Chapter 4 4. Life is like a string

Two blind men, one old and one young, were walking among the vast and gray mountains, one in front of the other, and the other in the back. The two blackened black hats were moving up and down in a hurry, as if they were drifting with a restless river.It doesn't matter where they come from or where they go, each of them brings a three-stringed qin and tells stories for a living. In this big mountain with a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles, there are many peaks and ridges, ravines and ravines, and sparsely populated. It takes a day to walk to see an open land and several villages.A pair of pheasants will fly out of the wild grass at any time, and a hare, fox, or other small beasts will jump out.There are often hawks circling in the valley.There is no shadow on the silent mountains, and the sun is hot.

"Hold the Sanxianzi in your hand." The old blind man shouted, echoing in the mountains. "It's in your hand." The little blind man replied. "Worry about the sweat on your body that wets the sanxian. If it gets wet, play your ribs at night!" "It's in your hand." Both the young and the old were bare-chested, and each carried a wooden stick to explore the way. The coarse cloth jackets wrapped around their waists were already wet with sweat and a large piece of loess was dry and choking.This is the peak season for storytelling.As the sky grows, people in the village don't stay at home after dinner;The old blind man wanted to hurry up and talk more, so he led the young blind man around the village throughout the hot season, talking night after night.The old blind man became more nervous and agitated day by day, and mentally calculated that the day when he would break a thousand strings would be this summer, maybe it would be at Yeyangao in front of him.

The sun, which had been irritable all day long, was calming down now, and the light began to darken.The chirping of cicadas near and far also eased a lot. "Boy! Can't you go faster?" the old blind man shouted in front, neither turning his head nor slowing down.The little blind man ran a few steps, a big satchel hanging on his buttocks rattled, and was still a few feet away from the old blind man. "The wild pigeons are flying in their nests." "What?" The little blind man took a few more steps. "I said the wild pigeons have all returned to their nests, so hurry up!"

"Oh." "You're messing with my electric box again." "Hey! The ghost is moving." "That earphone is about to be ruined by you." "Ghost move!" The old blind man laughed secretly: How many days have you lived, kid? "I can hear ants fighting," said the old blind man. The little blind man stopped arguing, quietly stuffed the earphones into his satchel, and walked dully behind Master.The endless boring road. After walking for a while, the little blind man heard a badger gnawing crops in the field, so he tried to bark like a dog, and the badger ran away, feeling a little happy, humming a few tunes softly, brother, sister of.The master did not let him keep a dog, because he was afraid of being bullied by the dogs in the village, and he was also afraid that he would bully other people's dogs and miss the business.After walking for a while, the little blind man heard a snake swimming not far away. He bent down and touched a stone and chopped it. There was a sound of sorghum leaves.The old blind man felt sorry for him and stopped to wait for him.

"Except for badgers and snakes." The little blind man hurriedly said, worried that his master would scold him. "There are crops, not far away." The old blind man handed a water bottle to the apprentice. "Those who do our job will spend their whole life walking away." The old blind man said again, "Are you tired?" The little blind man didn't answer, knowing that the master hated him saying he was tired the most. "My master is wronged. It is your master who is wronged. After running around all my life, I haven't played enough strings for a thousand zithers."

The little blind man heard that the master was in a good mood at the moment, so he asked, "Why the green bench (chair)?" "What? Oh, it's probably a chair." "Where's the zigzagging oil wolf (porch)?" "Oil wolf? What oil wolf?" "Twisty Oil Wolf." "have no idea." "It's said in the box." "You just like to listen to those craps. What's the use of listening to those craps? There are so many good things in the world, what does it have to do with us?" "I never heard you say that what has anything to do with us." The little blind man said "yes" emphatically.

"Qin! Sanxian! Your father asked you to come with me so that you can play the sanxian well and learn storytelling." The little blind man drank the water so loudly on purpose. On the road again, the little blind man walked ahead. The shadow of the mountain spread out in the valley.The terrain gradually became flatter and more open. When approaching the village, the old blind man called the young blind man to stop him, and found a small spring at the foot of the shady mountain. The thin spring water bubbled out from the cracks in the rocks and trickled down, forming a puddle the size of a washbasin. The surrounding weeds grew thick. Lush, the water flows tens of meters and is sucked dry by the thirsty land.

"Come here and wash, wash off the smell of sweat on your body." The little blind man pushed aside the weeds and squatted down by the puddle, still thinking about the "twisting oil wolf". "Wash all over. You must look like a little beggar like that." "Then you are an old beggar?" The little blind man put his hands in the water and smiled. The old blind man laughed too, splashing water on his face with both hands. "But we are not beggars, we have skills." "We seem to have been to this place before." The little blind man listened carefully to the movement around him.

"But your mind is never on academics. You are too wild. You never listen to what the old man says." "We must have been here." "Don't interrupt! Your three-string bullet is still far behind. Our life depends on a few strings, my master told me that way back then." The spring water is cool and cool.The little blind man hummed to his brother and sister.The old blind man was angry: "Did you hear what I said?" "Our life is on these few strings. Your master and my master said it. I have heard it eight hundred times. Your master also left you a prescription. You have to break a thousand strings to get it Go get that medicine, and you'll be able to see things after taking it. I've heard it a thousand times."

"Do you believe it or not?" The little blind man didn't answer directly, but said, "Why do you have to break a thousand strings to get the medicine?" "That's a medicine primer. Smart ghost, you need a medicine primer if you take medicine!" "Isn't it easy to fix a thousand broken strings?" The little blind man couldn't help but sneered. "Why are you laughing! How many things do you think you know? You really have to break one by one." The little blind man didn't dare to say anything, and he heard that the master was about to get angry again.It is like this every time, Master cannot tolerate doubts about this matter.

The old blind man didn't make another sound, he seemed a little excited, with his hands on his knees, his two head-like eyes were fixed on the sky, as if he was recalling the broken strings one by one.How many years have I been looking forward to, the old blind man thought, fifty years of looking forward to it!How many mountains have been climbed and how many miles have been walked in fifty years.How many times have I endured the sun, how many times have I suffered from the cold, and how many grievances I have suffered in my heart.I play it night after night, always remembering in my heart that I have to play each one with all my heart to break it.It is almost here now, and this summer will never come out.The old blind man knew that he didn't have any mortal illnesses, so surviving this summer would not be a problem at all. "I'm much luckier than my master," he said, "my master didn't open his eyes when he arrived." "Cough! I know where this place is!" the little blind man suddenly shouted. Only then did the old blind man move, grabbed his zither and shook it, the folded paper made a slight sound when it hit the snake skin, the prescription was in the zither slot. "Master, isn't this Wild Goat Ridge?" asked the little blind man.The old blind man ignored him, and could tell that the boy was unsteady again. "Yeyangao is ahead, isn't it, Master?" "Boy, come and wipe my back." The old blind man said, bending his back like a bow to him. "Is it Yeyangao, Master?" "Yes! What are you doing? Don't act like a cat again." The little blind man's heart was pounding, and he honestly wiped his master's back.The old blind man felt that he was rubbing vigorously. "What's wrong with Yeyangao? Don't you know how to smell like a donkey again." The little blind man felt guilty and kept silent, trying not to show his excitement. "What are you thinking again? Don't pretend that I don't know what you're thinking." "What's the matter, me?" "What's the matter with you? You weren't crazy enough last time here? What a good girl that is!" The old blind man thought to himself, maybe he shouldn't be brought to Yeyangao again.But the wild sheep col came.But Yeyangao is a big village, and the business here is good every year, and it can be said for more than half a month.The old blind man wished he could break the last few strings immediately.The little blind man was muttering, but his heart was fluttering, thinking of the shrill little girl in the wild sheep col. "Listen to me, I won't hurt you." The old blind man said, "That thing is unreliable." "What's up?" "Stop talking to me. You know what I'm talking about." "I haven't heard you say, what is reliable." The little blind man secretly laughed again. The old blind man ignored him, his bone-like eyeballs turned to the sky again.There, the sun is turning into a puddle of blood. The two ridges are the same yellowish brown as the mountains.One is already old, and its bony and thin bones seem to be the exposed cornerstone under the root of the mountain.The other one is young.The old blind man is seventy years old, and the young blind man is only seventeen.When the little blind man was fourteen years old, his father sent him to the old blind man's house to let him learn storytelling so that he could have a skill in this life and be able to live alone in the world in the future. The old blind man has been telling stories for more than fifty years.People in this remote and desolate mountain know him: his hair turns white day by day, his back becomes hunched day by day, and he carries a three-stringed lute every year and walks all over the world. Sing all night and bring joy to the lonely mountain village.There are often a few sentences at the beginning: "Since Pangu divided the world, and the three emperors and five emperors have now, there is a king who harms the people. Gently play the three-stringed qin, and slowly stop to talk about the song. There are 3,700 songs, and I don’t know which one is moving." People's hearts." Then everyone who listened to the book shouted, the old wanted to hear about Dong Yong selling himself to bury his father, the young wanted to hear about Wu Erlang walking centipede ridge at night, and the women wanted to hear about Qin Delian.This was the most contented moment for the old blind man. He forgot all the fatigue on his body and the loneliness in his heart. He drank a few sips of water in a leisurely manner. When the crowd was full of noise, he plucked the strings and sang: "No more today!" Sing others, Xiao Luo Cheng, a single cousin." Or: "Drink tea and smoke cigarettes, sing about Meng Jiangnv who cried down the Great Wall." The audience immediately fell silent, and the old blind man sank into the book he was talking about. to go. He knows countless old books.He also has an electronic box, which is said to have been bought from an outsider at a high price in order to learn new words and compose new songs.In fact, the people in the mountains care too much about what he says and sings.Everyone praised his exquisite three-string bullet, which is light and long, floating, crazy and unrestrained, where there are the sun and moon in the sky and the creatures on the ground.The voice of the old blind man can learn all the sounds in the world.Men, women, wind and rain, beasts and birds.I don't know what kind of scene can be shown in his mind. He was blind when he was born, and he has never lived in this world. The little blind man can be considered to have seen the world, but only for three years, and he was not sensible at that time.He didn't have much interest in storytelling and playing the piano. When his father sent him, he tried his best to coax and deceive him. In the end, it was better to say that the electric box kept him.Holding the electronic box, he listened intently, and even realized that his father had left in time. This magical box fascinated him forever, and his fantasies of distant places and strange things filled him with colors and shapes that were complemented by the dim memory of three years.For example, the sea, the box said that the blue sky is like the sea, he remembered the blue sky, so he imagined the water pots lined up all over the sky.Another example is the beautiful girl, who said in the box that she looked like a blooming flower. He really didn’t believe it would be like that. When his mother’s coffin was carried to a distant mountain, wild flowers were blooming on the road. He would always remember it but never wanted to go. think.But he is willing to think about girls, more and more willingly; especially the shrill little girl in Yeyangao always makes him feel turbulent, until one time he sang in the box, "A girl's eyes are like the sun." ", and only then did he find an appropriate image, thinking of his mother walking towards him in the rosy sunset.In fact, everyone guesses the infinite unknown based on what they know, and outlines the world with their own feelings.Everyone's world is different. There are always some things that a blind man can't imagine, such as "the zigzag oil wolf". That night, the little blind man followed his master to tell a story in Yeyangao.He heard the little girl talking and laughing in a high-pitched voice not far from him.The book is just getting to the critical point - "Luo Cheng returns to his horse and fights again, and Su Lie raises his troops again boldly. Su Lie's sword is like running water, Luo Changchang's spear is like flying clouds, like a dragon hanging a treasure in the sea, like a tiger fighting in a deep mountain. Day and night, Luo Cheng Qingcha has no lips..." The old blind man played the piano like rain and wind, and sang every word and every sentence sonorously, but the little blind man was distracted, and his hands were out of tune... There is a small temple on Yeyangling, two miles away from Yeyangao village, where the master and apprentice lived.The stone courtyard walls were broken and incomplete, and several small halls were crooked and full of holes, but the central one was still sheltered from the wind and rain, probably because it still enshrines gods after all.The statue of Feng Zun has long since shed all the colorful decorations of the world, and the original color of the loess has returned to simplicity, and it is impossible to recognize the Buddha or the Tao.The courtyard, the roof and the walls are covered with wild vines and weeds, which are lush and lively.The old blind man lived here every day when he went to Yeyangao to tell stories. It was not too early to loose the books, the old blind man was packing his luggage in the lower hall, and the young blind man was lighting a fire to boil water under the eaves of the side hall.The stove built last year can be used with a little trimming.The little blind man blew on the fire with his ass kicked, and the firewood choked him up, coughing in circles all over the courtyard.The old blind man counted him in the main hall: "I see what you can do well." "Chai wet." "I didn't talk about that. I was talking about your qin. What did you do with your qin tonight?" The little blind man didn't dare to answer the words, he took a few breaths and then knelt down in front of the fire, puffing out his cheeks and blowing violently. "If you don't want to do this business, you should send a message to your father to take you back as soon as possible. It's not okay to make troubles like this. You have to go home and make trouble." The little blind man coughed and jumped away from the fire, and ran to the other side of the yard in a few steps, gasping for breath and cursing. "Say what?" "I scold this fire." "You're the one who blows fire like that?" "Then how do you blow it?" "How do you blow it? Humph," the old blind man paused, and then said, "Just treat this stove as that girl's face!" The little blind man didn't dare to speak again, so he knelt down in front of the fire to blow again, thinking: Really, I don't know what Lanxiuer's face looks like.The squeaky little girl is called Lanxiuer. "If that's Nizi's face, I think you can brag without being taught." The old blind man said. The little blind man laughed, and the more he laughed, the more he coughed. "What are you laughing laughing!" "Did you blow on Nizi's face?" The old blind man was at a loss for words.The little blind man sat on the ground laughing. "Fucking day." The old blind man cursed, smiled, then changed his face, and said nothing. There was a sound in the stove, and the fire ignited.The little blind man went to add more firewood, only thinking about Lan Xiu'er.When the book was just finished, Lan Xiu'er squeezed in front of him and whispered: "Hey, what did you promise me last time?" The master was right next to him, so he didn't dare to say anything.The crowd pushed back and forth, and after a while, Lan Xiuer was pushed to his side. "Hey, last time I ate other people's boiled eggs for nothing?" Lan Xiuer said, her voice was louder than last time.At this time, the master was busy talking to some old men.He hurriedly said: "Shhh, I remember." Lan Xiuer lowered her voice again: "You promised to listen to the electronic box and you haven't listened to me yet." There was a lot of noise. There was no movement in the main hall for a long time.Afterwards, the qin sounded, and the old blind man wound up a new string. He should have been happy, but he broke another string the night he came to Yeyangao, but the qin sound was low and chaotic. The little blind man gradually realized that the sound of the piano was not right, and shouted in the courtyard: "The water is boiling, Master." no answer.The sound of the piano became tighter and tighter. The little blind man came in with a basin of hot water.Putting it in front of the master, he deliberately smiled and said, "Why do you want to break another one tonight?" The old blind didn't hear it, and now he has all the past in his heart.The sound of the zither is restless, like the wind and rain in the wilderness every year, like the stream in the valley day and night, like the footsteps running around and not knowing where to go.The little blind man was a little frightened: Master hasn't been like this for a long time, and once master is like this, he will get sick, with headache, heartache, and body pain, and he won't be able to get up on the kang for several months. "Master, wash your feet first." The sound of the piano continued. "Master, it's time for you to wash your feet." The little blind man's voice trembled. The sound of the piano continued. "Master!" The sound of the piano stopped abruptly, and the old blind man sighed.The little blind man breathed a sigh of relief.The old blind man washed his feet, and the little blind man sat obediently beside him. "Go to sleep," said the old blind man, "I'm tired enough today." "and you?" "You go to bed first, I have to soak my feet well. There are many problems when people get old." The old blind man said it lightly on purpose. "I'll wait for you to sleep together." The mountain is quiet at night, there is a little wind, and the grass leaves on the wall are ringing.Night owls howled mournfully in the distance.Occasionally a few dogs barking could be heard in Wild Sheep Col, causing children to cry.The moon rose, and white light entered the hall through the broken window lattice, illuminating two blind men and three god statues. "What are you waiting for me, it's getting late." "Don't worry about me, I don't care about anything," the old blind man said again. "Did you hear that, boy?" After all, the little blind man was young and already asleep.The old blind man pushed him to lie down, and he fell asleep muttering a few words.When the old blind man covered him with a quilt, he felt from the growing muscles that the boy had reached the age to think about those things, and he would have to live a hard life.Alas, no one can do this for anyone else. The old blind man held the piano in his arms again, rubbing the taut strings.I muttered in my heart: Another one is broken, another one is broken.Shaking the flute again, there was a slight sound of paper and snakeskin rubbing against each other, this was the only thing that could relieve his worries.A lifetime wish. The little blind man had a good dream.When I woke up, I was startled, the chicken had already crowed.He quickly got up and listened, the master was sleeping soundly, and he thought he was fine.He found the big satchel, quietly took out the electronic box, and tiptoed out the door. After walking in the direction of Yeyang Col for a while, he realized that something was wrong, the crowing of roosters gradually stopped, and there was still no sound in Wild Sheep Col.He froze for a while, did the chicken crow its first time?On a whim, he unscrewed the electric box.It was also quiet in the electric box.It's midnight now.He had listened to the casket in the middle of the night, and there was nothing.The box was still a watch to him.As long as you turn it on and listen, you will know what time it is, and when and what programs will be available. The little blind man returned to the temple, and the old blind man was turning over. "Why?" "Go pee," said the little blind man. One morning, the master forced him to practice the piano.It wasn't until after lunch that the little blind man took the opportunity to slip out of the temple and slip into Yeyangao.The chickens were also napping under the shade of the trees, the pigs were also talking in sleep under the wall, and the sun was so hot that the village was very quiet. Stepping on the millstone, the little blind man leaned against the wall of Lan Xiuer's house and shouted softly: "Lan Xiuer—Lan Xiuer—" There was a thunderous snore in the room. He hesitated for a moment, then raised his voice slightly: "Lan Xiuer——! Lan Xiuer!" The dog barked.The snoring in the room stopped, and a muffled voice asked, "Who is it?" The little blind man didn't dare to answer, and lowered his head from the wall.There was chatter in the room for a while, and snoring sounded again. He sighed, got off the tray and walked back disconsolately.Suddenly, he heard the courtyard door creaking behind him, and then there was a sound of small footsteps running towards him. "Guess who?" a shrill voice.The eyes of the little blind man were covered by a pair of soft hands. ――This is superfluous.Lan Xiuer is less than fifteen years old, seriously she is still a child. "Lanxiuer!" "Have you got the electric box?" The little blind man opened his skirt, and hung the box on his waist. "Shhh, don't stay here, find a place where no one is listening." "What's the matter?" "Go back and recruit some people." "What's the matter?" "So many people listen to it, it costs electricity." The two turned east and west, and came to the small spring behind the mountain.The little blind man suddenly remembered something, and asked Lan Xiuer, "Have you ever seen a zigzagging oil wolf?" "What?" "Twisty Oil Wolf." "Twisty oil wolf?" "do you know?" "you know?" "Of course. And the green bench. Just a chair." "Who doesn't know about a chair." "What about the crooked oil wolf?" Lan Xiuer shook her head, a little worshiping the little blind man.Only then did the little blind man turn on the electric box solemnly, and a cheerful piece of music floated in the ravine. The place is cool and undisturbed. "This is 'Backgammon'." The little blind man said, humming while dancing.After a while, another tune was changed, called "Dry Sky Thunder", and the little blind man could still hum along.Lan Xiuer felt very ashamed. "This piece is also called 'The Monk Thinks of His Wife'." Lan Xiuer laughed: You are lying! " "Do you believe it or not?" "Do not believe." "Believe it or not. There are a lot of weird things in this box." The little blind man thought for a while while playing with the cool spring water. "Do you know what kissing is?" "What do you call it?" This time it was the little blind man's turn to laugh, but he just smiled and didn't answer.Lan Xiu'er understood that it must be a bad word, so she blushed and stopped asking. At the end of the music a woman said, "Now it's about hygiene." "What?" Lan Xiu'er didn't hear clearly. "Talk about hygiene." "What is it?" "Umm, do you have lice in your hair?" "Go——, don't move!" The little blind man hastily withdrew his hand, and hastily explained: "If there is one, it is not hygienic." "I don't." Lan Xiuer scratched her head, feeling a little prickly, "Hey - look at yourself!" Lan Xiuer lifted the little blind man's head. "Watch how many big ones I catch." At this time, I heard the old blind man shouting from the middle of the mountain: "Boy, don't come back to me! It's time to cook, and I have to tell a book after eating!" He had been standing there for a long time. It was already dark in the Wild Sheep Col. The sheep, donkeys, dogs and children screamed, and there was smoke everywhere. There was still a ray of setting sun on the Wild Sheep Ridge. The small temple was in the faint light, and there was no sound. The little blind man kicked his ass again to set fire to the fire.The old blind man sat on the side washing rice, and he could pick out the sand in the rice by hearing. "Today's firewood is quite dry." Xiao Xia said. "Ok." "Or stewed rice?" "Ok." The little blind man was full of energy now, and wanted to find something to say, but knowing that the master's anger was still there, he thought it was better not to scold him.The two were doing their own thing silently, and cooked the meal together silently.There is no sunshine on the ridge. The little blind man filled a bowl of millet rice and first gave it to the master: "You can eat." The voice was timid and extremely docile. The old blind man finally spoke up: "Boy, can you listen to me?" "Yeah." The little blind man put rice in his mouth and answered vaguely. "If you don't want to listen, I won't speak." "Who said you don't want to listen? I said 'hmm'!" "I'm an experienced person, so I know more than you." The little blind man pawed at the rice. "I've been through that." "What's up?" "Talk to me again!" The old blind man threw his chopsticks onto the stove. "Lanxiuer just wants to listen to electronic boxes. We just want to listen to electronic boxes together." "anything else?" "there is none left." "there is none left?" "I also asked her if she'd seen the twisty oil wolf." "I didn't ask you that." "Later, later," the little blind man lost his arrogance, "I don't know how to talk about lice..." "anything else?" "It's gone, it's really gone!" The two ate in silence again.The old blind man has taken care of this apprentice for several years, knowing that this child will not lie, the most reassuring thing about this child is honesty and kindness. "Listen to me, I'm sure it won't do you any harm. It's better to stay away from her in the future. I didn't believe what your master told me in the early years..." "Master? Lan Xiuer?" "What Lan Xiu'er, there was no her back then, but there were you all..." The old blind man's gloomy face turned to the dusk sky again, his bone-like white eyes kept turning, and he didn't know where he was thinking. Can "see" what to see.After a long time, the little blind man said, "Maybe you can break another string tonight," wanting to make Master happy. That night, the master and the apprentice were storytelling in Yeyangao. "Last time, we talked about Luo Cheng's death. Three souls and seven souls went to the underworld. Don't make noise when you listen to the song. Let me tell you the following. Luo Cheng's ghost came out of the underworld, and he got up in a whirlwind. The whirlwind came quickly, and Chang'an was not far away. Save..." The sound of the old blind man's piano was also chaotic, and the sound of the little blind man's piano was also chaotic. The little blind man recalled the feeling of covering his face with soft hands, and the feeling of his head being moved by Lanxiuer .The old blind man remembered more things... At night, the old blind man tossed and turned and couldn't sleep soundly. So many past events were ringing in his ears and stirring in his heart, as if something was about to explode in his body.It's broken, it's going to be sick, he thought.Dizziness, tightness in the chest, tightness and discomfort all over.He sat up and murmured to himself: "Don't get sick. If you get sick, you won't be able to play enough strings this year." He touched the piano again.If you can tinkle and frantically play for a while, the sadness in your heart may be able to calm down, and the past in your ears may dissipate.But the little blind man was sleeping soundly. He had no choice but to think about the prescription and the strings with all his strength: how many are left, only the last few are left.At that time, you can grab the medicine, and then you can see the world - the mountains he has climbed countless times, the roads he has walked countless times, the warmth and hot sun he has felt countless times, the blue sky and the blue sky he has dreamed of countless times. The moon and the stars... what else?What else?What he was looking forward to in the dimness seemed to be much more than this... The night wind wanders in the mountains. The owl hooted mournfully again. But now he is old, no matter what, he has no more years to live, and what he lost has been lost forever, and he seems to have just realized this.Was it worth all the hard work of seventy years just to get one last glimpse of the world?he asked himself. The little blind man laughed in the dream, and said in the dream: "That's a chair, Lanxiuer..." The old blind man was sitting quietly, and there were also the three clay statues who couldn't tell whether they were Buddha or Tao. When the rooster crowed for the first time, the old blind man decided to take the boy away from Yeyangao at dawn.Otherwise, the child would not be able to bear it, nor could he himself.Lan Xiu'er is not bad, but the old blind man can "see" clearly how this matter will end.The rooster crowed twice, and the old blind man began to pack his luggage. But the little blind man got up early in the morning and was sick, his stomach hurt, and then he had a fever.The old blind man had no choice but to postpone the trip. For several days in a row, whether the old blind man was lighting a fire, washing rice, collecting firewood, or digging and decocting medicine for the young blind man, he always said in his heart: "It's worth it, of course it's worth it." The strength is almost about to collapse. "I have to take one last look." "What else? Just die like this?" "Besides, there are only the last few left." The last three sentences are all reasons.The old blind man calmed down again, and went to Yeyangao to tell stories every night. This time the little blind man was blessed.Every night when Master went down to the mountain, Lan Xiuer would hop into the temple like a cat to listen to the casket.Lan Xiuer also brought boiled eggs, on condition that she was allowed to turn the switch of the box with her own hands. "Which way to turn?" "To the right" "It can't be turned." "To the right, idiot, I don't know which side is the right?"? "Click", no matter what it is, it will sound, no matter what it is, the two of them love to hear it. A few days later, the old blind man broke three more strings. That night, the old blind man played and sang in Yeyangao: "It's not about Luo Cheng's reincarnation, but he also sang Qin Wang Li Shimin. Qin Wang burst into tears when he heard it, and his poor Aiqing died. When you die, ride the wind and waves, and you don't have enough support." General Chaoshang..." The small temple on Yeyangao was even more lively at this time.The volume of the electric box was turned up quite high, children were crying, adults were shouting, cannons were rumbling, beeps were beeping and horns were blowing.The moonlight shone into the main hall, the little blind man lay down and gnawed eggs, and Lan Xiuer sat beside him.Both of them were excited when they heard it, sometimes they laughed, and sometimes they were confused and confused. "Where did your master sell this box?" "From someone outside the mountain." "Have you ever been outside the mountain?" Lan Xiuer asked. "No. I'll go there sooner or later, by train." "train?" "You don't know about trains either? You idiot." "Oh, you know, it's smoking, isn't it?" After a while Lan Xiu'er said again: "If I'm not sure, I'll go outside the mountain." Her tone was a little panicked. "Really?" The little blind man sat up straight, "Then you see what a zigzag oil wolf is." "Do you mean that people outside the mountain have electric boxes?" "Who knows. Did you hear me clearly? Qu, Zhe, De, You, Wolf, this thing is just outside the mountain." "Then I have to ask them for an electronic box." Lan Xiuer thought to herself. "Want one?" The little blind man laughed twice, then held his breath, and then laughed loudly: "Why don't you want two? You are really capable. Do you know that this box costs thousands of dollars each? Sell you, I'm afraid Can't change it." Lan Xiu'er felt aggrieved, grabbed the little blind man's ear and twisted it hard, cursing: "Well, you are so blind." The two wrestled in the hall.The three statues stood by and couldn't help. Two young, developing bodies collided and entangled, one pressed the other under them, and then turned them upside down again, cursing turned into laughter.The box is singing on the side. After fighting for a long time, both of them were tired and stopped, their hearts were pounding, they lay panting for breath, they were silent, but neither of them wanted to distance themselves, Lanxiuer's exhaled air blew on the little blind man's face The little blind man felt the temptation, and remembered what the master said when he blew the fire that day, so he blew on Lan Xiuer's face.Lanxiuer did not hide. "Hey," whispered the little blind man, "do you know what kissing is?" "What is it?" Lan Xiuer's voice was also low. The little blind man told Lan Xiuer to her ear.Lanxiuer didn't speak.Before the old blind man came back, they tried to kiss, and it was not bad... That night, the old blind bullet broke the last two strings.Both strings snapped.He didn't expect it.He almost ran and crawled up the Yeyang Ridge and returned to the small temple.The little blind man was startled: "What's wrong, Master?" The old blind man sat there panting, unable to speak.The little blind man murmured: Could it be that what he and Lan Xiuer did let Master know? Only then did the old blind man believe that everything was worth it.A lifetime of hard work is worth it.It's worth it to watch it once, take a good look at it. "Boy, I'll go grab the medicine tomorrow." "tomorrow?" "tomorrow." "Another broken one?" "Two. Both are broken." The old blind man unloaded the two strings, kneaded them in his hands for a while, then combined them to the other nine hundred and ninety-eight strings and tied them into a bundle. "Leave tomorrow?" "Start at dawn." The little blind man felt a chill in his heart.The old blind man began to peel the snake skin off the piano groove. "But my illness is not cured yet." The little blind man whispered. "Oh, I've thought about it, you just stay here, I'll be back in less than ten days." The little blind man was overjoyed. "Can you do it alone?" "Okay!" the little blind man said hastily. The old blind man had long forgotten about Lan Xiu'er. "Eat, drink, and burn everything. If you recover quickly from your illness, you should also learn to go out and talk back by yourself. Okay?" "Okay." The little blind man felt a little sorry for Master. The snake skin was peeled off, and the old blind man took out a squarely folded note from the piano slot.He remembered that he was only twenty years old when the prescription went into the piano tank, and he felt cold all over his body. The little blind man also touched the prescription in his hand for a while, and he became a little solemn. "Your master will be wronged all his life." "How many did he break?" "He could've played a thousand, but he got eight hundred. Otherwise he'd have broken a thousand." Before dawn, the old blind man was on his way.He said he would be back in ten days at most.No one thought that he had been gone for so long. It was already winter when the old blind man returned to Yang'ao.It is snowing heavily, and the gray sky connects the white mountains.No sound, no life anywhere, empty and silent.That's why the blackened straw hat of the old blind man was especially visibly moving.He staggered up the Wild Sheep Ridge, and the withered grass in the temple courtyard was rustling. A fox sprang out and fled away in a panic. The villagers told him that the little blind man had been gone for a few days. "I told him to wait for me to come back." "I don't know why he left." "He didn't say where he was going, did he leave anything?" "He told you not to look for him." "When did you leave?" People thought about it for a long time, and they all said that it was the day Lan Xiuer married and went outside the mountain.The old blind man understood everything in his heart. Everyone persuaded the old blind man to stay, where would he go in such a world of ice and snow?It's better to talk about a winter book in Yeyangao.The old blind man pointed to his qin, and people saw that the handle of the qin was empty and there were no strings.The old blind man's face was also haggard, his breathing was also weak, his voice was hoarse, and he was completely changed.He said he had to go to his apprentice. If he hadn't been thinking about his apprentice, the old blind man wouldn't have been able to return to Yeyangao.The prescription he had kept for fifty years turned out to be a blank sheet of paper without words.He didn't believe it, so he asked many literate and honest people to read it for him. Everyone said that it was really a blank paper with no words.The old blind man sat on the steps in front of the pharmacy for a while. He thought it was just a while, but in fact it had been several days and nights. His bone-like eyes were asking the sky, and his face turned as pale as bones.Someone thought he was crazy, comforted him, and advised him.The old blind man smiled wryly: What's the point of being crazy after seventy years old?He just didn't want to move anymore, and the things that attracted him to live, walk, and sing suddenly disappeared.Just like a string that cannot be tightened, it is difficult to play a pleasant tune.The heartstrings of the old blind man were broken. To be precise, there was nothing to tie at one end.A string needs two points to be taut.There are also two points in the heartstring - one is the pursuit, the other is the purpose - so that you can play the heart song in the tense process in the middle.Now it turns out that the purpose was empty.The old blind man lived in a small inn for a long time, feeling that everything in his body was going out.他整天躺在炕上，不弹也不唱，一天天迅速地衰老。直到花光了身上所有的钱，直到忽然想起他的徒弟，他知道自己的死期将至，可那孩子在等他回去。 茫茫雪野，皑皑群山，在地之间躜动着一个黑点。走近时，老瞎子的身身影弯得如一痤桥。他去找他的徒弟。他知道那孩子目前的心情、处境。 他想自己先得振作起来，但是不行，前面明明没有了目标。 他一路走，便怀恋起过去的日子，才知道以往那些奔奔忙忙兴致勃勃的翻山、走路、弹琴，乃至心焦、忧虑都是多么欢乐！那时有个东西把心弦扯紧，虽然那东西原是虚设。老瞎妇想起他师父临终时的情景。他师父把那张自己没用上的药方封进他的琴槽。“您别死，再活几年，您就能睁眼看一回了。”说这话时他还是个孩子。他师父久久不言语，最后说：“记住，人的命就象这琴弦，拉紧了才能弹好，弹好了就够了。”……不错，那意思就是说：目的本来没有。不错，他的一辈子都被那虚设的目的拉紧，于是生活中叮叮当当才有了生气。重要的是从那绷紧的过程中得到欢乐，老瞎子知道怎么对自己的徒弟说了。可是他又想：能把一切都告诉小瞎子吗？老瞎子又试着振作起来，可还是不行，总摆脱不掉那无字的白纸…… 在深山里，老瞎子找到了小瞎子。 小瞎子正跌倒在雪地里，一动不动，想那么等死。老瞎子懂得那绝不是装出来的悲衰。老瞎子把他拖进一个山洞，他已无力反抗。老瞎子捡了些柴，打起一堆火。 小瞎子渐渐有了哭声。老瞎子放了心，任他尽情尽意地哭。只要还能哭就还有救，只要还能哭就有哭够的时候。 小瞎子哭了几天几夜，老瞎子就那么一声不吭地守着。火光和哭声惊动了野免子、山鸡、野羊和狐狸和鹞鹰…… 终于小瞎子说话了：“干嘛咱们是瞎子！” “就因为咱们是瞎子。”老瞎子回答。 终于小瞎子又说：“我想睁开眼看看，师父，我想睁开眼看看！哪怕就看一回。” “你真那么想吗？” “真想，真想――” 老瞎子把篝火拨得更旺些。 雪停了。铅灰色的天空中，太阳象一面闪光的小镜子，鹞鹰在平稳地滑翔。 “那就弹你的琴弦，”老瞎子说，“一根一根尽力地弹吧。” “师父，您的药抓来了？”小瞎子如梦方醒。 “记住，得真正是弹断的才成。” “您已经看见了吗？师父，您现在看得见了？” 小瞎子挣扎着起来，伸手去摸师父的眼窝。老瞎子把他的手抓住。 “记住，得弹断一千二百根。 “一千二？” “把你的琴给我，我把这药方给你封在琴槽里。”老瞎子现在才懂了师父当年对他说的话――你的命就在这琴弦上。 目的虽是虚设的，可非得有不行，不然琴弦怎么拉紧，拉不紧就弹不响。 “怎么是一千二，师父？” “是一千二。我没弹够，我记成了一千。”老瞎子想：这孩子再怎么弹吧，还能弹断一千二百根？永远扯紧欢跳的琴弦，不必去看那无字的白纸…… 这地方偏僻荒凉，群山不断。荒草丛中随时会飞起一对山鸡，跳出一只野免、狐狸，或者其它小野兽。山谷中鹞鹰在盘旋。 现在让我们回到开始： 莽莽苍苍的群山之中走着两个瞎子，一老一少，一前一后，两顶发了黑的草帽起伏躜动，匆匆忙忙，象是随着一条不安静的河水在漂流。无所谓从哪儿来、到哪儿去，也无所谓谁是谁…… 八五年四月二十日