Explore Chapter 15 of "生死场" with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
As the departing troops turned on the South Mountain Road, a child in its mother’s arms bid farewell to its father. Passing through the tree-lined path, the men slid by the riverbank. Their attire and gait did not resemble a military formation, yet beneath their clothes beat fierce and stout hearts. These hearts carried them away, their hearts congealed like bronze as they set off. At the last moment, the great hillside had not yet obscured the final man, when a child held in its mother’s arms cried out, "Daddy!" The child’s cry received no response. The father did not even wave an arm. The child seemed to dash its sound against the rocks.
The moment the women entered their homes, the houses seemed empty! The dwellings appeared as if built in the sky, with plain white sunlight on the windows, yet it brought no meaning. They did not need their men to return. They only needed good news. The news came five days later, when old Zhao San, barefoot, his bony feet revealing every sinew and bone, rushed to Aunt Li Er to tell, "I heard that Qingshan and the others have been scattered!" Clearly, Zhao San was at a loss. Even his beard seemed shocked, as if eager to leap from his mouth.
A dense, heavy night descended from the sky. Japanese soldiers besieged Fishing Village, White Banner Village, and Three Families…
Er Li Ban’s pockmarked wife was killed. Bowlegs was killed. Two people died, and the village rested for two days. The third day was again a day for death. Japanese soldiers roamed the village, and Ping'er went to spend the night on the roof of Jinzhi’s house. Jinzhi said, "It won’t do! The little devils just searched the roof too."
In his panic, he imagined he heard everything. He came upon a door and pushed it open. An old man was cooking. Ping'er nearly wept. "Old uncle, save me, hide me! Save me quickly!"
Ping'er’s nose bled, as if it started bleeding only when he mentioned Japanese soldiers. He glanced around the entire room, as if not finding even a crack. He turned to run, but the old man caught him. They went out the back door, where a long basket for collecting manure stood by the door. Lifting the basket, the old man said, "Crawl inside and breathe lightly."
The old man sealed the back door with paper strips pasted with porridge, then went to eat at the stove. Under the manure basket, Ping'er heard visitors talking to the old man. Then he heard someone fiddling with the door. It was about to open, and he would be caught! He wanted to jump out of the basket. But soon those people, those devils, left!
This time, Li Qingshan trusted that the 'Revolutionary Army' was effective. Returning to the village, he did not bring back a dejected look like others. At Widow Wang’s house, he said, "The good thing about the Revolutionary Army is that they don’t act recklessly. They have discipline. This time, I believe it. The Red Beards are finished. They fight among themselves, charging around recklessly."
Widow Wang thought Zhao San’s words were as laughable as a child’s. But she did not laugh at him. Beside her sat a female hero wearing a man’s hat, once an outlaw, who had fought for the nation. She said, "Leave the dead behind, but what about the wounded?" "Those lightly wounded have all returned, haven’t they? For the seriously wounded, there’s nothing to be done. Death it is!"
Just then, an old woman from North Village ran up crying like mad to fight Li Qingshan to the death. She clutched her head as if it were a rock, and hurled herself at the wall, uttering short phrases. "Li Qingshan… enemy… you led my son to his death."
She kept clutching her hair like this, gradually collapsing. She couldn’t catch her breath. Gently patting Widow Wang’s knee, she said, "Elder sister, you might know my heart. Widowed at nineteen, I guarded for decades, guarding this son… Those hungry days of mine! I went with the child to the hillside to cut grass. A heavy rain came, and the rain swept mother and child rolling down the slope. My head, I thought it was shattered. Who knew? Not dead yet… earlier death, earlier done."
The death rate in the village began to rise rapidly again, but people hardly noticed. As if afflicted by an epidemic, the entire village struggled in a stupor.
Li Qingshan did not go. He said that was also formed by bandits. Old Zhao San quarreled with his son over the 'Patriotic Army'. "I think you should go. If word gets out at home, someone might arrest you. Go along and muddle through. At the very least, killing one Japanese devil would be worth it, to vent anger. Young and vigorous, venting anger is good."
Old Zhao San had no insight at all. His blind, impulsive words made his son unimpressed. When Ping'er spoke with his father, he always rolled his eyes sidelong or gave an uncoordinated shrug or two. Treating him this way, he was very unwilling to accept it. Sometimes old Zhao San thought to himself, "Why is Old Zhao San not the Young Zhao San anymore!"