Original text 1 of Lu Xun's "Medicine"

In the second half of the autumn night, the moon went down and the sun had not risen yet, leaving only a dark blue sky; except for things that wandered at night, Everything falls asleep. Hua Laoshuan suddenly sat up, struck a match, and lit the greasy lamp. The two rooms of the teahouse were filled with bluish-white light.

"Xiao Shuan's dad, are you going to go?" It was an old woman's voice. There was also a cough in the small room inside.

"Hmm." Lao Shuan listened, responded, and buttoned up his clothes. He stretched out his hand and said, "Give it to me."

Aunt Hua dug under the pillow for a long time. , took out a bag of foreign money⑵ and handed it to Lao Chuan. Lao Chuan took it, put it shakily into his pocket, pressed it twice outside, then lit the lantern, blew out the lamp, and went to the inner room. Inside the room, there was a rustling sound, followed by a cough. Lao Shuan waited for him to calm down before calling out in a low voice, "Xiao Shuan... don't get up... shop? Your mother will make arrangements."

Lao Shuan heard his son stop talking. , expecting him to sleep peacefully, he went out and walked to the street. The street was dark and empty, with only a gray road clearly visible. The light illuminated his feet, walking one behind the other. Sometimes I encountered several dogs, but none of them barked. The weather was much colder than inside the house; Lao Shuan felt refreshed, as if he had once transformed into a young man, gained supernatural powers and had the ability to give people life, and he was taking extraordinarily high steps. Moreover, the road became clearer and clearer as we walked, and the sky became brighter and brighter as we walked further.

Lao Shuan was walking attentively when he was suddenly startled. He saw a T-shaped street in the distance, clearly lying sideways. He took a few steps back and found a closed shop. He walked under the eaves and stood against the door. After a while, I felt a little chilly.

"Huh, old man."

"I'm glad..."

Lao Shuan was surprised again. When he opened his eyes, several people passed in front of him. It's over. One of them looked back at him, his appearance unclear, but like a hungry person seeing food, his eyes flashed with a grabbing light. Lao Shuan looked at the lantern. It was out. Press the pocket, the hard part is still there. When I raised my head and looked around, I saw many strange people, in twos and threes, wandering there like ghosts. If I looked carefully, I couldn't see anything else strange.

Not long after, I saw a few more soldiers walking there; a large white circle on the front and back of their clothes could be seen clearly from a distance. Those who walked by could see the dark red on their uniforms. of edging. ——There was a sound of footsteps, and in the blink of an eye, a large group of people had passed by. Those people in twos and threes suddenly formed a group and moved forward like a tide. When they approached the intersection of the T-shaped street, they suddenly stopped and formed a semicircle.

Lao Shuan also looked over there, but all he saw was a bunch of people's backs; their necks were all stretched out, like many ducks, held up by invisible hands and lifted upwards. After a while of silence, there seemed to be some noise, and then it started to waver again. With a bang, they all moved back; they dispersed until they reached where Lao Chuan was standing, almost squeezing him down.

"Hey! Pay with one hand and deliver with the other!" A man covered in black stood in front of Lao Shuan, his eyes like two knives, which made Lao Shuan shrink in half. The man had a big hand spread out towards him; in the other hand, he was holding a bright red steamed bun, and the red was still dripping down bit by bit.

Lao Shuan hurriedly took out the foreign money and wanted to hand it to him tremblingly, but he didn't dare to pick it up. The man became anxious and shouted, "What are you afraid of? Why don't you take it!" Lao Shuan was still hesitant; the black man grabbed the lantern, pulled off the paper cover, wrapped the steamed buns, and stuffed them with Lao Shuan; He grabbed the foreign money, squeezed it, and turned around. He hummed and said, "This old guy..."

"Who are you treating?" Lao Shuan seemed to hear someone asking him, but he didn't agree; his spirit , now only on a bag, as if holding a baby born in ten lifetimes, other things have been ignored. He now wants to transplant the new life in this bag into his home and reap a lot of happiness. The sun also came out; in front of him, a highway showed up, leading to his home, and behind him, he could see the four dim gold characters "古□堂口" on the broken plaque on the T-shaped street.

Two

Lao Shuan walked home. The store had been cleaned up long ago, and the tea tables were lined up in rows, slippery and shiny.

But there were no guests; only Xiao Shuan was sitting at the table in the back row eating, with large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, his jacket stuck to his spine, and his two shoulder blades protruding high, forming a Chinese character " character. Seeing this, Lao Shuan couldn't help but frown and spread his eyebrows. His woman hurriedly walked out from under the stove, her eyes open and her lips trembling.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

The two of them walked into the stove together and discussed for a while; Aunt Hua went out. After a while, he came back with an old lotus leaf and spread it on the table. Lao Shuan also opened the lantern cover and rewrapped the red steamed bun with lotus leaves. Xiao Shuan also finished eating, and his mother hurriedly said: "Xiao Shuan, sit down and don't come here." While adjusting the stove, Lao Shuan put a green bag and a red and white broken lantern, They were stuffed into the stove together; when a burst of red and black flames passed, a strange fragrance filled the shop.

"It smells so good! What snacks are you eating?" This is the arrival of the hunchbacked fifth young master. This man always spent time in the teahouse every day. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave. At this time, he happened to go to the corner table facing the street and sat down to ask questions, but no one answered him. "Fried rice porridge?" Still no one responded. Lao Shuan hurried out and made him tea.

"Come in, Xiao Shuan!" Aunt Hua asked Xiao Shuan to enter the room inside. A stool was placed in the middle, and Xiao Shuan sat down. His mother brought over a plate of black round things and said softly:

"Eat it, and the disease will be cured."

Xiao Shuan picked up the black things. , looked at it for a while, as if holding on to his own life, feeling indescribably strange in his heart. He opened it very carefully, and a stream of white air burst out from the burnt skin. The white air dispersed, revealing two halves of white-flour steamed buns. ——In a short time, it was all in my stomach, but I had completely forgotten what it tasted like; there was only an empty plate left in front of me. Next to him stood his father on one side and his mother on the other. Their eyes seemed to be injecting something into him and taking something out; he couldn't help but his heart beat up, he pressed his chest, and A cough

"Just sleep for a while, and you'll be fine."

Xiao Shuan followed his mother's words and fell asleep with a cough. Aunt Hua waited for him to catch his breath and calm down, then gently covered him with a quilt full of patches.

Three

There were many people sitting in the shop, and Lao Shuan was also busy, carrying a big copper pot and making tea for the guests one after another; A circle of black lines.

"Lao Shuan, are you feeling a little uncomfortable? - Are you sick?" said a man with a gray beard.

"No."

"No? - I want to smile, but it doesn't look like..." The gray beard canceled his words.

"Lao Shuan is just busy. If his son..." Before the hunchbacked fifth young master could finish his words, a man with a sinister face suddenly walked in, wearing a black cloth shirt with loose buttons. Use a very wide black belt to tie it randomly around your waist. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted to Lao Shuan:

"Have you eaten? Are you ready? Lao Shuan, you are lucky! You are lucky, if it weren't for my information spirit..."

Lao Shuan held the teapot in one hand and lowered it respectfully with the other; he listened with a smile. Everyone in the house listened respectfully. Aunt Hua also had dark eyes. She smiled and brought out a bowl of tea and an olive, and Lao Shuan went to drink some water.

"This is wrapped! This is different. If you want, take it while it's hot and eat it while it's hot." The person who made the meat just shouted.

"Really, how could this happen without Uncle Kang's care..." Aunt Hua also thanked him gratefully.

"Wrap it up, wrap it up! Eat it while it's hot. These steamed buns with human blood can cover all kinds of tuberculosis!"

Aunt Hua heard the two words "tuberculosis" After a few words, his face changed a little, and he seemed a little unhappy; but he immediately put on a smile, struck up a conversation and walked away. Uncle Kang didn't notice it, he still raised his voice and just yelled, causing Xiao Shuan who was sleeping inside to cough too.

"It turns out that your little Shuan has such good luck. The disease will naturally be cured; no wonder Lao Shuan is smiling all day long.

"As he spoke, the gray beard walked up to Uncle Kang and asked in a low voice, "Uncle Kang - I heard that one of the prisoners killed today is a child of the Xia family. Whose child is that? What exactly happened? "

"Whose? Isn't he the son of Grandma Xia Si? That little guy! "Uncle Kang saw that everyone cocked their ears to listen to him, and he was particularly happy. His flesh was full of flesh, and he said louder and louder, "This little thing doesn't want his life, just don't do it. But I didn't get any benefit at all this time; even the clothes I stripped off were taken away by the red-eyed Ayi who was in charge. ——The first is our Uncle Shuan's luck; the second is that Mr. Xia was rewarded with twenty-five taels of snow-white silver, and pocketed it alone without spending a penny. "

Xiao Shuan slowly walked out of the small room, pressed his chest with both hands, and kept coughing. He walked to the stove, took out a bowl of cold rice, soaked it in hot water, and sat down to eat. Aunt Hua followed him and asked softly, "Xiao Shuan, are you okay? ——Are you still just hungry? ..."

"Wrap it up, wrap it up! "Uncle Kang glanced at Xiao Shuan, then turned around and said to everyone, "Mr. Xia is really a good boy. If he doesn't sue the officials first, he will be executed. What now? silver! ——This little thing is really nothing! He was imprisoned in Laoli, and he was also asked to persuade Laotou to rebel. ”

“Ah, that’s not bad.” "A man in his twenties sitting in the back row looked very angry.

"You have to know that the red-eyed Ayi went to talk about the details, but he talked to him. He said: The Qing Dynasty belongs to all of us. You think: Is this human language? Red Eyes originally knew that there was only one old woman in his family, but she didn't expect that he would be so poor. He couldn't squeeze out any money and was already very angry. He also wanted to scratch the tiger's head, so he gave him two mouths! "

"Yi Ge is a good fist and stick, these two blows must be enough for him. "The hunchback in the corner suddenly became happy.

"I'm not afraid of him, he's a bitch, he's pitiable. "

The man with the gray beard said, "If you beat such a thing, what's the point of pity? "

Uncle Kang looked disdainful of him and said with a sneer, "You didn't hear me clearly; judging by his look, it means that Ayi is pitiful! "

The eyes of the listener suddenly became dull and the words stopped. Xiao Shuan had already finished his meal, and he was sweating all over his head, with steam coming out of his head.

"Poor Ayi - crazy talk, simply crazy. "The gray beard said as if he suddenly understood.

"I'm crazy. "The people in their twenties also said with sudden realization.

The customers in the shop became lively again, chatting and laughing. Xiao Shuan also took advantage of the excitement and coughed desperately; Uncle Kang stepped forward , patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Wrap it up! Xiao Shuan - don't cough like that. Wrap it up! ”

“Crazy. "The hunchbacked fifth young master nodded and said.

Four

The ground outside Xiguan near the city root was originally a piece of official land; there was a crooked and thin road in the middle, which was a shortcut. They were made of shoe soles, but they became a natural boundary. On the left side of the road, people who had been executed and executed were buried, and on the right were the graves of the poor, which were piled high on both sides, just like in the homes of rich people. Steamed buns for birthday celebrations.

This year's Qingming Festival is extremely cold; the willow trees have only sprouted new shoots as big as half a grain of rice. Before dawn, Aunt Hua was already sitting in front of a new grave on the right. A plate of dishes, a bowl of rice, and a cry. He sat on the ground blankly, as if waiting for something, but he couldn't tell what he was waiting for. The breeze blew and his hair was shorter than last year. Much whiter.

Another woman came on the path, also with half-white hair and a ragged dress. She carried a worn-out red lacquer round basket with a bunch of paper ingots hanging outside, and walked every three steps. . Suddenly he saw Aunt Hua sitting on the ground looking at him, and she hesitated a little, with a look of shame on her pale face. But she finally bit the bullet and walked to a grave on the left and put down the basket.

The graves and Xiao Shuan's graves were lined up in a row, with only a small road between them. Aunt Hua watched him arrange four dishes and a bowl of rice, and she cried a lot and turned into paper ingots, feeling secretly in her heart. He thought, "The one in this grave is also a son. "The old woman lingered and watched for a while. Suddenly her hands and feet were trembling a little, and she staggered back a few steps, staring in confusion.

Seeing this, Aunt Hua was afraid that he would be so sad that he would go crazy, so she couldn't help but stand up, cross the path, and whispered to him, "Don't be sad, old lady, - we Let's go back."

The man nodded, still staring upward, and said in a low voice, "Look, what is this?"

< p> Aunt Hua followed his finger and looked at the grave in front. The grass roots on this grave had not yet closed up, exposing patches of loess, which was really ugly. When I looked up carefully, I was surprised; there was clearly a circle of red and white flowers surrounding the pointed and round top of the tomb.

Their eyes have been aging for many years, but they can still clearly see the red and white flowers. There are not many flowers, they are arranged in a round circle, not very energetic, but neat. Aunt Hua was busy looking at the graves of her son and others, but there were only a few small green and white flowers that were not afraid of the cold, blooming here and there. She suddenly felt a sense of insufficiency and emptiness in her heart, and she was unwilling to investigate. The old woman took a few steps closer, took a closer look, and said to herself, "This has no roots, it doesn't look like it was opened by myself. - Who comes to this place? Children won't come to play; - Relatives I haven't come here for a long time. - What's going on?" He thought again and again, and suddenly burst into tears and said loudly: "Yu'er, they have all wronged you. I still can't forget it, but I'm sad. Do you want me to know something special today?" He looked around and saw a crow standing on a leafless tree, and then said, "I understand." - Yu'er, it's a pity that they deceived you. God knows they will have their retribution in the future. Just close your eyes. - If you are really here and hear my words, - then teach this crow to fly up to you. "Top of the tomb, show me."

The breeze has stopped long ago; the withered grass branches stand upright like copper wires. A trembling sound trembled in the air and became thinner and thinner. It was so thin that it was no longer there, and the surroundings were deathly quiet. The two stood in the withered grass, looking up at the crow; the crow was also among the straight branches, standing with its head curled up, as if made of iron.

A lot of time passed; the number of people visiting the tomb gradually increased, and several old ones and young ones appeared among the tombs.

Somehow, Aunt Hua seemed to be relieved of a heavy burden, and she thought of leaving; while urging her, "We'd better go back."

The old woman sighed. He sighed and put away the food listlessly; he hesitated for a moment, and finally walked away slowly. He said to himself, "What's going on?..."

They couldn't walk twenty or thirty steps when they suddenly heard a loud "mute——" behind them. Yelling; both of them turned around in horror, only to see the crow spread its wings, fluttered its body, and flew straight into the distant sky, and flew away like an arrow.

April 1919.

□Notes

⑴This article was originally published in "New Youth", Volume 6, Issue 5, in May 1919. Note: The character Xia Yu in this article is a metaphor for Qiu Jin, a female revolutionary in the late Qing Dynasty. Qiu Jin was also killed by the Qing government on July 15, 1907, shortly after Xu Xilin was killed. The place of his death was at Xuantingkou, Shaoxing. Xuantingkou is a main street in Shaoxing City. There is an archway beside the street, and the plaque is inscribed with the four words "Guxuantingkou".

⑵ Foreign money: refers to silver dollars. Silver coins originally flowed into our country from foreign countries, so they are commonly known as foreign money. Our country began to mint silver coins by itself in the late Qing Dynasty, but the people still use this old name.

⑶Uniform: refers to the military uniform of Qing Dynasty soldiers. There is a round white cloth on the front and back chest with the word "bing" or "brave" on it.

⑷Bright red steamed buns: namely steamed buns dipped in human blood. In the old days, there was a superstitious belief that human blood could cure tuberculosis, and executioners used this to defraud money.

⑸Created paper: Paper refers to paper money, a superstitious item. Old customs believe that it can be used by the deceased in the "underworld" after being cremated. The paper ingots mentioned below are ingots folded from paper or tin foil