Along the River (12 page)

“How come
I
didn’t get to go there for Qing Ming, Baba?” I ask.

“That was the year I took your brother to see my old house in Shandong Province, where your
ye ye
is buried,” Baba says. “It’s too far for you to travel. Girls shouldn’t get out of the house too often.… Besides, your
niang
doesn’t like to leave her room. We haven’t celebrated Qing Ming for many years now.”

Along the River
at Qing Ming

P
roprietor Ma comes up to Baba toward the end of lunch and asks to speak to him privately.

“How long will it take?”

“It’s about your investment in my humble establishment. I need to show you the books. It might take a while. Do you have time?”

“I have time, but what about my children?”

“Today’s the beginning of Qing Ming. Have you not seen the crowds? So many things to do and see. They can walk around the marketplace, fly kites, go on a boat ride, even enter the city to watch the jugglers, or have their fortunes told.”

“Oh, Baba,” I cry. “Please let Gege show me everything!”

Baba smiles indulgently and reaches into his sleeve. “Here are some coins. Tell Ah Zhao to accompany you. He knows the city well.”

“What if you’re finished before us?” I ask.

“That’s a good point… hmm…” Baba strokes his beard and looks at our excited faces. “Tell you what: since this is Little Sister’s first visit to the city, why don’t you tell Little Chen to wait for you and drive you home? When I’m done, I’ll just hire a sedan chair and go home on my own.”

Gege runs downstairs in high spirits, taking the steps two at a time, as usual. I follow more slowly, as stairs are always tricky for my toes, some of which do not bend. He turns around impatiently and tells me to hurry.

Outside, the sun is blazing and the weather is turning warm. In front of us is the dazzling river. As far as I can see, its entire length is dotted with boats of all varieties, sizes and colors. There are flat-bottomed transport barges laden with sacks of grain, ferries packed with passengers, tiny rowing boats close to shore, river rafts, giant merchant ships and small sampans flying past at high speed. Everyone is going to or arriving from somewhere else. I suddenly realize how narrow my world is.

We find Little Chen fast asleep by the side of the carriage. Ah Zhao is a little distance away, talking animatedly to a stallkeeper. A blue flag with the single word
niao
(bird) written in red is flying in the breeze. As we approach, I see a small crowd of people gathered round the stallkeeper. He’s standing in front of a number of bamboo cages, each containing a single bird.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” the bird-seller is saying. “The price of one of these sparrow hawks alone is twenty
tong bi
(copper coins). How can I sell you this stack of three birds for ten coppers?”

“I’m not particular about what kind of bird it is,” Ah Zhao replies. “Just let me have any three birds for ten coppers. In fact, you can even keep your cages if—”

“What about getting the sparrow hawk? This one is trained to hunt.”

The merchant takes the black-and-white bird out of its cage and places it on his left forearm. He points to a sparrow hopping around from stall to stall, then coaxes the hawk into a lying-down position on his right palm. Immediately, the hawk’s eyes rivet on the sparrow.

“Give me fifteen copper coins and I’ll show you how to throw my hawk at that sparrow like a dart. If it doesn’t kill its quarry with one try, you can have your money back and take any one of my birds home for free. If it succeeds, I keep the money and this sparrow hawk is yours. How about it?”

“No! I loathe birds that hunt!” Ah Zhao says. “Give me three birds for ten coppers and keep your cages.”

“I never heard of such a thing! How’re you going to take the birds home without their cages?”

“That’s my problem. Not yours.”

“I’ll go bankrupt if I sell you three birds for ten coppers.”

“All right! How about two birds for ten coppers?”

“Who keeps the cages?”

“You do.”

“Any type of birds?”

“Yes.”

“How about these two pigeons for ten coppers?”

“Fine!”

“So, these two pigeons are yours for ten coppers. Now, I’d like to see what you’re going to do with them without a cage.”

He hands over the two caged birds to Ah Zhao, who pays him. Ah Zhao calmly opens the doors of the cages and releases the pigeons, one after the other, into the sky. A murmur of astonishment goes through the crowd of onlookers. I can tell by the way they shake their heads that they can hardly believe what they are seeing.

The bird-seller is outraged. “What did you do
that
for?”

“If you were a bird imprisoned in a cage, what’s the one thing you would yearn for?”

“I have no idea. What is it?”

“Freedom! Lack of freedom is a fate worse than death!”

“You’re mad! But why should I care? Just give me back my cages, as agreed, and we’ll go our separate ways.”

I watch as the two pigeons flap their wings and soar away joyously toward the horizon. Happy birds, I think to myself. I wish I had eyes buried in their feathers so I could follow their flight across the wide blue yonder and go wherever they roam. I can see from Ah Zhao’s body language that he’s happy to have set the birds free. It occurs to me that, as a servant, he must feel like a caged bird himself. Just like me.

At that moment, Gege creeps up stealthily behind Ah Zhao, tackles him from behind, covers his eyes and shouts, “Guess who I am, Big Nose!”

“Can it possibly be the handsome and talented Zhang Ze Duan, famous court-painter-to-be?” The two boys laugh and shadowbox and chase one another along the grassy shore.

“Tell me about the boats, Ah Zhao,” I say.

“Amazing variety, aren’t they?” He brushes grass off his black, hemp cloth trousers as I join them. “See the cluster of boats on the other side of the teahouse? Most of those belong to fishermen. Families of four or six people sleep, eat and work in them.”

“I see some fishermen even keep birds as pets.”

“Those are special birds called cormorants. The fisherman places a metal ring round their neck so they can’t swallow big fish. He lowers them into the water to catch fish, then takes the ones they can’t swallow from their mouths.”

“What about that cargo boat laden with boxes? What’s making it move up the river?” Gege points to two vessels close together, one behind the other. “I don’t see any sails or oars, let alone anyone rowing.”

“That’s because the smaller boat in front is a paddle-wheeled tugboat. Instead of sails or oars, these wooden paddle wheels are moving the two boats forward.”

“How about those two big boats docked along the banks to our right? Are the workers loading or unloading?”

“Who knows? The one with multiple decks that looks like a big house may be a merchant ship. Both of them are big enough to sail to the ocean or to other countries. See those gigantic masts? When all the sails are pulled up they look like great clouds in the sky.”

“What are the sails made of?”

“Bamboo matting. The sailors probably took some of them down for cleaning and repairs. The direction of those sails can be changed from moment to moment to catch the wind. That way, the sailors can go wherever they wish.”

“How glorious! To go wherever one wishes!” Gege says longingly.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the three of us could board one of those boats and sail somewhere far, far away?” I say, mesmerized by the panoramic view and the possibility of travel.

“How I long to be a sailor!” Gege exclaims. “I simply hate my lessons! As for those ancient books I have to learn by heart, I don’t know anyone who speaks like that. Why should I waste my time? Let’s run away instead!”

“How will we support ourselves?” Ah Zhao says.

“You can teach us how to paint, and we’ll sell our paintings. Or else we can stage cricket fights and make bets!”

“What sort of life is that? You two have no idea what it’s like out there.”

“Show us!” I cry. “I want to see everything, today!”

“See everything in one afternoon? How much time do you have? Where’s your
baba
?”

“Baba says he’ll go home by himself,” Gege says. “We need to wake up Little Chen and tell him to wait here and take us home later. We have the whole day ahead of us.”

“Let’s get started!” I shout, giddy with excitement. “This is the first time I’ve been out of the house without my parents. I want to see everything!”

“Follow me!” Ah Zhao says. “With so much free time,
you he bu ke
(is anything impossible)?”

Two queues stretch in front of the gate: a long line to the right for carriages and carts, and a much shorter line to the left for pedestrians, peddlers and riders. As we approach, the imposing city gate appears to grow taller and taller, looming up to a height of at least thirty men (approximately fifteen
zhang
. The name of our capital city, Bian Liang
is written in beautiful, giant calligraphy and prominently displayed on a gold placard hanging from the roof of the building above the gate.