传教士和他的女儿

走进美丽的双溪坪（上）

 

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，受到众多山里基督徒的裸拜和崇敬！

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！

 

Zongming Zhang

张宗銘 著

Translated by Tangjin Xiao

肖唐金 译

 

Chapter 5

 

Henry knew Ah Cai was very feeble and he must move with great care. He crawled backward on the cliff with a hand holding her waistband tightly. They moved slowly. The wind blew strongly. They were in much danger all the time.

Henry was aware of the fatal results of carelessness. They inched backwards up the cliff. It was a long time before they moved to the top of the cliff. There! Henry was amazed at the sight around. Shuangxiping was really a picturesque place.

Shuangxiping was an age-old village on the border of Guizhou Province. There were many nationalities here, such as Han, Miao, Buyi, Tujia, Dong and Yao. There was a practice of “holy trial” here for the conflicts occurring. The villagers hated violence and hostilities.

A crook named the Bomie River ran through Shuangxiping. On the sides of the river were paddy fields, trees and stilted houses. The river fed the people here and beautified the landscape.

The Bomie River consisted of two tributaries, namely, the Boge River and the Bomei River. They roared through mountains and valleys, and then blended together to form the charming Bomie River.

There was mist here and there in the river and its tributaries. In the sunlight there were ripples here and torrents there. Sometimes the rivers looked like a gentle girl in love. At other times they seemed like a strong young man shouting his love boldly to a beautiful girl. That was Shuangxiping! It was really the Garden of Eden.

The rivers were clear, and small fish were visible here and there. Frogs jumped and turtles crawled in the water. The sight of the rivers would remind people of the eternal love between a loyal husband and his wife. There went a folk song:

The Boge River is a young man;

The Bomei River is a young girl.

They fall in love with each other.

The Bomie River is the marriage.

The people living there are the children of the couple.

Henry was amazed at the landscape: the rivers, terraced land, shady trees and age-old village. There came a faint voice from the woods nearby:

“Henry the British Christian, please don’t bring Ah Cai a woman of bad luck to our village!”

Henry turned around and saw three hunters block him. Henry introduced himself, “My name is Henry, a British Christian. I need your help.”

“No!”

Henry was disappointed at this. But then there came a voice:

“Henry the British Christian, we are coming to meet you.”

Henry was glad at this. He saw Cen Linshan and several other hunters walking towards him. On their shoulders was a stretcher.

Henry was moved. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He cried to the sky, “Thank you, Joshua. You have directed Jacob to Bethel in Israel. Now you’re directing me to Bethel in China!”

 

 

How could Cen Linshan know Henry was coming? Cen Linshan was not a saint; he wasn’t capable of prophesying. Two hunters of Shuangxiping went out to sell furs and local produces. Their wives also went back to their parents’ homes in Zhongzhai and Xiazhai Villages respectively. On their way they met Henry and Ah Cai. Henry cared little about the bad luck that the filthy Ah Cai might bring him. He even asked them for help:

“My name is Henry, a British Christian. Ah Cai and I need your help.”

Henry looked much different from the local people though he didn’t look like a monster. What’s worse, Ah Cai’s notoriety was known in many villages here. The villagers stayed away from Henry and Ah Cai the minute they saw them. Even those peddlers about to go out for business shut themselves at home for fear of meeting the filthy woman.

Stories went around that Henry good at telling stories was with an indecent woman—Ah Cai. The gossips were frightening:

“Ah Cai dropped blood all the way. Those people who have touched her blood would be haunted with misfortunes all their lives. The unlucky hunters would get hurt, and the unlucky women would have trouble giving birth. Stay away from her!”

At first, people were curious about Henry. They even wanted to meet the foreigner good at story-telling. But then they were scared at the sight of Ah Cai. To them, she was a token of misfortunes and even disasters. The villagers were not afraid of suppressions from local officials and troops, yet they were terrified at meeting and staying with an indecent and disloyal woman.

The best way of avoiding getting disasters from this bad woman was to stay at home with doors closed. The villagers did nothing at home but waited until Henry and Ah Cai had left. Thus, Henry got no positive reply for his calls for help.

That day Cen Laogen (Cen Linshan’s father) was drinking the local wine around Dry Stick’s fireplace with Cen Linshan and several other hunters. They were enjoying the delicacies they had hunted. They placed Dry Stick aside, who was getting recovered. They chatted as they drank and ate.

Dry Stick was an orphan. He was thin. He liked to dig sand, earth and rock. In time his fingers got strong and powerful. He got the nickname of Dry Stick. As this nickname had been used for many years, the villagers even didn’t remember his real name. Dry Stick became the name of this man.

Dry Stick was thin but could eat a lot. He could finish quite a few bowls of rice at a meal. He was full of strength as one of the most famous hunters in Shuangxiping. His fingers could poke through the leopard fur or snake skin, people said.

Dry Stick enjoyed visiting others. He had stayed in many homes for nights. He was a brother for many families. There were many girls in those families, yet he treated them as his sisters. Thus, he didn’t sit on their laps, not did he hug them. He had no dating with those girls. His hobby was to stay at home and drink the local wine with other hunters and old people while eating the delicacies they had hunted.

Dry Stick was on good terms with others. If he was visited by guests, the women and girls from other families would be ready to help him. They cooked food and poured wine for guests. Dry Stick was born on the same day as Cen Linshan. He visited Cen Linshan very often.

Dry Stick had been hurt by a wild boar. Cen Linshan was worried about him. He had even wanted to find a wife for Dry Stick. Why? If Dry Stick didn’t want to find a wife in the village, he could find one in aother village, such as Zhongzhai, Xiazhai, Qianzhai or Houzhai. But he was injured now. Was it easy for him to get a wife at this time? Cen Linshan was sorry for this.

The other hunters felt depressed, too. They kept drinking the wine and making no speech. Then, Cen Linshan mentioned Henry to his father. Henry was blonde-haired and blue-eyed. He was a British Christian. He liked to tell stories, but what’s more, he enjoyed helping others in need. He even cleansed Dry Stick’s wound with his precious salt. And he put his own salt in others’ pot. That made the soup and meat tasteful, indeed!