Chapter 11 carve the world eight

Diao Tianxia Ba (1) Dustpan dustpan balls, When foreigners come, they will capsize the ship; Copper basin copper basin clang clang, When foreigners come, they will be shot. ——Yunnan nursery rhymes The French wanted to build a "Yunnan-Vietnam Railway" from Hanoi, Vietnam to Kunming, Yunnan. They first determined the western route, that is, from Mengzi to Kunming via Lin'an, Tonghai, Xizong, Yuxi, Kunyang, and Chenggong.Surveyor An Ye and his two assistants quietly came to Xinlin Village in the name of "exploration", "investigation" and "travel".

People in Xinlin Village have never seen a foreigner, and they don't know what these three monsters are doing.One word passed on to ten, ten to a hundred, and more than 1,000 ordinary people from Xinlin Village came to surround their residences.Almost everyone looked at them sticking their heads out of the windows of the building with eyes that couldn't be more strange.Downstairs was messy, full of people, and filled with smoke.Some said, I am afraid they are not human?Some said, tell them to come downstairs to eat, if they know how to eat, they are human beings.Others yelled, yes, yes, tell them to come downstairs, we want to see how they eat.Although the three Frenchmen could speak some Chinese, they couldn't understand what the people were shouting at all.A well-known local official said to the three Frenchmen: "The common people here have never seen foreigners. They are curious and ask you to go downstairs to eat and let them have a look. Just put down your airs and go downstairs. Let's go around, it's nothing special." The three Frenchmen pondered for a long time, "What does it mean to tell us to go downstairs to eat?" The official explained for a long time, but they didn't understand.They said to the Chinese people: "We don't eat, we have eaten, and our stomachs are full! Thank you for your invitation, you are really the most enthusiastic and greatest Chinese people!"

The noise downstairs continued until late at night. The three Frenchmen have been afraid to go downstairs.They lived in the same house, and it was the first time they had spent the night in a small courtyard house in southern China.Before falling asleep, they extinguished the oil lamps.Immediately, the inside and outside of the house was pitch black, and everything was shrouded in terror.They lighted the oil lamp again.Under the influence of oil lamps, they had to pay attention to their surroundings again.Inside the house, there were more and more shadows on the rafters and tiles, cracks and gaps everywhere, and the dim light seemed to summon countless ghosts and ghosts for them.Outside the house, there are dark shadows, the night wind seems to be there, and occasionally some strange sounds come from a distance.After a long time, the other two Frenchmen fell asleep, only the man named An Ye was still tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.He gradually adapted to the dark environment in front of him, and no longer worried about what terrible things would happen.Although he didn't feel drowsy, he felt much better about the old house than before. He even suspected that he was a dreamer, in a trance and awake, and the two states existed in his brain at the same time.

What power seems to be accumulating in the silence outside the house?An Ye has never ignored this point.He thought that there might be some bad guy waiting for an opportunity to commit crimes or terrorize them.Time then suddenly slowed down, even to a standstill.An Ye watched the movement outside the house a hundred times, and when he definitely found someone moving outside the door, he made a decisive decision, picked up a rifle, opened the door suddenly, and rushed out.At this time, he saw a shirtless old Chinese man holding a dim paper lantern, standing under the eaves, illuminating a few young people with a faint light, asking them to put their faces on the flower window and try to peep Looking at An Ye's room.An Ye pointed his gun at them and asked them what they wanted to do?Several young people were not afraid. They had never seen a rifle and did not know how powerful it was.They looked at An Ye with a smirk, walked to An Ye's side facing the muzzle of the gun, and looked at An Ye's whole body with suspicious eyes.An Ye felt that they were not malicious, so he put down his rifle for them to observe.The more they looked at it, the more they felt strange, how could there be such a "person"?One said, "He has hair on his face and hands. He's a red-haired man." Another said, "Oh, what a long thigh he has! His feet are bigger than a cow's feet." Another said, "In the evening I can't see clearly, see you tomorrow morning."

The old man carrying a paper lantern kept approaching An Ye, raised the paper lantern continuously, and shone on An Ye's face.An Ye looked unhappy.So the old man gave him a slight push and said, "Smile, you can't laugh, right?" An Ye looked up into the distance.Let them keep turning around themselves, bending down, looking up, and sighing.An Ye not only resented the ignorance and unreasonableness of these Chinese people, but also hated the peculiar smell emanating from them, the sour and stinky beast smell mixed with heat, which made him unbearable.An Ye asked them in blunt Chinese: "Have you seen enough?"

Diao Tianxia Ba (2) A young man shook his head and said, "I don't understand." Others echoed, "I don't understand, I don't understand. We don't understand a word you said." An Ye endured it, and said to them: "Don't doubt, we are indeed human. We are French, understand?" After speaking, An Ye flapped his nose a few times with his palm, and immediately retreated to the room, closing the door tightly. bolt on.He blew out the lamps and let darkness take over.After that, the few Chinese people whose curiosity was basically satisfied went home after discussing.

Because of tossing around most of the night, An Ye slept in the next morning.His two assistants also fell asleep with An Ye as if they were dead.There was a commotion outside the house again, waking An Ye up from his deep sleep.He asked the two assistants who woke up a minute earlier than him, "What's going on outside?" One assistant replied simply: "I don't know." The other assistant said, "Maybe those stupid Chinese people came again." Let's see." An Ye carefully discerned the voices outside the house.He finally understood that the few Chinese people who watched him last night were arguing with another group of Chinese people.

"They are human beings. We saw his hands and feet last night. They have fingernails and toes. Yes, they are human beings." There were not many people who held this view, and they spoke quietly. "They are not human, not human. They are beasts. If they are human, why are they taller than us? Why is their hair yellow?" There are too many people who hold this view, accounting for the vast majority.So the voice was so loud that An Ye was terrified. "They are human beings." As soon as this voice came out, it was swallowed by another. "They are not human beings. Not human beings, not human beings." The shouts were higher and higher, advancing layer by layer, and accompanied by terrifying footsteps, they were getting closer and closer to their door.

"Come out, let's see; come out, let's see; come out, let's see!" An Ye nervously put the rifle away, and then said to the two assistants: "It seems that we are in a very dangerous situation, very dangerous. Be calm, be calm, and don't anger the Chinese people. Last night, I tested Well, the Chinese people don’t have any malice, they are just curious. Today, we do whatever they tell us to do, it’s nothing special.” However, An Ye's two assistants disagreed.They think the Chinese people are too absurd and shameful.An Ye said: "I'm not arguing with you now. Do as I say."

An Ye opened the door calmly, waved helplessly to the Chinese people downstairs, and said, "We are human, French. France, France, you know?" "Come downstairs, come downstairs!" So, An Ye led two assistants down the stairs step by step.Someone immediately went up to greet them, handed over three rice balls, and shouted: "Eat it, eat it!" After An Ye ate the big salt-free and tasteless rice ball in his hand, he said it was delicious and very fragrant.The two assistants stopped after taking a few bites.Another person handed sugar cane, still yelling: "Let them eat, let them eat, it's so sweet, let's see if they will eat sweet things?" An Ye took it, blinked his blue eyes, and chewed a few times with difficulty. Mouth, unable to swallow, shook his head, and put the sugar cane aside.Someone shouted again: "Let them walk and see if they will walk back?" An Ye blushed and walked a few steps as required.Someone in the crowd yelled again: "There are still two left. Let's see if they will leave? Let them go a few more times." Finally, An Ye's two assistants got angry and shouted: "It's too presumptuous. You bunch of animals. If you want to treat us like monkeys, you are insulting our personality." One of An Ye's assistants said while pulling out a revolver and fired a shot into the sky.Some people shouted: "That is a double-barreled pistol. A man in Dali City bought one from Myanmar. I have seen it before. The sound is very loud."

Chinese people are not afraid of gunshots at all, they have never seen a pistol, so many people rushed to see him, and some even tried to snatch his pistol.An Ye told him to run, he was so frightened that he hugged the pistol in both hands and went out of the crowd.The situation suddenly became chaotic, thousands of people crowded towards them, unstoppable, An Ye was too frightened to care about the other assistant, and fled in a hurry.He was followed by more than a dozen people, and they kept chasing after him.He ran, ran, and couldn't run anymore, so he turned and entered an alley, saw a courtyard door wide open, and rushed in. At that time, Gao Shimei was carving a lattice door in the yard, and he was so focused that he didn't notice anyone coming in.An Ye was stunned when he saw the wooden lattice door in front of Gao Shimei.He forgot that the people outside the door were chasing him, and he also forgot that his two assistants were running away.He lowered his head and carefully watched every detail of the wooden lattice door.He couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart, and said: "It's so wonderful, so wonderful, and Chinese folk art is so incredible." At this time, some ordinary people rushed in. Seeing that this monster also likes wooden lattice doors, they also shocked. Diao Tianxia Ba (3) Several ordinary people surrounded An Ye.They are glad that they can finally observe and verify whether this monster is human from the smallest distance.They grabbed An Ye, knocked him to the ground, looked at his hands, checked his feet, touched his hair, pinched his nose.No matter how you look at it, they feel very fresh.Gao Shimei also found it very interesting, so she stopped what she was doing and sat on the sidelines to watch the fun. "Trust me, I'm a man, French. France, understand? Far, far away in the West," An Ye said, "We came by boat from there to help your country build a railway .” An Ye saw that they were all puzzled, so he pointed to Gao Shimei's hammer and said, "Iron, do you understand? The road is made of this kind of iron." They all shook their heads.Afterwards, someone asked, "Iron can also be used as a road? Where do you get so much iron?" An Ye squatted down and used Gao Shimei's long knives to form a railroad track, and said, "That's it, the train is running on it." "Yo, walking on knives? How strange, what shoes shall we wear?" "It's not for people to walk, it's for the train to go. The train, you see, looks like my arm, a long one, and it's also like a snake, crawling and sliding on it." "What about copper roads, railways, trains, and waterwheels? We don't understand. Don't build any railways for us. We are human, and we dare not use your ghosts. Besides, with railways and trains, then How do our horses walk?" "At that time, you don't have to drive the horses." "If we don't drive the horse, what shall we do? What will we eat?" An Ye was so embarrassed that he was sweating profusely.Gao Shimei came over to help him, "I see, he is a person, he can talk and do things, and he likes my grid carvings. Yes, he must be a person, trust my eyes. I will not be wrong .” "I worry that they are wolves in human clothing," said a commoner. "I always feel that they are just different from us." Gao Shimei said: "Didn't you hear clearly? He is French, of course he is not the same as us." "We listened to Master Gao, he is what you say he is, and he is a human being if you say he is." "He is just one person," Gao Shimei said, "Don't be curious, go home quickly, do what you should do, don't dawdle here. Okay?" Gao Shimei drove them away one by one out the gate.In the end, only An Ye was left.Gao Shimei closed the courtyard door, looked back at An Ye and smiled. An Ye swallowed a mouthful of saliva, trying to remain calm. "I really can't believe that there are hidden great artists like you among the Chinese people," An Ye said, "You are a rare and strange person in this world, and your woodcarving works are masterpieces belonging to all mankind." An Ye finished speaking , approached the wooden lattice door again, his face that had just been liberated from the rigid state, tried his best to get closer to the magical figures, landscapes, and trees on the wooden lattice door, and his dark blue eyes also appeared Those things are just more magical and more magnificent.An Ye's expression became more and more obsessed, as if his soul had been lost in the wooden lattice door, and he could never get out again.Gao Shimei touched his shoulder lightly with her hand, and then he came back to his senses, and said to Gao Shimei: "This is really a fascinating woodcarving work, it is attracting me and won't let me leave it. From a certain On the one hand, watching such a work is an adventure. The eyes can only keep looking down, the mind is confused and happy, and it loses both the standard and the direction." Gao Shimei couldn't understand An Ye's words, he was confused He asked puzzledly: "You are French. In a place far, far away, do you also like lattice woodcarving like us Chinese?" An Ye said: "I think not only the French love your wood-carved lattice, but all the beauty-loving nations in the world, as long as they can see such a wood-carved lattice, they will not be able to control their excitement." When Gao Shimei heard this, she was very happy.After chatting with An Ye for a while, he invited An Ye to their house for dinner.An Ye refused very sincerely. He said, "Where are my two assistants? I'm going to look for them." So Gao Shimei escorted him out of Xinlin Village. When returning, Gao Shimei pondered over the foreigner An Ye's words of praise for herself, so she naturally slowed down.He found that he couldn't forget the scene just now. An Ye's eyes and what he said brought him great joy in a very short period of time.He felt that every street in Xinlin Village was warm and quiet, and he even felt that the whole Xinlin Village was filled with a fragrant atmosphere like his wooden carved lattice door.He suddenly had a kind of anticipation, hoping to see the foreigner An Ye again as soon as possible. Diao Tianxia Ba (4) An Ye returned to their residence and saw his two assistants lying on the bed safe and sound, talking about the terrible and ignorant Chinese people in mocking terms.Anger rose in An Ye's heart, and he cursed: "You are the two most ignorant and terrifying Frenchmen. Have you seen their Chinese artists? Have you seen their incomparably great wooden lattice doors? In such a seemingly small village, there is a rare master of art and a masterpiece of art. What qualifications do you have to despise them? Mock them? They are great, we are small; they are sensitive, we are dull ;They are very deep, we are very shallow. Do you know? Do you understand?" An Ye's two assistants laughed loudly, thinking that An Ye was frightened and intimidated by the barbaric Chinese farmers.They pushed An Ye down on the bed and slapped him lightly a few times to test if he was awake.They said: "God, save our An Ye! He was frightened by the barbaric Chinese peasants, lost his soul, and talked nonsense. Save him!" An Ye stood up and dismissed them.After a while, An Ye said: "God should save you people who are arrogant but actually weak." An Ye's two assistants stopped talking.The atmosphere in the house became a little weird.They can't change An Ye, and An Ye can't change them either.All three of them sighed. From the open window a sudden cool breeze blew in.It seemed to remind An Ye that he should take a walk outside the house.He immediately got up and walked away, as if someone was calling him outside.Two of his assistants immediately ran to grab him and forbid him to go out. "An Ye, An Ye, you haven't eaten yet, don't you know you're hungry? It's too scary, what kind of demon have you fallen into?" An Ye said: "I have established my position, and you are not allowed to doubt." An assistant brought him bread and water.Only then did he feel that he was indeed hungry.As he ate, he told them about his psychological state when he saw the carved wooden lattice door.Still emotional, he said: "Everything I've seen is true and believable, and my statements are absolutely honest. What I've seen is so much more complicated than what I've stated, I can't Telling the subtleties of a carved wooden lattice door makes me uneasy." The next day, An Ye's two assistants took out various measuring instruments and prepared to start work.An Ye said: "Let's not be busy with work. There is still an important member of us who has not arrived. He is an American and my friend. Our work cannot do without him. He will bring us from their university. Important information. He will arrive here in a day or two. Then we can start working normally. So, I will take you to see the wooden lattice door today, okay?" Of course An Ye's two assistants were happy.Since last night, they have been confused by An Ye's behavior, and their hearts are full of mysteries.Now, An Ye wants them to look at that mysterious thing, which can dispel the fog in their hearts.They applauded An Ye's arrangement. An Ye and his two assistants came to Gao Shimei's workshop.Gao Shimei saw that An Ye had brought two young people who looked as weird as him today, and thought that these two young people would also praise her wooden lattice door as enthusiastically as An Ye, so she was very happy, and soon opened the door. The blue cloth draped over the lattice door allows them to take a closer look.The air in the room was motionless, only the sound of human snorting and the aroma from the carved wooden lattice door.An Ye's eyes stroked the wooden lattice door back and forth, and he was once again shocked by the aura of emptiness, and how pure and vivid this aura of emptiness was this morning.Contrary to An Ye, his two assistants stood in front of the carved wooden lattice door, discussing enthusiastically while gesturing with their palms.The shadow of the palm fell on the wooden lattice door, and it suddenly turned into four huge black hands.They whispered, their faces were indifferent, but their eyes had a blue light that made people panic.An Ye told them to appreciate quietly without talking.The two assistants nodded, met with their eyes, and simply walked outside the door, continuing to discuss topics that they were both interested in.An Ye was very disappointed with their performance, so he also went out, intending to call them in.Unexpectedly, An Ye was entangled by two assistants as soon as he went out.One of them said: "Ah, this wooden lattice door is indeed unique in China and in the world. Its artistic value and economic value are immeasurable." Another assistant continued: "Mr. An Ye, we two have discussed it. Well, now, I solemnly propose a dreamlike proposal to you, why don’t we buy this wooden lattice door, which is called a masterpiece of art, and ship it back to France, so that it will bring us good luck?” An Ye originally With this thought, now, hearing what the two assistants said, his emotions also rose.He walked into the room confidently, sat in front of Gao Shimei carefully, and was about to put forward their exciting idea.He endured it again and again, but he was always speechless.For some reason, he suddenly felt that his heart was as dark as those two assistants. To achieve a certain purpose, he actually wanted to possess a great work of art from another great nation. This kind of mentality is undoubtedly unhealthy and irrational.He stood up resolutely and burned that exciting dream deep in his heart.The two assistants were surprised by An Ye's silence.They thought that An Ye always lacked courage in doing things, so they decided to put An Ye aside and do this exciting business by themselves.They said: "Mr. Gao, we would like to buy this imaginative woodcarving work of yours. Would you like to sell it?" , Said: "It's okay, the way it is now is also very exciting, we like it, so you can sell it to us!".Gao Shimei said: "Are you crazy? You want to buy my grid carving, so it doesn't mean you bought my life?" At this time, Zhao Tianjue was standing behind them, and he scolded An Ye and Two of his assistants asked, "Is this something you bought? This is a treasure from our Zhao Clan's ancestral hall, and I will never sell it to you. Get lost, or I will teach you a lesson with a dog-beating stick." Diao Tianxia Ba (5) An Ye's two assistants ran away in fright, but An Ye remained in the workshop.Gao Shimei said: "Do you still want to buy my grid carving?" An Ye said quickly: "No, no, no, I dare not have such an attempt. If anyone wants to own such an extraordinary work, use your Chinese As an idiom, it is whimsical." Gao Shimei asked: "Then why are you still here with me?" An Ye said: "I still want to see how Mr. Gao completes this great art masterpiece." Gao Shimei said to He said: "It will take three to five years." An Ye said: "Then I will stay in Xinlin Village for three to five years." When Gao Shimei heard this, she laughed and said, "It seems that you, a foreigner, are like me. Also, a lunatic." In the next few days, An Ye solemnly invited Gao Shimei and Zhao Tianjue to their residence for coffee and wine.They became good friends.An Ye said to Gao Shimei: "You are my lifelong good friend. You and your works have changed me. Let me live in an unparalleled brilliance. That is the light of your spirit, the light of art." "However, many people say that I am a weirdo," Gao Shimei said. "They often make fun of me and think that I am a stupid guy." An Ye said: "Chinese people don't like shadows. You are a great folk artist. In your eyes, everything is very clear under the dazzling sunlight. You hide in your own workshop, isolated from the world. , you walk in eternal tranquility, you are the most agile man, you are a poet. I have read your Chinese, it is filled with a fiery emotion that cannot be analyzed by reason, an artistic conception as fresh as the morning light And a refined and pious spirituality, all of which sneaked into my complex senses as soon as I picked up that great book. To be honest, I also had this feeling when I saw your carved wooden lattice door. This feeling, and it is getting stronger and stronger. You make me feel like I live in another world, a world full of gentleness, obedience, love and compassion, a world without secular power. In your place, the power used to govern the country Art grows in every corner of every village, every home, and as wealth increases and family grows, this art grows richer and stronger. So beautiful, so romantic. Your wood carvings have changed Me, I completely lost the sense of time passing by, and lost the utilitarian nature. I just feel that the long river of time is running endlessly. I can't tell the hours, and I can't tell the minutes and seconds. It's so wonderful and amazing. Said To be honest, people love the artist's work, but they don't understand the artist's real life. This is very common, both in China and France." Gao Shimei said: "Mr. An Ye, your words remind me of a famous saying of our ancient Chinese, 'you play for no reason. When you travel, you watch what you see; when you travel, you watch what changes. You Hu You Hu! There is no one who can distinguish it.' It means that the fun of traveling is all about having no purpose. Others travel to see what they want to see, but I travel to see Look at this ever-changing world. Swimming, swimming, no one can understand my purpose of traveling around. Now it seems, Mr. An Ye, you have understood our sage." "No, from the words of your ancients, I understand you better." An Ye said, "Others' sculpture is just a simple movement, and they repeat the same movement day after day, year after year, Make the complicated work simple. But you, on the contrary, make the simple work complicated, you are innovating every day, and every knife you make is not only changing the appearance of the wood, but also creating a new life for the wood. Infuse your life. Therefore, you are the most miserable person and the happiest person. Am I right, Mr. Shimei." In this friendly atmosphere, An Ye made a request to buy some small works of Gao Shimei.At that time, for the sake of life and friendship, Gao Shimei agreed to sell a batch of wooden lions, wooden Buddha statues, screen-style armchairs, wooden vases, etc. that she carved in her spare time to An Ye.An Ye paid Gao Shimei a considerable sum of money. An Ye returned with a full load.He was excited about it for days.With the company of these fine works of art, he appears noble and wealthy.He felt that his soul could no longer fall. Gao Shimei handed over all the silver to his father-in-law, and let him continue to build the nave of Zhao's ancestral hall.Moreover, since then, everyone has meat and eggs in their rice bowls. Gao Shimei and Zhao Tianjue also started to drink. You two give me a toast, and I toast you a glass, very happy. Zhao Tianjue and Yang Yishan devoted all their energy to building the nave of Zhao's ancestral hall. They bought wood step by step, and invited carpenters, stonemasons, and masons.Working hard and hard every day.Gao Shimei continued to carve his lattice door. Diao Tianxia Ba (6) One day, for unknown reasons, Zhao Tianjue suddenly fell down on the construction site of Zhao's ancestral hall, his eyes rolled.Yang Yishan ran over, grabbed Zhao Tianjue's right hand, and pinched the acupuncture point between his thumb and index finger until he woke up.Lying in Yang Yishan's arms, Zhao Tianjue asked, "When will the Zhao's ancestral hall be built?" Yang Yishan didn't answer.After hearing the news, Gao Shimei came and said to her father-in-law: "It rained yesterday, and the weather has changed a bit. You old man should pay more attention to your health and don't come out to check. Everything is fine." When saying this, Gao Shimei also felt that she had lost her logic.It didn't rain at all yesterday, isn't it sunny now?There was no wind at all.The wood, bricks, and adobe, as well as the houses, woods, and roads in the distance, are all painted with bright colors.There is no worrying or unpleasant sight.Gao Shimei suddenly said something that made everyone present puzzled, "Maybe there is a shadow in my heart."