"RED SORGHUM" "Let me tell you about the story of my grandfather and grandmother." "It is still being told in my hometown up to this day but as the time passes, some people believe it and some don't." "This is my grandmother." "On the 9th day of the 7th month of the year 1929 she was married." "The groom was Li Datou." "He owned the distillery of the village Shibalipo." "He hadn't got married until he was 50 and everyone knew he was leprous." "One shouldn't cry or throw up when sitting on the sedan as it would cause bad fortune." "Whoever lifts the bandanna of the bride invites misfortune." "The bride gets on the sedan!" "According to the old custom of that time the bride had to be aggrieved on the way to the groom." "All of the sedan-carriers and musicians worked for Li Datou, the owner of the distillery." "Famous sedan-carrier Yu was the only one who had been hired specially." "Later he became my grandfather." "Little bride, don't peep out of your sedan secretly." "Talk to us!" "Don't you feel bored?" "The road is long!" "Conversation avoids boredom, singing prevents tiredness!" "Sing us a song!" "Little bride, it's not easy for us to carry you today." "Yes, not easy!" "You're right!" "Whose daughter are you anyways?" "What a pity that you have to marry that man." "Money is blind!" "You've got rapacious parents." "Yes, the parents are to blame." "They are only after the money." "Li Datou is purulent and putrid from head to toes." "He's a good-for-nothing." "Yes, a good-for-nothing!" "You must not let him touch you!" "Never!" "Exactly!" "Or you're going to rot too!" "If you have regrets we would carry you back." "It's not too late by now." "Yes, we would carry you back." "Do you listen?" "I just wait for you to decide." "Do you really don't want to sing for us?" "Yes!" "Sing for us!" "Why keeping silent?" "We're shaking the sedan!" "If we're not able to shake a word out of you, then at least your piss!" "The visitors are still here." "The wedding table is layed." "Who's the groom?" "He's nowhere to find!" "The bride is in the bride's chamber!" "The groom is coming!" "He lifts her veil!" "Lummy!" "Oh my God!" "What's that for a kind of a cuckoo's egg?" "A nose askew - scarred lips!" "Eyes peering out of the hydrocephaly!" "Oh my God, she's got a chicken's throat!" "She talks too much." "Oh heavens, what a cuckoo's egg!" "Lummy!" "Oh my God!" "The new wife!" "Tonight I'll sleep in the pigsty." "Tonight I'll sleep in the pigsty." "I run away!" "Don't want to look at her!" "Tonight I'll sleep in the pigsty." "Lummy!" "Oh my God!" "What's that for a kind of a cuckoo's egg?" "Go!" "Let's go!" "On the way from my grandmother's village to Shibalipo one had to pass by Quingshakou." "Sometime some acres of sorghum had begun to grow in that area." "No one sowed it, no one cared for it." "People in my hometown said that this was wild sorghum and that this place was haunted." "Stop!" "Don't run!" "Lay down the sedan!" "Pull out your money!" "I'm sharp-shooter Sanpao!" "Give me the money, or I'll shoot!" "Drop your belts!" "Bring the money and the belts!" "Now go behind the sedan!" "Don't turn around!" "Now squat!" "Don't turn around!" "I'll shoot everyone turning around!" "Get out of the sedan!" "Go!" "Move into the sorghum-field!" "Move on!" "What is there to see?" "Move on!" "Beat him!" "Strike him dead!" "He's not used to beating." "Is he dead already?" "He's not Sanpao - this one has hair!" "Not even the pistole is genuine!" "That was brave of him!" "Shall we leave him here?" "Yes!" "No one passes here anyways!" "Your belts!" "Take them!" "The surroundings of Shibalipo were barely inhabited and Li Datou was a leper." "For that reason few people besides some liquor-buyers came through." "It's a custom in my homeland that the bride visits her parents 3 days after the wedding." "On that day my grandmother was fetched by her father." "You have to go back!" "You have to return to Li's home!" "You have to go back!" "Don't forget how generous he is!" "Without hesitating he gave us a big mule!" "Even if you don't want him, you're not supposed to fidget with the siccors." "You have to go back to him, my daughter!" "My daughter!" "Don't go so fast!" "My daughter!" "Where have you been?" "Did you pee that long?" "Where have you been?" "Forth!" "Always forth!" "Always forth!" "Just no fear!" "There are 9990 ways and every single one leads to heaven." "Forth!" "Always forth my dear!" "Always forth!" "Just no fear!" "Red is the blaze of love." "Red is the bride's chamber." "Red is the virgin's blood." "Let's drink red sorghum liquor." "Our bloodred sorghum liquor!" "Hey you!" "Come out of there!" "You're a nasty, cursed being!" "What are you singing those weird songs?" "Don't be so stubborn!" "Why not eat?" "You want to become a ghost?" "Be grateful for sitting in a feathered nest!" "Don't forget that family Li has given us a big mule!" "So go back and lead a decent family life!" "All of family Li's belongings will be yours in the future." "What do you want more?" "You are owned by Li, in life and after death!" "Start eating and then go back!" "I go." "Yes, I go." "I'm almost on my way!" "You're not my father!" "I don't want a father like you!" "You only see your advantage!" "You swapped me for a mule!" "So go on living with your mule!" "I'll leave!" "And I will never come back!" "Ungrateful being!" "You're insulting your father!" "That's not respectable!" "We raised you, your mother and I." "That wasn't easy!" "While my grandmother and her father were quarelling something happened in Shibalipo." "Li Datou was murdered." "Until now the murderer has not been found." "I always had the feeling that it had been my grandfather." "Nevertheless I never asked him about it until the day he died." "Da'zhuang and Er'zhuang!" "Let's go away for good!" "It's not normal working in this leprosis-house anyways." "It happened a lot here after Li Datous wedding." "Yes, that was weird!" "We didn't recognize anything." "Suddenly Li Datou was gone and all doors closed!" "Even his pipe still lay on his bedstand." "It is said that one of his shoes was found under Quingshakou-bridge!" "It's said he was murdered!" "What's happening in this area is not easily clarified!" "A few days ago some officials were here." "They investigated for 3 days without conclusion!" "Who was it after all?" "The old man never did a good thing!" "Sure he had his enemies!" "For sure!" "They didn't take anything along!" "They only wanted his life!" "Exactly!" "That woman is not decent!" "Since she is here - peace has gone!" "Even when she was carried here she flirted with Yu!" "Be quiet!" "That's none of your business!" "Tomorrow we'll pack and leave!" "May I come in?" "Yes, come in!" "But I am not in my pants!" "So here are you!" "Why are you still drinking?" "She caught you again!" "You're coming with me!" "Come here and listen!" "She's sitting alone in the quadrangle!" "Awful, isn't it?" "But she could come to us!" "You lecher!" "She doesn't dare to enter." "She's afraid to get infected!" "Poor woman!" "Mistress!" "Mistress!" "This liquor heals diseases and prevents contagion!" "Take care, my mistress!" "Please don't leave!" "I want to say something!" "This distillery shall not collapse!" "Luohan!" "You have worked here for so long." "Therefore I trust you!" "Listen!" "I am only a woman..." "I'll need your help!" "I cannot hold back those longing to leave." "You'll get your last wage anyways!" "If you choose to return, you are welcome!" "But I hope, that you'll stay!" "If we make money out of the liquor, everyone will get his share." "Do you agree?" "We should stay." "The mistress is right - we'll stay." "We stay with Mrs. Li!" "And please don't call me "mistress"." "I am a poor people's child too." "In our distillery there is no hierarchy." "I was born on the 9th day of the 9th month as the 9th child." "Therefore I'm called "Jiu'er" - the 9th." "You may call me that." "Let me ask you mistress, shall we clean the quadrangle together?" "We never dared to enter, due to the fear of infection." "But today we're going to clean it, right?" "Because from now on you're the mistress!" "Tell us what to do." "Well." "Let's close the distillery for today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow." "You all help me to clean!" "Everything that Li Datou has touched shall be burned!" "What doesn't burn, shall be buried." "Send someone to buy lime." "We disperse it in the quadrangle." "After that we're going to disperse our liquor in old Shibalipo." "You told me that it heals diseases and prevents contagion." "Today we'll test if that is true!" "Here are your keys." "I boiled them three times in liquor!" "What belongs to me belongs to you." "You take care of them." "Where is she?" "I can walk alone." " Come on, tell us!" "I've been in a sorghum-field and there..." "What's been in that field?" "Tell us!" "What's been there?" " But I've already told you..." "Did you forget it?" " Leave me alone!" "What's been in that field?" "I trampled down the sorghum-halms then she took off her trousers." "And then she lay down." "Leave him alone!" "He is right!" "Everyone can leave." "I'll get along, it's not very far." "I'll be home soon." "There is your room." " No, I want to sleep in that one." "From now on I'll sleep in that one everyday!" "That's the mistress' room." " What do you mean?" "That's the mistress' room." " You mean fucking Li Datou!" "Do you know what a nasty guy that Li Datou was?" "I am not afraid, even if he would still be alive!" "I tell you something:" "She is my wife!" "Mine!" "Furthermore she likes me too." "She herself told me that in the field." "It's true, isn't it?" "You told me that you like me." "She just pretends!" "Actually she wants me to come in." "You may go, all of you!" "Yes, you may go!" "He's drunk!" "Get him out of there." " Yes, let's get him out!" "Out with him!" "Take him away from here!" "Hold him!" "Whithout your pants on you like me." "But wearing them you don't even recognize me!" "Damn it!" "I'm tired." "I want to sleep!" "Without your pants on, you like me, but wearing them..." "But wearing them you don't even know me anymore!" "Damn it!" "I'm tired!" "I want to sleep!" "Want to go to bed..." "Stop that!" "Stop it!" "Oh, that's good!" "Stop it!" "Be quiet!" "Mistress, calm down please!" "Come on!" "Let's take him away." "That small woman!" "That was good!" "I don't want to leave!" "I don't want to leave!" "Let me stay!" "No!" "I don't want away from her!" "No!" "Dump him in that clay jug!" "There you may sleep as long as you like." "Let me out!" "No!" "No, don't close it!" "Don't close it!" "I can't breathe!" "I can't breathe anymore!" "Let me out!" "The thief Sanpao!" "Let's get out of here!" "I just came here cause of you!" "Do you listen, small woman?" "I am only here for you!" "How coldhearted you are!" "Did Li Datou sleep with you?" "Yes, he did." "Damn!" "My grandfather lay in that clay jug for three days." "The bald thief Sanpao had kidnapped my grandmother and held her to ransom." "If it wouln't be payed, one could find her corpse on Quingshakou-bridge." "Jiu'er is back!" " Jiu'er is back!" "Jiu'er, you are back!" "Is everything alright?" "Say something?" "Everything alright?" "Butcher!" "A cup of liquor!" "Does no one speak in here?" "What can I eat?" " Boiled head of an ox." "But I want meat!" " The head of the ox is all there is." "Damn!" "Well, head of the ox then." "I want the meat that's in there!" " I you don't want it, get lost!" "You dare to talk like that?" "I really want to eat your beef today!" "Shut your mouth and sit down." "Are you worth eating my meat?" "We prepared it for Sanpao." "That makes a silver coin." " I only have three coppers." "One silver!" " But I only have three coppers!" "You want to chisel the meat out of me?" "Take the coppers or not." " Stay here!" "Stay here!" "A silver!" " Butcher!" "What's going on here?" "Boss!" "Someone tries to chisel our meat out of us!" "Really?" "So cut out his tongue!" "Please forgive me." "I had too much liquor." "It was only a joke." "Well, we won't cut out your tongue so you can still kiss the women." "Three kowtows for our boss, and speak up!" "Real loud!" "You do it or not?" "Sure!" "Kneel down!" "You would have better asked where you are here!" "How could you get so boldfaced here?" "Come on, brothers, drink!" "Mighty Sanpao!" "Please forgive me!" "I am blind, I shouldn't have offended you!" "I was drunk an joked with the butcher." "I won't dare one more time." "Stay where you are or I'll kill him!" " Stay there!" "Between us there is neither hate nor friendship." "You soiled my wife!" " Your wife?" "The one from the distillery?" "I never touched her." "I only wanted the ransom." "You're lying!" " Please believe me!" "I don't want the wife of the leper!" "If you don't believe me then cut off my head!" "Wait!" "Boss, that guy is not one of us." "It's better we kill him!" "By butchery will be soiled if we kill him in here." "Go on!" "Move to the door!" "Or are you afraid of death?" "Sanpao, you're unjust!" "I could have killed you a moment ago, but I didn't." "In return you want to kill me now." "We owe that to loyal Luohan!" "He cared for everything and borrowed money everywhere." "What a fortune that you have returned safe and sound!" "Excuse me, mistress!" "Are you well again?" "Today is the 9th day of the 9th month." "Due to the old custom we'll emblaze the fire in the distillery tonight." "Will you come to see it?" "You can relax doing it." "And forget the horrors." "That's a good idea!" "I have been in the distillery for so long but I have never seen that." "Luohan, don't go on calling me 'mistress'." "You're the only one still calling me that." " Of course, mistress." "Our mistress is coming!" "Get dressed!" "Put on your loincloths!" "Why?" "We're in private!" "No, that won't work!" "Do as he said!" "What are you doing there?" "Come here!" " Come on!" "What's with the water?" " It still has to boil." "That's the destillation tub." "Liquor steam comes from above and when mixed with cold water, liquor runs out down here." "Hold on!" "I want to try it!" "Sure, deliberately." "Oh, thats hard work." "Sit down." " Thank you." "Today I finally see how the red sorghum becomes liquor." "Cold water!" " Coming!" "Higher flames!" "More cold water!" " Coming!" "Rake the fire!" "Receive the new liquor!" "Make sacrifices to the God of liquor!" "A good liquor." "New liquor on the 9th day of the 9th moon." "A good liquor!" "Whoever drinks it is united with heaven and earth." "Whoever drinks it refreshes body and soul." "Whoever drinks it takes the chance to make his way alone through the sorghum-field." "Whoever drinks it does not do a kowtow in front of the emperor." "On the 9th day of the 9th moon..." "Good liquor, good liquor..." "Mistress, try the new liquor!" "Drink!" " Whoever starts has to finish the bowl!" "Go on!" "Drink Jiu'er!" " Yes, go on!" "Keep going!" " Yes, you have to finish it!" "Drink it up!" "That was very good." " No, I can't drink very well." "If you practice, you can floor a whole pitcher!" "She won't drink as much as you." "Ah, how beautiful!" "How cheerful you are!" "What a blithesomeness!" "Yu, why are you here?" "How cheerful you are." "Try our new liquor." "What are you up to?" "What are you doing?" "Now look how I drain the jug!" "That my grandfather had peed into the liquor-baskets was only nuisance after all." "But strangely enough exactly that liquor had turned out to be very good." "Mistress!" "Mistress!" "I compliment you mistress!" "I compliment!" "Luohan, thank you!" "Same to you!" "Mistress!" "I compliment you." "The liquor turned out good." "I work here for 10 years, but there has never been a better one." "Mistress." "How should the liquor be labeled?" "A name is as important to a liquor as it is to a human being." "Our village is called Shibalipo." "Don't we want to call it Shibalihong?" "Jiu'er, there is a jar of Shibalihong in front of your door." "Louhan had left the same night." "Nine years passed in a trice." "Our liquor got quite famous." "My father was already 9 years old." "It was said that he had been a wild offspring of the sorghum-field." "99-years-old grandmother Wang once said that on an acre one can harvest 9.5 centner of sorghum." "And in a group of ten wild offsprings there are nine ill-mannerd rascals." "That is the best liquor!" "There has never been a better one." "Pour in the liquor here!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Yes." "Mother!" "Yes." "Come on, stop it." "Don't cry!" "Luohan, wait!" "Luohan, wait!" "That was Luohan." "The japanese came all of a sudden." "The street they had built reached Quingshakou by July." "Come on!" "The japanese wait for their meat." "Come here." "You know your work." "Thank you very much!" "The imperial officer praised you too." "Thank you." "I only want to earn some rice." "The officer says that skinning one cow is not sufficient." "You shall skin another one." " Of course." "But where are you looking at?" "There!" "Why do you hesitate?" "Skin him!" "Excuse me officer." "You must be joking." "Who is joking?" "Skin him!" "Are you deaf?" "Why are you staring at me?" "Excuse me officer." "That is not possible." "Excuse me." "That's impossible." "Please!" "If you don't skin him right now, your chest will be cut open!" "Listen to me!" "You trampled down the sorghum!" "Now you get something beautiful to see!" "You are allowed to watch how someone skins another one alive!" "Have you all seen the man hanging there?" "Whoever revolts against the japanese sovereigns will end like this!" "Sanpao!" " Sanpao!" "Please grant me a quick death." "I won't forget that mercy in the hereafter." " What are you waiting for?" "The flushing with cold water makes it easier!" "You really know your work!" "Boss, this time you won't survive." "Please forgive me." "Forgive me, for I have no choice." "Hurry up!" "Hurry!" "You ratfink!" "You dog!" "You Japanese!" "You traitor!" "You dog!" "You dog!" "Dog!" "I curse your japanese ancestors!" "No, I can't do it!" "Officer, I can't!" "I can't!" "No!" "You damn dog!" "You are going to skin him!" "I can't do it!" " Alive!" "Forgive me, I can't do it!" " Go on, God damn it!" "I can't!" "No, I can't do it!" " Here, take your knife!" "You will skin him!" "Alive!" "If you don't do it right now, you are going to be skinned!" "I can't!" "I can't!" "The officer said that if you don't skin him now then you are going to be skinned!" "Understood?" "No, no!" " Quick!" "Get started!" " No, I'm afraid." "Luohan!" " I can't do it!" "Forgive me!" "No, I am afraid." " Quick!" "I can't do it." "Please forgive me Luohan!" "I beg you Luohan." "Please be brave." "Be brave, be strong!" "Be brave!" "Be brave!" "You got to be strong." "You got to be brave." "Get started!" "Skin him!" "The inhabitants of my hometown thought that Luohan had been a communist." "And that he would command local armed troops reorganized for the anti-japanese battle." "The annals of our county say that the japanese aggressors took 400 000 civilians in captivity and forced them to build Chang-Ping-Road." "They destroyed numerous villages and fields and killed thousands of people." "The annals say too that Luohan had been skinned in front of the eyes of the villagers in Quingshakou." "But he did not show fear." "He didn't stop to swear at his enemies and did not subject until his death." "Dou-Guan, kneel down!" "This liquor is called Shibalihong." "Your great-uncle Luohan has made it." "Do kowtow in front of him!" "Drink it!" "If you are real men, you're going to drink it up." "And tomorrow you'll blow up the wagon of the Japanese." "You have to revenge Luohan's death!" "New liquor on the 9th day of the 9th moon." "A good liquor." "Whoever drinks it is united with heaven and earth." "Whoever drinks it refreshes body and soul." "Whoever drinks it takes the chance to make his way alone through the red sorghum-field." "Whoever drinks it does no kowtow in front of the emperor." "On the 9th day of the 9th moon." "Good liquor, good liquor!" "Good liquor, good liquor!" "Dou-Guan, come here!" "What do you want, father?" "Go on, pee into it." "Dahao, when the battle starts..." "...sound your trumpet." "But I can only play simple songs." "What are they worth in battle?" "If you only sound it loud, it will be worth!" "The Japanese are afraid of noise." "So sound it loud." "The louder, the better!" "The wagon is coming!" "You're dreaming." "Sleep on, but watch your weapon." "It has to work." "I buried a double load." "My father told me that after he had looked into the sun on that day, his eyes went ill." "Everything he saw was red." "When I returned home a few years ago, Quingshakou-Bridge was still there but the sorghum-fields were gone." "Mother!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Is the battle over?" " No." "Where is your father and the others?" " They are all asleep and hungry." "Mother!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "My wife!" "Mother!" "Use the dynamite!" "It did not explode!" "Sound your trumpet!" "Follow me!" "Father!" "Father!" "Father!" "Father!" "Father!" "Father!" "Look!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Walk southwestwards!" "The way is long, the ship is huge!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Walk wald southwestwards!" "The horse is quick, the land is wide." "Mother!" "Mother!" "Walk southwestwards!" "The sun is bloodred bloodred is heaven, bloodred the sorghum-field."