Explore Chapter 1 of 'Moment in Peking' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
On the morning of July 20th in the 26th year of Guangxu, at the west entrance of Madaren Hutong in the East City, Beijing, many mule carts were parked horizontally. Several extended all the way to the alley that ran north-south along the red wall of Great Buddha Temple. The mule cart drivers had risen early, arriving at the break of dawn. They were making a commotion early in the morning. In fact, these cart drivers were always like this.
Luo Da was an elderly man in his fifties, the steward of this household. He had hired these mule carts for a long journey. At the moment, he was smoking his long-stemmed tobacco pipe, watching the mule drivers feed the animals while bantering noisily. They joked about the mules, then about the mules' ancestors. When they ran out of things to say, they turned the jokes on themselves.
Luo Da said, "You earn a good sum from this trip. With a hundred taels of silver, you could buy a plot of land."
That mule driver retorted, "What use is silver if you're dead? Hmph, those foreign rifle bullets show no mercy. A bullet pierces your skull, and you fall to the ground with your queue bent, becoming a corpse. Look at the mule's belly and flesh-can they stop bullets? But what can we do? We have to go out and earn our keep."
The sun rose from the east, illuminating the gate of the mansion. On the leaves of the giant parasol tree, morning dew sparkled with droplets of light. This house was the residence of the Yao family. The gate was not grand or imposing-just a small black-lacquered door with a red circle in the center, shaded by the parasol tree's canopy. A mule driver sat on a thick square stone placed on the ground. Though the morning light was refreshing and pleasant, it promised another clear, hot day. Under the tree stood a sizable tea vat, meant for quenching the thirst of passersby in summer, but at this moment, the vat was empty. Seeing the tea vat, a mule driver said, "Your master is a great philanthropist."
Luo Da replied, "There's no one better in the world than our master." He pointed to a red slip of paper pasted beside the gatepost, but the mule drivers couldn't read what was written on it. Luo Da told them, "It says that we offer specific medicine for cholera, heatstroke, and dysentery for free."
That mule driver suddenly remembered and said, "That could be very useful. You'd better give us some to take on the road for peace of mind."
Luo Da said, "Since you're traveling with our master, why worry about medicine? Having it with him is the same as entrusting it to you."
The mule drivers then wanted to inquire about this charitable family, but Luo Da only told them that his master was the owner of a medicine shop.
At this moment, Yao Si'an emerged from within the courtyard. He wore a long gown and held a long-stemmed tobacco pipe, his demeanor calm and composed. He instructed Luo Da to carefully inspect the vehicles, then walked alone to the back garden. In a corner of the garden, he dug a deep pit and buried a chest of jewelry in the soil. After covering it up and meticulously concealing the traces, he returned to the front courtyard, ready to depart.