West Bay of Childhood (II)
There is an old willow tree on the east bank of the West Bay, and it is said that this tree has years, and no one can say how many years it has. The trunk of the old willow tree was wrapped in rough bark, with cracked teeth, the trunk was very thick, and a few of us children could not hold hands, but the canopy was not old, the branches were luxuriant, and the long willow filaments fell down, half into the water, half spilled to the ground. After dinner in the summer, the moon rises, the people at the west end of the village gather under the trees, the women are still endless parents, the men are plotting things in the field in the haze of dry tobacco leaves, and we are a group of bare-chested boys who surround the "bad boy" uncle as usual, listening to him tell those heart-palpitating but addictive stories.
After summer lunch, West Bay is naturally a paradise where children run amok, children fight in the water unscrupulously, take out a handful of stinking purple mud from the bottom of the water, shout, throw at each other, the other party tit-for-tat, roaring, opening teeth and dancing claws, so unhappy. Alas, happiness belongs to the big children, we who have just taken off the crotch pants of the men the current task is to observe and learn, the West Bay back wave pushes the front wave, one day, the world here will belong to us, at the moment, we have to stand under the old willow tree, watch the big children leaping over the river and the sea.
People are small, no one puts us in the eyes, the big children are making fun in the water, the knowledge on the tree is also cheering in unison, the help is to help the team, and even sprinkle urine on me and so on, this is also a good thing, this group of little masters is not easy to provoke, everyone is holding a piece of garbage in their hands, just wait for an order, ten thousand cannons are fired, drive away this nasty knowledge.
The "old child" uncle came, looking at this situation, hey hey smile, revealing the big golden teeth that shone brightly at the corner of his right mouth, and said, "Children, don't be stupid, knowing that urine is a good thing, it is known that the essence of the sun and the moon is set, and the juice of all things is made, and whoever sprinkles this urine on is blessed, if you can eat a bite, then the blessing is great!" Know the urine, but the good thing, do you know the taste? Shame on you? No, no, no, no, but sweet, sweeter than sugar, sweeter than honey, sweet and greasy, sweet enough for a child to shed tears. How can you eat knowing that you have urine? Come, children, uncle secretly tell you, don't spread it! "
The "old child" uncle let us, a group of five- or six-year-old boys, each of them naked and naked, standing in the sun, with their waists straight, their necks outstretched like ducks, their mouths wide open, their eyes round and round, not moving at all, not allowed to speak, not allowed to breathe, and whoever behaves well will drip sweet urine into their mouths when they know.
What a torment that is, it really is, when the sun shines, it knows to smile at me, ah, ah, you see these stupid boys...
There are many tragic things under the old willow tree! More than sixty years later, the past is like smoke, but the experience of being born into death is frozen in my memory.
I am the third sister to see the big, playing small is her heel. One summer afternoon, my third sister and I came to the old willow tree in West Bay, and my sister washed clothes and shoes by the water' edge, and I played mud balls next to her.
"Oh, no, a shoe drifted into the water!" My sister yelled at the shoes that were drifting farther and farther away.
But no, that shoe is like a small boat, floating lightly, swimming slowly into the water, the sister reached out to reach, how can not reach.
"Will you boil water?" My sister asked me hopefully.
I shook my head, "It will be time for the New Year." I said.
The sister was disappointed, "Alas, such a big old man can't even get water, really..."
It's so exciting! With a thud, I jumped into the water and thought, grabbing my shoe, the water won't go anywhere. Where do you know, inside is a pit, the water suddenly did not pass my head, into my mouth, I struggled in the water, a sister did not shout out, and sank into the water. The sister of the same child, who couldn't swim because she couldn't swim, desperately pulled me up.
In my five or six years, it was not once that my sister had left me dead and reborn. Later, jokingly mentioning this adventure with her sister, her sister suddenly realized and said, "Remember, remember, there is such a thing, under the old willow tree on the west side of the bay..."
(To be continued)
