Yan Lianke - The Four Books

That higher-up also had someone strike those two pieces of steel with a hammer, so that he could hear what sound they made.

The sound was like music.

So it came to pass.

The province’s highest higher-up then went to speak to the Child. In his room, the Child would take hot baths and, without even drying himself off, would roll around in bed soaking wet. He knew that they would change the bedsheets every day even if they weren’t dirty, and therefore he jumped up and down on the bed with his shoes on, figuring that this way he could make sure the sheets would be dirty, meaning that it wouldn’t be such a waste to change them.

“Sit down,” the visitor said. “Let’s talk freely.”

The Child blushed.

“You are still young,” the visitor said. “And you have great prospects. To be selected as the provincial representative at such a tender young age, you will certainly go on to make a great contribution to the nation’s steel-smelting industry.”

The Child blushed again.

“Was it you who invented the black sand steel-smelting technique?” the visitor asked. “Was it really you who invented it? No one helped you?”

Still blushing, the Child nodded.

“Tell me how you did it.”

The Child explained that he had had a magnet, and had discovered that the black grains of sand along the riverbank would always come rushing over whenever the magnet was present. Then heaven and earth were overturned, and the Great Steel-Smelting campaign began. After the iron resources were used up, it occurred to the Child that he could try using this black sand to smelt steel. It was then that he developed the black sand steel-smelting technique. Smiling, the higher-up patted his shoulder, stroked his head, and asked, “Have you been to the capital?” The Child shook his head. “Do you want to go?” The Child nodded. “Have you ever been on a train?” The Child shook his head. “Have you ever seen a train?” The Child shook his head again. Not without pity, the higher-up gazed at the Child’s face, and then poured him a glass of water, and also poured himself a glass. “The capital is excellent. It has the Imperial Palace, the Great Wall, and Tiananmen Square, which is larger than two of your villages, and is even larger than several of the provincial seat’s department stores put together. In the new train station, each bell is as big as a house, and a row of them are suspended in midair.” The higher-up paused for a moment, and then continued: “If you want to go to Beijing, there are two things you must do.”

The glass out of which the Child was drinking froze in front of his mouth.

“First, from now on, you should no longer say that you smelted one hundred tons of steel. Instead, you should say that you smelted three hundred tons.”

The Child opened his eyes wide.

“Second, I know that your star-shaped steel ingot was actually not smelted from black sand, but rather from railroad tracks, scythe blades, and cleavers. However, you should tell everyone that it was smelted from black sand. Even if you are speaking to a political leader, and even if someone is holding a knife to your throat or a gun to your head, you must still insist that this star was produced from the black sand that you found along the riverbank. You must say that the furnaces are still standing, and if someone doesn’t believe you, you can offer to take him there so he can see for himself how you can produce another steel ingot exactly like this one.”

The province’s highest higher-up sat there for a while, then left. Before leaving, he patted the Child’s shoulder and stroked his head, and said that the next day the provincial governor would personally take them to tour Song city, taking everyone to see the ancient ruins and scenic sites, as well as the important landmarks.

The higher-up left, and the Child remained frozen in his room, as though something very momentous were about to take place. It was as if something extremely, extremely important were awaiting him.

That night, the Child didn’t eat or sleep.

The next day, when they went to tour the city of Kaifeng, they had a police escort and were followed by the governor’s car. This was the former capital of the Northern Song, and it was a long car ride from the provincial seat. By the time they arrived, the sun had risen several rod-lengths in the sky. They visited the Dragon Pavilion and toured the Xianguo Temple, which was constructed in an ancient style. Finally, they toured the iron pagoda, which was so tall it disappeared into the clouds. Everyone started to climb up, but many of them stopped after only three or four floors and came back down. The Child, however, climbed all the way to the top, where the pagoda was swaying back and forth in the wind. The Child was reminded of the story the Theologian had told him about Noah and his sons, and how after the flood they found a place to settle and began farming, raising grapes, and producing future generations. Noah’s descendants dispersed, spreading throughout the land. Some of them wanted to be known around the world, and therefore built a tower that would reach the sky.

The iron tower was actually not made of iron, but rather of brick. People called it an iron tower because it was so high it reached the clouds, it could stand for centuries, as sturdy as it had been when it was first built. At the top of the tower there was a small opening. The Child emerged from this opening, his hair blowing in the wind. He looked up into the sky, and saw that it was full of light. The clouds were whistling over his head and hanging from the tower’s spire. He heard the sound of clouds blowing through his hair. When he gazed into the distance, he saw Kaifeng stretched out before him, with houses scattered about, just as the Theologian had described the Tower of Babel. There were no trees in the entire city, as all of them had been chopped down for use in the steel-smelting furnaces. The landscape was completely bare, and Kaifeng looked like a wasteland. Even farther away, there was a cloud of smoke. It was a train, stretching across the landscape like a giant snake. Up in the tower the Child’s legs began to tremble, and with sweaty palms he gripped the railing even more tightly than before. The train was all the way on the other side of the city, but the Child could still see it clearly, racing across the landscape like a snake through water.

When they returned to the provincial seat, the Child went to see the higher-up who wanted to speak to him. This higher-up was hosting the inspection convention, and was staying in a room in the meeting hall. When the Child walked into the room, the higher-up was in the process of writing something. He dropped his pen with a start and said, “Oh, it’s you. Is something wrong?” He gestured for the Child to sit down, but the Child declined and instead said very deliberately,

“I am the one who discovered the black sand and invented the black sand steel-smelting technique. I spent the entire winter directing the criminals of the ninety-ninth to smelt three hundred tons of steel. That star-shaped ingot was smelted entirely from black sand taken from the banks of the Yellow River. Anyone who doesn’t believe this is welcome to accompany me to the Yellow River, where I’d be happy to smelt another while they watch.”

The higher-up stared at him in astonishment.

“I want to take the train to the capital,” the Child said. “I want to take the train to the capital, to go look around.”

“You’re actually too late,” the higher-up said sympathetically. “The provincial governor already selected the ingot branded with the character for loyalty .”

The Child reflected for a while, then said, “It is not as good as mine. If you strike mine, it sounds like steel, but if you strike the other one, it sounds like a hollow bell.”