Chapter 2 ordinary people

I was sick all summer, and it was too hot upstairs. Because there were few guests during the summer vacation, I moved to the living room downstairs. At nine o'clock on the night of August ××, I was already lying down.When Zao put down the round gauze curtain and pulled over the screen, he looked up and saw that there was no white swallow's cage on the horizontal pole hanging from the screen. He immediately said in surprise, "Shun forgot to bring the bird cage in!" I quickly sat up and said, "Go out and have a look, the cat will take the bird away later." Zao went out, and after a long time, she yelled through the window, "Something has gone wrong, Baiyan is no longer in the cage!" I hurriedly slipped on my slippers again, and went out to the porch, and saw that the bottom of the cage was open by two inches. A wide slit.Bai Yan is gone!I immediately felt a strange emptiness in my heart.

This white swallow was bought by my mother for Xiaoju to play with when she was in Shanghai six years ago. It is a very delicate and exquisite cage.The bird is light yellow and slender, and it is very good at singing, especially in the morning. After my mother died, the whole family returned to Peiping. My father paid half-price for the car and boat ticket, and brought it with me. He was still very good at barking, which relieved my father a lot of loneliness. Xiaoju went to Hankou the year before last.One morning my father called me and said, "I have a new cat here. I'm always worried about the birdcage hanging up. You can give it to Beibei to play." The next morning, Bai Yan brought it. Since then, this "Wang Xietang Qianyan" has come to us.

After Baiyan comes, maybe we don't know how to raise it, so we won't be able to bark well.Algae said it was old.It was silent all winter, and sometimes chirped a few times, but it was not active. The grains and suzi that are fed to it are always bought from the city, and water is added in exchange for food, and it is always on time, but it is not as energetic as before. Spring is here, it seems a little joyful, jumping around in the cage.One day, early in the morning, I was sitting on the porch, under the rising sun, the spring breeze was blowing the newly opened cherry blossoms.I saw it tilted its head to the left and right.After a long time, it began to sing, the sound was like a string of silver bells, and it was like a continuous flowing spring. It was very familiar and crisp to my ears. I woke up and immediately felt that spring was back, the spring four years ago was back!Zao came out of the study with a pen in his hand, and said with a surprised smile, "The bird is calling again." I said, "After all, it is not old." We stood quietly on the porch for a long time.

Beibei loves it very much, and when she sees it, she raises her head and claps her hands and calls "Buda!——Buda!"—I taught Beibei to say "Bird," He couldn't say it, so I taught him to say "Birdie", and he couldn't say it, he just said "No Da!" - "No Da" It became its name. After it can bark again, we cherish it even more.But Zao is a nerd, and I'm sick and lazy, so we don't care about it.Shun is a new boy, he is not familiar with the place, so he always does things in a blur.Sometimes I see the cage hanging on the porch under the shadow of the sun, the bird is panting with its neck straight, and I quickly take off the cage to see that there is no water at all.I felt distressed, and hurried to add water, while watching it sip and drink, while counting and saying well.

At dusk that day, I went out to the porch, buckled the cage, and imitated Beibei and called "Buda! - Buda!" It looked down from the cage and barked a few times.Then the guests come, sit and talk, and forget about it. At this time, we all stood there dumbfounded, and I said, "Forget it, let's talk first." Zao fixed the bottom of the cage, left the small gate open, and still hung there, hoping that it would come back in case. ——I was still troubled on the pillow. Zao comforted me and said, "Didn't the cat take it away? If so, there would be a sound when the cage fell, and it must have flown away by itself—whatever it is, it must be careless!"

After being locked in a cage for six years, once you get out, can you fly?The night is so dark, not only is it difficult to recognize the distance when flying there, but it is also not easy for you to fly back!You can't help people's indifference, your struggling attempts to be liberated.The surprise when you found the opening, the hesitation after you slipped out of the cage, you were confused, you tried to fly, and you jumped on the ground weakly. Surprised, green eyes. ... A small whirlwind quietly swept away the consciousness of your little soul. In the midst of your thousands of battles, your soft feathers have been torn apart between those furry minions...

I was originally nervous during the illness, and I didn't sleep well all night!swallow!swallow!Just think it was you who flew away by yourself.I can't bear to see you being forced to hang on a corner of the cage, fluttering your wings and whining, and being grabbed by a fur claw! I had a dream one night, dreaming of sparrows, and dreaming of swallows, as if two sparrows gathered and pecked at the swallow, it was very messy,... Before the sun came out in the morning, I woke up when I heard the sound of birds, rubbed my eyes, and hurried out to the porch to have a look, only to see that Baiyan's cage was still hanging high up empty!In the cool morning breeze, I watched silently under the cage until almost noon.

Under the leaves, under the flowers, and in the corners of the garden, we searched all over, but we didn't even see a broken feather!Shun's face was flushed and she made the distinction, saying that when the cage was hung last night, Bai Yanzi was still standing with her eyes closed.I have no words. Since then, I haven't seen it, neither found the body nor seen it come back, and I always have an indescribable longing in my heart.Because Qianren ruled a seal, the text was called "ordinary people", in order to confess that I couldn't make Baiyan live in it, and hopelessly hoped that it would fly into my house again and again.I did a lot of things while I was sick, and this is one of the boring things.In the summer of 1932, on the sick bed.