Text-only online reading, the domain name of this site, mobile phone synchronous reading, please visit

At this time, the great-grandfather put the incense burner and the three tributes on the bow of the boat, lit the incense and inserted it into the incense burner, and then knelt on the bow of the boat and kowtowed respectfully to the river for six times.

Why do you have to kowtow six times? We have a proverb here called "three gods, four ghosts, four dragons and six heads", that is to say, to go to the temple to incense to kowtow to the gods to kowtow to the gods, to kowtow to the ancestors to kowtow to the ghosts to kowtow four, on the Yellow River to worship the dragon king, you have to kowtow six.

How did this proverb come about, I still haven't figured it out, anyway, all of us here do this, ask them why they kowtow to the dragon lord six heads, no one can say clearly, the old people say that this is passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors, kowtow six heads must have their reason, children and grandchildren don't ask so much, just do it.

After the great grandfather kowtowed, he respectfully held the three animal tributes in his hand, and sang a song to the river face, also called singing the river, generally singing like this: "The dragon king, the river god, the water hits the east and west, the boat hits the north and south, sends pigs, cattle and sheep, the wind and waves worship the dragon king, worship the river god, worship the dragon king......"

This river, I listened to my grandmother sing a few times when I was a child, and I can't remember the specific words, just like the above, my grandmother said that my great-grandfather sang the river song very well, with a big voice and a round voice. But to be honest, when I listened to my grandmother's singing, I didn't think that "the words are right and round", I felt a little yin and yang, just like the "sharpening scissors and kitchen knife", just like this tune.

After the great grandfather finished singing the river song, he threw the pig's head, the cow's head, and the sheep's head into the river at the same time, and then respectfully kowtowed six heads to the river again.

At this point, even if the simple ritual of sacrificing to the river is completed, whether the coffin carrying the coffin of the real core can reach the other side of the river safely depends on the mood of the dragon lord today.

After the great grandfather sacrificed to the dragon king, he rowed the boat back to the shore and called the old man to get on the boat, and at this time, the people who carried the coffin stopped doing it and refused to get on the boat.

It turned out that these people were the "bar workers" that the old man spent money on in Xiaomaozhuang. We call the grave pit "earthworker" here, and the person who carries the longevity side is called the "pole worker", and the longevity side is also the coffin.

The word lifting the bar, it comes from these lifting longevity bar workers, these people have no strict restrictions, everyone can do it, as long as they are young and strong, there are also some people who are good at paying attention to it, like to find those who often carry the coffin, experienced old bar workers, these people lift the coffin to be stable, and the deceased in the coffin will not be reversed.

The old man invited these barmen from Xiaomaozhuang are older, and they are veterans at a glance, but they also grew up on the riverside, and they know no less about these ways in the Yellow River than my great-grandfather, and they also know that walking on the river to walk the coffin has committed the taboo of the dragon king, and if it is not good, the boat will be destroyed and people will die, and none of them are willing to take their lives for a few dollars.

The old man rubbed his skin and said that a few people just didn't get on the boat, and in the end the old man had no choice, so he paid the wages of a few people and got on the boat with tears in his eyes.

When an older barman was leaving, he also advised my great-grandfather, young people, don't be so hairy, the money that touches the dragon king's moldy head is easy to take, and if you don't get your life, you will give it to fish and turtles. My great-grandfather smiled and said, What's the matter, my family and the Dragon King are relatives.

My great-grandfather said this, but he didn't know the bottom in his heart, if it weren't for the old man's cuteness and the high price he gave, he would never have taken such a risk.

After the old man got on the boat, he cried non-stop holding the coffin, and my great-grandfather couldn't bear to see it, so he persuaded him a few words. This back and forth wasted a lot of time, the sky became darker, and the whole river looked black and dark, like a bottomless pit.

The great grandfather relied on his youth and vigor, and was more familiar with the waters in this area, so he carried the old man and a big coffin, and rowed towards the other side of the river in the dark.

At first, there was nothing wrong, the wind was calm, but it was a little dark, the sight was too bad, and the speed of the boat was not as fast as during the day. But when the boat reached the middle of the river, something strange happened, first of all, there was a crackling sound in the water, and the whole river was like boiling water.

This kind of thing was not uncommon, and my great-grandfather used to see a large number of fish gathering in the middle of the river, which was harmless to passing boats. We call this phenomenon "Dragon King's Soldiers" here, saying that the Dragon King wants to start a war with a certain water monster and recruit troops in the river.

This phenomenon of large numbers of fish gathering has appeared in many places, but no one has been able to explain why this is so far, perhaps, it is really the dragon king who is ordering troops.

Hearing the sound of the water, Grandfather Gao knew that it was the Dragon King who ordered the troops, because they were harmless to the ships, so he didn't care too much. However, after a while, something even stranger happened, and from the big coffin came the sound of scratching the coffin board, and the sound came far and wide on the dark river, and the sound made people's scalps tingle.

The sound of scratching and the sound of crackling water in the river at this time were in conflict, as if the dead body in the coffin was about to jump out and start a war with the dragon lord in the water.

My great-grandfather was so frightened that his face was like ashes, and beads of sweat the size of beans poured out of his forehead.

The old man had been squatting beside the coffin and sobbing, and when he heard the sound of scratching the coffin board in the coffin, he was frightened, and did not dare to cry anymore, so he staggered to the stern of the boat, and shrank at my great-grandfather's feet, trembling all over.

My great-grandfather himself wanted to be a big man at this time, and wanted to open his mouth to comfort the old man, but when he opened his mouth, he found that his upper and lower teeth kept touching, and the roots of his tongue were hard, and he couldn't speak at all.

At last he bit his heart and teeth, and rowed the oars with all his might, although he was afraid at the moment, my great-grandfather had not lost his mind, and he knew that as long as the boat was docked, he and the old man would have a chance to live.

It was pitch black in front of him, except for the sound of water in his ears and eyes, he was afraid of people's lives, and his grandfather couldn't think of anything else at this time, so he used all his strength to play with his life.

I don't know how long I rowed the boat, but finally there were a few dim lights in front of me, which must have come from a village on the bank of the river.

Looking at the pinnose-sized light in the distance, Grandfather Gao's heart was a little more relaxed, he felt that he was about to reach the shore, and he was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, but at this time, the old man who was squatting at Grandfather's feet and shivering shouted in panic, "Fu Ye, Fu Ye, boat...... The boat is leaking. ”

When the great grandfather heard this, he was shocked, and he had been only browing, and did not pay attention to the situation on the boat, and hurriedly looked down, only then did he find that the water in the boat had soaked the soles of his shoes, and when he looked into the cabin, the water could reach his feet and necks.

Grandfather Gao knew in his heart that it was no accident that the boat was leaking at this time, this was the Dragon King's disgrace, he hurriedly shouted to the old man: "Daye, there is a wooden basin in the cabin, you scoop the water into the river with the wooden basin, and when we reach the shore, we are not afraid." ”

As soon as my great-grandfather's voice fell, the scratching sound in the coffin became more and more urgent, as if the things inside were very dissatisfied with my great-grandfather's words, and wanted to break out of the coffin, and at this time the river water in the river also moved, like a rising tide, wave after wave, one after another, causing the canoe to be like a flat boat in the wind and waves, rising and falling on the crest of the waves.

My great-grandfather has been ferrying on the Yellow River for five or six years, and it is the first time he has encountered this situation like today, and he said that he was not afraid that it was false, and he regretted his death at this time, and regretted that he had taken over the old man's business.

When people encounter danger, sometimes there will be a phenomenon of potential explosion, I will not say much about this, there are many cases.

The old man and my great-grandfather, at this time, may have a bit of a potential explosion, and in order to survive, they don't know what it means to be afraid. Facing the wind and waves, my grandfather shouted to himself in his mouth, roaring, roaring, roaring, one is to give himself courage, and the other is to make himself even, so as not to mess up the rhythm of the oar. At this time, the old man ran into the cabin and found the wooden basin, and the basin kept scooping water out of the cabin.

With the concerted efforts of the two of them, the boat moved forward a little further, and the lights on the riverbank changed from pinnoses to the size of mung beans, and they saw that the shore was getting closer and closer.

My great-grandfather thought that he would survive the catastrophe, but he did not expect that the water in the cabin would become faster and faster, and the old man could barely cope with it at first, and in the end he scooped one pot into three basins, and he could not make ends meet.

In the next meal, the boat was completely submerged by the river, and it was on the shore, and it fell short at this juncture, my great-grandfather was anxious, angry and regretful, but now is not the time to care about these, saving his life is the most important thing, he hurriedly greeted the old man, and directly abandoned the boat and got into the river.

The old man was a little dumbfounded at this time, the hull of the boat was completely out of sight, and the river was at the end of his waist, only the top of his son's coffin and the canopy were still exposed on the water, but it didn't last long.

The old man threw away the wooden basin in his hand, trembled and climbed onto the top of the coffin, and then lay on the top of the coffin and shouted for help. It turned out that the old man was not only not a local, but also a landlubber who couldn't water.

At this time, my great-grandfather had already swam far away, and he was about to reach the bank of the river, but he did not expect that the old man could not swim, and when he heard the old man cry for help, he looked back, and saw the old man lying on the coffin lid and drifting downstream.

My great-grandfather couldn't bear to leave him alone, relying on his good water nature, gritted his teeth, and a fierce man chased after him.

My great-grandfather was only twenty years old at the time, and it was when he was young and strong, and he swam in the water, and he quickly caught the coffin.

When he arrived at the coffin, he found that the coffin was full of fish, and there were countless of them, which made people's scalps tense when they looked at it.

It stands to reason that this kind of solid coffin can't float when thrown into the river, and there is an old man pressing on the top of the coffin, which should have sunk a long time ago, but these fish actually held the coffin on the surface of the water, and those fish were like crazy, gnawing at the coffin board with their mouths, sizzling, and the sound was extremely terrifying