Chapter 2 morality and wisdom

On winter mornings, many people are still dreaming, possessing everything and plundering everything unscrupulously, to satisfy their greed that cannot be satisfied in the day.At that time, the roofs of the houses in Wuchang were covered with white smoke.The black tiles, varying in density, have the same patterns and patterns, showing various rectangular or square planes very irregularly. From the gaps in the patios of those courtyards, and from the side of the lower wall, there are still towers. The branches of the trees, these branches are in the smoke and mist, just like a person, lying there motionless as if spying on the weather.

The coming of this kind of good weather, the little bird squatting in the corner of the roof tile seems to know it.As usual, mornings with fine weather are always extremely cold. People rushing, delivering goods, and carrying coffins for funerals dot every lonely street.These people exhaled white smoke from their noses.Those who didn't have free shoulders walked in the middle of the street panting and singing.Those who walked the empty road all shrugged their shoulders, resisting the cold, and staggered to the edge of the wall. Everyone had a different tone, but generally speaking, there was a harmony.

At this time, in the Dahuangping of the horse-selling factory in the center of Wuchang City, there were more than 20 wild dogs, hungry and cold, with nothing to do, chasing and biting each other there.Originally, when dogs came from the countryside to the city, they were usually very friendly, and they stopped biting and barking at people casually.But this season, these things are also very bad tempered.These homeless hooligans couldn't find a suitable master, and lost the opportunity to exchange flattery for support, so they fought in places where there was no one, entertaining and exciting themselves with war.This war went on for a long time, but no idler noticed it.

But just at that time, on the east side of the street, a greasy-faced, dirty-bodied brat working in a small restaurant had a strange dream at night, got up early from the dirty bed, stood in a corner of the barren lawn, and urinated. At that time, he saw the dogs at a glance, which made him angry. He squatted down, picked up a small stone, and threw it at the dogs with all his strength.The dogs looked at each other and barked when they saw such an unremarkable dirty boy, so the boy picked up a bigger stone for the second time and threw it into the dogs.But when he remembered the many things he had to do that day and the many disasters that had happened to him, he felt a little bored and a little lonely, and he was not in the mood to challenge the wild dogs anymore.The kid soon went back to the lower bunk door of the restaurant.

In the south of the street, in an old private ancestral hall with a magnificent gatehouse, in front of the big stage, there was a young soldier, wearing a gray cotton military uniform that didn't fit him when he grew up, playing with a trumpet.The first time I blew the Tianming horn, the second time I blew the wake-up call call, and the third time I blew the call-calling horn.After the three trumpets were blown, a company of young soldiers lined up to the barren lawn, turning the place occupied by wild dogs into a playground, led by the company commander, and started running in groups.The men in gray clothes, like the recruits in other places, got up early every day and had nothing to do but run around.After running for a while, they divided into small platoons, and followed the wishes of each company, doing all the things that soldiers do all day long.Run, walk slowly, turn left, turn right, lie down, kneel down, each command has a form, and these different and very simple forms dominate the interests and hopes of these people.They all understand that they are soldiers, and each one never forgets his identity on his collar patches, armbands, and other small places.And they will never forget this in their hearts.As time went by, the recruits gradually became veterans, and from the mouth that had eaten brown rice for many years, a strong and powerful voice yelled out. Some people feel that this is a stupid cry, so they are angry and angry.The reason is that they are soldiers, and in addition they are "professors" of the division of men!

Another thing to mention here is that it is near the horse-selling factory. Because the place is close to Hubei University, it is convenient to travel. Some upper-class figures who use their tongue to sell knowledge and spread culture rent houses. I wish these professors came here from the metropolis. In the nameless dilapidated and depressed place, there are always some unpleasant phenomena in contact with eyes and ears.The place is dirty, the houses are mean, the people are crafty, and the weather is bad.Therefore, I usually have a very good self-cultivation. Once I live here for a while, when I mention anything in this place, I will never lack complaints.As for his temper, it can be said that he has completely deteriorated.They didn't forget to come to this place to teach, they can get more money, eat some good food, and enjoy the blessing of leisure.But other unsatisfactory things often make them intolerable.A place suitable for training soldiers in the civil war, platoon commanders and company commanders, commanders, these characters flock together, and it is very suitable to live in. Of course, it is not easy to get along with the professors.

This place, such a morning, a person who lives in a small upstairs house in a house on Maimachang Street West, the platform is facing the barren lawn, and because of the stupid shouts of the stupid people in the meadow, a person's sleep is awakened , Suddenly there was a very powerful roar from the bedroom. "Mother Yang, mother—my mother, why did you forget to close the door again?" According to the custom of being servants at that time, the aunt of this family got up early in the morning, cleaned the fallen leaves on the platform, opened the door, and forgot to close it, so the uniform shouts of the soldiers alarmed the crowd. Sweet dreams of this noble man.

Hearing the master's roar, the aunt closed the door gently, and the master inside turned into a pair of little white butterflies like Zhuang Zhou, and flew to a distant realm.After the master was lying down peacefully, the aunt was still cleaning on the platform, tidying up the frozen tofu placed on the railing, feeling a little aggrieved by the strange title of the master. She thought, "An aunt who costs four yuan a month, how can she be your master's mother? The old lady eats bird's nest and shark's fin as a snack in her hometown, wears a fox fur jacket and silk satin, and sits on the firebox all day long, just like a cat. I don’t need to do anything, just doze peacefully, how can I have such good fortune?”

This woman is a middle-aged woman, her son is a soldier, and she knows much more about soldiers than the master, seeing the master dislike soldiers so much, she doesn't say anything, but she always feels a little disgusted in her heart.The master hates those soldiers so much and scolds them all day long.This aunt, she had nothing to do during the day, so she moved a small stool, sat on the platform to bask in the sun to keep warm, and ate a little crispy rice on the soles of her shoes. While watching the young soldiers and young officers under the sun, she got a kind of personality just like the old man. The opposite fun.In terms of the life of a young soldier, she could guess the life of her son, and in the life of a young officer, she often had the dream of not hindering other people's careers.Never looked at his son like a master, carrying a black leather bag under his waist, going to school with a walking stick, taking one day off in seven days, getting his salary at the end of the month, and taking the check to the Shanghai Bank to cash it.She knows the benefits, but she doesn't want to.She only wants to see her son also wearing a decent yellow woolen military uniform, wearing a shining knife, standing like a pen, walking like a horse, giving orders in the Daping with dignity and might.This decent appearance can give her extraordinary glory and eternal happiness.Her son is far away from her now, so far away that I don’t know how many miles away. He is the squad leader in a team. The letter said that he will be promoted slowly. He said so every time, but he did not get promoted.

But she believes that after some time, she will definitely be able to rise up. Because I have a son who is in the army, this woman, when she goes shopping for vegetables, meets young soldiers, leaning on one foot next to other old women, waiting to mend the soles of socks, seeing this In such a situation, she was always willing to pause, walk up to the soldier in a friendly manner, and talk to the soldier with a smile.She discussed with these young people some questions about the lives of soldiers, asked questions, and seemed to get something from the most common answers.Since her son was in the Seventeenth Division, she never forgot to ask which division the soldier belonged to.Because her son wrote that the army often owed wages, she had to ask the soldier how much he earned every month.

Those conversations routinely start like this: "Vice lord, I seem to know you. Aren't you from the Seventeenth Division?" Naturally, she didn't really know him, because there were so many soldiers in Wuchang, and their own division commanders wouldn't know the soldiers. But this soldier also has a mother. Seeing this woman is so kind, he is willing to gossip. The soldier will say, "I am Division X".Because the 17th Division has been stationed in Jiangxi for many days.If the soldier also knew about this, he would have to say, "They are stationed in Jiangxi and will not come back. There is a lot of fire over there!" Knowing that this soldier is not a soldier of the 17th Division, she still used the air of "I know you", and asked about the battalion commander, military supplies, and master. After arriving, she had to ask about all the names she knew, and then talked It's time to pay.She thought soldiers should send money home. "You send money to your mother, do you send it every month?" "You can't always be strange. Recruits don't have much money." "Then where did your money go?" "..." Here, when meeting an honest soldier, he has to tell the truth, that is to say, a soldier doesn't get much money except food and drink.Or if you get some money, you don't lose it in gambling, you just spend it on other food and drink.When the woman heard these words, she would forget her taboos as usual, and use her status as a mother to add a little bit of blame to the person in front of her.She will have a case for all stay-at-home mothers because she is a soldier's mother herself.She always said with a bit of anger, "You young people, you shouldn't have forgotten your mother." But as soon as she had said the words, she remembered other things from the soldier. From the untidy and flimsy clothes of the soldiers, the worn-out shoes and socks, and other things, she felt sympathy, and felt that being a soldier was not easy. "Aren't you cold? Don't you suffer? Don't you get beaten? Does your mother send clothes and shoes? ..." She wanted to ask and say anything, because she wanted to know something about her son in front of any soldier.When she arrived, she saw the soldier striding away, standing alone on the street, and seemed to want to cry for a while, but another emotion made her feel very happy at that time. Although it was not her son who was talking to her, he was a soldier!Because I often see soldiers mending shoes and socks on the street with old women. She knows that her son’s shoes and socks must be like this in order to run away in the army, so she often sits in the sun every winter make shoes.After finishing the soles and placing the green cloth uppers, I spent money and asked someone to take them.Whether the shoes could fit on her son's feet or not, the woman had no way of knowing. This woman met soldiers on the street, talked with them, and when she returned home, she was in a hurry to wash vegetables and cook. When she arrived at Snake Mountain, the noon cannon rang, and after a while, the electric bell in front of the gate rang, From that heavy style, he knew that it was time for the master to go home for dinner, so he hurried to open the door.After the arrival, the woman arranged all the dishes and meals on the square table in the main room, and the master, wife, and young master took the table in turn, and she stood by the side to serve and refill the meals for the family.At the dinner table, the master was still unwilling to give up his right to scold the soldiers. Judging from the situation, it seemed that he knew that his aunt at home had a son who was a soldier, so he purposely scolded him for her to hear.Heard many strange reproaches, and many unkind curses.As usual, my aunt couldn't tell the difference. She wanted to say "Master, you are not right", "Master, you are making rumors", and "Master, you shouldn't scold them like that", but because she remembered that the master was in another season, everyone would play for entertainment. The story of the fact that the soldiers were not allowed to play in the school, and the master was also arrested when the soldiers took the director of affairs, she knew that the master's complaints had roots, so she didn't say anything. Issues of disarmament, popularization of education, saving the country through Chinese learning, and many other issues are all issues that the head of the family often makes speeches with his wife, young master and aunt.The master originally had his own concerns, so when the master went to school, this question was moved from the mansion to the teachers' lounge. The old man was full of weirdness. He heard that the school climbed up to a high platform and told the young people about the things in the sky and the earth. He couldn't finish talking for a year.Of course, the aunt at home is not qualified to know the master.Auntie saw that the master was gone, sent it out, and carefully closed the waist door with a slight smile on her face.She thought of the old man's temper, and remembered what the old man said... a fire would kill hundreds of thousands of people.A cannonball destroyed a house and cut off a head with a knife. The master read the news from the newspaper, and she didn't need to read the newspaper to know all about it.It's nothing to die. There are a million or more people in Hubei and Jiangxi, and there are many houses in the world, and a thousand cannons will not destroy the houses.Everything is fate, and what is in fate, there is no escape; there is no name in fate, so there is no need to be afraid.What does this mean?It's all the reason why this woman doesn't believe that her son will die suddenly, and at the same time, she also thinks that the master has a good heart and a bad temper, so it doesn't matter! At a certain point, the master and aunt of this family are exactly on the opposite side, but as for the wife, the young lady and the young master, they don't know which side they should stand on.They heard that Wuchang Province was under martial law, and the school's salary could not be paid on time. They didn't seem very happy to see the master angry.But sitting at home every day with nothing to do, I feel bored, and when I go to the platform with my aunt to watch the soldiers in Pingli practice, I often watch it for a long time.The young officer galloped across the grounds on a small white horse. The professor's wife was very envious of his impressive aura. Sometimes she made wild plans in her mind, thinking that having such a son-in-law in the future would not be such a bad thing. In the faculty lounge of the Department of Politics at Hubei University, after the bell rang for a while, the professors were covered in ashes, as if retreating from a battlefield.These people fled quickly, and embedded their bodies in the soft big chairs in the lounge. Those who were fatter and heavier heard the sound of squeaks.Then came a tall footman who wiped his face with a handkerchief, and these people wiped their eyebrows and ears like plaster on a blackboard.A new stove was built in the room, and in the second half of the day there was not enough coal, which made the room feel cold, but in the first half of the day, as usual, there was bituminous coal roaring in the stove, and the room was full of spring.The day is already November 27th, and after three days the school should pay the salary. The professors who teach six hours a week and receive a monthly salary of about 300 yuan have nothing to do after class, so they gather around the warm stove , Drinking a cup of tea, naturally have something to talk about.So when it comes to salary, the school's accounting unit, the provincial finance bureau, the country's finance department, and occasionally the relationship between money and brother-in-law, all kinds of problems arise from here. The lounge has become a lively place.As usual, the servant could also stand by and stir the fire with an iron rod, while listening carefully to the wise arguments of these knowledgeable people, until he mentioned things about women, he was a little embarrassed and had to get out of this place. house. These respectable people, as a rule, have their own philosophies, which use their own scholarly notions to explain everything indiscriminately.There are not many classes in school, and the students are very forgiving of these famous people, just as everyone is satisfied with just a little knowledge.These people have so few things and are so easy to deal with every day. When they go home to discuss "state affairs" with their wives, the wives often ask about "salary".Some people don’t have wives yet, and some people are too embarrassed to pick up their wives with little feet, so this group of people, as usual, don’t leave immediately after class. They stay in the lounge to keep warm, smoke, and chat. It’s really a way to pass the long day The best thing to detox.Everyone expresses their feelings and expresses their opinions on a small matter.Everyone can smile or laugh unanimously at a joke.It was supposed to hurt people with eating diseases, so they all unknowingly gained weight. These people are generally hired from the United States or the United Kingdom, from the new capital of Nanjing or the old capital of Beijing.There are also some who have resigned after being high officials and have contacts with important people in the government.Some are very famous and well-known in the society, and they would not go to other places to hire them. Therefore, even if there are few classes, students are embarrassed to be picky.These people have seen the "order" and "beauty" achieved by Chinese and foreign cultures and civilizations. After passing through many worlds and reading many books, they are very famous and very knowledgeable. When you live in a small house, you have to drink the muddy water from the pond every day. When you go out on the street, all you meet are stupid and sloppy faces. You can always see a passerby at any time of the year. Pulling off his pants to pee.A mouse was killed in the shop, and immediately picked up with iron pokers and thrown into the street... There are also soldiers, so many that you can't imagine the number of them, so dirty that you always think it is a beggar, look at it and throw him a coin , but because of that look, you are a little scared when you see him, and you want to go away when you see him.Because of these phenomena, many people think that this is really the China of the Chinese people, so they get used to going there.In addition, some people have just begun to understand how the Chinese people in the mainland are living in a rotten, moldy and smelly situation, and they feel very pessimistic.But although these people agreed that the "classical" life in the inland was not the life they were familiar with, they were all scholars, each knew a certain kind of special knowledge, had read many special books, and could tell students the history of great men, which was weird. Thoughts for ten years, politics for ten years, legal codes for a hundred years, literature for thousands of years, and heaven and earth for ten thousand years, there is nothing but these.Some knew that they should be officials, and they waited patiently for political removal.Some people who love money know how to properly dispose of the salary they earn into something that generates interest.There are also some "scholars" among them, who are very respectable but do not know much about things. They have cultivated a strange personality from Chinese or foreign books. The chaos of state affairs and the degeneration of the nation all feel that they make him extremely uncomfortable thing.The affairs of the people and China disturbed this man's heart and made him often angry.With regard to the ruling side, he seems to have a tooth-gnashing relationship at any time.He does not have any fixed beliefs, but believes that all phenomena are bad and uncivilized, all due to the government's inability to rectify and give up on purpose.He is genuinely displeased with those in power, and those who help those who do evil.He seems to be in conflict with that kind of evil force all the time, but he doesn't let go of all the benefits he has gained from the abnormal development of society.He has a feeling, and only has that feeling. If his temper is spoiled, he can neither make society better nor himself.In another situation, this kind of person is able to write poems and fuss because of a little injustice and a little rebellious seed brewing in his heart.There is another kind of scholar, although he is a scholar, he has gradually become a teacher, lazy, and has the flavor of Chinese celebrities, so he is prone to a kind of trivial interest, and often has a lot of disputes on some trivial matters, which cannot be resolved. .This kind of person also likes to have a long and uninteresting discussion with colleagues, using some big newspapers and tabloids as the basis, linking "big people" and "new things" in one place, and spreading a little rumor in turn. Rumors often have to include a famous woman, and they get a kind of pleasure from this situation.In this way, they are fighting against everything that is dissatisfied, laughing at everything, insulting everything, and cursing everything... This is not bad, and it is still a long war!The weapon of tongue is not old, and at the same time, there are so many colleagues in this lounge, this kind of people is a kind of backbone in a boring group. Without them, everyone will feel that life is even more boring! Even the last group of people are still dissatisfied with this environmental phenomenon.That family has a platform, and when he gets angry, he calls his servants his mother, and the adult who dislikes seeing soldiers the most, seems to be this kind of person in many places. We should return to the previous matter.At nine o'clock, the professor had had enough sleep, and after getting up, the aunt brought the washbasin beside the bed and put it on a small table.At that time, a group of trumpeters on Snake Mountain was playing their trumpets, and the sound spread to all parts of Wuchang City.The local people have seen so many troops passing through this month, and many long-term workers and small businessmen have been dragged to work as cooks. This trumpet seems to be a little proud of suppressing the whole Wuchang people. "Han Sheng, these are the slaves of a group of robbers." He heard the sound of the trumpet, and it was very harsh. He added this strange sentence to the group of soldiers who played the trumpet, but he showed his son who was under four years old by the couch that he was very serious. The attitude of the soldiers is contemptuous. The son didn't quite understand what his father meant, but he asked his father to buy him a gun and a knife.He told his father the reason for needing this, saying it was "to be a leader".This ambition to be a leader was reminded of hearing the sound of a trumpet. The professor was a little surprised that this was not a reliable source of ideas, so he asked his son. "Who told you?" "I want it myself!" "What do you want that for?" "I like that." "Don't talk about joy. That's what the robbers want!" "I still want to be the governor!" "The revolutionaries are here to kill you!" "Kill me too." "Hi—" the professor roared, and opened his eyes to see that Han Sheng didn't say anything else. The mother knew what was going on in the room under the window, and called her son outside. "Han Sheng, come here, come here, look at the snow falling from the sky, it's snowing so hard!" After the son who wanted to be the governor went out, the professor wiped his face and said, "Auntie, I have told you countless times not to allow the young master to go to the platform to see those beggars and robbers. If you don't listen to me, I will pay you." "Master, there is no such thing." "Why not, he wants to be the governor! He doesn't know anything if he doesn't see those things!" "He has ambition!" "What kind of ambition, to be a governor, to be a teacher, they are all bastards..." The lady outside shouted again, "Auntie, auntie, quickly bring the young master's little chair", and the auntie ran outside with a smile. There is no snow falling outside, the weather is very good, the sun hanging in the blue sky, shining strange warmth on people's backs, the master and servant are standing in the yard basking in the sun, watching a group of pigeons fly in formation in the corner of the house .The two were still calculating the climate of Laba beans and the amount of salt used for bacon.Calculate the day when the dried vegetables fall into the altar and open the altar.It has nothing to do with the master.Except for the professor who is on his own, the rest of the family stand on the opposite side of the male master with one heart and mind.The professor seems to understand this very well, because whenever the child and the servant are scolded, the wife always calls them away, so as not to prolong the time and make the master angry. After arriving, the professor read the newspaper in his room and saw some news about defeats in various places. As if he had a chance for revenge, he took the newspaper and went outside to the big courtyard. "XX has killed ten thousand people, Master Zhang XX has also been captured alive, these useless things!" something happened. "With 10,000 dead, the provincial chairman is also arrested?" The professor found it interesting to see Auntie's flustered and astonished expression, so he used his own opinion to confirm the news that was not published in the newspaper.It is said that all the captives will be shot to death with machine guns, and not a single cook will be left behind.He also wanted to say that these people should all be burned to death... Before he could say anything, suddenly there were many people shouting on the street outside the door, and he heard the ringing of bells in the distance. There were many people running in chaos on the street. Although it was broad daylight, it was not known whether it was just a fire or not.Within a short time the whole family was on the deck behind the house.I saw a puff of green smoke rising from the east corner of the city, and heard a faint roaring sound, which seemed to be not far away.The aunt hurriedly climbed up to the railing to have a look, and asked the person next door squatting on the roof to see where the water came from, so she realized that it was two or three blocks away from here.It's less than twenty minutes away. At this time, the army stationed in the ancestral hall disbanded shortly after leaving the ancestral hall, and suddenly regrouped temporarily. The officer blew his whistle and shouted to stand in line quickly, and soon sent a small group of people to guard against the fire. The professor's family still stood on the platform watching the fire, and they saw many idlers running around in the large flat below, looking very busy.I also saw a timid family in the same neighborhood, someone carried the pot and put it in the middle of the ping.I also saw people beating a gong to report the direction of the fire, and yelling another kind of words indiscriminately, which was about the amount of remuneration for fire fighters for picking up a load of pond water. The professor looked around for a while, and felt that all living beings were busy and noisy, and it was very boring, so he said, "Hansheng, Hansheng, go in with your mother, don't stand here and blow the wind." He said and went downstairs first. I went, and not long after, the whole family gathered around a square table to have breakfast. After dinner, my aunt put away the bowls and went to the kitchen. When she heard the commotion outside the back door, she saw two soldiers carrying a wounded soldier in the fire with the door panel, followed by a large group of people.I also saw a soldier help a policeman who was injured in firefighting, followed by a large group of people.This aunt hurriedly followed to the back, wanting to see if the one in front was dead or not.When the idlers on the street crowded to the front of the ancestral hall, the injured person had already been carried into the ancestral hall, and all idlers were not allowed to pass through. I was worrying there, when suddenly I saw a soldier running out of the ancestral hall in a hurry, and only said "Look for a rooster", "Look for a rooster", she stretched out her hand in the crowd and pulled After seeing the soldier, she blushed and said hastily, "Master, come with me, I have a chicken, I have a chicken..." She gave the rooster, which was kept at the master's house, to the stranger. After the soldiers, they ran back with the soldiers, stood outside the ancestral hall, and waited for the news inside.After standing for a long time, I went home. But the professor who had finished his meal calmly sat down on the big sofa by the fire in the faculty lounge of the university within half an hour.Five or six gentlemen in one room used the fire in Dongcheng as their theme and talked about all the stories about the fire.One of the colleagues who is the best at flattering and entertaining, talked about seeing a woman woke up from a fire in a certain place at a certain time, because she was a little flustered, how she forgot that she was a woman. Many elegant nouns are used to describe it.With gentle smiles on their faces, everyone carefully comprehended the changes in the story. At the end, as if they had gained something, they exchanged cigarettes with each other, and smiled reservedly at each other, showing that although the joke was interesting, it could not be understood. If everyone lost their identities, it would be better if another person joked at another moment, because this shameless person told the story, and they knew that this person's character was seriously problematic, he was not a decent person, and he was not from a proper background. After talking about the fire, they began to talk about the things in their own homes this winter. They started talking about the cook and kept talking until the big bell on the mountain urged them to go to the hall.Because of this kind of rule in the school, the next day at school, I knew the story of a stupid aunt in Professor X's family who gave away a rooster that she had raised with her savings. Completed on April 27, 1931