Chapter 15 1928 Candide - On the Ship and On the Shore

Written on the front of "Boat and Ashore" December 9th is the fourth anniversary of Shu Yuan's return to the south. It took four years and four months for my uncle to come from far north.It was four years since Shuyuan returned to the south.After returning to the south, Shuyuan died in his hometown for another 20 months. In Beijing, we lived together in a small guild hall. For almost two and a half months, we ate seven biscuits for our daily breakfast.The weather was cold and we couldn't light the stove. After we had a decent breakfast every day, we went to the branch library of Jingshi Library on Xuannei Street to read together.When the library is closed, the two of them hide in the quilt and read our "Historical Records".Under such circumstances, he finally couldn't bear the ordeal and went home.I had to stay in Beijing because I had no home to return to.

Unexpectedly, the homeless did not starve to death; when he returned home, he really went back to his "hometown".I, who was born with many disasters and disasters, actually came to hang out with Shuyuan, which is really unexpected! I am writing this today because I want to reminisce about our friendship from the little things in the past, so that my heart can cry once.I used to be able to persuade others not to go from disappointment to despair, but now I know how to persuade myself. after the boat stopped The boat stopped. Stop at Shibawan.Shibawan is a long flat lake in the middle reaches of Chenhe River.Those who say that the place name of Shibawan should be "Shoumawan" should go to the local chronicles to find evidence.From the terrain point of view, it is much more convenient than from the story point of view.So everyone says this is Shibawan.

The pond is seven li long, and there are a lot of bay turns, but it is not certain that the number of eighteen is accurate.Not to mention twelve and fifteen, but to say eighteen, while talking too much, and at the same time harmonizing with the sound of "losing a horse", it is not extremely meaningless. Boats often stop at Shibawan Bay, because it is a very convenient place for Chenhe ships to stop.If you stop here, you can arrive at Luxi, Pu City around dinner tomorrow.For the upward direction, the boat departs from Tanwan, the upper reaches of Chenxi County. This is the most suitable dock for the first day.

Our ship is going down. The boats stood in a formation by the pier, like a formation of soldiers.The big ship lined up to the extreme right, and the other ships came one by one.That's saying we're all going down a boat gang.Although this was just a gang, there were forty boats, each of them pulled their bows to the shore, and a pier made of stones was already crowded and could no longer accommodate other ships.Other ships, there are other gangs, and there are other docks for them to berth, the two are irrelevant. Stop the boat, you can't go ashore. People who have been on a boat for a long time always feel that the ground is shaking under their feet when they climb ashore.Invisibly, it has become a new habit to rest on the boat and be shaken by the water. As soon as I land on the shore, I feel that the shore is moving.In fact, it was his own body that was moving.But who can not doubt that it is an earthquake.

There is nothing to do on the shore, and most people sit on the stone pier and see a group of boats.There are already people standing at the head and tail of the boat, admiring each other.All those who had been sleeping in the tent during the day all came out on the deck at this time.All the boats were cooking, and there was white smoke rising from the bow and stern.Some cooked rice is fried in the pot, there is the sound of oil falling into the pot and exploding, and there is the sound of cutting vegetables.Some people use tripod pots to cook rice. When the rice is cooked, the pots are lifted and the rice soup is poured into the river.Someone squatted on the canopy and sang opera.Sitting on the shore slowly watching the sky and night.

"Yuan, how are we?" I wanted to get on the boat. He said that the rice was not cooked yet, so he followed them to the upper street to buy some things to see what was available.We hit the street. God, what street is this!There are less than 20 shops in total, and people say this is South Street.Going further, turn a turn and go straight up the mountain. There is a small Shibaozi gate. There are some scattered people entering the Baozi gate. "I can't tell, the shop is small, but the business is good." Yuan laughed as he spoke, and I laughed too. "It's much smaller than the small village in your country, so let's go back to Yamen."

From the boat going down from Mayang to Gaocun, you can prepare all the necessary things, such as pork, lard, salt and hot pepper, Gaocun can buy them all.On the boat going up from Chenzhou, everything is well-organized and abundant. If you want to buy something on the way, you still have the opportunity to buy live fish and side dishes.Then the business here should be sluggish. In fact, the market for pork and other things seems to be really not very good in this place. Looking at the massacre case, all the pork seems to be something that was rushed from another village!Beef is available, but it is a little further away, the color has turned purple, and it is obvious at a glance that it is buffalo beef.

But there is another business in this place that can really take a share.The best business on the docks is not a butcher.As long as there are boats moored here, those who sell snacks will never lose money.The semi-stale dim sum from Dashikou on Fifty or Sixty Li Road, once they come to this place, they become a rare commodity to live in.Chicken cakes, snow dates, inch gold candies, sesame pancakes, and brown candies that can be stretched to lengths are all available and easy to sell. There are also pumpkin seeds and peanuts. From the passengers to the fire master on board, everyone will be very interested in such things.Children are even more greedy.Everyone is scrambling to buy and get it, so the price can go up even more.

There are also those who sell cigarettes and opium. There are a lot of people gathered in front of the door. It seems to be a scene of a large food offering in the water and land dojo, which is very lively. We went to a stand selling pears and peanuts to buy pears. Ask the old woman, "How do you sell it?" "A pile of forty dollars." After saying that, he estimated the value of me and Shuyuan with his own eyes. one There were a dozen piles of pears, and it was too cheap to buy only four copper coins, so I bought four piles in total. "No, sir, it only costs one hundred and twenty dollars."

"how?" "Should be less important." Seeing that honest, sad and haggard face, I remembered that this old woman resembled my aunt in some ways.My aunt also has such a thin face, but I don't know if this woman has the kind heart of my aunt. "Then it doesn't matter if we give you a little more money." I wrapped the pears in a straw mat and looked at the woman's face. Yuan is also looking at her. The woman is exactly like my aunt.She said that since more money should be added, a few more pears should be added. one This kind of sincere words, coming from such a country woman, made me worry for no reason.Why is everything different in the countryside and in the city?Why doesn't this woman want more money?The so-called philanthropists in the city, how do they treat themselves and treat others——?Some good people in the city secretly sell rice photos to foreigners to make some money, and some sell cotton clothes for the poor as their own private property.This person is also respected by the world, and his face is illuminated by moral brilliance, so he will be blessed and live long.I am familiar with many such city people.How clumsy the country folk are.This honesty, something that people in the city disdain, why is it left alone in the heart of a poor woman in the country?Conscience can also be said to be an element of poverty. The so-called "moralists" in the city are equally willing to avoid it and do not want to be entangled with the upper body for a moment. Words let the whole country know that he is doing good deeds.In my opinion, either this woman is too stupid, or the people in the city are too smart and capable!

Yuan also seemed to be feeling something for this woman. He saw that the woman took out the pears in the basket and put them into a dustpan, and arranged them in a pile of evenly sized pears. , just sighed lightly.In the end, we still put a bunch of pears in our mat bag while we were unprepared. We wrapped the pears and walked away. On the way, I asked Yuan, "Look at this woman, that honest and frank appearance really reminds me of my infinite emotions—what about you? I will look at her when I see you!" "He's really stupid. City folks aren't like that." The humor of Yuan's words made me smile wryly for a while. As we walked, we took out pears from the mat bag and gnawed, acting like a boatman.Only sailors eat this pear!The pear taste is extremely sour, but it is exactly what we like. If we didn't know that we have mandarin fish for dinner, each of us would have to eat ten before we know how to stop. to the shore to the shore. It was getting dark.The sun sank to the opposite river and mountain, and after the sun disappeared, there were only some scarlet clouds in the sky.These clouds are still changing from time to time, from yellow to red, and then from red to purple, and in a short while they have turned into deep purple. It's almost night. We are still sitting on the pier stone pier, our boat is less than five feet away from us, and the oily smell of fried fish on the boat can be smelled when it blows in the breeze. In the sky, there are some black dots, which seem to be arranged very evenly, and they are hurriedly moving towards Yuanting on the other side in the big sky with gray clouds as the background.I guessed it was a goose, but Yuan guessed it was a crow.But all guesses were wrong.It wasn't until it got smaller that I heard the sound of kege kege. It turned out that it was a straight-mouthed fisherman!Curved-billed egrets are valuable, and these are straight-billed egrets that fishermen don't need.It counts as a wild bird.Born to be free and easy, I am used to going far away to spend the night on the bank of Gaoweizi. Seeing the egret, I thought of the big white crane in Yuan's house, and asked Yuan if he still owed that bird. "Why not? And the dog, and the musket, will be very lonely." The dog chased the field rabbit for Wei Yuan, and the gun has shot countless pheasants, so when Yuan said it, he really looked at his family. A black dog is lying in front of the door, waiting for the owner to come back boredly! "I miss it too," I said, "I think it scares me the first time it bites me, and scares me the second time it jumps on me when it makes out! Proper, that's right." We all laughed. It is true that the dog at home may be very bored at this time, because it is the time for supper, and since people leave home, who will the dog go to the supper table with?Ruoyuan's nephew is at home, so he can come and snatch the chicken head from the ground together.If his mother is the only one left in the family, it will be hard to suffer!Therefore, I recalled the scene of the black dog lying motionless on the ground when Wei Yuan's mother struck it with a stick after the black dog frightened me.Yes, this is a dog, and there are many, many things more lovable than dogs!Once people leave, who will go to the warehouse to look at our fishing rods? After that, who will catch the fish on the dam?Aren't fish also lonely? Simply unimaginable!It is Yuan's mother, with that smiling face and kind heart, once the son is gone, who will benefit from the old man's smiling face and this kind heart? If you don't want to, it won't work either.So we talked about all the most interesting stories, from Yuan's mother to a straw sandal that Yuan's parents had for many years, because this straw sandal was once picked up by Yuan to beat a turtledove. Everything was close to accidental fun, but it was also a coincidence . Can't finish talking. When I got to the boat and smelled the ginger and spicy smell, the bank of the opposite river and the water surface were covered with a thin white mist, and the sky was blue, and the moon could be seen. We boarded the boat and ate food, mandarin fish, and each had a glass of wine.According to the rules on the boat, there is fish without wine, so the two reluctantly ate it according to the rules. After eating, we went ashore again.The moon is brighter in the sky.Under the moonlight, there were gangs of people paddling small boats at the stern of the boat and hawking pig’s trotters and vermicelli. It sounded like he was singing for the sake of singing, but it didn’t seem like he was really there to attract customers. The sound of the oars beating the water also seems to be specially made for this song. In the distance on the water, the singing of the oars can be heard again, the sound is very clear and far away.Everything can be said to be very beautiful. There is a boat sailing down from the upper reaches and rushing to this place to moor, which is the source of this strange singing.Although there is a moon, the moonlight on the seventh and eighth day is very faint, so I always hear the singing coming from the water first, but I can't see the boat or people.When it was time to recognize the shape of the boat, the singing had almost stopped, and the tone changed, becoming more urgent.Soon there was noise from people on board. one If the scene is too beautiful, it will make people feel sad from the scene.So am I, and so am I.We couldn't help listening to something like the Magic Flute, and we couldn't help reading a little about all the dear familiar things of the receding country.This song is a farewell song that carries our young people away from their hometown to seek knowledge and hope in another world!The singing gradually changed, just like our boat going down, telling us the farther we are from our hometown.We can no longer listen to constant singing in one place.Can't do it the second time! The two stayed silently, having nothing to say. At this time, there were many people on the other boats sitting on the shore.And there are opera singers who play the piano and sing at the same time, and their voice is Mayang tune. Yuan Yuan said softly: "Congwen, listen, this is "Wen Gong Goes Xue"! The longest thing people in Mayang do is rowing oars, singing and chant. When it comes to singing, it's like a wounded pig neighing loudly. called." Since the qin was humming and playing, and there was a person who looked like a hand holding the handle to make the clapboard, it never stopped wishing for a moment. Go play in the street.We went to the street for the second time. The street is much more beautiful under the moonlight. one Everything has changed, there are few people in the daytime, and the houses are small and humble, but at this time, the lights are scattered and scattered, which is just right.The street is illuminated by the moonlight, and it is also extremely beautiful. The butcher has closed the door, with only a little yellow light peeking out from the crack of the door, and only the sound of counting money can be heard inside. If the big desk was not placed outside the door, we would suspect that this is a big money shop.It seems that their business is still not bad, not as we thought at first. Other families have already been boarded, but they know that there are still people doing business inside the door.Others that have not closed their doors are still bustling with business. A tall Danfeng Chaoyang kerosene lamp under which various jars glow slightly, and the shadow of the elongated head swaying to and fro under the light, There is something new and interesting.We walked straight to the place with lights, and looked at what kind of things were sold under each light.I didn’t buy anything but I saw everything, and I saw all the dozens of stalls. When I went to the stall of the woman who sold pears, I saw the old woman sitting on a small bench twisting a hemp rope, bowing her waist, and because of her bowing, the tung oil lamp in the pear duster shone on her hair, Like a bird's nest. The woman raised her head when she heard us approaching the stall.I probably thought we were here to buy pears, so I said pears are delicious and you can try them. "We bought a lot." "Oh, I just came here to buy it, I'm so blind!" The woman knew that we didn't want pears, but went to play in the street, so she got up and moved two small bamboo stools for us to sit on. Of course not sitting. I was originally planning to talk to this woman, and I wanted to give her some money, but now it seems that this idea is almost naive. Let's look at this woman's life, and listen to her talking about it. She, we then turned around and went to the riverside pier. Come on the boat, sleep with Yuan, talk about this woman, Yuan thinks of his mother, hugging the thin quilt and crying.Crying, you can't hide it from me, because I know it, I can only pretend to be an adult and laugh at him as "no good".I feel homesick within less than 300 miles away, and there are still 3000 miles to go, what should I do?After a while, they all fell asleep.In another four days, our boat gang arrived at Chenzhou Mansion. December 1927 Beijing