Explore Chapter 2 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.
It was May weather. The little sun pouted its crimson lips like a blood-red basin, busily kissing the eastward and westward drifting white clouds. Some lips, upon contact, hurriedly flew away. Some nestled willfully against the little sun's rosy cheeks. Some transformed into fierce dragons, gaping wide as if to swallow her whole. Some turned into little lambs, running to beg for her blue-eyed favor. Such a gorgeous scene, yet people paid it no heed. It was not their fault, but that the little sun was too coy, too fierce, scorching those who looked until their faces streamed with oil. So the rich set up canopies and simply ignored it. The poor lay under willow shades, lost in sweet dreams. Who would bother with such idle vexation?
Waves of hot wind brought the cicadas' chirping from willow groves and frogs' croaking from lotus ponds, all enough to heighten people's irritability. Poets' melancholy musings, in dreams, teased fallen blossoms and waning moons, weaving a tapestry of idle sorrow. The rich, amidst flaming pomegranate flowers and silkworm-yellow butterflies, added a touch of refined pleasure. Lao Zhang had neither the poet's sensitivity to things nor the rich man's carpe diem. He merely stretched out his right hand, tilted his head back, and counted the red apricots on the apricot tree in the courtyard, as a reminder for students to receive gifts from their parents during the wheat harvest. As for whether he could clearly count all the red apricots hanging abundantly on the half-grown tree, we cannot know, but likely Lao Zhang had some confidence.
"Your sworn brother Li Wu just called me. The newly appointed Education Inspector has arrived at Old Fifth's yamen and is coming down soon. Hurry and prepare! We're not afraid of their formalities, but no need to deliberately slight them either. Hurry and prepare. I'm off now. See you another day." The man wiped the sweat from his face as he walked out.
Lao Zhang calmed himself for a few seconds, hastily reviewing decades of experience in his mind, then changed three steps into two as he ran into the north room.
"Xiao San! Go call your teacher's wife to prepare a pot of tea, place it under the apricot tree! Quick! Xiao Si! Go invite your father, say the Education Inspector is coming, ask him over to accompany. Tell him to change into new shoes, hear me?" Xiao San, Xiao Si dashed out of the room like a streak of smoke. "You all put away the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, take out the National Language, quick!"
"What about Arithmetic?"
Some grabbed books. Others swept the floor. Still others wiped faces. Some took the chance to stick out tongues. Others winked eyes. Chaos ensued, no less than a minor earthquake. Lao Zhang with one hand took the military cap hanging on the blackboard and put it on his head, with the other hand flipped through a National Language book to find unfamiliar characters.
"How about your books? If prepared, all go out and stand under the tree! Wang De hurry and sweep!" Lao Zhang pressed the dictionary with one hand and glanced out the window. "Haha! Told you to sweep apricot leaves, but you stole and ate my apricots. Fine! No time now, after this is over, we'll settle accounts!"
"You deserve to die ten thousand times! If you die, I'll eat all the apricots!" Wang De muttered to himself.
Wang De finished sweeping. The tea was also placed under the apricot tree, and twelve bean-green tea bowls, unused for years, were set out. Xiao Si's father also arrived, indeed wearing new satin shoes. Lao Zhang finished consulting the dictionary, solely waiting for the Education Inspector's arrival, his heart growing increasingly unsettled.
"Wang De! You go keep watch at the gate. If you see a carriage or someone in a long gown riding a donkey, hurry in and tell me. Face east, even if a wasp stings the back of your head, don't turn around! Hear me?"
Sun Ba Ye appeared to be around forty years old, with a short stature and a round face. He walked with a shrug at each step, lifting his heels high to appear taller and more dignified than his actual height. Two sparse eyebrows, a pair of perpetually sleepy eyes. Fortunately, there was a high and straight nose, otherwise one could hardly discern the "complete set" on his face. A mouthful of yellowish teeth, as if fitted with "polished and faded" gold teeth. However, a few short whiskers on his upper lip covered them, preventing a golden radiance. A long robe of sky-blue foreign satin, over a beige waistcoat with wide edges and copper buttons, honest to old and young alike, one look told he was a country gentleman.
Sun Ba followed Lao Zhang into the classroom. Lao Zhang took the ice, found a wooden board, and placed both in the foreign stove on the east wall of the classroom. He opened the stove mouth, and cool air wafted out in waves.
"Eighth Master! See how clever this is? Foreign stove turned icebox, warm in winter, cool in summer, one object two uses!" Lao Zhang raised his thumb, squinted his eyes into slits. The dotted line of laughter extended from his face into his heart, until it tickled his heart, satisfying his pride.
It turned out Lao Zhang's foreign stove had no fire bricks in the chamber. In winter, placed there, just looking at it felt warm. In summer, for grand occasions, putting in a block of ice made it an icebox. Sun Ba couldn't stop praising: "After all, you've drunk ink, you have substance in your belly!"
"To be honest with you, sir, those foreign words I learned from a sworn brother of mine. He works as a six-nation translator in Dongjiaomin Lane. According to him, to pronounce foreign words, just get the tones right, and you're guaranteed no mistakes." Lao Zhang squinted again, smiling from the outside in.
"No need for your sworn brother to say, anyone who's been to school knows Chinese and Western writing follow the same principle." The official took out his pipe, screwed in a pouch of tobacco, and continued asking, "How many students in total?"
Lao Zhang rolled his eyes, replied, "If students drop out midway, and tuition can't be collected, it counts as loss."
"Not to speak out of turn, but logically, 'Zhonghua' sounds better than 'Shangwu'. A few days ago in the city, I heard a lecture that spoke of 'Great Powerful China', so why is it not fashionable now?" Sun Ba spoke eloquently.
"Official matters change with the times," Li Wu seized the chance to show some experience in service: "What's not fashionable now might revive in a couple of years. Those in service must follow new trends. Isn't that so, sir?"
"Yes! Absolutely! Mr. Zhang! Not to boast before you, but aside from me, is there any education inspector in the whole world who gives advice to teachers? Inspectors are particular about finding teachers' flaws, loopholes..."
"Why is your lectern built on the west side? That's the 'White Tiger Platform', which harms students' parents. Education is a charitable endeavor, how can it be done this way!" The official said word by word.
"The previous official said something about the classroom taking left light, so I built the lectern on the west side. To tell the truth, I understand a bit of feng shui and yin-yang. I dare not disobey superiors' orders. Please forgive me, sir!"
"Old Fifth! Take good care of the official. I'll have to treat you to tea, let alone the official..." Lao Zhang started to say but swallowed his words.