"There's no sound, what's wrong with the little thing?"

The red-nosed old arch held a bowl of rice wine in his hand, and said, snorting to the wall. Lan Pi Ah Wu, www.biquge.info pen "Fun" Pavilion, put down the wine bowl, slapped him with a dead slap on the back, and shouted vaguely:

"You...... You're thinking about ...... again. ”

It turns out that Luzhen is a secluded place, and there are some ancient styles: if you don't watch it, everyone will close the door and go to sleep. There are only two who didn't sleep in the middle of the night: one is the Xianheng Hotel, where a few friends of wine and meat surround the counter, eating and drinking happily; The family is the fourth sister-in-law of the wall, since he was widowed the year before last, he had to spin cotton yarn with his own hands to support himself and his three-year-old son, so he slept late.

These days, there is no sound of spinning. But since there are only two families who didn't sleep in the middle of the night, there is a voice in the house of the four sisters-in-law, so naturally only the old arches hear it, and there is no sound, and only the old arches hear it.

Lao Gong was beaten, drank a big sip of wine as if he was very comfortable, and sang a little song with a whining.

At this time, the fourth sister-in-law was holding his Bao'er, sitting on the edge of the bed, and the spinning wheel was standing quietly on the ground. The dark and dull light shone on Bao'er's face, crimson with a little blue. The fourth sister-in-law calculated in her heart: The god has also begged for it, the wish may have passed, and the unilateral party has also eaten, if it still doesn't work, how can it be good? - Then I have to go to see He Xiaoxian. But Bao'er may have light days and heavy nights, and tomorrow, when the sun rises, the heat will subside, and the asthma will subside: this is really a common thing for patients.

Shan Si's sister-in-law is a stupid woman who doesn't understand the horror of the word "but": many bad things are good thanks to him, but many good things are also bad because of him. The summer night is short, and when the old arches have finished singing, the east has turned white; After a while, a silvery white dawn penetrated through the cracks in the window.

The fourth sister-in-law waited for the dawn, but it was not as easy as others, and she felt very slow, and Bao'er's breath was almost a year long. It's actually bright now; The brightness of the sky overwhelmed the lights. --I saw that Bao'er's nose was already fanning one by one.

The fourth sister-in-law knew that something was wrong, and secretly shouted, "Ah! "Mental calculation: How is it good? There is only one way to go to He Xiaoxian. Although he is a stupid woman, he has a decision in his heart. He stood up, took out thirteen small silver dollars and one hundred and eighty copper coins that he had saved every day from the wooden cabinet, put them in his pocket, locked the door, and ran straight to He's house with Bao'er in his arms.

It's still early. There are already four patients sitting in the He family. He took out the four-dime silver dollar and bought a number tag, and the fifth was Bao'er's turn. He Xiaoxian stretched out two fingers and pressed the pulse, the nails were more than four inches long, and the fourth sister-in-law secretly wondered, calculating in her heart: Bao'er should have a life. But I was inevitably anxious, and I couldn't help but ask, so I said crampedly:

"Sir, what's wrong with my baby?"

"He's scorched (2)."

"Isn't it okay? He ......"

"Let's go eat two stickers first."

"He was out of breath, and his nose and wings were fanning."

"This is the ...... of Huokejin (3)"

He Xiaoxian said half a sentence. Then close your eyes; The fourth sister-in-law was embarrassed to ask again. A man in his thirties sitting opposite He Xiaoxian had already prescribed a prescription at this time, pointed to a few words on the corner of the paper and said:

"This first taste of baby protection pills must be available in the old store of the Jia family!"

The fourth sister-in-law took the prescription and thought while walking. Although he is a stupid woman, he knows that the He family and the old store of Jishi and his own home are exactly a triangular point; Naturally, it was cheaper to buy medicine and go back. So he ran straight to the old store of Jishi. The shopkeeper also curled his long nails and slowly looked at the prescription, slowly wrapping the medicine. The fourth sister-in-law hugged Bao'er and waited; Bao'er suddenly raised her little hand and pulled out a loose lock of his hair. This is a move that has never been done before, and the fourth sister-in-law is scared.

The sun was out early. The fourth sister-in-law hugged the child and carried the medicine bag, and the more she walked, the heavier she felt; The child struggled again. The longer the road feels. I had no choice but to sit on the threshold of a mansion on the side of the road, rested for a while, and my clothes gradually froze my skin, only to know that I was sweating; Bao'er seemed to be asleep. He got up again and walked slowly, still unable to support himself, when suddenly he heard someone say:

"Shan Fourth Sister-in-law. I'll hold Barrow for you! It seems to be the voice of the Blue Skin Five.

When he looked up, it was Blue Skin Ah Wu, who followed him with sleepy eyes.

At this time, although the fourth sister-in-law of Shan really wanted to send down a heavenly general to help him, she didn't want to be Ah Wu. But Ah Wu is a little chivalrous, no matter what, he always wants to help, so he pushed for a while and finally got permission. He stretched out his arms, stretched out between the breasts of the fourth sister-in-law and the child, and hugged the child. The fourth sister-in-law felt a heat on her breasts, and it was hot to her face and ears.

The two of them left more than two feet five inches away and walked together. Ah Wu said something, but most of the fourth sister-in-law did not answer. After walking for a short time, Ah Wu returned the child to him, saying that it was time to eat as agreed with his friend yesterday; The fourth sister-in-law picked up the child. Fortunately, it is not far from home, and I have long seen Wang Jiu's mother sitting on the side of the street, talking from a distance:

"Fourth sister-in-law, what's wrong with the child? ――Have you seen Mr.? ”

"Yes, yes, yes. - Wang Jiuma, you are old and have seen a lot, why don't you ask your old eyes (4) to take a look, how to ......"

"Hmm......"

"How......?"

"Hmm......" Wang Jiu's mother looked at it, nodded her head twice, and shook it twice.

Bao'er took the medicine, and it was already afternoon. The fourth sister-in-law looked at him carefully, and seemed to be a lot calmer; In the afternoon, I suddenly opened my eyes and shouted, "Mom!" He closed his eyes again, as if he had fallen asleep. He slept for a moment, beads of sweat appeared on the tip of his forehead and nose, and the fourth sister-in-law gently touched it, sticking to her hands like glue; hurriedly touched his chest, and couldn't help but whimper.

Bao'er's breathing went from steady to none, and the voice of the fourth sister-in-law changed from whimpering to crying. At this time, several groups of people gathered: inside the door were Wang Jiuma's blue skin Ah Wu and the like, and outside the door were Xianheng's shopkeeper and the red-nosed old arch and the like. Wang Jiu's mother issued an order and burned a string of paper money; He also used two benches and five pieces of clothing as a countervail, and borrowed two foreign dollars for the fourth sister-in-law to prepare food for the helpers.

The first problem is the coffin. The fourth sister-in-law also had a pair of silver earrings and a silver hairpin wrapped in gold, which were handed over to Xianheng's shopkeeper and entrusted him as a guarantee to buy a coffin with half cash and half credit. Blue skin Ah Wu also stretched out his hand, very willing to volunteer; Wang Jiu's mother didn't allow him, only allowed him to carry the coffin tomorrow, Ah Wu scolded "old beast", and stood with a pout. And the shopkeeper went away; When he came back in the evening, he said that the coffin had to be made fresh. It took the second half of the night to succeed.

When the shopkeeper returned, the helper had already eaten; Because Luzhen still has some ancient style, they all went home to sleep without a watch. Only Ah Wu was still drinking against Xianheng's counter. The old arch also sang whining.

At this time, the fourth sister-in-law sat on the edge of the bed and cried, Bao'er was lying on the bed, and the spinning wheel was standing quietly on the ground. After a lot of work, the tears of the fourth sister-in-law came to an end. His eyes were wide open, and he looked at the situation on all sides, and wondered: everything was going to happen. He calculated in his heart: It's just a dream, these things are all dreams. When I wake up tomorrow, I will sleep well in bed, and Bao'er will sleep well next to me. He also woke up, called "Mom", and jumped to play.

Lao Gong's singing had long been silent, and Xianheng had also turned off the lights. The fourth sister-in-law opened her eyes and didn't believe everything. - The rooster also crowed; The East is gradually turning white. A silvery white light peeked through the cracks in the window.

The silvery dawn gradually turned crimson again, and the sun then shone on the ridge of the roof. The fourth sister-in-law sat with her eyes open and sat blankly; I heard the sound of banging on the door, so I was startled and ran out to open the door. Outside the door, an unknown person carried an object; Standing behind is Wang Jiuma.

Oh, they came with coffins on their backs.

In the second half of the day, the coffin closed the lid: because the fourth sister-in-law cried once, looked at it once, and refused to cover it with all her heart; Fortunately, Wang Jiu's mother waited impatiently. ran forward angrily, dragged him away, and then covered it with all his hands and feet.

But the fourth sister-in-law treated his treasure with all her heart. There are no more flaws. Yesterday I burned a string of paper money, and in the morning I burned forty-nine volumes of the Great Compassion Mantra (5); When it is time to converge, put on new clothes, the things he likes on weekdays, a clay figurine, two small wooden bowls. Two glass bottles, both next to the pillow. Later, Wang Jiu's mother pinched her fingers and scrutinized carefully, and finally couldn't think of any flaws.

On this day, the Blue Skin Five simply did not arrive all day; The shopkeeper of Xianheng hired two porters for the fourth sister-in-law, each with 200 and 10 yuan, to carry the coffin to the ground of the righteous mound and place it. Wang Jiu's mother helped him cook again, and everyone who had opened his mouth with his hands had eaten. The sun is gradually showing the color of its setting; The people who had eaten did not realize that they were going home, and they all went home at last.

The fourth sister-in-law felt dizzy, and after resting for a while, it was actually a little stable. But he felt very strange one after another: he encountered something that he had never encountered in his life, and it was not like something that would have happened, but it did happen. The more he thought about it, the more strange he became, and then he felt something strange - the room was suddenly too quiet.

He stood up and lit the lamp, and the room became quieter. He went to close the door in a daze, and came back and sat on the edge of the bed, and the spinning wheel stood quietly on the ground. He was fixed, and when he looked around, he felt that he could not sit still, the room was not only too quiet, but also too big, and things were also empty. The room was too big to surround him on all sides, and the things of space pressed him on all sides, making him breathless.

He now knew that his treasure was indeed dead; He did not want to see the house, so he blew out the lights and lay down. While crying, he thought: I think that at that time, I was spinning cotton yarn, and Bao'er was sitting next to me eating fennel beans, staring at a pair of little black eyes and thinking for a moment, and then said, "Mom! My father sells wontons, and I sell ravioli when I'm older, and I sell them for many, many dollars, and I'll give them to you. "At that time, even the spun cotton yarn seemed to be interesting and alive. But what's going on now? Now the fourth sister-in-law really didn't think of anything. - I have already said that he is a stupid woman. What could he come up with? He just thought that the room was too quiet, too big, and just space.

But although the fourth sister-in-law is stupid, she knows that it is impossible to return the soul, and his Bao'er really can't see him again. Sighing, he said to himself, "Bao'er, you should still be here, you can see me in my dreams." So he closed his eyes, and wanted to go to sleep quickly, and met his treasure, and breathed bitterly through the stillness and the emptiness, and he could hear it.

The fourth sister-in-law finally fell asleep dimly, and the whole house was quiet. At this time, the little song of the red-nosed old arch had already been sung; Staggered out of Xianheng, but raised his throat again, and sang:

"My enemy! -- Pity you, -- Alone......"

Blue Skin Ah Wu reached out and grabbed Lao Gong's shoulder, and the two of them squeezed away with a crooked smile.

The fourth sister-in-law fell asleep early, the old arches also left, and Xianheng also closed the door. At this time, Lu Zhen fell completely into silence. Only the dark night wants to become tomorrow, but it is still running in this silence; There were also a few other dogs hiding in the shadows and whining.

□ note

(1) This article was originally published in the first issue of Vol. 2, No. 1, the monthly Xinchao in Beijing in October 1919.

(2) Zhongjiao: Chinese medicine terminology. Refers to a condition such as indigestion. Traditional Chinese medicine focuses on the upper mouth of the stomach to the throat, including the heart, lungs, esophagus, etc.; The spleen and stomach are medium-focused; The kidneys, large and small intestines, and bladder are scorched.

(3) Huokejin: a term used in traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine uses the ancient saying that the five elements are mutually reinforcing and mutually reinforcing, and that the five organs of the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys correspond to the five elements of fire, metal, wood, earth, and water. Fire Kejin means that the "heart fire" restrains the "lung gold" and causes diseases of the respiratory system.

(4) Dharma Eye: Buddhist language. Originally referring to the bodhisattva's wisdom of perceiving everything, here is a kind word to praise the other party for his ability to discern.

(5) "Great Compassion Mantra": that is, the mantra in the Buddhist "Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Great Compassion Dharani Sutra". It is believed that reciting or burning such mantras to the deceased will enable him to eliminate calamities in the "underworld" and to live in a "happy land".

(6) According to Lu Xun's Diary, this article should have been written in late June or early July 1919. (To be continued.) (To be continued.) )