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1、国外文学 风波STORM IN A TEACUPThe suns bright yellow rays had gradually faded on the mud flat by the river. The leaves of the tallow trees beside the river were at last able to draw a parched breath, while a few striped mosquitoes danced, humming, beneath them. Less smoke was coming from the kitchen chimn
2、eys of the peasants houses along the river, as women and children sprinkled water on the ground before their doors and brought out little tables and stools. You could tell it was time for the evening meal.The old folk and the men sat on the low stools, fanning themselves with plantain-leaf fans as t
3、hey chatted. The children raced about or squatted under the tallow trees playing games with pebbles. The women brought out steaming hot, black, dried vegetables and yellow rice. Some scholars, who were passing in a pleasure boat, waxed quite lyrical at the sight. So free from care! they exclaimed. H
4、eres real idyllic happiness.The scholars were rather wide of the mark, however. That was because they had not heard what Old Mrs. Ninepounder was saying. Old Mrs. Ninepounder, who was in a towering temper, whacked the legs of her stool with a tattered plantain fan.Ive lived to seventy-nine, thats lo
5、ng enough, she declared. I dont like watching everything going to the dogs-Id rather die. Were going to have supper right away, yet theyre still eating roast beans, eating us out of house and home!Her great-granddaughter, Sixpounder, had just come running towards her holding a handful of beans; but
6、when she sized up the situation she flew straight to the river bank and hid herself behind a tallow tree. Then, sticking out her small head with its twin tufts, she called loudly: Old Never-dying!Though Old Mrs. Ninepounder had lived to a great age, she was by no means deaf; she did nor, however, he
7、ar what the child said, and went on muttering to herself, Yes, indeed! Each generation is worse than the last!It was the somewhat unusual custom in this village for mothers to weigh their children when they were born, and then use as a name the number of pounds they weighed. Since Old Mrs. Ninepound
8、ers celebration of her fiftieth birthday, she had gradually become a fault-finder, who was always saying that in her young days the summer had not been so hot nor the beans so tough as now. In brief, there was something radically wrong with the present-day world. Otherwise, why should Sixpounder hav
9、e weighed three pounds less than her great-grandfather and one pound less than her father, Sevenpounder? This was really irrefutable evidence. So she repeated emphatically: Yes, indeed! Each generation is worse than the last.Her granddaughter-in-law, Mrs. Sevenpounder, had just come up to the table
10、with a basket of rice. Planking it down on the table, she said angrily: There you go again! Sixpounder weighed six pounds five ounces when she was born, didnt she? Your family uses private scales which weigh light, eighteen ounces to the pound. With proper sixteenounce scales, Sixpounder ought to ha
11、ve been over seven pounds. I dont believe grandfather and father really weighed a full nine or eight pounds either. Perhaps they used fourteenounce scales in those days. . . .Each generation is worse than the last!Before Mrs. Sevenpounder could answer, she saw her husband coming out from the top of
12、the lane, and shifted her attack to shout at him: Why are you so late back, you slacker! Where have you been all this time? You dont care how long you keep us waiting to start supper!Although Sevenpounder lived in the village, he had always wanted to better himself. From his grandfather to himself,
13、not a man in his family for three generations had handled a hoe. Like his father before him he worked on a boat which went every morning from Luchen to town, and came back in the evening. As a result, he knew pretty well all that was going on. He knew, for instance, where the thunder god had struck
14、dead a centipede spirit, or where a virgin had given birth to a demon. Though he had made a name for himself in the village, his family abided by country customs and did not light a lamp for supper in the summer; hence, if he came home late, he would be in for a scolding.In one hand Sevenpounder hel
15、d a speckled bamboo pipe, over six feet long, which had an ivory mouth-piece and a pewter bowl. He walked over slowly, hanging his head, and sat on one of the low stools. Sixpounder seized this chance to slip out and sit down beside him. She spoke to him, but he made no answer.Each generation is wor
16、se than the last! grumbled Old Mrs. Ninepounder.Sevenpounder raised his head slowly, and said with a sigh: The emperor has ascended the throne again.For a moment, Mrs. Sevenpounder was struck dumb. Then, suddenly taking in the news, she exclaimed: Good! That means the emperor will declare another am
17、nesty, doesnt it?Ive no queue, Sevenpounder sighed again.Does the emperor insist on queues?He does.Mrs. Sevenpounder was rather upset. How do you know? she demanded hastily.Everybody in Prosperity Tavern says so.At that Mrs. Sevenpounder realized instinctively that things were in a bad way, because
18、Prosperity Tavern was where you could pick up all the news. She looked angrily at Sevenpounders shaved head, with a feeling of hatred and resentment; then fatalistically filled a bowl with rice and slapped it down before him, saying: Hurry up and eat! Crying wont grow a queue for you, will it?The su
19、n had withdrawn irs last rays, and the darkling water was gradually cooling off. There was a clatter of bowls and chopsticks on the mud flat, and sweat stood our on the backs of the people there. Mrs. Sevenpounder had finished three bowls of rice when, happening to look up, she saw something that se
20、t her heart pounding. Through the tallow leaves, Mr. Chaos short plump figure could be seen approaching from the one-plank bridge. And he was wearing his long sapphire-blue cotton gown. Mr. Chao was the owner of Abundance Tavern in a neighbouring village, and the only notable within a radius of ten
21、miles who was also something of a scholar. His learning gave him a little of the musty air of a departed age. He had a dozen volumes of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms annotated by Chin Sheng-tan, which he would sit reading and re-reading, character by character. He could tell you not only the nam
22、es of the five tiger generals, but even that Huang Chung was also known as Han-sheng, and Ma Chao as Meng-chi. After the Revolution he had coiled his queue on the top of his head like a Taoist priest, and often remarked with a sigh that if Chao Yun were still alive the empire would not be in such a
23、bad way. Mrs. Sevenpounders eyesight was good, and she had noticed at once that Mr. Chao was not wearing his hair like a Taoist priest today. The front of his head was shaved, and he had let his queue down. She knew that an emperor must have ascended the throne, that queues must be essential again,
24、and that Sevenpounder must be in great danger too. For Mr. Chao did not wear this long cotton gown for nothing-in fact, during the last three years he had only worn it twice. Once when his enemy Pockmarked Ah-szu fell ill, once when Mr. Lu who had smashed up his wine shop died. This was the third ti
25、me, and it must mean that something had happened to rejoice his heart and bode ill for his enemies.Two years ago, Mrs. Sevenpounder remembered, her husband when drunk had cursed Mr. Chao as a bastard. Immediately she realized instinctively the danger her husband was in, and her heart started thumpin
26、g furiously.The folk sitting at supper stood up when Mr. Chao passed by, and pointed their chopsticks at their rice bowls as they said: Please join us, Mr. Chao.Mr. Chao nodded greetings to all whom he passed, saying, Go on with your meal, please! He made straight for Sevenpounders table. Everybody
27、rose hastily to greet him, and Mr. Chao said with a smile, Go on with your meal, please! At the same time he took a good look at the food on the table.Those dried vegetables smell good-have you heard the news? Mr. Chao was standing behind Sevenpounder, opposite Mrs. Sevenpounder.The emperors ascende
28、d the throne, said Sevenpounder.Watching Mr. Chaos expression, Mrs. Sevenpounder forced herself to smile. Now that the emperors ascended the throne, when will there be a general amnesty? she asked.A general amnesty?-Therell be an amnesty all in good time. Then Mr. Chaos voice grew sterner. But what
29、about Sevenpounders queue, eh? Thats the important thing. You know how it was in the time of the Long Hairs: keep your hair and lose your head; keep your head and lose your hair. . .Sevenpounder and his wife had never read any books, so this classical lore was lost on them; but they supposed that si
30、nce the learned Mr. Chao said this, the situation must be extremely serious, irrevocable in fact. They felt as if they had received their death sentence. There was a buzzing in their ears, and they were unable to utter another word.Each generation is worse than the last. Old Mrs. Ninepounder, quite
31、put out again, seized this chance to speak to Mr. Chao. The rebels nowadays just cut peoples queues off, so that they look neither Buddhist nor Taoist. Were the rebels before like that too? Ive lived seventy-nine years, and thats enough. The rebels in the old days wrapped their heads in lengths of r
32、ed satin that hung all the way down to their heels. The prince wore yellow satin that hung down . . . yellow satin; red satin and yellow satin-Ive lived long enough at seventy-nine.Whats to be done? muttered Mrs. Sevenpounder, standing up. Weve such a big family, young and old, and all depend on him
33、.Theres nothing you can do, said Mr. Chao. The punishment for being without a queue is written down quite distinctly, sentence by sentence in a book. Makes no difference how big your family is.When Mrs. Sevenpounder heard that it was written down in a book, she really gave up all hope. Beside hersel
34、f with anxiety, she suddenly hated Sevenpounder. Pointing her chopsticks at the tip of his nose, she cried: Youve made your bed, and now you can lie on it! I said during the revolt, better not go out on the boat, better not go to town! But he would go. He rolled off to town, and they cut his queue o
35、ff. He used to have a glossy black queue, but now he doesnt look like Buddhist or Taoist. Hes made his own bed, hell have to lie on it. What right has he to drag us into it? Living corpse of a gaol-bird. . . .Since Mr. Chao had arrived, the villagers finished their meal quickly and gathered round Se
36、venpounders table. Sevenpounder knew how unseemly it was for a prominent citizen to be cursed by his wife in public. So he raised his head to say slowly:Youve plenty to say today, but at the time. . . .Living corpse of a gaol-bird!Widow Pa Yi had the kindest heart of all the onlookers there. Carryin
37、g her two-year-old baby, born after her husbands death, she was standing next to Mrs. Sevenpounder watching the fun. Now she felt things had gone too far, and hurriedly tried to make peace, saying: Never mind, Mrs. Sevenpounder. People arent spirits, how can they foretell the future? Didnt Mrs. Seve
38、npounder say at the time there was nothing to be ashamed of in having no queue? Besides, the great official in the government office hasnt issued any order yet. . . .Before she had finished, Mrs. Sevenpounders ears were scarlet, and she swept her chopsticks round to point at the widows nose. Well, I
39、 never! she protested. What a thing to say, Mrs. Pa Yi! Im still a human being, arent I-how could I have said anything so ridiculous? I cried for three whole days when it happened, everybody saw me. Even that imp Sixpounder cried. . . . Sixpounder had just finished a big bowl of rice, and was holdin
40、g out her bowl clamouring to have it refilled. Mrs. Sevenpounder was in a temper, and brought her chopsticks down between the twin tufts on the childs head. Stop that noise! Little slut!There was a crack as the empty bowl in Sixpounders hand fell to the ground. It struck the corner of a brick and a
41、big piece was knocked off. Sevenpounder jumped up to pick up the bowl and examine it as he fitted the pieces together. Damn you! he shouted, and gave Sixpounder a slap on the face that knocked her over. Sixpounder lay there crying until Old Mrs. Ninepounder took her by the hand and walked off with h
42、er, muttering, Each generation is worse than the last.It was Widow Pa Yis turn to be angry. Hitting a child, Mrs. Sevenpounder! she shouted.Mr. Chao had been looking on with a smile, but when Widow Pa Yi said that the great official in the government office had not issued any order yet, he began to
43、grow angry. Now coming right up to the table, he said: What does it matter hitting a child? The imperial army will be here any time now. You know, the protector of the empire is General Chang, whos descended from Chang Fei of the period of the Three Kingdoms. He has a huge lance eighteen feet long,
44、and dares take on ten thousand men. Nobody can stand against him. Raising his empty hands, as if grasping a huge invisible lance, he took a few paces towards Widow Pa Yi, saying, Are you a match for him?Widow Pa Yi was trembling with rage as she held her child. But the sudden sight of Mr. Chao beari
45、ng down on her with perspiring face and staring eyes gave her the fright of her life. Without finishing what she had to say, she turned and fled. Mr. Chao left too. As they made way, the villagers blamed Widow Pa Yi for interfering, and a few men who had cut their queues and started growing them aga
46、in hid hastily behind the crowd for fear Mr. Chao should see them. However, Mr. Chao passed through the group without making a careful inspection. Suddenly he dived behind the tallow trees, and with a parting Think youre a match for him! strode on to the one-plank bridge and was off.The villagers st
47、ood there blankly, turning things over in their minds. They realized they really were no match for Chang Fei; hence Sevenpounders life was as good as lost. And since Sevenpounder had broken the imperial law, they felt he should never have adopted that lordly air as he smoked that long pipe of his an
48、d told them the news in town. So the fact that he was in trouble gave them a certain pleasure. They would have liked to discuss the matter, but did not know what to say. Buzzing mosquitoes brushed past their bare arms, then zoomed back to swarm beneath the tallow trees. The villagers scattered to th
49、eir homes, shut their doors and went to sleep. Grumbling to herself, Mrs. Sevenpounder cleared away the dishes, table and stools and went inside too, to close the door and go to sleep.Sevenpounder took the broken bowl inside, and sat on the doorsill smoking; but he was still so worried he forgot to pull on the pipe, and the light in the pewter bowl o