Chapter 2 novella old cloud two

one When the first juicy red fruit fell on the windowsill, the doors and windows of the cabin were crackling in the heat.Beetles groaned, scarabs buzzed, and the stagnant air in the room glowed reddish.Wiping his body sweating profusely, Xu Ruhua ate two pickles to refresh his mind. "As soon as I smell the smell of pickles, I can't help coming." As soon as the door opened, a man's long shadow cast into the room. "Aren't you going to hang a mirror on the tree?" she said bitterly, "to spy on me." He laughed silently.It turned out that his teeth were very white, with two protruding canine teeth, very sharp, were they born for eating ribs?Thinking that there might be ribs left between his teeth, and the scum of the ribs floated over, she felt like throwing up.

"Every night is like being boiled in boiling water, drenched all over." She continued to complain, with a coquettish tone, and even she felt pimples on her skin when she heard it.She pointed to her stomach, "My body is already full of reed stalks. Look here, if you don't believe me, pat it, the sound is hollow, right? I used to think about children, it's incomprehensible. I often I feel that as long as I stand on tiptoe, I will be floated into the air with the wind. So I can't sleep well, because the wind is always making trouble in this room. People say that I am in a trance all day long."

On the bed, his ribs brushed against hers for a brief, uncomfortable moment. Under her repeated requests, he finally told a story about a geological team. The story took place in the wilderness, with heat from beginning to end, lizards and locusts everywhere, and the sun roaring overhead all day long, releasing red sparks. Sweat flows out of the pores like a small river, forming salt frost. "What happened to the geological team?" She urged him. "Later? No more. It was just a short moment, meaningless. Sometimes I couldn't help but say: I also worked in the geological team. In fact, it was just talking, and there was no other meaning .I'm the person I was when you saw me."

"Maybe it's deception! Isn't there still a matter of getting married?" She became indignant. "Yes, marriage. It was caused by a basket of plums. We ate and ate, and we couldn't finish it. Then we got impatient and got married." "You are so pitiful." She stroked his back and forth pityingly, "I knew what you were going to say before you spoke, you are so like myself. In the future, I will tell you about oleander Yes, but I won't talk about it now. I still have a bag of broad beans, which Lao Kuang entrusted someone to deliver. The two of them chewed the broad beans "boom boom boom boom boom boom boom" in the dark, as if they were very happy.

A rat in labor in the rag pile under the bed made a rattling noise. After chewing the broad beans, both of them felt very uncomfortable. "There's a lot of rats in this house," he said, with a hint of stabbing her. "Yeah, it's like sleeping in a heap of ashes, sticky all over." She replied ashamedly, secretly hoping that he would leave soon.She glanced at her belly, only to see that it was more wrinkled and deflated.She remembered that she had put a little powder on her face for him in the morning.She turned her face to the wall, and saw the acid sweat dripping from his armpits, and the long and narrow back was also sweating.His hair was wet and glued together in bunches.It seems that after the scene just now, his whole body's skeleton has been disintegrated, and he has become an animal like eel and loach.Now his whole body was silky and covered with slime, and she could vaguely smell a fishy smell.

"Recently I've had a desire to have a cat," he said, still not getting up. "I've got an all-black, lean, green-eyed cat that's always stalking around maliciously. Look at me. How did your goldfish die?" "The old man said that the smell of murder in this room is too strong. Goldfish are scared to death. Recently, I have become interested in clipping pictures. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and do it for a while, posting various tricks. I have a plan. Tear off all the wallpaper in the room, and paste all kinds of pictures. In this way, as soon as you enter the room, your nerves will be stimulated by the pictures, and you won’t feel flustered. You always sleep here, don’t you feel bored at all? "

There was silence, both of them were regretting their nonsense just now. As soon as Geng Shan stepped out of the door, he stepped on a piece of watermelon rind and fell on his back.He rubbed his butt and took a closer look, and found four or five pieces of watermelon rinds lined up under the threshold.Later he found watermelon rinds in the kitchen, piled up in a huge pile in the shape of a pyramid.When he collected the watermelon rinds and threw them into the dustpan, he saw his father-in-law was digging vigorously at the base of the wall of his house with a shovel, and two bricks had already been broken.His trouser legs were rolled up high, revealing thin, hairy legs.

"Get out!" He slammed hard, knocking him to the ground. He got up, patted the dust on his body, carried the shovel on his shoulder, spat and raised his fist as he walked. "Daddy took your celadon teapot." Mu Lan said with a sad face.The teapot was his favorite thing. "Is everyone dead?!" he growled. "I wouldn't have said it, but he threatened he would commit murder. Who's to say? Maybe he did, I saw him kill a kid... he's half mad, it's all due After being stimulated by you, it turns out that you have no talent at all, it turns out that you have cheated our family's trust, and my mother was also mad at you...why?" She actually wiped her tears.

"Shit coming out of my throat!" He scolded and stomped into the room, fell asleep on the bamboo recliner, stared at the cobweb tassels on the ceiling, and groaned. He was listening, and he heard the birds chirping on the tree, pecking at the red fruits one by one and falling to the ground.He thought of the cricket she'd said died of exhaustion.What was the cricket's last cry?Just listen to it.For a long time he had hoped that the berries on the tree would turn red, because he had told her that when the trees bore red berries, they would all sleep well.So when the first red berries fell on the windowsill, he was ecstatic!However, he could not sleep well, and that night he suffered from insomnia.Still suffering from the heat, he walked up and down under the trees, shining his flashlight on the red berries on the ground and crushing them flat with his feet.The moon is very big, and his shadow is cast on the ground, which is funny.The woman's groans rattled the tightly shut window, beneath which lay a heart-broken cricket.She was fighting in a nightmare, so weak and so hard, no wonder she always drenched in sweat in the morning.Some people don't dream. Isn't their night completely dark?Once he couldn't help asking Mulan this question, but unexpectedly, the woman stared at him for a long time, then suddenly clapped her hands and burst into tears, so that his hair stood on end.Later, she secretly stuffed an alarm clock under the pillow, and in the middle of the night, there was a creepy noise. She jumped up as soon as she opened her eyes, poured a large glass of water, and forced him to swallow a ball that was neither yellow nor black. .The meatball smelled like chicken droppings, and he suspected it was made of chicken droppings.This trick continued until one time, in a fit of rage, he hacked the alarm clock to pieces with a kitchen knife.At that time, Mulan was hiding behind the cabinet, her face pale with fright.Mulan contracted his insomnia, and since then she has had restless sleep. Although she doesn't dream, she always rolls around on the bed, farting sadly, and nagging: "Since I realized the scope of his talents, , the digestive function is out of order." The black cat barked again, very hungry and miserable.That cat is the sworn enemy of his daughter Fengjun.Yesterday when he came back from get off work, he saw her grabbing the cat by the tail and was about to chop it with a knife.He shouted loudly, and the knife fell to the ground. "I'm scaring it." She smiled falsely, very much like her grandfather.Yesterday when he was lying on the bed with the woman next door, he found that he had crushed a bedbug to death. He wiped the blood stains on the edge of the bed, secretly making up his mind not to sleep on this bed again.

"Do you have pesticides in your house?" Neighbor Ma Laowu poked out his head with a large sarcoma on his chin and asked with a smile. He was startled, and said coldly, "It's already used up." The old man was not reconciled, and got into the house, his eyes wandering around. "That's all right." He took a bottle of mosquito repellent and walked out. "That's mosquito repellent, we're going to use it!" Masato shouted. "Very good, very good!" He replied in feigned confusion, and ran away. "How could you let him in?" The woman slid in like a cat, "He's a thief! He borrows things from other people's houses to scout the situation so he can steal at night. You are really stupid!"

"I hope he comes and steals something. What's the big deal? You're secretly happy that your father comes and steals every day. Treat everyone equally." "It's good to have something happen, to make a noise, to make a little noise, so as not to be afraid all the time. Your father, lurking in our kitchen at night... I really can't figure it out." He said vaguely. "Old man Lin, this is the third time he's shit in his crotch." Mulan had forgotten the quarrel just now, and started talking again in good spirits. "Old man Lin? You are alone." He thought about something on his mind, and unconsciously said it. "Sin." "I really think you are one person." He admitted, "Don't you always think about his shit? It's like thinking about yourself. You must have a little book with you. It's something you have to worry about. I agree, this way..." He was still looking out of the window, staring at the red fruit that was dangling on the tree and about to fall, secretly striving for it. "Agreed to what?" She carefully observed his expression, becoming more and more confused. "I agree with you. All the problems are caused by this tree. Of course you know that first it bloomed, and the smell of flowers filled the house, and now it's red fruit. I don't know if it's over. I've already I haven't slept for a long time, and sometimes I'm so sleepy that I worry that I'm going to kill myself." The wandering expression on his face prevented her from getting angry. He must have been possessed by something to speak so crazily. "You and Mr. Lin are actually one person." After a break, he continued, "When you are thinking about something, if you ask him, he must be thinking about the same thing, you can Try it out. Actually, you don’t need to make a fuss at all. For example, people who live under our roof always say the same words and have the same dreams..." He stopped suddenly, because he realized that he was repeating Xu Ruhua cliché.Was she listening through the partition? "How can Old Man Lin and I be the same person? It's really unreasonable. You should know that he shits in his crotch, and he is the laughing stock of everyone." She argued uncertainly. "That's the same. When you laugh at him, you're a laughingstock yourself. You talk about him, and I think you're talking about yourself. I see you're scared, and you're whimsical like a child, but what's the point?" Woolen cloth?" His wife tried desperately to distinguish herself from that old man Lin.They always try their best to laugh at others, but in fact, they are afraid of exposing themselves, so they pretend to make a gesture, as if they have discovered something shocking and ridiculous.Mulan, for example, always writes things like pooping in a small notebook, and they are the ones who know them. In the early days, she began to engage in such tricks.At that time, there was an old man frying oily cakes on the street. One day, she mysteriously called him to the old man's door and asked him to look in through the crack, saying that there was a "wonderful show".He bowed his back and looked at it for a long time, but he didn't see any tricks, but she laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten up, and said something like "almost killed me laughing".So she was laughing at himself?It took him a long time to understand. "Why are you laughing at me?" he asked afterward. "Because you're a fool." "how about you?" "How can I be a fool, if I am a fool, can you still see that you are stupid?" "So that's the case." He sees through her. But she didn't know that she was still playing the old trick. So he was very happy to expose her today. "Drinking three sips of water before eating is a powerful measure to maintain emotional balance." My wife is still nagging, "The important thing is to have a practical attitude and avoid being in a trance. The couple next door is a lesson for you. No matter how I observed it before I find their behavior unbelievable. What kind of consequences did that kind of inexplicable behavior that they thought they were different? Isn’t this a profound lesson? What if..." Yesterday the director talked to him about raising parrots, and told him in a evasive and evasive way: If he can find that kind of good breed for him, he will leave a good impression on him, etc. You must know that keeping parrots is a noble entertainment.When the director was speaking, his narrowed smiling eyes revealed a fierce light.But he actually showed a confused look during the conversation, his thoughts wandered, and he inserted a sentence inappropriately at the end: "Do you always keep cats?" The director patted his bony back at that time , laughed out loud with a terrifying volume, and kept laughing until two tiny teardrops flowed out. Ma Laowu must have sprinkled the bottle of mosquito repellent in the house.That damned old man, his trousers never fastened, always fell off, revealing that horrible thing.He kept a stripped white rooster.He chased the little rooster desperately almost every day, and sometimes threw stones at it, causing several lumps on its back before giving up.The old man looked down on him very much. Every time he saw him walking wretchedly through the street with his briefcase in his hand, he would snort and say, "Idiot." ring so that he could hear.It distressed him to be despised by the old man, because he had to pass his house every day to and from get off work.He thought of various ways to escape, such as hiding in the public toilet opposite the old man's house, and when he saw the old man entering, he immediately came out and rushed past his door; or he took a colleague to walk with him, talking while walking, pretending not to pay attention at all he.But Ma Lao Wu is actually a very persistent person. After seeing his evasion, he has been more diligent than usual.He often estimated his commute time, and then waited patiently, and immediately came out to meet him as soon as he approached, and then, facing his back, said the words that drove him crazy in a pitiful tone.It had become one of his greatest pleasures.Even if it rains and snows heavily, he must prepare an oilcloth umbrella and stand at the door waiting for his arrival.One day he had a cold and didn't go to work, lying on the bed, thankful that he escaped the old man's insult.When I looked up, I saw a figure wearing a straw hat standing outside the window. His face was very familiar.He thought for a long time before he realized that he was Ma Lao Wu, and it turned out that he had put on makeup to investigate his condition. "It's a bit damp in this room." The section chief of my wife's factory yelled loudly in the front room. "That guy's a fool." The wife sighed, bored. "It's a fool." The section chief burped loudly. "And stubborn." "Exactly, and stubborn." "I'm going to cut off these two hairs in your ears and put them in a box." "What are you doing!? You speak so scary." "As a souvenir, you little monkey." "Don't call me a monkey, I'm a rooster." "Little spider, little flea, little locust, little..." The section chief suddenly let out a cry of a hen laying eggs, followed by a second cry, and a third... so he was laughing.Laughing and laughing, the whole hut shook, the ground trembled, the dishes in the cupboard clattered, and the air hissed.Gengshan covered his ears in a frightened manner, opened the back door and fled outside.After about ten minutes, the weird smile gradually calmed down.There was another muffled "Boom!" in the room.He peeked through the cracks in the wall and saw his wife hugging the section chief, rolling under the bed. "So they were fighting." He breathed a sigh of relief, "There are scorpions under the bed." After the section chief went out, he and Mulan also got into a fight.It was a joke at first, he pushed her on the bed to tickle, and suddenly he couldn't help kicking her.She screamed, jumped up and bit him, hugged his neck tightly, and knocked his head against the wall with all her strength.He was suffocated and trembling with disgust.Finally he broke free and frantically kicked her in the vital parts.His daughter came in, watched calmly for a long time, and suddenly caught the black cat and threw it between them.They both froze and stopped at the same time.The daughter smiled contemptuously and slipped out.The black cat used his greasy trouser legs as a practice pillar, happily practicing its paws on it. "I'm struggling," he said to Mullan, "and it's all due to insomnia." "We should keep an eye on the woman next door. She keeps the lights on all night lately, and I always see lights in the cracks in the walls in the middle of the night. I once sneaked a glimpse of her collecting pictures of women's buttocks, and her walls are covered with this Ass-like, that's unsightly. Maybe she's secretly running a prostitution painting business?" she went out.He picked up one of her leather shoes and threw it into the gutter behind him, then giggled for a while.Ma Laowu's violation of him has reached the point where he can't bear it. Today he grabbed his arm in public, stuffed a bedbug into his hand, and then jumped away, announcing to the surrounding watching people: His private secrets are made public.He was so frightened that he ran away with his head in his arms. "I want to live to be a hundred years old!" Ma Laowu declared behind his back. two She took out a large stack of newspapers, cut them into thin strips, then brought a ladder, climbed up and carefully sealed every seam of the board.She was busy until midnight, with sour sweat dripping from her body, and the dust in the room drew smudges on her body. She had been sitting at home while they quarreled.There was a big hole in her curtains, and an ugly, pockmarked moth crawled in through the hole, sprinkled a bubble of yellow water, and densely laid a large piece of eggs on the curtains, making people feel numb .The heat was getting worse day by day, and she took off her whole body as soon as she entered the room.Seeing the familiar, wrinkled limbs in the mirror, she vaguely remembered that man, that slender figure.In her memory, he was just such a floating thing that couldn't be grasped no matter what.She tried her best to recall the scene of them sleeping on the bed, but she always only got some fragments that seemed to be nothing.She had swept away the ashes on the table, not even leaving a semicircular butt mark.Maybe she got it all wrong?In the beginning, she did have something like a desire.Since the last time I finished eating the bag of broad beans with him and he told about the geological team, she felt that her desire had disappeared without a trace. (Maybe it didn't exist in the first place, but she was deceiving herself?) For several days, she had been on tenterhooks, fearing that he would break in unexpectedly.She bolted the door and hid under the mosquito net, sweating profusely and annoyed.She could hear them clearly when they quarreled, but she didn't care, she was watching the moth nervously lest it fly to the bed and lay its eggs. "That man is a sneaky monster," she thought calmly.She had forgotten that she had said that he was like herself.The tent was very stuffy, and two big flies were buzzing on the top of the tent, rolling into a ball and copulating there.The sun outside is very poisonous, but the daytime is drowsy.In her memory, the daytime is always drowsy, the mulberry tree and the hut are always sunk in the drowsy bottom, and the mosquitoes are singing suffocating songs in the closed room.The bright day was only once upon a time, and that came with the bitterness of the phlox.At that time, the leaves of the tree seemed to be on fire, and there were small circles on the ground, like silver coins scattered all over the ground.At that time, there was no cricket's sick chirping, only two turtledoves singing softly and dreamily from morning till night.Her father is an engineer. "She will inherit my father's business in the future." When I was young, my mother often bragged to others.But she failed to inherit her father's business, she became a candy salesperson.Because of this, her mother hated her and swore: "I will disturb her forever." "This guy killed me." She told everyone she met, and cried, "What a poisonous snake, why?!" She This person always likes to hold a grudge, maybe because my father can't stand her, he went to live with an old woman who sells cigarettes on the street.Every day when my mother went to the street to buy vegetables, she always saw him coming out from under the eaves of the old woman's low roof, but she couldn't let go of the stinking airs, so she had to pretend that nothing had happened.Lao Kuang asked someone to deliver another pack of broad beans yesterday, this time the frying was even harder, it was very uncomfortable after chewing for a long time, and his temples were swollen.When she got off work, she saw Lao Kuang walking on the street with her mother-in-law tightly holding her arms.The mother-in-law was wearing a bright and dazzling crepe dress, and she still wore the tattered straw hat on her head. Her dry and flat body seemed to be cut out by an axe.The old Kuang's face was full of oil, showing a very different and confident look from the past, and he flew up with great energy, kicking a piece of broken brick on the road far away. "There must be a clear goal in life." I heard my mother-in-law say categorically, and took off the rotten straw hat from her head with confidence, shaking off the dust on it with confidence.When she passed in front of them, the mother-in-law saw her, nodded to her calmly and contemptuously, then pointedly took Lao Kuang's arm and brushed past her. "This straw hat means a lot to me..." Her tone was so eager to hide the emptiness inside. "So she still wears perfume." She couldn't help laughing when she saw the seriousness of these two people together.But this time she didn't dare to laugh, because she found that someone's curtains were shaking, and someone was hiding behind the curtains to observe her.The man pushed open the window, rinsed his throat for a long time, spat outside, rolled his eyes and looked at her, and closed the window again, maybe he was still hiding by the curtain.The mother-in-law and the others have gone far away, but the voice still continues to reach her ears along the wind, "Keep your mind and eyes open, and you will have endless energy..." The daytime was drowsy, and during the daytime, there were swarms of mice running across the table, making elastic, heavy footsteps.As soon as she closed her eyes, she immediately saw sunflower discs, one after another, hot and golden... "I can't live anymore." His voice dragged into tears.She saw the flakes of skin on his head make his shoulders white. "You are not impulsive at all, stop pretending." She opened the door, crossed her arms, and stared at him arrogantly, "Isn't your appearance too ridiculous? There is a strange moth on it, the old man refused Go, you can kill it for me." She pointed to the broom. He approached the moth with his long waist, swooped down with a broom, and the moth fell to the ground. "Maybe, I'm too weak." He was embarrassed. "Of course you've heard it all. It's not a big deal, is it? I look like a woman who sells rat poison." "It's completely self-indulgent." She breathed a sigh of relief, and stamped the moth to death, "You have become like my mother. It's not easy for a person like my mother to live so angrily and always So jumping up and down, it's hard work. Sometimes I really can't figure out how she is still alive today, maybe she will die of cancer after all." "I haven't had any dreams recently." He told her in a low voice, and retreated to the door, as if planning to open it. "Of course, you're very busy," she said understandingly. "You've been trying to change things up. I thought you might be productive. You've been working hard. It's unimaginable..." "It's so hard, I'm such an idiot," he said, full of worry and indignation, and stopped still. "Everyone has their own rules for what they say and do. But I'm nothing and I can't change. Like. Even if I try my best to imitate other people's walking, even if I stand by the window of the office all day and pretend to be thinking, my legs are broken. In fact, I was also prescribed, and I am such a person who is nothing." Stopped After a pause, he said again, "I've been doing this for decades, how about you?" "Me? Ah, I can't think of you. To me you're a shadow or something. You're nothing. I'm like that too, but I don't bother about it and don't think about it." Changing things. I'm dry, I told you, full of reeds. I only have one thing to worry about, and that's this blanket. I'm going to nail it to the edge of my bed before I go to bed so it won't fly away Among us, some people want to change, succeed, and become ordinary people. But there are still some who can't succeed, but are not satisfied with nothing, and always want to set a clear rule for themselves, so it is useless I've struggled all my life. I don't think you can make it either. Your bones are so heavy and you're arthritic. You can hardly turn your body around in front of people. Look, I'm like this. I eat pickles and get by. Very calm." "The neighbor pretended to borrow insecticide from me and snatched it in front of my face. My wife said it was very humiliating." "It's not humiliating at all, and you mustn't feel humiliated, have you? Why come here to pretend? It's so bad. You don't have to be so afraid of him, I mean the neighbor. In the dark, you Do you hear the cracking sound of the trunk? This tree is really furious, I saw sparks bursting out of the leaves all over the tree..." "I haven't had any dreams this time, I have to go." He went out without leaving a semicircle of butt marks on the table. She felt very happy to see the guilty look he had when he said "I have to go."She noticed that the undershirt on his body was very dirty and greasy, and there was a place where the seam was loose near the armpit. He looked pitiful in it.His woman probably had a falling out with him, so she refused to mend his sweatshirts, and he still pretended to say "didn't have a single dream".What a strange thing. In fact, he heard the cracking sound of the trunk and saw sparks on the leaves. He said "I didn't dream" because he was ashamed.He jumped up and shut the window tightly, for innumerable moths were flying into the house with sparks.Outside the window, under the pale moonlight, stood a nude woman with disheveled hair motionless. The outline of her body made him startled suddenly, and her body was covered with rashes.He wanted to sleep, but as soon as the back of his head touched the pillow, he was pricked by something sharp.He slapped the pillow for a while, turned it over, and as soon as he lay down, he was pricked harder again. "Ouch," he blurted out.The woman was standing just outside the windowpane, her shriveled breasts drooping, her body full of sparks.She moved her lips soundlessly. "What are you tossing about?" His wife kicked him hard. "The red berries kept falling on the tiles, and you didn't hear anything? Look out the window, there's something strange standing there." "Nonsense," she said, walking to the window with her shoes on, opening the window and poking her head out, "Bah! Don't be scary, it's probably the reflection of the mirror I hung up during the day. It's disturbing you from sleeping? Yours Your nerves are so fragile, why are you so delicate, I will go up and take it off." She went out with a "thumb tom", and then came in with a "thumb tom", "Should I go to the mage tomorrow to drive it away?" Exorcism, someone told me privately that our cabin has been haunted for a long time. Do you know why I use a mirror to spy on the next door? I just moved out, have you noticed? That woman must have been entangled. One night I heard her fighting with something in the house, making it ping-pong-pong! Don't hit her Look, there is a two-inch steel needle in her eye, and I saw her shoot it at a child, and the child screamed in pain." Because of that conversation with the director, he became the laughing stock of everyone.On that day, An Guowei yelled at him in the office and said, "Hey, do you have a good-bred cat? Please donate one!" The rest of the people were whispering and winking, and one of them dipped his finger in his saliva. A cat was drawn on the dusty glass in a grand manner.He stood there in a daze, but the group started chasing a mouse again.Yelling, bumping and falling, and taking the opportunity to push him over, bump him over, pushing him against the wall and pushing him to the edge of the table. "I don't keep cats..." he said hesitantly, rubbing his sore waist. "What did he say?" Everyone stopped, the mouse stopped chasing, and surrounded him with great interest, staring at him closely. "What did you say?" "I'm saying...I'm going to say—I have a special sense of myself." He looked timidly at the group.I dare not go on. "God!" All the people jumped up and down, happy to die, "He said he has special powers! Comrades! Isn't this guy bragging? Hahaha!!" "Hahaha." He also laughed hesitantly, because he had to express something.The mouse ran out from under the table again, and everyone chased the mouse in a swarm. He suddenly felt as if he had become one of them, so he also chased the mouse. "Wait a minute!" Anguo grabbed his neck, "I'm going to report this to the director, you don't keep cats." He said with a smile. He stayed here for many days, but the director didn't come to him, and even if he saw him from a distance, he would make a detour to avoid him.Only once, he accidentally overheard the director's evaluation of him outside the office door. He said that he was "a funny old parrot", and then laughed out loud in that terrifying voice. "Why are my toes so itchy? Huh?" he said breathlessly. "When I laugh, my toes itch like hell, damn it!" a rainy morning.Ma Laowu stopped him in the street again, and threw green snot on his trousers.So, he made up his mind to reborn, and he mustered up the courage to walk towards the director's house. He was so taken aback by the mess in the room that he thought he had walked into a scrap yard.All kinds of things were piled up to the ceiling, and the two large attics were crumbling.Blinking vigorously, he recognized a wine jar, a handleless shovel, a string of beads, a stack of rough china bowls, and a birdcage (in which stood two half-dead parrots), a large tuft of woman's hair (hanging frighteningly from an attic), an ancient three-legged bed, a mass of plaster casts of genitals, a shark skull, a severed broken crutches and so on.In a corner, the director and his wife were eating, and the food was placed on a bamboo chicken coop, and there was a yellow hen in the chicken coop.The director's wife was like a black clay figurine, her eyes were motionless. "I might be able to..." he said slowly, moving his steps carefully, bypassing the sundries, "I've thought about it, I have a way to get that kind of good stuff." "Hey?" The director rolled his eyes, stopped chewing, put his rosaceous nose on his clothes and sniffed carefully, "What do you think of the impression? Now I can open your eyes, right? Did you see that Are there any shark bones? What do you think? Now you can go to the institute to brag, you are so lucky! But these two things of mine are really terrible, what kind of parrot is it? It’s a crow! I say don’t sit That bed, it has only three legs, you can sit on this birdcage, we sometimes use it as a stool, when there are guests. When you get me good varieties, I will let you visit the two places behind me The things in the room, but not yet, you have to hand over the good stuff first, I'm not going to show you for nothing, you can brag if you look at it. Don't even think about such a ghost, brother, they say you are a ghost , aren't you? Maybe you're stealthily collecting stamps and making a splash? Pooh, you gotta learn that from me." "Actually, I have a very serious thought that I'm going to be born..." "Hush! Don't talk! My heart is beating very abnormally lately. That's right, that's right." He patted his back magnanimously, and suddenly remembered something, "You can't exceed the day after tomorrow at least, If it's more than the day after tomorrow, I won't let you visit my baby in the back room, do you understand? If you don't see my baby, you will regret it for the rest of your life, and regret it to the grave!" He raised his head A fat finger poked him in the face warningly, "Top class! Peerless! Do you understand?" Lately he had felt himself growing old.Occasionally he still remembered things about the geological team, but those scenes had receded extremely far away, shrinking into a small blurred spot of light.Often during the day, he found himself doing some incredible things: one time he was going to cut off the foot of the bed with a saw, and another time he pissed on his wife's socks.The thought of the woman next door being able to eat her pickles like no one else made his mind flutter.He heard mosquitoes swarming in her room, it was like a sports meeting.Despite the paper strips pasted to the seams of the boards, she could still hear the creaking of her hip joints on the bed, as well as the feeble panting.Why did his ears become more sensitive as he got older?Mulan, for example, never heard anything.She did not hear the red berries falling on the tiles, nor the crackling of tree trunks, nor the gnats buzzing in the next room, nor the woman tossing and turning in the bed.She farts every night in bed with indigestion, which she has inherited from her mother.有时他卑怯地问一问她听到什么没有，她总要大发脾气，说他这种人"天生一副猥琐的相貌"，"心里藏着见不得人的鬼事"。他喂的那只黑猫已经从家里出走了。偶尔它也回来，阴谋家似的嗅来嗅去，献媚地朝他叫两声，又匆匆地逃离了。他注意到它的尾巴只剩了半截，是不是女儿剁的呢？这么看来她终于得手了。当他假意用玩笑的口吻谈起这件事的时候，女儿竟怪模怪样地哭起来，还说要跳到后面的井里去淹死，说她对这个家已经看够了，早就不耐烦了，倒好像她自己有多么清高似的！ 终于有一天，当黑暗的窗口飘出热昏了的人的谵语时，最后一只红果"嚓！"地一声，落到了瓦缝里。 three "灵魂上的杂念是引起堕落的导火线。"这句话母亲已经说过五遍了，她正在吐唾沫。自从他搬回来以后，看见母亲每晚都坐在大柜后面的阴影里，朝一只纸盒里不停地吐唾沫，从来也不上任何地方去，也没人到她这儿来。开始他很惊讶，后来母亲告诉他："我正在进行灵魂上的清洗工作。"于是从那天起，他迷上了搜集名人语录的工作。两个月来，他已经搜集了两大本，而且越干越来劲儿。"名人的思想里有无穷的奥妙。"他跟人说话开始使用这样的口吻，"只要想一想都叫人诚惶诚恐，五体投地。从前在我没有找到生活的宗旨的时候，我心中是一片漆黑，真不知怎么活过来的。现在一切都有了一种不同的情景，生命的意义已经展现出来……"本来他是一个沉默寡言的人，现在竟出乎意料地变得像老婆子一般，逢人就唠叨心中的事儿了。"新的生活使他很振奋，"有一天他听见母亲跟摆香烟摊子的老太婆说。（那老太婆是跟一个瘦骨伶仃的秃头工程师姘居的，她说他是一个"妙不可言的人儿"，"有种说不出的高级派头"。）"这就像一种崭新的姿态。你想一想吧，活了三十多岁，忽然整个生活的意义一下子展现在眼前！"每天傍晚他都和母亲到街上去散步，手挽着手，趾高气扬，他心中升起一种从未体验过的新奇感和自豪感。当这种情绪在他胸中涨满起来的时候，他总恨不得踢一脚路边的石子，恨不得捶一顿路边的电线杆，然后哈哈大笑，笑得一身打颤。有时他也不由自主地回想起楮树下的小屋里的生活，那就如一个朦朦胧胧的梦境。那种嚼蚕豆的不眠之夜，那种挣不脱的恐怖，现在体验起来仍然使他脸色发青，汗如雨下。"一切都是由酸黄瓜引起的，"他向母亲诉说道，"不正常的嗜好常常引起罪恶的欲念。我有一个同事的老婆，每天要吃臭豆腐干，有一年冬天买不到，她馋得发了疯，竟把她丈夫干掉了。真是沉痛的教训呀。""你老婆这种人并不存在，"母亲一字一板地从牙缝里说，那门牙上有两个蛀洞，"她终将自行消失。"然而她到现在还没消失，她在阴暗发霉的小屋里像老鼠一样生活，悄悄地嚼着酸黄瓜和蚕豆，行踪越来越诡秘。他每星期给她送去蚕豆，那惭愧的心情就如同喂着一只老鼠。"分开后感觉怎样？"有一天她口里吐着蚕豆壳随随便便地问他，好像他是她的一个邻居。"也许身心两方面都健康得多。"他红光满面地回答，同时就涌上一股莫名其妙的负疚情绪，他冲口而出又补充了一句："你也可以搬过来住。"她冲他古怪地一笑，说："现在这屋里的蚊虫简直像在开运动会，你在夜里听见没有？在刮南风的时候，那声音兴许能传到你的枕边。"后来母亲称他那种负疚情绪为"残余的龌龊念头"。从那里搬出来之后好久，他才隐隐约约地听人讲起小屋闹鬼的事，他当晚就在床上捣鼓了一夜没睡，弄得好几天头昏脑胀，背心出冷汗。有的时候，他躺在窗旁，看见浮云从天边逝去，忽然很感动，甚至涌出了眼泪。"做到老，学到老。"他喃喃地自言自语，为一下子想到了用这句成语来形容自己的情绪而高兴。"你必须试一试吃蚕蛹。"母亲说，两只睁得圆圆的小眼很像鸡眼，"我的一个熟人试过了，简直有起死回生的作用。" 前天他从学校回家，看见岳母鬼头鬼脑地在酒店门背后将脖子一伸，等候着他走进去。他转身拔腿就跑。她在后面追着，高声大叫："骗子手！道德败坏的东西！我要送你上监狱去！"还捡起路边的碎石头来扔他呢。结婚以来，她一次也没上他们的小屋来过，从来也没承认过他是什么女婿。自从他从家里搬出之后，她却忽然对他们的私生活感到了极大的兴趣，整日整日在那小屋附近转悠，有时还当街拦住他，挥着拳头对他说，要将他的卑劣行径向学校领导作一个详细汇报。如果他不赶快醒悟，将是自取灭亡。边说还边跺脚，脸上沉痛的表情使他迷惑不解。"她一直等着这一天，"他去送蚕豆时虚汝华微笑着告诉他，"她的头发都已经等白了，你还没发现吗？现在她认定时机到了，就跳将出来。多少年来，不管日里夜里，她总在不断地诅咒，她这人太执着，太喜欢耿耿于怀了，看着她日子过得这般艰难，我都替她在手心捏一把汗呀。她快完蛋了，也许在做垂死的挣扎吧，我觉得她近来气色很坏。"他一回去就向母亲诉苦了："那屋里的蚊虫就如强盗一般迎面扑来，朝你身上乱叮乱咬。喷筒啦，杀虫剂啦，全不知扔到什么地方去啦。我不知道她心里全在想些什么，真是岂有此理，都是酸黄瓜引起的，当初我竟会由着她吃……"母亲从鼻眼里"吭吭"了一阵，说："有人告诉我，那屋里半夜传出狼嗥，真是阴森可怕呀。""对啦对啦，"他摆弄着名人的语录本，愁眉紧锁，"首先是金鱼的惨死，接着是暖水壶的失踪，当时我为什么不把所有的事联系起来想一想呢？我看了这么久，原来她已经完全无可救药了，原来事情是一场骗局，我完全弄错了。她一直企图咬死我……""这种女人终究会自行消失。"母亲又一字一板地说，"因为她从来就不存在。" 媒人介绍他们俩认识的时候，她已经是快嫁不出去的老姑娘，短头发乱蓬蓬的，从来也不用梳子梳理，只用指头抓两下了事。然而她一点也不固执，甚至像小孩一样毫无主见，正是这一点使他怦然心动。在她面前，他觉得自己仿佛是一个男子汉。他把她带到楮树下面的小屋里来，满脑子又空又大的计划，想要在屋前搭一个葡萄架，想要在后面搭一个花棚，这些都没来得及实现，因为蟋蟀的入侵把他拖得精疲力竭了。随着岁月的流逝，他才惶恐地发现，原来老婆是一只老鼠。她静悄悄的，总在"嘎吱嘎吱"地咬啮着什么东西，屋里所有的家具上都留下了她那尖利的牙齿印痕。有一天睡到半夜，他忽然觉得后脑勺上被什么东西蜇了一下，惊醒过来之后用手一摸，发现了手上的血渍。他狂怒地推醒了她，吼道："你要干什么？！""我？"她揉着泡肿的眼，揉得手上满是眼屎，"我抓着了一只小老鼠，它总想从我手里逃脱，我发了急，就咬了它一口。""原来你想咬死我！""咬死？我咬死你干什么？"她漠然地对着空中喃喃低语，然后打了一个哈欠，倒下睡去了。他灭了灯，在黑暗中仔细倾听，听出来她的鼾声是虚假的，听出来她紧张得全身发抖。 从那天起他就失眠了，不久就变成了神经官能症。后来她还咬过他好几次，因为他很警惕，伤势都不重。有一回咬在肩膀上，他醒来后她仍旧死死咬住不放，他只好了她一个耳光，把她从床上打落到地下去。他让她张开嘴巴，于是发现了牙间的淤血，原来她之所以死死咬住不放，是在吸他的血！有时他一下子意志软弱，怀疑起她是不是一个妖婆来，但他很快又打消了这种想法，他怕别人讥笑。他只好硬着头皮去捉蟋蟀，她则像机器人一样执行命令：每天喷洒三次杀虫剂，用棍子没个完地捣毁蟋蟀的巢穴，每天早上做几百下舒展动作（这是他熟识的一个医生的忠告），实行蚕豆疗法，睡觉时头朝东等等。这些方案一点也没有起到应有的作用，他终于看着她一点一点地萎缩下去，变成了一颗干柠檬。她的牙齿慢慢地松动了，她不再咬啮什么东西，却开始吃起酸黄瓜来，而且腌了一坛又一坛。有时夜里一觉睡醒还起来吃一阵，整天嚼个没完。当他在屋里的时候，只要听见牙巴间"嘎嘣"一响，闭着眼也知道她在干什么勾当。虽然她尽量轻轻地嚼，那响声还是搞得他暴跳如雷。那一次他一下就砸烂了五个坛子，满屋子腌黄瓜气味熏得他通夜失眠，痛苦已极。她看着，若有所思，愁苦不堪。后来不知哪一天他发现，床底下又悄悄地摆起了五个新坛子。在他离开的前几天，她唆使他将屋里的窗子都钉上了铁条，说有个小偷在附近转悠，是不是要破门而入？他一边钉一边心里却在想：她是不是以疯作邪，打算在他熟睡时给他一下子？不然她讲话的当儿为什么眼里冒出那种邪火来呢？那几天睡觉他一直睁一只眼闭一只眼，到母亲接走他的时候，他的神经已快错乱了。 "喂。"母亲端着纸盒，从大柜后面的阴影里走出来了，一边吐一边说，"我的灵魂清洗工作结束了。我跟你讲一桩奇事，是摆香烟摊子的老太婆（她从来不提她的名字，也许不知道？）告诉我的。她说只要过了夜里十二点，王鞋匠的家里就传出桂花香，整条街都香遍。昨夜十二点。我使劲嗅了嗅，果然有那么一股味儿。今天中午我一直在考虑这事，弄得烦躁不安，午睡都没睡成。今天夜里我一定要把这事调查个水落石出，说不定是搞什么阴谋呢。你吃过晚饭后不要拴门，我打算在他家门外守候到十二点，必要时还要查看他的耳朵，看看香味究竟是不是那里散发出来的。是不是报纸上讲的那种特异功能呢？要是那样倒也放下一桩心思。" "妈妈，你看出来虚汝华现在变成什么东西了没有？" "那个女人？"她将鸡眼凑近，从头到脚细细打量他。 "你没注意到吗？她早就变成一只老鼠了。人要是常模仿什么也许就会变成什么。过去她常模仿老鼠，在屋里咬来咬去的，现在果然变成了老鼠，一只牙齿松动的老鼠。有时我竟会起了这种念头，想在蚕豆里拌一点砒霜送去，悄悄地，就如毒死一只老鼠，这不是很卑鄙吗？"他迟疑了一下，害羞地补充说，"要是能离婚，其实我是很逗女人喜欢……" "那种卑鄙念头你从来没起过，也不会去干。你怎么会起那一类念头呢？你从来也学不会自做主张去干一件事。那女人早就活得不耐烦了，她迟早会从这世界上消失得无影无踪，你时常软弱起来，以致丧失了信心。如果你每时每刻留心自己的一举一动，睡前别忘了服用消炎镇痛片，每天坚持灵魂的清洗工作，就会慢慢地强壮起来。别再提那种蠢事，你要我们成为大家的笑柄吗？你从小就很孱弱，很迟钝，又特别喜欢想入非非，自作多情，忘乎所以，像你这种人根本不能结婚，当初你怎么会没意识到这一点呢？幸亏我--"她陡地截住话头，板着面孔不做声了。此刻她心里大概对他的愚钝觉得分外憎恨。她大声地、威胁地嗽着喉咙，用力朝纸盒吐去，翻着白眼看了他一眼。 "妈妈说得对，我完全是发了疯了。"他在母亲的目光下沮丧地缩成一团，变成了一个大肉球，微微颤抖着。 "这就好了。"母亲缓和地说，两眼变得像毛玻璃那样混浊无光了。 他非常害怕母亲生气，只要母亲一对他生气，他就吓得走投无路，痛苦得活不下去。当天夜里他做了一个噩梦，梦见有人把他睡的那张床从身底下抽走了，他悬在半空中，落又落不下去。 "你没命地扑打些什么？"母亲在隔壁发问。 "床底下蹲着一只野猫，不断地要爬上床来，我正吓唬它呢。" "你在心里背诵几条语录罢。" 月光像铺在地上的一长条尸布。 "你有没有碰见过野猫？"他说，竭力做出狰狞的鬼脸，"要知道野猫是很厉害的呢，你睡着了，它冷不防抓在你脸上。" 她陡然变了脸，向着天花板很快地说："你找什么东西呀？你的喷筒和杀虫剂，我全扔到垃圾堆里面去了，因为你不在，这些东西放在那里挺碍眼的，还是扔了干净。我倒是很能习惯在蚊虫里面过活的呢。蚊虫喜欢围着我嗡嗡并不咬。听见蟋蟀叫，我就觉得很亲切似的。你走了之后，蟋蟀的叫声越来越自信、有力了。现在我睡得很安稳，用不着为它们的心力衰竭日夜操心。" "墙上怎么巴着这么多蛾子？" "是飞进来产卵的，很可怜，不是吗？" "我拿来的蚕豆，你好好嚼烂罢，有人说这屋里闹鬼呢！" "闹鬼的也许是我。我总是半夜里起来，将毯子甩得呼呼作响，要是你不搬走的话，说不定会被吓死，你的性格太软弱了。" "或许是这样，"他伤心地叹了一口气，"你一直想咬死我。" "..." "你早就疯了，我怎么会没发觉。" "..." "你母亲就有疯病，你是遗传的。我从前还打算种葡萄呢，那些蟋蟀差点要了我的命。我一回忆往事就出冷汗，发夜游症，我母亲老说我患了迫害狂。" "..." "你好好嚼蚕豆吧。" "你下回不要亲自来了。隔壁的在大树上挂了一面镜子，你来的时候看见没有？他们从镜子里观察你的形迹呢。我实在弄不清他们的用心何在，挺可怕的，对不对？说不定他们打算搞谋杀吧？" Four 当她闭上眼嚼着盐水豆的当儿，天花板上的石灰又剥落了一大块，这一次是露出里面的木条来了。 八年来，她一直在这幢房子里苟延残喘，奇怪的是总不死。每次发病之后，她总能用细瘦的腿子颤颤巍巍地支起沉重的身躯，重又在屋里扶墙移动。稍一恢复，她就在天井里用箩筐捕麻雀，整天整天地守候。在天井里的墙上，钉着几十只麻雀的尸体，一律是从眼珠里钉进去的，外人看了无不目瞪口呆，满身鸡皮疙瘩。不久前她忽然食欲大增，一天一天地强壮起来了。 有人告诉了她那边小屋里的事儿，她闻讯后立刻精神抖擞，全副武装，开始了她的监视活动。 "原来如此！"她对卖油饼的老婆子嚷道，"想一想吧，八年的痛苦！凄惨的晚年！每天夜里臭虫的咬啮！你们有谁受过这种折磨？现在他终于看出了这条毒蛇了！有一回我在街上看见他，好小子，他的一边脸古怪地抽搐着，脖子上伤痕累累，浑身散发出狐臭，可怜的家伙，他怎么会落到她手中的呢？这就好比苍蝇落进了毒蜘蛛张开的网，她吸干了他的血！这事到死都是个谜。也许他是一个白痴？我觉得他走路的姿势很特别，邻居说他把葡萄架搭在卧房里，我的天！"在她小的时候，她也曾对她抱过期望的，然而她天生的性格卑贱，歪门邪道。"汝华呀，你又把菜汤滴在衬衫前襟上面了！真腻心呀！你的脚步跺得那么响，我疑心你的鞋底是不是钉着铁掌呢！"那时她总是心烦气躁地喊。她明明听到的，却一声不响，仍旧低头弯腰，沿着墙根找蚂蚁的巢穴。她吃起东西来毫无顾忌，满不在乎地嚼得牙巴大响，完全酷似她那疯疯癫癫的父亲。有一回她用棍子打她，她忽然跳起来咬了她一口，刚好咬在虎口上。咬得很轻，像是被什么鸟啄了一下，那伤口竟肿了一个多月。后来她细细查看了她的牙齿，发现那些牙齿生得很古怪，十分尖利，过于细小，简直不像人的牙齿。 在她睡着了的时候，她多次起过一种欲念：想用锤子敲掉她几颗牙齿。有一次她已经举起了锤子，不料她睁开了眼讥笑地瞪着她，原来她一直在装睡，在肚子里暗笑。自从她丈夫与街上摆香烟摊子的老太婆姘居以来，她一直视而不见，生怕女儿知道。有一天她从那家路过，听见里面欢声笑语，好不热闹。从板壁缝往里一瞧，原来三人在里边喝茶呢。而在家里，他们一家人从来也没有一道喝过茶。桌上摆着几样小吃，一面大镜子吓死人地反着光。老头儿笑得嘴角流出了涎水，两条麻秆儿似的细腿在桌子底下蹭着那婆子墨黑多毛的大粗腿，女儿也在傻乎乎地笑，装模作样地捂住肚子。那老太婆已经老得如一棵枯树，皱巴巴的，满嘴大黑牙，成天一支接一支地抽烟，只有神经失常的疯子才会看上这样一件货色。而她的丈夫就正是一个疯子，现在疯病又传给了女儿。"真是一对活宝呀。"当时她从牙缝里咕噜了一句，喉咙里有一种吞了蛆的感觉。到她一成年，就将她这做母亲的当成了生死仇人，一味地胡作非为，想尽办法来刺激她的神经，而且装出一副麻木不仁的神气，来掩盖内心的快意。那次她患肺炎，她本来算好她一准完蛋，报复的好时机来了，谁知到头来又是空欢喜一场。"妈妈呀，"她故意嗲声嗲气地说，"您何必来看我？还好得很呢，离死还远着呢，您就放心了吧。您想想看，像我这种人怎么能死得了呢？"不久前她忽然心生一计，想跟那男的订立盟约，来共同对付她女儿。她满脑子幻想，在厕所的墙下边等了好久，看见他来了，仍旧是那种白痴模样。她冲上去拽住他的衣袖，滔滔不绝地诉说起来，什么"同病相怜"呀，"孤苦伶仃"呀，"要采取有力的措施来自卫"呀等等。"我一直在心里把你当我的亲儿子，做梦也在担心你的生命安危呢。"她谄媚地说。他骨碌碌地转动钝重的眼珠，总也听不明白她的意思。"果然是个白痴呀。"她想。最后，他好像忽然下了大决心似的，脸色一变，用猛力甩脱她，粗声粗气地问："喂，你是什么人？我怎么从来没见过？也许你是想来谋财害命的吧？别打错了主意！我母亲可厉害啦，我要喊她来教训教训你！""你是我的女婿呀。""你别来搞诈骗，我不是你的什么女婿。你当街拦住我，眼珠不怀好意地盯着我，这是怎么回事？你再欺侮我我可要告诉我母亲，让她来给你真颜色看看！"他边说边逃跑，追也追不上。 他的腿的确是细得像麻秆儿一样了。好多年以前，他也曾是一个高大的汉子，脸上红彤彤的。有一天，他正在做一个梦，梦见窗前的美人蕉发了疯似的怒放，太阳又高又远。忽然他被什么东西扎了一下，痛醒了过来。他看见老婆正在吸吮着他的腿子，做出猫吃肉的种种姿态。她的舌头上生着密密麻麻的肉刺，刚才在梦里他就是被这些肉刺扎得痛。他想缩回腿子，无奈她使出从没有过的蛮力按得紧紧的，用力咬着，像要将小腿上的大块肌肉全撕下来吞进肚里去。他只好闭上眼，忍着恶心，听之任之。没想到这种把戏竟继续下去了，而且变本加厉。每天早上起来，他身上都是青一块紫一块的，有时还肿起老高。他的身子一天天变细，肌肉一天天消融，淋巴结像一个个鸽子蛋。他时常疑心他身上的肌肉是不是在睡着的时候被她吃掉了，因为她已经在不断地发胖。"你，干吗老吃我的肉？"他说。"呸！"她嚷嚷起来，"势利小人！算计者！我的天呀……"她老不洗头发，她一接近他，头发上那股酸臭味儿就猛冲他的鼻孔。后来有一天，她拿盆子来洗头了。大块的污垢连着发根从她脑袋上掉下来，落在盆子里，所有的头发全脱光了。她要他朝她头上浇水，他的手抖得厉害，瓢落到了地上。她跳起来，口里骂着污秽的粗话，光着发红的秃头，叉着腰追赶他，提起一桶冷水从他头顶上淋下去。他在床上躺了一个星期，发着高烧，不断地摸着脑袋，嚷叫有人要剥他的头皮，又说头皮剥开就会露出里面的脑髓来。病好之后，他逃到了摆香烟摊子的老太婆这里，老太婆浑身冒着葵花子味儿，卧房又大又黑，他觉得十分安心。她起初夜里还来找，从窗眼里窥视，将门敲得"嘣嘣"地响。 "妈妈的头发长出来没有？"汝华小的时候，他总问她这个问题。 "没有。你没看见她包着头巾吗？我看见她每天晚上按摩头皮，她怕伤风怕得要命，也许她会死掉吧？"她天真地分析着。 "可怜的人。"他沉思了一会，立刻又骇怕地加了一句："说不定她打算报复我吧？" "昨天我轻轻地咬了她一口。" 他震惊地"啊"了一声，像梦游人那样伸出手来抚摸她的头发。"这些头发长得很结实，"他说，"你要经常洗涤它们。你睡觉时有没有看见天花板裂开过？" "天花板？" "对呀，天花板。那栋房子很大、很旧，墙壁里常常传出什么人厮打的响声。睡觉的时候，天花板会出其不意地在上面裂开，伸出许多细小得如蛇头的人脑袋……当然，我在骗你了，你该不会害怕的吧？我喜欢讲这些惊险的故事。" 最近有一次，他和汝华在街上劈面相遇，他竟没认出她来，一直从她身旁走过去了。后来他的同事告诉他这件事，他还觉得莫名其妙呢。汝华竟会去结婚，他想她一定是神经错乱了，要不就是受了坏人的利诱。这孩子从小就是一副自甘堕落的派头，和他自己一样无所作为，懒懒散散。女婿是个流氓加白痴，恋爱的头一天就跑到他这里来搞讹诈，异想天开地要他负担费用。 "原来你是一只大乌龟。"他一字一顿威严地说。 "你，你说什么？"那蠢材还摸了摸后脑勺呢。 "我说你是一只大乌龟！我女儿跟所有的男人都搞！听明白了吗？"他更加威严地逼近了他，"滚！" 他吓得屁滚尿流，一点也弄不清发生的事，然而还贼头贼脑地溜着眼珠，威胁说要"解除婚约"，假如他不负担费用的话。他一走，他就没命地大笑起来，笑得在床上打了三个滚。 后来他还和这女婿常见面，每次都是他来索钱，每次都被他讥笑一顿，空手而归。但这家伙脑子有毛病，总抱着希望，想入非非，而且态度老是那样不可思议地理直气壮。 "你得给钱。"他又来这一套了。 "我偏不给。"他感兴趣地用一只眼斜睨着他。 "你在耍流氓。" "什么？你跟流氓来要钱？啊？" "你是她父亲，你得给钱。" "我是一个流氓，我偏不给钱。" "我咒你马上暴死！" 每次他都气得发疯，看来他是狂躁型的。 女婿从家里出走后，他马上跑到女儿那里跟她说： "你以为他跟你结婚是为了什么？" "不知道。"她提防地瞄着他，"他说是为了在门口搭葡萄架，恐怕他是在说谎。" "呸！他跟你结婚是为了谋害我！他一开始看中的就是我这老头子而不是你，绝不是你！他一直误认为我藏得有大宗钱财。夜里我睡着了，他还在我房子周围转悠，烦躁地跺着脚，我知道他骗你说是起夜来着