folk legend

Chapter 40
Carrying the coffin, in the dialect of the people in the paddock, is also called carrying the coffin head.There is an old cursing saying in the village, saying that when a person dies, he doesn’t even have a coffin head on his back.

Conventionally, this matter should also be done by the son or junior of the deceased.Moreover, it also involves the distribution of the estate of the deceased.Therefore, in rural funeral ceremonies, the selection of candidates for carrying the coffin has always been very cautious.

Because in the era when family planning was not implemented, every family had more than one child, and there were often a lot of brothers and sisters, and there were often quarrels over property distribution.

According to the old saying, carrying the coffin head will suppress a person's luck, and this person will have bad luck in the next year, so in terms of property distribution, the person carrying the coffin head should be divided more, which can be regarded as One kind of balance.

In fact, carrying the coffin head is not really carrying it, it's just a human cat bending over the head and pretending to be under the coffin head.The coffin was lifted by pole bearers.

Besides, if you really want to recite it, it is impossible to recite it, because such a thick coffin board, if you add up the three long and two short, it must weigh at least a few hundred catties.Maybe the overlord of Western Chu can move, but the problem is that there has been such a character since ancient times.As for whether he carried the coffin head, no one knew.

After deciding who would carry the head of the coffin, Jiang Liu began to carry the coffin.

The six people that Han Gui had already found, led by Han Kui, came together and stood at the four corners of the coffin, while the remaining two stood in the middle of the coffin.At this time, Han Yucai was wearing a piece of red cloth, bowed down in front of the coffin head, and got ready.

Seeing that everyone was already in their positions, Jiang Liu glanced at these people one by one, and sure enough everyone was ready.Shouted crisply.

"Carrying the coffin, the idlers get out of the way, and the ghosts make way. Get up!"

After shouting, Jiang Liu hurriedly stepped aside to make way for several coffin bearers.

Those six young men with big arms and round waists yelled in unison immediately after Jiang Liu's words.

"Get up."

With this momentum, several people worked hard, and Han Youcai's coffin was slowly lifted up, and the people who had already prepared at the side hurriedly removed the bench under the coffin.

Jiang Liu, who was outside the coffin, saw that the coffin had been lifted, and said in a loud voice, "Go slowly, be steady, and put your feet on the ground."

After speaking, he turned around and walked towards the tied bars outside the gate with big strides.

The bar is the frame for carrying the coffin, and it is called "carrying" locally in the paddock.There are eight big shoulders, sixteen big shoulders, and 36 big shoulders.The number of people to be carried is determined according to the status of the deceased in society and the economic situation of his family.

Ordinary people use eight people to carry it; richer families use 16 people, and in the long-standing rich or official family, they use 32 people. The highest is 64 bars. It's not worth it at all, and even a village can't get so many people together, so basically this gift is too expensive.

Tying the bar is also a skillful job, and only some old people can tie the rope buckle for tying the bar.It looks loose, but it can lift hundreds of catties without being bald, very strong.

On the top of the loose rope buckle hangs a cow-like shape ("Niu niangzi" means "cow-like". It's just called white or used to it. It's a kind that is clamped on both sides of the cow's neck so that the cow can use the upper shoulder The bow-shaped wooden thing used to pull the cart.), the person who lifts the bar must pass through the bend of the ox, and one person at the front and one at the back will carry it.

These things are tied up before the spirit is released, and they are usually placed in the open space outside the yard, mainly to facilitate the walking of the bearers.

When Jiang Liu took the group to the mountain to collect graves, Han Gui arranged for people at home to prepare all these matters.Just wait for Jiang Liu to come back and carry the coffin and land on the pole, then the spirit can be awakened.

Because at this time, Mr. Yin Yang must be in front of the head and lead the way by reciting spells, so that the ghosts of the dead can be brought out of the yard. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome for the ghosts of the dead to not get out of the yard.But even so, there will be a ceremony of throwing out seedlings afterwards.

Jiang Liu walked in front, glanced at the crowd on both sides secretly, and found that everyone was watching him, and even saw a trace of admiration from the faces of a few children, the little calf couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

Just when Jiang Liu led everyone five or six meters away with excitement, there was a sudden scream from behind, which made his heart rise to his throat in fright, and he turned his head quickly.

There was another chirping sound, and Jiang Liu watched Han Youcai's coffin fall from the hands of those people.Due to the sudden incident, several people were not prepared at all, which made the coffin roll one more after it hit the ground before it settled down.

Fortunately, there was no one standing where the coffin fell, otherwise, they would definitely be hit by the rolling coffin, but even so, the people standing in the yard were terrified by the accident.

I don't know who shouted at this time, "Oh, my god, this Han Youcai is rolling around like this, he doesn't want to leave!"

Affected by this theory, all the people inside and outside the courtyard began to discuss one after another, making a mess of noodle porridge.

Jiang Liu, who was full of joy, was also frightened by this sudden incident. After turning around, it took a long time to react.

According to common sense, it is impossible for six young men with big arms and round waists to carry the coffin together, and it is impossible for it to land!What's even more strange is that after the coffin weighed several hundred kilograms was dropped, the six people who carried the coffin didn't touch it at all, not even scratches on their hands.

Only Han Yucai, who was carrying the head of the coffin, was hit hard by the coffin, and it was he who made the scream just now.And it looks like it's still not clear, and now it's still lying on the ground and can't get up, ouch, oops, yelling non-stop.

Han Gui, who had been busy elsewhere, also ran over when he heard the abnormal noise, glanced at the coffin that had fallen on the ground, and loudly reprimanded these people.

"Look at each of you, you are not too young. When you eat, you chase after each other. When you work, you are the most useless snacks."

Han Kui felt a little innocent and aggrieved, and argued loudly: "Old village chief, don't scold me, we can't blame our brothers for this matter. You don't know, just now, the coffin It's like being caught by an evil spirit, and it suddenly becomes dead and heavy, and the brothers didn't catch it for a while, so it's bald."

Han Kui's voice was not low, and when he was defending with the old village chief, he was a little anxious. The people in the whole yard could really hear him when he yelled loudly, and they immediately started to feel nervous.

The recent spate of bizarre hangings had already made people in the village fearful, but now that such a strange thing happened again in broad daylight, how could everyone not be afraid, so they backed away teasingly, and even some people who were near the gate , has retreated outside the gate, if there is any abnormality, these people will turn around and run away without saying a word.

Han Gui saw the behavior of the villagers and was anxious. Han's house said it was not a big deal, but if the whole village bombed the camp, it would not be an hour. How would it end then?

Thinking of this, the old village head quickly pointed to Han Kui's nose, and cursed loudly: "You are just a fool, you will see hell in broad daylight? Let me tell you bastards, it's easy to say that Yucai is fine, just in case What's wrong with it, I'll let you guys support him for the rest of his life."

The old village chief scolded and reprimanded Han Kui and the others at the same time, walked up to Han Yucai who was lying on the ground and howled, and knelt down to see where he was hurt, but he lifted his clothes and only took a look. Then he hurriedly put down his clothes and pulled them down.

After standing up, he shouted at Han Kui again.

"What are you doing in a daze! Are you stupid? Hurry up and carry him into the house."

Hearing the village chief's order, the few people who had missed the coffin just now rushed over, hugging their heads and lifting their legs, and carried Han Yucai into the house just like lifting a coffin.

The moment Han Gui lifted Yucai's clothes just now, Jiang Liu, who was closest, glanced at his back.Suddenly, he seemed to see a big footprint.Thinking that his eyes were dazzled, when he wanted to take a closer look, Han Gui had already put down his clothes in a hurry, and then called for someone to carry Han Yucai away without giving him a chance to look at it again.

Jiang Liu's heart skipped a beat when Han Gui wanted to cover it up, and sure enough, after Han Gui gave them instructions, he walked up to him, leaned into Jiang Liu's ear, and said something in a low voice. "Mr. Jiang, please go into the room and have a look."

This time, the thoughts in Jiang Liu's mind became more solid, and he didn't dare to delay. He followed several people into the room, wanting to see what was going on behind Han Yucai's back.

After several people put Han Yucai on the kang, Jiang Liu left Han Kui alone, and waved to them to let them go out.

Asking Han Kui to block the doorway so that Ran could not enter the house, Jiang Liu reached out and picked up Han Yucai's clothes.Seeing the situation on his back, the little calf was taken aback and couldn't help but gasp.

It turned out that in the center of Han Yucai's back, in the direction of the spine, there was a black spot, the size and shape of which was like a neat shoe print.

Jiang Liu lightly pressed the shoe print a few times with his hand, and asked Han Yucai if it hurt.In the end, Han Yucai didn't know if he was smashed by the coffin, or what, anyway, he said it hurts at one moment, and said it didn't hurt at another moment, so he couldn't be sure.

Han Kui, who was angrily guarding the door with a bad temper, yelled at him: "Your uncle, my body doesn't hurt, I don't know if it hurts or not! Did you let the donkey kick your brain and fart?"

(End of this chapter)