White Horse Neighing in the West Wind Chapter 5

The force of this kick had been great, causing a large swelling at her waist. She asked, “Why is everybody bullying me when I did not do anything bad?” The old man Ji sighed, and said, “In this world, the people who always get bullied are the ones who never commit evil deeds.” He poured her a bowl of warm junket from a clay flask, and watched her finish drinking it. Then he covered her snugly with a quilt, and said, “Xiu’er, that man who kicked you is named Su Lu’ke. He is a good, honest man.” Li Wenxiu’s eyes widened, bewildered. She said, “Is he… he a good man?” The old man nodded, saying, “Yes, he is a good man. Like you, two of his nearest, dearest ones died in a single day. One of them is his wife; the other is his eldest son. They were killed by those evil men, so now he believes that the Hans are all bad people. He scolded you in Kazak, saying that you were ‘these Han bandits punished by Allah’. But you mustn’t hate him, for like you, he is grieved in his heart. No, he is much older, and the grief he feels is much greater and deeper than yours. Li Wenxiu listened, stunned. She did not hate this bearded Kazak man, and was only frightened by his fierce looks. Suddenly she recalled that his eyes had filled with tears, but they had not fallen. She did not understand why adults’ grief would be greater and deeper than children’s, but could not refrain from sympathising with this Kazak man.

From outside the window, came an intriguing birdsong. The sound came from far away, but could be heard clearly. It was sweet, yet sad, like a young girl singing a soft, melodious song.

Li Wenxiu c.o.c.ked her ears and listened. The birdsong gradually faded away in the distance. Her grieving heart was momentarily comforted. Lost in thought, she said, “Grandfather, this bird sang really well.” The old man Ji replied, “Yes, it sang really well! That was a Tianling bird (‘tian’ is Chinese for sky, ‘ling’ is Chinese for bell), and its birdsong is like silver bells from heaven. These birds only sing at night, and rest in the day. Some say these birds were once stars which fell from the heavens. Some Kazaks say that the most beautiful, most melodious-voiced girl from the pastures died, and her body turned into these birds. Her beloved stopped loving her, and she died from broken-heartedness.” Perplexed, Li Wenxiu asked, “She was the most beautiful and had the best voice, why did he stop loving her?” The old man Ji thought for a while, and sighed, “There are many things in this world which children cannot understand.” Then, the Tianling bird far away in the pastures began to sing again.

The birdsong evoked both sweetness and sadness in people’s hearts.

Henceafter, Li Wenxiu lived in the old man’s hut, helping him cook and herd goats. They were like grandfather and granddaughter.

At night, when Li Wenxiu awoke from her dreams, she listened to the Tianling birds sing. Their birdsong lulled her back to dreamland. She dreamed of the willows and peach blossoms in Jiangnan, her father’s embrace and her mother’s smiling face… Autumn pa.s.sed, winter pa.s.sed, and Li Wenxiu lived her days peacefully. She learnt how to speak Kazak, and learnt about the matters of the pastures.

The old man Ji knew how to brew strong and fragrant liquor which the Kazak men loved to drink.

He knew how to cure domestic animals’ diseases. The animals which the Kazaks could not cure were always healed by him.

These animals were the Kazaks’ life. Although they did not like the Hans, they could not do without him. Thus, they exchanged their cattle and goats for his wine, and invited him to cure their sick animals.

The Kazaks would move their camp around the pastures from time to time. Sometimes, the old man would follow them; sometimes he would stay in his hut, waiting for their return.

One night, Li Wenxiu heard a Tianling bird singing again. Its song became softer as it flew further away. Finally, she could not hear anything. Li Wenxiu got up quietly, and got dressed. She went outside to rein her horse. Afraid that she would wake the old man up, she led the white horse for a long distance before mounting it. She rode in the direction of the birdsong.

The night sky above the pastures was very high and very blue, and the stars shone brightly. The green gra.s.s and little flowers emitted a floral fragrance.

The birdsong was clearer now. It was both sweet and charming. As she listened, Li Wenxiu’s heart sang with joy. Gently, she got off the horse, and allowed it to graze on the gra.s.s freely. She lay on the gra.s.s, facing the sky, enjoying the song.

The Tianling bird sang a short while, and then flew a few zhang away. Li Wenxiu followed it by crawling on the ground. She heard the bird beat its wings, and saw this small, pale yellow bird pecking for food on the ground. It pecked a few mouthfuls, and flew a short distance off, and found some more food.

The Tianling bird was pecking away merrily. There was a sudden ‘clap’. A black object flew up from the middle of the tall gra.s.s, and covered the Tianling bird.

Li Wenxiu’s gasps of horror were mixed with a boy’s shouts of delight. A Kazak boy jumped out from the tall gra.s.s, crying out proudly, “Caught it, caught it!” He used his coat to contain the bird. Its frightened chirps could be faintly heard coming from inside the coat.

Li Wenxiu was both stunned and furious. She called out, “What are you doing?” The boy answered, “I’m catching Tianling birds. Are you catching them too?” Li Wenxiu said, “Why must you catch them? Isn’t it better to let them sing freely and happily?” The boy said, grinning, “I catch and play with them.” He stretched his right hand into his coat. When he removed the hand, he had grabbed that pale yellow bird. The Tianling bird fluttered its wings continuously, but it was unable to free itself from the boy’s grasp. Li Wenxiu said, “Let it go, can’t you see how pitiful it is?” The boy said, “I scattered wheat grains on the path as I went along, and attracted this bird over here. Whoever asked it to eat my wheat grains? Haha!” Li Wenxiu was dumbfounded. This was the first time she understood the meaning of ‘trap’. He knew the little bird wanted to eat wheat grains, so he scattered them, leading it to its doom. She was too young to understand that, for thousands of years, people had always quoted this proverb, ‘people die for wealth; birds die for food’. She felt an indistinct fear for plots, and realised the attraction of ‘lure’. Of course, she had a blurry idea of what these ideas meant, and could not fully comprehend them.

They boy played with the Tianling bird, making it twitter in pain. Li Wenxiu said, “Would you please give the bird to me?” The boy replied, “Then what will you give me?” Li Wenxiu felt in her clothes, but had nothing with her. She thought, then said, “I will sew you a pretty pouch to hang on your body.” The boy laughed, “I won’t fall for your trap. You might go back on your words tomorrow.” Li Wenxiu turned red, and said, “I will certainly give you what I promised. Why should I go back on my words?” Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t believe you.”

Under the moonlight, he saw that she was wearing a jade bangle on her left wrist which sparkled gently. He said carelessly, “Unless you give this to me.” The bangle was from her mother, and other than this bangle, she had no other memento to remember her mother by. She was reluctant to part with it, but when she saw how pitiful the bird looked, she removed it from her wrist, saying, “For you!” The boy did not expect her to agree to his request. As he took the jade bangle, he said, “You won’t want it back, will you?” Li Wenxiu answered, “Of course not!” The little boy replied, “Good!” Then he handed the Tianling bird to her.