Chapter 56 gorgeous edge

——This topic is translated into the vernacular as "a well-dressed love story". In the first lunar month, the countryside routinely performs plays.In the past two days, everyone’s greetings have changed from "Have you eaten yet?" to "Will you go to the theater?" Grandma Min accompanied me. On the way, there was an old woman washing vegetables at the ferry. I asked her: "Grandma Sixteen, why don't you go to the theater?" I immediately became worried, afraid that she wouldn't be able to answer, because she didn't look like she could afford entertainment.She was wearing a blue and white patchwork jacket, squatting at the bottom of the stone steps, blushing, looking up at us with a vague smile.Her face was flat and sunken, with a dry red smile—a little girl's shy smile dried in the hot sun.Grandma Min asked all the way: "Go?" The old woman also replied: "Go to Kouou! Are you going?"

Grandma Min then urged affectionately: "Go? Go?" While we were talking, we had already walked over the high and low Loess Long, and we could hear the sound of gongs and drums in the ancestral hall from afar. .The newly built reed mat shed is covered with bright red posters, with many charming names written on them: "Zhu Liqin, Yin Yuexiang, Fan Guilian." Facing the light yellow field in midwinter, the red paper also looks "lonely red", as if hit Drum urges the flowers, and the flowers bloom and fall immediately. But because it is a rare event all year round, the country people have to pretend to be indifferent.Everyone said that today's crew is lame, which means that they have high vision and rich experience in theater.All of them wore lazy and desolate smiles, and put their hands in their sleeves, lest they would be regarded as genuinely fond of Chinese New Year just like the children.The day before the performance, everyone went to visit the theater first, and they shook their heads when they mentioned the troupe.There is only one person in charge, in his twenties and thirties, with Western-style parted hair, a small long face, and a wine-stained nose. He imitated the popular dress in the city, wearing a maroon stuffed robe and a small checkered scarf around his neck. On the back of the chair, on behalf of the official said: "This year's team, the outfit is good - the team is an ordinary team. But I said, if it is really a good team, we in Liuxi can't afford it!"

right? "Although he didn't say it to me, I was already convinced by the side. He calmly repeated it seven or eight times: "I didn't see the team, so I dare not say a good word.Outfit is good!The team is an ordinary team. " Grandma Min had no interest in local opera, and her family was short of staff, so she sent me there the next day and then went back.This dance room is not completely open-air, there is only a small area between the stage and the guest seats without a roof.The building on the top of the stage is very fancy.The center is sunken like a large hexagonal ice-patterned milky white bowl, with thick edges of brown pottery stemming from each corner.The stage protruded squarely, and on the left and right of Pan Jinlong's black lacquered pillars were stuck a piece of paper with "quiet" and "super class".There is also a big chime clock on the right.

There is naturally a table on the stage, with a big red flat gold table surround.The handymen on the scene sat at the head of the square table with their hands clasped, much more majestic than the waiters in Beijing opera.He was wearing a big gray cotton robe. He was tall, with a big gray face, like a yin official, invisible to the naked eye but supervising everything there. The performance starts at one or two o'clock in the afternoon.This is the first time I have seen a real sun on the stage, and I feel strangely moved.The bright red flat gold curtain embroidered with rows of lake-colored cranes, the sunlight shining obliquely on it is indeed the sunshine of another era.The embroidered curtain also gave off a faint smell, not as clean as those fake antiques sold in Yangzhuang.I remembered that there was a northern shop selling miscellaneous grains near our house in Shanghai.Some of their flour, mung beans and red beans are packed in pockets, drawers, glass lattices, and some are packed in large porcelain bottles. Colorful martial arts characters are painted on the white porcelain, and there is a graceful lid on the bottle. It was wrapped with old blue cloth along the edges (I don't know how to do it), and it was lined with a layer of cotton to make it airtight.Against the blue cloth cushion, this bottle has a strong human touch.The setting on this stage must be the upper room of a middle-class official family, but the room can still have such bottles and jars, which contain millet for feeding birds, or candied lotus seeds.It can be imagined that in addition to mahogany furniture, screens, calligraphy and paintings, there is a toilet behind the bed in the room.The black curtains hung heavily, and then there was still the shadow of the sun that filled the room with red flames.It seems to be an early summer afternoon in a prosperous family.

An old student sat on a chair in the middle and had been singing for a long time.He has a moral responsibility to the audience, and he must have an account for everything he does in his life. Although I didn't understand, I always suspected that besides being loyal to the emperor and patriotic, he should also talk about making money to support the family, because the singing is very plain.Lao Sheng is played by a broad-faced girl. Although she also has a big black beard, she still wears heavy clothes and paints a big pink face.Although the weather is in the middle of winter, his face seems to be sweaty and lustful.The old red and gold mending suit he was wearing completely disappeared into the red background - originally, he was just Xiaosheng's father, a miserable character.

He called Xiaosheng out and told him to stay at his aunt's house for a while and study quietly. The yamen was probably too noisy.Xiaosheng's white robe is embroidered with blue cranes all over his body, and his outfit is really bright.He went in and turned around, changed into a lemon yellow long dress embroidered with blue flowers and birds, and went out as a guest to see his aunt.When he sat down, someone lifted up the back of the chair with care, and put it high on the back of the chair. The white waist of his red trousers and the faint black undershirt could be seen all the way from the audience.The aunt and nephew were chatting, the young lady came to see her mother, and when she saw the young master's beauty, she immediately froze, shrugged her shoulders, and shrank back. A choke.Then she smiled, and cast her winking eyes one by one; as if she couldn't help herself, she lifted her plump shoulders.When he had time to look closely at him, he was surprised again and choked twice.The audience burst out laughing and said, "Why are you so ugly?" They asked again: "Why do everyone in this team have such ugly faces?" They also criticized: "How can the waist be so thick?" What I said was very harsh, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Only then did I understand what the Chinese call "showing one's face" is all about.In fact, the horns are not ugly, with a thick round face, apricot eyes, a slightly clumsy nose and a loose mouth; there are a pair of dimples on the cheeks, and the pink face seems to be puffed up and gently tapped with nails. Flicked two bombs and got away with it.The hair is in the style of the fashion, with several piles on the forehead; the face is also lightly rubbed with rouge in order to be fashionable.She was wearing a light yellow cardigan with red peonies embroidered on it, but an old white sarong was hastily tied underneath.Comparing it with Xiaosheng's yellow robe, I will compare it to him.It seems unwise for the two protagonists to wear yellow at the same time in one scene, but before the bright red background, the two of them separated and reunited, advancing and retreating, indeed like two dragons, and also like a dragon boat on the Dragon Boat Festival.

After being introduced by the old lady, the cousins ​​flirted openly, asking and answering, getting closer and closer.The old lady intervened, with her hands on her hips, tilting her head to look at them, seeing from one face to another.Even if it is not an "official family", even a farming family in the countryside, there will never be such a situation.If this old lady was in Beijing opera, no matter what, she would have a lot of respect for her; in Shaoxing opera, it is the opinion of the more self-willed young people, and they don't like her very much.God knows, she didn't hinder them much, but she still had her white nose wiped, and she wore a lock of long hair like a prisoner, and the hair behind her head was glued into a pointed horn, and she looked like a ghost; The old scarlet dress was similar to the chair collar.

Miss went back to her room with a heavy heart, sat down and sang a song, and then ordered the maid to go to the study to greet Master Biao.The servant girl guessed what was going on in the young lady's mind, and felt that she had something to do with spreading the word, and seemed to be embarrassed, so she sang a solo while standing in the hallway, expressing her position.The maid's long face was a little concave.It is the so-called "saddle face".Her hair is casual clothes, with Qi Zhenzhen's cut short at the back, and a few red silk flowers in her temples in front, which is the dress of female concubines in civilized marriages in the inland.

She was wearing an azurite imitation satin jacket and trousers, and a lake green belt, with a red curtain on the back, making her look extremely smart.In fact, her back is a bit hunched, and her chest is tight, and her heart is slightly raised.She stood at a corner of the stage, her whole body was in shadow, only a ray of sunlight shot down from above.Like a sleepy and casual Sopotlight, it just shines on her belly.She put her hands on her hips and raised her fingers in the other hand. She tapped the air and sang every line.In Shaoxing opera, no matter men, women or children, they all speak with the same accent, which seems to me appropriate.For example, if Jane Alston's novel is to be made into an opera, I think that if one singing voice is used to the end, there will be a special effect, which can be used to express the calm and small society in the English countryside in the 18th century. "People have the same heart, and the heart has the same reason", it is all right to say it, but it will always be the same.The society of Shaoxing opera is rural China, but there are constant family members who go out to do business, rush for exams, become officials, become masters, and come back "earning copper coins".The singing voice of Shaoxing opera is always the voice of a young woman, women in the south of the Yangtze River often have this kind of appearance: white and oily cheeks, although they tend to be full of flesh, they are still honest people; those small black eyes, A little tadpole-like, hanging upside down, with a waist that looks bold, with gold rings and bracelets on his hands, his fat body looks like a whole bolt of white cloth in a cloth shop, and it smells like new cloth.Born in the past, especially in dramas, she is probably very conservative. If she is in Shanghai and Hangzhou today, she can also meet a lot of boyfriends in the amusement park, flee with her husband, and the newspaper publishes "Warning to run away from wife Tang Yuzhen" "Advertisement, she is limited to go home within three days.But no matter what the situation is, she is confident and confident, as if she can sing such a passage by letting go of her throat.Banzai's beat, and at the end there is a slow "Ai-ai-ai!" Although it is the aftermath

, and never play tricks, keep your throat straight until you finish singing.That woman's voice is a reassurance to the flustered modern people, so now it is popular everywhere from the city to the countryside, and the fleshy singing voice can be touched with hands.The horror of this era is like watching a horror movie. The audience firmly holds the woman's hand in the dark to reassure themselves. And Shaoxing opera is performed in this place, because it is its hometown, it is like a dilapidated big family, it is rare to have a rich and well-dressed son, and there is a kind of sadness amidst the joy.I sat in the front row, with long benches behind me, but in front of me there were armchairs and mahogany kang beds. Sitting on them made people feel flattered.I can't help but notice the sunlight on the stage all the time, that huge light tube, with a cloud of light blue dust floating in it - it's a kind of daylight from a headgear, opened up and radiating like smoke like a dream . ... I can no longer explain why there is such a kind of sadness when there is a real sun shining on the stage.There is a place between art and reality that is superimposed, and it becomes blurred; it seems to be holding a match burning in the sun, flickering, I can't see the light orange flame, but I can feel my hand more clearly. , is also a temporary thing in sunlight...

The maid on the stage sang for a while, holding the tea tray in her hand, walked through the house in the posture of spreading flowers and brushing willows, crossed countless thresholds, came to the study, bowed to Young Master Biao, and raised the tea tray up to her eyebrows.In this play, she offered tea many times, and the princes and ladies always showed extremely tired faces, and said lightly: "Forget it, put it on the stage." It means that it is not rare.The maid ran back and forth twice, during which there must have been a lot of diplomatic words, which I didn't understand.But seeing the young master sneaked into the embroidery room that night. The young lady didn't seem to know that he was coming, and she was busy embroidering mandarin ducks under the lamp. She slowly twisted the thread first, crossed one leg, and wrapped the invisible silk thread around the tip of the embroidered shoe. Both hands were doing heavy work.The chair she was sitting on was just an ordinary dark red rolling chair in the country. A horizontal bar on the back of the chair was turned up at both ends, like cornices, which was quite ancient.She was sitting in the sun, with her face sideways, exposing a large area of ​​light pink cheeks. The softness reminded people of the duck egg powder in the brocade painting, which was packed in a red paper box with gold and net pattern.As long as you are Chinese, you probably always want to smell her.She wears a fashionable single-head fake diamond pendant on her ear, and sometimes it brightens up, and the quiet and eternal sunlight seems to choke for a while.At this moment, the audience is secretly watching her with the eyes of Xiaosheng who is hidden in the shadow, and loves her.At this time, she suddenly became innocent and cute, and she only wanted to embroider a pair of mandarin ducks and give them to him. Xiaosheng has a handsome Cantonese-style jujube-stone face, with pimples all over his face, and his straight eyebrows and rouge almost make his entire face red.He didn't look as mature as the girl, but no matter who started it first, he looked very anxious and flustered at this moment.Hiding behind her, he looked at her left and right, and couldn't help smiling; when he wanted to tiptoe over and hug her, he didn't dare.Finally, she plucked up the courage to put both hands on the empty cage on her shoulders. She jumped up in fright. Seeing that it was her cousin, she politely gave up her seat and talked generously.In ancient China, socializing between men and women was not easy, but sometimes it turned out to be decent.China was originally an unpredictable country.Xiaosheng was caught by politeness for a while, so he could only pretend that it was the most common thing for cousins ​​to face each other late at night.Later, the words gradually became unreasonable, and the two stood in front of the stage, just comparing the butterflies and flowers with the two flying birds from left to right.The young master forced him to come over with one sentence, but the young lady stopped with another sentence.The audience is not interested in the flirting of literary tunes, and gradually complains.When the young master had no other choice, he blushed and pulled out a folding fan stuck in his collar, and smiled lightly on the young lady's arm.The young lady hastily flicked the sleeves of her shirt twice, and gave him a blank look. For a long time, just stalemate. I noticed the three large red curtains embroidered with the banner of "Leyi Theater Troupe". The middle one had been removed at some point, exposing the original furnishings in the ancestral hall; There is a couplet hanging "The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still have to work hard".Seeing those two sentences in this unexpected place, it is extremely clear.I never knew the words were so great.Across the two people twisting like yellow dragons in front of the stage, I looked at the couplet. Although I didn't even have the qualifications to express emotion, I was still sad for a while, and tears were about to fall. The set was taken down and turned out to represent a bed net.The handymen on the stage are holding on to the bamboo poles on both sides, and the embroidered covers are stretched out, waiting on the sidelines.But seeing the two flirting to a point of enthusiasm, the bed curtain with malicious intentions rushed forward.It looked like it was unsuccessful again, and the bed quietly retreated again.I was amazed in the audience - wouldn't it be the most daring symbolism if used in modern drama. Singing and chorusing, when it was too late, the man finally started to pull. The women ran around the stage amidst the sound of gongs and drums, one fled and the other chased, showing off their beauty. The audience has just been refreshed here.The girl seemed to be making progress at first, but things developed to this point, but it was beyond her expectation.She ran for her life, but was finally caught.She came up with a plan and shouted: "Hey, someone is coming!" Coaxed him to turn around, blew out the lamp, broke free and ran outside the room, until he was in front of his mother, too anxious to say anything. out, shaking into a ball.The old lady was very confused, she just sat idly and waved her fan, asking: "What's the matter?" The lady hesitated for a while, and whispered a secret word to her mother, and her mother knocked her with the fan, and said angrily: " You girl! Cousin asks you what you want, just don't give it to him!" Treat her like a child who is not polite.She walked out of the room, feeling hopeless, and hesitated for a while; suddenly she looked like a fat child painted in red and green.After holding the lamp and returning to her room, her cousin was no longer there. She was overjoyed, and hurriedly put the lamp stand on the ground, and went to close the door and lock it.The doors were bolted one after another. The cousin was hiding in the room, but suddenly jumped out.She was taken aback, patted her chest, and gave him a blank look, but then she smiled after another, and her eyes streamed towards him endlessly.The two stood up to their original positions again and began to sing.During this period, the bed reappeared, and the one on the left just lingered. In the end, Xiaosheng didn't use force, but came up with a powerful reason—I really want to know what reason—the lady raised her face and sang: "It's so angry, and it's funny...".After he spoke, his brows were deeply locked, and he sang: "It's hard to go to the left, and it's hard to go to the right..." Obviously he was relieved.After a while, he took her into the tent with him.There was a fat lump at the base of her neck at the back; a long thin lock of wig hung down her back in an ugly curve. Xiaosheng only hooked her neck, and the two of them stood side by side, bent their waists at the same time, lowered their heads, and got into the tent.That ridiculous moment made it obvious that they were two girls. At this time, the old lady came to her senses again, and felt something strange, so she came to check alone.Knock on the door and tell her, "Ah Nan, open the door!" The young lady tremblingly told her mother to wait.The old lady said: "Mother is just mother, why are you mother and mother - you want to murder me?" The young lady had no choice but to open the door to let the old lady in, but she stood firmly in front of the bed and guarded the tent door with her shoulders on her shoulders , clutching the tent with his backhand.When the old lady asked, she only said: "I can't see it!" The old lady wanted to see, but she wrestled with her mother and was pushed by her mother. She immediately got up and went to guard the tent door again; struggling, It was another fall and flew far away.The mother opened the curtain, and Xiaosheng fell inside, kneeling in front of the old lady, with the folds of his clothes fluttering over his head and covering his face.The old lady cried out, "I'm scared! What kind of monster is this?" The young lady said: "That's why I said I can't see it." The old lady tore off his hijab, and when she saw that it was her nephew, she immediately lost her temper.The old lady was sitting on the chair, and the young lady leaned on her mother's shoulder and acted like a baby, smiling and tugging, but was repeatedly thrown off by her mother.The old lady's anger didn't look like a strict family law, but an angry woman who turned her face away and pouted her lips, ignoring people.Later, they were finally spared, and told the young master to go back to the study to study first, and make up for the marriage later.Unexpectedly, they immediately became entangled again, looking at each other with smiles, singing to each other, and squeezing each other with their elbows.The old lady was blocked inside, her eyes widened, she looked face to face at this and then at that; after a long while, she just chased them away cursing. This scene is extremely rustic.Originally, no matter what the story was about a rich family, even if it was the inner courtyard of the imperial palace, the people inside were still their own people, doing rough things in the same way, but wearing flat gold embroidered clothes.I think the loveliest point of folk drama is here: just like the "silver bracelet and golden hairpin to carry water" in Tang poetry-what a gorgeous life.It must be true; it is now an ideal. The play continued: Xiaosheng took the two bookboys home, wondering if he was going to tell his father that the matchmaker had come to propose marriage.Passing by a temple on the way, I went in to pray, and was "amazed" in the temple, and fell in love with another young lady.As soon as the lady appeared on the stage, the audience all praised: "This person is not good-looking!" "This person is better!" "Only this one is still..." From then on, I kept boasting about "good looks" "Good-looking".I think any city woman would be terrified to hear such criticism, because she knows their standards are very narrow and harsh, and there is no room for flexibility.This danjiao is short, with a powdered face, a small cherry mouth, a handsome nose, and some rouge lightly applied to the swollen eyeballs.She was probably used to hearing such compliments when she performed in the four townships, so she was extraordinarily reserved, lifting her face steadily and slowly like the bearer of the Empress Dowager Cixi.She was wearing a jade-colored long jacket, embroidered with two clusters of royal blue orchids.Xiaosheng also changed into a light blue embroidered robe at this time.In this scene again, the male and female protagonists are wearing light blue together. It looks like the light has changed. It is faint, and it is the atmosphere of the Buddhist temple. The lady has burned incense and boarded the sedan chair to return home.The two bookboys kowtowed, but they couldn't find his son; he had already followed her door and sold himself to seek refuge. ——His cousin will find out in the future, how does he feel?Maybe she doesn't have to worry about it. One day when he becomes famous and gets married according to the decree, he will marry him along with him, and he will never miss her.In the past, there was no need for a man to lose his heart. Xiaosheng found a matchmaker to introduce him to the door.The matchmaker swayed and fanned her cattail fan. At first she refused to recommend him, because the stranger didn't know the details, so he couldn't help but begged him again and again, after all, she sold him in.Before leaving, there were many instructions, saying: "Be careful, sir! You are new here, I'm afraid you are not used to this kind of life, you must pay attention to everything; be careful in front of your master, and be kind to colleagues. I'll see you again in a few days! "That sad tone is simply surprising—the people in the past were kind, and even such a relationship had friendship. Xiaosheng told a maid about his intentions when he got a chance, and the maid invited the young lady out. He relayed it to her. He then stood with his hands behind his back and faced outwards, waiting quietly for her to entrust him with his life. At this time, the drama was reduced to nothing. … Grandma Min came to pick me up with the baby in her arms, but I kept on holding on.Finally had to stand up and squeeze out together.I look at the audience - such a starkly simple "dirty show" and they're sitting there like a church school prom meeting.It is strange that such a colorless, serious and cheerful group could exist without the influence of the legendary teacher.There are rich and poor among them, but almost all wear old blue cloth burqas.In this withered place, anything seems vulgar and showing off, no wonder they have a special taboo against rustic and vulgar.An old lady asked someone to buy cloth, and she bought a gray-and-black check with some red threads in it. The old lady scolded, "Treat me like a child?" She attributed the color to the child and the story to the stage.I can't help but want to ask: What about yourselves?I know that they also often have affair and divorce incidents. It may not have the primitive enthusiasm that is particularly exaggerated in rural novels to adjust the dullness, but it may not be so disciplined. In the theater there was a dark, thin woman with deep eyes and a high nose, wearing wire glasses, her hair cut long behind her ears, and wearing a dark blue cloth burqa—where did she marry into this village? What about?It's unimaginable! ——She leaned up, greeted many men affectionately and generously, and followed her children to call them "Uncle Lin!"Those people all stopped to chat and joke with her, calling her "Sister Shui Gen".Men and women are wonderfully good.Everyone is a "point" in geometry - only position, no length, breadth and thickness.The whole assembly is full of dots, dotted lines of pictures; and although I, like others, wear a blue cloth gown over a thick cotton robe, I have no status, only a big difference in length, width and thickness. Block, so I was very embarrassed, stumbled all the way, staggered and walked out. (April 1947)