american tragedy

Chapter 1

Chapter 11
Midsummer evening has quietly come.

In a commercial center in the United States, there are rows of high walls, but such high walls will only be the talk of future generations.

On a quiet, wide street, a small team of six people appeared.The leader was a man about 50 years old.He looks mediocre, short and fat, with unkempt hair exposed under a round black felt hat.He carried a small accordion (the kind used by preachers or singers), and beside him was a woman who was about four or five years younger than him. This woman was slightly taller than him, and she was not too beautiful. Her appearance and clothes are also very ordinary. She holds a "Bible" and several "hymnals" in one hand, and holds a boy of about seven years old in the other hand.Behind them followed three children.Two girls: one about 15 and one about nine; and one boy about 12.

The avenue they were walking on formed a cross with another avenue. Pedestrians and vehicles passed by on the street, and trams from all walks of life clanked and rang their bells, squeezing forward among the bustling pedestrians and vehicles.However, the people in this small team don't seem to care about all of this.

They stopped at the corner of an avenue fork.The street here is actually an alley between two rows of tall buildings.As soon as the man had put the piano down, the woman opened it up and put a thin quarto of the Hymns on it, and she handed the man a Bible, He took a step back and stood next to him.The 12-year-old boy placed a small stool in front of the organ.The older man is the father of the children.He looked around confidently, and, whether there was any audience or not, he said:

"Let's sing a "Hymn" first, huh? Anyone who wants to believe in God can sing with me! Esta, I invite you to play the piano."

Upon hearing this, the oldest girl, acting as if she didn't care about anything at all, put her rather slender but not fully developed body on the stool, flipped through the hymns, and began to play.her mother said:

"I think it's best to sing the No.20 seven songs "The Love of Jesus, Incredible Fragrance" tonight."

At this time, passers-by of various identities and occupations on their way home noticed that there were so few people here, some hesitated and glanced at them; some stopped to see what they were doing.Seeing everyone's hesitant attitude, the man thought that they had already noticed. Although he was still a little hesitant, he seized the opportunity and started talking to them.It seemed that people came here specially to listen to lectures.

"Then, let's all sing No.20 seven songs together, "The Love of Jesus, Incomparable Fragrance"."

Upon hearing this, the older girl played the organ, and uttered a thin, albeit accurate, note, while her mother's soprano was as loud as her own, and her father's unsure baritone , and sang together, several other children took down the "Hymn" from a small stack of books on the piano, and sang along weakly.When they sang, all kinds of onlookers on the street stared indifferently.The strange sight of such an ordinary family singing loudly in public, against the suspicion and indifference prevailing in the world, fascinated everyone.Some were interested in the rather frail, half-grown figure of the girl playing the organ; others were interested in or sympathized with the unrealistic and shabby appearance of the father.His natural blue eyes and his rather baggy and poorly dressed body made him look quite unlucky.Among the few of them, only the mother stood out. She seemed to have such perseverance and determination that even if she couldn't make a fortune, she could at least keep herself.She was stronger than the others, and had an air of admirable ignorance about her self-confidence.You just have to watch her, and you can see her laying that book of "Hymns" by her side, looking straight ahead, and you're bound to say, "Hey, look at her, whatever her faults, maybe what she thinks." Just do whatever you want.” Her every expression showed that she firmly believed in the wisdom and benevolence of the Almighty God that she proclaimed did exist and ruled the world.

"The halo of Jesus' love surrounds us,

The language of God's love guides us. "

Tall buildings towered on both sides, and she sang loudly in the middle of the high walls, with a slightly nasal voice.

The boy shifted his feet restlessly and kept his eyes on the ground, probably absent-mindedly.He was tall and thin, with an interesting head and face, white skin and black hair. Compared with the other children, he seemed to be more intelligent and sensitive, as if he was a little disgusted with the situation in front of him, and even felt pain.It was evidently only the worldly life, not the religious life, that interested him.He was too young, and his mind was indeed very sensitive to beauty and enjoyment, but these had little to do with the vague fantasy world that dominated his parents' minds.

To be honest, neither the boy's family life nor his past material and spiritual encounters could convince him of what his parents said.To tell the truth, their lives are somewhat miserable, at least materially.My father always went to various assemblies to read the Bible and preach, especially in the "Mission House" run by him and my mother not far from here.As far as he knew, they went around asking for donations from interested or philanthropic businessmen who seemed to believe in such charities.But his family is always "very tight", good clothes have never been worn, ordinary people's ordinary enjoyment, they don't have a share, but their parents are always preaching that God has given him and all people love and love. care.Clearly, something was amiss.About these, he still has no idea.Still, he could not but respect his mother; her firmness and ardor, and her kindness, were all to his liking.Although she is very busy in missionary work and has a lot of troubles at home, she always tries her best to appear happy, at least she can hold on, especially when the food and clothing are very difficult, she always speaks resolutely. Say "God will give it," or "God will show the way."But his brothers and sisters could see clearly that although their situation had been in desperate need of God's bestowal, God had not shown any clear way at all.

Tonight, as he walked down the street with his sisters, he thought to himself, "I hope they never have to do it again, at least he can. No other kid does it." And, It seemed shabby, even disgraceful, and before being dragged out into the street like this, the other children had called him out more than once, mocked his father, and ridiculed him for always publicizing their religion.For example, when he was only seven years old, because his father always said "Praise God" when he talked to people, he heard the children in the neighborhood shout, "Here comes old Griffith, Praise God." Sometimes they called after him, "Hey, you little fellow, that girl on the organ is your sister. Does she play anything else?" He thought, "Why does he go around praising God? Why don't people say that?"

The deep-seated commonality of wanting to be like everyone else tormented the boys as much as it did him.Both his father and mother are different from other people. Religion is always good and religion is short. Up to now, he has regarded religion as a business.

That night, on this street crowded with vehicles and people and towering tall buildings, he felt ashamed to be dragged out of the normal life circle and let everyone watch and joke.At this time, I saw a beautiful car speeding by; idle pedestrians sought their various pleasures; a couple of young men and women talked and laughed; and those "little tricks" stared and watched.All of this made him very distressed. He felt that compared with his life, or that of his family, their life was different, and their life was better and more beautiful.

At this time, the wandering crowd on the street also seemed to realize that it was inappropriate for these children to participate in this trick from a psychological point of view.Some of them pushed the people next to them with their elbows, raised their eyebrows, and smiled contemptuously; some sympathetic or experienced people talked one after another, thinking that there was no need to drag children into it.

"Nowadays I meet these people almost every night in this area, at least two or three times a week." A young shop assistant said so.He had just met his girlfriend and was going out to a restaurant with her. "It seems to me that these people are playing some religious game again."

A man in his mid-forties, loafing around downtown, said to another, somewhat friendly stranger who had stopped to watch the fun, "The oldest boy doesn't like being here. He finds it odd, I think." That's right. It's not right to ask such a little man to do it, unless he wants to. Anyway, he doesn't understand this kind of thing."

"Yeah, that's the way I see it," agreed the other, looking intently at the boy's head and face.As soon as the face was raised, it revealed an expression of restlessness and shyness. When people saw this, they could feel that this kind of religious and spiritual things were only suitable for older people who could think.It would be a bit too cruel and boring if it were to be imposed on ignorant children in such a public place.

That's exactly what happened.

As for the rest of the family, the youngest boy and girl were too young to really understand what was going on.Besides, they weren't too interested.The big girl who played the organ seemed very indifferent, and was rather proud of the attention and criticism she and her singing attracted.Because not only strangers, even her parents have praised her many times, saying that her singing voice is melodious and moving.In fact, this is only half true. In fact, her voice is not very good, and she doesn't really understand music.Physically, she was pale, frail, and not outstanding.As for the spiritual aspect, there is not much strength, not deep enough.It was easy for someone like her to think that this was an opportunity to show off and get noticed.As for her parents, they were determined to evangelize as many people as possible, and every time the hymn was sung, my father would pull out his clichés, saying that as long as God's kindness, Christ's love, and God's love for sinners were reflected the will of a guilty conscience, one may be relieved from the heavy torments of a guilty conscience, and find joy, and so on.

"All men are sinful in the sight of God," he said, "unless they repent, unless they profess Christ and accept His love and forgiveness for them, they can never experience the bliss of sanity and purity. .Ah, friends! Christ lived for you, died for you, and is with you at every moment. Day and night, morning and evening, he takes care of you at all times, increases your strength, and enables you to bear at all times How wonderful it would be if you could understand all the endless toil and sorrows in the world, if you really understood this truth from your heart, you could enjoy peace and contented happiness! Oh, those snares and traps that plague us are How dreadful! What a relief it is to know that Christ is with us, teaching us, helping us, encouraging us, healing our wounds, and making us healthy! Oh, the peace, the contentment , comfort and glory!"

"Amen," said his wife solemnly.Daughter Hester, called Esta by the family, felt deeply that the whole family was in desperate need of help, and followed her mother.

Clyde, the oldest boy, and the two younger children looked at the ground, and occasionally glanced at their father, thinking that what he said might be true and important, but it was not as meaningful as the actual things in life. Attract people.They have heard too much of this. In their view, life should be more than just preaching tricks on the streets and in churches.

After the second hymn was sung, Mrs. Griffiths also made a speech, referring to the missionary work they conducted in a neighboring street, and the services they held to proclaim the teachings of Christ.Then a third hymn was sung, and pamphlets were distributed introducing the church to saving souls.Listeners then automatically donated money.At last they put away the harmonium, folded up the three-legged stool and gave it to Clyde, and Mrs Griffiths put away the Bible and the hymn, and as soon as the organ was slung over old Griffiths' shoulders, they headed for the church. Go over there.

All this time, Clyde had been thinking: he would never do this again.He also thinks he and his parents look silly and weird. (So ​​forced to participate in this kind of activity), if he can fully express his opinion, then he will say that as long as there is a way, he will never do this kind of thing again.His life shouldn't be like this.In order not to show up like this in the future.He was more determined than ever to contemplate a revolt, and let her do it if he pleased, and she liked it.Sister and brother are too young to probably care.But he cares about all this.

Griffiths said to his wife as they walked: "I think things are a little better tonight than usual."

"Yes, there were only eighteen people with pamphlets on Thursday, and twenty-seven tonight."

"The love of Christ will conquer all," said the father in a comforting tone, both to encourage his wife and himself. "Worldly joys and worries dominate many people, but as long as one day sorrow falls on them, some of the seeds we sow will take root."

"That's absolutely true. It's that kind of thinking that sustains me."

They entered a narrow street from which they had just come out.They walked through a dozen doors from the corner and walked into a yellow wooden bungalow.The house's large windows and the two panes of glass on the central door are painted off-white.The two windows and the panels of the double door were painted with the following inscription: "DOOR OF HOPE."Bethel One - One Church.Worship time: Wednesday, Saturday, [-]:[-]pm to [-]:[-]pm, Sunday, [-]:[-]pm, [-]:[-]pm, [-]:[-]pm. Below these large letters, on each window, is a motto: "God is love." Below the motto is a line of smaller words: "How long has it been since you wrote to your mother?"

These people walked through the shabby yellow door and disappeared.

(End of this chapter)