Owning a carriage is my uncle's dream. But those families with less burdens owned carriages and ox carriages very early. They are well-dressed and well-fed, and live a happy life of self-sufficient life! I have seen their carriage pass by their uncle, and his uncle sneaks into them. My uncle's eyes were filled with envy and desire.
Later my uncle finally had his own carriage. The horse pulling the cart was a chestnut-red horse. When the horse came to his uncle's house, it seemed that it was his home long ago. It was familiar with it and would not be disgusted by anyone touching it. Because of this, my uncle also tried his best to protect it. They seemed to have this fate in nature. You answered and agreed to cooperate well when working. It was just right when you use great force and when you use small force. The horse whip is simply a decoration. My uncle never uses the horse whip to beat the horse. He just sways in the air. The horse will understand the shadow of the horse whip when he sees it.
Since the carriage, my uncle's age seems to have dropped from fifty to thirty, and he is full of energy. He has five children, who are busy living all day long, so there is no time to have fun. My uncle's face was busy and anxious all day long. The five children have to go to school, build houses, and get married. For my uncle who has no skills, the burden on his shoulders is so heavy! In my eyes, my uncle pulls his homemade small cart all day long to travel between the beach and the village. The distance between them is six miles, one trip is twelve miles, and two trips a day is twenty-four miles. Not to mention working, you are tired of walking just to the point.
Uncle loves his carriage and puts his mind on it. When he is fine, he combs out the horse's hair and buys red silk from the market to tie it on the horse's head. The horse is spiritual. It knows that the owner loves it and also repays the relationship. It rubs its uncle's arms and chest with its head, and licks its uncle's shoulders with its tongue. Because my uncle loves his horse so much, he never sits in the car while working, and follows the horse closely. He walks as far as the horse goes. It was like this that a carriage brought the daughter-in-law from the fourth house to my uncle and sent a daughter away.
Now my uncle's carriage is placed in the southwest corner of the yard. The horse is gone, but the horse's vigor is still there. My uncle is already in his nineties and often takes steps to the carriage for a long time. We may be able to guess what my uncle thinks, but his feelings for the carriage are hard to give up. My third cousin had to tear apart the carriage very early on as firewood. As soon as he said that, he attracted my uncle's anger. My uncle would never allow me to see my third cousin destroy the carriage while he was alive.
The soul of this carriage has been engraved with my soul. Because in my lonely childhood, there are no playthings to satisfy our curiosity, we have to approach the carriage. After school or in the hot summer evening, we run towards the carriage like little devils. We lie on the tail of the carriage without hesitation, letting the horse pull us into the vast fields. We shouted and leaped, and the carriage was our paradise. My uncle never objected to us like this. Instead, he whipped the carriage to move faster, allowing us to experience the beauty brought to us by speed.
■ Text/Excerpted from "Rural Background" (by Bai Qingguo, published by Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House)
■The pictures are all pictures except the cover of the book
■Editor/Xu Shanshan
■ All rights reserved, and no reprinting of
may be allowed without permission.
