Chapter 21 Chapter 8 The Waterwheel Conversation

Miss Alice, walk along the river to see that interesting waterwheel. Is a person, and no companion. Although the river in this place is not big, it is highly valued by the local people.Nianzi built along the river, and saw those square stone houses, all covered by vines.When you walk into this house, you can see a stone mill fixed on a horizontal bar and rotate around.You can call the person who manages the mill an aunt. (She is very easy to know, she is covered in chaff!) Look how capable she is!The mill turned quickly, but she didn't feel dizzy, and she chased after the millstone, and beat the millstone with the bamboo broom in her hand like an old woman beating a chicken, because the millstone carried the millet away.When you see this situation, you can't help shouting "My God".This is a most moving scene!The mill depends on water, just as ducks depend on water to survive.

Also, there are things in this river that depend on water.This is the waterwheel.Feed the duck to your home, keep it out of the river, and maybe still lay eggs.But waterwheels are generated to live in water.Like a fish, like a shrimp, like a soft-shelled turtle—but no, it's still round, just like the soft-shelled turtle!Have any of you ever seen a turtle do somersaults on the water surface like a waterwheel?And put a piece of wood in the middle of the turtle's breast, and always beat it in one place, and scoop water into the predetermined soap groove on the skirt.The waterwheel is doing such things all day and all night.I am not afraid of the cold or the heat, and I help others all day long. The loud voice is not pleasant, and I have to ask someone to beat the chest with a hammer, or add a wooden nail.

The waterwheel is a stupid thing that doesn't know what anger is. Miss Alice walked along the river just to see these stupid things.There seem to be as many fools in this place as there are fools in the world.They are well-behaved, doing their best according to the tasks assigned by others, without complaints or anger.When they grow old, once their limbs are removed, they are taken and put in the sun for a while to make a fire—yes, I’m talking about the corpses of these things, which can also be used for lighting or cooking. Never asked for a reward from human beings.But the fools in your world, although they often do a little work when they are alive, their wages are always indispensable. After death, what use is there? ... No, I won’t talk about this.This is not something to compare.Miss Alice loves the waterwheel just because it is interesting, and it is completely different from the owner of the waterwheel.Just look at her.

She was walking along the river, walking along the river, there was always a chance to meet a waterwheel within three minutes, and there were so many waterwheels in this place.When she saw the big waterwheel, Alice named it such as "King Kong", "Arhat" or "King", which were called according to the customs of the local people.Sometimes she saw waterwheels with small tops, so she called them "Bobosi", "Ghost Spirit", "Fu Crow Cub" or "Little Ding Ding Gong".As usual, the waterwheel can't pay attention to the titles like "fourth class" and "fifth class", and still turns its round body and sings its distant song.Alice also went with the talk, without waiting for an answer.

She would stand by a waterwheel for a minute, or ten minutes, and watch it work and hear it sing.Sometimes the water in the bamboo tube on the water tank spilled out of the soap tank, and she seemed to be a little angry, so Alice smiled and said, "Don't be angry, you shouldn't be angry. The weather is hot, and anger is very good for your health." In the way!" she thought again.Am I being too careful and unreasonable?Does the waterwheel not want people to stand still in front of it? Maybe the waterwheel has this kind of heart. (Seeing them so old-fashioned, who said it wasn't unhappy when a suspicious person came to investigate something?) So Alice stopped pausing, saluted the waterwheel in front of her, and left the stupid thing.

All watermills had different tempers, Miss Alice believed.A human being is only five feet tall, weighs one hundred and sixty pounds, has a brain that weighs three catties and two taels, and has one hundred and eight thousand and forty-five nerves. .He has a loud voice that can be heard five miles away, and he pours water for people day and night, without spending a penny.But Alice also believes that although these guys are big and crush people to death, they are extremely inconvenient to move around. Even if they feel dissatisfied and resentful, if they want to find someone to settle accounts, at most they will only take advantage of someone to come down here to get closer. Sometimes, if you sprinkle water all over his body, it will be considered as revenge.

Since it was determined that the waterwheel can also get angry, and because there is no eye that can't see the person grinding it, so I stayed for a while and sprinkled water again, which means that there is always someone who will be hit by this blow, and Miss Alice can be regarded as a helper. The car is exhausted.But she saw that this behavior was obviously useless, not only did it not bring losses to the enemy, but also gave many opportunities to scare other passers-by, so it is better to persuade Shuiche to be less angry. At times, the watermills encountered seemed to be very well-behaved, and Alice stayed longer.While admiring the ingenious structure of this big figure, she wanted to hear the meaning of the singing.She still can't understand, but she wants to understand.

Alice walked an unknown distance and passed by countless waterwheels, but she couldn't think of a way to understand what the waterwheels were feeling. "God knows where the hearts of these things are!" This is what she said in disappointment when she was about to leave a small waterwheel. But the waterwheel spoke. Shui Lane: "Those who have a heart may not be able to speak, and those who have no eyes can't..." Alice said: "I ask you to finish this sentence." Shuiche said again: "Those who have a heart may not necessarily..." "I beg you to say something else!"

She raised her head and waited for the answer from the waterwheel.Waterwheel's answer remained the same as before.It turns out that a waterwheel can only repeat one kind of words repeatedly. Alice couldn't help but looked around, and saw a crab crawling on the foundation stone of the waterwheel for a walk, taking a deep breath, thinking that maybe she could get some pointers by asking this thoughtful thing. Not forgetting how to bet, she said, "Who dares to bet with me whether a waterwheel can talk like a human?" At first it was not heard, then Alice called again. "Is that willing to bet with me that...?"

"I can." The second time I heard it, the crab hurriedly responded. Alice's heart skipped a beat, she knew that the crab could be her master, but she pretended she had never heard the crab's promise so proudly, and said loudly that she was willing to bet, and looked for someone who would agree. The crab said loudly again: "I can." After the third time of pretending, Alice saw this tiny creature by accident, and looked at the crab with that attitude of disbelief, surprised that it was serious or a joke. At this time, the crab stopped its deep breathing, and explained in a clear and bright voice that it was the one who agreed to win the bet.Let's also criticize Miss Alice's slip of the tongue, because it is not a "play" to agree to "gamble to win or lose".

"Can you do this? I don't believe it." "I want your lady to believe that we will succeed at any bet." "Did you listen to me? What I doubt is..." "Your lady is saying that waterwheels can't talk like people - in a disguised way, only people can express pain, vent emotion and criticize everything else; this wrong. I can overturn your lady's question; I have proof. " "Bring the evidence!" "Bring the evidence," said Alice, so loudly and unceremoniously that the crab nearly rolled into the water in fright.It was silent at the time, just trying to secure its position, so as not to be bullied by Alice again.After standing still, it also deliberately pretended to be indifferent and said that there was evidence, and it would not be difficult to get it--just had to gamble a bit. "You can gamble with whatever you like. Anyway, let me tell you first that your evidence is not sufficient, I guess." "Your guess is not sufficient, and you will correct your opinion when you see it. Let me tell you... let's decide who wins or loses first. Hey, please tell your lady." Alice thought: It is admirable that this little thing is so sophisticated.She heard that the crab said that she would sue her for the evidence only after the host was settled, and she thought that this would be very rare.The strange thing about this is that she decided that what the crab said was nothing but nonsense, and she wanted to win the crab a little bit, so she said that she would bet with twenty large Marchberries, as long as the evidence came from the crab. out. "No regrets!" "Do you still want me to swear?" Alice pretended to be angry again. Crab hurriedly apologized, saying that he wanted to make a decision, first a villain and then a gentleman, so that he could still be called a "crab". "I wish you would say less of what I don't understand." "Then, I don't admit that I'm a crab, don't you understand?" "Okay, you're done soon. If you're right, I'll give you Marchberries later; if it's not right, you can..." "No? If it's not right, you can kick me to death!" The Crab then told Alice where there was a waterwheel that spoke human language.In order to prove the truth of the news, Miss Alice was told everything about the waterwheel.The crab who had said this was only waiting for the twenty Marchberries.Because that place is near his grandmother's house, he will never remember it wrong. "Is it true?" Alice asked the little thing again, not quite believing what she said. "Why not? Your miss will go and see, and you will know everything!" "Is it a hollow willow plant on the ridge, the willow leaves brushed into the water in the soap tank, are those two waterwheels?" "Yes, a thousand yes! If you're not right, you come back to punish me and make you kick my back. I'll wait here and swear that I won't leave this place until your lady comes back." "It's not easy to believe a crab as small as yourself about something as big as a waterwheel." "But you human beings talk about astronomy even more vaguely than this-I'm talking about evidence, just look at it!" "Okay, then I'll go and see, and I'll talk about it later." Miss Alice thought she could leave early, so she was ready to leave. "Miss," said the Crab, "don't forget that berry when you look around. I'll tell you by the way, I don't like the fact that rowing berries are so light, and we're talking Marchberries!" "That's right, Marchberry, if I can't meet such a waterwheel, and if I do, and I can't talk as casually as you said, then I... I should also tell you by the way, the Marchberry I won must be fresh, All red, don’t lie to me to walk, and escape into the water to deny it. I guess my feet are itchy, I really want to kick your feet twice to be happy.” When the crab heard Alice say that he was worried about it escaping, he immediately cast a big curse.Alice smiled secretly and followed the path indicated by the crab, and walked. Now that she had a purpose, she ignored many waterwheels without paying attention.The route she took was still going up the river, and the road was full of berries, so she walked while eating.Picking the big ones is like picking the big ones with the help of crabs. The crab once told her that counting from the waterwheel they were talking about, it took twenty-one waterwheels to get to that place.When Alice left, count the number of waterwheels, one, two, three.Although the crab told her that it was the last of the twenty-two numbers, she still heard a sentence or two in front of each waterwheel. Alice thought to herself: chanting slogans like this all day long, until even she couldn't understand it, it would be much easier to be dumb.This kind of thinking is of course a very stupid thinking, because she thinks that the waterwheel wants to shout or is willing to shout.In fact, every waterwheel can say a sentence or two, which are all human meanings.The individual waterwheels, so far apart, let them stand in a row by the river bank, on a fine weather night, no sun, no moon, and the blue sky above is just stars, and the wind blows over the water in the woods Slightly blowing, the water trucks under such circumstances hummed like they were dreaming, using a simple slogan to regulate their work, and the person in charge of the water truck would not have to worry about sleeping with his wife in peace. Sleep, so there are children, clothes, food, etc. in the world, which is something Alice knows! It is more appropriate to say that Alice understands the waterwheel than to say that Alice understands the Marchberry.This is the real situation.During this journey, Alice had already understood the relationship between the color and taste of March berries. She picked berries along the roadside at random, and she could know the sweetness and sourness of this berry without importing it.What satisfied her with this knowledge was that she decided to come to this place to gamble with people. If she encounters the same bets as the crabs bet on, then it is not a problem to be cheated in winning or losing. There will be. Regarding March berries, what color is delicious, what form is delicious, and where it grows has a strong and delicious taste. These knowledge cannot be said here.Anyone who is eager to understand this may ask Mr. Nuoxi to borrow the second letter sent to him by Miss Alice, which was written clearly.Let's talk about how Miss Alice, who ate a stomach full of Marchberries and hiccups from time to time, sat on the bank and listened to the conversation between the two waterwheels. The waterwheel is a new one and an old one.The sound of the older waterwheel has already hissed, some parts of its body are gray in color, and some parts are covered with algae, making it green.When Alice saw this thing, she thought of the old man with a red hat and flag in front of the funeral deacon that she saw in Beijing. That old man looked like this.There is also the way of walking, the old man is so slow, as if it takes a minute to walk, but the waterwheel has also got this temper.It turns slowly and sings in a low voice, just like a person leading the way in front of the funeral ceremony of time.In any part of the world, the waste of time is an inevitable thing. Every small part of the world is placed with such a waterwheel, plus the groans of a group of innocent people, abused, old and weak people and animals. Crying, so that each new day swallows each old one.It seems like an airy need to use such magnificent things to bury embellishments for time! As for the new waterwheel, like all new things, it represents full of energy, full of hope, full of joy in the world, and new exaggeration-in a word, it is happy.Work can't suffer from it.No matter how fast you go, you won't get tired or dizzy.Its voice just celebrates its own existence, and the strangeness of the world, nothing else.In terms of its strong body, loud voice, and ability to drink water, it is considered to be stronger than other water wheels.Comparing the life and talents among the same kind, since it is completely superior, if it cannot be satisfied, it is hard to say, it can be said that it is not a waterwheel.However, this waterwheel admits that it is a waterwheel, so it is extremely healthy in all aspects; the health of ideas is the reason for it to live happily, just like all people and animals. Putting such two waterwheels with different personalities together, it is natural that they have something to talk about every day.You can talk about whatever direction you want to talk about.Every meaning has exactly two sides: the new water wheel represents light and bravery, and the opposite of bright and brave is owned by its companions.Because the new waterwheel needs to understand everything, so it has to discuss with the old-timers all the time. When Miss Alice came five feet away from the two waterwheels, they were talking about their attitudes towards survival. The old waterwheel said, "I am tired of everything. I have seen the sun and the moon, and I can't count them. I have experienced too many winds, frosts, rains and snows. I have worked to this age, and all I have gained is the loosening of the whole body and pain relief. Just as you can die in any kind of weather. I think I should leave this strange world and take responsibility. I can't say 'hate it' in a human way, but I am tired of it. " "Old man," the new waterwheel called the old waterwheel, with a very respectful attitude.It felt that it was not too much to use respectfully in front of a waterwheel with more experience than itself.It went on: "I don't quite understand the meaning of the word bored." "I don't understand this, I believe this is not polite of you. You can't understand this very well, and you don't have to understand it very well. If you have a fifty-length (it means live fifty years) dictionary of life, you will You can look up the meaning of the word bored in the dictionary of your life experience." "But these two and a half pages of my notebook are full of words that can be laughed out loud!" The old waterwheel nodded to admit that this was the real situation, and did not answer any more. Then the new waterwheel said: "I tell you, (it means not to believe that there is boredom in the life of the waterwheel) the first thing is that it is very comfortable to work, and we can see the earing of the seedlings we help. The second thing is to play , stay in such a place, and never be thirsty, see these Miao people rowing up and down, see these fish - I often love to see these small things from the water! And crabs, shrimps, water reptiles, bodies They are all so small, with relatives and relatives, and they know how to cry, laugh, and play. Old man, I seem to have told you, isn’t that crab very interesting? Look at it, I scare it so loudly, I'm not afraid, I still climb on the rocks under my feet to rest, and often play games with them, with a water reptile or two or three berries." The old waterwheel frowned and said, this is just a child's words.The waterwheel is not a thing with eyebrows, but Alice seemed to see it frown like Stuart's gray stork, so she felt that the waterwheel and the gray stork could talk about philosophy. "But, old man, don't you admit this?" "Do you mean that I should also take pleasure in what your Excellency says?" "I think so, and every waterwheel is only like that." Hearing this kind of words, the old waterwheel remembered that he had felt that way in the past, and looking back at his youthful life made it even more embarrassing, so he didn't say anything, spit out a mouthful of water, and sighed. Miss Alice obviously agreed with Xinshuiche's outlook on life, so she wanted to interject to ask why the old man was dissatisfied with this life. But the new waterwheel asked this question first, and the old waterwheel answered the philosophical question again. It said, "What do we have when the seedlings grow up? Look at other little creatures asking for help to recognize their relatives. What reason do I have to take pleasure in other happy things?" This meant that Alice was completely confused.She felt that "reasons" were needed in everything, but Alice did not see the old watermill's reasons for not being able to enjoy others.After all, the new waterwheel is a waterwheel. It is easy to understand what the waterwheel said, so he refuted the old man, saying: "I remember the old man said that to observe all phenomena calmly is an art, a kind of art. Enjoy. So why not enjoy what you see?" "I want to watch it! But you will get tired of watching it one day! Only then will you know boredom, boredom, and pessimism. It's okay to watch other things. But I tell you, young boy, after watching it for a long time , you will think of yourself, until you can think of yourself, until you can think of why you came to this world. In other words, when you think of life and death and the meaning of life and death, things like us are going around all day long. We don’t share all the benefits of other worms and small things, and we don’t have the freedom that other animals have. What’s the fun of living? We live in this world, and we also have a name, thanks to the generosity of human beings. But when we are together What are the meanings attached to the names of such things? We have to scoop water when we have a river, just like a boatman who has to stretch a boat. Destiny is the same as being a soldier. It is not easy to be beaten. The same is the car, but we are not as good as the windmill. The windmill chews grain and rice all day long, and it is stored in the barn for people, so it does not need to be exposed to the sun and rain. Who will come? Treat us? That is to say, we have our freedom to sing as we please, but if you sing loudly and your throat is high, people will hate you, and you will inevitably be taught a lesson. Our status is high, it is said that this is the case, the status is indeed high, but once Do you really respect our position? If you understand the position of the mast climber and the tile picker, you understand that our position is only for the benefit of others. It is not for people to scoop water, you see, they Humans, wouldn’t they eat us? Fortunately, we were not obligated to be eaten except to help others. But afterward, they were taken to dry in the June sun, dried and then used to cook their rice Isn't it still eaten? We have heard many people say that thanks to the help of others, the body is so strong and great. Ha, this is so strong and great, can we use it to do something we want to do? We can do something like Do tigers jump and bark like that to scare other animals? Can we fly like eagles? We are big, strong, and strong, but this is not our own. Crickets, sparrows, fish, shrimps, although they are small, their bodies But they are their own... It's boring to say the least. It's okay if I don't read others, but I feel uncomfortable after reading others. This is the truth. I'm not human, so I can't say hate people either.But I think, some of them live like us, and they will always settle accounts with these people. " The old man found thirty-four kinds of metaphors, all of which brought out the misfortune of a waterwheel, and finally the new waterwheel seemed to feel bored. So the sound of the new waterwheel was a little louder. "But my brother, there is no need to be angry. I feel that I have done something wrong, and I feel uneasy. I shouldn't tell you this." The new waterwheel turned louder. As usual, the old man should rest when he talked about this place. Let us see what Alice thinks. Miss Alice half-understood what the waterwheel said, and found it very interesting.This kind of interest is precisely because the dialogue itself is not fully understood.She also heard some philosophy when the old waterwheel talked about her life, but she was not as excited as the new waterwheel.To be honest, even if the waterwheel yelled a thousand words, she didn't think it was her business.Her opinion was that it was no big deal if she couldn't imitate a tiger's hopping and croaking, because hopping and croaking were all tiring things.It's really fun to fly with wings, but it's not her turn.She thought it was just that she didn't have enough time, and one day she would be able to fly without asking how the wings were made.This opinion is firmly planted in my heart, and of course I first decided that this body is my own.She would comfort herself and say softly, "I own my body, I believe it. Otherwise, it belongs to my aunt, Mrs. Gregory Foyce. That kind and generous person, she said I belonged to her (this It is often said), but if I ask her to return to myself, it is easy to do." So she discussed this opinion with Shuiche again, and Shuiche didn't seem to understand what she said, so she said to herself, "Even if my aunt owns my body, I want it back." She waited for an answer, as she had talked to the crab before, but the waterwheel was not like a crab. "I'd bet anybody I could do it." Still ignore.It turns out that there are still [characters] in this place who don't like to gamble. Alice got anxious, stared at the waterwheel directly, and said, "Old man, my opinion is different from yours, would you like to hear what I have to say?" The old waterwheel said, "There is no reason for a waterwheel not to listen to people's opinions." "I said, even if I don't own my body—even if it is inadvertently sent to my aunt, I can get it back, do you believe it?" The waterwheel said "I believe", which was the answer from the old waterwheel. Alice asked the new waterwheel again, and the new waterwheel also said "I believe it". "Since you believe it, why don't you ask your aunt to give you back your freedom?" The old waterwheel listened seriously at first, and then laughed out loud, laughing out loud in every bamboo tube that poured the water. Alice said, "What for? Is it a joke?" She felt a little feverish at this point, needless to say for decency's sake.Because it was the first time that I was laughed at by something else in front of something. But the waterwheel doesn't seem to know that this is the "first time". After laughing for a long time, the old waterwheel replied: "Because there is no aunt or uncle in the waterwheel." He explained the laughter, saying, "Miss, don't worry, laughing is not a bad thing. Didn't Plato say that laughter is very beneficial to mankind?And... (it thinks for a moment) Bergson, Socrates, Wolverine, Fagin,...all philosophers, all seem to talk about laughing and crying in his thick books, I thought it was right It is not impolite for the lady to laugh. " When she got to the waterwheel and read out the names of a group of ancient and modern saints from its whistling sound, Alice was extremely amazed by the knowledge of the waterwheel.She didn't expect this waterwheel to have such knowledge.And when I heard the words "disrespectful" at the end, I remembered that I came here casually before, and felt that it was not rude to be in the water tank, but it was considered rude to myself.She hurriedly bowed, and blushed for the second time. The waterwheel laughed again.Alice did not lift her head at this moment. After a while, when the conversation resumed, Alice became more natural, talking and laughing. Talking for an hour had Alice doubling up in a twelve-page dictionary of her own, and it seemed to Alice that it was polite to say so, and Waterwheel said it was polite. She still sent this compliment to Shuiche in a very modest manner, saying, "Old man, this is not polite!" "Too polite!" "This is what I have in mind!" At this time, it is not easy for the waterwheel to say "please don't be too polite" is also "the word of the heart".Because its heart is nothing more than a hardwood shaft. Miss Alice, admiring the knowledge and experience of the waterwheel, recalled that the waterwheel talked about the world-weariness earlier, so she asked the waterwheel why it was not good to "see a lot".She also gave some reasons to criticize the waterwheel because it is a good thing to see a lot. Of course, the reasons are very simple. The old waterwheel said: "Miss, don't say that knowledge and experience are valuable, like our waterwheel, there is no need. The more you know about one thing, the closer you will be to death. I am going to die, that's for sure. I can't tell when I will die , but always the most recent." Then the new waterwheel who never interrupted spoke, he said: "Old man, didn't you say that death is quiet before? Why do you seem to be in love with this boring life now?" "The accursed place is the place to love it..." Here are two Latin aphorisms quoted from the old waterwheel, but it is a pity that Alice did not understand this. Later, the old waterwheel talked about many philosophical issues of life and death, and the words it introduced seemed to be far away from bread, water, Marchberry, crab, and Alice.Miss Alice, who had listened too much, figured that—according to the waterwheel, a dictionary of life—the number of pages in the dictionary had increased by thirty, and she left, thinking that it would be impossible to leave. ... Going to the place where the crab had made the bet before, the crab knew that Alice had won when he saw Alice's look.Seeing Miss Alice grabbing something in her purse, it kindly asked Miss Alice to put the Marchberry in a clam shell so that it could be used at any time. Alice followed the little thing's advice.In this way, the crab will inevitably be different from other bad breakups in a bet with others.It found out a lot about the waterwheel and talked to Alice. Alice was surprised that this little thing, which only won twenty berries, could be so polite to losers, not worrying about dry mouth, the loss outweighed the gain. After returning to the residence, Ali couldn't stop laughing at the thought of the little crab. The crab's criticism of the waterwheel is, "This old thing is full of strange things." From this sentence, Ali thought of the crab who said this. "It's a weird stomach." Besides water, what reason can a waterwheel have to say such a thing?As for crabs, when it comes to August, they are really "strange and weird"! Alice imagined that if she had a chance to see the crab again, she would joke with it, asking if it was strange that the crab roe was so delicious.