A few years ago, when I was investigating and collecting folk songs in the countryside, I caught up with a funeral. Because the family who received our accommodation in the village happened to have the same surname as the deceased, I went to help with the funeral according to local customs. With the consent of the family of the deceased, I went to the funeral with my uncle who received the family.
Walking into the yard, many people turned their curious eyes to me, an outsider. I was a little timid, so I quickly lowered my head and moved to the corner.
"Whose Nicole are you?"
I looked up for it. On the edge of the room, a vague face was held by a black hand, and I sat there leaning against an old sewing machine with a strange smile on my face.
With this weird smile, it seems that you can see through it at a glance. The man who spoke in front of you must be a fool.
When I was a child, there was also a fool in the village near grandma's house. My hair is messy and dirty. No matter winter or summer, I wear the old-fashioned wrapped coat that can't distinguish the primary colors. I'm covered in oil and my chest is bright enough for people to see. Fools lie on our way to school every day.
Fools like to suddenly jump up and pat children on the shoulder from behind, then give them a big drink to scare them, watch them cry in horror or regret, and then run away in ecstasy. As a result, all the children passing by this road hate this fool and are afraid of it. Every time they see him, they are ready to speed up the start-up and leave him quickly. They don't want to be scared by him or touched by his dirty hands.
Sometimes, the adults passing by in the village can't help but get a slap, turn around and scold a few words, suddenly swing their fists, and don't really fall down. Hey, just a fool.
That feeling of fear, doubt and feeling that a fool is a little pitiful was planted in my heart at that time. Grandma said, if you meet a fool again, stay away from him and ignore him.
In the city, for many years, it's hard to see a fool again.
Until the fool in front of us was recognized, childhood memories reflexively formed a defensive instinct-staying away from fools.
He didn't intend to chase me, but just sat there and looked at me and giggled. From now on, no matter whether you go to the toilet or take things, even if you want to squeeze in the crowd, try not to get close to the sewing machine where the fool is sitting next to the room.
At noon, during this period, people who are busy and sympathetic are eating in each room with big bowls. I didn't find my uncle who stayed at home for a while, and I don't know who arranged cooking in the village. I don't think I'm too hungry, so I took some photos on the roof along the ladder.
Just after I got off the ladder, a black hand handed me a steamed bun. Being a fool, I waved my hand instinctively. He put down his hand, looked at the steamed bread in his hand, and suddenly looked up and said with a smile, "eat." With that, he pointed in one direction, took a few steps forward, turned and waved to me, and followed him to find the cauldron with the dishes. He opened the drawer cloth, which contained clean dishes and chopsticks. The fool didn't take chopsticks again, just pointed, smiled and went back to the sewing machine for dinner.
Only then did I notice and look at the fool. He is wearing a green military coat, which is obviously several sizes bigger than his body, but the military coat is complete from top to bottom without any damage or patches.
After dinner, I talked with the villagers in the yard about the local customs of weddings, funerals and weddings. The fool came and stood in the distance. "Nell, are you full?" He didn't come near. I nodded a little embarrassed. He saw it and walked away with a smile.
Just as I was about to ask the villagers around me who this person was, an aunt stopped him. "Xiao Er, Zi Ling's uncle gave you money just now, didn't he?" The fool didn't answer, but kept nodding while laughing. "Keep it, but don't tell your uncle. Did you hear that? Do not give it to him. Tell him to take it away from you, and don't tell him if he hits you. " The fool nodded again, and menstruation said, "Put some oranges in the fool's pocket, and he will go back and sit by the sewing machine outside." .
"He is the son of the village west middle child wavelet. The second child can pinch and count. Everyone in the village is willing to ask him and let him calculate for us. " My aunt suddenly whispered, "I wonder if there are too many secrets leaked." Xiaobo's mother died during childbirth. When the child grows up, he finds that his brain is not bright. Turned out to be a fool. The second child got sick and left two years ago. Now the house belongs to his uncle, and Xiaobo is in his charge. "
"Listen to what you just told me. Is his uncle bad to him? "
"Yes, it's easy to get beaten. At ordinary times, all the money that the villagers secretly gave to Xiao Bo 'er was ransacked by his uncle, and sometimes he didn't even give food. Alas, outsiders can't tell you why. "
I feel a little uncomfortable.
In winter in the countryside, because only a small coal stove is used for heating, after the sun goes down, the wind begins to blow in from the door curtain, from the cracks in the wall and from the cracks in the glass putty. When my aunt saw me sitting in the outhouse, shivering with cold, she welcomed me into the back room.
Grandchildren of the main family are drinking water in the back room, and they are going to keep vigil for the dead after dinner.
My granddaughter's nickname is Qingqing, a few years older than me, and her round face is like a silver basin. She got married in the city two years ago and came back to attend the funeral today. Because they are about the same age, I chatted and introduced my aunt and uncle at home, as well as the general arrangements and local customs at the funeral. Just then, I heard the sound of knocking at the window. Wipe off a thin layer of water vapor by hand. There are two faces stuck on the glass, one is a small face like a wavelet, the other is a small face like a jiaozi, neatly dressed, not like a doll in the village. Qingqing immediately smiled and turned to me and said, "This is my daughter Xiaoxue." I'm a little surprised. Looking out again, Xiaoxue was held by Xiaobo, who pointed to the room. Xiaoxue grabbed Xiaobo's beard with her small hand and shouted "Xiaobo Xiaobo". Two people giggle outside the window.
"When I was a child, as long as I was busy with farming, my mother sometimes hugged me, and he hugged me, and we ran all over the village. Strange to say, his uncle always said that he was stupid and that he didn't even recognize anyone. Sometimes when his uncle asked him who he was, he also said that he didn't recognize him and would be beaten. If you ask me, he can remember whoever he wants. Every time I go back to the village and his mother's house and see it from a distance, Nini calls me. He knows my brother and my nephew. He is not stupid, but his IQ is a little low. "
Qingqing's eldest brother also spoke when he heard this. "Really, that day I went to the village health station and my grandpa's infusion shelf. On the way, I met Xiao Bo, so I put down your nephew to play with him. When I came back, I actually took out a handful of sugar and a bag of dates and said that it was given by Xiao Bo. " Then he turned to me. "Xiaobo is really charitable, and he is willing to give anything good to his children."
The "Dangdang Dangdang" window was knocked again, and two pairs of clear and bright eyes looked at us outside. Xiaobo pulled Xiaoxue's sleeve like a wave, and I smiled and waved to them.
Because there are some short customs and ceremonies in the evening, I am in no hurry to leave. At dinner, Xiao Bo came over and said "Eat" as usual, and then went to cook. After dinner, he sat quietly by the sewing machine outside the hospital.
The wind is getting tighter. Aunt asked Qingqing to ask Xiaobo to sit in the room. I quickly stood up and got the job. Outside, Xiao Bo is busy in the corner opposite the sewing machine. I approached to call him, only to find that there was a small incense table in this corner. During the day, people came and went in the yard, but I didn't notice. This incense table is used to put grandpa's coffin. I can't see clearly whether it is a small candle or incense. The yard was dark, and only the light of the flame lit by a wavelet lighter reflected his dark face.
I suddenly understood why Xiao Bo sat in the corner next to the sewing machine all day, where it was convenient for him to look at the incense table and change the incense. It was impossible to break it.
"Xiaobo, uncle and aunt asked you to go in and sit down." I don't know what to call him about his age, so I just call him Xiaobo.
Hearing this, Xiaobo suddenly raised his five fingers to his face, made a gesture to tease the child, and then "hi" and ran in. Yes, this exaggerated action reminds me that Xiaobo is a fool.
Goodbye is the second day early in the morning, sunny and brother stayed up all night. Sunny and I hit it off immediately, so we asked with concern, "I'm afraid it's cold and sleepy at night, right?" Qingqing stretched himself: "Yes, the hardest thing is that at one or two o'clock, the outhouse is ventilated everywhere, and my brother can't stand it." Paused and said, "Xiaobo stayed up all night without sleeping."
I started looking for Xiao Bo in the crowd. He was still sitting alone in the chair next to the sewing machine, staring at the incense table.
The eldest son of the master's family inherited his grandchildren and continued to wake. The eldest son is the head of the town. He heard that I was here for an investigation tour, so he talked a few words. "This is a well-known poverty-stricken village, so the funeral is inevitably complicated. Unlike the funeral industry in the city, all things, big and small, have to be planned and discussed by the villagers. We will catch up with the red and white events in the village, and so will the busy farmers and off-duty people. The lifestyle of traditional agricultural society left a deep impression on me, which is quite humanized.
"By the way, uncle, how old is Xiaobo?"
"Xiaobo is the same age as me and is 48 this year."
I think so. Even Sister Qingqing saw it when she was a child. She must be over forty.
"I heard from the aunt in the village that his uncle took care of him, but he often didn't give him food. I don't think he is short of food and clothing? "
"Clothes are provided by any one in the village. I really can't stand it. I can find an idle one from my own home, eat it, go to whose house to eat, and leave it to him if I don't dislike it. " Uncle looked at the mourning hall deeply. "It turned out that when my dad was here, Xiaobo loved to come here because they were an old couple at home. When he saw Xiaobo coming, he didn't bombard him, so he added a pair of chopsticks and ate together. Xiaobo ... understands that my father is good to him. "
At this point, a series of questions have been strung up one by one. He's here staring at the incense table and keeping a vigil for him. It's not who assigned a fool any work, but he probably didn't know why and did it.
I feel a little sour. "He is like this. I heard that his uncle also occupied his property. Do you want to hit him? "
My uncle sighed slightly. He didn't say "it's not easy for anyone to raise a fool", but "people are doing it, and the sky is watching".
I walked to the door and looked at Xiaobo from a distance. His beard shone together, as if he had just dipped in porridge for breakfast. I want to wipe it off for a while.
On the third day, it was the day of funeral in the countryside.
Wavelet's work is clear, and taking virgins is actually a local paperwork. Cutting paper into virgins is a local custom, but it is said that ordinary people are taboo to take it, so it is held by "homeless" people in the village. I wonder if all the funerals in the village are arranged for Xiao Bo to do this. Anyway, when he left, he naturally went to get this.
I made a child's face when I passed by, which scared me "ah", unlike the fool who scared me at the head of the village when I was a child.
During the funeral, grave digging, burial and paper burning, I followed the procession and watched from a distance. When the burning paper was still alive, a strong wind suddenly blew. The villagers who helped burn paper saw that the fire was getting bigger and bigger, and they all retreated to the crowd and let it burn. Smoke billowed in the vast fields and was slightly dispersed by the wind. I saw a small figure running after the burnt paper fragments floating to the kneeling master's house, putting them on the ground while chasing them, and holding a small wooden stick in his hand to put the burnt paper in front of the grave ... With the sad cry of the master's family, I watched the swaying wavelet running in the black smoke, perhaps because the wind blew the smoke blind and tears kept flowing downwards. I saw my grandfather, who was very kind to Xiaobo's family, buried safely, and the busy one next to him was silly. Xiaobo once had a meal at his house.
Xiao Bo didn't cry, Xiao Bo didn't have any tears, but Xiao Bo's running, the candles and incense on countless incense tables lit silently by Xiao Bo were all the tears of Xiao Bo. Or maybe, he is a fool, he has no tears, and he doesn't know this, but he earned my tears.
The winter in my memory is very cold. That winter I felt the simplest and wordless warmth. Xiaobo is a fool. Fortunately, Xiao Bo is a kind fool. Fortunately, Xiaobo is a fool and lives in the village. The kindness of the villagers kept him alive. Xiaobo's kindness to the villagers kept him alive.
Many years later, I often think of Xiao Bo's eyes, those chaotic and clear eyes in my memory.
Chaos, because he is a fool; Clear, because he will always live like a naive child. When I left, he looked at me with his chaotic and clear eyes, raised his hands with a smile and said "goodbye" to me.
I once met a fool in a village.
No one said he was a fool.
Grandparents in the village all call him Xiaobo.
Uncle and aunt in the village all call him Xiao Bo.
All the brothers and sisters in the village call him Xiaobo.
The babbling child in the village also called him Xiao Bo.
He is a simple and beautiful world that can live forever.
An age-independent fool
His name is Xiao Bo.