Ha Jin - Ocean of Words

“Not bad. He’s a smart man who knows how to use words.”

“Old Gao, we are country boys and don’t have many tricks in our heads. Be cautious about Diao.”

“Why? What have you heard?”

“Don’t ask me why. I cannot tell you. Have you ever thought of going home? I don’t mean for a break.”

“You mean to be demobilized?”

He smiled, blinking his eyes, and put his index finger across his lips.

I stood up and said, “Old Liu, thank you for the talk.”

“I thank you for the cigarettes.” He got to his feet. “You can tell Niu Hsi to prepare himself to go.”

Coming out of the headquarters at about two o’clock, I strolled to the bus station. I was surprised by what Liu had told me. It seemed that Diao had got up some little maneuvers against me. What did he do? And why did he do it? I could not tell. According to Chief Liu, I might be demobilized. I had never done anything irresponsible or offensive to Diao. How come he held a grudge against me?

The streets were covered with gray snow trampled hard by footsteps and vehicles. Some Korean women went by pulling handcarts, and each cart was loaded with a huge rectangular block of ice. They sang work songs and cracked jokes, which I could tell by their hearty laughter. Trucks blew horns some blocks away; the iron wheels of bullock carts clanked here and there.

At the corner of the movie house, the only one in Hutou Town, about fifty people gathered looking at something. Since the bus would not depart until three, I went over to see what was there. On the bulletin board was a large notice, and some people at the back were pushing forward in order to read its contents. From a distance of twenty meters, I felt that the first picture on the white sheet looked like Dragon Head, so I elbowed my way through the crowd to have a closer view.

It was Dragon Head! His face, crossed by two red strokes, was swollen, and there were some dark patches and small cuts on his forehead and cheeks. His eyes resembled those of a dead fish, while his lips were much thicker than they had been. His long, disheveled hair stuck out in all directions, which made his head seem twice its normal size. Somehow the photograph, once looked at closely, appeared less like Dragon Head than what I had seen from farther back. Beneath him stood a line of characters in boldface: “A Criminal Who Stole Military Equipment.” I was shocked and read the charge:

Long Yun, male, 29, from a poor peasant family, has stolen numerous pieces of military equipment, including army clothes, two transceivers, two semiautomatic rifles, etc. The stolen objects have been recovered, and Criminal Long could not deny his crime in the face of the ironclad evidence. For three years, Criminal Long, also called Dragon Head, has commanded his men as a group of idlers, disrupting the agricultural production and sabotaging the national defense. He lorded over several villages and is known in Hutou County as a local tyrant. In order to quiet the anger of the common citizens and to secure the iron bastion of our country’s border front, this court has decided to sentence Criminal Long to death. The execution is to be carried out promptly.

With Dragon Head there were three other men to be executed. One had raped two women, another had embezzled twenty thousand yuan , and the third had stolen fourteen bicycles.

I started cursing Diao in my mind. Whatever the reason, Dragon Head did not deserve capital punishment. He used to be our friend and would fight any battle for us; now, two years later he was dispatched as an enemy. Even a dog shouldn’t be treated this way. During my stay in Longmen I had called Diao a few times and asked about Dragon Head’s case at least twice, but each time Diao had assured me that he would handle it properly and advised me to concentrate on the study. Now Dragon Head had been executed; how could Diao call this outcome proper!

When I got back to my battalion, I went to the commissar’s office directly. Diao sat at his desk writing something. At the sight of me, he stood up, holding out his hand. “Old Gao, you’re back. How was the study?”

“Not bad.” We shook hands. “Commissar Diao, I saw the police notice in Hutou Town; so Dragon Head is dead. Why did you do this? It’s too despicable!”

“Old Gao, how the hell can you blame me for it?” he said in a high voice. “I didn’t want him dead either. I told all the villagers the same thing last week, and now I must repeat it to you: If I could have saved him I would have done it. It was a matter of human life; I want nobody to be killed. He had bad luck and was caught in the middle of the campaign cracking down on crimes. One man who stole bicycles was executed too. But Dragon Head stole guns! If you were here, you couldn’t have done anything either.”

I went out and flung the door shut. Diao always talked well, but I could not believe him anymore. With his tongue he could take in the villagers from Guanmen but not me this time, although I didn’t know how to argue with him.

Having considered what he had said for a short while, I had to admit his words were not totally groundless. Even if he had tried, Diao could by no means have stopped the whole plot. At most, he had served as a secret camera and an official informant on Dragon Head.

Before dinner I got hold of Scribe Niu Hsi and asked him what he knew. We walked out of the barracks. Hard snow squeaked beneath our feet while we were climbing the hill. “The day after you left,” Niu Hsi said, “the investigating group arrived, three officers and two policemen. They arrested Ma Ding first. Without much trouble, Ma admitted he had stolen the guns.”

“Then how come Ma Ding was not sentenced?”

“They did not allow him to go home that night. The next morning, Dragon Head came, riding the black horse and wearing the two rifles across his back. He asked the investigating group to release Ma Ding and claimed he was responsible for everything. He said he had ordered Ma to steal the guns. They let Ma Ding go and took Dragon Head into custody. Dragon Head confessed that he had been behind everything, including the six hats and the two transceivers. I wrote down what he said during the interrogation, which was very short. He didn’t bother to hide anything.”

“Do you still have the notes?”

“No. They took them away the next day, together with the two guns. Dragon Head went with them too.”

“How did the villagers respond when they heard of his death?”

“They came over, crying and cursing. Wang Si and those militiamen pounded their chests and heads, shouting, ‘Brother Dragon’s wronged!’ The girl, Dragon Head’s fiancée, fainted and was carried to our clinic. Commissar Diao spoke with tears in his eyes and calmed them down. He told them that he had a heavy heart over the misfortune too, because he had lost a good friend. But our battalion wasn’t involved in the charge and the execution. We had no idea how this had happened. What he said seemed true, so after two hours they went back home.”

Gray mist was spreading above the two hundred thatched roofs of Guanmen Village below us. Kerosene lights and candles flickered timidly through the dim curtain of the evening air. A dog was barking. The voices of the children racing about in the streets sounded like birds’ chirping in deep woods. I did not want to talk more about Dragon Head. Niu Hsi might as well remain ignorant of the iniquitous reality. So I changed the topic and told him that I had arranged for him to go to college to study Russian. He looked hesitant.

“I know what’s in your mind, Little Niu,” I said. “You’re unsure of yourself.”

“No, Commander Gao. I think I can be a good student, as long as I work hard. To be honest, I’m thinking if I should go to college, since I’m already an officer.”