Lao Tzu sat motionlessly, as if he were a piece of stupid wood.
"Sir, Kong Qiu is here again!" His student, Gengsangchu, walked in impatiently and said softly.
"Please..."
"How are you, sir?" Confucius performed the ritual with great respect, while speaking.
"I always do this," Replied Lao Tzu. "How are you? Have you read all the books in this collection? ”
"I've seen it all. But..." Confucius was very anxious, which he had never had. "I studied the Six Classics of Poetry, Book, Ritual, Music, Yi, and Spring and Autumn, and I thought I had been very long and mature enough. He went to see the seventy-two masters, and no one adopted them. It's really hard for people to explain it. Or is it the difficulty of explaining the 'Tao'? ”
"You're still lucky," lao tzu said, "and you haven't met a capable master." The Six Classics are just a vestige of the previous king. Where are the things that have been traced? Your words are the same as the traces. Traces are made of shoes, but are traces shoes? After a pause, he continued: "As long as the white carp look, the eyeballs do not move, but naturally they are pregnant; the insects, the males are screaming in the upper wind, and the females are naturally pregnant; the class is both male and female, so naturally pregnant." Sex cannot be changed; life cannot be changed; time cannot be retained; the Tao cannot be stopped. As long as you have the Tao, you can do anything, but if you lose it, then nothing will work. ”
Confucius seemed to have been hit in the head, and the dead sat in a daze, just like a piece of stupid wood.
After about eight minutes, he took a deep breath and got up to say goodbye, thanking Lao Tzu very politely as usual.
Lao Tzu did not keep him, stood up and held the staff, and sent him all the way to the door of the library. Confucius was about to get into the car, and he said like a phonograph:
"You're gone? Don't you go with some tea? ......”
Confucius promised "yes yes", got into the car, arched his two hands and leaned respectfully on the horizontal board; Ran You waved his whip in the air, shouted "both" in his mouth, and the car moved around. It wasn't until the car left the gate a dozen steps before Lao Tzu went back into his house.
"Sir seems to be very happy today," Gengsang Chu saw that Lao Tzu was sitting still, and then stood next to him, hanging his hands, and said. "There's a lot to say..."
"You're right." Lao Tzu sighed slightly, and replied with some decadence. "I'm saying too much." He seemed to suddenly remember something again, "Oh, one of the geese that Kong Qiu sent me, wasn't it a goose that was dried?" You steam and eat it. I had no teeth and couldn't bite. ”
Gengsangchu went out. Lao Tzu calmed down again and closed his eyes. It was silent in the library. Only the sound of bamboo poles touching the eaves could be heard, and this was Gengsangchu taking the wax goose hanging under the eaves.
It was three months. Lao Tzu still sat motionlessly, as if he were a piece of stupid wood.
"Sir, Kong Qiu is here!" His student, Gengsangchu, walked in in surprise and said softly. "Didn't he come for a long time?" I don't know how this came? ......”
"Please..." Lao Tzu said only this one word as usual.
"How are you, sir?" Confucius performed the ritual with great respect, while speaking.
"I always do this," Replied Lao Tzu. "If you don't see it for a long time, you must be hiding in your apartment and working hard?"
"There there," Confucius said modestly. "Didn't go out, thinking. I figured it out a little: the crow kissed the mouth; the fish smeared the saliva; the thin-waisted bee turned into another one; when she was pregnant with a younger brother, she cried when she was an older brother. I myself have not been in the change for a long time, how can this change others! ......”
"Yes, yes!" Lao Tzu Said. "You figured it out!"
Everyone has been speechless since then, like two pieces of stupid wood.
After about eight minutes, Confucius exhaled a deep breath, stood up to say goodbye, and thanked Lao Tzu very politely as usual.
Lao Tzu did not keep him either. Standing up and holding his staff, he was taken all the way to the door of the library. Confucius was about to get into the car, and he said like a phonograph:
"You're gone? Don't you go with some tea? ......”
Confucius promised "yes yes", got into the car, arched his two hands and leaned respectfully on the horizontal board; Ran You waved his whip in the air, shouted "both" in his mouth, and the car moved around. It wasn't until the car left the gate a dozen steps before Lao Tzu went back into his house.
"Sir doesn't seem to be very happy today," Gengsang Chu saw that Lao Tzu was sitting still, before standing next to him, hanging his hands, and said. "Very little is said..."
"You're right." Lao Tzu sighed slightly, and replied with some decadence. "But you don't know: I think I should go."
"Why?" Gengsangchu was taken aback, as if he had encountered a thunderbolt on a sunny day.
"Kong Qiu already understands what I mean. He knew that the only one who could understand his details was me, and he must not be relieved. It's not very convenient for me not to go..."
"So, isn't it the same way?" What else to go? ”
"No," Lao Tzu waved his hand, "we are still different. For example, the same pair of shoes, mine is walking quicksand, and his is the court. ”
"But you are his sir!"
"You have studied with me for many years, and you are still so honest," Lao Tzu laughed, "this is really sex can not be changed, life can not be changed." You must know that Kong Qiu is different from you: he will not come again, he will not call me sir again, only call me an old man, and he will play tricks behind his back. ”
"I can't believe it. But sir's view of people cannot be wrong..."
"No, the beginning is often wrong."
"Then," Gengsangchu thought for a moment, "we'll do it with him..."
Lao Tzu laughed again and opened his mouth to Gengsangchu:
"You see: Do I still have teeth?" he asked.
"No more." Gengsangchu replied.
"Is the tongue still there?"
"Yes."
"Got it?"
"Sir, do you mean to say: the hard one falls early, but the soft one is there?"
"You're right. I think you might as well pack up and go home to see your wife. But first brush my green cow and dry it. I'm going to ride early tomorrow morning. ”
When Lao Tzu arrived at Hangu Pass, he did not go straight to the road leading to the pass, but he pulled the green cow into a fork in the road and slowly circled under the city root. He wanted to climb the city. The walls were not very high, and as long as they stood on the back of the oxen and shrugged their bodies, they could barely climb; but the green cows stayed in the city and could not move out of the city. If you want to move, you have to use a crane, but at this time, Lu Ban and Mo Zhai have not yet been born, and Lao Tzu himself could not have imagined that there would be such a thing. All in all: he used up his philosophical brains, just a lawlessness.
However, he did not expect that when he bent into a fork in the road, he had already seen the spies and immediately went to report to the guanguan. So within a circle of seven or eight inches, a group of people and horses chased after them from behind. The spies practised first, followed by Guan Guan, Guan Yinxi, with four patrol officers and two signers.
"Stop!" Several people shouted.
Lao Tzu hurriedly strangled the green cow, and he did not move at all, as if he were a piece of stupid wood.
"Ahhh!" As soon as Guan Guan rushed forward, he saw Lao Tzu's face, screamed, immediately rolled his saddle off his horse, arched, and said, "Who is my Tao, it turned out to be the old curator." This is really unexpected. ”
Lao Tzu also quickly climbed down from the back of the cow, narrowed his eyes, looked at the man, and said with a nonsense: "I have a bad memory..."
"Nature, nature, sir is forgotten. I am Guan Yinxi, who visited Mr. Guan Yinxi before because I went to the library to look up the "Essence of Taxation"..."
At this time, the signer turned over the saddle on the green cow, stabbed a hole with the stick, reached into the finger to dig it, and walked away without a sound, and walked away with his mouth.
"Sir sneaking around the city circle?" Guan Yinxi asked.
"No, I want to go out and get some fresh air..."
"That's good! That's great! Now everyone pays attention to hygiene, and hygiene is the most important thing. But the opportunity is rare, and we will ask mr. to stay in the guanguan for a few days and listen to his lessons..."
Before Lao Tzu could answer, the four patrolmen rushed forward and carried him on the back of the cow, and the signer stabbed the cow's butt with a sign, and the cow rolled its tail, then let go of its steps and ran towards the pass together.
When he got to close it, he immediately opened the hall to entertain him. This hall is one of the city towers, and when you look out of the window, you can see that the plains are full of loess outside, the farther away the lower; the sky is dark, it is really good air. This pass is high above the steep mountain, and the outside of the door is full of dirt slopes, and there is a lane in the middle, as if it is between the cliffs. It really only takes a pill of mud to seal it.
Everyone drank boiled water and then ate the food. After giving Lao Tzu a break, Guan Yinxi proposed that he be asked to give a lecture. Lao Tzu already knew that this was inevitable, so he agreed with his mouth. So there was a bang, and the room was gradually filled with people listening to the lecture. In addition to the eight people who came with them, there were four patrolmen, two signers, five spies, a secretary, the accounting room and the kitchen. A few also carried pens, knives, and wooden zas, ready to copy the lecture notes.
Lao Tzu sat in the center like a piece of stupid wood, silent for a while, before coughing a few times, and the lips inside the white beard were moving. Everyone immediately held their breath and listened with their ears sideways. Only to hear him say slowly:
"The Word is good, very way; the name is named, very famous." Nameless, the beginning of heaven and earth; nameless, mother of all things. ......”
Everyone looked at each other and didn't copy.
"Therefore there is always no desire to look at its wonders," Lao Tzu went on to say, "and there is always a desire to look at its tricks." The two are the same name. The same, called Xuan, Xuan and Xuan, the Door of All Wonders..."
Everyone showed a bitter face, and some people seemed to be at a loss. One of the signers yawned a lot, and Mr. Secretary fell asleep, and with a loud bang, the knife, the pen, and the wooden za all fell from his hand on the mat.
Lao Tzu didn't seem to feel it, but he seemed to feel something again, because he had spoken in more detail since then. However, he has no teeth, his pronunciation is not clear, he plays the Shaanxi dialect, sandwiched with Hunan tone, "mile", "no distinction, and what do you like to say": Everyone still can't understand. But as time went on, those who came to listen to his lectures suffered extraordinarily.
For the sake of face, people had to stay up, but later they always had to fall backwards and downwards, and each person thought about his own business, and when he talked about "the way of the saints, for the sake of not arguing", he stopped his mouth, or no one moved. Lao Tzu waited for a while, and then added a sentence:
", that's it!"
Although because they had sat for too long, their legs were numb, and they could not stand up for a while, but their hearts were surprised and happy, just like when they encountered amnesty.
So Lao Tzu was also sent to the box room and asked him to rest. After drinking a few sips of boiled water, he sat motionlessly, as if he were a piece of wood.
People are still talking outside. Before long, four deputies came in to see Lao Tzu, to the effect that his words were spoken too quickly, and that Chinese was not very pure, so no one could take notes. There is no record, but unfortunately it is very much, so I will ask him to reissue some handouts.
"Come and talk about what is the west, I really listen to the Buddha!" The accounting room said.
"Or resist writing their own writing out of the end." At the end of the writing, fu bai chewed maggots. A yes? Mr. Secretary said.
Lao Tzu didn't quite understand it, but when he saw that the other two pens, knives, and muzha were all placed in front of him, he was expected to make up lecture notes. He knew it was inevitable, so he said yes; but it was too late today, and he would not open his hands until tomorrow.
The delegates considered the result satisfactory and withdrew.
The next morning, the weather was a little gloomy, and Lao Tzu felt uncomfortable in his heart, but he still had to make up the lecture notes, because he was anxious to get out of the customs, and when he got out, he had to hand over the handouts. He glanced at the large pile of muzha in front of him and seemed to feel even more uncomfortable.
However, he still sat quietly and wrote quietly. Remember yesterday's words, think about it, write a sentence. At that time, glasses had not yet been invented, and his presbyopia eyes were as thin as a line, which was very laborious; except for the time spent drinking boiled water and eating, he wrote a whole day and a half, and it was only five thousand big words.
"In order to get out of the customs, I think this is also perfunctory." He thought.
So he took the rope, put on the wooden za, counted two strings, held the staff, and went to Guan Yinxi's office to hand over the manuscript, and stated that he meant to leave immediately.
Guan Yinxi was very happy, very grateful, and very sorry, insisting on staying with him a little longer, but when he saw that he could not stay, he changed his sad face, agreed, and ordered the patrol to add a saddle to the green cow. On the one hand, he personally picked out a bag of salt, a bag of flax, and fifteen dumplings from the shelf, and put them in a confiscated white cloth pocket to give to Lao Tzu to make grain on the road. And declare: This is because he is an old writer, so he is very preferential, if he is young, there will only be ten gluttons.
Lao Tzu thanked him again and again, put away his pockets, and walked down the city tower with everyone, and when he reached the pass, he also had to lead the green bull to walk; Guan Yinxi tried his best to persuade him to get on the cow, and after giving in, he finally rode up. After saying goodbye, he turned the bull's head and walked slowly towards the main road of Junsaka.
It didn't take long for the cow to let go. Everyone watched at the pass, went two or three inches away, and could also identify white hair, yellow robes, green cows, and white pockets, and then the dust gradually rose, covering people and cattle, all turned gray, and after a while, only yellow dust rolled in, and nothing could be seen.
Everyone returned to GuanShang, as if they had unloaded a burden, stretched out their waists, and as if they had received some goods, smacked their lips, and many people followed Guan Yinxi into the office room.
"This is the manuscript?" Mr. Bookkeeper lifted a string of wooden za, turned it over, and said. "The words are still clean. I saw that the market went up and sold, and someone would definitely want it. ”
Mr. Secretary also leaned in, looked at the first piece, and read:
"'Dao, very Dao'... Hmm, or these clichés. Really teach people to hear headaches, hate..."
"The best way to treat a headache is to take a nap." The accounting room put down the muza and said.
"Hahaha! ...... I really had to take a nap. Honestly, I guessed he was going to tell his love story, and that's what I went to listen to. If I had known that he was just talking nonsense, I wouldn't have sat for so much half a day and suffered..."
"You can only blame yourself for looking at the wrong person," Guan Yinxi laughed. "Will he have a love story there?" He was never in love. ”
"How do you know?" The secretary asked in surprise.
"You can only blame yourself for stumbling and not hearing him say ' do nothing and do nothing'. This guy is really 'heart higher than heaven, fate is as thin as paper', want to 'do nothing', just 'do nothing'. Once you have love, you can't love without love, where can you still fall in love, dare to fall in love? You look at yourself: now whenever you see a big girl, no matter how ugly, your eyes are sweet and greasy like your own wife. In the future, if I marry my wife, I am afraid that I will have to be like our mr. bookkeeper, and I will have some rules. ”
There was a gust of wind outside the window, and everyone felt a little cold.
"Where did this old man go, and what did he do?" Mr. Secretary took advantage of the situation to open Guan Yinxi's words.
"I said I went up the quicksand," Guan Yinxi said coldly. "Watch him walk." Not only is there no salt outside, but even water is rare. Hungry, I think I will come back to us later. ”
"Then we'll ask him to write a book." Mr. Bookkeeper was pleased. "But it's really too expensive." At that time, it was enough to say that the purpose had been changed to promote a new writer, two strings of manuscripts, and five gluttons. ”
"That's not necessarily going to work. To grumble and lose your temper. ”
"Hungry, you still want to lose your temper?"
"I'm afraid of this kind of thing, no one wants to see it." The secretary shook his hand and said. "Even the cost of five dumplings cannot be recovered." For example, if his words are right, then our leader will have to let go of the guanguan and not do it, and this is nothing to do, to be a great adult..."
"It doesn't matter," said Mr. Bookkeeper, "there will always be someone watching." Aren't there a lot of officials who have been handed over and who have not yet become officials? ......”
There was a gust of wind outside the window, including yellow dust, covering it for half a day. At this time, Guan Yinxi looked outside the door, only to see that there were still many patrol officers and spies standing, listening to their small talk.
"What are you doing standing here?" He shouted. "It's dusk, isn't it time for smugglers to climb the city and evade taxes?" Patrol to go! ”
The people outside the door, a cigarette, ran down. The people in the house did not say anything anymore, and the accounting office and the secretary went out. Guan YinXicai brushed the dust on the case with the sleeve of his robe, lifted two strings of wooden za and placed them on a shelf piled with confiscated salt, flax, cloth, soybeans, and dumplings.
Work in December, 1935
