Explore Chapter 1 of 'Little Erhei Gets Married' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
In Liujiajiao, there were two so-called "immortals," known to every soul in the neighboring villages: one was Er Zhuge from the front hamlet, the other San Xiangu from the back. Er Zhuge, originally named Liu Xiude, had been a merchant in his time. For any action, be it major or minor, he would first divine the balance of yin and yang and the Eight Trigrams, and consult the almanac for auspicious and inauspicious days. San Xiangu was the wife of Yu Fu from the back hamlet. On the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, she would drape a red cloth over her head and sway to and fro, putting on the airs of a celestial being.
Er Zhuge's great taboo was "Unpropitious for Planting," and San Xiangu's was "The Rice is Spoilt!" There are two little tales behind these. One spring there was a severe drought. Not until the third day of the fifth lunar month did a rainfall just deep enough to cover four fingers finally arrive. On the fourth, everyone rushed to sow their fields. But Er Zhuge, after consulting his almanac and performing some calculations on his fingers, declared, "Today is Unpropitious for Planting." The fifth was the Dragon Boat Festival, a day on which he had never undertaken any work for years, so again he did not sow. The sixth was, according to the almanac, a most auspicious day, but alas, by then the soil had dried out. Though he managed with great effort to plant his four mu of millet, less than half of it ever sprouted. It did not rain again until the fifteenth. While others were out in their fields hoeing the seedlings, Er Zhuge was leading his two children to fill in the gaps where seeds had failed. A young fellow from the neighborhood ran into Er Zhuge on the street during the midday meal and called out, "Hey, old-timer! Good day for planting or not?" Er Zhuge glared at him, turned on his heel, and went straight back inside. The story was passed around with much snickering and became a standing joke.
San Xiangu had a daughter named Xiao Qin. One day, Jin Wang's father came to San Xiangu to seek a cure for an ailment. San Xiangu sat behind her incense altar chanting, while Jin Wang's father knelt before it listening. Xiao Qin was only nine that year. At noon, she was preparing a dish of steamed millet. She had put the millet into the pot to boil when she was captivated by the rhythmic chanting of her mother's performance. She stood by the table listening, completely forgetting about the cooking. After a while, Jin Wang's father stepped out to relieve himself. Seizing the moment, San Xiangu whispered urgently to Xiao Qin, "Go quickly and tend to the pot! The rice is spoilt!" These words, unfortunately for her, were overheard by Jin Wang's father. He went home and promptly spread the story. Afterwards, some of the local wags, whenever they saw San Xiangu, would deliberately ask the person next to them, "Has the rice spoiled yet?"