Qing Dynasty calligrapher and painter, literary scholar Zheng Banqiao (1693-1766), his poetry, his calligraphy, his paintings, known as the "three absolutes", but also because of his strange temper, calligraphy and painting style is different from ordinary people, not conventional, so it has become one of the "Eight Monsters of Yangzhou".
After he became famous, people at that time, whether they understood calligraphy or painting, were proud to hang a few paintings of Mr. Itabashi at home, whether it was couplets, square buckets, banners, or paintings, just for the sake of being a vassal. Rich people, not to mention high prices, almost all the celebrities at that time had his calligraphy and paintings.
This is for Mr. Itabashi, who resigned from the government, just selling calligraphy and paintings for a living. However, this Mr. Itabashi's temper is so strange, for some people who do not look good, no matter how high the price, they will not sell!
Among them, there is a businessman, very rich, and very famous in the local area. But he went to Mr. Itabashi to ask for calligraphy and paintings, and no matter how high the price was, Mr. Itabashi just wouldn't sell them. Because he heard the name of this mercenary businessman, he was angry.
But this businessman looks at other people's homes and has Mr. Calligraphy and paintings, but his own family does not have them, which is much faceless. So I thought of a way.
Mr. Itabashi loves to play. On this day, he took the book servant and carried the poetry bag, and walked far out of the city, and gradually he could not see the people. Suddenly, between the mass graves not far away, there was a corner of the house looming out of the mountains, a wisp of cooking smoke rose faintly, and there seemed to be flowers and willows, which surprised him: "Is there a hermit living here?" ”
A closer look revealed a few elaborate huts with no courtyard walls and no neighbors; a small bridge was built over a stream that led to the wood gate. On the whiteboard on the side of the door, there is a couplet: "Escape from Liu Lingchan's outer residence, and live in the belly of Su Hair," and commented: "Strange Sorcerer's Nest." ”
On the second door, there is also a couplet: "The moon is white and the wind is clear, and here it is more tolerant of who is bu house; the lin yin flame gathers, and the life is happy to be neighborly with the ghost." Yokozuna: "Fu'er is extinct." ”
In the courtyard, the caged bird pot fish is hidden from the flowers and plants. The newly planted plantains have the size of the palms; the newly planted willows are taller than people. In the living room, cleaned up, there is a small coffee table, a desk, on the desk is placed paper, ink, pencil, and town ruler; there are four chairs, two low stools, a wooden bed, a rattan pillow, a bookcase,
Hanging on the head of the bed = a picture of the old man of Qingteng, a piano and a sword hanging on the wall, and nothing else. Mr. Itabashi is happy and broken, isn't this where the "gods" live?
Without asking who the master was, he sat down first on the edge of the bed. At this time, a boy came out of the inner room, looked at him for half a day, and then shouted into the room, "There are guests." "Only the owner inside was heard, and there was no guest. Mr. Itabashi's scribe quickly replied that it was Mr. Itabashi who had arrived. The host came out.
When Mr. Itabashi looked at this man, he was wearing a dongpo-style horn scarf, a Wang Gong-style crane, a sheep uncle-style belt, a white fragrant mountain style and a flying cloud foot, and an old man with a tail in his hand, and came dancing. The two talked a little, very speculative.
Mr. Itabashi asked the old man's name and surname, and the old man said, "Old Man Zhen, a native of Nishikawa, has wandered here." People think that the old man is too strange, so he calls himself a strange man. ”
Mr. Itabashi asked, "Fu'er is extinct" what does it mean?
The old man said, "The children of the rich family in Yangzhou have been quite elegant lately, and I heard that I live here, and some flowers and plants are all vying to peek." These people were full of gold and silver treasures, and as soon as they came to this cold place, some of them fell into the stream, some of them ripped off their clothes with flower thorns, some of them let the bird's droppings pull on their heads, and one of them, just sat down here, a tile on the room fell, right in the forehead, blood, and immediately fled. Since then, these people have warned each other that they dare not come again. So I wrote these few words. ”
Mr. Itabashi said: "I hate these rich children the most in my life. ”
After a while, the boy offered clear tea, the old man played the guqin, the tone was agitated for a while, and then turned harmonious, and suddenly stopped, very beautiful.
The old man asked, "Can sir have some wine?" Itabashi replied, "Yes." ”
The old man said, "Unfortunately, this place is too far from the market, there are no good dishes" and said: "I just stewed dog meat in the pot, but I'm afraid you don't like to eat it!" ”
Mr. Itabashi loves to eat dog meat the most, and when he heard him say it, he almost drooled and said, "I like to eat dog meat the most in my life." ”
The old man said, "That's great. So he put on the dog meat, served a few plates of wild vegetables, brought wine, and the two of them ate and drank while eating, and ate a painful meal.
The old man took advantage of the drunkenness, and then drew his sword and danced, fluttering and fluttering, dancing out of a ball of white gas, suddenly shouting and jumping out of the circle, still seated, his face did not change color.
Mr. Itabashi happily took up the wine and said, "Old man, you are a tall man!" Toast you a big cup! Seeing that the sun had set, he got up and resigned, but in his heart he had the intention of seeing and hating each other and falling in love.
It seems that the old man was also, and he sent Mr. Itabashi across the bridge a little reluctantly, saying, "We are both untimely spleens and stomachs, and if we have time, we can come again." Mr. Itabashi agreed and left.
Since then, Mr. Itabashi has come to see the old man every day, talk about poetry and words, and tirelessly until he is drunk. The two exchanged for more than a month, talking about poetry and words, talking about heaven and earth, but never talking about calligraphy and painting.
Mr. Itabashi couldn't help himself, and on this day he asked the old man, "Sir, are you interested in calligraphy and painting?" The old man said, "I don't know anything about calligraphy and painting." ”
Mr. Itabashi said: "I will not hide from you that I am still quite confident in calligraphy and painting, and recently famous people have all competed for my calligraphy and paintings, but I will not give them easily." I see that the wall above you here is empty, I may as well make a few paintings, as a thank you, how? ”
The old man said, "That's too good to dare, please have another drink first." "Then, ask Tong Er to study ink."
Mr. Itabashi was so excited that he waved a book in a hurry, and in an instant there were more than ten paintings, and then he wrote his name one by one.
The old man said, "Koizumi is my word, please be my word, it is a great honor." ”
Mr. Itabashi said in surprise, "Old man, how can your words be the same as those of a businessman?" The old man said, "Probably by chance, I renamed himself." Mr. Itabashi didn't mind either, so he wrote a book to give the word "Koizumi" on the calligraphy and painting.
The old man said, "This ink treasure is not ordinary, from now on I will be full of brilliance here!" The two of them drank again, and it was two days before Mr. Itabashi returned home.
The next day, Mr. Itabashi's friend asked, where have you been these days? Mr. Itabashi said that he went to the strange man and exaggerated the strange man. Friends said, "We've never heard of such a person here!" The place you are talking about has always been desolate and remote, uninhabited, is it a ghost? Today we will also visit with you to see what is going on. ”
On this day, Mr. Itabashi and his friends went to that place together, and when they looked, the small bridge of the grass house and the willow gate wall was gone, only a bend of water, and the ground was full of some messy firewood.
Mr. Itabashi was shocked at first, thinking that he had encountered a ghost, and suddenly he understood: "This businessman is so cunning that he used such means to earn my calligraphy and paintings!" It's really a big brain. ”
After returning home, he secretly looked for someone to go to the merchant's house to check it out, only to see that the merchant's family hung his calligraphy and paintings all over the wall, and the ink marks had not yet dried. ——Mr. Itabashi only has a bitter smile, who makes himself a hermit, greedy for wine and meat, and willing to be deceived!