Chinese Literature

“Yun-pu, Yun-pu. .. .”

“Mama, Mama come quick, something’s happened to Dad.”

Mrs. Yun-pu dashed out from the house and they carried Uncle Yunpu to a board lying at the foot of the stage. She massaged his limbs gently.

“Have you any pain anywhere?”

Cenulineense

Uncle Yun-pu kept his eyes closed. The hired hands carried off the grain picul by picul. They walked past the place where Uncle Yun-pu lay, and the sound of their footsteps pounded upon Yun-pu’s heart. Slowly, blood oozed out of his mouth.

Just then, the chia chang burst in with a committeeman and two armed soldiers. They were followed by five or six men with baskets and carrying poles.

“How come? Is Yun-pu ill?”

Shao-pu walked over and greeted them: “No, he just worked a bit and had a stroke!”

SONa so a”

“Yun-pu, Yun-pu!”

“What is it, Chief?” Shao-pu asked in his father’s stead.

“We're collecting the taxes. The anti-communist tax, the patriotic tax and the security tax. Altogether your Dad owes 17.19 dollars, which, computed in grain, is 14.303 piculs priced at 1.20 per picul.”

“Oh! When must you have it?”

“We'll take it right away.”

“Ohl (Oh. = 2%

Shao-pu looked at his Dad, then he turned to the soldiers and the chia chang; he was at a complete loss. Mr. Ho’s and Mr. Li’s hired hands had jumped into the barn and were measuring the grain by themselves and taking it away. The chia chang quickly pushed in also.

“Come!”

The men with the baskets swarmed in and got ready to take the erain.

“Are they all robbers then?” Shao-pu’s head cleared, and great indignation filled his heart. With ploodshot eyes, he stared at them, and rage swept over him. He simply could not understand why the grain they had reaped by hard labour was given to other people to be carried away picul by picul. And such beastly, unreasonable people at that! He gritted his teeth. So intense was his desire to grab one or the other of these robbers and give him a good beating, that he was able to restrain himself only because of the armed soldiers who were glaring threatening-

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