? ...Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't accept it, why bother to say something out of date, but...After he jumped off the bed, he walked to the desk in four or five steps, sat down, took out a piece of green lined paper, and wrote a line of title without hesitation, but as if giving up on himself: "Happy Family".

Immediately his pen stopped; he raised his head, stared at the roof, and was arranging the place for this "happy family".He thought: "Beijing? No way, it's dead, even the air is dead. If we build a high wall around this family, will the air be cut off? It's impossible! Jiangsu and Zhejiang are going to fight every day; Fujian is even more needless. Sichuan, Guangdong? They are fighting. ②Shandong, Henan, etc.?—Ah, if you want to kidnap one, it will become an unfortunate family. The rent in the concessions of Shanghai and Tianjin is expensive;... If you are in a foreign country, A joke. I don’t know what to do in Yunnan and Guizhou, but the traffic is too inconvenient...” He thought about it, but couldn’t think of a good place, so he assumed it was A, but then thought, “Many people are against using Western Letters are used to replace place names, which is said to reduce the interest of readers. My contribution this time seems to be safer without using it. So, where is it better?——Hunan is also fighting; Dalian is still expensive rent; Chahar , Jilin, and Heilongjiang—I heard that there are horse thieves, but it’s not okay!..." He thought about it again and again, but couldn't think of a good place, so he finally decided to assume that the place where this "happy family" was located was called A.

"In short, this happy family must be in A, which cannot be negotiated. Naturally, there are two couples in the family, that is, the master and the housewife, who are free to marry. They have signed more than 40 treaties, which are very detailed, so they are very equal and very free. Moreover, they are highly educated, elegant and noble....Oriental students are no longer allowed, so let’s assume that they are Western students. The host always wears western clothes, and the collar is always snow-white; the housewife’s hair is always permed fluffy like a sparrow The nest, the teeth are always white and exposed, but the clothes are Chinese clothes,..."

"No, no, no! 25 catties!"

He heard a man's voice outside the window, and he couldn't help turning his head to look, the window curtain was hanging down, the sun was shining brightly, it was so bright that his eyes were dazzled; then there was the sound of small pieces of wood being scattered on the ground. "It's irrelevant," he thought back, "what's '25 catties'?——They are elegant and noble, and they love literature and art. But because they grew up in happiness, they don't like Russian novels....Russia Novels often describe low-class people, which really don’t suit this kind of family. “25 Jin”? Don’t care about him. Then, what books do they read?——Pei Lun’s poems? Ji Zhi’s? No, it’s not safe ——Oh, yes, they all love to read "The Ideal Beloved"③. Although I haven't seen this book, since even the university professor praised him so much, I think they all love to read it, and you should read it too. , I read it too——each of them has one book, there are two books in this family..." He felt a little empty in his stomach, put down his pen, propped his head on both hands, and taught his head to hover between the two like a globe. hanging between pillars.

"...The two of them are having lunch," he thought, "the table is covered with a white cloth; the cook brings food,—Chinese food. What '25 catties'? Leave him alone. Why Chinese food? Westerners They said that Chinese food is the most advanced, delicious, and hygienic: so they use Chinese food. The first bowl is sent, but what is this first bowl?..."

"firewood,……"

He looked back in surprise, and on his left shoulder stood the housewife of his own house, with two gloomy eyes fixed on his face.

"What?" He thought she had disturbed his creation, and was quite angry.

"The chopping firewood is all used up, and I bought some today. Last time, it was ten catties, two and four, but today I want two and six. I want to give him two and five, okay?"

"Okay, it's two hanging five."

"It's too much of a disadvantage. He must only be willing to count 24 and a half catties; I think he is 23 and a half catties, okay?"

"Okay, let's say he weighs 23 and a half catties."

"So, five five twenty five, three five fifteen,..."

"Hmm, five-five-two-five, three-five-one-fifteen,..." He couldn't continue, paused for a while, and suddenly grabbed a pen, writing a line of "happy family" in the green box It took a long time to make calculations on paper, and then he raised his head and said:
"Five hangs and eight!"

"That's right, I'm not enough here, there are still eight or nine..."

He opened the drawer of the desk, grabbed all the copper coins, no less than twenty or thirty, and put them on her open palm. After seeing her leave the room, he turned his head to the desk again.He felt that the inside of his head was full, as if all the limbs were filled with firewood, five five twenty five, and there were many scattered Arabic numerals printed on the brain cortex.He took a deep breath, and then exhaled forcefully, as if he wanted to get rid of the firewood, five five, 25 and the Arabic numerals in his mind.Sure enough, after exhaling, I felt much more relaxed, so I still thought vaguely——

(End of this chapter)