Explore Chapter 9 of '老张的哲学' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Sun Ba saw his uncle off into the carriage and was just about to enter the temple when Lao Zhang emerged and shot Sun Ba a meaningful glance. Sun Ba leaned his ear close.
"The old gentleman tipped a few too many today," Lao Zhang whispered, tilting his head. "There's some temper brewing at the meeting. Do us all a favor and take them into town to Ji He Ju for a little sit-down, help douse their fire. Luckily, it's a small crowd. I'll nip home for a bite, then dash back to get tea ready for you lot. With the whole day after tomorrow free, we ought to manage to thrash out the regulations."
"No need for formalities," Lao Zhang grinned. "There'll be plenty of days to freeload off you; one more today won't matter."
"Gentlemen! Oblige Eighth Master Sun by joining him for a bite at Ji He Ju. It's not far, luckily. After we've eaten, we can come back and settle everything properly."
"I have my own private rickshaw," Long Shugu declared, then swept his gaze around the group. Once the rickshaws were hired, they all sauntered out of the temple with measured, square steps, preferring to let their stomachs grumble than betray any eagerness to eat.
After everyone had boarded their rickshaws, Lao Zhang remained standing outside the gate, pointing back into the temple as he spoke to a policeman. Not a soul among the passersby would have doubted that Lao Zhang was the Grand Director of the Self-government Association.
With a straightening of their backs from the pullers, they were soon at Desheng Gate. Inside the city walls, the road became somewhat smoother. Several pullers vied to increase their speed, each unwilling to be outdone, eager to earn an extra copper or two. Unemployed pullers by the roadside shouted, "On you go! Go! Pass them!" Thus stirred, these human-shaped creatures with beast-like faces felt that nothing less than a life-risking effort would suffice to win them a measure of glory.
Sun Ba wished to arrive at the restaurant a step ahead, to comport himself as the host. Lao Zhang sought the admiration of the roadside crowd for his imposing manner, and could only complain that his puller was too slow. Nan Feisheng, accustomed to fast rides, thought nothing of it. Long Shugu, wanting to show off his private rickshaw, naturally offered no objection. Li Shandong was simply starving, and cursed the pullers for not having eight legs apiece. With the pullers' competitive zeal and the riders' arrogance and selfishness driving them on, the few rickshaws flew beneath the scorching sun as if propelled by electricity.
They arrived at Desheng Bridge. To the west, a curve of green water flowed slowly eastward from Jingye Lake. On the bluish stones of either bank, a few barefoot children, heads bowed, held long, slender bamboo rods, fishing for the little wheat-ear fish in the water. East of the bridge lay a lotus pond, its banks hemmed with green reeds. Several white egrets stood motionless amidst the clusters of green lotus leaves, elegant yet cruel, waiting to ambush the small fish passing by. On the northern bank rose a high pavilion with green tiles, the former mansion of the Qing Regent, still bearing the dignified air of imperial nobility. Gusts of south wind rustled the weeping willows on the banks and swayed the green canopies on the pond, churning them into an indistinguishable mass of green waves, pulsing with a soft, fragrant poetry.
Even a blind man could have smelled the sweet charm of that lotus pond; those with sight could not help but stop and gaze awhile. Even Lao Zhang found a sense of aesthetic appreciation surfacing in his mind, almost tangible and ready to spring forth.
Though a philosopher's sense of beauty differed somewhat from that of ordinary men: supposing those egrets were cast in silver, how much would one be worth if you managed to snatch one stealthily at midnight? And if all those green lotus leaves were large silver dollars bearing Yuan Shikai’s likeness, how exceedingly useful they would be. Though coins the size of lotus leaves might be rather inconvenient to handle, with money in hand, was there ever a worry about how to put it to use?
All were absorbed in the scenery; who paid any heed to how the living men pulling the living loads hauled their vehicles up that long, sloping stone bridge? The pullers themselves were used to it; every movement of muscle and sinew seemed to operate by instinct, like that of cats, dogs, oxen, or horses. Bent almost double, heads lowered nearly to their knees, eyes straining to look from side to side, they hauled their burdens up the incline in one breath to the bridge's crown. Immediately they straightened their backs, caught a breath, and without a moment's pause, pressed their elbows down on the shafts, leaning their bodies slightly backward, their heels scraping tightly against the bridge's coarse stonework as they slid down the other side.
Suddenly, a loud crack, followed by several cries of pain. Officer Long was seen, his seated posture completely unchanged, as if some giant hand had plucked him up and tossed him neatly onto the dirt road below the bridge. Lao Zhang's rickshaw followed close behind Long Shugu's. Seeing the vehicle ahead topple, his puller swerved sharply sideways. But Lao Zhang, in an effort to keep his balance, threw his weight downward, his back leaving the seat. He swayed left and right a few times, and then man and rickshaw together went rolling down the sloping bridge in a cloud of dry dust.
Lao Zhang's head collided with his puller's backside, and the puller's head smacked squarely into Officer Long's spine. Thus, Officer Long was transformed from a seated gentleman into a reclining Buddha. The three rickshaws behind, their pullers quick of hand and eye, scrambled desperately backward and managed not to follow the slide down.
Long Shugu had tumbled, turning his gauzy official gown into a sack the color of dirt. His fury knew no bounds. He scrambled to his feet and made for his puller. The poor man-Zhao Si-lay stiffly across the road, clutching a broken rickshaw shaft, his left leg slowly soaking through with blood. Officer Long himself was struck dumb.
Lao Zhang had only scraped the skin off one palm. His first thought was to lie on the ground and wait for someone to help him up, but the coarse stones, baked by the fierce sun, were as hot as a stove. He had no choice but to struggle upright by himself, cursing his puller with every imaginable imprecation. The puller, meanwhile, was busy inspecting his rickshaw for damage on all sides, paying no mind to Lao Zhang's poetically inventive stream of abuse.
Passersby on the road immediately and quite naturally formed a circle. The policeman who had been standing on the bridge waited until the crowd had properly gathered before hefting the handle of his iron-sword, swinging his iron-cleated leather boots in a swagger, and ambling over. His first question was: "Are the passengers injured?"
"Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, I ride every single day, and never have I suffered such an insult. Today, it seems, 'we had the coin for the flower, but not for the pot, and so we're planted right here!' What exactly are you policemen here for?" Lao Zhang roared with leonine fury, addressing the policeman and the onlookers in equal measure.
Policemen in Beijing were the most obedient to public opinion-or at least, to the opinion of those who mattered. So long as you wore a long gown and carried a name card printed with an official title, you could command them without the slightest regard for what the police regulations might say. If you had sufficient clout, you could telephone the police department to inform them when you intended to relieve yourself in the middle of the street, and sure enough, a policeman would be dispatched to clear the way for you. Long Shugu understood this perfectly. He handed his card to the policeman, who indeed saluted him smartly and carried out his instructions. Officer Long and the others hired fresh rickshaws and sped off to Ji He Ju even faster than before.