Chapter 26 a piece of land

a piece of land Akutagawa Ryunosuke Azhu's son died when the tea picking just started.Son Nintaro lay on the bed like a paralyzed man for eight years.When such a son died, people said that it was Ah Zhu who "repaired it in the next life", and Ah Zhu himself was indeed not very sad. When Ah Zhu offered a stick of incense in front of Nitaro's coffin, he felt a sense of relief in his heart. A feeling of ease. After Rentaro's funeral was over, the first problem he encountered was about his daughter-in-law Amin.Amin has a boy.And she took almost all the crops in the field for the sick Ren Taro.If the daughter-in-law is gone now, needless to say, the child will not be taken care of, and even the life of the family will not be maintained.So Ah Zhu thought, after seventy-seven forty-nine days, I will find a husband for Ah Min, and let her take care of the housework like his son was alive.She wants to find Nintaro's uncle and cousin and Yoshi as her son-in-law.

It just so happened that on the morning of the second day of the first seven days, A Min packed up his wedding things and came, and A Zhu couldn't help being surprised.At that time, Azumi was leading his grandson Hiroji to play in the corridor of the back room.The toy for the child is a blooming cherry blossom stolen from the school. "Hey, Amin, I shouldn't have kept the words in my stomach, it's my fault, but you, are you just leaving the child and me behind?" Azhu's voice was not so much a reproach as a complaint.Ah Min didn't look back, but just smiled and said, "Grandma, look at what you said!" Even though it was such a sentence, Ah Zhu was so relieved that he didn't mention it.

"Yeah, I don't think you're going to be like this..." Ah Zhu was still babbling about his wishes mixed with resentment.At the same time, her words gradually aroused her own sadness, and a few lines of tears finally flowed down her wrinkled cheeks. "Yes, as long as you are willing, I also hope to live in this house for the rest of my life! ——There is such a child, who wants to leave!" Unknowingly, Amin also shed tears, and hugged Hiroji on his knees. Hiroji seemed to be very shy, thinking about the cherry blossom branches thrown on the mat in the back room...

Amin was the same as when Rentaro was alive, still working in the field.However, the problem of recruiting a son-in-law is not as easy to solve as Azhu planned.Amin doesn't seem to be interested in this kind of thing at all.Whenever Ah Zhu had a chance, he would either quietly test Ah Min's tone, or talk to her straight to the point.However, Amin always said: "Yes, let's talk about it in the next year!" He dealt with it so-so.Ah Zhu was naturally both sad and happy about this.While Azhu was worried about the world's gossip, he had no choice but to listen to his daughter-in-law and wait until the next year to talk about it.

However, in the second year, Amin seemed to think of nothing but doing the crop work in the field.Azumi raised the question of recruiting a son-in-law in a more earnest tone than last year.The reason for this is that she has been blamed by her relatives and gossip secretly by the world, which made her have unspeakable difficulties. "But, Ah Min, you are still so young, you can't live without a man." "What can we do if we can't go on? If you don't believe me, you can find an outsider to take a look at our house. Xiao Guang will be very pitiful, and you will worry about it, not to mention my worrying and exhausting!"

"That's why I wanted to recruit Yuji. He recently said that he would never gamble again!" "He is a relative of my mother-in-law! But he is an outsider to me after all! Well, I have to endure it..." "But then again, your patience is not a matter of one or two years!" "It's nothing! It's for Xiaoguang. I'm suffering a little bit now, so our land doesn't have to be divided into two, it's all Xiaoguang's!" "But, Amin (Azu is always serious and soft-spoken at this time), other people's gossip is annoying. What you said in front of me today, you can tell others carefully... ..."

I don't know how many times they have had this kind of dialogue between the two of them.However, Ah Min's determination became more and more determined, and he did not seem to soften in the slightest.Amin really didn't use male labor to help him. He planted sweet potatoes and harvested wheat by himself, and he worked harder than before.Not only that, she feeds the cows in summer, and even in rainy days, she goes out to mow grass.This tenacious energy is itself a strong protest against the recruitment of outsiders.Ah Zhu also finally gave up the idea of ​​recruiting a son-in-law.Of course, dispelling this idea may not be an unpleasant thing for her.

Amin relies on the hands of the woman to support the life of the family.This is undoubtedly due to the sincere desire "for Xiaoguang", but there is another reason, which is the genetic power that has taken root deeply in her heart.Amin was originally the daughter of a so-called "vagrant" who moved to this area from a barren and poor mountainous area. "Your Ah Min has a strength that doesn't match her appearance! Recently, I saw her walking past with four large bundles of upland rice on her back!" —— Ah Zhu has heard the neighbor's old woman say this many times if.

In order to express his gratitude to Ah Min, Ah Zhu is also busy with his own work.Playing with the grandson, tending the cow, cooking, doing the laundry, fetching water from the neighbours, etc. - there's a lot to do around the house.But Ah Zhu still bent over and worked happily there. One night in late autumn, A Min returned home exhausted with a bundle of pine leaves on his back.With Hiroji on his back, Azumi was burning bath water in a wooden barrel in a corner of the narrow main room. ①The original text is called Doma, the houses in the Japanese countryside are usually only paved with soil at the entrance, which is called Doma, which is equivalent to the main room of old-style buildings in our country.The back room is a little higher than the soil room, and the floor or mat is laid, and you take off your shoes before entering.

"Is it cold? Why are you back so late today?" "I did a little more work than usual today." Amin threw the bundle of pine leaves in front of the sink, and walked to the hearth without even taking off his muddy sandals.An oak tree root was burning in the hearth, and the red flame was flickering.Azumi wanted to stand up immediately.However, since Hiroji was carried on his waist, it was difficult to stand up without holding on to the edge of the barrel. ①The original text is called "enclosed stove", a house in rural Japan, where a square hole is opened in the floor and a hearth is installed.

"Hurry up and take a shower!" "I can't take a bath, I'm hungry! Let's eat some sweet potatoes first! ——Have you cooked it, mother-in-law?" Ah Zhu staggered to the side of the sink, brought the boiled sweet potatoes from the pot, and put them next to the hearth. "It's already cooked and waiting for you, isn't it cold?" The two put sweet potatoes on bamboo sticks and put them on the stove to roast together. "Xiao Guang slept very well! How nice it is to put in the bed!" "No, it's very cold today, I won't be able to sleep well if I put it down." As Amin said, he chewed the smoking sweet potato with big mouthfuls.This is a way of eating that only the tired peasants know after a day's work.A piece of sweet potato that was about to fall from the bamboo stick was stuffed into his mouth by A Min.Azumi felt the weight of Hiroji who was snoring slightly on his back, and at the same time he kept roasting sweet potatoes there. "Working like you, of course you will be hungrier than others!" From time to time, Ah Zhu stared at his daughter-in-law's face with emotion-filled eyes.But Ah Min didn't say anything, and greedily chewed sweet potatoes in the light of the smoking firewood. The more Amin worked, the more he worked tirelessly, and he continued to take on all the men's work.Sometimes at night, I still carry a lantern, and grow vegetables along the ground.Azumi always has respect for his daughter-in-law who is better than a man.No, it's not so much respect as fear.Except for the work in the field and on the mountain, Ah Min delegated all other work to Ah Zhu.Even the loincloth around her body is hardly washed these days.Even so, Azumi never complained, just supported his bent waist, and worked desperately.And when I met the neighbor's old woman, she praised her daughter-in-law with a serious face: "Look, you act like Ah Min, alas, I will die at any time, and you don't have to worry about family affairs!" But Amin's enthusiasm for "working" seems to be very difficult to satisfy.Another year passed, and this time Amin put forward the idea of ​​developing to Sangtian on the other side of the river.According to Amin, the rent of the land that is nearly five steps away can only be paid ten yuan, which is really uneconomical.Rather than doing this, it is better to turn that piece of land into a mulberry field and raise silkworms in your spare time. As long as the market for silkworm cocoons does not fall, you will definitely be able to get one hundred and fifty yuan a year.However, although Ah Zhu loves money, she can't stand the thought of rushing to work.Especially the labor-intensive silkworm rearing was absolutely unacceptable to her.Ah Zhu finally objected to Ah Min with a complaining tone. ① Duanbu is a unit of area in Japan, and Duanbu is equal to a little more than nine acres. "Is this appropriate, Amin? I don't mean to shirk. Although I don't want to shirk, but our family doesn't have a male laborer, but we have a child who can't do without others. The current work is exhausting enough! Can you It's really a beautiful idea, can silkworms be done? Just think about it for me!" When Ah Min heard her mother-in-law complaining, she felt that no matter how persistent she was, it would be too much for her.Although he gave up the idea of ​​raising silkworms, he insisted on planting mulberry fields. "You don't have to worry about it, I'm the only one who does it anyway!"——Amin looked at Azhu unconvinced, and said so sarcastically. From then on, Ah Zhu thought about his son-in-law again.In the past, because I was worried about life and the world's gossip, I wanted to find a son-in-law many times.But this time, he wanted to get a son-in-law because he wanted to escape the exhaustion of housework even for a moment.Because of this, compared with the past, this time recruiting a son-in-law is not so urgent. It happened to be the season when the orange fields were in full bloom, and Ah Zhu, who was sitting in front of the oil lamp, slowly talked about recruiting a son-in-law through the big flower glasses he wore for night work.However, Ah Min, who was sitting cross-legged by the stove, chewed the salted peas and said, "It's a son-in-law again, I won't listen!" He didn't even give his mother-in-law a good look. If it was in the past, if you say it this way, Azuma would generally be fine.However, this time, Ah Zhu insisted on persuading him: "But, you can't always say that. Tomorrow is the day for the burial of the palace. It just so happens that it's our family's turn to dig the grave. At this time, there is no male labor..." "What does it matter! I'm going to dig the grave!" "Joke, you are a woman..." Azumi wanted to force a smile.However, seeing Amin's face, she felt that it was too rash to laugh rashly. "Grandma, do you want to retire?" ①The original text means living in seclusion. According to the old Japanese civil law, parents transfer their status to heirs before they are alive, which is called living in seclusion. This is usually done after their children get married. Abolished in 1947. Sitting cross-legged, A Min hugged his knees and stabbed coldly.Azhu, who was hit in the neck suddenly, unknowingly took off his big flower glasses.And why she took it off, she herself didn't know. "What? How did you say such a thing!" "You won't forget what you said when Xiaoguang's father died, right? You said that if we divide our land into two parts, we will be sorry for our ancestors..." "Yes! That's what I said. But, think about it too. Isn't this one moment and another moment, and there's nothing you can do about it..." Azumi desperately argues for the recruitment of a male laborer.However, Azuma's opinion was untenable even to her own ears.This was, first of all, because she couldn't tell her truth—that is, she couldn't say she wanted to feel better.Amin saw through her mother-in-law's mind, and while still chewing on the salty peas, she reprimanded her mother-in-law mercilessly.Not only that, Ah Zhu didn't know that his daughter-in-law had a natural eloquent mouth, which also helped a lot. "Of course that's good for you, because you die first. But, mother-in-law, if you change me, you can't break the pot! I don't want to be innocent, or to be arrogant for the rest of my life." Widow. At night when my waist was sore and my legs were sore and I couldn’t sleep, I also thought about it carefully. I was so stubborn because I had no choice. So I just gritted my teeth and went on..." Azuma just stared blankly at his daughter-in-law's face.Then she unconsciously clarified a fact.No matter how anxious she is, until the day she closes her eyes, she doesn't have to think about being at ease. After waiting for his daughter-in-law to finish speaking, Ah Zhu put on the big flower glasses again.Then he ended his conversation half-talking to himself: "But, Ah Min, it's not feasible to just talk about big principles in this world, and you should think about it carefully! I won't say anything more!" Twenty minutes later, some young man from the village, singing a ditty in a baritone voice, walked slowly past the door. "Young sister-in-law, come to mow the grass today. Grass, be obedient, and use the sickle to mow!"——After the voice of the minor tune was far away, Ah Zhu sneaked a look at Ah Min's face through the reading glasses .However, Amin stretched his legs towards the oil lamp and yawned again and again. "How about it, go to sleep! Get up early." A Min just finished saying this, reached out and grabbed a handful of salty peas, then stood up from the stove with difficulty... From then on, for three or four years, Azumi endured the fatigue in silence.It is like a horse that has been tired all year round, experiencing the pain experienced by an old horse in a yoke.Amin still went outside to work hard in the field.Ah Zhu is still doing housework hard.But an invisible whip kept threatening her.Sometimes because he didn't boil the bath water, sometimes because he forgot to dry the rice, and sometimes because he herded cattle, Ah Zhu was often ridiculed and reprimanded by the stubborn Ah Min.However, Azumi never spoke back, and endured the fatigue without saying a word.This is firstly because she has always had the spirit of tolerance, and secondly because her grandson Hiroji is more attached to grandma than to his mother. In fact, in the eyes of others, Azumi is almost the same as before, without any changes.If there is a slight change, it's just that I don't praise my daughter-in-law as much as before.Such small changes did not particularly attract the attention of others.At least the neighbor's old woman still said that Ah Zhu was a person who "repaired in the next life". On a hot noon in midsummer, Ah lived in the shade of the grape arbor in front of the pile, chatting with the neighbor's old woman.Except for the buzzing of flies in the cowshed, there was silence all around.The neighbor's old woman was chatting and smoking a short cigarette.It was carefully collected from the butts of my son's finished cigarettes. "Where is Ah Min? Oh, have you gone to cut the hay? You are young and willing to do anything!" "What's the matter, a woman's house is better than going outside, I think it's better to do the work at home!" "No, people who like to work in the field are better than anything else. My daughter-in-law has been living in the house for seven years. Let alone going to the field, she has never worked a day even in weeding! Every day is to wash the children. What's the matter, take apart and sew your own things, just live like this." "It's better like this! The child is well-dressed, and he is also neat and tidy. It's fashionable now!" "That being said, young people nowadays don't want to do crop work!—Oh, what was that voice?" "The voice just now? You really are, that's cow farting." "Is it a cow farting? Look, it's true. ——In the hot weather, weeding grass in the valley under the sun, it's hard enough for a young person!" The two old women chatted peacefully. It has been more than eight years since Rentaro died, and Amin supported the life of his family with the hands of a woman.At the same time, Amin's reputation spread outside the village at some point.Amin is no longer a young widow who "works" from dawn to dusk, let alone the "young sister-in-law" of the boys.But she has become a role model for a daughter-in-law, a model for a thrifty wife in this life. "Look at the people on the other side of the river, Amin!" - such words came out of other people's mouths together with reprimands.Azumi did not tell the neighbor's old woman about her own pain.And not even that thought.But deep down in her heart, although she didn't realize it clearly, she still had some trust in fate, and her trust finally came to naught.Now there is nothing to look forward to except grandson Hiroji.Azhu devoted all her love to her grandson, who was already twelve or thirteen years old.However, this last hope has been repeatedly frustrated. On a continuous sunny autumn afternoon, his grandson Hiroji hurried home from school with his schoolbag in his arms.In front of the storage room, Ah Ju is wielding a kitchen knife nimbly, turning Hachiya persimmons into dried persimmons.Hiroji jumped easily, jumped over a mat to dry the millet, put his feet together neatly, and respectfully raised his hand to grandma, then with a serious look on his face, he didn't care. He asked without thinking: "Grandma, is my mother really a great person?" ①Hachiya persimmons are originally produced in Hachiya Town, Minokamo City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. They have large fruit, thin flesh, and low water content, making them suitable for persimmons. "what happened?" The kitchen knife in Ah Zhu's hand stopped, and his eyes were fixed on his grandson's face. "The teacher said it during the self-cultivation class. He said that there is no other person like Hiroji's mother in this area!" "Did the teacher say that?" "Yes, the teacher said it. Was it a lie?" At first, Azhu was very embarrassed.Even the teacher at the school told such a big lie to his grandson - there was nothing more unexpected to Azumi than this.However, after a short period of embarrassment, Ah Zhu suddenly became angry and scolded Ah Min like a different person: "Oh, what a lie, what a big lie! Your mother only works outside , other people think she is great. But she is a person with a wicked heart! Your grandma is about to be tossed to death by her, she is domineering..." Hiroji looked at the grandma whose expression had completely changed in surprise.After a while, Ah Zhu reacted again and burst into tears. "So, your grandma is counting on you to live! Don't forget it! You will be seventeen in a blink of an eye. At that time, you can find a wife right away, do you hear? So that your grandma can rest .Your mother said to wait until after the conscription. This is too long, so how can you wait! Did you hear that? You should show your filial piety to your grandma as both your father and you! In this way, your grandma will not treat you badly. , Grandma will give you everything..." "Will you give me this persimmon when it's ripe?" Hiroji greedily fumbled with the persimmons in the basket. "It goes without saying, of course I will give it to you! You are young, but you know everything. You should never change your mind!" Ah Zhu cried and laughed through tears... On the second night after this little incident happened, Azumi and Amin finally had a fierce quarrel over a trivial matter.This trivial incident was caused by Ah Zhu eating Ah Min's sweet potatoes.However, the two of them talked more and more stiffly, and Ah Min said with a sneer on his face, "If you hate working, you will have to die!" After hearing this, Ah Zhu immediately lost his composure and roared like crazy.At that time, Hiroji was sleeping soundly on his grandmother's lap.Azhu didn't even care about his grandson, "Xiaoguang, get up!" While shaking Xiaoguang awake, he kept cursing, "Xiaoguang, hey, get up! Xiaoguang, hey, get up, listen What did your mother say! Your mother told me to die! You listen carefully! In your mother’s generation, you have saved a little money, but the three sections of this town were reclaimed by your grandpa and grandma It came out! But what? Your mother said that if I want to live in peace, let me die!——Tell you, Amin, I will die! There is nothing terrible in death! No, I will not listen to you Command. I will die! I will definitely die! Even if I die, I will haunt you!" ①Cho is an area unit in Japan, and 1 town is equal to 99.15 ares. 10 sections are 1 town. Ah Zhu yelled and cursed, and hugged his crying grandson, while Ah Min lay down next to the hearth all at once, pretending not to hear. However, Ah Zhu did not die.On the contrary, before the beginning of spring in the second year, Amin, who thought he was strong, caught typhoid fever and died on the eighth day of his illness.At that time, I do not know how many people in this small village were suffering from typhoid fever.But before Ah Min got sick, in order to hold a funeral for the blacksmith who also died of typhoid fever, he went to dig a grave.On the day of the funeral, there was also a young apprentice in the blacksmith shop whose turn was to be sent to the isolation hospital. "You must have been infected that day." —— After seeing off the doctor, Ah Zhu slightly reproached the patient, A Min, whose face was flushed with fever. It rained on the day of Ah Min's funeral.But the whole village, up to the head of the village, all attended the funeral.None of the people who attended the funeral felt sorry for Amin who died early, and also felt sorry for Hiroji and Azumi who had lost their most important laborers.In particular, the village representative said that the county government had decided to commend Amin for his hard work in the near future.Hearing these words, Ah Zhu could only bow his head to express his gratitude. "Hey, it's fate! In order to commend Amin, we have applied to the county government since last year. The village head and I spent the train money, and went to the county head five times. It was really an experience. Hard work! However, we have given up our minds, so please give up your mind too!" - the good-mannered representative of the bald head added a few more witty words, which caused the young primary school teacher to look at him with displeasure stare at him. ①Gun is the administrative division of Japan since ancient times. After 1878, prefectures and counties were set up in the county, and towns and villages were set up in the county. It was abolished in 1921 and is now only a geographical division. On the night after Amin's funeral, Aju slept in a mosquito net with Hiroji in a corner of the back room with a Buddhist shrine.Normally, the two of them would have fallen asleep in the dark, but tonight there was still a bright light on the shrine.At the same time, there was still the strange smell of disinfectant on the old shop mat.Perhaps due to one or another reason, Ah Zhu couldn't fall asleep after tossing and turning.Amin's death did bring her great happiness.She no longer had to work, and she no longer had to worry about being reprimanded.The family's savings already amounted to 3,000 yen, and the land was about one town and three sections away.From then on, she and her grandson can eat rice as they please every day, and they can also buy the salted trout wrapped in straw that they have always liked.Ah Zhu has never been so relaxed in his life.Has it never been so easy? ——This reminded her clearly of that night nine years ago.That night was hardly different from the lightness of this night.It was the night after the funeral of my son of flesh and blood.What about tonight? ——Today is just the night after the funeral of my daughter-in-law who gave birth to a grandson. Ash opened his eyes involuntarily.The grandson was next to her, showing an innocent face, sleeping on his back facing the ground.When Ah Zhu looked at this sleeping face, he gradually felt that she was too miserable.At the same time, he also felt that his son Nintaro and his daughter-in-law Amin, who had a bad relationship with him, were also miserable people.In this emotional change, the hatred and anger accumulated over the past nine years faded away.Even the future happiness that had soothed her was gone.All three of their relatives were miserable people.However, among them, she herself, who endured humiliation, was even more miserable. "Amin, why did you die?"——Azumi unconsciously said this to the person who had just died, and tears suddenly fell down... After Azu heard the clock strike four o'clock, he finally fell asleep from exhaustion.But, at that moment, a cold dawn had already ushered in above the thatched roof... Written in December 1923 Translated by Lu Yuanming