Chapter 54 grim cat

I started writing this story in the summer of 2007, and it didn't end until Labor Day in 2008.Although the full text is not long, at that time, apart from work, the main energy was used to write, so it usually took ten days and a half months to write a short paragraph, and the final writing was about 200,000 words, which lasted nearly a year. year. In the process of writing, I often ask myself—"How to choose the right path?" , will more or less reveal these doubts of mine. I think life can be said to be a maze without a map. The starting point is birth and the end point is death.Because in a person's life, every moment, anytime, anywhere, he will be faced with countless choices, which seem to be full of endless possibilities.And when you stop and look back on the way you came, you may find that although there are countless intricate forks in the maze of life, there is absolutely no turning back. From the beginning to the end, there is only one road .Whether it is success or failure, whether it is the path chosen by oneself or the path pointed out by others, it may not be the correct path. No one can predict it until the end. I think this path is the so-called "Road of Destiny" .

The same is true for Zhang Xiaozhuan in the novel. He met strange people and strangers in the ancient tomb of the Golden Coffin Tomb, and was pointed out a way to prosperity and wealth.But even the "old ghost in the forest" who knows things like a god, can't get rid of the "gravity of fate" in the end. There is also the brave soldiers in the wild goose camp. They were born in the green forests and grass bandits, and they don't have any concept of "loyalty to the emperor and serve the country" in their minds. Zhang Xiaozhu is the governor's confidant.In troubled times, individual destiny is insignificant and insignificant, and only by being attached to a greater destiny can one have a chance to survive.So from this point of view, in fact, every character in the film is risking their lives to find their own path. It can be said that this is a bloody road with an uncertain future.

The above are some of my personal thoughts during the creation period. The next thing I want to talk about is the story itself, first of all, the language in the story.The background of the story happened in the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, so I chose a vernacular narrative similar to storytelling.Because I always believe that stories with different era backgrounds must have different language styles. If there are many modern languages ​​in ancient stories, it will make people feel very awkward. At least I can’t help it. accepted.For example, Zhang Xiaozhuan said: "Although you are cute, but you are very yellow and violent." .”

I used to have the desire to be a director, but I guess I will have no chance in this life, so I have to create stories with different themes to satisfy my little wish at the beginning.The films directed by Kubrick, the film master, include sci-fi themes and war-themed "Full Metal Jacket". Almost all of them have different types and styles, but without exception, they have become classics of later generations. .I think the director tells the story to the audience through the lens, while the author tells the story through language. An author should also be able to control different types of stories. Although I am not a professional writer, I personally hope to be able to contribute to Readers and friends bring works with different feelings.Among all my works so far, the sense of language is the most satisfying to me.

Besides, the style of the story is very strong in the color of reckless legend. Although many characters in it seem to be philistine and naughty, and there are many interesting wild cats, overall, it is not a light-hearted and humorous story.It was the time when the army was in chaos, the Qing army and the Taiping army fought, and they often killed corpses everywhere, blood flowed into rivers, and the torture used by the government was also very cruel. Although the wild cats in the city seemed to be close to Zhang Xiaozhu, In fact, they were all eyeliners secretly monitoring his every move. I'm afraid Zhang Xiaozhuan would feel chills when he thought about it afterwards.

A lot of cat-related content is involved in the book, or are readers and friends often asked whether these contents have their prototypes?The story of meeting cats does exist in the Guangdong area, and the "Cat Book" is still circulated in the world, but the various wild cats in Lingzhou mentioned in it, such as the four-eared fairy cat who entered the palace to steal the night pearl, the moon shadow, the black pupil and the golden silk Cats, long-faced Arhat cats, water hyacinth cats, and Qianwenqian and Desheng cats that have not had a chance to appear on the stage, etc., are all novelists. It is a branch of the Persian cat to imagine.

In this story, in addition to the real historical background, there are still many things that can be found. They are not entirely fictional. These can be left to readers and friends to discover by themselves. I will not say more in the postscript. Talk about a few unofficial legends close to the background. One is the meeting of Tartar dogs and dogs. These ferocious wild dogs are real.Tartar dogs probably became extinct relatively early, and there are no relevant records after the Qing Dynasty, and the wild dogs that smashed into coffins and ate dead people were still seen with their own eyes until decades ago, with a blood-red sarcoma on their foreheads , often appear in the desolate suburbs and remote villages, and it is rare in recent years.

The second is the matter of making animals. It is said that making animals is a sorcery, which can turn people into cattle, horses, pigs and sheep for sale. There are many related written records, and the most famous one belongs to Mr. Pu Songling. It's just a folklore, and it may not have been true in ancient times; the human traffickers I described in the book peeled off the skins of dogs or monkeys alive, wrapped up the kidnapped children, and forced them to do somersaults and jump into fire rings to pretend to be monkeys It is a fact that dog performers perform on the street to defraud money. Although it does not belong to the legend of making animals, I think these things are more in line with the archetype of the word "making animals", but they have never been done. Textual research, do not know whether the two belong to the same thing.

The third talk about the folklore about cats.As we all know, cats are regarded as gods in Egypt, but there has never been a custom of worshiping cat immortals in China. In ancient times, there were legends of the Eight Immortals and the Five Great Masters, and mice were one of them, but cats have never had a place. But in the East, not only It is China, including Japan, Thailand and other places, who regard cats as mysterious spiritual creatures. For example, "the old cat can speak human language, but dare not speak it because of taboos", which can be regarded as very interesting stories.The length of this article is limited, so I can't write more legends and anecdotes about wild cats. I will talk about some more in the future when I have the opportunity.In addition, the ancient records about the falling of meteorites and the shadow of the mountains in Tashi will not be repeated here.

I remember that many readers asked whether the Zhang Xiaozhuan in my novel and Zhang Sanlianzi, the Mojin school lieutenant mentioned in the novel, did not leave their real names, also claimed to be Mr. Zhang, and also went to Xinjiang with Zuo Shuai to fight. Are they the same? people? I think it is necessary to explain here that it is not a prequel, and the whole story has nothing to do with robbing the tomb of gold. The part of the story that is currently happening in Lingzhou City begins with Zhang Xiaozhuan's failure to steal the chicken, and walking to the ancient tomb of the golden coffin at night. , until the storyteller came to join the team and joined the army, and the wild goose camp went south to fight, it was completely over.If there is a chance in the future, of course, I can also write about the wild goose battalion going to Beijing to hunt down the remnants of the Pagoda sect, the bloody battle against the monkey formation of the Nian army in Shaanxi, and the various deeds of going to the desert of Huijiang to fight.As for whether Zhang Xiaozhu touched Captain Jin Zhang San's chain, I will leave room for everyone to guess.

Speaking of which, it is necessary to thank readers and friends who like this story. Although I have seen most of them, I have never seen most of them, but I often feel the sense of identity you bring to me. Thank you very much Support and concern, I wish you peace and health, all the best. Special thanks go to Wen Na who drew illustrations and covers for this book. Thank you for drawing so many exquisite pictures. Finally, there are editors who are in charge of proofreading. There are many typos and punctuation marks are basically used indiscriminately. level, thank you for your hard work. Zhang Muye (Singing under heaven) May 2, 2008