Yu Hua - Brothers

For as long as Baldy Li could remember, he had never seen Li Lan look so proud. Baldy Li's birth father had brought her nothing but hate and shame, but Song Fanping had given her love and respect. Her head held high, Li Lan set forth as though she were a member of the Red Detachment of Women. The old landlord pulling the cart, mean-while, was bent over as though he were in the middle of a struggle session. As he pulled he repeatedly raised his hand to wipe at his tears. They came face-to-face with two parading troupes. The revolutionary crowds ceased their slogans, lowered their small red flags, and discussed among themselves as they watched these four people with their cart and coffin. A man wearing a red armband walked up to ask Li Lan, "Who's in the coffin?"

Li Lan answered proudly and calmly, "My husband."

"Who's your husband?"

"Song Fanping. He was a teacher at the Liu Town Middle School."

"How did he die?"

"He was beaten to death."

"Why?"

"He was a landlord."

When Li Lan said that, Baldy Li and Song Gang both trembled, and the old landlord was so frightened he did not dare to wipe his tears. She had proclaimed it with such clarity that the parading revolutionaries all stopped in their tracks. They were shocked that such a frail little woman would dare talk like this. The man wearing the red armband pointed at Li Lan. "Your husband was a landlord. So you're a landlord's wife?"

Li Lan nodded firmly. "Yes."

The man turned back to the revolutionary crowds. "See that! Such shamelessness …"

As he finished speaking he turned back and slapped Li Lan across the face. Her head wobbled and blood trickled from her lips, but she smiled proudly and continued to look the man in the eye. The armband-wearing man gave her another slap. Her head wobbled again, but she still smiled proudly as she gazed at him, asking, "Had enough?"

Li Lan's words stunned him for a moment. With the oddest of expressions he looked at her, then back at the crowd. She said, "If you've had enough, then I'll be leaving."

"Fuck," the armband-wearing man cursed. He slapped her twice more, then spat. "Beat it!"

Blood trickling from her lips, Li Lan smiled as she grasped Baldy Li and Song Gang's hands and continued walking. The revolutionary crowd on the street regarded her with astonishment. Smiling, she walked forward, telling them, "Today is the day of my husband's burial."

Tears gushed from her eyes as she spoke. Baldy Li and Song Gang also began to sob, as did the old landlord up ahead. Li Lan scolded Baldy Li and Song Gang, "Don't cry."

In a ringing voice she admonished them, "Don't cry in front of other people."

The two boys covered their mouths. They stopped their sobbing but not their tears. Li Lan had forbidden them to cry, but her own face was covered with tears. She smiled through them and continued walking.

They walked out the south gate, over a creaky wooden bridge, and could make out the chirping of cicadas. They realized that they had already reached the dirt road leading to the countryside. By then it was noon, and as far as the eye could reach there were fields, interspersed with the occasional curl of rising smoke. The summer fields were empty and bare. It was as if they were the only four people on earth, aside from Song Fanping, who was lying in the coffin. His elderly father finally let himself sob out loud, his back bent like an old ox plowing the earth as he dragged along his dead son. He shook all over as he walked; even his sobs shook. His weeping ignited Song Gang and Baldy Li's wails, and the boys started sobbing loudly through their fingers. They had covered their mouths with their hands, but their sobs now burst from their noses; they used their hands to hold their noses, but then the sobs would burst from their lips. The two boys timidly looked up at Li Lan, who said, "Go ahead and cry."

After she spoke, Li Lan was the first to break out crying. This was the first time that Baldy Li and Song Gang heard her piercing wails. She wept without restraint, as if she wanted to rip out her throat with her sobs. Song Gang dropped his hands and also began to sob out loud, and Baldy Li immediately followed suit. The four of them sobbed loudly as they walked, no longer worrying about being seen. Amid the vast fields and under the distant sky they wept together, as a family. As if she were gazing into the sky, Li Lan raised her face and sobbed; Song Fanping's elderly father bent over and wept, soaking the earth with his tears. Baldy Li and Song Gang repeatedly wiped away their tears, splashing them onto Song Fanping's coffin. They cried wholeheartedly, their howls sounding like a series of land mines, startling the sparrows from the trees lining the sides of the road.

The four walked and wept for a very long time, until Song Fanping's elderly father could walk no farther. He put the cart down and knelt on the ground. He had wept until his back hurt, and he could no longer move. They stopped, and gradually their crying abated. Li Lan wiped away her tears and said that she would pull the cart. Song Fanpings father refused, saying that he would accompany his son on his last journey.

Afterward they no longer wept but walked on silently. There was only the sound of the carts creaking wheels. They arrived at the village where Song Fanping was born. A few shabbily clad relatives stood at the village gate. They had already dug the grave under an elm tree at the edge of the village and stood there with their shovels. As Song Fanpings coffin was lowered into the grave and a few relatives covered it with dirt, his father knelt nearby, picking out the rocks. Li Lan knelt down and did the same. After the grave was filled and covered with a mound of earth, the two of them slowly stood up.

They all then made their way to the fathers thatched hut. Inside there was a single bed, a battered armoire, and a worn table. The relatives sat around the table and ate, and Baldy Li and Song Gang joined in the meal of pickled vegetables and rice. Song Fanpings aged father sat on a low stool in a corner of the room and wiped at his tears, not eating a single bite. Li Lan didn't eat either. She removed Song Gangs clothes from the travel bag, folded them neatly, and placed them inside the old battered armoire. Baldy Li saw that she also placed the bag of White Rabbit candies inside the armoire. After she was done, she didn't know what else to do, so she stood by the armoire and watched the two boys.

This was an afternoon of silence. After the relatives finished eating and left, the four of them sat wordlessly inside the hut. Baldy Li caught sight of the trees and pond outside the house. He also spied sparrows singing in the trees and swallows flying from the beams. Song Gang saw these things, too. The boys very much wanted to go outside to look around, but they didn't dare to; instead they sat on the bench stealing glances at the sad figures of Li Lan and Song Fanpings father. Finally Li Lan spoke. She said that they ought to be going if they hoped to make it back to town before dark. Rising with difficulty, Song Fanpings father made his way to the battered armoire and took out a small can. He grabbed a handful of fava nuts and stuffed them into Baldy Li's pocket.

Once again they returned to the edge of the village. A few leaves had fallen on the mound that was Song Fanpings grave. Li Lan went over and picked them off, throwing them to one side. She did not cry, and the boys heard her softly say to the grave, "Once the boys grow up, I'll come keep you company."

Li Lan turned, walked up to Song Gang, and squatted down to caress his face as he caressed hers. Li Lan hugged him tight and couldn't help bursting into tears. "Son, take good care of Grandpa. Grandpa is old now, so he wants you to stay by his side. Mama will come to see you often…"

Song Gang didn't understand what Li Lan was talking about. He nodded, then looked over at Baldy Li. Li Lan wept with Song Gang in her arms, then wiped her tears and stood up. Looking over at Song Fanping's father, her lips moved as if to say something but no sounds came out. Finally she took Baldy Li's hand.