第九章 传染病 (Chapter Nine: Epidemic)

The burial ground was strewn with corpses. No one buried them. Wild dogs roamed among the bodies.

The sun hung blood-red and dim from morning till dusk. Mosquitoes mingled with a dense fog that filled the sky. Sorghum, corn, and all vegetables were abandoned in the fields. Every household was a sick household, a family on the verge of extinction.

The entire village fell silent. Not a breeze stirred the plants. Everything was immersed in the fog.

Zhao San sat at the southern edge of the field, selling five new sickles. They were leftovers from organizing the Sickle Society. As he gazed at these sorrowful remnants, the village old woman came to ask him:

"I say... the celestial signs, what kind of signs are these? The sky is about to collapse, the earth to sink. Is the Old Heaven trying to wipe out all humanity? Ai..."

The old woman left Zhao San, her hunched back immediately disappearing into the fog. Her voice sounded as if from a distance:

"Heaven wants to destroy humanity!... Heaven should have destroyed us long ago! The world is full of bandits, war, and slaughter. This is the sin humans have brought upon themselves..."

Gradually, it faded away. In the distance, a donkey brayed. Was it braying on the hillside? Or in the river gully?

Nothing could be seen, only heard. It was the unpleasant, grating voice of Er Li Ban's woman approaching Zhao San. Zhao San was troubled by the sickles. Sitting in the fog, he harbored resentful thoughts toward them. He thought:

"The green ox has been sold! The wheat fields could not be planted."

The woman spoke to him, but he didn't notice. She stumbled over a clod of earth at her feet. When she got up, she was flustered. Through the layers of fog, it was unclear how flustered she was. Her voice waves wove a net-like ripple, like the buzz of a large mosquito:

"Third Brother, still sitting here? I fear 'devils' have come to my home. Even children, the 'devils' give them shots. See, I've brought my child out. I'd rather the child die of illness than be given a shot."

Pockmarked Woman left Zhao San! Carrying her not-yet-dead child, who couldn't even cry, she vanished into the fog.

The sun turned into a dark red, enlarged, and lightless disc hanging overhead. The dim, vast village harbored the seeds of natural disaster. Gradually, those seeds were sprouting.

The epidemic erupted and flourished like the enlarged sun!

Zhao San walked, stepping over dead toads. People carrying coffins briefly appeared and slipped past him. A woman with a twisted face and bound feet followed behind, her small voice weeping. Again, a donkey brayed. Soon the donkey flashed by, carrying a gravely ill old man on its back.

Westerners, whom people called "foreign devils," wore white coats. When the fog lifted the next day, a white-clad man came to Zhao San's window. He had a white mask over his mouth and spoke in difficult-to-understand Chinese:

"Your, patient have? My cure good, come. Quickly."

The older, fatter one twitched his beard. His eyes were as fat as a pig's, and he peered through the window.

Zhao San flusteredly said there were no patients, but in the end, Ping'er was given a shot!

"The old devil" spoke to "the little devil," the white mask on his mouth moving. Tubes, medicine bottles, and shiny knives poured out of the bag. Zhao San went to the well to fetch a pot of cold water. The "devil" began to clean his hollow glass tube.

Ping'er was laid on a board by the window, with a white cloth covering his eyes. People from neighboring courtyards came to watch. They wanted to know how the "devils" treated illnesses, how truly terrifying their methods were.

The glass tube was inserted an inch below the navel. Only half of the five-inch-long tube glimmered outside the belly. Then, people held the child tight, making him lie on his back without moving. "The devils" began. One lifted the cold water pot. The other aimed the leaky device at the top of the long rubber tube. It looked as if the "devils" were repairing a machine. The onlookers around seemed to sigh. They all seemed to shrink their shoulders. The child only made short cries of "Ya! Ya!" Soon, a pot of water was poured in. Finally, they wiped some yellow medicine on the swollen belly. With small scissors, they cut a piece of white cotton to cover the opening.

Thus, the white-clad "devils" picked up their bags and left lightly! They went to another home.

Another clear day arrived, the epidemic at its peak. Women held half-dead children. They always feared the shots. They feared the white-clad "devils" pouring water into children's bellies with pots. They couldn't bear to look at those strangely swollen bellies.

Sinister rumors spread:

"The Li family all died!" "The city sent people to inspect. Those with symptoms were taken by cart into the city. Old women too, children too. They were taken to get medicine shots."

When people died, no cries were heard. Quietly, they carried straw bundles or coffins toward the mass grave. One after another, endlessly...

In the afternoon, Er Li Ban's woman took her child to the mass grave! She saw other children. Some had hair covering their pale faces. Some had limbs torn off by wild dogs. A few slept peacefully there.

Wild dogs chewed on broken bones in the distance, making sounds. The dogs felt satisfied. They no longer went mad in pursuit of food. Nor did they hunt living humans.

Ping'er vomited yellow water and green water all night. His white eyes were full of red threads.

Zhao San muttered as he walked out of his home. Although many in the village had died, although the crops were withering there, he always wanted to sell the sickles. The sickles at home perpetually stabbed at his heart.