<p class="ql-block"><span style="font-size: 20px; color: rgb(237, 35, 8);">第一章（5）</span></p><p class="ql-block"><span style="font-size: 20px; color: rgb(237, 35, 8);">Chapter One (5)</span></p><p class="ql-block"><span style="color: rgb(57, 181, 74);">文/李巨怀 译/围墙</span></p><p class="ql-block"><span style="color: rgb(57, 181, 74);">By LI Juhuai/Tr. WANG Weiqiang</span></p> <p class="ql-block"><span style="color: rgb(22, 126, 251); font-size: 15px;">著名作家叶广芩参观书房沟</span></p> <p class="ql-block"> “一刀王”真的从人间蒸发了吗？“一刀王”消失都二十年了，整个西府仍然争论不休。有的人说，“一刀王”去广州投奔了革命党；还有人说，“一刀王”去东北投了张作霖。总之，再也没有一丝音讯。</p><p class="ql-block"> Had Wang the Quick Killer really disappeared from the world? The “Quick Killer” had disappeared for twenty years, and the entire Western Region was speculating. Some people said that he went to Guangzhou and joined the revolutionary party; others said that he went and sought refuge with Zhang Zuolin, the ruler of the Northeast. In short, there was no more news.</p><p class="ql-block"> 可他听父亲说，他的三叔父王绅最初是被他祖父叫走的。他只记得大前年三叔父来信说，他在香港一家造船公司当工程师，他三叔父可是日本早稻田大学毕业的高才生。日本的早稻田大学他不知道在哪里，更不清楚日本离书房沟有多远；他只知道，他父亲不止一次地说过，日本人坏得很，你爷爷是在蒋、冯、阎的中原大战中被蒋介石的士兵打死的，连个尸骨都没有留下。他的父亲王鼎领着他的二叔父在河南足足找了半年时间才六神无主地回来了。他的二叔父端了一个铁皮匣子，说是他爷爷“一刀王”的骨灰。可是里面装的是什么？他至今都没有弄明白。但他比谁心里都清楚，“一刀王”十有八九成了孤魂野鬼了，可他就是不敢往深处想。每次大年三十家祭，他父亲跪在他爷爷牌位前悲痛不已，他总是在心里压着万丈怒火，认为他爷爷都是叫贴家给逼的，要不然他爷爷怎么会铤而走险，蹚此绝路呢？</p><p class="ql-block"> Goodman Wang learned from his father that his third uncle, Wang Shen, was called away by his grandfather. He only remembered that a letter from his third uncle the previous year said that he was an engineer at a shipbuilding company in Hong Kong. His uncle was a high-caliber student who graduated from Waseda University in Japan. He did not know where Waseda University was, and was not clear at all how far Japan was from the village; he only knew that his father had said more than once that the Japanese were very bad. His grandfather was killed by Chiang Kai-shek's soldiers in the Central Plain War of Chiang, Feng and Yan, and even one bone of his was not left behind. His father, Wang Ding, led his second uncle to search for him in Henan Province for half a year before he returned. His second uncle brought back a tin casket, saying it contained the ashes of his dead grandfather “Quick Killer”. But what was inside? He had not figured out what was indeed inside the casket. He knew better than anyone else that the “Quick Killer” had become a lone ghost of the wilderness, and he just dared not think further. When a grand home sacrifice happened on Lunar New Year's Eve, his father grieved in front of his grandfather's tablet. He always pressed his anger in his heart, thinking that his grandfather was forced by the Tieh Family to seek a fortune outside, or else why would his grandfather take this fatal risk. </p><p class="ql-block"> 王大善人毕竟是王大善人，爷爷桀骜不驯的热血一直在他血管里涌动着，今天的书房沟谁不怕他王大善人的鞭杆儿呢？他每次出门，两个保丁一前一后紧跟着，他却除了既做拐杖又可护身的鞭杆儿外，从不带家伙。方圆几十里的人都知道王大善人有几下子，可谁见过他大打出手呢？保长的鞭杆在书房沟近千号人的眼里就是至高无上的权力的象征，保长的鞭杆儿在地上戳一下，不管是本家里外，都得赶紧缴上捐税。都说民国的税赋多如牛毛，可在书房沟，再难收缴的苛捐杂税只要到了王大善人的魔杖面前，都一个子不落地赶时缴了。要是稍有抱怨，叫王大善人的鞭杆在地上戳了两下，你就得驴打滚，三天翻一番了。后沟的贾三保，逼着王大善人的鞭杆在地上戳了三下，贾三保和他那唯一的传香火的儿子一同在深更半夜被县衙的保安队抓了壮丁。到现在都过去四五年了，贾三保的媳妇贾田氏还躲在娘家不敢回来，贾家父子的死活贾田氏的嘴皮子抬也不敢抬一下。这种风光，这般威严，日薄西山的老贴家可是没有了百十年了。</p><p class="ql-block"> After all, Goodman Wang was already an important person now. His grandfather's untamed blood was surging in his veins. Who was not afraid of the whip of this great man? Every time he went out, two guards accompanied him closely, but he never carried a weapon except the whip that could be used as both a cane and a bodyguard. People in the area of dozens of kilometers knew that Goodman Wang had a few martial skills, but who had seen him fight? The whip of the village guardian was the symbol of the supreme power in the eyes of the nearly a thousand people in Schoolhouse Valley. Wherever the whip of the guardian was poked, the owner of that place must pay the taxes right away. It was said that the taxation of the Republic of China was so numerous that it could be very hard to collect these taxes. However, this was not the case here in the valley. Dreading Wang's magic whip, the villagers would hand in all the taxes as soon as possible. If there was a slight complaint, and his whip was poked twice on the ground, the taxes would be doubled in three days. Jia Sanbao of the back valley, having made Wang poke his whip three times on the ground, Jia and his only son were coned by the security brigade of the county in the middle of the night. In the four or five years since then, Jia Sanbao's wife Tian still hid herself in her parents' home and dared not come back. She even dared not mention her husband and son's life or death. This kind of glory and majesty was something that the Tieh Family had lost scores of years ago. </p>