Explore Chapter 4 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.
In winter, women gathered as easily as pine nuts, filling the kang in Wang Po's house. Fifth Aunt was weaving hemp shoes. In her mirth, she dropped a needle into a crack in the mat. As she searched for it, she struck amusing poses, rising like a nimble little dove and hopping about on the kang. She said:
"Don't hit her, or you'll end up with a pockmarked husband," Wang Po called out from the kitchen. Wang Po was always alternating between melancholy and joy, unlike other old women in the village.
When Sister Lingzhi returned the needle to Fifth Aunt, the room quieted down. The sound of Wang Po scraping fish scales with a knife in the kitchen mixed with the sound of snow brushing against the window paper outside.
Wang Po washed the frozen fish in cold water, her hands like carrots. She walked to the edge of the kang and warmed her hands by the brazier. The woman with spots on her nose, whose husband had recently died, put down the small torn cloth and searched for an even smaller piece from a pile of rags. She quickly sewed and mended. Her face somewhat resembled Wang Po's, with high cheekbones and eyes like glass deeply set in socket-like hollows. Like Wang Po, her brow ridges were prominent. This woman did not care for flirtatious talk and began to question Wang Po:
Her two warming hands gave off a fishy smell. A fish scale fell, making a small sound and sending up a wisp of smoke. She buried the smoke with ashes from the basin's edge. She slowly shook her head and did not answer the question. The smoke from the burning fish scale was somewhat unbearable. Everyone wrinkled their noses or rubbed them with their hands. The spotted widow regretted a little, feeling she should not have asked. In the corner sat Fifth Aunt's sister, the monotonous sound of her threading hemp through shoe soles rising and falling.
She was so thin, her waist as if it would break in the wind. Her breasts were so high, like two opposing small ridges. Viewed from the side, her stomach seemed somewhat uneven. The middle-aged woman leaning against the wall, breastfeeding her child, observed and then asked:
"Newlyweds...? Hmph! Not necessarily!"
Seduced by the words, each woman fantasized about herself. Each felt her heart beat faster, or her face grow hot. Even the unmarried Fifth Aunt felt mysterious and uneasy. Shyly and confusedly, she passed through the kitchen and went home. Only the women remained together, their talk becoming even more boundless. Wang Po joined this group of women, but she said nothing, only helping with laughter.
Sister Lingzhi, after all a new bride, suddenly felt ashamed! She could not speak. Aunt Li Er's breasts trembled as she pushed Sister Lingzhi with her hand:
Yueying was the most beautiful woman in Fishing Village. Her family was also the poorest, living next door to Aunt Li Er. She was so gentle, never heard laughing loudly or arguing loudly. Born with a pair of affectionate eyes, everyone who met her gaze felt as pleasant and warm as falling into cotton wool.
But now that was completely gone! Every night, Aunt Li Er heard pitiful cries from next door. On the cold nights of December, the moans from next door grew even heavier!
The snow on the mountain was blown by the wind as if to bury the small house by the hill. The big trees howled, and the wind and snow shrouded the little house. A large tree leaning on the mountainside broke and fell. The cold moon, as if afraid of being shattered by all the sounds, retreated to the horizon. At this time, the sounds from next door grew even more mournful.
During the day, children gathered on the hillside. They climbed up along branches and slid down the icy paths. They had various postures: rolling down backwards, spreading their legs apart, or adventurous children sliding down headfirst with feet in the air. Often they would fall and bleed, returning home injured. Winter was as cruel to the village children as it was to flowers and fruits. Each spring, their ears would swell with pus, and their hands or feet would crack open. Village mothers always treated their children like enemies. When a child stole his father's cotton hat to wear and ran out, the mother would chase after, beating and scolding to take it back. Mothers perpetually ravaged their children with madness.
Wang Po arranged with Fifth Aunt to visit Yueying. As they passed the hillside, Ping'er was there. Ping'er had stolen his father's large felt boots to wear. He fled from the hillside! The boots hung on the child's feet like two big bear paws. Ping'er stumbled! He rolled down from the slope! The poor child, with those black, oversized mismatched feet, rolled down like a ball and fell against the trunk of a large tree at the mountain's base. Wang Po descended upon Ping'er like a gust of wind, as fierce as a mountain beast hunting its prey. Finally, Wang Po took the boots, and Ping'er went home barefoot, making him walk on the snow as if on fire, unable to stop. However far the child walked, Wang Po kept saying:
Yueying sat in the center of the kang. The dark room resembled a Buddhist shrine, and Yueying seemed like a female Buddha seated within. Pillows surrounded her on all sides, and thus a year passed. For a year, Yueying had not been able to lie down to sleep. She suffered from paralysis. At first, her husband sought deities for her, burned incense, and even went to the local temple to ask for medicine. Later, he burned incense at temples in the city as well. But strangely, Yueying's illness was not cured by these incense fumes and gods. Afterward, the husband felt he had fulfilled his duty, and since Yueying grew sicker each month, he felt heartbroken! He cursed:
"Marrying a wife like you is really bad luck! It's like bringing a little ancestor home to worship you!"
At first, when she argued with him, he would hit her. Now it was different. He was despairing! In the evening, after selling green firewood in the city, he returned, cooked his own meal, ate, and then slept straight through until dawn. The suffering woman sat to the side, calling out all night until morning. It was as if a person and a ghost were placed together, unrelated to each other.
Yueying spoke only by moving the tip of her tongue. Wang Po approached her, and at the same time, that unbearable smell grew stronger! Even more strongly, it emanated from that pile of filth. Yueying pointed behind her and said:
"Look, this is what that dead devil brought me-bricks. He says I'm about to die! No need for quilts! He props me up with bricks. I've wasted away to nothing. That heartless man, he tries to torment me!"
Her eyes, the whites turned completely green, and her neat row of front teeth also turned completely green. Her hair, as if scorched, clung tightly to her scalp. She was like a sick cat, lonely and hopeless.
Wang Po went down to the floor, used a stick to gather the brazier fire, and placed the smoking brazier behind Yueying. When Wang Po opened her quilt, she saw that the excrement had soaked the small pelvic area. Fifth Aunt supported Yueying's waist, but she still called out heartbreakingly!
Her legs lay parallel in front like two white bamboo poles. Her skeleton formed a perfect right angle on the kang, a human shape composed entirely of lines, only the head was broader, hanging on the body like a lantern on a pole.
Wang Po wiped her body with wheat straw, then finally with a damp cloth. Fifth Aunt lifted her from behind. When wiping her buttocks, Wang Po felt small white things fall on her hand, wriggling as if alive. By the light of the brazier fire, she looked closely and knew they were small maggots. She also knew that Yueying's buttocks had rotted, with little worms active there. Yueying's body was becoming a cave for little worms! Wang Po asked Yueying:
Yueying shook her head. Wang Po washed her leg bones with cold water, but she felt nothing. The entire lower body seemed like an external attachment to the paralyzed woman, a separate object. When giving her a cup of water to drink, Wang Po asked:
Finally, Fifth Aunt went next door to borrow a mirror. When she looked in the mirror, she broke into a heart-wrenching cry. But not a tear appeared on her face. It was as if a cat had suddenly been crushed. Her unbearable voice, without warmth, began to grow hoarse.
Wang Po took the boots and left this small house by the hill. On the desolate mountain, a traveler walked at the horizon. She felt dizzy! Because of the strong light, the smell of the paralyzed woman, and the troubles of life, old age, sickness, and death, her thoughts were blocked by waves of worry.
The dead are dead! The living calculate how to survive. In winter, women prepare summer clothes, and men plan how to start next year's planting.
Zhao San seemed to have something on his mind. He said nothing. Shaking, he passed the stove, the bright red firelight immediately illuminating him, and went out.
Late at night, he still had not returned. Wang Po ordered Ping'er to look for him. Ping'er's feet were already difficult to move, so Wang Po went to Er Li Ban's house, but he was not there. He had gone to Fishing Village. Zhao San's broad voice came through the window paper of Li Qingshan's house. Wang Po knew he had been drinking again. When she pushed the door open, she said:
Another evening. Zhao San put on his newly made sheepskin jacket and went out. He returned at midnight, knocking on the door under the moon. Wang Po knew he had been drinking again, but when he slept, she smelled no alcohol at all. So what did he go out to do? He always returned angry.
"Yes! Don't you know? Third Brother goes to my house every day to discuss this with his father. I see this situation must lead to trouble. They calculate every night, even hiding from me. Last night, I stood outside the window and heard them say, 'Kill him! That's a scourge.' Who do you think they want to kill? Isn't this going to lead to a human life case?"
Fifth Aunt and other village women came with their small bundles by appointment. When they stepped in, they were all smiles. But immediately they changed when they saw Aunt Li Er and Wang Po silent.
The event was also told to them, and they immediately became melancholy, with no leisure mood at all! No laughter at all. Each thought blankly for a moment, then asked a few frightened questions. Fifth Aunt's sister was the first to twist her large round belly and walk out. Thus, one after another, they left lonely. They were like a school of fish. Suddenly a fishing rod was cast down, and they scattered in all directions!
Aunt Li Er still did not leave. She wanted to find out how Wang Po could thwart this dangerous matter.
Not until the next afternoon did Zhao San return. Upon entering, he hit Ping'er, because Ping'er's feet were sore, and a group of children had gathered at home to play. In the courtyard center, they placed some rice. A long board was propped up with short sticks, with a long rope tied to the sticks. The rope was pulled inside the threshold. Sparrows went to peck at the grain. The children crouched at the threshold to watch. When the sparrows gathered in a pile, the children would pull the rope. Many hungry sparrows perished under the long board. The kitchen was filled with the smell of sparrow feathers. The children had cooked many sparrows in the stove.
Zhao San was irritated. He saw a chicken caught by the children. He kicked the board over! He sat on the edge of the kang, lighting his small tobacco pipe. Wang Po served breakfast from the pot. He said:
He could not imagine his wife having such courage. Wang Po actually found an old Foreign gun. But Zhao San had never used a gun before. After Ping'er fell asleep at night, Wang Po taught him how to load gunpowder and how to prime it.
Suddenly, five new sickles were discovered in the cow shed. Wang Po surmised that the event was not far off!
When Aunt Li Er and other village women crowded in to inquire about the news, Wang Po lowered her head and said:
On the eve of New Year, the event finally occurred! Bright red blood stained the snow in the north. But it was done wrong! Zhao San had been somewhat abnormal recently. With a pear wood pole, he broke the thief's leg bone. He called for Er Li Ban, wanting to throw the thief into a pit and bury him with snow. Er Li Ban said:
"No, when spring comes, if a corpse is found in the pit, news will spread. That's a human life case!"
Villagers heard the extremely painful cries and came out from all sides to search. Zhao San dragged the one-legged man, running in circles, but he could not hide him. In his panicked mood, Zhao San wished to find a well to put him down. Zhao San got blood all over his hands.
Thus, Zhao San went to prison. Li Qingshan and their "Sickle Society" weakened without Zhao San! It was destroyed!
"I was wrong! Perhaps it's the disaster I deserved: It was getting dark, I was drinking, when I heard Ping'er shout that someone was stealing firewood. Master Liu the Second came some days ago to say he wanted to increase the land rent. I refused, saying we should unite and not give in. So he left! After a few days, he came again, saying it must be increased, or else we'd be kicked out! I said fine, wait and see! That manager said, 'You still want to rebel? If you don't leave, your haystack will catch fire!' I thought that fellow was coming to light my firewood pile! I grabbed a pole, ran out, and broke his leg! Even breaking it was satisfying, but who knew it was a thief. Haha! The thief was unlucky! Even if healed, he'll be a cripple!"
"I've never seen such a man. At first, he seemed like a piece of iron, but the more I look, the more he's like a pile of mud!"
So the good-conscience Zhao San went to town every day, carrying some cabbage to give to the landlord. Carrying some potatoes to give to the landlord too. For sending such vegetables, Wang Po argued fiercely with him, but he absolutely maintained his conscience.
"That was close! If I hadn't put in a word for you, how would you have survived three years in prison? That thief was just unlucky! Look, I'll handle it for you. No need to mend his leg. Let him die and be done with it. You can save the money from selling the ox too. We are 'landlord' and 'tenant'. How can we let things pass..."
It was February. The snow on the mountains showed a destructive hue. But on the barren mountains, there were travelers coming and going.