传教士和他的女儿（英译本） 第五章： 走进美丽的双溪坪（下）

Zongming Zhang   张宗銘 著

Translated by Tangjin Xiao  肖唐金 译

 

故事叙述富有的喜欢生物硏究的英国青年亨利，32年走进神奇的贵州山区，他宣扬真爱，制止血腥与残杀…传播主的福音，受到众多山民的裸拜和崇敬…他对上帝无私的奉献，使这里的山里人，至今仍然会用英文，向上帝虔诚的祷告。

本故亊用基督的仁愛精神与共产党人血腥的“阶级斗争”相对比，彰显仁愛的力量：当共产党人要驱逐亨利牧师时，桀骜的双溪坪教徒爆发了反抗……许多扑朔迷离的山村故事，皆在此书中！

 

Dry Stick felt excited at Cen Linshan’s words. He said he couldn’t forget the flavor of the salty soup. Then, Dry Stick asked Cen Laogen:

“Where is Britain? What’s a Christian? I think Henry is a god, for my leg is much better now.”

Cen Laogen had traveled to many places and knew many things. He told stories one by one, and the hunters nearby were just fascinated.

Then Wizard Pan Wangcai came. He said the blonde-haired and blue-eyed Henry came to Shuangxiping with the filthy Ah Cai. He urged Cen Laogen to stop them from entering the village at the Tiger-head Cliff.

 

 

Cen Laogen was happy with telling stories to the others when Pan Wangcai came. He wasn’t happy with his spoiling the fun. What’s more, Dry Stick was still getting treatment. He shouldn’t have been disturbed.

Cen Laogen was the village head. He had acres of land, and supplied guns to a number of hunters. He was the organizer of safety protection and hunting in the village. All the hunters should help Cen Laogen with farming, and take a part in protecting the village. Cen Laogen was the master of the village in this sense.

Cen Laogen did not think highly of Pan Wangcai. This man of Dong nationality was fat, and he came to Shuangxiping by water. He only knew wizardry, doing things like expelling evil spirits. He never went hunting, but just liked to catch fish and frogs in the rivers and caves. This man liked to do easy things only.

Cen Laogen did not even think highly of Pan Wangcai’s wizardry. For Mr. Cen, hunting was the job of men. The other people of Dong nationality in Shuangxiping hunted and became part of the protecting team of the village, unlike Pan Wangcai. Cen Laogen considered Pan Wangcai as a man with no skills. Under this influence, the other villagers did not like to ask Pan Wangcai for help when they needed to have evil spirits expelled at home.

Pan Wangcai told Cen Laogen that Henry came to Shuangxiping with the bloodstained filthy Ah Cai. Better to stop them from entering the village, he suggested. But Cen Laogen did not seem interested in this, replying, “Why do you feel nervous? They have to pass by Shangzhai Village first. People there know how to deal with them.”

Pan Wangcai went on, “The hunters said the people of Shangzhai Village shut their doors tightly in case the filthy blood of Ah Cai spoiled their luck. I think they will come to our village directly.”

Cen Laogen laughed at this, “Why don’t you leave our village for some time? Then you can avoid getting the bad luck.”

Pan Wangcai answered, “Dear Village Head, I know my father did something wrong to the village. Please forgive him and me, and give a second thought to my suggestion.”

Cen Laogen knew Henry had done a lot in treating Dry Stick. He was their distinguished guest. The only trouble was that he came with the filthy Ah Cai. Cen Laogen went on:

“Why do you just feel worried about Henry and Ah Cai? Look, Dry Stick is severely injured. Why don’t you worry about him? Damn!”

Cen’s word hit the nail on the head. Pan Wangcai knew Dry Stick was seriously wounded and he should have helped him in expelling the evil spirits. He hadn’t done that, for he hadn’t been offered payment for the service. He knew he had done something wrong, but didn’t want to lose face in public. With this thought, he said:

“Village Head, please don’t regard me as so mean. This is a special powder of hemostat. I got it from a Yunnan peddler with my musk.”

Pan Wangcai was not so happy to give the powder free to Dry Stick, but pretended, “Look, this is my gift to Dry Stick!”

Hearing musk mentioned, Dry Stick screamed, “Shit! Ah Cai must have removed Qiusheng’s baby with musk! Cen, do you remember you invited Henry to come to our village for a visit last night? He’s coming!”

At this Cen Linshan jumped up with joy, answering, “Yes, he’s coming as a guest.”

Cen Laogen asked, “Dear son, you know Henry, the blonde-haired and blue-eyed British that Pan mentioned, right?”

Cen Linshan replied, “Yes, Daddy! He looks strange, but he is kindhearted. He says he’s a Christian. He helped with Dry Stick’s treatment. He cleansed the wound with his precious salt, and even put salt in our pot. Ah Cai also helped us with the treatment. She dressed his wound with herbal lotions. Look! The bandages on Dry Stick’s wound were given by Henry.”

Cen Laogen said, “Dear son, please get ready to meet our guests.”