Chinese Literature

forming an opening about 300 feet wide. Tsaochialung’s fields of gold had all dissolved in the water.

Yun-pu was half crazed. His proceeds from half a year’s hard work and the subsistence of his whole family were in that one instant washed away by the water. All day, he went about moaning, “Heavens, oh my Heavens! My grains of gold have turned into water!”

And so now once again Uncle Yun-pu saw fateful signs of disaster appear. He could not help but feel, desperately worried. From June the year before up until that very moment, he had not had one adequate meal of rice. The water had receded in July, and the famine-stricken peasants of the village had gone out together to beg for food. But when they had reached Ninghsiang, they had been taken for political hoodlums and driven away. After this incident no one had been allowed to go far from his front door. It was said that the county government had received 30,000 dollars for famine relief; but actually not a single grain of rice ever reached the peasants in the countryside. Mr. Ho bought seventy piculs of soya beans from the provincial capital for the relief of “he famine in the village. Uncle Yun-pu managed to borrow fifty catties

at the price of 6.30 dollars to which was added an interest rate of 4.5

per cent per month. But there were eight in Yun-pu’s house, and eventually even the grass was all eaten and they simply could not carry on any longer. Yun-pu went down on his knees to Mr. Ho and obtained on loan another thirty catties of beans. In September, Merey Powder was discovered at Huachia Dyke and the villagers all went down in crowds to

- dig it up for food. Uncle Yun-pu and Li-chiu managed to get about three

piculs. The family fed on that for a day or so, and as a result, the grandfather departed this world taking with him the six-year-old child, Tiger.

When finally the famine-stricken villagers were all on the very brink of starvation, Mr. Ho had talked to the county magistrate and guaranteed on their behalf that they would not become political hoodlums. After innumerable entreaties, a few exit permits had been issued, and thus the peasants had been able to leave their village homes. Uncle Yun-pu and his family had been sent to a busy town where they had spent four months as starving refugees. They had not returned until the end of the year. All this had happened the year before.

At that time, the villagers were making rain hats of bamboo as a temporary measure to keep alive. In the rainy season if a person made ten rain hats a day he could have two meals of thin gruel. Uncle Yun-pu and Li-chiu split the bamboo and Mrs. Yun-pu, with Shao-pu and Yingying, worked day and night weaving the hats. Work, work, work, must do all they can with the weaving. What else was there for them but weaving? If only they could keep alive until the autumn harvest!

For over a month now, the spring rain had been pouring down. It

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