观贾平凹老师墨宝

       黑   氏

           贾平凹　

         胡宗锋 刘晓峰   译

                  The Country Wife

            Jia  Pingwa

                            Translated by Hu Zongfeng and Liu Xiaofeng

                                              五

 到了四月，木犊回来了。木犊原本面黑，粗而大的毛孔里嵌了煤屑，水洗不净，黑得如鬼如魔。羊毛袄袄已被磨成布絮，永远存之地下的另一世界，但那一件布做的裹兜里，有一个特大的口袋，缝得严严密密，内部是二千一百二十元。千里外坐火车，搭汽车，睡旅店，三天四夜未能脱衣，二千一百二十元的钱票在家取出时，汗水已经将其浸湿发软，臭不可闻。    

                                                                    V                           

In April, Mu Du came home. Mu Du, always dark in the face, had now became darker, like a ghost or a devil, as the rough pores in his face were inlaid with coal dust that could not be cleaned by water. His lamb-skin jacket had worn down to the cotton wadding and had been stored in the other world underground. However, on his cotton bag there was an extra large pocket. He put 2,120 RMB into the pocket, sewed it up tightly, and did not take off his clothes for several days on the train. He hitched a lift in a car and slept in an inn from over a thousand miles away. Finally, as he carefully took out the money at home, he discovered it had been become soaked in his sweat and so stinking and smelly.

 

村人视木犊为英雄，数月光景，旋即获得这么多钱!木犊大讲铜官，犹如异国归来。钱使信贷员的儿子堕落，钱也使木犊喜欢得差点死去。只是夜里，他才如实说起地下那另一世界的黑暗和可怕，说一个班一天一夜，他带三十二个饼子下去，于坑道里狼虎一样地吃嚼。说从井下出来，井口站满了下井者的家属，直愣愣瞧着亲人出现，他没有人等他，于阳光下刺激双眼寸步难行，蹲在那里半天适应，完全是一个黑蜘蛛，瞎眼狗熊。说他学会了敬神，买了护身桃木符，在一次塌方里，眼瞧着一个同班被石头砸死，血从头上喷水一样射流。黑氏听得毛骨悚然，捂了嘴，不让再说，扑上去把丈夫搂在怀里，用泪水潇潇的脸温存那发散汗臭的胸膛，手臂，头上的五官各部。绝然不愿提及和来顺的事。

The villagers regarded Mu Du as a homecoming hero, because he had made lots of money within a few months. Mu Du talked big about his adventures in Tong Guan, as if he had just come back from abroad. Money caused the son of the credit agent to sink further into degeneracy, while it made Mu Du crazy with excitement. Only at night did he give a true account of what a dark and terrible underground world the coalmine was. One shift lasted for a whole day. He had to take thirty-two pancakes with him, and ate and chewed like a wolf in the pits. When he walked out of the pit, he saw that the coal miners’ relatives waiting at the entrance, staring fixedly for the appearance of their folks, while nobody waited for him. At first the bright sunshine offended his eyes. He was unable to move and had to squat there like a black spider or a blind bear to adapt to the dizzy beam. He learned to worship gods and bought a protective peachwood talisman. Once, the pits caved in. He saw with his own eyes a rock fall and crush one of his workmates to death. The blood burst out from the head like spurting water. All of these details made Darky’s hair stand on end. Covering Mu Du’s mouth with her hand, she hushed him, threw herself at her husband, hugging and gently warming his stinking breast, arms and head with her face bathed in tears. She said not a single word about Lai Shun.

 

木犊在镇集上遇见了信贷员，信贷员问:“木犊发财了?”木犊说:“比起你，小拇指头和腰了!”信贷员哈哈大笑，说:“我当初没收你做工，没贷你钱，也是激你去发愤，你还真的发财了!二千多元，你怎么处理呀，能不能存蓄到信用社，让生儿子生孙子取利息呢?”

One day Mu Du came across the credit agent at the town fair. The agent asked jovially, “Mu Du, you made a fortune?”

Mu Du answered humbly: “Comparing me with you is like comparing a guy’s lean pinky to his waist!”

The agent roared with laughter: “I didn’t hire you in my factory nor would I lend you money. I wanted you to work on your own. Now you’ve really made a killing! How will you manage your 2,000 RMB? Would you like to invest it in our credit cooperative and have your money produce sons and grandsons?”

 

木犊说知黑氏，黑氏坚持这二千元不必存，更不能乱花，有本钱了就干一项营生。结果选中开店，因为木犊除了下苦力外，别无所长，而镇子东街头有一间小门面，月租四十元，是合算的。自此，一家小小饭店开张，日里黄昏，店前的一株大柳，万千枝条迎风微漾，深绿浅绿之中就飘闪一面招旗。

When Mu Du told Darky about the creditor’s suggestion, Darky insisted that the 2,000 RMB should not be saved or be spent extravagantly. They should start a business with the capital. Eventually they decided to start a restaurant. They began modestly, since Mu Du was good at nothing but hard labor. They found a small shopfront at the eastern end of the town with a rent of only 40 RMB a month. A big willow tree stood in front of the restaurant. During the day, a signboard flapped flat-like amidst the bright green of thousands thin branches on the huge willow tree dancing in the breeze.

 

镇上不繁华，人皆没有白日在街面买吃习惯，而以镇为枢纽，南来北往东西复返的生意人，做工人，赶路人，却全在饭店用膳。吃客便是上帝，笑脸陪着在柳下的石凳上歇了，沏一壶茶过去，两口就烧水擀面，黑氏在案头上抖动着两颗硕大丰腆的垂奶，将面擀得薄纸一张，待木犊烧水未开之时，附身在窗台上，与吃客搭讪会话。吃客经见多，见了女人兴趣正好，也乐意说些老鼠成精，人妖结婚之类异闻，惹得黑氏，讶一通乐一通，表情丰富。女人的极有奇特趣味的印象就刻在吃客心上，到处扬说，这饭店生意倒日日兴隆。

 People in the town were not used to eating outside their homes in the daytime; however, as the town was a hub of communications, businessmen, workers, and passers-by coming and going from all directions came to eat at the restaurant. The customers were gods. When customers arrived, Darky and Mu Du greet them with smiles, letting them take a seat on the stone stool beneath the willow and offering them a pot of tea while they waited. The couple would light the fire and make noodles. Darky, with two large and full breasts trembling beside the kneading board, rolled the dough as thin as paper. Before Mu Du brought the water to boil, she would lean over the windowsill and chat with the customers. The customers were all well-traveled and had wide experience. They liked to chat with women. They would make up fabulous stories, such as the mouse that gained human wit or the wedding between human and ghosts. Darky’s rich facial expressions showed her surprises and joys now and then. Her interesting expressions left a deep impression on the diners and they talked about her everywhere. The restaurant’s business was blooming every day.

 

入夜，镇上人有喝烧酒之风，店里便顿时热闹。酒可以使山地的男人变成另一个种族，放肆的说粗言秽语，拉木犊入座，木犊不喝，就嚷黑氏陪酒，竟三个五个男人的胳膊按住她的手，要她陪喝不可，木犊就也劝黑氏喝，嗤嗤啦啦只是呆笑。酗酒者就不免骂一通木犊有艳福，守住这么一个中看的又能干的婆娘，木犊偏也自高自大，夸口几句自已做男人的气魄。如此，日复一日，月复一月，远近人皆知这家饭店，说饭店能说到老板娘，少不得有些浮浪子弟对黑氏不三不四。

At nightfall, there was a drinking custom in the town, so the restaurant bustled with noise and excitement. Liquor changed those men of the mountains into a different race. They spoke four-letter words wantonly and drew Mu Du to join them in drink. Since Mu Du was not a good drinker, he would turn and shout to Darky for help. So Darky had to join the company of men with strong arms, while Mu Du, tittering and smirking, also urged her to have a sip. Those drunkards would curse Mu Du, a lucky dog for marrying such a good-looking and competent wife. Hearing this, Mu Du felt conceited and boasted about his macho prowess. In this way, day in and day out, their restaurant became well-known near and far. Darky’s role in the restaurant became famous, too. Soon some of those good-for-nothing guys began to make a move on Darky.

 

一日，店里过了饭辰，木犊去家照看驼子老爹，黑氏刷了案板正坐着歇息，小男人一透一透在店门往里看，见黑氏抬了头，忙一脸正经，便显出大有漫不经心之神气，用指甲刀嚯嚯地刮五个指头尖的骨片。黑氏说.“你来干啥，要吃饭这会不卖了！”小男人说，“别那么翻脸不认人，我也是你的男人哩！日子过得不错嘛！”黑氏说:“要不了饭的!”低头将刷过的案板又刷一次，以为小男人已经走了，一抬头，他还在，一条腿跨在门槛上，软软地闪，专心看手里的一件东西。说:“这是什么呀？”黑氏没料到他竟未走，听了这话，不觉顺口说句：“什么东西？”小男人就走进来，手一展，一只蓝色的电子表，其显示面上有两个黑点不停变幻。小男人说:.“要不要，给你吧?”黑氏“呸”地吐一口，将他掀出店门，门也随之关个严实。

One day, after the rush hour in the restaurant, Mu Du went home to look after his hunchbacked dad. While Darky was resting after she had rinsed the noodle board, her small ex-husband peeped into the restaurant from the gate. He assumed a mock-serious manner when Darky raised her head. The little man took on a careless air by scraping his fingernails with a nail board. Darky said: “What are you doing here? Service is finished!”

The small man replied “Don’t turn against me; I was your man once! So you’re getting along quite well?”

Darky said, “I won’t wave the stick!” she lowered her head and cleaned the board again. She thought he had already gone, but when she raised head she saw he was still there.

With one leg over and another behind the threshold, he looked attentively at something in his hand, asking, “What’s this?”

 Not expecting him to be here, she replied without thinking, “What?”

The small man stepped in and opened his hand. It was a blue quartz watch and there were two black dots flashing continuously on its screen. The small man asked, “Want it? Take it?”

“Pooh”, Darky pushed him out of the gate with a spit and then closed the gate tightly.

 

但是，信货员却时有到店来预备饭莱，招待来找他的客人。来了，黑氏当认他不得，平静着脸算账，一分不少，一文不赊。木犊却涎了脸让坐让茶，饭菜吃罢便又拿自己的烟末匣子放在桌上，让人家来吸，信贷员问行情，又事无巨细说明，反复强调生意比不得信贷员的工厂收入。其恭敬卑怯，为黑氏所不齿，当面暗示，背后数说。木犊说:“人家毕竟是这地面的大人物! 黑氏平生第一口将唾沫喷在他的面上。’

Nevertheless, the credit agent often came to the restaurant and order meals to entertain his guests. When he showed up, Darky treated him with a straight face—business is business. As for Mu Du, he would offer the agent a seat and some tea with a flattering face. After dinner, Mu Du would put his own tobacco casket on the desk and invite the agent to smoke. When the credit agent asked about their business, Mu Du would describe everything in detail and stressed that his small business was nothing compared with the agent’s income from his factories. Darky thought Mu Du’s flattery contemptible and hinted her feelings to his face, then scolded him behind his back. Mu Du said, “After all, he is a big shot in our area!” Hearing that, for the first time in her life Darky spat in his face.

 

钱来路活泛，极有盈余，不幸的是驼子老爹却病情沉重，卧炕半月之后，汤水不进，阳寿殆尽，伸腿入天去了。夫妇俩关店十天，痛哭一场，葬老人入土。驼子一生贫苦，性情刚硬，却死的清白，使这店家又少了一份后顾之优，却苦了黑氏和木犊夜夜一人看守饭店.一人看守老屋。日久，木犊就将不点灯之事淡冷，后来一月两月竟似乎要忘却了。

Mu Du and Darky continued their business flexibly and soon they were making a good profit. Unfortunately, the hunchbacked dad’s illness became serious. After lying in bed for half a month without food, he finished his days in this human world. The couple closed the restaurant for ten days, had a decent cry in mourning, and buried the dead man. The hunchbacked dad had been impoverished, upright and unyielding in temperament throughout his life, and died a clean death. He left no family obligations but now one of them had to watch the restaurant and the other the old house. Gradually Mu Du became indifferent to bedroom things. (Later he seemed nearly forget all about it )

 

来顺依旧在学校烧水做饭，敲铃打杂，每每看得小男人与乡长之女好时两件东西贴拢一起，唧哝有声，就如眼中钻沙痒痛不堪，恶时又桌翻椅倒，于窗口将枕头抛出，将茶壶和裤衩抛出，就又想起与黑氏交情。按捺不住一份心绪萦绕于另一个人身上。驼子老爹死后，他从心底里吁出一口长气，却买了纸去到驼子的灵前，点化了，哭了一场。木犊见他哭得伤心，大受感动，双手去扶，黑氏却说:“让他哭吧，哭一哭也好！”话中意思，只有她知道，来顺知道。

   Lai Sun did odd jobs at the school as before, heating up the water, doing the cooking and ringing the bell. Whenever he sees the small man and the daughter of township head, on good terms, hugging and kissing each other with soft murmurs, he suffered pains and itches as if a grain of sand had entered his eyes. When the couple was on bad terms, they overturned desks and chairs and hurled staff such as pillows, teapots and underpants out the window. The couple reminded Lai Shun of his affairs with Darky. He was unable to keep his mind lingering on her. When the hunchbacked dad passed away, he heaved a deep sigh in his innermost heart, bought some touch paper, burned them in front of the dead man, then wept bitterly. Seeing him crying, Mu Du was deeply touched and wanted to help him up with his hands. But Darky stopped him, saying, “Let him alone--- it's good to let him get it out of his system!” (The intention of her words of course is between her and Lai Shun.)

 

此后，木犊消除了对来顺的反感，来顺没事之时踱到店来，热乎招待，逢吃也让吃，逢喝也让喝，这来顺是聪慧之极，眼中有水，手脚勤快，也帮这家刷碗收筷，门口应酬，介绍饭菜，招揽吃客倒确实比木犊强出十倍八倍。

Henceforth, Mu Du’s aversion to Lai Shun was cleared up. When Lai Shun stepped into the restaurant in his spare time, Mu Du treated him warmly and offered food and drink at meal times. Lai Shun was a bright, changed and nimble man who helped the couple with the washing up, greeting the guests and offering the menu. Where attracting customers was concerned, he had a much better hand than Mu Du.

 

但黑氏最明白来顺的心，见他殷勤，总是不安，好言好语要他一边歇去。愈是这样，木犊愈觉来顺人好，来顺愈要加劲为黑氏殷勤。黑氏私下对木犊说:“店是咱的店，要人家帮什么忙，他要再来，什么也不让他做!’’木犊说:“他愿帮忙就帮忙，一片好心，硬要阻拦，倒显生分，冷他一个热肠!’’黑氏只好不语。

However, Darky knew Lai Shun’s heart best. Seeing he was solicitous, she felt uneasy and asked him with fine words to rest from his busy activities. The more Darky tried to persuade Lai Shun, the more Mu Du felt Lai Shun was a good guy, which in turn made Lai Shun work harder to please Darky. In private, Darky told Mu Du, “This is our restaurant, we don’t need his help. When he comes next time, let him do nothing!” But Mu Du replied, “He is so good-hearted to help us, if we dismiss him in an offhand way, it would create a rift and hurt his warm heart!” Darky had to keep her silence. 

 

一个晚上，月色朦胧，黑氏从饭店赶老屋来睡，正坐院里捶腿揉腰。院门敞着，门外的几裸老槐树下，新生了许多幼株，黑黝黝在风里摇曳。倏忽听得有细响，蛇样爬行的沙沙声音，好疑，槐树丛子里有一点烟火，暗红如萤，便惊起，询问:“谁在哪儿?”那人走近来，却是来顺。

One hazy moonlit night, Darky hurried back from the restaurant to sleep at their old house. With the yard door open, one could see some newly born seedlings swaying in the breeze and shining blackishly under the few old Chinese scholar-trees outside the courtyard. As Darky sat in the yard, wrapping her legs and waist, she caught a slight sound like that of a crawling snake. She became suspicious. Seeing a smoky light, dimly red like a firefly, amidst the scholar-tree bush, she rose with fright, asking, “Who is there?”  Lai Shun approached.

 

黑氏说:“你鬼鬼祟祟，以为是贼呢!"

来顺说:“你夜里在屋，木犊还睡在店里?”

黑氏说:“我们也分了班的!夜里他要剁肉馅的。你是到哪儿去的，路过这里?’’

来顺在月下说:“从学校来的，专到这里来的!”

黑氏腔子里的一颗心别地一跳，便说:“你坐吧。今夜月亮蛮好，你近日没回老家去吗?算黄算割是不是有叫了?”

Darky, “You are sneaking around. I thought it was a thief!”

Lai Shun, “So you stay at home while Mu Du still sleeps at the restaurant?”

Darky, “We have shifts and he has to chop meat tonight. Where have you been? You’re just passing by?”

Lai Shun answered in the moonlight, “I’ve come from school especially to see you!”

 Darky said,“Take a seat. Tonight the moon is so beautiful. Have you been to your hometown recently? Do the cuckoos chirp?”

 

女人的慌口慌心，来顺全觉察到，他要想办法稳住她的情绪，说道:“昨天夜里叫过两声，再过四天，就是小满。人过小满说大话，今年麦子成色要比往年好。我们山里麦才扬花，和川道差二十多天，到时候我来做你们家的麦客。”

黑氏轻轻笑了一下，说:“你也是，恁事也帮我们……”

来顺就说;“黑，我这儿天尽是做梦，我也思想，我是不该到你家来，可梦里老做到你，醒来心就慌慌的……”

黑氏果然平静下米，问道:“做什么梦?”

 “Last night they chirped and four days later the winter wheat will be filling out its ears. After that people will talk big about the coming harvest. The wheat this year is better than the last. But the wheat in my hometown in the mountains is just flowering, which will ripen twenty days later than in the plain area. I can help you like a migratory farmer until it’s time to harvest wheat.”

Darky smiled softly and said, “So you do, help me to do everything…”

Then Lai Shun said, “Darky, I know I shouldn’t have come to your home. But I have always dreamed of you and would feel empted-hearted when I wake up…”

 Darky calmed down and asked, “What’s your dream?”

 

来顺说:“有时梦你穿一身新衣，到镇上去，好多人给你吹奏唢呐，你唱起戏文，样子像十七、十八的一样。有时梦你坐在店前柳树下哭。梦到好的，心里就叽咕，说，梦是反做的，会不会有什么不好的兆征?梦到坏的，又担怕应了实际，就要来看看，你说好笑不好笑？’’

黑氏就真的好笑了，说:“来顺你嘴甜，说得中听哩!’’

来顺正色道:“这可是真的，有半句假，让鬼摄了魂去!”

“Sometimes in my dream, you are dressed in a new suit of clothes and look like a girl of 17 or 18. You go to town and sing local opera while many people play music instrument for you. And in other dreams you are sobbing under the weeping willow in front of the restaurant. When I’ve had good dreams I mutter, ‘Dreams are opposite to reality, isn’t there a bad omen here?’ When I’ve had bad ones, I worry that the dreams might come true. So I came over and take a look at you. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?”

Darky was really amused. “Lai Shun, you have a sweet tongue and your words are too pleasant to my ear!”

Lai Shun, adopting a stern countenance, “It’s true! If I’m telling a lie, let the devil take my soul away … “

 

女人就看着来顺，瞧那一张白光光瘦脸，被瞧的也不回避，反以更加的勇敢用眼睛回敬，看出她的情味溢在眉里眼里，不觉神思荡漾，如升架云头。

后来，这女人就偏过头去，看天上的月亮，看院墙根边的一株柳上栖息的一对鸟。鸟是夫妇，以爪平衡身子于细枝上，一只已经睡熟，一只朦胧复朦胧。想到人生如鸟类，白日比翼齐飞，夜来依偎而睡，这原本是活在世上的内容。可眼前的来顺，孤身独影，夜夜为别人的婆娘做梦，着实是活人的可怜!不觉气伤神黯，又轻轻叹息一声。

Then Darky looked into Lai Shun’s shining white and thin face. He did not dodge her glances instead he gave a bold look in return. His mind flew high into the clouds. (As he sensed her appeal brimming over the eyes and brows, his mind couldn’t help being in a trance as if he was flying high in the clouds.)

Afterwards, her face inclined to one side, Darky watched the bright moon in the sky and a pair of birds perching in a willow at the foot of the yard. The birds must be a couple as they balanced their bodies on a thin twig with their small talons, one sleeping soundly, the other dimly dozing. They reminded Darky that human beings, like birds, pair off wing to wing during the daytime, while at night they sleep together, leaning closely to each other. That is how life should be centered. However, Lai Shun, led a pitiable life, dreaming of another man’s wife every night. Thinking about that, she felt dejected and heaved a slight sigh for him.

 

黑氏说:“来顺，你要闷得慌，就来我家坐坐。你也是这般年纪的人，无论如何，你还是找不下一个女人吗?’’

此话触到痛处，来顺却没落泪，反倒笑了。

黑氏问:“你笑什么呀?

来顺说：“我活该是光棍命!那时节，我本是再多找你几回，事情就成了，可我没有……木犊命比我好。”

黑氏没有言语。

Darky said, “Lai Shun, call at my house when feel bored. At your age, why don’t you find a wife?”

Her words touched a tender spot in Lai Shun’s heart. However, He did not shed tears, but laughed.

Darky asked, “Why are you laughing?”

Lai Shun, “It serves me right to be a bachelor! Had I been more persistent in proposing to you, we would have been a couple. It’s a pity that I didn’t … Mu Du has had a better fate.”

Darky kept quiet. .

 

来顺又说:“黑，木犊待你还好?开店是好事，也实在累人，你要保重身子，月月到你们女人家身上有红的日子，你不要见冷水，你却还到河里挑那么满两桶水?!”

黑氏一惊，这些事他哪里知道?是观察她的脸色吗?这些，木犊也是从不知道的，陪自己吃喝睡觉的木犊不知，这一个来顺却看得出!黑氏突然觉得白脸汉子是将她完全装在心上的，就大为感动。

黑氏说:“他人呆，只是肯听我话。”

Lai Shun, “Darky, does Mu Du treat you well? It’s good to run a restaurant but really tiring, so take care of yourself. During your period, you should remember not to touch cold, yet you continue to fetch two full baskets of water on a shoulder pole from the river!”

Darky was really surprised, how could he know such things? From her complexion? Mu Du, who eats, drinks, and sleeps with her, has no idea about it, while Lai Shun has found that out! All of a sudden, Darky recognized that this white-faced man had her whole-heartedly in his mind, and she was deeply moved.

Darky said, “He is a silly man but he does what I ask..”

 

两人说此说彼，来顺忘了时间，黑氏也忘了时间。离开深山，嫁到这平川道来，她和小男人没有这么说过家话。嫁给木犊，木犊虽不欺她打她，但木犊别的一点不会，甚至压根想不到，使她时常寂寞袭心。人毕竟是人，除了被受尊重的人格之外，还有接受抚爱的欲望，尤其是女人，说老虎时就是老虎，该小猫小狗就是小猫小狗啊!

The two chatted away on a variety of things and Lai Shun forgot about the time. So did Darky, who had never chitchatted with her ex-husband when she left the deep mountain for marriage on the plain. Next she married Mu Du, who never offended or beat her, but he was not particularly considerate and never occurred to him that his wife might be lonely. Humans not only want respect but also need to be loved. A woman can be as strong as a tiger, but she also sometimes feel as weak as a puppy or a kitty.

 

说说话话，不知不觉，自自然然，来顺就把黑氏的手握住了，用软和的舌头舔，用牙轻轻地咬。黑氏没有吱出一声。事毕了，她送他出门，星月满空，夜更深沉，村外四面包围着的即将成熟的麦子，在清风中涌动，将月光漾出波般的亮闪，浓重的令人心醉的四月田野地气使黑氏饱饱地吸了几口，涨满了全部胸膛。

As they chitchatted, naturally and unconsciously, Lai Shun took Darky’s hands, licked them with his soft tongue and bit them gently with his teeth. She said nothing.  When it was over, she saw him to the door. The moon was bright in a star-studded sky, and the night was deepening. The golden wheat, circling around the village, rippled in the cool breeze causing the moonlight on the stalks to appear like waves. Several deep breaths of the dense and intoxicating fragrance of the April fields swelled in Darky’s breast.

 

店日日开门，连麦收天也未停止，木犊象一头任重耐劳的牛，夜里割麦，碾场，翻地，播种，白日开店卖饭，人累得失了形体，一收拾完当日的工作，就如一条从树梢跌下来的死蛇一样，趴在炕上沉睡不醒。

黑氏夜半醒来，摇不起他，后来就等着学校的铃响。

The restaurant opened every day and did not close even during the busy period of the wheat harvest. Mu Du, like a strong ox, bore the heavy burden of reaping wheat at night, threshing grain, plowing the fields and sowing seeds, while still selling meals during the day. When his work was done, he was worn out and instantly fell into sound sleep. He lay on the kang like a dead snake fallen from the tree top.

When Darky woke up at midnight, she could not rouse him. She could only wait for the school bell to ring at daybreak.

 

这一家再不是往日的穷人了，他们也是有钱，村人企羡，黑氏碰见信贷员和小男人了，也不远远避开，目光直直地走过去。一次逢集，一家私人经营的衣服铺里，小男人偕着乡长的女儿在问一条丝织围巾的价，大声吵闹，为五角钱论高论低，黑氏走近去，虎虎地问:“多少钱?’’

 Their family was no longer poor. Indeed it became respectably well-off. So when Darky came across the credit agent and his small son, she would step past them without casting a glance rather than step aside or keep a distance. On a market day, in a private clothes shop, the small man in the company of the daughter of the head of township asked the price of a silk scarf. As they bargained noisily, Darky approached abruptly and asked authoritatively, “How much is it?”

 

回答是:“十三块。”黑氏说:“取一条!”随手从口袋抽出钱来，拎围巾扬长走了，逊得小男人和乡长女儿脸红不已，难堪不已。这围巾黑氏却没有系，冬天里也不系。木犊说:“那你何苦，买这干啥?’’黑氏说:“为了啥，你还不明白?!”木犊见黑氏用钱大方，慢慢也手大起来，外人常捉弄他，动不动和他打赌，赌输了就罚他买酒买烟，或者到店里来啃几个猪蹄，吃两碗面条。到后，竟耍起钱来，打扑克赢输，一玩起性则通宵达旦，也不光顾黑氏一个人睡在偌大的土炕上。

When the shop assistant replied, “Thirteen RMB”, Darky said: “Give me one!” She drew the money from her pocket and swaggered off with the scarf hanging from her hand. Her behavior embarrassed the small man and his young wife, and they blushed profusely. Darky never wore that scarf, not even in the cold winter.

Mu Du asked, “Why did you buy it if you don’t wear it?”

Darky replied, “Can’t you understand?”

Seeing Darky spend money freely, Mu Du himself gradually became free with money. Others often played tricks on him and made bets with him. Naturally he was the loser and had to buy wine or cigarettes as a forfeit. Sometimes, the winner would gnaw some pig’s trotters or take two bowls of noodles instead. Then he began gambling by playing cards. Sometimes in a good mood, he would play all night, mindless of Darky’s asleep on their big and lonely kang.

 

黑氏很有一些意见了，吃饭时，炒两个小菜放在桌上，桌边安好两个椅子，一心让木犊一块吃，木犊却一只海碗里盛完饭，将菜夹在饭上，端着到门外找人，一边聊一边吃。晚饭过后，黑氏让木犊和她坐坐，木犊说:“店里的事，你安排，需要干啥你给我说!” 黑氏说:“你不会说说别的话吗?”木犊说:“还有什么话?没有啥了!睡吧。”一躺下来就呼呼入睡。

At meals, Darky made two dishes, placed them on the table, and put two chairs so they could eat together. However, Mu Du, after filling a bowl and garnishing the rice, would stride out the door, bowl in hand, and eat and chat with others. After supper, when Darky asked Mu Du to sit and chat with her for a while, Mu Du would say, “You take care of all the things in the restaurant! Just tell me if you have anything that needs doing!”

Darky asked, “Can’t you talk about anything else?”

 Mu Du would reply, “Anything else? Nothing! Let’s go to bed.” He would fall into a wheezy sleep once he lay down.   

 

这时节，来顺来了，黑氏就不让走，问这问那地说话。一夜，木犊又去耍钱，来顺和黑氏在家聊天，聊到夜深，说起木犊，黑氏长吁短叹，眼噙泪水。来顺劝慰，反倒愈劝慰愈使她伤心，后来伏在来顺腿上，竟低低抽泣不住。……鸡叫二遍，门被拍响，木犊推门进来，屋里没有点灯，倏忽间似有什么影子从后窗一闪，问道:“黑，窗外像有什么？”

At that moment, Lai Shun came. Darky would not let him go, asking him about this and that. One night, Mu Du went to gamble, and Lai Shun and Darky chatted at home deep into the night. Talking about Mu Du, Darky complained, her eyes brimming with tears. Lai Shun soothed her, but the more he comforted, the more broken-hearted she felt. Then she placed her head in Lai Shun’s lap and sobbed…  As the cocked crowed a second time, Mu Du pushed the door open and entered the room. The light was out. He saw a shadow dodging at the rear window and asked, “Darky, it seems there is someone outside the window?”

 

黑氏恐极，却说:“有什么，有鬼?"木犊脱衣上炕，睡下了说:“我这眼睛不行了，还以为有个什么在窗外动!人都说有鬼，虽没见过，晚上还是早早把窗关了。”黑氏说:“你还这么想到我!让鬼来吧，屋里没人，鬼给我作作伴也好。”木犊说:“说有鬼，哪里就有鬼了?睡吧。”就酣声顿起。

Darky was terrified but covered her fear by saying: “What? A ghost?”

After he took off his clothes and lay on the kang, Mu Du said, “My eyesight is getting poor. I thought something was moving outside the window! It is said ghosts do exist. Even if we haven’t seen one, it’s better to shut the window early at night.”

 Darky, “You’re so considerate! Let the ghost come and keep me company since you don’t stay at home.”

Mu Du said, “It isn’t true that when you talk of a ghost it is sure to come! Let’s go to sleep.” Almost immediately, he began to snore.

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