On the dirt field near the river, the sun gradually collected his yellow rays. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info The leaves of the black trees near the river on the edge of the field are dry and gasping for breath, and a few flower-legged mosquitoes are humming and flying below. In the smoke of the farmhouse facing the river, the smoke gradually decreased, and the women and children all waved some water on the earthen field in front of their doors, and laid down small tables and low stools; People know that it is already time for dinner.

Old men sit on low stools, shaking big banana fans and chatting, children running like flying, or squatting under the black tree to gamble and play with stones. The woman brought out the black steamed dried vegetables and the yellow rice, which was hot and smoking. The literati's wine boat sailed in the river, and when the writer saw it, he was very happy and said, "Thoughtless, this is really Tian Jiale!" ”

But Wenhao's words are a little untrue, just because they didn't hear the words of the nine-catty old lady. At this time, the nine-catty old lady was furious, and knocked on the foot of the stool with a broken banana fan and said:

"I've lived to be seventy-nine years old, and I've lived enough, and I don't want to see these losers, and it's better to die. I'm going to eat soon, and I'm going to eat fried beans, and I'm going to eat a poor family! ”

Seeing this, Yi's great-granddaughter, who was running from the opposite side with a handful of beans, went straight to the river, hid behind the black tree, stretched out her little head with two horns, and said loudly, "This old immortal!" ”

Although the nine-catty old lady is old, her ears are not very deaf, but she did not hear the child's words, and still said to herself, "This is really not as good as the generation!" ”

The habit of this village is a bit special, when a woman gives birth to a child, she likes to weigh it with a scale, so she uses the number of catties as a nickname. Since celebrating her fiftieth birthday, the nine-pound old lady has gradually changed her family, often saying that when she was young, the weather was not as hot as it is now, and the beans were not as hard as they are now; In short, the current times are wrong. What's more, six catties are three catties less than Yi's great-grandfather, and seven catties are one pound less than Yi's father, which is really an unbreakable example. So Yi said vigorously, "This is really not as good as a generation!" ”

Yi's daughter-in-law (2) and sister-in-law are walking to the table with a rice basket. He slammed the rice basket on the table and said indignantly, "Your old man said so again." When six catties were born, wasn't it six catties and five taels? Your scales are private again. weighted weighing, eighteen taels of scales; With the quasi-sixteen, our six catties should have more than seven catties. I think it's the princess and the father-in-law, and it's not necessarily nine catties and eight catties, and the scale used may be fourteen taels ......."

"One generation is not as good as the next!"

The seven-catty sister-in-law has not yet answered. Suddenly, he saw Qijin turning out of the alley, so he changed his direction and shouted at him, "Why did you come back at this time, and die there!" No matter what people are waiting for you to eat! ”

Although Qijin lives in the countryside, he has already had some meaning. From his grandfather to him, three generations have stopped pinching the handle of the hoe; He also helped people to support the ship as usual, once a day, from Luzhen to the city in the morning, and back to Luzhen in the evening. Therefore, I know some current affairs very well: for example, somewhere, Lei Gong killed the centipede essence; Somewhere, the girl gave birth to a yaksha or something. He is indeed an appearance in the village. But in the summer, I don't light up the lights for dinner, but I still keep the habit of farming, so I should be scolded for going home too late.

Seven catties pinched the more than six-foot-long bamboo pipe of the elephant beak white copper bucket in one hand, lowered his head, walked slowly, and sat on a low stool. Six catties also took advantage of the situation to slip out. Sit beside him and call him Daddy. Seven catties did not respond.

"One generation is not as good as the next!" The nine-pound old lady said.

Qi Jin slowly raised his head, sighed and said, "The emperor has sat in the Dragon Court." ”

The seven-catty sister-in-law was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, he suddenly realized, "This is good, isn't this going to be amnesty for the emperor's grace again!" ”

Qijin sighed again and said, "I don't have braids." ”

"Does the emperor want braids?"

"The emperor wants braids."

"How do you know?" The seven-catty sister-in-law was a little anxious and hurriedly asked.

"The people in the Xianheng hotel. They all said they wanted it. ”

At this time, the sister-in-law intuitively felt that something was not going well, because the Xianheng Hotel was well-informed. As soon as Yi caught a glimpse of the seven-pound bald head in a blink of an eye, he couldn't help but be angry, blaming him for hating him and resenting him; Suddenly he became desperate again, packed a bowl of rice, grabbed it in front of Qijin and said, "Let's hurry up and eat your food!" If you cry and mourn your face, will you grow braids? ”

The sun had drained his last rays, and the water had secretly regained its coolness; There was a sound of chopsticks on the dirt field, and sweat particles were spitting out of everyone's spine. After eating three bowls of rice, the seven-catty sister-in-law raised her head by chance, and her heart couldn't help but beat suddenly. Yi saw the short and fat Zhao Qiye walking from the single-plank bridge, and he was wearing a royal blue bamboo cloth robe.

Zhao Qiye is the owner of the Maoyuan Hotel in the neighboring village, and he is the only outstanding person and scholar within a radius of thirty miles; Because he is knowledgeable, he has the smell of old age. He has more than a dozen copies of the "Three Kingdoms" (3) criticized by Jin Shengsi, and often sits and reads word by word; Not only can he name the five tiger generals, but he also knows Huang Zhong's character Hansheng and Ma Chao's character Meng Qi. After the revolution, he wore his braids on top like a Taoist priest; often sighs and says that if Zhao Zilong were alive, the world would not be so chaotic. Qijin's sister-in-law has good eyes, and she saw that today's Zhao Qiye is no longer a Taoist, but she has become a smooth scalp with black hair; Yi knew that this must be the emperor sitting in the Dragon Court, and he must have braids, and seven catties must be very dangerous. Because Zhao Qiye's bamboo cloth gown is easily not often worn, in the past three years, he has only worn it twice: once when Ma Zi Ah Si, who vomited with him, was sick, and once when Uncle Lu, who had smashed his hotel, died; Now it's the third time, and this must be a celebration for him again, and a disaster for his enemies.

Qijin's sister-in-law remembered that two years ago, Qijin was drunk and once scolded Zhao Qiye for being a "cheap tire", so at this time, she immediately intuitively sensed the danger of Qijin, and her heart jumped suddenly.

Zhao Qiye walked all the way, and the people who were sitting and eating all stood up, lit their rice bowls with chopsticks and said, "Seventh Master, please eat here with us!" The seventh master also nodded all the way and said, "Please", but walked all the way to the table of the seven catty's house. The seven catties hurriedly greeted, and the seventh master also smiled and said, "Please", while carefully studying their meal.

"What a fragrant dried cabbage, do you hear the wind?" Zhao Qiye stood behind Qijin and said opposite Qijin's sister-in-law.

"The emperor has sat in the Dragon Court." Seven catties said.

The sister-in-law of Qijin looked at the face of the seventh master, and tried her best to laugh and said, "The emperor has already sat in the Dragon Court, when will the emperor grant amnesty?" ”

"The Emperor's Amnesty? -- Amnesty is a slow and always amnesty. When the seventh master said this, his voice suddenly became stern, "But what about your seven-pound braids, braids?" That's what matters. You know: when you grow hair, you don't keep your head, and you don't have your head. ……”

Qijin and his woman have never read a book, and they don't understand this classical mystery very well, but they feel that the learned Qiye said this, and the matter is naturally very important. irretrievably, as if he had been sentenced to death, his ears buzzed, and he could no longer say a word.

"One generation is not as good as the next,-" The nine-pound old lady was upset. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he said to Zhao Qiye, "The current long hair is just cutting other people's braids, monks are not monks, and they are not Taoist." Was it like that in the old days? I lived to be seventy-nine years old, and I had lived enough. Once upon a time, the long hair was a whole horse of red satin wrapped around the head, dragged down, dragged down. Drag all the way to the heels; The prince is yellow satin, drag it down, yellow satin; Red satin, yellow satin, - I have lived enough, seventy-nine years old. ”

The seven-pound sister-in-law stood up and said to herself, "How is this good? Such a group of people who rely on him to feed themselves,......"

Zhao Qiye shook his head and said. "That doesn't work. If you don't have braids, what kind of crime you should be guilty of, the book is clearly written one by one. It doesn't matter who he has in his family. ”

When the sister-in-law heard what was written in the book, she was really completely desperate; I was in a hurry. Suddenly, he hated seven catties again. Yi pointed his chopsticks at the tip of his nose and said, "This dead body is self-inflicted!" When I rebelled, I originally said, don't hold the boat, don't go to the city. He will die and go into the city, and go into the city. When he entered the city, he was cut off his braids. It used to be silk and black braids, but now it makes monks unenlightened. What can we say that this prisoner has done it to himself, and he has brought it to his own devices? The prisoner of the living dead......"

When the villagers saw Zhao Qiye arrive in the village, they all hurriedly finished their meals and gathered around the dining table of Qijin's family. Qijin knew that he was an actor, and it was very unsightly to be insulted by a woman as a public, so he had to raise his head and said slowly:

"You say what you say today, and you ...... then"

"You prisoner of the living dead......"

Among the visitors, Bayi's sister-in-law is the most hearted person, holding Yi's two-year-old posthumous son, and watching the excitement next to the seven-catty sister-in-law; At this time, I couldn't help it, and hurriedly persuaded her, "Sister-in-law of seven catties, forget it." People are not immortals, who knows what the future holds? It's a seven-pound sister-in-law, didn't you say at that time, isn't there anything ugly without braids? Besides, the lord in the yamen has not yet made a notice,......"

The sister-in-law didn't finish listening, and her ears were already red; Then he turned his chopsticks around, pointed at the nose of Sister-in-law Bayi, and said, "Ah, what are these words!" Sister-in-law Bayi, I still seem to be alone, would I say such a stupid nonsense? I was weeping for three days, and everyone saw me; Even the little ghost of Liujin cried,...... "Liujin just finished eating a big bowl of rice, took the empty bowl, and reached out to shout for more." The seven-catty sister-in-law was not angry, so she used chopsticks in the middle of Yi's two corners, pierced it straight down, and shouted, "Who wants you to talk more!" You little widow who steals! ”

With a thud, the empty bowl in Liujin's hand fell to the ground, and it happened to hit a brick corner, which immediately broke into a big gap. Qijin jumped up, picked up the broken bowl, closed it and checked it, and shouted, "Mother's!" "A slap knocked down six pounds. Six-pound lying down and crying, the nine-pound old lady took Yi's hand, and even said "One generation is not as good as the next", and left together.

Sister-in-law Bayi was also angry and said loudly, "Sister-in-law Qijin, you 'hate to beat people' with sticks......"

Zhao Qiye was originally smiling and watching; But since Bayi's sister-in-law said that "the eldest man in the yamen did not notice", she was a little angry. By this time, he had walked around the table, and continued, "What is 'hating sticks and beating people'? GIs are coming. Do you know that this time it is Zhang Dashuai (4), Zhang Dashuai is the descendant of Yanren Zhang Yide, he has a snake spear, he has the courage of ten thousand people, who can resist him," he clenched his empty fists with both hands at the same time, as if holding an invisible snake spear, and rushed a few steps towards Bayi's sister-in-law, "Can you resist him!" ”

Bayi's sister-in-law was so angry that she was holding the child and trembling, and suddenly saw Zhao Qiye's face covered with sweat, staring, and quasi-Yi rushing over, so she was very scared, didn't dare to finish speaking, and turned around and left. Zhao Qiye also followed, and everyone blamed Sister-in-law for being troublesome, and on the other hand, they got out of the way, and a few people who cut their braids and re-kept them hurriedly hid behind the crowds, afraid that he would see it. Zhao Qiye didn't pay attention to the visit, passed through the crowd, suddenly turned into the black tree, and said, "Can you resist him!" "I stepped on the single-plank bridge and went away.

The villagers stood dumbfounded, calculating in their hearts, and felt that they really couldn't resist Zhang Yide, so they also decided that seven catties would be lifeless. Since Qijin had violated the imperial law, he remembered when he used to talk about the news in the city to people. shouldn't be so proud with a long cigarette pipe, so I feel a little happy about the seven-pound offense. They also seem to want to make some discussions, but they feel that there is nothing to talk about. There was a buzzing buzz. Mosquitoes all hit the shirtless bodies and broke into the black tree to make a market; They slowly dispersed home, closed the door and went to sleep. The seven-pound sister-in-law muttered, and also took the guy and the table and stool home, closed the door and went to sleep.

Seven catties took the broken bowl home. sit on the threshold and smoke; But I was very sad and forgot about smoking, and the fire in the white copper bucket of the more than six feet long bamboo pipe of the elephant ivory mouth gradually turned black. In his heart, he felt that the matter seemed to be very critical, and he also thought of some methods and plans, but it was always very vague and could not penetrate: "What about the braids?" Eight snake spears. One generation is not as good as the next! The emperor sits in the dragon court. The broken bowl must be nailed up to the city. Who can resist him? The book is written one by one. Into the mother's! ……”

In the early morning of the second day, Qijin still sailed into the city from Luzhen and returned to Luzhen in the evening. He also took the more than six-foot-long Xiangfei bamboo pipe and a rice bowl back to the village. At the dinner table, he said to the nine-catty old lady that this bowl was nailed in the city, because of the large gap, so it cost sixteen copper nails, three wen each, and a total of forty-eight wen yuan.

The nine-pound old lady was very unhappy and said, "One generation is not as good as the next, I have lived enough." Sanwen a nail; Was it like this in the old nails? The former nail is ...... I lived to be seventy-nine years old. ――”

After that, although Qijin entered the city every day as usual, the family scene was always a little bleak, and the villagers mostly avoided it, and no longer came to listen to the news he got from the city. The seven-catty sister-in-law also didn't have a good voice. He was often called a "prisoner".

After more than ten days, when Seven Pound came home from the city, the woman who saw him was very happy and asked him, "What do you hear in the city?" ”

"Didn't hear anything."

"Did the emperor sit in the Dragon Court?"

"They didn't say it."

"Didn't anyone say anything in the Xianheng Hotel?"

"No one said either."

"I think the emperor must not be sitting in the Dragon Court. I walked in front of Zhao Qiye's shop today and saw him sitting and studying again. The braids were coiled on top again, and he did not wear a long shirt. ”

“…………”

"Do you want to stop sitting in the Dragon Court?"

"I thought, just don't sit down."

The current seven-catty sister-in-law and the villagers have already given him considerable respect and treatment. In the summer, they still eat on the dirt in front of their homes; When everyone saw it, they all greeted each other with a smile. The nine-catty old lady has already had her eightieth birthday, and she is still uneven and healthy. The six-pound double horn has become a big braid; Although Yi is newly bound to his feet, he can still help his sister-in-law with seven catties, holding a rice bowl with eighteen copper nails (5), limping back and forth on the dirt field.

October 1920. ⑹

□ note

(1) This article was originally published in New Youth, Vol. 8, No. 1, September 1920.

(2) Yi's daughter-in-law: From the context, the "daughter-in-law" here should be the "granddaughter-in-law".

(3) "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" criticized by Jin Shengsi: refers to the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Jin Shengxian (1609-1661), a literati in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, once commented on books such as "Water Margin" and "The Legend of the West Chamber". "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is written by Luo Guanzhong in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and later adapted by Mao Zonggang in the Qing Dynasty, with additional comments.

(4) Zhang Dashuai: refers to Zhang Xun (1854-1923), a native of Fengxin, Jiangxi, and one of the Beiyang warlords. Originally an officer of the Qing Dynasty, after the Xinhai Revolution, he and his officers and soldiers still wore braids, expressing their loyalty to the Qing Dynasty and were called the Braided Army. On July 1, 1917, he supported the restoration of Emperor Puyi in Beijing, but failed on July 12.

(5) Eighteen brass nails: according to the above, it should be "sixteen". In a letter to Li Jiye dated November 23, 1926, the author said: "There is only this one bowl that has been nailed in the Liujin family, and I can't remember whether the nails are sixteen or eighteen. In short, one of the two numbers is wrong, please change it to the same. ”

(6) According to Lu Xun's Diary, this article is considered to have been written on August 5, 1920. (To be continued.) (To be continued.) )