Explore Chapter 5 of "牛天赐传" with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
In a haze of confusion, Tianci lived a full six months without any shortcuts. Only now did he come into relation with "years." Old Mrs. Niu issued an order to Nanny Ji and the rest: if anyone asked, they were to say, "Half a year old." "Years" are naturally far more majestic than "months" or "days." Though Tianci himself didn't feel where the dignity of "half a year" lay, there were indeed changes in his life. These changes are worth noting. How shall we put it? If a person reaches six months of age without any change, or even if one day from morning till night he never let out a breath to show he absolutely wouldn't change, then this little fellow might become a sage or a worthy in the future, or he might just go back to his hometown. So we must talk about these changes, to prove that Tianci did not die at half a year old: a biography is a record of a person's "life," while everything after death is registered by the underworld.
On the one hand, this was a period of liberation. Although Old Mrs. Niu was knowledgeable and experienced, she had never actually raised a child in her life, so she was uncertain whether to free the baby's hands and feet at half a year or bind them until a full eight months. She did Nanny Ji the honor of asking, "Shouldn't we stop binding him now? In the countryside, how many days do you bind them?" Nanny Ji, again thinking of the sandbag, said, "When we go to work in the fields, we put the child in a bag, no need to bind, just loosely fasten the neck." The old lady was very disappointed with Nanny Ji: whenever a superior seeks the opinion of the people, the people must understand that it is the superior's favor, and they must figure out what the superior likes to hear. Even if they fabricate some rumors out of thin air, it would still be better than talking about sandbags. Nanny Ji did not understand this logic, and so received two glares from the mistress.
After all, it was Old Mama Liu. As soon as the mistress asked, she immediately rolled her eyes - the blind one, though unable to see, could still roll to add effect - and thought to herself: Usually when the mistress asks if there are any zongzi vendors on the street, it means she wants to start preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival, or she wants to eat a meal of dumplings stuffed with young zucchini. With this in mind, she hit upon an idea: "Isn't the young master almost eight months old?" giving the mistress a chance to display her knowledge.
"He's so big, someone would believe he's nine months!" Old Mama Liu's doggerel didn't rely solely on rhetoric but on the power of thought, heavy yet sweet, like Cantonese mooncakes. "Actually, you can stop binding him at half a year. It's time to put him in little clothes." Truly, her own children had also been raised in bags, and she had no idea how many months a baby should be bound. Since the mistress asked, she must intend to release Tianci. If the mistress had asked at how many months a baby should be taken out for beheading, Old Mama Liu would have known it meant to bind him and take him to the execution ground immediately.
Anyway, Tianci's magical binding rope was removed, and he was changed into footed pants. Nanny Ji observed: after six months, the binding rope had indeed been effective; Tianci's legs absolutely could not become bowlegged, because his toes already turned inward. This time she was wise and did not report to the mistress. Fortunately so; otherwise, Tianci might have been bound again.
Fortunately, Tianci was a real man; he didn't care at all about the curvature of his curves. In any case, being untied was a joy, and he began to enjoy it. He could put his fist in his mouth and suck, and his feet could kick - he was very happy.
A person who can neither cry well nor laugh well, like Niu Tianci - childhood name Fortunate - had better not be too happy. Tianci didn't understand: he kicked his feet, put effort into his heart, burst his lips, and called out "Ba." From his own perspective, this was quite scientific, but it couldn't withstand others viewing it from a metaphysical standpoint. Old Mrs. Niu believed that a child who knew what was good for him, a proper official-like baby, should first call "Ma." Tianci called "Ba." "Ba" means "Pa." With Old Niu's appearance, was he worthy?
Old Niu was naturally very proud. To be called "Pa" at over fifty years old - even if he died right then, it wouldn't be unfair, let alone being a living father! The happier he became, the more he didn't know what to do. All the flesh on his body smiled, and his eyes darted toward the mistress. No matter how the mistress looked, she thought he didn't look like an official-like father, and yet this official-like baby insisted on calling him - it was truly suffocating.
Old Mama Liu wagged her tail again. She tilted her head, fixed her gaze on Tianci's mouth: "Call Ma! Call Ma!" Tianci rolled his eyes, uttered not a sound, and stealthily wet his footed pants thoroughly. "Half a year lived in vain," Mama Liu said to herself.
In fact, our Tianci did not live in vain. To put it more precisely, any life given by fate has never been lived in vain. Not to mention anything else, Tianci had already begun to take shape. Who could say that the six months of milk were wasted? Tianci must not have been idle. Although he was silent, he must have thought about what he would grow into. Otherwise, why would he grow into his own face, instead of casually growing according to the appearance of Nanny Ji or Sihu? Life is a creation: a ruddy-faced giant cannot stop his son from growing into a pale-faced scholar.
Tianci's legs were beyond remedy, and this was naturally not his fault. His flat occiput was also something he could not correct himself: Mrs. Niu advocated not holding the baby too often. In six months, except for feeding, he was always staring at the sky, so his occiput grew inward, flat as a board. Now, although he wore footed pants, he was still not held much. Nanny Ji naturally did not oppose this method. Old Mrs. Niu believed that only this could rear an official-like son. Love is love, discipline is discipline. rules and discipline must be cultivated from childhood. A baby should lie down, just as Old Mama Liu should stand. Tianci's creation was in his face. We dare not yet determine whether he is a genius or a fool; but judging by the little face he planned himself, this kid is somewhat self-important by fate. There are many degrees of heroes, and the most formidable are those with simple appearance but complex mind. Tianci seemed to have thought of this. His eyebrows could be said to have been forgotten by him. Whether they would grow out in the future, he surely had his own plans. His eyes were single-lidded, the black pupils not large, often hidden under the single eyelids, making it quite convenient to roll his eyes. His nose was short and slightly turned up, as if constantly sniffing the scent in front of him. Thin lips, which opened and closed nimbly when crying, and had a contemptuous air when smiling. His whole face was like a small shelf gourd, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with two pieces of flesh hanging on his cheeks. When not crying or laughing, his single eyelids drooped, the tip of his nose curled slightly, and his small thin lips lurked between his two fat cheeks - no one knew what he was up to. His complexion was a yellowish white close to ivory; eyebrows were omitted; on the top of his head a few fine yellow hairs sparsely crawled. Viewed part by part, nothing was commendable; viewed as a whole, there was indeed an extraordinary air - whether he would become a hero in the future we dare not say, but now he was certainly not a handsome baby. Yet being able to create such an unsightly face, he must have had some idea in mind; at the very least, he deliberately angered Old Mrs. Niu.
Even so, he did have some artistic skill after all. The flesh on his cheeks saved his fate. Whenever Old Mrs. Niu was about to get angry at him, she would often suppress her anger because of those two pieces of flesh. The basic condition for an official-like child is plenty of flesh; whether he has eyebrows or not is always secondary. Besides, "a child changes eighteen times before growing up" - who knew that if Tianci were happy, he might grow a pair of silkworm-like eyebrows? To reduce her anger, the old lady always looked at his cheeks first. As for guests, they naturally praised the most easily noticed part: "Look at all that flesh on his face - he's got some fortune!" As for the parts that were unpopular, both host and guests saw them clearly but kept silent. Art, from this perspective, is about proper deployment. If Tianci had distributed all the flesh to his buttocks, then he would have to wait to be spanked.
By eight months, through extremely careful observation, Old Mrs. Niu discovered that if she didn't start holding the baby, perhaps the flat occiput would further move everything that should grow at the back to the front, leaving the back completely empty. If all the hair on the back of the head were transplanted to the forehead, the front would naturally be imposing, but what about the back? After considering for a long time, the old lady issued a second liberation order: besides feeding time, the baby should also be held for a while.
Casual liberation, no matter for what, is very dangerous. The safest method is to hold on tight; even if pent-up water bursts its banks, it can't drown just one person. As soon as the order to hold the baby came down, even Sihu sidled up. What's more infuriating was that Tianci would lunge at Sihu and call out "Ba" in strings! That boy Sihu, though he looked like a dumb onion, could sometimes produce clever work when he was happy. He had learned somewhere how to hold a baby very well. Although Old Mrs. Niu could shout Sihu away, she couldn't make Tianci understand: how could an official-like child be friendly with a rough fellow? The more the old lady tried to elevate the baby's status (and with the best intentions), the more the baby deliberately went downhill, not knowing good from bad. She naturally wouldn't think of suicide over this, but she was truly displeased. She had told Sihu many times in summer to wear his jacket! But when Sihu was carrying water or sweeping the yard, he insisted on going shirtless. No way! Now Tianci was also a downward-trending piece. Besides, the old lady did set an example - even on the hottest days she never went shirtless, but still wore her official-gauze half-length gown and sat properly on the porcelain stool next to the icebox, observing rules and discipline. Moreover, she had never let Sihu hold him even once. Whom did Tianci learn from to insist on seeking out Sihu of all people?
However, the old lady was not completely disheartened. What had to be done still had to be done, just to have a clear conscience. It was time for Tianci to be vaccinated. The old lady personally went out to investigate. There were many places offering smallpox vaccination, but Tianci naturally could not go to such places - status was important. There were also many places where you paid for vaccination, but they were roughly divided into two schools: one was the foreign style, where only one pustule was made, and it didn't have to be on the arm - the leg would do. The other was the old style, where exactly three pustules were made on each arm, no more no less, and while making them, the doctor's hands kept trembling. She decided to take Tianci to the trembling place, on the grounds that if he trembled enough, perhaps the required six pustules might turn into seven or eight. Isn't more smallpox better?
An auspicious day was chosen, and they set out in full force for the vaccination. Nanny Ji put on all her jewelry and wore new clothes. Old Mama Liu also wanted to go along, partly as a lackey, partly because the weather was warming up, so she took the opportunity to go out for a stroll. She also dressed up. Mrs. Niu, besides dressing fully and properly, also took out an old folding fan with sandalwood ribs; though it was not yet the season for using a fan, it was solely for showing elegance. Tianci wore a new red silk-crepe sweater. The few yellow hairs on his head were reluctantly tied into a tiny braid, held together by red velvet cord. On his feet were yellow tiger shoes, with red eyes and white whiskers. Except for him, everyone else was quite presentable.
Tianci was bound to embarrass himself! If only one pustule had been made, although he would still cry - an infant who doesn't cry during vaccination probably lacks the instinct to cry - he absolutely would not have performed all the tones and postures of crying. With six pustules, if he didn't cry, what to do? He cried a good long time, his lips like rubber, soft and nimble. Real tears fell from his eyes, some streaming to his nose, some hanging at the corners, and two or three drops landing on his forehead. One tiger shoe was kicked off; the little braid separated from the velvet cord. Even his flat, hairless occiput was red and beaded with sweat, like a pile of small pomegranate seeds. Viewed as a whole, it was the look of a total defeat. If it weren't for her precious fan ribs, Old Mrs. Niu would have given him a good spanking. Fortunately, the doctor was resolute and wouldn't stop until all six were made, because Mrs. Niu had stipulated in advance: only if six pustules were made would she pay one silver dollar; short by one would deduct one jiao five fen. Tianci felt that he had to throw a fit to show his might. Just as he was about to roll his eyes, the six were completed. So it didn't become the most moving tragedy.
After the scabs fell off, Tianci began to spray his teeth. He seemed to have forgotten "Ba." When happy, he would shrink his neck, squint his little eyes, pout his thin lips, and go "Pfft!" After pffting, he would let his fat cheeks hang down and wait for the effect. Sure enough, everyone wanted to see the little tender teeth still encased in his gums. He wouldn't let them look. Whoever came close, he would spray them full in the face. The more tricks he had, the more complicated life's pleasures became. After one tooth had emerged, he felt that pffting was too monotonous. So he invented his own language, with "Ba" as the main note, adding various musical variations: sometimes he called Old Man Niu "Dudu," sometimes he called Old Mama Liu "Ah," and sometimes he would compose a poem - "Dudu baba pfft! Pfft! - Ah!" Pointing with his hand, it turned out the meaning of the poem was to go outside and play in the yard. Old Mrs. Niu forbade it. "Wild boy! Who dares to go into the yard?" No choice, he had to continue composing poems: "Hmm, hmm hmm!" According to Sihu's interpretation, this extremely short and sharp poem was cursing Old Mrs. Niu.
However, Tianci still couldn't crawl. "sit at seven months, crawl at eight" - Old Mama Liu had long prophesied this, but Tianci decided not to cooperate with her and stubbornly refused to crawl. In fact, his head was heavy and his legs were weak, so he couldn't crawl. He therefore invented rolling, turning over back and forth on his belly and back, and could move horizontally. Sometimes, taking advantage of being on his back, his little sparrow would spray water into the air, straight up and down, all landing on himself, performing a "drowning of seven armies." "This boy can't be official-like!" Old Mrs. Niu said to herself. But when the mistress wasn't home, Sihu would deliberately come over and ask for a performance. "Do one, buddy! Do a straight one!" Tianci, to show his gratitude, indeed did a straight one. Sihu spent the money he had intended for buying socks to buy Tianci a pair of rattle sticks, and a little figure with a head made of five black beans that rattled when moved. These first batch of toys were Sihu's gift. None of those in power had thought of this! Tianci, showing his little teeth, called out a string of "Ba" to Sihu, and Old Mama Liu's good eye almost went blind with rage!