a ‘hdres and hounds of them. Ore the ye these sailed here fom Hhiow not where and droped ant sare wn Mayme day in are ud et all in ciferen tection and pat o port ontewhere eae sew words Quiet they ha come, eth top etg neni veteti ein sna cl "pthc oarand vere taking the wating blue rece of the place. Would they set mal again the net mena ‘studied them carefully. No, not a single word, “= ‘Asif the botlecap had gone ming she was bor, he showed no sigh offer twowhale day, enmsined closed, and he refuse to fed, searing his folks their wit, Iwas not uni he third day thache started ry ‘on hen he col cr, the wilers often played with him, Pb: bie this ancl that, Very soon, he picked up oro ex ons, ne was “Papa the other wae"F__ Mama", The second vulgar exprenion but contig foc a wade, tla’ eal ean anny and could snply be aken a sig asymbol what owl, You could orexample, ket to mean F_— haha’ Time psec he war tree, dhen fe, den seven oF eight years ld: but fl hese were the only word he could sy, Beside, hs eyes were ul hiemonementsslows an histead wasig, eshy, and lopsided, He a green gourd tured upside. Anyway, i pamed for 8 Inca, whatever odes dhere were inside i After each meal, he Jet the howe, a grain ore orice ticking tothe corners of hi month large oly sain om his chest, and rocking and swaying ‘ottered up and don the vilage, greeting passers-by ofall agesand% to Sng sexes with a cordial “Pap. you some at him, he would venue the compliment st once — saring at certain point on your head, Ihe would ony oll hiceyesslward showing the whitesofhiseyes and then spitoutthe words “F~Mama," Then he woul arn and make his escape. Iwas no es jobfor him torallieyesitscemed vif he bad to mobilize all the rusces of his neck, chest and domen before he could sanage i, Turing his head was an qual laborious job His eck was weak, ad his head ado roll Tike a pepper grinder, tracing big are before steading int the ‘uve Btn ook the noateffort, He stumbled an staggered, And had to thrust the weight his heal and chest forwanl to dea, the reat of hin along. To get his rection, be had to strain to see from under hisbrows Ever tide was hige-—heseaslke a spenter Approaching the Gnishing linen slow motion, He had tobe given a name — forse at formal celebrations and fr histonbstone. Al oe came to beealled "Young Bing” ‘Young Bing hal lc of papas, the al never seen hia father, The story had it tat hater, tied of hist ooking wife and fed up with the monstrosity she fad giver birth 0, eal long Tettheillaget become an opin traderanvdhad never en bck ‘Some sid he hl been killed by bani, ders would ave i hat he was ining abean curd shop in Yuerhou, yetothers would tll ‘youth edd fe had quandere lan had been seen bogging the sects of Chenzhow. Anyway no te could sy for sre whether actly exited tha become ‘mystery of le importance Young Bing’s mother grew vegetables and rise chickens for avin, adton to being mide, Women often came to her house an talked to erin hushed voices, After wile, she would Pick up ber scorn al id go ot with her isor, the twos Irhispering into each others ears. That pai of scisors had heen tw To ig ls ji had alo deiered a whole ew generation to the mountain vile ensuring the fre ofthe place She had ct the umbilical “Cords of many yung lie a birth bt the Hamp of lsh she had brought int the world would never make man. She had ‘vised lsortsof herbal medicine specs, made oferings othe {gs and prostate herself lore deities of wood and ca. Si Shed’ manage to teach er son another phrase toy. Rumour ha teat years ago, she hal ile a pide while chopping some Fireworu inthe kitchen. The pier ad green eye, red boy the sire of clay pot and its web yas the length of holt of loth. When ‘ena thrown into the fre, «nauseous tench enveloped dhe lage for three days. Ras obo she'd offended a spider demon and was being pred dough er son, Nothing wna about tha Tevet lear whether the sory reached her ears. Anyway she also had a breakelnen ‘faeces. She covered and even beat to guia weight. Now she trasthe sz of the roller onthe threshing floor eso ft oop, from her wai. Like her so, she, oo, ocasonally rolled her ee. ng sve patent pikes, a for and ws forced to alow x mow Mother and son ved na sotary timber huton the eg ofthe stocked ile Like all the ote hones, the beam and plas ‘mere thicker and Heavier than necessary forthe weesin the egion tere ot worth a penny. Bedelothes and colour children’s ‘doth, ‘outside the howe to dy. The stains were of couse the legacy of Noung Bing. He often ainused himself in dhe yard in front of the home, poking earthworms oF rolling chicken droppings i his palms, When he got bored, he would ake his runpnosel eof to sce i he cou extch sight of anybody, On spying a few lds ‘eauening from fling tres up the mountain or ating out to ne ans shaped ike Tos eaves, wee often ng= Ho Se ‘chase meat he would smile at their rudy faces ad greet them wih endl "Papa — Aburat of laughter: And the rudyfced ad on whom Young Bing'seyeswere fixed would goup thins, ling and pling, and talon names or shake his st thin. Or he wow give Young Bing’ sharp rap om his ourlike lead wih his Knuckles, Sometines, the lds would poke fin atone another, Laghing, ‘one would seize Young Bing by the arm and point a finger at his mat, coaxing him, "Say Papa. Come on, sy Pap.” Hf Youg Bing hesitated, dhe lad would sometimes prestafewsles of sweet pot ‘or hand of baked chestnuts int his hands, After Young Bing had obliged them they would, as usual, hgh eartiy and Young ‘Bing would asta, be rapped onthe hea or have hisears boxe Ihe paid them back with an sagry"F_ Maa, the word would spin before hiseyes and hice and head aeeady smarting would bare ‘The two expressions seemed to havecliferent meanings, bt at far ax Young Bing wis concerned, they priced the same fee He knew how to ey He burt int ta, Mother came. Shaking her fist atthe lad, she pulled Young Bing ay. Sometimes, she would let lowe a torrent abe at lads slapping hee hands, slapping her thighs, her arn a mes. After cach volley of abuse ae would wipe er hanson the inside ‘ot er thighs — gesture which was sipponed toa strength co the cious power of dhe word. “Blast yo A plague upon yon May your blasted heads be chopped of You heartless louis. This one hete ticki the ead. Al you bully him. Is wicked, wicked ‘Watch, you godin heaven, open youreyes! Cold hese scours nave wriggle their way out of thelr nama’ witontony help “They eat sce lke everyone ee, bu theyre rotten though ad hough. Rowen and infected with el! They aren't even on ‘men, but watch bow they ally yl!” She war not a native of the place she had marie ino the silage. Her strange cent ase! the ld They did ind er slong as heed’ cure them with dhe expression, “birds being ime"which wassup to ncan “without hers Tey woul jas laugh and then scurry of ‘Shouting, crying: crying and shouting — vo the days went on, here was enough excitement to make ie worth ising even asone rumbled about it One afer another, due lads found ses rowing om ther chins: lol dheir backs began to arch, Anaxher Thatch of snoenosed Kd gree int as Young Bg, however, was siln taller hana pack bake, and he stil worea chill sredral fpencroich pants For many years, hie mother had been tli pple hewat-onlyhirtcn” the adage sb and inclines Dogan to mark hisforehed “Atnight abe often lowed dhe door, made Young Bing at her fet bythe fre, and then mrmred a hit. The things she sad her tone of voiceeven the way she at rocking gent inthe bamboo ‘ai, were piel of mother talking toa chil, "You're a maghty boy What use wll be? Yount to your mama, you don what mama tells, You eat plenty bt you never learn ating Bete o rane a dog than to rive you, a dogcan guard he house Bete to raise» pig than to ase you pig eam give me nea. Ob ‘dea! Oh dear! You naughty bos, what good are you? Not eves a igre worth of good. And what's dhe une ofthat icky of yours? What wom wold marry you. Hm?” ‘Staring at this noel nama ther gleaming dees eye, ‘Young Bing we his ip with his tongues Sng the droning, ato Fania, spt tthe words excitedly, F__ Mama." ‘at moter had heard the expression oo often o fel fen cs. She went on rocking to alo, and the bamboo chai exeaked soni “All you sil care about Mama when you've found yourself a wie” “F_ Mama.”Mama when you have kids" on your Mana and teat her like dog shit high ficial” wgbucswear 1Bing smother aged, her eyes narrowing into sts her thickening under her doublechin, To her, such behind ‘oseloorsdreanalkwasapiilege noone could take away fom he ‘The village perched high in the mountains abone the etouds ‘When you let the house, you often found yourself stepping into rolling clouds. Take a sep forward, and the clouds woul eet hile those a your back world mo a behind! yur, bearing om ‘pon a solar sland witout end, Hoang. You never Fel lnely ‘om the Mad, Sometimes you eat sight ofthe armoured bids ‘on the trees Blacks coal snd the sizeof thm, thet call en tou an clear an rang with metallic wang, They semed to ave remained unchanged since tine immemorial. Sometimes you wold se a gganteshadow ding twats yn om the cea shadow ike owe open pages ofa book. At firs glance, toed Tike av eagle on closer examination, yo elie it was utter. At fit glance, it was greyish black on closer examination, you Fou thatthe black wingshad green, yellow nd orange markings ayell spot and fines so faint they looked like indecipherable hero Elphies Most people, however, pa noateton to these hing ‘nor were dey interested the ust huss on they ek they had los their way they would pee on the ground and sat cursing and arene “ wearing, which wos sti to be the Best way of shaking off the demons that had led them asta. Splashing and dripping, dhe steaming urine rained ino the ‘outs, What happened! below the clouds ws of no consequence forthe iahabitants ofthe mountain villages. the Qin day, the goverment had set pa evant this region. the Han dynasty, the government had also set pa county here. Later on during the ‘Ming dyoasty an the Qing dan administrative snd her major reforms had heen intediced. Bot al shee accounts came from the ips of eatehide dealer ad opium waders plying dei ade jn the mountains. Ad forall hat hid beet si about goverment policies an eforms, the people sil had wo depend on themselves Tor ther veinond, Growing crop was reality fr the people: so were snes and insects snd miss aid maria. The mountains abounded with stakes, some a big around a «bucket, some a thin ae bamboo ‘hopaticks They often ltherel dough dhe buses by the oad ‘Ses and passing cated dealer who thought he had sighted 4 prey would be dealt «nasty blow. ewes wil the sakes were Iasi reatres ad that you locked a snake up ina eage and placeditin front af worn itwouldwrthe march up and down fn de cage unt icexhausted ele Extracting the gal Mero ‘sake i no ay job IFyou knock snake on the head its gall ‘ladder wil opt ts ta yo atc es tal ee gal ade il shot up tots head, IFyo take too long aot, the gal blader ‘il burt andl become dels, The nual wick sto dea bundle of Fira into the shape of woman and splash with ain. the wick workedandthe sake ined ielfround the strawligute youd ‘hen slash open the sakes abdomen and extract is al blade The snake, is exchement, would’ even notice i Then there vas the poisonous worn ts wictin's eyeballs woul tr greenish Jello: histingers black. The taste ofra beara seoulda’tseem iter {o him; even the biter shizome of Chinese goltread would’tes oll white cow and drink the fess ood, bt you had to teres on the mountains, they were what the illagers depended! on for their lives een the menutain passes were blocked by hea thrust whole dhrough the door into the fre and left burn seetion bysection unt they were spent, Then there was ape of tee with torsoften made special ips and columns — an knponing reminder ofthe pawer and presie fotk would cu the wood into planks for boats whieh they would ‘ezhou. The “people dwn there would saw up the timber, which they called “scented nen” and we i to cake lattice windows or makeup boxes, Ba the Journey down the mountain was ful of hazards. Ifyou ran into another group of peasants offering srfcet the rce god they ‘night well chop off your head and offer that wel you ra into ot men who cag po oyour boat Then ‘cs loud for bait. They grad dhe dred insets into poder and hi ein their ingerails When your atten they woul ick he power int your teacup, causing yn ode sndden death. This was called “easing the insect spl He wae bees that th ‘hele illages ules they had to, and even the did, they would’ are to drink jut any water. They woul make sure dere were live fishin pond before they helped themselves oa few mouth vee not dressed warty enough took alt fom the coldin'acave. Groping thet way, they reached the end pil of uma bo tha been carved with knives, They tke ap, He wquigges, but they were nde now what had happened there The seep ridges and deep gorges also made it difcuk transport heay timber, and a0 most of the tee west elu touched. They grew in majestic splendor, competing for slight and rain and mist and then died quietly in he mountains, The ty year. When tr upon, they bubbles, exuding a ingen sell of damp aad rot that hung heasy inthe air enveloped the walings of generations of wi Ieeneloped the illages oo, an blackened them There was o knowing where these villagers had come from, Some said Shas others sid Guangdong all conjectures ony They spoke language quite different from that spoken by the peatans of Qnjaing tthe fot ofthe mountain. or example they still used alot of archaic words —they sal "exch intead speak intend of a9 "ea instead of stand the dow” instead of “ep And they use the mort “pe a5 3 of the distinctions between close and distant relatives: they Seldrssed heirfather ae -uncle ther uncle as athe" their elder Sister ax “elder brother’ ther sistrv-law “eerste” and 30 fn. The tern “papa eae by way of Qanjapng and was ot widelyhad left Young Bing and his homeand was heard of more ought toe Young Bins "uncle Bu this had ith ode i i Amore deailedand authoritaive account of historyf thei sncestorswaspreservedinthe ancient songs that llsrived, Dusk ‘ame ear in these parts and during the lnigevenings te lagers Sosies hat about farm work ll tales about the hand, doze oF Alonorhing. The mospoplar places towhie aay an evening were tenure the houses of well fares where the skdeboardv and stoneswere beautifully plished with ad. Thealswere sometines fied wth anol lamp when Maes fed by wld boar’ reas, cast thrown light beams spilled from a wite lamps ewe which pine rosin bumed, The tuning rosin would pop, and in the itsalep, There ws ae ire burning the bra, to keep ont the colin winter and to deve at the moaquitoesin summer. The Fumes had tase the beans il he citing charcoal lack, that, syoueould’t tell the beams frm te cling. There wasa cold acs Inell of smoke everwhere. Peces of grey sting hang from th Ceiling, When fund by the heat sig ror he ie, the Tet do sprinkle of ashes that danced and dried thea before seuling inmotced on peoples eas and shoulder el knees. Delong was the best singer. He hid fine eyebrows and no ‘beard an! el wi Iie, tthe mention of his name, the women woul grin and start curing i. Hi voice was small and high pitched —a woman's voice. When he broke ito is masa tune, Waste ake ide your ead turning and sting an srapin ‘coving chills up and down your body. Exeryonc admired in What voice Delong ha He would just drop in, plying with a poisonous green snk hove fangshad been knocked out grin chee de bes row at im. and without much persuasion, he woul ix is gave n the beams pinch his throat once or tice and start a sing in eres Ae there many boues in Cente: Many pillars and many bean’ Ae there many bitds in Mt. Cock? Apart from dese aprompt “nonsense dis, he songs that amused the fos most were his raunchy love songs. He enjoyed Singing ther too (shall refi from ting the relly bold one) Walking or sleeping miss you bad, Walking eave you room by ny sie In bea eave yout oom to aide ‘When there wasa celebration ora si evento Day and ater fetal, everyone i the vilage wo and the dese They first sng aout dei fathers, then about thee sgrandiahers, henabout their greatgrandather and oon, going al the way hack to angling nglang was our Forelaher, bathe Younai was descended rom his parent. And who gave birth to Nonna’ father? 1 as Xingéan — maybe he was dhe Ningian mentioned in Tao Qisn’s poem, who “Tights fereely for his ay aspirations”. When Xingtan woe bor, the sky as Hike a vast expanse of white mud, the earth vat expanse of black mud the through, Xingtan ruined his as in one mighty blow and severed heaven fom earth But he pack! tow much force int his blow And hsaxe swung ond and lopped ol his heal aswell rom then fhe sed his nipple for eyes and his navel for a mouth, He Jughed ull the earth shook and the mountains swayed: he sung his axe and with mighy blows, knocked he ky upwards for thee years until reached its present height He haramered dawn dhearth for another thre years uit descended ots present lve wasn longtime ago, The ihnmatiarchasl thesis pauiarch we well as hett descendants were ving together on the the East Sea. As the fay svelled andthe clan gre bigger and bigger, the place became w crowded there wast even an open space the sizeof a mat Fie of dhe women who matic into the ‘an do share ne ese oom or viding rain, and there was ‘only one water bucket to be shared among sx unmarried dag ters How cou fe go om like that? And 0, at the suggestion of je up thee set of in the direction of West Mountain, evel in maplewoed Boats and Phoenix, they pis ad rakes (Geanpa let the east Oh afong long ine bend, (On ana on they went, Ob, them high They tured ack to look, Ob, thee Homes behind ‘On and on they went O, through agp in the sy, Granda and grandpa, Oh, their eats ere hea, The west ofthe, Oh ehe mountainestreteed so Te vad grew weary, Oh, was the end not near Ttyas sid that an oli historian had once visited Gianiaping and pronounced that there wai trth wo the peasants ficial suid that Xingian’ sea was chopped by Huang when or the throne. The for big fais ofthe pre of Wunmengre and en war broke ut between the cary kings, Huang and Vand, Mat the refugees led souuhwest along the fie fof the barbarians, The aange thing there not the slightest eference 1 the terrors of war in the ancent songs But the folks of Cocks Hea Village never eared fr the words Eyebrows fant a wer presage a poor Having entertained his folks with his songs for over decade He wets probably Young Bing’ father ell hit, “Papa” I the artisan dda sind hi, Pride, shoutar Young Bingin alone atonce args Then, she, to, wou gh The kiln maser hal come to the village. Young Bing wante to go to the Kiln with him; but che Kln mater woukl’' ear of inthe Three Kingdom's period and had taught dhe peasantshow to build ks. Since dhen, the Kiln masters woul, whenever hey vst this pce, hang pa ptr with Ube Ja sgn® and fie an ynefive. When the fre was i, the in master would fa it gently with a goosefeather fan — Did dhe wie Zhuge Liang Women an chikren were forbidden ogo nea the ils white the lads sent to cary bricks were forbidden to we foul langage {he ade would gather round his ofler hin cartes and en respect about the outside world, Shien was probably the mos it ourteos of hen all omar the Kila ater, With ih master of the hone, and so he simply dn have to keep hwo peered atacertan part ofabiteh or acow: Once he wasting & cow with ack when Young Bing’ mover walked past. The ‘roman loved tsi things ups so0m ashe was back atthe wile ue and sated whispering into people's ng, Only when she sa dit Ren in the Since then, Idiot Ren found that wo matter where he went — no pain showed on ise *F_ Mana, __ Mama ot Ren overtook Young Bing and, seizing him by the nape of ‘When the ie old man realized ‘Young ing burst int tears But tears were sess —Idlot Ren Inewallto well hat the ime Young Bing mother arrived, he'd Ihe one and the half mute cul’ tll him Ad 0 ot Ren found Young Bing eying. Thinking that he had been bitten or ad ot hes aly sera on, ry yourselt wo death You ca walk without stumbling, but Acie ke this, Young. Bing woul ty into a age. He woldroll hiseyes until he pupils sappeared the veins on hisforehead astood out and he would bite his hands and wear hishairasi he Onlookers would sigh “Better the were dead! th Young Bing’s mother. He calle her "au, his wee eve Sree. And when he helped her husk ie with mortar and pea or the villager prea idle umours about her he woul! lap to her ‘defence and try to get tothe bottom af ehings, Nelle way, his Sted up noendof suspicion. Gospsneve eave awidovein peace for fewas inevitable dat lot Ren and is “au should begin hear stoviesand hat the women soll pot their fingers them ‘Young Bing’ mother looked at leioe Ren with narrowed si lng eyes she tried to work ont way of Finding im a wie. As iif, she often went ober villages sn knew aot of women. She approached a few families, bt none woul send her the honoacope of prospective brie He dit really surprise her thong tn vecent years, Cok's Hea Village had fallen om hard times and there were nny bacheloes beside Kot Ren. For thumber of years, therefore, Kot Ren held tle hope of geting rie and he aged gral. He had heard that here wav kind ft ower spel which could make 3 woman alin Hove wih ou — shar from the head ofthe woman you fancied Ti it leaf on a tree ose your house, and when the breeze blew, repeat the spell evento tines He ted i uc i id" Tot Ren had a thong he wes ang. When he col ‘si, he would lok surprined infuriated, sorry, or even digifed it compassionate As he nodded his ead, dhe black mole athe tape a his neck roe ad fell, He ye expecially ond of ru shoulders wth peuple above the common rn, ike Kl maser, Saw masters, merehants, scholars, fortune tellers and so an. When hhtalhedtothem, he araysspoke formal Mandarin, tera ound fof faery, he would hin sub to them that he wat welaersed in istry and knew about quite ew of the peasant heroes dat had risen in rebelion in the Sui dynanty (SB1-G18), Actes, he would fren fish out rom hs packet a piece of paper wit heft line of sn atitheial couplet scribbled on it and with apparent modest, he would invite the newcomer to complete the couplet to 3c Irhether dhe man knee something about tonal pater in lassie nu ga bi of tatu that. Itot Ren always went elon the mountain, on dhe pretest that he fen, Suddenly, he would be gone sudeny, he would be back, no fc knew when. His eget garden was overgrown, the weeds tal pig could hide dere: When he came bac, he abaya brought ith him some fancy playthings — a gle bo, a broken bam Janter, an cls band, an old mevepape, or «smal photograph fsomebady or other, As he srutted about ina pair of enersized Feather shoes, the cackelack af the shoes aed to hiss of aot Rens ater, Zong Bhout growing vegetables oF feeling pigs. He found his Feather shoes an offensive sight. You sine! Why the hell do you Aexpalinking olf ie tha? chop your fet off one ofthese dys Yow might aswell chop off my hea. seek reincamation in Bianiaping -Qianjaping! You think youl eat gol andl abitsiber ther Mir Wang of Qanjaping wears lather shoes wth iron cleats, they make fine cater when he walks Have you watched anything ke thaleather shoes with iron cleats, essa good while beforehe snapped nck, "You can't ln & slope or wal in eter in Teather shoes esis, they don't ein any ai you only get ame feet wearing them, What's 30 greatabout them” en aking about the ion cleats, not the hoes: “Only mule ad horses wea io fr shoes. You want to e an Feng shat his father had insted hs comrade Riot Re ew iow a rage and growed at his ater vindictive, "Yur eli see Tings ave al dried up. Bet you dit kno. ‘Whim! — the tailor hurled shoe at Tit Ren, hitsing hin smack on the head. He would not tolerate such blatant lack of Fespect from his son, Hmph lot Ren was scared but he refed ru his bead. He went coffin aha into snother room to work on dhe shade ot his ol arn ‘On hearing that Tot Rens father ad le fy at him, the fads ‘ame to ind out why, Hoe Ren denied ic aly ae changed the subject in all seriousnes, This damn place! W's wo conservative The las didn understand the meaning conservative" so the word shot up in vale and so di Kot Ren. Hl was ten another. Sometimes it waste atta eupets sometimes the ‘asic band, and sometimes the making of imelins Once he even snmouneed mysteriously to the lds that at Qanoping he had Tear how o mine call he was ow ging i fr gold the mountains es gol! Clitering old! Anal he di disappear in the monttain for some time with shovel, A fw lds who wanted to benefit from his find sped on him for several days, on Alsconer that he sever did any ral digging them wih a tolerant smile, a pat on the shouler, ad few encouraging words “This isthe beginning, haven't you hear Someone hascome rom the county hin Qianjaping now. Take ny word fori." Or he would say, “Thies the beginning take my word I'isnow tomorronandthere'snosavingthe seedings" And then he woul lok over his she, a i there was always some And sometimes he would simply sy, “Just you wait, maybe These remarks impressed hisriends sd won their adiration, Dut ehey coun’ gute out what he meant. Something was ging to "begin has he going to bila imekiin? Orig gold? Or was he going to eave the mountain, as he'd once she would, and find fay tat onl take hi in as their adopted sonia" But daze by his igleater shoesand himeditative look everyone thought he mus The boss something or other and no-one dared wouble him when they needed help for mundane jo ke ploughing Fels or fling Today counei was hein the temple wo deus the deals offering to the rice god — custom Idiot Ren owned upon He had seen the oso Quanjaping perform the spring iv on that was rel offering. But look at this gxbforsaken place Here the ieldswere ploughed onlyemce a year, the land was’ properly filed and irigaion wax poor, Hen the ell could you grow any. Ahing? Bat then what di he care whether there weve crops in the Hels, chat hae nothing todo with his grand plans Nevertheless, Te went to the temple to have look and saw his father kneeling st Uke the others before the at. He sneered. How ridiculous!Trimming with se-conience, he sit the ladles him, “Oh, es" The bemused lad nodded vaguely Feeling that one understood hin, it Ren was ersten He suened his gaze wo the ing dhe sdeseunsof her romsers had split. exposing the sft white flesh, bt she wasn't amare of Int Ren squint repo the txsers through Heap eel be could todo the ret Like sake, hig the nave gap spirale nmbly oun He cues. 3 mn the vote soot face In hs in, he had alte sated to kis the woman —her shoulders kneecaps even here, ‘he women liked to vst each other They would sie along, Deneath the eaves and slip ito Xvor Ys hose, and dere they would swap news and gosip. They went on and on, undl afew Teitesot ea ha gone dow ther hroats and the les the wsne il thee Faces gre ale and they Toucket had risen ew inches nck lke adc an that soethi bad ae ‘que righ because the New Year was just ound the camer adit hada’ snowed a¢ allthis month. And Young Bing’ mother, just, tain, where she had gone wo diver a aby, brought back dhe news that Third Grandpa of Cocks Tal had been biten by & huge ays ater, by which time ome of his feet had been hall eaten aa ty ras All ad omens it scemed. ale for he was sen gathering arboo sho aye cone ele wk that Third Grandpa was sill ‘ayo. And so Third Grandpa seemed there and yet not there fields, wile the few miserable ne et sanding looked ke chk Tso happened that in ecent years he birth rate in the lage inthe iceur that talon ey to serape bot nd there was tle ree orrow grain and thi parked off chain reaction — everyone that she, 00, ew how to ake advantage of he ne ould nib away atthe clan records and str the anceston ser the a had Kept a cat there, les the as peace. The cat must he treated wel, and w very year wo hundred Pounds of gain from the communal plot were set aside uy, Young Bing smother pot bal filled with ee. cling out to her neighbour that she we going to fed theser andl sonalivecould'¥i@"Thewllagers seemed wave {ater ploy and some pointed an aceusing finger a er Looked dean an Iwck, ue she jus fred te, she wold dep in her heavy buttocks arou dhe high threshold of every household To those y together, dheireyesstartng ou their socket Atti he gr ‘Minny not ech flesh om bin Bat then gai, e's that Minny Hon, Hn, ‘one houseliold after another tl they were eaten up with Fear and anxiety. Then witha crooked Ginger, she gaered up the tea leave pli ‘hechikren. There was that mac dillerence between them Bt ther, and they noticed Young Bing’ mother alas hung her clothes to dry‘she-deil!" The Tallr cuted from his rant door one dy. ingal the eases her toes knew atonce whothe curses ap twee meant for. Snorting, she tore off wo hunk of acl And so they cane enemies. But Thor Zhongman di his hou, ste! the Tailors pockmarke fice, and smeared a rn glowerel at hi, and then steed up the Keep women and children at ann’slengdh— tha’whata eterna should do, Whether ‘who had made good, your word “carried weight The lads spent books left by his ith nce, he ‘ofthe Sping and Autusnn Perio, Lu Dongbin the Taoist god, Ma Yun, dhe fam Liang — his do always dazed Took in his eye, i he was no aes audience butspeaking to the deal The lads sa there staring thi ‘What the {isso se master Zhoge Ling invented the mecha Jong 2go. Bur the rt was and strong enought it tensa tons, Not ike nom, hes ou get ore he sighed and lamented, the more disgruntled he as wth fe. He fanned hits but he wa sl hot al are in such a sinister way. Danut The workmanship nowy ut hard and star. The more he chewed o worried he was that without the wite and learned master Zhoge E's Head Village would soon ome toad end, And woul i Bic gate eee ng an ofering to ne wondering what he shout do Something seemed have gone wrong. He pondered ypon ian inthe end sealed he wash ces very few villagers brought Ii home with them tomake lathes she had took for hse Something he coul’t put up with, I'he rc they served wasnt Dae ike grain Pick up his chopaicks,Rent Hey, you cripple!” He shouted, He shouted again but thought beter of and went upstairs look or him: He found that his sons being, nonguito et and things ke his easy barn laser had al gone- Only an empty bed sd few lage eather jars used for pickling vegetables were left hchind. Pele weyetables had lng rn ot the jars stood tune dan in the comer ke prisoners hung the ees Then there wasalioa coffin—the Talore oie for whom theo. had ita ng arvogant the mide ofthe rm, snoring The Tiilor realized that yomehing hal happened: he didn't The sight of eat Mashing past the for of the wall made in realize something ee The dev! Yes thay dhe dei he'd seen in hin dream. nit this delat ws standing ois hin legs with ftsforepaws cupped before is chest na gesture of greeting, ring spade ally chim. Te beast pink eas, pink eet and ood sot eyes That was eanse ith me onge onthe sn that what dhe books si? Whe beat el nt dhe bands cotam evil woman, she could gar it into a dangerous love potion. "Ren he cripple must have bee bewitched y thisrat. And Damn! Rem the cripple ust hat was a why the vile was doomed! Swearing and cursing the Tailor struck atthe rt with an ion roter an shattered jas but dhe a's tail ha disappeared nto a Trevi in the al He dashed into the next rom, prise open a Soovlen eabinet and bbedl hole ino wo abo baskets but the Tat got aay. He seated dawn the sad mae a racket poking ind rking at every suspicious spot. In no tne, bowls were Sinise! peces an he water og ns knocked over, while the Table, chairs and benches were let erouching or kneeling on the ingastew swaying oF about to cllape He started aire Stoke ut te ratanlthegessy bed-ctaeaughtfie and went spin anes small Hechoppedoff ther eal bs before throwing them fect in the courtyan ouside. When he tired sound to lok, he agai caught sight of Young Bing’ mother looking easly he tection. Thistade hilo bik legate histeth, pred gashed hisweeth, poured the rats ashes into alas of water and drank tin one gulp. He tured black inthe face ad sat dan, een weak and speat Alter whi, he let the house Teva noon andthe cocks were crowing. Buti was quit in the village itscemed asf one ws thee, sith plate had ded. Mount Cock loomed above the ile. Below its peak — Cocks Head — there was a jagged lif with multicoloured eins in the roeks Some ofthe rocks looked like words and spears hers ike amnnersand bate deur some were lke helmets and parts of sit of armour, others like steeds and chariots The rocks had looked up, and it asi bod was cascading from the mountain top straight ont his face, embrting him ina tag bate scene The Tailor fl it was hance calling him, Te smiling face of nol nan appeared rom bebinea melon ells by the ron Have you had les, hong?” es" He ananered with a weak sie “Going to make a offering othe ree goo?” They fl leneyond te ea groves was the forest Here, the tees were atl ss the ky Some of them had thin bamboo strips ied round thee trunks to mark hem out for coffins, The vilagers would, when they thei coffin and leave mark om it. Then they wold come back 0 inspect it once or wie every year But Tito Zongean seldom Came int the mountains and had not bother to pick ot te. Infact he hated these damned tees foe tei ei inten. Agente ‘man does hingthe prope way: there's propery losaproper tay to sand, even a proper way to dies he mustn't Tose his ign Wen he des, When you di, yo de, why al these preparations Tied come with hae, He'd pick a tee, lop off the branches, sharpen dhe tp into a piercing take and end hse by throw inghimelfonto the stake. It'd be alorius death, He'denct people tnho had died ike that One of them was Gipple Long ener at Maridong, who ded few years ago. The mas had abd cough his patience ran out and he wet an killed hte After his death Teas foun! that he bad caked the si in frome ofthe stake into a criseros of loowe earth with his fingers: Yu could ell ithad been spainfl death glorions death, The event hel made tito the ‘lan record He picked outa small pine ee a sated t9 chop ofits ‘branches clumsily wth is talors hands They had wanted to offer up Young Bing’s head a scree tothe rice god To take the ie of this cles blockiead wasn fact, (do him a goud urn He would be spared the pain of having his tars boxed, and he woul no longer bea torment to his mater Bu when the cleaver was sed, there wae clap of thunder. And eres. His eww that hares were ba because Crowing Cack Demon vas making tobe Lak st Mount Cock over thete an its peak, Ca 's Head. The deron as pecking at wo stp of land in your village ad had gobbled ‘pall your crop, Head, This inobed C Involved Cock’s Tail Village, which was aoa lange trace few hundred illagertvederethe majority grew opin for tving and were quite pemperous. The place had bred ‘numberof cols, some were silt have become fan writers nal positions fn army nit i injang. When thy came ack ovis thei families, hey aly ed by eight burl fells For Slnghtera cow w celebrate Ando the cane hide merce abo deava there. Atte village ageentrance there wasawelland large some ime, i was al that thing ha! gone wrong hecase ae ‘omphor ceo gather some bites, an had broken branch From then on there was enmig- between the wo villages: Later ‘on, another story went the rounds: aridpinned the blame on Cocks Head Vilage. But no hat evidence ‘ould found, and the cate was eft fizte cut isl. Even the Vilges. An ofc did make @ wip here once, but only to exact, come for building a road. ‘hin the folks in Cock’s Tail Village were sire that Cocks ead Vilage was going o blow up Cocks Head they were furious The Gock's droppings had Lept thei so ih, how could hey let anyone destroy Cack's Head? The two parties exchanged biter teu, the lcs from Cork's Heal ile eres Bt ow the village was stil very quiet, Cocks crowed comets tiabled, and fom one ofthe houses cate the ound of a wom, swearing at her man, hough the word were at once ab the heayy pervane sence: Young Hing stumped along, striking 2 he shel outa fe, dropping al e grinned knowingly at Tailor Zhongman’s mangy black dog and aking howled at some banana trees Lately, he ha tak ancesral temple — he probably had fongotien the big meal he had there the day hishead was tobe chopped of. Sole presed forward and, rocking and swaying, made his final spine in that, Lets make qu kowtow os shall we? ‘Nol Make queat cow dung! The mele pilet Ooh! This lump. Young, Bing beat the gong, eked the snot running down his The kid crm hi to cet before pile of conn, Then they presse his hea doyn unt snow los ouched the mucky heap Leckily for Young Bing, a group of grownups was coming vets divert and they broke up relict, leaving Young Bing hat the kids had w-dung When Young Bing finally relied | happened, and eraned his neck to ye what was scrubbed clean, is hai washed to a sheen, and its hipbones stood cnt clears is mouth looked wet asus, ana it stood there ‘ewig the cud, you could sell dhe our of eu rising fom a stomach, But Young Bing was tall, he wasnot alti anima, A big man carrying a big hatchet came up. He jabbed the hatchet into the earth, spp the upper halo his bey make Picked up a large bow of wine, and gulped i dren, Young Bing eas fascinated by the hatchet. Ite ginning sery cating edge wih ng ol and seemed to fete pip perfect ex ela it ould Ay into your hand any moment and, without your exert ny strength, slice eh = ished drinking: he threw down the bow smnashing ito pieces. Then he snatched up the hatchet ape1 his arm and struck The eth shook then General Ma Ys narehed so ‘ox would he bcheade before each bate the oven with fing Cock’s Tat heer weit pas theo fl forward The sound Kou ing was frightened, his upper lip etched and he started esa thread unde he grown fet. Itlooked ikea lthering crn Hesqutted dwn and flit his fingers levassiny. Herubbed ml bly were ion his clothes that noked nice! Soon his stained with ox blood. The blod probably taste a it tele int his mo, thee ol rman rolled hse The kids looked at his face and burst out ughing, clapping their hands He laughed More people were arriving and there was qui rep, abashetn herand, heen ngBing smother hada the meatwastobievided. Whem she he " bloated with anger “What the hell ave you done to yousel2* She el of his mouth, pling so hard that ped a his eyeball coll ot move, bt sil he ‘Now Fl have to clean you up, You'll be the death of me yom Youn Bing’ i you go out for? They've going ud hurried to the temple Young Bing fellaslep inthe chai. When he woke wpe heard the clang of gongs the dsance, dhe he heard the baring of ox then there was silence, Later on, he had no idea what time twas, he ear aluey of seuerying fooestepr outside, people eling, and sharp metal clang, Soon afterwards, he heard the alin ofthe women Something was happening outside In the evening, amidst glimmering pine torches, the villagers vs amis glimmering pine eorches, he villa athered atthe temple, inside and aut. All were we seemed dotted wih white speck that rose and fell ding antears Young Bing’ company her ees were red and she looked ke at innocent hil hoxp the other momen asshe dabber the comers her eyes with her eve every then She wasitng beside Ermen’ swf, Holding herby the hal, ‘he sifed and si in her enters seven, “That's Me! I's de same with plants I's time ogo, ou go. You must take ic bral You ll have your sons. ut what about me? ve idea whe er ‘She sid tin all sincei, but the wom ad ight, somebody wil got killed. What does it When you g The women sll sed and wed inl hele ‘Young Bing’s mother was probably thinking back the til ofthe white headband draped ener her chest rose and fll, The light wa rowing brighter and to formed dhetmstes into a ring and st up in thei nia rmakeshife Kitchen range, on topo which st big ion pot. The 4 nee lore th tin the month wth the ot and then poke “eat meat from the se The firewood! cracked te pine ro a bill 9p Fos poppe steam surged fom the pot. Those nea the fie the heat inter tsotches ad drew back instinctive The long 0 ripped from it seemed bight and shiny, ike fire beads sinking histoetandsereamedlikea mad ma ‘ oth a pair of fiery eyes parked. You'd the eeling, orete er tha ese, even Suetche! out, ow crshed and fetened, huge one moment darted the next her silhouettes contorted at random into all weil shapes Delong’ wife, come here!” Young Bing's mother's name ms cled, Hereyeswere blurred sth eas aid the wail beating her knees. Bring your bon! ere, ‘Ws human fest sett, Young Bing Young Bing, iting om the cond of ch pants an looking annoyed, was puted tothe font. He grabbed apiece of some srt of ng and stack nto his mouth but it dt ast ait" SomeYoung Bing, And the huge looming shadow ofa and appeared he cain sate he wanted took for sme odd jobs un ‘of riflemen had pased through Qjaniaping aldwgh itwas true dae flemen had pane through Qiang {hey did't goto Cocks Head Vila me disappointing ‘one in master, the ether a teacher, Perhaps he sould go home and perstade his people to patch up their quarrel wth the Cocks and everyting could be srsighten Ieiot Ren arived home to find his father yng in bed and Seriously wounded — the day the Ti rd his life pith the sake, be ba been saved and brought home by a man shering firewood in the foes Qu is an ngritefi wn, oF ele Zhongaan would’ have aken such a desperate step: Although 2 Ihe poor man wl die of broken hart.” es hard beng a father, hard indeed. Just ok at q's festires. See how u's roms and eyes do (4s de vor tha bing ba hak oes parents és mother died ery, mayhap ewent fhe feud, Ttscemnedagodaent portant toimprove hist "Well aybe there's no need to blow up Cock's Hegd’ Asim the situation for dhe slondy snd conlescendingy, “If you cat bow ip hen keep on of twa But then, well to be fa, be absolutely fr that ig Cocks Tail he was quick tof ‘thers i calling Cocks Tal Vilage {_-ing Goek’s Tai) came swiking their gongy and brandishing dei spears, theyve rel nopointreally—"He closed hiseye and dravled thisoutand then he looked up and swept hisauience with ferocious glance But vee haeand heroic way. No-one pd mich attention to what he had ‘sid, ual were impresed by his ferocious glare, Sensing thi ax ‘cared away. He tre open his jacket, snatched up a hoe, jabbed ly atthe ground and roared, “Revenge! I'l ay d Featlealy heightened his bt, fearlesly he rshed i and out ofthe temple, fearlessly he cuted wo the latrine. Hisactons made treryone ok at hiv with vepect. When he realiced by and by that ‘ie ox horn tad not sounded today and that there was noting bappened to mec “Jt, please look afer my father for me inthe days to come ‘dase meatal hae lost iff hada'cbeen fr you always Second Uncle, do yo il get those nagging pin in your hack? Please take care of yoursl- Certain dings I'm o lame wanted to gather some firewood for you and sock tp in the Fut, that time when ¥ repaired the orbards ory, 1 ‘hen you want to, Wear some good cates when yu wan 0. An rep won't beable otk tery for ng, Plane keep these done toto tpi things dhe past, hope you won't hol hem against me once sole twa melons from your gaden and served them up for dhe kin master, you de know that Ke hurts met think of tnow. Pe come special to apolgize o you, to yout Fonyiveness. Curse me yon wan o "Ya, are you, re you dong the washing? This time 1,1 ealy have to go pase, plese don't he sd ma gonetfor hothing, ean tight and nosehola;Leanteven looker my ‘plo of land But Me shore and death comes usa im as long a ou stil eae for your other Shire, TH be happy and once. You mus. youmast be strong Things get beter sn Hehadhissorrw under contol and only sifed now nel then But everyone was touched anid there was sadness inthe ai Shien, our brosher, don talk ke thi! ‘No, my mind is made up He bung his hea an sated at broken te on the groun Noone knew what he wanted odo, or what he was going to do. Butthesquiek lacklack ofhisteathershoeson the flagstone could sul be heard evidently he had no ye gone and made a mare of hiner. But then so mich wsgng on in the village — hens were Found on root tops, bulaloes were caght eating crops and Wg Bing’ mother was aways quarreling with someone over Young Bing — no-one ha the tnt to Gnd ot what Io Ren wasup to Hashing about here an there. Gradually people gor used hin ait gh, ‘One day, the Titr shouted hisson out ofthe howe fot Ren wipe his face and strode to the temple. The people inside wee shout tile a complaint t the athories. But since the villagers7 ay complaints withthe authorities, no shout the wording ad dhe form of their heads together and recalled a term once used by Tal Zhongman. At Mayhap we should call ta sypplictio Idiot Ren’siing hai one ab Supplication” sounds beter, 02" No, "report i beter ‘We must show proper respec to the authorities The best way of showing ou respects to callita report.” it Ren smiled tolerant how ie forse What he knows is completely out of dat salled a supplication changed? report Is term, Lito. But of course you think dat even Trust me and yous won't go wrong, my dear uncle and rot ers There was a heasy downpour y ult the old ‘noms be swept away? We're too conserve here! Yes we are Goto Qianjapingand have awatch Because theyll we soya sauce Don tyou understand? D od ting i rab. Just think, can we sil Ge wat you all a 5 ‘what cstie bands are made They'te ms ‘upplcaion? And precisely Because of thal, we have ys There f note to lowe, So pt your heads problems cropped up The ers prefered w tse cas ders would Father sticktothelinar calendar while headorated the se af wha he called “the westerscalendat the ele that to avoid becoming aghing snc, th shoul we “sign tures” instead. One moment, he wis kt in thought. sther moment he was kind an tolerant the next moment, he nord modesty in agreement withthe others — only drag them back fot but come to think a tan making himself out tbe a Uberabainded adocate of the ew school “ou pockmarked ripple, you've got hry ears!" Zhuyi'seMes tad suddenly exclaimed Idiot Ren wi {© laugh t of, shaking his hea and syaining ‘ven more, He realized that he shoul etre he set the seal on a als ph the dayUU Tom away wit dem, Ald siden emembcred something pec Bate by hiling sn ox, but itd work. It seemed to have been tad i happen. Was t Now hat he'd mentioned i everyone 1 Bing swove, Mans and some nd Young Bing most snysterios, fst hin: he (Col te that these wo express are atally the dination symbols yin ad ym Tey cided 0 tap this ving medium’ power of dination, So they quickly took dwn & door and wed to carey Young, Bing to he sate outside the temple mms Bing” The nen fll answer, deep furrows marking thee heads a they rained to chat him, their head Bowe ‘Yung Bing had enjoyed the ide onthe door and easbeaming thewrinkleson hisface all smote nt He taped on the do tha had stopped rocking. When he diseonered that it woul’ he perked pat once. He looked 10 te. For every pice of dun ng he pu ito bis mouth, there was a piece dropped onto the ground. He would i invariably tre dhe wrong Alirection, When he caught sght ofthe bits he had dropped eater fn, he eke! them up and stuck them into his mouth Hee clapped his hands. A sparen called he looked up and diction. ily, he pointed his finger in a certain direction andl mumbled, "Papa Vicor! The men leapt into the ir shouting for joy. But what was he pointing a2 What exactly dit mean? Look Es ‘erevices ofthe tle oof the raters hal rotted and looked! worn nd charred, like an ed P eighed dow by its heay kg wings. From under the eaves came “Higher” rhymes with retire”, Mayhap we should make i up fire se! “Higher hiymes with fie. We shoul atack with word “carried weight” And 30 they The dogs in the village had got used go the Baring of the ox hors On heating i, their fur woul bse, and they would Seramletheowgh the doors walls shoot off ike anovstraightatwhere the homswereupon the heels dhe moving figures, their hearts ull of hope. On the Hopes, a evssrads, or inthe gis, corpus ould be fowl ? s meeon the corps, raring them to pieces, and The dag woul pr crunch the bones. They hall grown ft from thi. Their eyes bloodshot, dey dashed sb inthe all rases. You could’ ee them, all you cull ee wa he rans moving — coring tines Uke Inanyagrasedragom om the move, Where the dragons’ heads were there would be blond sins and lumps af sh and pices of hone andthe whole village was tered with the remains of dei spol Sometimes when you chanced toi abun of firewood in the Kitchen, aranger's hand or foot might suddenly fll onto the ‘The days ha grown very fnterested in humansall ofa sudden, ‘When a fe villagers gathered together fora duson, of when esate to quae, the dogs would be there a once, They people “ : tongues hanging out ike Mtering ribbons ike ripples. Iwas id that when Zins grandpa was aking nap under a re one ey him nel it hin, istaing Young Bing sited on cha Ass, Young ings mothe ale she Ant Ab ‘The dogs came, took if and sauntesed off They seemed 0 have lst interest in human excrement, They came because they Tal ee elle hey had o pt in an appearance somehow les they would seem tonarroganttorhelr masters Life had taken a tar hom dey owed cies earns and the she sid, "Why's here this dread sme abot you?” The w The wo women started! to sniff a found that thelr ands stank, ther slevesstankand even their wooden washing csi anton baskets hil dreadful sell Only then ed it dae on them that there ha been ptr sel inthe ie Kor In the last few days, certainly no one had gone pt ot the con dng and the pig manire an he yards were blac an siny How ould the place nt tik? ‘Young Bing’s mother’s fay was very particular a tes so ae hal leaps hep p sine special habits of her own, She gota bundle of stave and some tea dregs, cated Young Bing’ soiled pantsan the chart the stream, and ube and serubbed them tie. Sis couldn’tgetridof the smell Butshe wasted fexhasted. Her eyes alld upward involuntarily as se gasped for Breath, Although in the pt she ad taken quite afew ca and placentas to buildup her health, lately there had heen to food to keep her going. As she srg to getup. she fl idly and collect onthe ground She had wo idea how she manage! ocr home. Anyway she Ahscowered! mosquito net. she broke dows i tears and wailed, Mama and Papa! How crt you've been to me! Yu loved ees ster, thie ster, but ever me! Ob! Noteven aight tora wah basin ‘Young Bing watched her dni then he bet his stall gong hesitant in an apparent effort please her ‘She turned o look at her son and wiped away thes ning roe hisnose wih the pal of het hand. Then she node at him Bindly, “Come, come and sit beside Mama.” “ies, She clenched her teth she spa ut dhe words Her eyes — Diack bulging pupils encircled by large rings of white — were ike peacock eather Ireava horfing ight, Young Bing wasstined ily beside her 0 and find that heartes devil+¥__ Maal” He sid softy tying fel out where he stood “You goto go and look for your pap He's called Delong. He Isat eyebrows aaa ead, and he can sing some stupid Mama” Remember this he may bein Chensho,orin Yer, Some people have ee hes there” "F_ Mama You must tell that beast haw he's made fe ell for wa They beat you up every, and everday Tm bulied. The more re spectable Eile all treat Hke dit We'd have long been dead ‘nu for dhe cat mals But then death would have been blesing focus Whatwe have opt pith worse than deah! Go tel him. ell hn how we steed Young Bing da’ say aor thistime. His upper ip twitches boy. Mamas go by Young Bing smerny {wh egetbl ket her and she tagger ows wp tvs wee wh sh her, Some si she a it om sk te ors hate fos of Ci Tai Vilage a ile ey tatcn nse ha rnin demon and et heya ad fen down cif = Nome o these stories cou be proved: But Senco a setae dy had been deve by he * Young Bing waited and aited for Mama to return. The san fac sei tn gered akan the sow oot om te arrow monn ck in ont ofthe hee od no ler be tare bl tere rs no i of hat ania fe. The mop toesseemed tobeon the rampage. and he itched allover fom their bites. The lie old man seratced wo furiously he began wo Bee He lost his temper. He yanted to punish that woman: He sormed Iwo the house knocked over the is, splashed tes onto the be, and poured ashes into the hauging witer jog. Then he piched up stone and hurled tat the ron pa, smashing it He had armed the world upd down verthng had snk into darkness, tll here was no fai Tar shile of fet ouside the house. Only the moan ote pock marked tllor rose now and then fom the house next door The lade old man fell alep with the roaquitoes and insects buzzing round him. Then he woke up, hungry, and stumble out into the courtyard The moon was fll. ts gleaming white Hight had rendered ‘veything as clear as it was in daytime, so clear yu felt you could ee every tre, every ade of grat on the hill opposite. Where the stream gure there was rippling sheet of vey water with a few Dlackshadowshereand there, aif holeshad been poedinit They ere of couse the sthoncttesf racks sting prouly i the water The lrogshad stopped croaking, they had probaly gone to seep, too. But somewhere inthe distance the dogs barked together, ai something hal append Young Bing siti front of the chicken coops, hs dum in his mouth. He thought fora while, eben he made is way at of the Mama used wo bring him along when she weno deliver babies Mama could bein those places ow. He had wo find her He valke along the moonlit mountain trac, sering his way Ahvough heayroling mistandeloudshestnteredalong hisbody Jeaning slighty forward! and his wobbly knees Knocking at every Step, si they might give way and snap any moment, He presed ‘on, mindless dhe time the distance, ntithetppedenabanbo hat and a fata shield, and sent them roling with ratte. Hemuttered something, relieved himself, and went on again, There ‘esa hman body fing onthe grou a ite farther on it was boxed her ears and pulled at her hair, but he could’t wake he His hands touched her breasts: Remembering dimly thatthe fat ump cole be afed, the fe sucked. When he could dea anything from it he los interest Buc thew old man climbed on er bells, lene ack, presed fori, ad omfortabiy suppor Papa" He was ied. Resting his body om the woman that was ke Mama, he fell asleep, his Read between ter breasts. the moonlight, both faces were papery white, and the earings gle tenea i That, to, was cis moter. i | * ‘Young Bing pointed a¢ the gentle curving end ofthe eaves at ‘one corne f the temple and Laughed foolishly There was nothing unl about ta ed teat old wounded phoenix The eesandoilof these mountains er, itsimply had given birth tothe phoeai’s eaters, forthe ls were baked inthe ilage kilns. Perhaps feathers were too heay ad could ms, to the quiet mornings ad i the equal quiet night And soit grew ad. But tail held is head i] parridges the thrushes and the pith ket had de ancient tines, when tha! eth ancestors of Cack's Hea Vilage toa better place Two lids were coming out of the temple carrying a large ‘auldron. When they saw Young Bing hey were taken aback. st that Young Bing Has’ quid?” ‘Not u's cur yet, I suppose. Quasar ck The Yana has probably forgotten 7a” 4 me in — Lately the vilgershad taken tie to Young Bing The et ‘hat he had duped them al they een blamed thelr biter defeat ‘him, He ad brought them bah, ad it was because of hen ‘lon the cauldron, ad when dey sw that Young Bing had ae hd crushed ithe goteven madder. One of hem somped up to Young Bing and tapped him on the face, The lad id really hi Duar, but 1 Bing fell ikea bundle of sr. The other drew tua sharp kif a poked at the tp of Young Bing’s now, and Young, Bing els sprayof spite on his ace, "Come on. sap yo P mouth, quick. OFF offer you up as a sacrifice to my ke "You dare!“A cold voice rose behind the ad le eel and saw pockmarked face lsd wi rage Tailor Zhongmman was most ptcular about seniority in the ‘an. He prodded the lads in the forehead with his inger and The lads were at once conscious oftheir postion inthe ean, cious that Tailor Zhonganan was infact Young Bing’ uncle ‘They exchanged alook, voting the Talorseyes and went to pickTailor Zhongman made his way home. He t ep, suppres his fear and orting, his upper lip tvitching And itwan a good while belore he singel ase his bony hand, The hand was skinny and cold, tke the claw of 3 He wipe! Young Bing’ sface, drove aay the flies buzringe Young Bing’s head, and fastened 2 bation om Young Bi He had no idea who had made this coat, he had ever made ny Papa hos your papa *F_ Mana” ‘east hhand, he went down the steps in sllence. Fr some strange reason. fhe srdenly remembered the many clothes he had made, long dried tomards him, Hike headless ghosts loan before his eye. this, he clutched Young Bing’s hand even more tightly, "Ds iad Fm your papa. Come with The Tailor knew where the young andthe od, the weak an the sick, ted, He went up to each house with his earthenware The eerly were ll waiting for hin bythe threshold yf by agreement. On eng him, they got up, holding on tothe door for supporter leaning on walking sticks and uodded knowingyat himangi the old herdsman, pleaded, “Zhongman, Tanto and et some hay the cw The itor replied, "You go. Han wat The old man toucred out to the fies. When he finished ‘ing the hy, he wang his hand and came tterng hack He twoka china bowl fo the eilor and poured the qui throat in exo gulp. afew drops sill linging ike beads wo hisbear Have x seat, Zhongman, etter more o's ht and dy dy Another old man who was rocking baby in hisarms asked the ok atthe baby and std with tear in his eyes, “Zong, don’t you think should pu on new gown? The me you made. it hast been worn yet” The tailor blinked to show that he agree The ld man turned and went ito the house, Mera while, he ‘ame out again: the baby had anew gon on, with longevity cain ‘hung round his neck. The od man’s thin sell hand stroke the new gown, making it ne. “That's beter, That's beer efi quite well” Babies mes up clothes easily ‘The man fed the liquid to the baby rst and shen took a big sulp inset, The ug as now very ight. The tlor thought for awhile ane remembered tha there was one more senior he had et to st — frandmaof the Yang tal. The old won Iskng inthe sua kes door gd She was ool you could hae tell whether she was a man or a woman, Her nas wee long, he wothlss gum aways moving wand down o sup back the a ribbing trom her mouth, Her akin was ike loose garment raped over a skleto, and sehen se rowel one leg over the ‘he, both of them touched the ground, She could not beat what ‘ass to her, and woul only glance nlifeendyat whoeverwent up toadires her Pethapsin aloof places one would come aren ‘old ols tke het —a ling symbol ofthis ype of ilage The tailor walked right upto her; only then did she elie tha someone wasthere and a tt gleam appeared in her loudly eyes She, oo, seemed to understand, She sued back the ava, pol ‘ed atthe alr, and then soy pointed a herself, Te tailor knew wht she meant. He went down and prostated himself before her, and then pr Fig in her toothless mouth All hese elders sa facing east av they tok the guid. Their ancestors had come from that diection, and they were ig to retum there. Asea of clouds met their eyes, wave upon wae all fozen sil maionles. The sidelined by the san famed the shadony parts in saowvhitetranslucence A few monntaine had poked their headsout from the eles. asifthey were mous buttery was utering is golden wings over the clout, ihe that stetched| endlesty, unt finalyttanded on dhebacko aback Keked Tike the largest bute in the wold The men frm Cocks Tail Village artved; and soon, women, ‘lidren and dogs also came i woos and threes They had heare tha the fl ‘chewhere, and had come to see i they ha left behing anything, ef Juste day before, the mo illages had ada ree rea and sorted out the basines abo Both had, moreover, broken their revert ake revenge on etch other The timber huts bad burned dows on ‘of blacksmoke were uti up into the a Irom the sts bare noe ‘except for ome broken earthen js and empty snes. The ed ke black gre exposed onthe cal, wing up ploughs and rakes, packing caton, pots and pans worden drs, a hia hat nt baskets ig td sal {Ataareel ite they went and prosratethemsches bet a ow of new graves, Then everyone scraped out a imp of earth and pattie his chet. At ‘hors, Hey! Yo! Weil and started sng Their forefather ws ianglang, Jiangliang caumeafter Xingan, They used tlve on the shore became a cromed there wasn'-even an open apace the six af ould if go.on ike that There wis fa mat! And s0 they picked up their hoes and rakes and, with Phoenis ead the wi, dey eroded ito raplenoed bots and necks and bending forward atl asthe ay, and excel thick ud heavy threshoks, On He!” Natural itwas splendid magnificent song itwas ike the singe eye lke the women's earings and barefeet, ike the din siling lowers sie their are fet. There wae mo trace at into black specks. Then they went dawn a green antin pass and receded deeper andl deeper into the forests, But n-bellsnd the sound af people singing continued fy through the green, By contrat, the valley seemed x fs mp: lonquieter and he gurgling ofthe stream grew oudallofasudden. Bese the steam there were tucks ad boulders, masses of them ing. They looked lke Mec aya of reflections bu reeds and tees had grown ener this sree of ruins, the wild 1 Hunters and merchants pas tld see no dflerence between this andYoung Bing had surfaced rom no one knew where, Believe i lr not, he auieed. What was tore, dhe a ith a vig stirring up eds of reflected sunlight, Listening to the song in the distance, he cltnly eapped his hands one nl, ‘mumbling in a very very sof yee, he elle sin and again the they clapped their and tke ted done jus now forthe si?" Andshe waked up to Young Bing and took away tht Jeraary 1985 Woman Woman Woman hy water was seeping int her place 1 shoute “sory” fondly right, ut belore knew it. was roaring for her to ome infor a shouting, AC the dining table, into the elephione, or even whe acquaintance Il jus cig sight of and especially in font of women with wrinkled fires ad necks Ass wandered, ny throat would T kept thinking those women were Uncle Ya and that