Authors: Wang ZengQi

受戒 (4 page)

“大娘，好日子是十六，你哪天去呀？”——“十五，我一大清早就来！”

“一定呀！”——“一定！一定！”

两个女儿，长得跟她娘像一个模子里脱出来的。眼睛长得尤其像，白眼珠鸭蛋青，黑眼珠棋子黑，定神时如清水，闪动时像星星。浑身上下，头是头，脚是脚。头发滑滴滴的，衣服格挣挣的。——这里的风俗，十五六岁的姑娘就都梳上头了。这两个丫头，这一头的好头发！通红的发根，雪白的簪子！娘女三个去赶集，一集的人都朝她们望。

Though the two sisters looked alike, their personalities were entirely different. The elder sister was very gentle and quiet. Like her father, she rarely spoke. In contrast, the younger one had a glibber tongue than even her mother. She talked eloquently for long periods until her elder sister complained, "You just twitter from morning till night..."

"Like a magpie!"

"You admit it yourself! It really upsets me!"

"Are you feeling restless?"

"Yes, I am!"

"There are other reasons besides me!"

There was a deep meaning in her words. Dayingzi already had a fiance, at whom she had once stolen a glance. He was an honest, good-looking young man, whose family was well-off. She was quite satisfied with the match, which had been arranged by the parents of both sides. The wedding date, however, was still undecided. Dayingzi had seldom gone out in the past two years, always busying herself preparing her dowry. She could both cut and sew dresses by herself, but her embroidered floral patterns were still inferior to her mother's. Having seen a bride in the town some days ago, she complained that the way her mother made her designs was too old-fashioned. The townspeople had adopted new ways, and their embroidery was just like real flowers and plants. This put her mother on the spot. Coming to her rescue, the "magpie" shouted, "I can recommend someone to you."

姐妹俩长得很像，性格不同。大姑娘很文静，话很少，像父亲。小英子比她娘还会说，一天叽叽呱呱地不停。大姐说：

“你一天到晚叽叽呱呱——”

“像个喜鹊！”

“你自己说的！——吵得人心乱！”

“心乱？”

“心乱！”

“你心乱怪我呀！”

二姑娘话里有话。大英子已经有了人家。小人她偷偷地看过，人很敦厚，也不难看，家道也殷实，她满意。已经下过小定，日子还没有定下来。她这二年，很少出房门，整天赶她的嫁妆。大裁大剪，她都会。挑花绣花，不如娘。她可又嫌娘出的样子太老了。她到城里看过新娘子，说人家现在绣的都是活花活草。这可把娘难住了。最后是“喜鹊”忽然一拍屁股：“我给你保举一个人！”

It was Mingzi. When he had studied at school, he had accumulated half a volume of drawings, which he liked very much. After joining Biqi Nunnery, he continued to look at it frequently, and at times, copied them on the reverse side of pages torn from an account book. By and by he could draw well. Xiaoyingzi added, "He can draw. And what he draws is just like the real thing!"

Then, Xiaoyingzi invited Mingzi to her home and prepared some ink, brush and paper. After a little while, he had produced some designs.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Looking at his drawings, Dayingzi exclaimed in delight. "With such designs I can use the new styles."

The second layer of stitches were put among those of the first ones, so that the colour was varied gradually from dark to light without any break. The method her mother employed failed to eliminate the clear contrast between dark and light.

Being both a servant and adviser of Mingzi, Xiaoyingzi urged him, "Draw a pomegranate flower! Draw a cape jasmine flower!"

这人是谁？是明子。明子念“上《孟》、下《孟》”的时候，不知怎么得了半套《芥子园》，他喜欢得很。到了荸荠庵，他还常翻出来看，有时还把旧账簿子翻过来，照着描。小英子说：

“他会画！画得跟活的一样！”

小英子把明海请到家里来，给他磨墨铺纸，小和尚画了几张，大英子喜欢得了不得：

“就是这样！就是这样！这就可以乱孱！”

——所谓“乱孱”是绣花的一种针法：绣了第一层，第二层的针脚插进第一层的针缝，这样颜色就可由深到淡，不露痕迹，不像娘那一代绣的花是平针，深浅之间，界限分明，一道一道的。小英子就像个书僮，又像个参谋：

“画一朵石榴花！”

“画一朵栀子花！”

She then went out to pick these blossoms from the trees and handed them to him to copy. After much practice Mingzi could draw a variety of flowers. Looking at these, Aunt Zhao was very pleased and patted his head saying, "What a clever boy you are! I hope you will be my adopted son."

All at once, Xiaoyingzi encouraged him by squeezing his shoulder, "Go on, call her 'Mother'! Quick! Quick!"

Mingzi fell to his knees and kowtowed to Aunt Zhao. From then on, he regarded her as his adopted mother.

Before long, three pairs of embroidered shoes made by Dayingzi were passed round the whole district. Many young girls came to admire them, even from as far as thirty
li
away, some on foot and others by boat, all praising her profusely, "Oh, what a beautiful design! They're not embroidered flowers, they're fresh ones!"

Bringing paper with them, many begged Aunt Zhao to do them a favour, namely, to ask the young novice to draw some flower designs for them. Some wanted them for door curtains, decorative streamers or embroidered shoes. Whenever Mingzi came to draw flowers, Xiaoyingzi made a snack for him— boiling two eggs, steaming a bowl of taros or frying some dumplings with lotus-root starch.

她把花掐来，明海就照着画。

到后来，凤仙花、石竹子、水蓼、淡竹叶、天竺果子、腊梅花，他都能画。

大娘看着也喜欢，搂住明海的和尚头：

“你真聪明！你给我当一个干儿子吧！”

小英子捺住他的肩膀，说：

“快叫！快叫！”

小明子跪在地下磕了一个头，从此就叫小英子的娘做干娘。

大英子绣的三双鞋，三十里方圆都传遍了。很多姑娘都走路坐船来看。看完了，就说：“啧啧啧，真好看！这哪是绣的，这是一朵鲜花！”她们就拿了纸来央大娘求了小和尚来画。有求画帐檐的，有求画门帘飘带的，有求画鞋头花的。每回明子来画花，小英子就给他做点好吃的，煮两个鸡蛋，蒸一碗芋头，煎几个藕团子。

So her elder sister could have more time to prepare her dowry, Xiaoyingzi did all the extra farm work. Of course, Mingzi gave her a hand.

The busiest work was transplanting seedlings, irrigating the paddy-fields with a waterwheel and weeding the fields. Other hard jobs were harvesting the rice and threshing the grain on the threshing ground. It was impossible for a single family to accomplish all this unaided, so they all helped each other by working collectively in each other's fields in turn. The helpers got no pay, but were rewarded with six meals a day of meat and wine. Working together in the fields, they sang ballads accompanied by the beating of gongs and drums. It was very lively.

At other times of the year, when the farm work was not so heavy, each family worked separately.

At the third weeding, the rice seedlings had already grown high. Working in this vast expanse of green, Xiaoyingzi sang:

The cape jasmine flowers blossom in six petals,

There is a bridge before my door.

On hearing her clear voice, Mingzi knew at once it was Xiaoyingzi, and raced to the spot. He bent his head and began to weed as soon as he was with her. Usually, it was also his job to lead the buffalo to the water for a mud bath. According to local custom, after taking off the yoke and allowing the beast to take a drink of water, the animal was led to a muddy pool where it would frolic until covered with mud to protect it from mosquito bites.

Two people working a waterwheel for half a day could secure enough water for irrigation. Mingzi and Xiaoyingzi stood side by side treading the wheel rhythmically, singing softly the various ballads learned from Rendu.

The Zhao family had no threshing ground of their own, so after the harvest, they threshed their wheat at Biqi Nunnery. When Uncle Zhao ate his meal, Mingzi worked in his place for a while. Flourishing the whip to urge on the animal, he called out the work signal, "
Ge tan de.
.."

Though this did not mean anything, it was very pleasant to hear. When Mingzi sang it, Aunt Zhao listened and said in admiration, "What a sweet voice the boy has!"

"So pleasant to hear!" Dayingzi chimed in, putting down her knitting.

"He's the best singer in the thirteen provinces," Xiaoyingzi remarked proudly.

因为照顾姐姐赶嫁妆，田里的零碎生活小英子就全包了。她的帮手，是明子。

这地方的忙活是栽秧、车高田水、薅头遍草，再就是割稻子、打场了。这几茬重活，自己一家是忙不过来的。这地方兴换工。排好了日期，几家顾一家，轮流转。不收工钱，但是吃好的。一天吃六顿，两头见肉，顿顿有酒。干活时，敲着锣鼓，唱着歌，热闹得很。其余的时候，各顾各，不显得紧张。

薅三遍草的时候，秧已经很高了，低下头看不见人。只听见非常脆亮的嗓子在一片浓绿里唱：

栀子哎开花哎六瓣头哎……

姐家哎门前哎一道桥哎……

明海就知道小英子在哪里，三步两步就赶到，赶到就低头薅起草来。傍晚牵牛“打汪”，是明子的事。——水牛怕蚊子。这里的习惯，牛卸了轭，饮了水，就牵到一口和好泥水的“汪”里，由它自己打滚扑腾，弄得全身都是泥浆，这样蚊子就咬不透了。低田上水，只要一挂十四轧的水车，两个人车半天就够了。明子和小英子就伏在车杠上，不紧不慢地踩着车轴上的拐子，轻轻地唱着明海向三师父学来的各处山歌。打场的时候，明子能替赵大伯一会，让他回家吃饭——赵家自己没有场，每年都在荸荠庵外面的场上打谷子。他一扬鞭子，喊起了打场号子：

“格当嘚——”

这打场号子有音无字，可是九转十三弯，比什么山歌号子都好听。赵大娘在家，听见明子的号子，就侧起耳朵：

“这孩子这条嗓子！”

连大英子也停下针线：

“真好听！”

小英子非常骄傲地说：

“一十三省数第一！”

As the wheat the temple collected from its tenants was also dried on the same ground, Mingzi often guarded the threshing ground with Xiaoyingzi. Sitting close to each other on a stone roller, they listened to frogs croaking and grasshoppers making the sound "
sha
..." or they looked at the fireflies flitting before them and the shooting stars in the sky.

"Ah, I've forgotten to tie a knot in my belt!" cried out Xiaoyingzi suddenly.

The local people believed that if one tied a knot in one's belt while watching a shooting star one's wish would come true.

Gathering water chestnuts was Xiaoyingzi's favourite occupation. When autumn was over, the leaves of the water chestnuts had withered. Then the nuts could be pulled out. This was why she liked this work. Besides, water chestnuts grew in the mud, so to find them she had to go barefooted. When she trod on a hard knob she would reach into the mud and pull out a purplish-red water chestnut. She liked doing this and made Mingzi help her, and often trod with her bare foot on his purposely.

晚上，他们一起看场——荸荠庵收来的租稻也晒在场上。他们并肩坐在一个石磙子上，听青蛙打鼓，听寒蛇唱歌——这个地方以为蝼蛄叫是蚯蚓叫，而且叫蚯蚓叫“寒蛇”，听纺纱婆子不停地纺纱，“唦——”，看萤火虫飞来飞去，看天上的流星。

“呀！我忘了在裤带上打一个结！”小英子说。

这里的人相信，在流星掉下来的时候在裤带上打一个结，心里想什么好事，就能如愿。

…… ……

"
”荸荠，这是小英子最爱干的生活。秋天过去了，地净场光，荸荠的叶子枯了——荸荠的笔直的小葱一样的圆叶子里是一格一格的，用手一捋，哔哔地响，小英子最爱捋着玩，——荸荠藏在烂泥里。赤了脚，在凉浸浸滑溜溜的泥里踩着，——哎，一个硬疙瘩！伸手下去，一个红紫红紫的荸荠。她自己爱干这生活，还拉了明子一起去。她老是故意用自己的光脚去踩明子的脚。

After finishing their work, Xiaoyingzi returned home with a basket full of water chestnuts, leaving her footprints on the soft mud ridges. These fascinating footprints, with five tiny toes, a flat sole and a slender heel, evoked in Mingzi an unprecedented feeling of pleasure, disturbing him.

Mingzi often went to town in the Zhaos' boat to buy incense, candles, oil and salt for the temple. In the slack season Uncle Zhao rowed the boat, while in the busy one, Xiaoyingzi went in the boat rowed by Mingzi.

The waterway passed through the middle of a stretch of reedy marshes. There were no inhabitants on either side, which made Mingzi a little nervous. Not knowing why, he would row as fast as he could.

"Mingzi! Mingzi!" Xiaoyingzi shouted to him. "What's the matter with you? Have you gone mad? Why do you row so fast?"

The day when Mingzi was to leave for Shanyin Temple to undergo the initiation rites finally came.

"Do you really want to become a monk?"

"Yes."

她挎着一篮子荸荠回去了，在柔软的田埂上留了一串脚印。明海看着她的脚印，傻了。五个小小的趾头，脚掌平平的，脚跟细细的，脚弓部分缺了一块。明海身上有一种从来没有过的感觉，他觉得心里痒痒的。这一串美丽的脚印把小和尚的心搞乱了。

…… ……

明子常搭赵家的船进城，给庵里买香烛，买油盐。闲时是赵大伯划船；忙时是小英子去，划船的是明子。

从庵赵庄到县城，当中要经过一片很大的芦花荡子。芦苇长得密密的，当中一条水路，四边不见人。划到这里，明子总是无端端地觉得心里很紧张，他就使劲地划桨。

小英子喊起来：

“明子！明子！你怎么啦？你发疯啦？为什么划得这么快？”

…… ……

明海到善因寺去受戒。