拖不死的窮漢子

Poor man not dragged to death

?

天陰下雨，天色墨黑。

It was cloudy and rainy, and the sky was black.

天還沒亮，周興和打著火把，背著草藥背篼，沿著下山的那條泥濘小路，跌跌絆絆朝三元鄉(xiāng)街上走去——他要趁天還沒亮，把這幾天扯的草藥背到場(chǎng)上賣了，再趕回隊(duì)里上班。

Before dawn, Zhou Xinghe, with a torch and a basket of herbs on his back, hobbled down the dirt road to the street of Sanyuan Village - carrying a basket of herbs on his back, he had to sell them on the fair and came back to work in the team before dawn.

分家后，15歲的周興和就獨(dú)自承擔(dān)起生兒育女、養(yǎng)家糊口的家庭責(zé)任來(lái)。15歲，如果按照年齡段來(lái)分，他還只是個(gè)少年；而今，城里像他那個(gè)年齡段的少年，說(shuō)不定還在父母面前撒嬌，動(dòng)不動(dòng)還要威脅父母離家出走，讓父母打著燈籠遍天下去找呢！

After dividing their family property, Zhou Xinghe, 15 years old, took on the responsibility of raising children and supporting the family alone.?At 15 years old, he would be a teenager just according to the age;?nowadays, the urban teenager in his age, may just act coquettishly in front of his parents, or threaten his parents by running away from home, and let the parents to find hime all over the world!

那時(shí)的農(nóng)村人，除了上班掙工分，是沒有任何經(jīng)濟(jì)來(lái)源的。要想搞點(diǎn)副業(yè)，那是“資本主義尾巴”，是要被割掉的。同時(shí)，隊(duì)的規(guī)定也不近人情，一戶人家只能養(yǎng)一只雞，一個(gè)人只能在自留地里種一窩菜。外出打工吧，不但無(wú)工可打，說(shuō)不定還要把你當(dāng)成“流竄犯”給抓起來(lái)；就是扯點(diǎn)草藥賣幾個(gè)雞蛋，也會(huì)說(shuō)你不務(wù)正業(yè)，搞投機(jī)倒把走資本主義，沒收你的東西不說(shuō)，還要挨批斗。

At that time, the rural people, in addition to work to earn the workpoints, had no other source of income.?If you wanted to have a bywork, it's the "tail of capitalism", which shall be cut off.?At the same time, the rules of the production team were also inhuman, that a family can only keep one chicken, and a person can only plant a vegetable in their own private plot.?Going out to work, there had no work to do, instead you may be arrested as a "criminal on the run";?even if you just digged herbs or sold a few eggs, you would be accused of not attending to your proper duties, speculating or taking the capitalism way, so your goods would be confiscated and you shall be criticized.

但，一家人總要活下去呀！為了活命，周興和顧不到那么多了，他必須要冒著風(fēng)險(xiǎn)千方百計(jì)養(yǎng)活一家人。

However, the family must survive!?In order to survive, Zhou Xinghe could not consider so much. He had to take risks and try his best to support his family.

在妻子給他生下大女兒之后，接著幾年，又給他生下二女一男。到周興和23歲時(shí)，他已經(jīng)是4個(gè)兒女的父親了。這時(shí)，一家人不說(shuō)其它，就是吃飯的嘴，聯(lián)起來(lái)就有一尺長(zhǎng)；這一家人在當(dāng)時(shí)的境況下要生存下去，不被餓死凍死，就是難以想象的了。那些年，盡管周興和和妻子沒日沒夜拼命地干，但還是一窮二白入不敷出，窮得有時(shí)連買斤鹽巴、打斤煤油的錢也拿不出來(lái)。有好長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間，家里點(diǎn)不起煤油燈，一個(gè)屋里黑咕隆咚的，天一擦黑，一家人就只能窩在床上。

A few years after his wife gave birth to his eldest daughter, she gave birth to two more girls and a boy.?By the time Zhou Xinghe was 23 years old, he was the father of four children.?At this time, not to mention anything else, only the mouths of the family connected together was over one foot long;?it was inconceivable that the family could survive in the circumstances of that time without dying of starvation or freezing to death.?In those years, although Zhou Xinghe and his wife worked hard day and night, they were so poor that they could not make ends meet. Sometimes, they could not even afford to buy the salt or kerosene.?For a long time, the family could not afford to light a kerosene lamp, so the house was so dark that one family had to stay in bed when getting dark.

熬吧，熬！

Carry on!

那時(shí)，他們?nèi)胰擞幸话氲臅r(shí)間是吃兩頓飯。所謂“飯”，其實(shí)吃的大多是豬食一樣的東西。即便有點(diǎn)糧食，每次煮飯時(shí)只能在紅苕葉或牛皮菜上撒上把包谷面或麥麩子。那時(shí)，他們?nèi)?口人，10斤包谷面要吃20多天。興和深刻地記得，1970年過春節(jié)時(shí)，大年三十中午，他全家人就煮了一頓油稀飯，大人小孩算是開了個(gè)葷，算是過了年！

At that time, the whole family only ate two meals a day.?The so-called "meal", in fact, was mostly like things as the pigswill.?Even if there was a little grain, it can only scatter little corn flour or wheet bran on the leaves of sweet potato or chard.?At that time, his family had 6 people, and 5kg of grains could be eaten for more than 20 days.?Xinghe deeply remembered that in the Spring Festival of 1970, at noon of the Chinese New Year's Eve, his whole family cooked a meal of porridge with lard oil, so the adults and children had a meat diet, to celebrate the new year!

辛酸苦楚，往事不堪回首！

Bitter past finds it unbearable to recall!

那時(shí)，大人小孩更沒有衣服穿。他們連2角8分錢一尺的粗布也買不起，即使買回幾尺，也只能用坡上一種叫“狗地牙根”的植物染上顏色，然后自己縫成衣裳穿。因?yàn)橹芘d和要出門趕場(chǎng)、上坡出工，不能光著身子，他一條粗布褲子穿了3年，疤上補(bǔ)疤達(dá)5層之厚；出門沒鞋穿，他只好打光腳板，連6角錢一雙用車輪胎做底的草鞋也買不起。周興和如此，更不要說(shuō)幾個(gè)幼小的孩子了。

At that time, the adults and children even had no clothes to wear.?They could not afford the coarse cloth of twenty-eight cents per foot, and even if they bought a few feet of cloth, they had to dye them with a plant called "dog teeth root", and sew them into shirts and trousers.?Because Zhou Xinghe had to go out to the fair and go up the hill to work, he could not go naked. He had worn a pair of coarse-cloth trousers for three years, and there were five layers of patch on them.?When he went out, there were no shoes, so he had to bare his feet and couldn't even afford a pair of straw sandals of tire sole for sixty cents.?Even Zhou Xinghe was like so, not to mention his young children.

“嫂子，那個(gè)時(shí)候，你們家里的幾個(gè)孩子都還小，哪個(gè)幫你們照看呢？”采訪時(shí)，筆者突然想到這個(gè)問題，問王瓊?cè)A。

"Ms. Wang, at that time, the children of your family were still young, who help you look after them?"?During the interview, the author suddenly thought of this question and asked Wang Qionghua.

“哪里有人照看喲！……”王瓊?cè)A原本是個(gè)豁達(dá)的人，但問到這個(gè)問題，她卻面露悲切之色，聲音明顯低沉下來(lái)，“那個(gè)時(shí)候，我和興和都要上坡做活路，只是收了工回家煮點(diǎn)東西給幾個(gè)娃兒吃。家里面就是大的照看小的，這些娃兒不管一歲半歲，都是自己在地上爬，只要不摔進(jìn)糞坑、堰塘里淹死就行了……”

'There's noone to look after them! ..."?Wang Qionghua was originally an open-minded person, but when she was asked about this question, she looked sad and her voice was obviously deep down. "At that time, Xinghe and I both had to go uphill to make a living. We just returned home after work and cooked something for the children to eat.?When they were at home without adults, the bigger children shall take care of the smaller ones; no matter they were one year old or just half a year old, they just crawled on the ground, as long as they did not fall into the cesspit or pond to drown..."

家里實(shí)在太窮了，他們生下小兒子后，夫妻倆不得不忍痛將最小的女兒抱養(yǎng)給了別人。

The family was so poor that when they gave birth to their youngest son, the couple reluctantly gave up their youngest daughter to other family.

“是啊，那時(shí)候有些事，簡(jiǎn)直不愿再去回想?！敝芘d和聽了我采訪他前妻的情況，他聲色沉重地對(duì)筆者說(shuō)道，“那時(shí)最要命的是沒有吃的。幾個(gè)孩子太小，餓得哇哇亂叫。我每次回到家，看到幾個(gè)孩子像饑餓的狼崽一樣，幾雙綠瑩瑩的眼睛都可憐巴巴地盯住你，那心頭才不是滋味哪……我不能讓孩子們餓死！實(shí)在沒有辦法了，就是上坡去偷！偷紅苕、偷包谷、偷蔬菜，只要能吃的都偷回家，半夜煮給娃兒吃。前次我回老家，我對(duì)村里的干部說(shuō)，我是用偷來(lái)的東西把娃兒喂大的……村干部說(shuō)，其實(shí)那時(shí)為了活命，哪家哪戶沒偷過呀！”

"There were things in those days that I just don't want to think back."?After listening to my interview with his ex-wife, Zhou Xinghe said to me with a heavy tone, "The most serious thing at that time was that there was no food.?The children were so small that they howled with hunger.?Every time coming home, I saw the children were as hungry as the wolf cubs, a few pairs of green eyes piteously staring at you, and my heart was so ached...?I can't let the children starve!?There was no other way, but to steal up the hill!?To steal the sweet potato, corn, or vegetables, anything can eat shall be stolen home, and cooked at midnight to feed the children.?The last time I went back to my hometown, I told the village officials that I had fed the baby with stolen goods...?Village cadre said, actually at that time in order to live, almost every family had stolen something!"

馬瘦毛長(zhǎng)，人窮志短。那時(shí)，無(wú)論是在生產(chǎn)隊(duì)里，還是走親訪友，貧窮透頂?shù)闹芘d和不是被人看不起，就是受到人家的嘲笑和奚落。

When a man is poor, his ambition is not far-reaching.?At that time, whether working in the production team or visiting the relatives, the extremely poor Zhou Xinghe was looked down or laughed at by others.

走著瞧吧！三十年河?xùn)|，三十年河西。周興和盡管是個(gè)窮得叮當(dāng)響的人，但他又是一個(gè)自尊心自信心極強(qiáng)的人。一次他和妻子帶著兒女去探訪他岳父母，嫌貧愛富的大舅子不但冷落他們，還當(dāng)著眾人的面挖苦和奚落他。當(dāng)他得知大舅子明里暗里還在給王瓊?cè)A物色介紹對(duì)象后，他氣得臉色發(fā)青，發(fā)誓再不跨進(jìn)王家一步！

We'll see!?It’s capricious in rise and fall.?Although Zhou Xinghe was a poor man, he was also a man with strong self-esteem and self-confidence.?Once he and his wife took their children to visit his parents-in-law, their brother-in-law?despising the poor and currying favor with the rich not only ignored them, but also mocked and ridiculed him in public.?When he learned that the brother-in-law still secretly introduced other men for Wang Qionghua, his face was green with anger, and he vowed not to step into the Wang family again!

為了養(yǎng)活家人，從1968年至1979年期間，周興和除了生產(chǎn)隊(duì)的規(guī)定每個(gè)月必須勞動(dòng)26天外，完全是靠一早一晚趕集做點(diǎn)小生意，每次做生意要經(jīng)過中山村2組，那里有個(gè)神秘的山洞，聽老年人說(shuō)那里面住著財(cái)神老爺，周興和回憶他每次做完生意回來(lái)，總是要到那里去上貢。說(shuō)來(lái)也奇怪，大部分時(shí)間上貢后總會(huì)多賺幾毛一塊錢。久而久之，到至今周興和回老家總會(huì)到那里去燒炷香許個(gè)愿。

To feed the family, from 1968 to 1979, in addition to completing the work of 26 days per month in the production team, Zhou Xinghe did some small business on the fair early in the morning or late at night; every time to the fair, he went by Group 2 of Zhongshan Village, and there was a mysterious cave; hearing from the rumor that there lived the god of wealth, Zhou Xinghe remembered that every time he came back, he would go to the cave to paya tribute.?Oddly enough, in most of the time, he earned a little more after paying tribute.?Over time, until now, Zhou Xinghe always went there to burn a joss stick to make a wish.

為了能還清債務(wù)，周興和頑強(qiáng)地與自己的命運(yùn)抗?fàn)幹?。此間，他先后種過蓑草，挖過草藥，還悄悄拿到街上去賣，并將從父親那里學(xué)到的一點(diǎn)醫(yī)藥知識(shí)，替人診斷治病。此外，他還冒著風(fēng)險(xiǎn)偷偷做點(diǎn)小生意，無(wú)論糧票布票，無(wú)論小雞小豬，只要能賺錢的生意他就做。

In order to pay off the debt, Zhou Xinghe tenaciously fought against his own fate.?He had planted the demoiselle, dug up some herbs, and quietly sold them in the fair. He would also diagnose and cure others with the herbal knowledge he had learned from his father.?Besides, at his own risk, he ran a small business on the sly, doing whatever he could to make money, whether it was food stamps or cloth stamps, chickens or pigs.

為此，他被當(dāng)?shù)亍叭簩＝M織”和公社革委會(huì)視為“走資本主義的毒苗”、“屢教不改的投機(jī)倒把分子”，他的錢財(cái)和物品經(jīng)常被沒收，還3次被掛黑牌批斗，甚至游街示眾，使他一度在家鄉(xiāng)臭名遠(yuǎn)揚(yáng)，有家難歸。

Thus, the local "mass organization" and the revolutionary committee of the commune took him as "the poison seedling of capitalism", and "repeated speculation profiteer", and his money and goods were often confiscated, and he was also criticized for three times with the black sign, or even paraded through the streets, so that he was once notorious in his hometown, and had a family hard to return.

苦難的日子似乎沒有盡頭。1976年大年十五，周興和的父親在三元鄉(xiāng)趕場(chǎng)賣草藥回來(lái)，搭人板車回家，不慎從車上滾了下來(lái)，摔斷了腿骨。由于也是無(wú)錢送醫(yī)院，把他背回家后，用草藥敷了敷骨折的地方，再用竹片固定起來(lái)。父親也像他母親一樣，這時(shí)也只能躺在床上拖！

The days of misery seemed to have no end.?On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of 1976, Zhou Xinghe's father came back from selling herbal medicines in Sanyuan Village. He got on a plate trailer to go home. Accidently, he fell out and broke his leg.?As Xinghe also had no money to send him to the hospital, Xinghe carried him home, applied herbal medicine to the fracture, and fixed it with bamboo pieces.?His father, like his mother, could only lay on the bed and drag on!

周興和含淚望著在傷痛折磨下的父親，他除了內(nèi)心的焦急和悲痛，是束手無(wú)策一籌莫展。家里實(shí)在是太窮了！嗷嗷待乳的兒女，傷痛折磨得皮包骨頭的父親，他誰(shuí)也割舍不下呀！他只能在自己每天8兩糧食中剩下4兩，熬成稀飯送到父親面前，一口口喂給父親。那在傷痛中痛苦呻吟的父親，拖了不到一個(gè)月，呻吟的聲音越來(lái)越小，到最后眼睛一閉，也走了。父親走時(shí)76歲。

Zhou Xinghe looked at his father with tears in his eyes. He could do nothing but worry and sorrow in his heart.?How poor my family was! The children crying piteously for food, and the skinny father suffering from the pain, he could not give up!?He could only take half of his ration, cook and feed porridge for his father.?The father groaned in pain for less than a month. His groaning became less and less. At last he closed his eyes and passed away.?The father was seventy-six years old when he left.

“現(xiàn)在，每當(dāng)我想起母親和父親臨死時(shí)的慘況，我的心里就在流血啊，當(dāng)兒子的我，太無(wú)能了！……”周興和每當(dāng)提到他的父母親，他都自責(zé)不已傷痛不已。

"Now, whenever I think of my mother and my father dying, my heart bleeds, and I, as a son, am so powerless!?..."?Every time Zhou Xinghe mentioned his parents, he was filled with remorse and pain.

山路依然泥濘，天色依然黢黑。走了一段路，火把燃盡熄滅了。周興和背著草藥背篼，摸索著往山下走去。這路實(shí)在是太難走了，曲里拐彎又窄又滑，爛泥時(shí)常遮蓋腳背，興和摔了好幾跤，才走到魏河邊上。但，天太早，過河船鎖靠在河邊，推船的人還沒起來(lái)。周興和看了看天色，唯恐上班前趕不回來(lái)，他脫掉滿是泥巴的衣褲裝在背篼里，兩手舉著背篼，就直接蹚水過河了。

The mountain roads were still muddy and the sky was still dark.?After walking for a while, the torch burned out.?Zhou Xinghe groped down the hill with his basket of herbs on his back.?The road was very hard to walk on. The corners were narrow and slippery, and the mud often covered the back of his feet. Xinghe had several falls before he reached Weihe River.?However, it was too early, the boat was locked on the bank, and the people pushing the boat had not come to work.?Zhou Xinghe looked at the sky and, and feared that he would not be back before going to work, so he took off his muddy clothes and pants, put in his basket, held his basket above head in his hands, and waded straight across the river.

像這樣蹚水過河的次數(shù)，興和已經(jīng)記不得有多少次了。

He could not remember how many times he had waded across the river like this.

時(shí)值初春，河水冰涼刺骨。興和下水一步一步往河對(duì)岸走去，河水慢慢淹到肚皮，淹到胸口，盡管他咬緊牙關(guān)，但冰冷的河水還是像刀一樣割著他的全身，他冷得牙齒敲著牙齒。好不容易，他才爬上河岸。一上岸，他全身抖瑟著，顧不得滿身水漬，趕緊穿上衣裳朝坡上爬去。

It was the early spring, and the water was freezing.?He waded to the other bank of the river, the water slowly flooded his belly and chest, and though he clenched his teeth, the cold water stimulated him like a knife, and his teeth chattered for the cold.?Difficultly, he climbed up the bank.?As soon as he got on the bank, he was shaking all over. Regardless of the water, he quickly put on his clothes and climbed up the slope.

上了坡，周興和回過頭去，晨光初現(xiàn)，江天寂寥，風(fēng)寒露冷。河對(duì)岸那條泥濘的小路，在山間漸漸隱現(xiàn)出來(lái)；冰冷刺骨的魏河，在晨曦中泛著幽幽的微光?？粗矍暗囊磺?，莫名其妙，一個(gè)從未有過的念頭突然從他心底里頑強(qiáng)地冒了出來(lái)——等著吧，如果我周興和這輩子有時(shí)來(lái)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的那一天，老子發(fā)誓，一定要在這河上修座大橋，把公路修到河對(duì)面家家戶戶門口去！

After climbing up the slope, Zhou Xinghe turned around. The morning light was just beginning. The river was lonely, the wind was cold and the dew was also cold.?The muddy road on the other side of the river appeared over the hills;?the icy Weihe River glimmered in the early morning light.?Looking at everything in front of him, a thought that had never occurred to him before suddenly emerged from his mind tenaciously for no reason - just wait and see, if I Zhou Xinghe have fortune one day, I vowed to build a bridge across the river and build roads to the doors of every house across the river!

這個(gè)壓不垮拖不死的窮漢子，他的這個(gè)念頭，到底是白日做夢(mèng)，還是癡心妄想？

Was this idea of this poor man, who could not be crushed or dragged to death, a daydream or wishful thinking?