Ghost (above) Zhang Baotong 2016.10.3

During the wheat harvest season, the night sky in the Scottish Highlands is very refreshing, and the aroma of ripe wheat and the smell of the wild are permeating the air and wafting in the wind. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe surrounding woods and distant mountains are hazy and silent. A crescent moon moves slowly in the starry sky, like a small boat drifting in the blue sea.

The scenery of the Highlands is very stunning, but Nils has not seen it in the daylight since he escaped from the battlefield. For two years, he hid in his cellar, like a ghost, afraid to be seen. I can only come out in the dead of night to help my parents do some farm work.

He was a deserter, and if he was caught, he would be court-martialed, and even executed. He's seen too much of this kind of scenario. At one point he even saw five junior officers who had graduated from military academies shot dead immediately after their arrest. That scene left him with a memory that will last forever.

Nils didn't want to be a deserter, but the scenes of fighting on the battlefield were simply terrifying. The Germans concentrated 67 divisions around the Somme, while the Anglo-French forces committed 86 divisions, including 54 divisions from the British. Airplanes, tanks, and artillery bombarded the fields, and soldiers dressed in different costumes fought in the mountains and fields along the rivers, hills, valleys, forests, and villages. At that time, Niels's company was standing on a hill waiting for reinforcements. He witnessed this horrific scene of fighting each other. He was terrified. He also knew that their company was about to prepare reinforcements. He knew very well that their reinforcements were useless, and that he could only buy some time for the reinforcements to arrive, and that he himself would only add some blood to the fallen corpses. Because a large number of reinforcements do not yet know when they will arrive. And on the battlefield in front of them, the Germans clearly had the upper hand.

The thought that he was going to die soon on this strange French battlefield made him really scared. At this time, he wanted to have diarrhea, and he couldn't hold it back. Because he had a cold last night, he has been having diarrhea. So, he told the second lieutenant that he was going to have diarrhea. The ensign gave him an annoyed look and told him to hurry. So he jumped out of the pit and ran towards the edge of the woods in the pit road. However, by the time he had crouched down at the edge of the woods, the captain had already directed his troops to charge. By the time he lifted his trousers, his company had already rushed down the hill. Originally, he should have followed behind and rushed over. However, he took the opportunity to burrow into the woods.

A few days later, when he secretly returned home, his parents told him that he had been declared a deserter by a military court and that the local police had interrogated him. But he had nowhere to go for a while, so he had to hide in the cellar.

His family lived in a modest wooden house in the remote countryside of the Scottish Highlands, with a barn next to it for grain and hay. Underneath the warehouse is the sake brewery. This cellar was the size of a house, and contained some barrels and some sundries, which had been out of use for a long time, and exuded a heavy musty and dampness. However, it is a good place to hide. Nils is hiding here.

At first, the police came to his house a few times, but after that, they never came again. There is a path in front of his house, and other people can be seen not far away. However, since Niels's accident, the neighbors have hardly interacted with their family. Therefore, their house has always been very quiet. And, over time, rumors that the Hortons' son, Nils, had fled the battlefield, were slowly forgotten. It has been almost two years since he fled the battlefield in 1916. And the world war was almost coming to an end at this time.

Waves of wheat rose and fell in the night, and although you could not see its golden color, you could hear its continuous noise, like insects whispering in silence. After a while, the owl let out a cooing sound. The cry gave Nightkin palpitations, but it made Knicks feel very relatable. Because he had lived alone for too long, he longed for someone to be close to him. However, he was afraid of approaching people. Because as soon as someone finds him and reports it to the local police, he will be arrested by the police, tried and executed by a military court.

At this time, while cutting the wheat with a sickle, he thought about a person. The man's name was Ingrid, and he was his former lover. At that time, he and Ingrid used to walk and see the scenery on the surrounding hills, woodsides, and paths. The two of them even agreed to marry after the war. So, when he left his hometown after joining the army, she rushed to the Waterloo railway station to see him off. She was so young, beautiful, and full of vitality, but she heard from her mother that she had been married yesterday, to Charlie, who ran the mill. That Charlie used to be his friend, and at that time, although Charlie was also in love with Ingrid, Ingrid didn't love him. However, because he became a deserter from the battlefield, Ingrid had to marry Charlie, whom she did not love. However, he wanted Charlie to follow his father to run a mill, and now he must be rich.

Before I knew it, a large patch of wheat had been cut down in the field. The moon has also drifted into the western sky. The star blinked sleepily and seemed to be a little sleepy. At this time, he looked at the wheat field, and there was only a small piece left to be cut, and when this small piece of wheat was finished, he could use a cart to pull the wheat to the grain field in front of his house to dry. So, he quickly swung his sickle and continued to cut.

Suddenly, however, he saw a figure on the path not far from the wheat field, staggering from a distance as if drunk. He was about to hide, but the man had already seen him, and then shouted as if he had seen a ghost, and ran away quickly. This scared him a lot, because he was afraid that someone would report it to the police if they saw him.

Two days later, when his mother came to the cellar to bring him dinner, she told him that she had met Magaly in the church in the morning. He said that he had come back from gambling the night before and saw a ghost in our field cutting wheat. Hearing this, John and Peter, who had come to church together, also said that they had also seen people working in our fields at night, and that they were the ghosts of Nils.

Shocked by this, Nils asked his mother if they already knew that the ghost was him. Because he knew that the rednecks might believe in ghosts, but the police wouldn't believe in ghosts. When her mother heard him say this, she immediately became nervous, and said that someone was asking her if Nils had a whereabouts.

Apparently, the neighbors had sensed that there was always a ghost working in the Horton family's fields, as soon as the news reached the police. The police will not let it go, because it is a felony to flee the battlefield while the war is still in the middle of the war. Thinking like this, both mother and son became nervous. So, after dinner, my mother called my father over, and the three of us sat down in the wine cellar together and began to discuss countermeasures.

After a long discussion, the mother suggested that Nils should first take refuge from her cousin, Mrs. Wenger, as she had no other relatives. Moreover, my cousin's home is on the Isle of Skye, north of the Highlands, which is very remote and does not easily meet acquaintances. It's just that she and her cousin have not been in contact and contact for many years, which makes her feel a little embarrassed. The father was very pleased with his mother's proposal, and said to Nils, "Go and stay with your aunt for a while, and if there is no movement in the house, we will write to you."

Nils, of course, was willing to go out and about, because he felt like he was going to get moldy and hairy after hiding in the dark, damp cellar all day. But the main thing is the fear that the police will come to the door to arrest him. Originally, his parents wanted him to wait until dawn before going out, but he preferred to go out right away because he was used to walking at night.

So, his parents made some preparations for him and let him change into decent clothes. For the past two years, he has been wearing that wide black coarse cloth clothes. Before leaving, his mother put her arms around his neck and told him again and again, you should learn to be obedient, be patient, and do not make your aunt and husband unhappy in everything. He said I knew.

It is about one hundred and twenty miles from the Llergue region of the Scottish Highlands to the Isle of Skye. But there is still a twenty-mile trail from Niels's hometown of Manshelpa to Llerge. He had to walk most of the way. Because horse-drawn carriages are only possible during the day. But it will make people recognize him. So, he walked briskly along the road leading to the town in the dark. Until dawn, he came to the edge of a small lake. In summer, the lake is quiet, and the boats are quietly parked by the lake. A fisherman's hut is located next to the water. The sun rises in the east, shining a golden light on one side of the lake. On the high ground by the lake, green grass spreads all around the lake, and messy herds of cattle and sheep stretch out in the morning light, grazing leisurely. Seeing this, Nils showed envious eyes. He felt that he was inferior to a cow and a sheep.

Arriving in the town, he got into a dilapidated car. The car was crowded with people from the countryside, and of course there were two or three noble-looking people among them. But most of the department is made up of women and the elderly. Young people are hardly visible. Because they're pretty much still on the battlefield. Nils sat in the car, dozing off with his head between his arms. Because he was accustomed to being active at night, and as soon as the day came, he began to feel sleepy. At this time, he heard an old man next to him say that the war was coming to an end. The Germans were about to be defeated. Another old man burst into tears when he heard this, saying that both of his sons had died on the battlefield. As soon as they heard this, everyone immediately stopped talking and looked at the sobbing old man silently with their eyes. Nils began to stick his head out the window to watch the scenery along the way.

At two or three o'clock in the afternoon, we finally arrived on the Isle of Skye. The cool sea breeze blows from the seashore in summer, making the island's summer as fresh as spring. Small golden flowers bloom all over the roadside meadows. When you look up, you can't see the edge. This made him feel much lighter immediately. It was the first time in two years that he felt so good.

When they arrived at their aunt's house, they were in a state of grief and grief because their son Steley had recently died on the battlefield. This made Nils feel very embarrassed. But he still took out his mother's letter to his aunt. The letter said that Nils was suffering from a disease called war phobia, and that he was often depressed and pessimistic. In order to allow him to come out of his fear and return to normalcy. They decided to let Nils stay with them for a while. Presumably, the scenery of the island and the beauty of the vineyards will free him from the sickness of fear. (To be continued.) )