In October 1992, I attended a Jinzhou City publicity training class and lived in the same room as Dou Xianlin, deputy director of a bureau in Heishan County, and several other people. Director Dou is in his fifties, short, honest and simple, just like a rough old man from the countryside. However, after a few days of contact, I realized that he was both humorous and culturally rich. Everyone in our room was impressed by him. Because his surname is Dou and he talks very funny, we all call him Laodou.
A few days later, when there was no class in the afternoon, Lao Dou went to Xinhua Bookstore and bought back a copy of "The Complete Book of Guiguzi". I flipped through it casually. I found this kind of book too profound and difficult to read. But Lao Dou liked it very much. He said he had been thinking about this book for many years and finally got it today. He began to talk to us about Guiguzi and his students, Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Sun Bin and Pang Juan. Then talking about himself, he is preparing to publish a book, which is almost ready. The content is about folk languages such as idioms, sayings, and proverbs.
When I heard that Lao Dou was going to publish a book, everyone was even more in awe of him. Lao Dou carefully placed the "Guiguzi" under his pillow, and then talked about his writing skills:
"I was born digging dirt in the countryside. I worked as a commune member and a production team leader. Finally, things turned around and I became a national cadre. But my favorite thing in my life is to work with the farmers. Since I was in my twenties, I have liked to collect idioms, sayings, and proverbs. I have done so almost without interruption for decades, and I am now nearly sixty years old. There are both vulgar and elegant ones; those from the Northeast and Guanli. Most of the content is dug out from the ground and taken out from the mouths of the members. When I publish books, I will never follow others' footsteps. What I pursue is novel, unique, authentic, and unique."
My roommate, Lao Zhang, asked: "How about you say a few remarks that we have never heard before?"
Lao Dou laughed and said, "Do you want to test me? It's a piece of cake, I hope you haven't heard of it." Then he blurted out: "Mung bean flies in the belly, maggots (buck); peeing with the back of the hand, without support (succumbing)." These two items made us all amused. They were really new, and we all admitted that we had never heard of them.
Lao Dou asked us to test him again. We wrote the previous sentence and he took the next sentence. Everyone rattled off more than a dozen sentences, and he answered them all fluently.
Someone suggested: "To publish a book, you must find a famous person to inscribe the title of the book to be taken seriously."
Lao Dou said disdainfully: "Celebrities are easy to find, but it is not necessary."
I gave him a suggestion: "It is most appropriate to ask Zhao Benshan to write a preface, because Zhao Benshan is good at speaking folk sayings."
Lao Dou said: "We can invite Zhao Benshan, but I don't want to beg him because he doesn't like it. Zhao Benshan has changed and has become nothing!"
So Lao Dou told us about his experience in contact with Zhao Benshan.
"In 1989, I was the deputy secretary of the government. In the summer of that year, a group of Zhao Benshan came to Heishan County to perform. At that time, Zhao Benshan was so hot that it was almost boiling. The whole county was in a sensation. The performance venue was full and you had to go through the back door to buy a ticket. Except on the stage, it is impossible for ordinary people to see Zhao Benshan. Zhao Benshan came to Heishanhtml On the second day of the 4th, I had a chat with Director Yang of the Propaganda Department. Director Yang said: ‘Zhao Benshan has come to our Black Mountain. We should meet him, interview him, and write an article for the county newspaper. ’ I said, ‘Isn’t it easy to meet him? "In the afternoon, I went to Zhao Benshan's hotel with Minister Yang and newspaper reporter Xiao Wang. It was not easy to find Zhao Benshan. Zhao was getting a haircut, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, with a white cloth wrapped around his neck. Zhao half-closed his eyes and sat still, seemingly not noticing the three of us entering the room. After waiting for a while, I stepped forward, leaned down, and said softly to Zhao Benshan: 'Mr. Zhao, Minister Yang of our Propaganda Department sees that you are here.’ Zhao Benshan did not move, his eyes were still half-closed, and he just snorted from his nostrils, indicating that he understood. The three of us were already a little embarrassed. I thought that it would be inappropriate for me to disturb someone while they were getting a haircut, so I had better wait patiently. After waiting for more than ten minutes, Zhao finally stood up and looked at the mirror on the wall. I was about to come up to talk to him when I saw Zhao sitting down again and letting the barber blow dry his hair. Then I thought about it, I couldn't keep waiting like this. The minister is here and I'm leaving him alone. I can't get off the stage. I had no choice but to lean in again, suppress my anger, and say with a forced smile: "How is your stay, Mr. Zhao?" ''snort. ’ ‘Mr. Zhao, are you eating well? ''snort. ’ He didn’t even raise his eyelids. I'm so angry. You, Zhao Benshan, were originally an honest, kind and rustic farmer. How did you become like this? The shelf is too big and looks down on people. Although I was angry, I couldn't get angry, so I suppressed it and asked again: "Mr. Zhao, our minister and the newspaper reporter are here and want to interview you." ’ Zhao closed his eyes and answered with a very low voice. It seemed that he was not speaking with his throat, but a sound gurgling from his stomach. I didn't hear clearly and asked: 'You mean? ’ Zhao’s stomach growled again: ‘Let’s go to the theater. ’ I finally heard clearly that I was going to the theater for an interview. I thought, I can't stay any longer. They don't want to talk to me. Let's talk about it at the theater in the evening.
"We didn't want to stay for another second. The three of us felt a little dejected and retreated.
"At night, even if I could tell the flowers, Minister Yang refused to come to see Zhao Benshan. I had to go to the theater with Xiao Wang from the newspaper.
There was still an hour before the show time, so we arrived at the theater. When I walked to the backstage door, the staff refused to let me in. I said: 'Mr. Zhao asked us to interview. ’ Only then did someone go in to report. After a while, the actor "Period" came out, showing a pair of small tiger teeth, and said to us: "Mr. Zhao is not free, please tell me if you have anything." ’ I was unwilling to give in: ‘We made an appointment with Mr. Zhao at the hotel in the morning and agreed to be interviewed at the theater in the evening. ' period became impatient: 'He really wasn't free, so I was busy when I had nothing else to do. ’ Then he left without looking back. "As a result, the interview in the evening came to nothing.
After telling this story, Lao Dou said angrily: "I really admire Zhao Benshan. I don't know why he pretends to be so like him on the stage. In life, he is so arrogant and arrogant, but the impression he leaves on people on stage is that of a simple, honest and kind-hearted Xu Laowei! "Several people in the same room also echoed, feeling very sorry for Lao Dou.
I regret that Lao Dou could not communicate with Zhao Benshan face to face to discuss folk art, but I do not sympathize with the minister, nor do I hate Zhao Benshan for being so unkind. Perhaps in Zhao Benshan's mind, no matter what your appearance is, you are not flattering as an official. The more you show off your reputation, the less I will. I take pity on the newspaper reporter Xiao Wang. He must have taken advantage of Minister Yang. If Lao Dou could go to Benshan as a common folk art lover, would he be happy and feel like old friends at first sight, or even hate each other
? For many years after that, I repeatedly browsed books on idioms, proverbs, and sayings in the Xinhua Bookstore, hoping to find a book compiled by Lao Dou, but I failed to do so. Thirty years have passed in a flash, and the clouds have changed. I wonder if Lao Dou is well, and has the book been published?
pictures are all from the Internet
