The Complete Works of Lu Xun's Novels

Chapter 36

"Yesterday I heard Mr. Cao giving a speech in the city, and he was playing with some kind of 'qi' again, calling 'death'. You go and tell him: don't make a fuss; death is not bad, and it is difficult, but it is easy to die. The people benefit!"

"It's hard to talk to him," Guan Qian Ao replied wistfully. "He has been an official here for two years, and he is not willing to talk to us..."

"Where's the bird slippery?"

"He's very busy. He just tested the Liannu; now I'm afraid I'm looking at the terrain outside Xiguan, so I won't be able to meet Mr. Mr. Did you go to Chu State to find Gongshu Ban?"

"That's right," Mozi said, "but whether he will listen to me or not is still uncertain. You should still be prepared, and don't just hope for the success of your words."

Guan Qian Ao nodded, saw Mo Zi on the road, watched him off for a while, then pushed the small cart, creaking into the city.

three

The city of Ying in the state of Chu is no better than that in the state of Song: the streets are wide, the houses are neat, and there are many good things on display in the big shops, such as snow-white linen, red peppers, colorful deer skins, and fat lotus seeds.People who walk, although their bodies are shorter than those in the north, are lively and vigorous, and their clothes are clean. Compared here, Mozi looks like an old-fashioned beggar with his old clothes and tattered clothes and his feet wrapped in cloth.

Going further to the center is a large square with many stalls and crowded with many people. This is a busy city and a place where crossroads intersect.So Mozi found an old man who looked like a scholar, and inquired about Gongshu's apartment. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand the language, and he couldn't understand. He was writing on the heart of his hand to show him, only to hear a bang, and everyone started singing. The well-known Sai Xiangling had already started singing her "The People of Lower Riba", so many people from all over the country echoed in unison.After a while, even the old scholar hummed. Knowing that he would never look at the writing on his palm again, Mozi only wrote half of the character "Gong" and walked further away. run.However, singing was everywhere, and there was no time to take advantage of it. After a long time, it was probably when the singing over there was over, and then it gradually became quiet.He found a carpenter's shop and went to inquire about Gongshu's address.

"That Shandong old man, Mr. Gongshu who refused to make hooks?" The shop owner is a fat man with a yellow face and black beard, so he knows it very well. "It's not far. You turn around, walk through Cross Street, go east and south on the second path on your right, and then turn north, and the third house is him."

Mozi wrote on the palm of his hand, and asked him to see if he heard it wrong, and then firmly remembered it in his heart. He thanked the master, and took a big stride to the place he pointed out.Sure enough, it was not bad: on the gate of the third house, there was nailed an extremely carved nanmu signboard, with six big seal characters engraved on it: "Lu Guogong Shu Banyu".

Mozi patted the copper animal ring and knocked on it a few times, but the door was opened by an angry doorman.When he saw it, he shouted loudly:
"Sir, there are no visitors! There are too many people from your country to ask for help!"

Just as Mozi glanced at him, he had already closed the door, and when he knocked again, there was no sound.However, this gaze shot made that Mending unable to calm down. He always felt a little uncomfortable, so he had to go in and report to his master.Gongshu Ban is holding the ruler and measuring the model of the ladder.

"Sir, another fellow from your hometown has come to ask for help... This person is a bit weird..." Mending said softly.

"What's his last name?"

"That hasn't been asked yet..." Mending panicked.

"What's it like?"

"Like a beggar. About thirty. Tall, with a dark face..."

"Ah! That must be Mo Di!"

Gongshu Ban was taken aback, shouted loudly, put down the model of the ladder and the curved ruler, and ran down the steps.Mending was also taken aback, and quickly ran ahead of him and opened the door.Mo Zi and Gong Shuxiang met in the courtyard.

"It really is you." Gongshu said happily, while letting him into the main room.

"Have you been all right? Or busy?"

"Yes. Always..."

"But you have come so far, sir, what can you learn?"

"Someone in the north insulted me," Mozi said very quietly. "I want you to kill him..."

The public loser is not happy.

"I'll give you ten yuan!" Mozi continued.

At this sentence, the master really couldn't help but get angry; he darkened his face and replied coldly:

"I don't want to kill anyone!"

"That's great!" Mozi straightened up very moved, bowed twice, and then said very quietly: "But I have a few words. I'm in the north. I heard that you built a ladder and you are going to attack Song What crimes did Song have? In the state of Chu, what is surplus is the land, and what is lacking is the people. Killing what is lacking to fight for what is surplus is not wisdom; Song is not guilty, but to attack him is not benevolence; knowing it, but Not fighting, cannot be said to be loyal; fighting, but not gaining, cannot be called strong; righteousness does not kill few, but kills many, can not be said to be wise. What do you think, sir?..."

"That's..." Gongshu Ban thought, "Mr. is quite right."

"So, can't you stop?"

"That's not going to happen," Gongshu said wistfully. "I have already told the king."

"Then, just take me to see the king."

"Okay. But it's getting late, let's have dinner."

But Mozi refused to listen, leaned forward, and always wanted to stand up. He has never been able to sit still①.Gongshu Pan knew that he couldn't resist, so he promised to lead him to see the king immediately; as he went to his room, he took out a set of clothes and shoes, and said sincerely:
"But I need to change it, sir. Because this place is different from my hometown, everything is luxurious. Let's change the bento..."

"Yes, yes," Mo Zi also said sincerely. "Actually, I don't like to wear shabby clothes...just because I really don't have time to change..."

four

The king of Chu knew that Mo Di was a sage in the north, and he received him immediately after being introduced by Gongshu Ban, without any effort.

Wearing too-short clothes, Mozi walked into the hall like Gongshu like a tall heron, saluted the king of Chu, and said calmly:

"Now there is a man who doesn't want a car, but wants to steal the neighbor's broken car; doesn't want Jinxiu, but wants to steal the neighbor's short felt jacket; doesn't want rice meat, but wants to steal the neighbor's chaff: what kind of person is this? ?”

"That must be a sneaky disease." The King of Chu said bluntly.

"The ground in Chu," Mozi said, "is five thousand miles square, but the Song Dynasty is only five hundred miles square. It's like cars and broken cars; there are clouds and dreams in Chu, full of rhinoceros and elk, and fish and turtles in Jianghan." There are so many turtles that they can't compete there, but in the Song Dynasty, they don't even have pheasants, rabbits, and crucian carp. It's like rice meat and bran crumbs. It's like a brocade jacket and a short felt jacket. So according to my ministers, the king's attack on the Song Dynasty is similar to this."

"That's true!" King Chu nodded. "But Gongshu Ban has already built a ladder for me, so I have to attack."

"However, success or failure is uncertain." Mo Zi said. "As long as wood chips are available, you can try it now."

The King of Chu was a novelty-loving king, so he was very happy, so he instructed his courtiers to get the wood chips quickly.But Mozi took off his belt, bent it in an arc, and faced Gongshuzi, which was regarded as a city; divided dozens of pieces of wood into two parts, kept one part, and gave the other part to Gongshuzi, which was a tool for attack and defense. .

So the two of them each held a piece of wood, and started to fight like a chess player. As soon as the attacking piece of wood advances, the defending one fights, and when one side retreats, the other side makes a move.But the King of Chu and his courtiers couldn't understand it at all.

I saw that there were a total of nine times of this kind of one advance and one retreat, about nine different patterns of offense and defense.After that, Gongshu Ban stopped.Mo Zi turned the arc of the belt towards himself, as if he was the one attacking this time.It was still supported with one advance and one retreat, but by the third time, Mozi's wood chips had entered the arc of the belt.

Although the king of Chu and his courtiers couldn't figure it out, seeing Gongshu Ban put down the wood chip first, with a disappointed look on his face, they knew that he had failed both offensively and defensively.

King Chu also felt a little disappointed.

"I know how to win you," he said after a pause. "But I won't tell."

"I also know how you beat me," Mozi said calmly. "But I won't tell."

"What are you talking about?" King Chu asked in surprise.

"The meaning of Gongshuzi," Mozi replied, turning around, "but he wanted to kill me, thinking that if he killed me, Song would have no one to defend and could attack. However, my student Qin Huali and other 300 people have already Take my defensive equipment and wait for the enemy from Chu State on the Song City. Even if you kill me, you still can't attack!"

"What a great idea!" King Chu said with emotion. "Then, I won't attack Song either."

五

Mozi said that after he stopped attacking the Song Dynasty, he wanted to go back to the State of Lu immediately, but because he had to return the clothes that Gongshu Ban had lent him, he had to go to his apartment again.It was already afternoon, and both the host and the guest felt hungry, so the host naturally insisted on keeping him for lunch—or even persuaded him to stay overnight when it was already supper.

"You have to leave today," said Mozi. "Come back next year, take my book and ask the King of Chu to read it."

"Aren't you talking about righteousness?" Gongshu Pan said. "Working hard, helping those in need, is something of a bitch, and adults don't take it. He is a king, fellow!"

"That's not true. Si Ma Mi Gu is something made by a bitch, and adults want it. Let alone doing righteousness."

"That's true," Gongshu said happily. "When I didn't see you, I wanted to take Song; when I saw you, even if I gave Song Kingdom away for nothing, if it was unjust, I wouldn't want it..."

"That's why I really gave you the Song Kingdom." Mozi also said happily. "If you stick to righteousness, I will send you to the world!" ①
While the host and guest were chatting and laughing, lunch was set up, with fish, meat and wine.Mozi didn't drink alcohol or eat fish, but only a little meat.Gongshu Ban was drinking alone, and felt sorry for the guests who didn't make much use of their knives and daggers, so he had to persuade him to eat chili:

"Please, please!" He pointed to the chili sauce and flatbread, and said earnestly, "Try it, it's not bad. The scallions are not as fat as ours..."

Gongshu Ban drank a few glasses of wine and became even happier.

"There is a hook in my boat battle, but is there a hook in your righteousness?" He asked.

"My righteous refusal is better than your Zhou Zhan's refusal." Mozi replied resolutely. "I use love to hook and respect to reject. If you don't use love to hook, you don't have a blind date. If you don't respect and refuse, you have to be slick. If you don't date and are slick, you will be separated immediately. Therefore, loving each other and respecting each other is equal to mutual love. Li. Now you use hooks to hook people, and people use hooks to hook you. You use rejection to reject people, and people use rejection to reject you. Hooking each other and rejecting each other is tantamount to harming each other. Therefore, my righteousness It’s better than the hook of your boat battle.” ②
"However, fellow, what you did was righteous, and it almost broke my job!" After bumping into a thorn, Gong Shuban changed his words, but it seemed to be a bit drunk: he actually doesn't know how to drink.

"But it's better than smashing all Song's jobs."

"But I will have to make toys in the future. Wait a minute, fellow, I'll show you something."

As he spoke he jumped up and ran into the back room as if he were rummaging through boxes.After a while, he came out again, holding a magpie made of wood and bamboo in his hand, and handing it to Mozi, he said:

"As long as it is turned on, it can fly for three days. This can be said to be a great coincidence."

"But it's not as good as a carpenter's wheel," Mozi said after looking at it and putting it on the mat. "If he cuts three inches of wood, he can carry fifty stones. What is good for people is clever and good, and what is not good for people is clumsy and bad."

"Oh, I forgot," Gongshu Ban hit another snag before waking up. "Should have known that was exactly what you said."

"So you're still doing righteousness blindly," Mozi looked him in the eyes and said sincerely, "It's not only a coincidence, but even the world is yours. I really bothered you for a long time. See you next year."

As Mozi said, he took the small parcel and said goodbye to his master; Gong Shupan knew he couldn't keep him, so he had to let him go.After sending him out of the gate, he went back into the house, thought about it, and stuffed the model of the ladder and the wooden magpie into the box in the back room.

On the way home, Mozi walked slowly. One was lack of strength, the other was a sore foot, the third had already finished his dry food, so he inevitably felt hungry, and the fourth had already finished his work, not as hurried as when he came.However, it was even more unlucky than when we came here: as soon as we entered the border of the Song Dynasty, we were searched twice; The doorman wanted to avoid the rain, but was chased away by two armed patrols. He got soaked and had a stuffy nose for more than ten days.

Made in August [-].

up to death
(A large piece of wasteland. There are some mounds everywhere, the highest is only six or seven feet. There are no trees. The ground is full of messy grass; there is a path made by people and horses in the grass. Not far from the road, there is a water slide. Looking from a distance See housing.)
Zhuangzi①——(Black thin face, gray beard, Daoguan②, cloth robe, holding a whip, enter.) There is no water to drink when he goes out, and he feels thirsty all of a sudden.Thirst is no joke, it would be better to turn into a butterfly.But there are no flowers here either, ... oh!Haizi③ is here, luck, luck!

(He runs to the water slide, pushes away the duckweed, scoops up the water with his hands, and takes a dozen sips.) Well, all right.Slowly hit the road. (Walking, looking around,) Ah!A skull.What's the matter? (Passes through the grass with a horsewhip, knocks, and says:)
(End of this chapter)