Can Xue - Five Spice Street

Many people opposed electing Madam X the people’s representative, arguing that no one could get used to seeing our former antagonist on Five Spice Street in this high position. There was nothing strange in this opposition because new ways of thinking are always attacked, but after a few months, X entered the historical records as the people’s representative.

The reader must think this very odd. Common sense tells us there’s something fishy in this alien from outer space, this dissident, whose murderous plot had been directed against the people, this abettor of juvenile delinquency, this hooligan with corrupt morals all of a sudden becoming the people’s representative! People shuddered. But the new idea was finally born, and survived with a tenacious life-force. The change in thinking occurred silently and secretly. Today, when the outside delegation came to make an on-the-spot investigation of orderly Five Spice Street, the residents boasted:

‘‘The one who used to be Madam X has been elected our representative. This is worth bringing up, for it indicates a transition in our history.’’ Then someone pulled a delegate over to the side of the street for a ‘‘talk.’’ This enlightened person made the following significant remark:

‘‘We acknowledged X’s essence long ago: we were very familiar with her conduct and never made a fuss about it. X’s mistakes all derive from her having no concept of time. She was completely mixed up and ignored our present social system. She made a mess of everything. If we hypothesize that she represents a society of the future, we discover that everything she did is something we had been longing to do. It’s just that we weren’t audacious enough to release our natural instincts. We weren’t audacious enough to scoff at the rules. There was no need for such troublesome audacity. Only a lunatic would have had such nerve. Everybody is born with a destructive inclination. It’s just that from birth, we fall under restrictions that turn our desires to the right path and make us well-bred people. X did nothing that we had not desired long ago. The difference is that we restrained our natural instincts. Only in a highly developed future society could we let ourselves go. That’s how things are. Why did we usually feel that X’s actions seemed so familiar? Why did we feel that our life and death were associated with her? After carefully considering all the facts, we found that she did everything we weren’t audacious enough, as well-bred people, to do in our present society. No one wanted to deviate from the norms. No one wanted to be talked about behind his back. As for ability, we believe that any of us can do anything many times better than X can. X, however, gambled with her jokes and accomplished what others wouldn’t. We could do it much better! Our talent and clear concept of time will one day allow us to begin the real performance. Today we elected X our representative, not because she is more talented than others, or because she actually represents us (we stress this again): her performance was actually very poor. The reason we elected her is that she was the first to act out the theme we will all perform in the future. We aren’t jealous people. When a new form comes into being, even if infantile, flimsy, or immoral, we can all be reasonable and accept it, and live and let live until it dissolves in the process of evolution. In this, X was useful. No matter how she performed, we all wanted to elect her. This demonstrated our community’s tolerant spirit. Dear delegates, what you’re interested in today shouldn’t be the content of Madam X’s performances but the forms that lie outside her. These are our community’s forms. The official performance hasn’t yet begun. On the stage of the future society, we will shake the whole world.’’ After all of them talked to the delegates about their own hopes, they all marched over to ask X to give a speech, since she had been recognized openly as the people’s representative.

X was washing beans in her snack shop and perspiring heavily. The crowd stayed quietly outside as Dr. A and Ms. B went inside to deliver everyone’s wishes. As the quick-tongued Ms. B helped X wash beans, she explained to her that there had been a major misunderstanding about her superb lecture in the past, and the people had done certain things that they shouldn’t have done and had harmed her to a certain extent. It was simply a normal stage through which emerging social phenomena had to pass. She asked her to understand the people’s behavior, because their original idea had been to protect her. She mustn’t oppose the people because of this misunderstanding. Over a long period, the people had accepted some of her activities. They now thought of her as the ‘‘wave of the future.’’ They hoped she wouldn’t belittle this trust. The wave of the future belongs to the people. This was very glorious. Ms. B herself had already worked many years for the benefit of the people. She had offered up her entire youth and spared no effort in performing her duty. But she hadn’t attained the status of X: she was still a nobody called Ms. B. Yet, X reaped rewards without deserving them. She did nothing. She only hopped up on a stone bench, said a few words, and then lay in her room for a month pretending to be hurt. And now all of a sudden she had gained such a high honor: not only was she the representative, but she was crowned with the ‘‘wave of the future’’ laurels, an honor she didn’t deserve (just think of the nameless heroes on Five Spice Street who had done so much for the people). She had only bumped into the opportunity and gotten lucky.

During her previous reeducation, Ms. B had offended her, which was entirely in the public’s best interests. That reeducation was absolutely correct. Without it, she wouldn’t be a representative today, nor would she be the wave of the future. Not only shouldn’t she bear a grudge against the women’s reeducation movement, she should be grateful. These women had fought hard for the honor she received today. They had helped her greatly but received no advantages for themselves. This alone should spur her to make the speech, unless she has no conscience at all. Everyone had helped make the fire, yet she alone enjoyed its warmth. This was unfair, and anyone with a conscience would feel uneasy about it. All along she had acted only for herself, yet now honor and position had dropped upon her from heaven, making her a revolutionary hero. She must make up for this. Ms. B would have been very much ashamed had it had been she.

Ms. B discussed these principles as she washed the beans. She washed them so earnestly that Madam X was touched, and because she was touched she listened. Finally, she understood the woman’s words and answered that she was very moved by being elected representative and receiving such a high honor. However, it would have been good if they had sought her out earlier. At one time, she had wanted the honor of being the representative and had wasted a lot of energy over it. If she had become the representative then, she would certainly have given countless profound speeches. Unfortunately, now it was too late. Time had rolled on, and she was middle-aged. Her heart was like dead ashes. Not only did she not want to be the representative, but it was difficult for her even to see people. For example, just now, if Ms. B hadn’t helped her wash beans, she wouldn’t have seen a man and a woman enter her shop, nor would she have heard what the woman said. Ever since she gave up the idea of being the representative, she had become deaf and blind. Why did they want a cripple like her? What use was it? If she were shoved up to the platform to make a speech, she would certainly fall down and make a spectacle of herself. No, she was definitely useless to them. They must have made a mistake and gotten everything mixed up. She-the representative? That was too funny. It could not happen. If they pushed her into it, she would bark like a dog on the platform and do somersaults.