The mourning hall is located at the entrance of the village, and my house is at the west end of the village, and on the way to it, I have to pass through several small roads, which are narrow and full of potholes. Because it was the first time to carry the coffin, I was extremely nervous, and I almost fell into the field several times, but fortunately, Lao Wang grabbed me.

On the way, Lao Wang told me some tips for carrying the coffin, first, don't get up first, wait for everyone to shout one, two, three before you can get up, second, when walking the mountain road, the dragon frame can not be off the shoulder, otherwise it will annoy the deceased, due to the time relationship, more things, he did not tell me. (The dragon frame is an insider's term, and laymen call it a mourning frame.) ）

When we came to the mourning hall, the outer frame of the mourning hall was built with a blue plastic mat, and above the main entrance was the 'lay' in black letters on a white background, and a pair of elegiac couplets were hung on the left and right sides. ’

In the middle of the mourning hall is a table with the portraits of the couple and some candle ingots, and behind the table is a large black coffin, the coffin surface looks oily and waxy under the light of the candles.

Although I have received a 'higher education' and believe that there are no ghosts and gods in this world, I am still panicked in the face of the dark coffin.

The old man and the child were sitting in front of the coffin sobbing, and when they saw that we were going, they gave each of us a red envelope, a pack of ten yuan of white sand cigarettes, a white handkerchief, and a pair of new shoes, and said: "Lao Wang, I am sorry for you, I must carry this coffin well, so that my son and his wife can walk the last journey safely." ”

Lao Wang smiled and said, "Don't worry, the eight immortals I led the team have carried the coffin for more than ten years, and nothing has happened yet!" ”

When the old man heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at me, looked surprised, but did not speak, and held the child by the coffin.

Soon, several Eight Immortals came one after another, all of them were some acquaintances, and after counting, there were a total of eight people including me, and the lively atmosphere diluted some of the fears in my heart.

When those eight immortals saw me, they were very kind, asked me long and short questions, and taught me some of their mental virtues in carrying the coffin, so that I should not be afraid, saying that carrying the dragon coffin is to do good deeds, and ghosts and gods generally do not provoke us.

Hearing them say this, the only fear left in my heart is gone, and I soon mingle with them, talking and laughing, not at all like a funeral, but a bit like a vegetable market, and what makes me strange is that the old man not only did not stop it, but kept thanking us.

Later, Lao Wang told me that the eight immortals saw that the mourning hall was unusually deserted, and the main family was old and took a child to guard the mourning hall, which was pitiful, so they planned to mourn the husband and wife, liven up the atmosphere, and let the couple go lively.

Because the coffin was to be carried out of the house at the end of the day (a little after 3 o'clock), we could not sleep that night, but had to stay by the coffin, saying that we were communicating with the soul of the deceased.

Young people sleep heavily, in the first half of the night everyone knocked melon seeds and chatted better, in the second half of the night everyone is a little tired, I feel that my eyelids are fighting, several times almost fell asleep, Lao Wang will shake me awake, with me smoking stuffy cigarettes.

After a long wait, it was finally time to get through. Lao Wang is the person in charge of carrying the coffin this time, many things are presided over by him, and his prestige is also higher in the Eight Immortals, when he first arrived, he took out a few thick ropes, let each of us take a little paper money in our hands and wet it with water, and put it in the position where we want to lift.

I was assigned to the left side of the coffin, and as soon as I got there, I saw a mouse gnawing on the bottom of the coffin, and when it saw me coming, the mouse was not afraid at all, but glanced at me spiritually and continued to gnaw on the coffin.

I stomped the ground to scare the mouse away, this sound made Lao Wang hear, he looked at me and said, Jiu Yanzi, what are you doing, I said that there are rats gnawing on the coffin, Lao Wang didn't say anything, just let me hurry up and make the paper money, otherwise the time will be missed, the dead will not rest in peace, and the Lord of Yama will not take them in, and then they will become a lonely ghost and a scourge to the world.

Frightened by Lao Wang, I hurriedly put the paper money on the pad, and tied the handkerchief issued by the master to my arm, and after a while, he came to my side and said: "Nine Guys, the Eight Immortals all say that you are a newcomer, let you carry this tail, and after you are done, remember to send them cigarettes to express your gratitude." ”

I was a little puzzled, logically speaking, the gravity of carrying the coffin up the mountain is at the tail, why did they ask me to lift the tail but said that they were taking care of me, I asked the doubts in my heart.

Lao Wang smiled and said: "'Before carrying the coffin up the mountain, go out and turn three times,' this is the legacy left by the ancestors, and after three turns, the head will become the tail." ”

There is a saying in the coffin carrying industry, once the coffin is lifted, the coffin cannot be allowed to fall to the ground until the tomb, and the cemetery in our village is some distance from the entrance of the village, so Lao Wang asked the old man to carry two long wooden benches with him so that we can rest.

After making some preparations to carry the coffin, Lao Wang glanced at me, beckoned me not to be afraid, and shouted in a long voice, 'Get ready to drive'.

With this sound, I bent over, put the dragon frame on my shoulder, and kept in mind Lao Wang's words, I can't straighten my waist first, waiting for Lao Wang to shout slogans!

"Unit"

"Two"

"Three, get on!"

A few of us eight immortals, two by two, clasped each other's shoulders, made piles for each other, and worked hard together, slowly lifting the coffin, I never thought that a coffin would be so heavy, so that my legs trembled slightly, and I almost couldn't straighten my waist.

However, for the sake of the five hundred yuan, I still gritted my teeth and endured it, attached one hand to the dragon frame, and pressed the other hand on my waist, so that my waist was as straight as possible.

At that time, it was the height of summer, the silver moonlight sprinkled on the ground, illuminating the ground brightly, you can clearly see the road, we did not take the lighting tools, carrying the coffin slowly to the outside of the village, the old man followed behind with two long wooden benches, the little boy did not know whether it was less or more or the tears had been crying dry, there was no crying along the way, if it was not for the existence of the coffin, it was difficult for outsiders to see that we were at the funeral.

I thought that this time I could easily earn five hundred oceans by carrying the coffin, but there was an accident when I carried it to the foot of the mountain.

According to the customs left by the ancestors, you need to turn three times before going up the mountain, and the accident appeared on the circle, and there is nothing wrong with us turning the first two circles, just turning the third circle, I don't know what happened, there seemed to be something more in the coffin, and it became extremely heavy.

I thought I was the only one who felt this way, and when I looked up at Lao Wang and the others, I found that their faces had turned the color of pig liver, and it was obvious that they were carrying the same weight as me.

Suddenly, with a "bang", the dragon rope broke, and the coffin slammed into the ground, making a piercing sound.

I don't know who shouted, the corpse is cheating! Frightened, the eight immortals knelt on the ground in unison, and kept kowtowing to the coffin, at that time I didn't know if I was stunned or what's going on, I felt that my legs kept trembling, and I wanted to kneel down like the eight immortals, but I found that my legs didn't listen to the command at all, and stood at the end of the coffin in a daze.