by Yan Lianke
Stone You said, “Do you want to die? I don’t think you want to live. But if you die, how is Fourth Idiot going to survive?”
Fourth Wife You took some scallions from under the table and peeled them. Without even washing them, she chopped them up and sprinkled them over the dough. Then she squeezed the dough into a spiral and cut it into five portions. As she was doing so, some grains of salt rolled off like peas, and she scooped them up and placed them back on the dough. When she finished, she slowly lifted her head and looked up at Stone You as though seeing someone she didn’t recognize. At this point she appeared very calm and full of kindness. A warm glow radiated from her face. The night was as endless as the sky, and a mysterious sound from the fields crept inexorably into the You family courtyard. When Fourth Wife You heard this sound, she dropped her gaze from Stone You’s face, so thin and indistinct as to almost not be there, and looked at the one leg Stone You had left, after the other had been taken for Second Daughter. She told Stone You quietly, “Second Daughter has been cured.”
He stared in shock.
She said, “Now we cure Eldest Daughter, Third Daughter, and Fourth Idiot.”
He stepped back half a step, staring at her in surprise.
She said, “You don’t have that many bones left, so let me have a turn.” She added, “Tonight you can bring home the butcher from the village next door. I hear he died only yesterday and now is lying on a pallet in the main room of his house. You should bring him over while his body is still warm and his hands still retain some of the strength of a living person. He will know everything.” She added, “Sharpen the knife. Fourth Idiot’s illness is the worst, so boil my head while it is still warm and then feed it to him. Eldest and Third Daughters’ illnesses are not as severe, so you can divide the rest of my bones in two, and then wrap them in three layers of white cloth and place them on the table. After Fourth Idiot becomes a bit more clearheaded, he can take them to his sisters.”
The moon came out.
The mountain ridge and the village were both floating in the water-like moonlight. In the You family’s courtyard, there was a slight chill, as a yellowish-green autumn breeze blew through, sweeping the chicken feathers and weeds into a pile at the base of the wall. The nocturnal sounds from the fields along the mountain ridge resonated past the kitchen counter, through the stove, and onto the kitchen table. Fourth Wife You had already lit a fire and was furiously pumping the bellows, making a rhythmic sound like a wooden clapper. Stone You left, but before he did he looked at Fourth Wife You and said, “Mother of our four children, you should reconsider. Can’t you just use my remaining bones?”
She threw him a look that was half hot and half cold, and asked, “How could that be enough? You’ve been dead for more than twenty years, and your bones have been decomposing this entire time. Do you even know how much medicine they can yield?”
He said, “You should reconsider. You really should. This is truly a matter of life and death.”
She said, “Go fetch that butcher and have him come over tonight. Give him some money, so that you’re not asking him to come here for nothing.”
He replied, “Mother of our four children, you really must reconsider.”
She roared, “Are you going or not? If your ancestors hadn’t passed down this disease to us, I wouldn’t have to be doing this now.”
He didn’t answer, and instead quietly backed out of the kitchen and left. Fourth Wife You heated the skillet and placed the greased bun on top, immediately filling the kitchen with the fragrant scent of oil and baked scallions.
In the courtyard, Fourth Idiot shouted, “Ma, are the buns ready? I’m hungry …”
Fourth Wife You shouted back, “Fourth Babe, wait just a moment.”
She turned down the stove until it was just a single flame, allowing the buns to bake slowly. At this point, Fourth Idiot walked in and looked at the skillet with the buns. He appeared parched, as layers of excitement peeled off his face and fell to the ground, and his shirt was drenched in saliva. Fourth Wife You asked him, “Do you remember everything Mother told you?”
He replied, “Yes, I do.”
Fourth Wife You asked, “Will you forget?”
Fourth Idiot replied, “If I forget, Ma can take a cleaver and chop me up.”
By this point, the fried buns were ready, and their fragrance filled the kitchen. As Fourth Wife You was removing them from the skillet, Fourth Idiot began gurgling with anticipation, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He tried to grab one of the buns, but Fourth Wife You gently pushed his hand away. She cut the bun into quarters, placed them in a bowl, then handed it to him.
Fourth Idiot devoured several bites, and said, “Delicious. Ma, I’ll have four and a half of these five buns, and will leave the remaining half for you.”
Fourth Wife You placed another bun on the hot skillet, and watched as Fourth Idiot ate ravenously.
After taking several more bites, Fourth Idiot suddenly stopped and said, “Ma, it’s salty. It’s incredibly salty.”
Fourth Wife You relit the stove, and said, “Keep eating. They’re good when they’re salty.”
Fourth Idiot started eating again.
Fourth Idiot ate four and a half buns, one after another. As his belly was filling up, he wanted to drink some water, but Fourth Wife You said that he shouldn’t—if he did, his stomach would hurt. Instead, after he finished eating the buns, he should go sleep for a while. Fourth Idiot took several bites from that final bun and handed the remainder to Fourth Wife You, saying, “Ma, would you like some?” Fourth Wife You looked at the row of tooth marks on the bun, like a row of crescent moons. She said, “Fourth Babe, Mother doesn’t want any. Why don’t you keep it for later?” Fourth Idiot laughed, and placed the bun into his breast pocket. Then he went into the courtyard to look at the closed gate and the full moon, and listen to the sound of villagers heading home to rest. Finally, patting his belly as though it were a drum, he retreated to his room.
Fourth Idiot entered his room, climbed into bed, and went to sleep.
The village’s peacefulness was tall and thick, except for the silver-chain cries of the crickets, which echoed through the streets and alleys. The fields outside the village were also full of the cries of nocturnal creatures, which sounded like the rustling of silk. The stars were somewhat sparse, though the moon was so full it looked as though it might burst. In the moonlight, you could occasionally see some ants and other insects out for a midnight stroll. Fourth Idiot had been watching intently, but as soon as he went to bed he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Even then, his hands resting on his swollen belly, he continued to grip that final half of a fried bun.
Fourth Wife You emerged from the kitchen and leaned up to Fourth Idiot’s window to peer in. She picked up a shovel that had fallen down and set it against the wall, then hung the hoe from a wooden beam. She took the sickle that was on the window ledge and stuck it into a crack in the wall, then returned to the kitchen, where she carefully overturned the cistern and poured out all the water inside. Then she poured out the water bucket into the courtyard, too. Finally, she poured out all of the remaining water in the house, so that not a drop was left, and only then did she leave.
By this point, the rest of the village was sound asleep, and from the streets you could hear the faint sounds of people snoring in their rooms. In the cattle pens there was the coarse sound of cattle breathing, while the warm smell of fresh grass wafted through the village streets and alleys. The village dogs were also sleeping deeply, undisturbed by the occasional sounds coming from the village or the mountain ridge. Fourth Wife You stood in her doorway gazing up at the sky. Then she anxiously walked toward the village entrance, arriving at the large gate tower that she hadn’t passed through the preceding evening. Its doors tightly shut, the structure stood proud under the moonlight. The two large “Happiness” characters that had been posted there during the previous year’s New Year’s festival were still clearly visibl
e in the night light.
Fourth Wife You stood in front of the gate tower, staring at it in a daze.
After a moment, she began loudly singing just as she had done after being married into the You household more than thirty years earlier. She sang:
Tonight the maid lifts her head
Because now she, too, has her own embroidery room
Whereas she was previously a maid, she is now a wife
And now she can order her maid around, just like a young wife
Hey, little Lian, come massage my feet!
Her voice gradually increased in volume, going from dark to bright, and by the time she reached the final line, “Hey, little Lian, come massage my feet,” she was roaring. The entire village was awakened by her shouts, which rang through the peaceful and empty mountain ridge like a thunderstorm, and in no time at all had covered the earth in water. Several dogs came running out and stood in the middle of the street, barking madly. Some people opened their front doors and stuck their heads out. Amidst all of the ruckus, someone’s rooster began crowing, and the cattle asleep in their pens also stood up. The entire village awoke with a start, as the newborn baby’s cries surged through the cracks in the doors, down the streets, and out into the fields.
Fourth Wife You sang her song twice in front of the gate tower, and continued as she walked toward the village entrance.
In the entrance, she saw Stone You and someone else whose face she couldn’t make out walking down from the mountain ridge. At that point, she abruptly stopped singing and returned home, and only after she returned home did she finish the song. Then, she stretched up to the window to check on Fourth Idiot. When she saw he was sleeping soundly, she proceeded to the central room and slowly folded the sheets, blankets, and bedding, placing them in a neat bundle for Fourth Idiot to use when he got married. She looked around the room, hung an oil lamp from the wall, then moved the sewing kit from the table to the lid of the box. Next, she wiped the dust from the bed and slowly lay down. As she lay down she seemed to slide on the bed, and a noisy chill seeped into her spine. It was then that she remembered the mat on the bed was a new one that had been placed there at the beginning of the year. She got up and rolled up the mat, put it next to the wall, then looked around the room before slowly lying down again on the hard wooden bed frame. She slammed her eyelids shut like a pair of city gates.
Time rumbled forward like a flour mill.
The sound of footsteps drifted into her room like a specter.
Eventually, a shout in the front room was violently suppressed—like a leaf that had just been picked up by the wind, only to run into the wall or a closed door. The courtyard, village, and the entire mountain ridge suddenly became as peaceful as a lake after a boat has sunk beneath the surface. The entire world seemed to go back into a dream.
Fourth Idiot was awakened in the middle of the night by an acute thirst. He dreamed he was entering a furnace, as his stomach was dried up and his throat was on fire. After gulping for air several times, he woke up, jumped out of bed, and rubbed his eyes. When he went to the kitchen to get some water, he discovered that there wasn’t a single drop left in the cistern. When he went to the bucket, he found that it was lying upside down on the ground. He then went to the washbasin, which usually had half a bowl of water, but all he saw was the reflection of the moon in the bottom of the basin. He couldn’t find a single drop of water in the entire kitchen. He kicked the cistern and the bucket, then grabbed the washbasin and threw it to the ground as well. Finally, he went into the courtyard and shouted in the direction of the main room.
“Ma … you’re making me die of thirst … Ma, you’re deliberately making me die of thirst.”
Hearing no response, he pushed open the door to the main room, walked in, and saw his mother lying peacefully in bed. On the bedside table there was a bowl of dark red soup. Without saying a word, Fourth Idiot stepped forward, grabbed the bowl, and drank its contents. There was a thick, dark red taste in his mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines, which spread between his sinews and his bones. On the verge of vomiting, he noticed that on the table there were two bowl-like white bags. As he was reaching out to open one, he saw lying on it the cleaver with which his mother had frightened him the night before. He suddenly remembered that his mother had asked him to take the contents of the two bags to his eldest and third sisters.
And so, before dawn, he carried the two bags into the depths of the Balou Mountains.
Chapter Seven
They didn’t bury Fourth Wife You until half a month later.
Her pallbearers were her son and three sons-in-law, while her eldest, second, and third daughters followed behind, wailing. When the other villagers came to help with the funeral, they discovered that Fourth Idiot’s illness was completely cured, and he was now as clearheaded as everyone else. Moreover, the three daughters standing beside their mother’s corpse were all pregnant. They had all become wholers and were now beautiful and neatly dressed, even as they cried inconsolably. They had each prepared a present for their mother. Eldest Daughter brought three sets of winter burial shrouds made of cotton, Second Daughter brought three sets of summer burial shrouds made of silk, while Third Daughter brought her three sets of spring and autumn clothing she had sewn herself, together with origami figures of virgin children of good fortune, mountains of gold, and silver chariots. Fourth Wife You’s four children, who had all become as clearheaded as ordinary people, borrowed money to buy some wooden boards, and then asked someone to make her an inch-and-a-half thick coffin made out of cypress wood. On the day of the burial, Stone You and his neighbors in the graveyard went to meet Fourth Wife You, but her four children crowded around the coffin, crying their eyes out. As the coffin was being placed in the grave, it was impossible to tear away Fourth Wife You’s children, as one after another they threw themselves onto the lid of the coffin.
Stone You asked, “Do you think you can bring your mother back to life with your crying?”
They all kept crying.
Fourth Wife You said, “This illness is hereditary. Do all of you know how to treat your own children?”
When they heard this, they abruptly stopped crying.
They buried Fourth Wife You’s body to the right of Stone You’s.