(One of the three books left by Wang Zhongxiang, Wang Hesu's father)

"Your debts are your enemies, they force you to flee from Dongcang, and if you leave them there, they will become stronger and stronger, so strong that you can't handle them at all."

The hungrier a person is, the clearer his mind will be, and the more sensitive he will be to the smell of food.

Azul's son, Wang Xianzu, firmly believed in this statement. For two whole days, he barely ate anything, except for two small figs stolen from someone else's garden. Before he could pick another one, a woman spotted him, ran to him angrily, scolded him, and drove him out into the street. Until he fled to the market in a panic, the screams of the woman in the distance still filled his ears, echoing in his mind, and he was cut off from restless thoughts. The female vendor in the market was carrying a basket containing sweet and tempting fruits, and Wang Xianzu couldn't help but reach over and want to steal a few, but when he remembered the woman's harsh words, he withdrew his hand again.

In the past, Wang Xianzu never thought that there were so many things to eat in the market in Dongcang, and it was so delicious and the aroma was attractive. After leaving the market, he passed by a small inn and wandered in front of a restaurant, where he thought he might meet someone he knew and borrow a copper coin. With such a generous gift, you can get a little smile from the cold shopkeeper. He knew how despised it was to have no money.

Just as he was thinking, a face that he was afraid to avoid suddenly appeared in front of him. The person who came was a tall and thin man, and it was Ma Dayuner, a camel merchant. Among all the creditors who had borrowed a small amount of money from Wang Xianzu, Ma Dayuner was the one who embarrassed him the most, because he failed to repay his debts in time as promised.

Seeing Wang Xianzu, Ma Dayuner's eyes lit up: "Aha, it's Wang Xianzu!" I've found you! You should have returned the two copper coins I lent you a month ago, right? And the silver coin you borrowed earlier, it's time to pay it back, right? It's great to have you, and I'm waiting for the money today. Pay it back now, young man, what do you say? ”

Wang Xianzu's face turned red, and he began to stammer. His stomach was empty, and he no longer had the strength to defend himself to Ma Dayun'er, who was outspoken in his heart. "I'm so sorry, I'm very sorry not to go." He muttered, "But today I really don't have any copper plates or silver coins to give you back." ”

"Then go earn it!" Ma Dayuner insisted that he pay it back today, "Hurry up and earn a few copper and silver coins to return to your father's old friend, I have lent a helping hand when you need it most!" ”

"I'm unlucky, and I can't afford to pay it back."

"Bad luck? You yourself are weak and incompetent, and you even blame the gods! For those guys who borrow more and pay less money, bad luck certainly follows him all the time. Come here, kid, I'm hungry, I'm going to get something to eat, and I'll tell you a story by the way. ”

Ma Dayuner was outspoken and hit the nail on the head, and Wang Xianzu was a little scared and didn't dare to follow him. But without this invitation, Wang Xianzu would never have had the opportunity to walk into the restaurant and eat a long-awaited meal. So he trembled and followed Ma Dayuner into the restaurant in embarrassment.

Ma Dayuner pushed him into a far corner and sat on a small carpet.

The owner of the restaurant, Coscole, came over to entertain him with a smile on his face, and Ma Dayuner joked to him as usual: "Fat lizard in the desert, bring me a delicious leg of lamb, and some bread with all kinds of vegetables, I am so hungry that I want to eat a big meal." Don't forget that I have a friend here, bring him a jug of water, it's cold, it's too hot. ”

Wang Xianzu's heart sank, did Ma Dayuner mean to let himself sit next to him and drink cold water and watch him finish eating a whole leg of mutton? He was speechless, his mind blank.

For his silence, Ma Dayuner would not think so much. He smiled and waved to the other customers in the store in a friendly manner. Ma Dayuner traveled extensively, and almost all the guests knew him. Ma Dayuner then spoke to Wang Xianzu.

"I heard a story from a man who had returned from a trip to Urfa. There was a rich man there, and he had a very thin cut stone, so thin that he could see something else through it, and he put it in the window of his house to keep out the rain. According to the traveler, the stone was yellow, and with the permission of the owner, he had looked out through the stone, and he saw that the outside world was in a strange state, very different from the real world. Ancestor Wang, what do you think? Can you imagine the world in one's eyes being completely different from the colors of the real world? ”

"I can't say." The young man replied that he was obviously more interested in the fat leg of mutton in front of Ma Dayun'er.

"Well, I think that's true, because I've seen a world that is completely different from the real world. What follows is a story of how I saw the true colors of the world again. ”

"Ma Dayuner is going to tell a story." The guests in the neighboring seats began to whisper, dragging their carpets over, and some people moved their food, and everyone sat in a semicircle beside Ma Dayuner. They gnawed on meat and bones, sat down in front of the king's ancestors, and laughed noisily. Wang Ancestor was the only one who had nothing to eat. Ma Da Yuner was not prepared to share any food with him at all, and did not even bother to share the small piece of bread that fell from the hard bread to share with him, and directly sprinkled the bread crumbs from the plate to the ground.

Ma Dayuner began to speak. "The story I'm about to tell," he paused, taking a big bite of the leg of lamb, "about how I became a camel merchant in my early years." Does anyone know that I used to be a slave in Syria? ”

The audience whispered in surprise, which was all expected by Ma Dayuner, and he smiled with satisfaction and listened to everyone's whispers.

"When I was young," Ma said, taking another bite of the leg of lamb, "I learned how to trade with my father, who was a craftsman in the saddle. I worked in his shop and then got married. Because I was young and unskilled in my craft, I earned very little money, just enough for my wife and me. I crave the good stuff that I can't afford at all. Soon I found out that the shop owners were willing to let me buy things on credit, and I could take the goods without paying, as long as I made up the money after a while.

"Because I was young and ignorant and had no life experience, I did not know at the time that those who could not make ends meet were actually putting themselves in unnecessary indulgence, and that what they would get was great trouble and shame. I was out of control, indulged my desire for fine clothes, and bought many luxuries for my wife and for our family more than we could afford.

"At first, everything was under my control, but after a while I realized that I didn't have enough money to sustain us, let alone pay off my debts. Creditors began to collect from me what I owed for my overpurchases, and my life became a mess. I borrowed money from friends to pay off my debts, but I still couldn't pay them back. The situation got worse and worse, and my wife had to leave me and go back to her parents' home, living in humiliation in the shadow of my father and brother. So I decided to leave Dongcang and go to some other city that could give young people better opportunities.

"For the next two years I worked for a desert caravan, wandering and homeless, but still doing nothing. Then I joined a band of robbers and robbed the unarmed caravans in the desert. What I did made me go back to my father without a face, and I looked at the world through the colored stones, completely unaware that I had fallen to this point.

"The first operation of our gang of bandits was very successful. We robbed a large sum of gold, silk, and valuable goods. We brought these things to Ginier and squandered them quickly.

"But the second time we weren't so lucky. We had just succeeded when we were attacked by a group of spear-wielding warriors who were employed by the caravan to keep it safe. Two of our leaders were killed, and the rest were taken to Damascus, where we were stripped naked and sold as slaves.

"I was bought by a Syrian desert chief for two silver coins, cut off my hair, and wrapped in a loincloth, no different from any other slave. As a bold and reckless young man, I still regarded it as an adventure, until one day my master brought me before his four wives and said that he would castrate me to serve them.

"Suddenly I felt like everything was over, and I was in complete despair. The people of these deserts were fierce and aggressive, and I was so controlled by men that I had no weapons to escape.

The four women looked at me, and I stood there trembling, hoping to gain their pity. The chief's eldest wife, Sheila, was older than the other women, and she looked me up and down with such a cold expression that I had to turn my head hopelessly. Next was an arrogant beauty, who looked at me with disdain, like a worm on the ground. The remaining two younger ones sneered, taking everything as a joke.

"I stood there for a long time, waiting for the women to pronounce their sentence on me. Every woman was waiting for someone else to make a decision, and none of them spoke. Finally, Sheila spoke coldly.

"'We've had a lot of eunuchs in the service, but few have seen the camels, and they're all useless. My mother is sick and has a fever and I am getting ready to visit her today. I didn't have a slave I trusted to lead me with a camel and ask him if he would do the job. ’

"So the master asked me, 'Do you know about camels?'

"I tried to hide my joy and replied as quietly as I could: 'I can make the camels kneel, I can make them carry their goods, and I can carry them on long journeys without getting tired. I can also repair their saddles and decorations if needed. ’

"'The slave has said enough,' said the master, 'if you want, let him go and take care of the camel for you, Sheila.'

So I was handed over to Sheila. That day I led her camel on a long journey to visit her sick mother. I took the opportunity to thank her for interceding for me, and told her that I was not born a slave, and that my father was a freeman and an honest, reliable, and respected saddlemaker in Dongcang City. I also told her a lot about me. Her reaction left me embarrassed and uneasy, and I pondered what she had said to me for a long time afterwards.

"'Your weakness and incompetence have brought you to where you are, how can you still say that you are a free people? Regardless of a person's origin, if his soul is a slave, he is a slave, just as water flows downward. No matter how much misfortune and misfortune he encounters, if a man is a freeman in his soul, he will be honored and respected by all in his city. ’

"I was a slave for more than a year, living with real slaves, but I didn't become like them. One day, Sheila asked me, 'Why are you sitting alone in a tent when the other slaves gather together to enjoy their fun?' ’

"I replied to her, 'I'm thinking about what you said to me. I wonder if I really have a slave soul and I can't fit into them, so I have to be left alone. ’

"'I'm like you, I have to be alone.'" She confided in me the secret, 'My dowry is huge, and the chief married me for it.

But he didn't love me. Every woman longs to be loved. Because he didn't love me, and because I couldn't give birth to a boy and a girl, I was left alone. If I were a man, I would rather die than be a slave, but the custom of this tribe is to treat women as slaves. ’

"'What do you think of me now?' Suddenly I asked her, 'Is my soul a freeman or a slave?' ’

"'Do you want to pay off those debts you have in Dongcang?' She dodged my question and asked me instead.

"'Yes, I'd love to. But I can't pay it back. ’

"'If you just let time slip away without making any effort to pay off your debts, then you have a contemptible slave soul. No one will respect a person who does not respect himself. No one wants to respect a person who is not willing to pay off his debts honestly. ’

"'But what can I do as a slave in Syria?'

"'Then continue to be a slave in Syria, you coward!'

"'I'm not a coward.' I strenuously deny it.

"'Then prove it to others.'"

"'How?'

"'Didn't your great king of Dongchang try to defend against foreign enemies by all means and with all his strength? Your debts are your enemies, they force you to flee from Dongcang, and if you leave them there, they will become more and more powerful, so powerful that you can't handle them. Fight them like a man! You could have defeated them and gained the respect of the citizens. But you don't have the heart to fight them, you watch your pride crushed and you willingly go to Syria as a slave. ’

I pondered her merciless rebuke, and devised many reasons to prove to her that I was not a slave at heart, but I had no chance to say it to her. Three days later, Sheila's maid brought me to her.

"'My mother is sick again,' she said, 'go and pick two of the best camels from my husband's herd, saddle them well, and tie their skins and blankets for water, which are long enough. The maid will take you to the kitchen to get some food. I packed the camel and wondered if the maid had given me too much, for her mother lived less than a day's journey from here. I led the mistress's camel in front, and the maid rode behind, and when we reached her mother's dwelling, it was getting dark. Sheila sent the maid away, and then said to me:

"'Ma Dayun'er, do you have the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave?'

"'I have the soul of a free man.' I replied firmly.

"'Now you have a chance to prove it. Your master is unconscious, and his leaders are drunk. Take these camels and run away, this bag contains some of your master's clothes, and you can put them on disguise. I will tell them that on my way to visit my mother, you stole the camel and ran away. ’

"'You have a noble soul like a queen.' I said to her, 'Come with me, I hope I will bring you happiness!' ’

She replied, 'You will not be happy if you elope with someone far away and your eyes are full of strangers.' Go on your own. The road is long, there is little water and food, may the gods of the desert bless you! ’

I no longer forced her to go with me, and after thanking her deeply, I left her and walked on, into the darkness of the night. I was completely new to this place, only the general direction to Dongcang. I mustered up the courage to cross the desert, climb over the mountains, and trek resolutely in that direction. I rode one camel, and the other I took it by the hand and let it follow. I know the cruel punishment and tragic fate of a slave who steals his master's things and escapes, which scares me and motivates me to run forward day and night.

"The next evening I came to a desert-like barren hill, where the sharp rough rocks wore down the soles of the camels' feet, and soon their steps slowed down, and they could only walk forward painfully and cautiously. I didn't meet anyone, I didn't see any wild animals, and I could understand why they didn't come here at all.

"Few people make it to the next mile. I rode my camel and trekked slowly, day after day. I ran out of food and water, and the poisonous sun tortured me fiercely. At the end of the ninth day, I climbed to the top of the mountain, and then rolled down again, and had no strength to climb again, and I felt like I was going to die: I was going to die alone in this abandoned place.

"I lay on the ground in despair, straightened my body, and fell into a deep sleep until the first rays of the morning sun woke me.

"The morning air was cool, I sat up and adjusted my body and breath, and the camel lay listlessly not far away. It was surrounded by rolling hills, vast and desolate, full of rocks and gravel, full of thorns, with no water and nothing to eat.

"Am I really going to die in this peaceful wilderness? At this time, my mind was more lucid than ever. My poor physical condition had become irrelevant, and my cracked and bleeding lips, my dry and swollen tongue, and my empty stomach seemed to be devoid of the excruciating pain of the previous day.

"I looked into the disgusting distance, and the question came to my mind: 'Is my soul a free man or a slave?' Then it became clear to me that if I had the soul of a slave, then I could give up and lie down on this desert and wait for death, which was the final fate of a fugitive slave.

"But what if I have the soul of a freeman? What will happen? Of course, I will do my best to return to Dongchang, pay off all the debts owed by those who believe in me and are willing to lend me money, take back my wife who loves me deeply, and let her live a happy life again, so that my parents can feel at ease and satisfied with this.

"Sheila once said to me, 'Your debt is your enemy.'" That's true. Why can't I live like a real man? Why would I have to go back to my mother's house?

And then something amazing happened. The color of the whole world became completely different from the original, and the world I had seen through the colored stones was suddenly gone. I finally saw the true value of this world and discovered the true meaning of life.

"Dying in the desert? Never! In this new vision, I saw what I had to do next. First of all, I will go back to Dongcang and face each of my creditors bravely, and I will tell them that after years of displacement, I have finally come back to pay my debts. With the blessing of the gods, I will pay off all my debts as soon as possible. Then I want to give my wife a warm home again and try to be someone who can make my parents proud.

"My debts are my enemies, but my creditors are my friends, because they all trusted me.

I stood up weakly and staggered forward. What is hunger? What about thirst? They are just a small obstacle in the way of progress. The soul of the freeman within me has awakened and risen, and he will return to defeat his enemies and repay his friends. My blood was boiling and I was full of strength.

"The camels heard my hoarse cry, and their gloomy eyes lit up. After many attempts and attempts, the camels finally stood up and persisted in their journey north. A voice inside me is telling me that we will definitely return to Dongcang!