Living in the Village 小城故事＠太花

2008-03-13 03:38:52| 人660| 回3 | 上一篇 | 下一篇

Living in the Village 小城故事

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    Jenny lived in a village forty years ago.Forty families lived there.
Most of them had left their parents, since they were young.

   A public outhouse was located at the western edge of the village.
Each family had a bucket for collecting urine to dispose of later
in the outhouse. Nearby, Jenny always saw a skinny, unkempt,
thirty-year-old lady, who wore a dark dirty dress. She continuously talked to herself. Jenny saw her from far and had the sensation that she wanted to run away from her. She looked weird but never hurt anyone.

   Ying, a pedlar who knew jenny’s family, usually sold fruit more
cheaply to Jenny’s mom . It was not easy to feed seven kids at
that time. During the New Year’s holiday, Jenny was happy that
she would get some chocolate. They were not rich, but they were happy.

   They bred chickens and turkeys in the backyard. Once Jenny was
bitten by a turkey. They would really attack people. The houses in
the village were so close that sometimes Jenny could see the
couple next door fighting. His wife made a scene, jumping when
she was pregnant and crying out,“ Let me die!...”

   Walking for fifteen minutes to the school, Lao Chang, a veteran, carried a bamboo shoulder pole, collecting lunches from each home and taking them to schoolkids. When he put the lunch into Jenny’s hand, the cucumber and fried eggs, were still warm. They were
her favorite lunch.

   Jenny’s father had considered taking her and her sister to apply
a Chinese opera school. Because it would save money if lived at
school. When her dad found out there was only one slot, he
brought them back home. Jenny was glad they weren’t sent away.

   There was a lady lived in the first house of village who liked to
sing opera. She usually invited her friends, to drink tea and play
er hu (a kind of string instrument) in her backyard.

   One scary night, high water flooded up to Jenny’s bunk bed
on August 7, 1959. They survived, and had to move to a
military base in the neighborhood for one week. (August 7 flood, became know as the natural disaster in Taiwan. According to
official statistics, over NT3.5 billion of losses were incurred,
11% of the national income at the time, a grave blow to
Taiwan.
   This sudden, unexpected disaster claimed 667 lives. Another
408 people went missing, 942 people were injured, and over
300,000 disaster victims were given temporary accommodation
by the government. The disaster was second in severity only
to the 9-21 earthquake in Taiwan.)

   Most of the villagers had never seen their parents again.they
built their second homes there.Their children have also never
known what their grandparents look like; and don’t know they
are alive or dead either.

   Jenny wrote a rhythm ”Dream” for them:

The original smell so thick, Are you still in there?
Cry for crying,laugh for laughing, I’ll be back someday.