Chapter 19 Fifty-third Night House Snake

Snake is one of the important totems of the ancient Yue people, and later evolved into a god. In Tang Dynasty Du Mu's "Li Changji's Songs and Poems", there is "the lack of bulls, ghosts, snakes and gods is absurd and illusory".Wu Zhenfang of the Qing Dynasty said in "Lingnan Miscellaneous Notes": "There is a snake god in Chaozhou. Its image is crowned in the south, and it is honored as Emperor Youtian. There are snakes in the niches. If you want to see it, the temple priests must say goodbye and then go out, hovering between the tripods, or hanging upside down. On the rafters, or supported by bamboo poles, it is winding and knotted, not scary and not stinging. It is about three feet long and green and lovely.... For those who worship gods, snakes often visit their homes." People in Yixing, Jiangsu divide snakes into Domestic snakes and wild snakes are called "inner man" and "outer man" respectively.The so-called house snake refers to a kind of snake that lives in a house. It is a kind of non-poisonous snake that often coils around beams, eaves, wall cracks, corrugated walls, and attics, about three feet in total.People believe that house snakes will protect people. If there are house snakes in the house, the rice in the rice store will be full by itself and cannot be taken out.

It is also often said that if a snake is found in the home, it is most taboo to kill it.It is believed that if the snake is killed or the snake is not killed, the snake will take revenge, which is not good for the family.So if you find a snake at home, catch it in a pot or pick it up on a long pole, and then send it to the valley, and ask it to hide in a cave and never return to other people's homes. There are different legends in different places, but there is one thing in common: the house snake is not an ordinary thing. Old people often say that house snakes gather fortune and wealth.If the house snake goes away, the family will be ruined; if the house snake stays, the family will prosper.

What's more, it is said that if you see a house snake leaving the old house with your own eyes, it will be a big disaster. Generally speaking, most rural houses that have been in use for decades have house snakes, and they are all very large.Everyone has a customary habit, as long as you see a house snake running out of the house, you must turn your head away, don't have evil thoughts, don't utter obscene words, and then burn incense and prostrate to thank you for protecting the house for many years. Of course, if there are rules, there must be those who break the rules. This principle has never changed.

On weekends, at the request of my father, I went back to my hometown to send some things back. Since I hadn’t been to the country for a long time, an old man heard that I was my father’s son and insisted on dragging me to his house for dinner.But his home is really good, even compared with the villas of the city people, it is not only generous and spacious, because it has a more simple and mysterious style, sure enough, old has its advantages and I am in the wooden shelf of the room I saw a lot of neatly placed medicines and books on the Internet, and I secretly wondered if the old man was selling medicine?

"Fifty years ago, there was a family with the surname of Zhao in the village. In this village, the surname of Zhao was the majority. They might have been relatives a few years ago. It's a pity that a family has developed too vigorously, and they have become strangers after four generations. However, this family with the surname Zhao still has some status in the village. The old man in the family is in charge of the genealogy in the village, so he is considered to be highly respected. In addition, although the family has a surplus of money, he is very kind to the poor villagers, so he has a high prestige in the village. high.His three sons are also very good.Zhao Da learned martial arts since he was a child, and he has achieved a little success after decades. Everyone in the village and outside the village knows that the Zhao family has such an eldest son who looks after the house. .

Zhao Er and Zhao Da are brothers, but their personalities are very different. Zhao Er is quiet, halfway through junior high school, and works as an accountant in the village committee. As for Zhao San, he was very young and was preparing to take the university entrance exam. His grades were not bad, and with his hard work, he seemed very promising. The family seemed happy, but that was only for outsiders to see. " The old man who told the story was called Uncle Zhao, and I also called him along with the neighbors. In fact, it was only the first time I saw him in more than 20 years.Uncle Zhao has a very high status in the village, because first of all he is older in the village according to his seniority, and his tone seems to be related to that old man Zhao.Secondly, he is upright and fair, and many things are judged by him, but I only heard the villagers say so.Uncle Zhao's hair has fallen out. Although he is nearly seventy years old, he looks in good spirits. His eyes are always wide open, with tofu-like whites bulging out. They look like the eyes of a frog when viewed from the side. , of course, I dare not say it.Although the skin with bronzed skin is dry and cracked, his fingers are very slender, and although the knuckles are thick, they are extremely flexible. Uncle Zhao is in very good health. Think about the fact that there are still people in the city who are exposed to ultraviolet rays and spend money to find crimes. It's better to live in the country for a few days and plant a few trees.

He touched the grease on his lips with his palm-sized hand, threw out a gnawed chicken wing, and lowered his head mysteriously. "Mr. Zhao's family is very united in front of outsiders, but in fact they often quarrel." "Oh? Why is that?" I asked curiously. "The reason is actually very simple, because Mr. Zhao did a stupid thing when he was young. Not many people know about it. Most of the people who know this secret respect him, and they have never made it public in the village. He is actually the same as the newcomer at home. One of the little servants of the old man hooked up together, and the matter was revealed. He was afraid that Zhang Yang would go out and make a fool of himself, so he kept the girl at home. Although the old man's wife was very unhappy, there was nothing he could do about it, but the woman was bleeding profusely during childbirth. After she died, the Zhao family also dealt with the dead body in secret. Even fewer people knew about it. The Zhao family said that the woman abducted the money and ran away, but it turned out that the Zhao family became the victim. This maid is a foreigner. There are no relatives in the village, and the child who was born before his death was Zhao San. The Zhao family felt guilty, so they were very kind to this child, especially the old man, who often loved him very much. San is indeed much smarter than the two elder brothers.

After a long time, the old man's former wife was naturally dissatisfied, and the old man's body became weaker and weaker. Although the Zhao family was not rich, they still had a lot of money, especially the old house. When Uncle Zhao came here, he couldn't help raising his head, staring at the beams in the room in a daze. I'm a little puzzled, but it's not easy to ask questions. After all, I am a junior, and I still know the etiquette.It was a long time before he opened his mouth to speak. "Country people, all their lives, they want to have a good family and a harmonious family, especially the house. Zhao's old house is the best house in a radius of dozens of miles. It is warm in winter and cool in summer. According to people who have seen it, it is said to have good Fengshui. , the Wang family. So the sons of the Zhao family value this house very much. Of course, so do the people in the village. Naturally, I am also included.” Uncle Zhao took a sip of the aged rice wine lightly, narrowed his eyes and smiled, Then he smashed his hands and mouth, apparently enjoying it very much.

"But didn't you say that it all happened decades ago? What's going on with the family now?" I asked, and Uncle Zhao's expression darkened suddenly. "Something happened to the Zhao family, some died, some scattered, such a big family fell into ruin at once." His tone was a little heavy, as if a little gloomy. "It is said that when the third child in the Zhao family was about to take the college entrance examination, something strange happened in the family. At that time, the family didn't pay attention to it, but when you think about it with what happened later, it's very scary.

It was already very hot in the village in May. At that time, there were no electric fans, let alone air conditioners. Everyone was naked and waving cattail fans at the door to enjoy the coolness.Only the old man of the Zhao family doesn't use it. " "Oh? Why is that?" I've been here before, and it's really hot in summer, and it's so boring that if I sit in the room, within a few hours, I will definitely steam people like steamed stuffed buns. "Because the Zhao family's old house is very strange, like an ice cellar, no matter how hot it is outside, it will be very cool and cool when you go in, and you will feel refreshed, and some people who feel unwell, dizzy and hot just need to lie down inside for a while, But in winter, it is very warm inside, and there is no need for a stove or charcoal basin. Although the house has been built for nearly a hundred years and has been handed down by Mr. Zhao’s grandfather for three generations, it is still very strong, no matter how big it is. There was no leak in the house during the rainstorm, so the Zhao family’s old house has become famous in this area.” Uncle Zhao spoke very quickly, spit was flying out, and it was obvious that he knew the Zhao family’s old house very well.

"The story is divided into two parts. Let me talk about the three brothers of the Zhao family. The eldest is a martial arts practitioner, of course he also likes to drink, but his drinking capacity is very large, and ordinary people can't get drunk even after pouring him, so no one in the village dares to drink. We had a drink with him, he was tall and hospitable, but his temperament was too fiery, and his fists went up after two words. Mr. Zhao was worried about his son. Fortunately, he married the eldest daughter-in-law in later, and Zhao Dacai gradually settled down. Although he was divided, he was extremely kind to the youngest brother. Later, the second child also got married, and the two elder brothers started to grow older and thought more, especially when the two daughters-in-law were married, naturally they had a lot of thoughts about this third uncle who was not a direct relative.The third child is a sensible person, knowing that his family often excludes him, so he studies harder, asks to board at the school since he was very young, and almost no longer lives at home.How glorious college students were at that time, but the difficulty of the exam can also be imagined, especially from the countryside. . But the two daughters-in-law and their mother-in-law didn't want to leave it like this. They often urged the old man to confirm the inheritance of the house and inheritance earlier, saying that the third child was not entitled to get his due share.But what Mr. Zhao thinks, that's God knows. In short, it happened one month before the college entrance examination, on a summer night.The old man repeatedly asked the third child to go home to live, eat better and sleep well. Although the third child refused many times, maybe he came back because of the exam. The family finally sat down and had a meal together, and women in the village were not allowed to sit at the table.So the three women went outside with their rice bowls, which was also requested by the old man, and they were all driven out. So there were only four father and son left in the old house, sitting at the four corners of the dining table, the eldest buried his head in drinking and did not speak.The second child politely persuaded his younger brother to eat, but his tone didn't sound like he was with his own brother, but rather like an outsider. He was too polite. The old man didn't eat anything, he just smoked a cigarette and looked at his three sons. The Zhao family used to eat in the living room, and there was a square old wooden table in Nuo Da's room, and the top happened to be high beams.It was already dark outside the door, and a few stars could be seen. "Uncle Zhao satiated and smoked a cigarette. Although I heard it very interesting, I couldn't help wondering why he knew the details of the time so well, as if he was at the scene. But Uncle Zhao didn't pay attention to the question in my eyes, and continued talking. "The eldest is drinking all the time. This may be the case in most families. The eldest is often honest and simple, and not good at speaking. On the contrary, the second son of the Zhao family who often goes to the village committee and has a lot of communication with people has been with the younger brother who has not seen him for a long time. There was always something routine and false about this passionate conversation. After three rounds of wine, the dishes are slightly bottomed out.The old man finally couldn't bear it anymore.He coughed a few times, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and stomped hard with his black round-toed cloth shoes, as if he had made a great determination.The three sons also noticed it, and they didn't speak to each other, waiting for their father to say it. The old man cleared his throat and told the three sons.All their property will be divided into three shares, and each of the three will get one share.But the meager money is not the point.All people think about is this magical old house.But before the old man finished speaking, the third child suddenly spoke coldly. 'I don't want my share, and I don't want a house. If I can go to university, I won't come back. After the third child finished speaking, he stood up. The eldest child was surprised and in pain, as if he had something to hide, but he refrained from speaking. The second child was very happy, but managed not to show it. He just lowered his head and pushed the glasses on his nose with his hands, covering the uncontrollable smile on his face with his hands. The old man was even more surprised, then puzzled. Just when the people at the table had their own expressions, suddenly a black mass fell from the crossbeam and hit the dining table with a bang. watch carefully. When everyone took a closer look, they all gasped. There is a snake on the table.About the thickness of the enamel cup, with black lines on the blue background, the snake's head is facing the third child, and it is still spitting out the letter.This snake is not small, although it is not straightened to measure, it is estimated to be more than three meters long.The other three left their seats in fright, and even the usually bold boss turned pale with fright. 'House snake! 'The second child shouted in a trembling voice, and then kept backing away. The snake seemed to be asleep, and its head was lowered heavily. It may have felt a little uncomfortable when it fell down. It seems that it has been staying on the beam.The third child was also a little scared, but for some reason, he couldn't move his body. He just sat upright and looked at the house snake. Soon, the snake crawled down the legs of the table in a meandering manner, circled around the legs and feet of the third child like swimming, and then disappeared into the night outside the door. The old man suddenly shouted in pain: "The house snake has left, and the Zhao family is about to lose!"Retribution, retribution. ' He repeated this sentence like a madman, and stumbled out of the room. The eldest helped the second child up, and walked out slowly. Before going out, he seemed to have something to say to the third child, but seeing his younger brother's face was as cold as ice, he had no choice but to swallow it. Only the third child was sitting in the living room.In fact, he only has a good relationship with his eldest brother in this family, because his eldest brother was sixteen when he was born, and his eldest brother is like a father. This eldest brother treats him very well, and he often travels dozens of miles to visit him at school, and hopes that he will return home. home, but the third child in this family knew he couldn't stay any longer.After a long time, the third child got up from the bench where his butt was almost numb, looked up at the high roof, and walked out. The news of the Zhao family getting out of the house snake did not know why it spread.The Zhao family seemed to be synonymous with bad luck in the village, and the people who usually greeted them as brothers and sisters all dispersed when they saw them.Fortunately, the third child didn't care about these things, so he packed his things and went back to school the next day. Seven days later, he received news of his death at home. The boss is dead. The death was inexplicable, and even the boss probably didn't know why before he died.That night, as usual, he had a night of drinking with his friends.In fact, the amount is very small, far less than usual. The old nature didn't take it to heart and still rushed home late at night.Still holding the wine bottle in his hand, he drank while walking. But he fell, and just then he put the bottle in his mouth. So the boss's thick and heavy body was completely pressed down, and the entire bottle was completely stuffed into his throat. This kind of wine bottle was specially made in the country, thinner than the current beer bottle, but longer, a bit like a Coca-Cola bottle.It was late at night, and the boss couldn't shout out. The next day, the boss's daughter-in-law saw the boss's body outside the door. It is said that he was suffocated to death, his mouth was completely dislocated by the bottle, and his hands were stretched out stiffly, with scratches all over them. trace.But when the bottle was taken out later, the boss’s mouth couldn’t be closed no matter what. The mouth was black, as if a snake was about to eat, and the youngsters couldn’t close it with great effort. In the end, they had no choice but to find a hammer. The boss's jawbone was smashed, and then it was closed, otherwise, how would a corpse with such a big mouth be buried? Everyone secretly fears in private. We have all heard of people who can't keep their eyes open, but where have they heard of people who can't keep their mouths shut? The third child almost cried all the way home, but as soon as he arrived, his sister-in-law slapped him so hard that he almost passed out. He didn't blame the sister-in-law, because what the sister-in-law yelled while crying was right. 'You are a disaster star, you killed your mother, and then you killed your elder brother, why don't you die yourself? ’ And the second child didn’t even dare to come out for the elder brother’s funeral, and squatted in the room wrapped in a quilt all day long.And the eldest mother was almost crying in the room, and she didn't even have the strength to curse. The third child of the Zhao family knelt in front of his eldest brother's spirit tablet for a whole day, and then left. Before leaving, he only looked at his father, the one who gave birth to him for his own short-term joy. He only said a word of care to this strange old man, and then went back to school.The eldest brother is dead, and there is nothing to cherish in this family, so instead, he has to study hard and leave here. After the boss died, the family fell a lot, and Mr. Zhao also aged suddenly, and his reaction was not as good as before.The old woman's eyes were also blinded from crying, and the eldest daughter-in-law remarried a few years later, but that's a later story. The third child did pass the university entrance examination and left the village. When he left, there was no one to see him off, but it is said that after he left, some villagers saw Mr. Zhao standing at the entrance of the village with a cane, tears streaming down his face. A few years later, the fourth child graduated, and he hardly went home during the whole university period. After so long, he decided to go back and have a look. Everything was as usual, but it was three years of disasters at that time. Fortunately, this place is still relatively prosperous. Even if there is a national famine, the villagers can be self-sufficient, and food and clothing are not a problem. But as soon as the third child came back, he heard that the second brother had died. The reason is very simple. The second child wakes up almost every day and looks at his feet. He keeps saying that snakes are eating him from his feet, and he has developed very strange skin diseases. Slowly wrap around the body from the ankle, about the thickness of two fingers, very rough to the touch, like scales, the second child is always itchy, grabbing a large piece of skin, stripping off his clothes It looked as if his whole body was entangled by snakes.As a result, the place where he was scratched and rotted worsened. His skin rotted and smelled bad, and even his wife stayed far away.Later, the second child didn't have a piece of good meat on him. Finally, the second child couldn't stand the torture, and with his last bit of strength, he hanged himself with his belt in the room. Within a few years, two sons of the Zhao family died, and the story of the house snake was even more frightening.Master Zhao was too sad and fell into the loess.The second daughter-in-law returned to her natal home.The huge Zhao family was ruined in just a few years, and there were only two people living in the old house, the eldest and the second's own mother, and the third who had just graduated. Although the old man hated the third child very much and hardly talked to him, the only time he talked to him was because he couldn't see when he needed help, and he would insult and beat him at every turn.But the third child didn't take it seriously at all, just took care of him silently, and even gave up his profession, willing to take over the position of his second brother in the village and became an accountant.Moreover, he rejected the love of many girls, and only guarded this woman who could also be called his mother in name. The villagers are very interested in the strange family, and there are many versions of it. Some even spread that the Zhao family has accumulated wealth. Wait.But there is a time when rumors and lies can turn into terrible truths. During the Cultural Revolution, Lao San was criticized every day, forcing him to tell the secrets of Zhao's old house, but the old lady didn't say a word.As a result, those people locked up the third child for a few days, and seeing that they couldn't find anything, they had to let him go back, but the two of them were not allowed to live in the old house. The guy Lengtouqing was there every day, denouncing capitalist roaders during the day and playing cards at night, which was quite a pleasure. And the third child led the blind old lady to find a thatched hut, and still took good care of her tirelessly.The days passed like this, but the old lady still didn't have any good looks towards the third child. After the Cultural Revolution ended, Nian Zai in the village felt sorry for the third child, so he made an exception and returned the house to the Zhao family. That night, when the third child helped the old man into the hall of the Zhao family, the old lady who hadn't expressed any expression or said anything for many years suddenly burst into tears, and then knelt at the feet of the third child.The third child looked at the old man expressionlessly. The old lady burst into tears, uttering sins and retributions, until the third child helped her up and sat on the chair. It turned out that the third child's mother didn't die of massive bleeding. Strictly speaking, the old lady did it, and the boss knew about it. When the childbirth period fell, Mr. Zhao's wife was afraid that the servant would be equal to her after giving birth, so she secretly bribed Mrs. Wen, took the third child out, and went in with a quilt to suffocate the weak third child's birth mother to death.Later, when Mr. Zhao found out, he was very angry, but he had no choice but to bury the body because of the shame. He said to the outside world that the woman ran away after giving birth. The matter was originally thought to be over, but strange things often happened in the Zhao family in the future, so Mr. Zhao invited a Taoist priest. The Taoist came up with an idea, saying that he would dig out the corpse, break the bones, and wrap them around a long and thin garden tree like a snake. On the outside, a layer of hollow wooden pipes is placed on the outside, and this wood is used as a beam to keep the family safe.And that woman will also turn into a house snake and accumulate blessings for the Zhao family. But the Taoist also said that once the house snake escapes, it will bring disaster to the descendants, and there is nothing he can do.In the first few years, the family went smoothly, so Mr. Zhao didn't think much about it, but the above things happened later. As for the eldest brother, it was spying on his mother's actions, and later he learned the truth after being pressed, but he had no choice but to keep the matter in his heart secretly, so he had to be extra nice to the third child. As for the second child, he didn't know anything about it. It's just trying to monopolize the third child's family property. But when the old lady finished talking about all this, the third child was calm, and said calmly that he knew all this a long time ago. When the boss visited the third child at school, there were clues in his words, and the third child was very smart. , Knowing that his elder brother was addicted to alcohol, so he found a few classmates who could drink, and finally figured out this matter. When he knew the truth, he was also very angry. He only hoped that he would succeed in his studies sooner, and then go home for revenge. But after the boss died, he didn't think about it anymore. The reason why he served the old lady for so many years was actually to help the boss fulfill his unfulfilled son's duty. That night, the old lady passed away, and she died very peacefully. Afterwards, the third child continued to stay in the village and remained unmarried all his life. The Zhao family’s old house also welcomed many children and elderly people to escape the summer heat. rural hospital. Uncle Zhao finally finished speaking. He drank the last bit of wine, and seemed very happy, as if he had spoken out all his difficulties for many years. It was nearly dusk outside when a middle-aged woman walked in with a child. "Doctor Zhao, help me take a look at the child, it looks like he has heat stroke." The woman was a little anxious, I looked at the child, sure enough, he was dizzy, his steps were unsteady, and his face was red and hot. Uncle Zhao stood up while hiccupping, showed the child, and massaged the child's arms, neck, and underarms a few times. , and then handed the woman some white paper-wrapped pills, waved and said it was all right.The woman withdrew thankfully. "So you are that Zhao San?" I couldn't help asking.Uncle Zhao looked at me drunkenly. "So what if you are, so what if you are not? But you do look a lot like your father, and you also like to ask questions." After he finished speaking, he smiled at me, full of bitterness. I bid farewell to Uncle Zhao.Standing outside the door of Zhao's old house, I suddenly felt that the house looked very lonely in the red sunset. Uncle Zhao slowly closed the door in front of me, and the sun shone through the crack of the door. I seemed to see many pairs of feet and many pairs of shoes standing behind Uncle Zhao in what should have been an empty space. Among them, there are a pair of round toe black cloth shoes. When I rubbed my eyes and tried to look again, the door was tightly closed, and I thought to myself that I had drunk some wine and added fiber optics. The next day, I woke up from my dream and knew that Uncle Zhao had passed away. Walking away is very peaceful, it is a happy thing that this kind of age dies without a problem, whether it is for oneself or for others.It is said that that night someone saw a huge snake crawling quickly into the Zhao family's old house.However, that person was not sure if he could really see clearly. I still have to go to work on Monday, so I hurriedly worshiped Uncle Zhao and went back. Uncle Zhao has no children, or many children, because he taught many children in the village enlightenment knowledge and the principles of life.So his funeral is handled by the village. When I went back, I told Uncle Zhao that he had passed away.My father sighed after hearing this, and said that when he lost his father during the Cultural Revolution when he was a child, he had always respected Uncle Zhao because he was knowledgeable, warm-hearted, and good at medicine. "What did he say again? Before he died." My father asked me. "He and I are very similar to you." I answered honestly, and my father said "Oh" and didn't say anything more.Since then, he has never mentioned Uncle Zhao again.