Author: Heldor Chiriyan Laxnes (Iceland)
one
Here comes the herring.
This area has not been seen for seventeen years. It has hardly been seen here since 1909, but it came this summer. Its appearance is like a generous sunshine shining on this fishing village! Yes, people's fate depends on these abnormal wayward creatures living in deep water.
Herring can make people rich or poor according to their quirks. If it is happy-it can make this fishing village prosperous at once, let everyone live a good life, and also attract foreign businessmen here; When they came, they stayed here and made a lot of money. Herring enabled them to build luxurious houses for their families in the valley. Rich companies that decorate their facades with red, blue and green paints are also beautiful. There is a boastful sign proudly hanging on the doors of those companies. As soon as the herring arrives, the work of the local residents is enough. At the busiest time of work, people don't sleep more than an hour a day and night: you should know that work is paid by the hour and money is paid back. All this is: children can go to school in Reykjavik in winter, and girls can buy some new clothes. Residents can also buy foreign iron plates to repair roofs and even buy paints, so the small houses scattered along the coast are not inferior to the high-rise buildings of wealthy families in terms of color richness. Moreover, when buyers and sellers meet fishermen in the square, they should greet each other and make jokes.
After several years, the herring disappeared, and the fishermen cast their nets as usual, but when they pulled up the nets, all the nets were empty. Fishing nets are cast every day, but nothing can be caught except some small fish and jellyfish. Year after year, the whole Xiajiang River is like an empty purse. If you occasionally hear some news about herring, it's only news from other places. The long years of hunger are like a string of bones, slipping silently among seaweed.
This fishing village is more desolate and miserable every year. The jackets of both buyers and sellers are worn out, as are the ties and trousers they bought during the boom. When I met fishermen in the square, I stopped joking with them. The shop has been closed because no one can pay their bills. Some buyers and sellers are bankrupt, and some banks are wandering about the benefits, hoping for a way out in the future. No one pays attention to the appearance of the house ruthlessly destroyed by bad weather: the mud cracks, the paint fades, the iron plate is twisted, and the iron plate on the roof rusts. Houses that used to be as colorful as rainbows are now like some bald and aging thin horses, standing at one another. Others are completely damaged, and wind and rain can invade at will. The fallen iron plate vibrates in the wind, and the stairs are rotten, so it is dangerous to walk on them. The eaves above the steps were completely destroyed, and now the rain is hitting the door. No one wears holiday clothes on Sunday. If young people want to dance, they will find that the accordion is also broken.
This Norwegian businessman, who was called "Chris" in this village a few years ago, now runs a small shop on the bank of the Xiajiang River, selling chewing tobacco and maltose with frozen hands. Whoever can leave here will leave this place; Those who stay have to build roads in summer or do short-term work of harvesting crops. Children and women went to cut hay, and the hay they cut was barely fed to the cows that were raised in partnership with their neighbors.
Winter is coming ... men and women in every household are sitting under kerosene lamps, surrounded by a large group of dirty children, eating brown bread and porridge; They go to the dock several times a day to see what the weather is like. They are next to the cold, and the winter wind stings their bare hands that have not worked for a long time. Local officials often appear among them; He always torments ordinary people by saying that they are lazy and stupid. He said that ordinary people have a lot of leisure time now, so they should study hard, study more and make progress hard, and don't stay idle at home or stand in the square and catch cold. Celebrities in Reykjavik come here to teach spiritualism, health or politics for free. To their great surprise, no one listens to them except priests, local judges and doctors. They don't understand why these fishermen, who have been struggling with debt and hunger for a generation, don't worship the god of poetry and are not interested in their tedious speeches about the wonderful paradise. But since there are no herring in summer, how can fishermen be in the mood to pay attention to any religious beliefs? And you know, almost every family has a little ion. If the fisherman doesn't believe that he can get a handful of flour on credit from both buyers and sellers, then hygiene and politics have nothing to do with the fisherman.
They pay little attention to their children's education, but can they be so indifferent to their children? They raise one child at will every year. They were brought up for other reasons, not necessarily because they love children.
In this way, the children grew up running at the seaside, in the vegetable garden and at the crossroads. Before they learn to speak, they first learn to curse; They learned to steal before they learned to hide their dishonest behavior. Local officials and priests shouted at the top of their lungs that the world was getting worse and worse. But these gentlemen don't see that when children reach the age of ten, they will stop swearing, and when they approach the confirmation ceremony, few of them will say more than adults.
(1) Herring, also known as herring, grows in the north temperate zone and subarctic ocean.
(2) In the northern region, the coasts of the mainland and islands are tortuous, and there are long and narrow bays that penetrate into the land for dozens of kilometers in the cliffs, which is called Xiajiang.
(3) "Kris" was the king of "Kingdom of Rickia" in Asia Minor from 560 to 546 BC, and was famous for his wealth.
(4) about fourteen or fifteen years old.
two
But this summer, ships full of herring sailed out of Xiajiang day and night. The fishing village hidden between cliffs is busy day and night again. The sound of motor coming from the Xiajiang River all night is mixed with the noise of people who make money all night. ...
The women gathered under the pier-they were very different in age and appearance. The coats and jackets they wear are not very particular about style and tailoring, because they are not sewn according to fashionable and beautiful standards, but only for the needs of daily life. So are all kinds of hats and headscarves. There is not a woman in the fishing village who has not run out of her field in Xiaotian to take part in this very busy job. Mothers leave their babies in the cradle, scrambling to wash and scrape herring; The daughters to be married, with all the fantasies of girls, threw down their dowry clothes; The old maids jumped up and left in the middle of the conversation before finishing the long story and drinking their coffee. The herring, which people have been waiting for for a long time like lovers, will be unloaded on the riverbank where huge wood blocks the waves. People are waiting here with spoons and shovels, ready to salvage this godsend. Excited and covered in fish scales, people filled the buckets with shiny magic fish with small shovels. The women stood there, ready with knives. How busy and cheerful people around you are! The god who hasn't appeared in seventeen years has returned to this fishing village.
People in the town are only thinking about one thing; There is only one word on everyone's lips. Accurately speaking, the rest of the words and thoughts are all around this word. The herring in Xiajiang is equal to the gold in Clonda. Every kitchen and garden is talking about this auspicious creature. By the stream, at the crossroads, on the riverbank, people are talking about it everywhere. Even priests, doctors and local officials only talk about the recent event, the appearance of herring. Just two weeks ago, this small fishing village was shrouded in a curse, which has been shrouded for seventeen years. Now, according to people in the bank, millions of crowns of wealth have been fished out of the sea in a few days. Two weeks ago, a fisherman was standing on his small pasture, and a gust of wind blew. He was even more worried: he had to rely on church relief, because his pasture was bare, and he didn't believe that the remaining hay could feed the cows he and his brother-in-law raised together. Now herring has changed this embarrassing situation, and Xiajiang has become an inexhaustible treasure house. Fishermen earn enough money to pay their debts; They can even buy some wine to prepare for Christmas, of course, it depends on whether fishing can be realized. In this short time. So many things have happened, if anyone wants to write them all down, then the most common experience can make him write a novel.
The poor get rich, but it doesn't last long, just like being drunk for a while. The appearance of the bankrupt will be as sudden as a child's toy pistol shooting from a cork.
Strong boys, who work hard to this extent, will be exhausted and fall on the herring pile, speechless and die suddenly. The decent citizens of this fishing village lost their minds because of insomnia and fatigue, walked around with red eyes, rapped on the glass windows in a hurry, cursed and blasphemed, and rushed at everyone they saw. The dying patient jumped out of bed, threw all the medicine in the doctor's face and hurried to the fishing net. There are also such things; Women in labor feel pain while scraping and washing herring. It is easy for people to send them home, but after a while, they come to scrape and wash herring as if nothing had happened. At this time, the cattle wandered around the garden bored and asked people to squeeze out some of their full milk. They trampled on the stems and leaves of potatoes mercilessly until a young man came from the dock and whipped them with a big herring to drive them away.
three
Among the bent and straight spines on the herring barrel, one person's back is much more bent than others. Strangely, it's not broken yet. This is the back of a woman named old Qatar. She is wearing a man's shabby coat, which used to be new, but now its color reminds me of an old sack full of dead fish waste, which has been on the coast for a long time. A piece of brown cloth was wrapped around her neck. There are two skins on skinny feet, and no one believes these are leather shoes. If someone looks at her closely, they can see the wrinkled face of the old woman, with only one big tooth in her mouth, a pair of red eyes and several wings on her chin. Her hands are thin and soft, like two old pieces of cloth. I can't believe these hands can still hold a knife. But these old hands have been scraping and washing herring here since six in the morning. The old woman-she is ninety years old-got up at six in the morning and worked here all day. This whole day, she kept silent, absorbed and worked all the time, but still only scraped and washed three barrels of fish. A total of * * * only earned two crowns and 25 Ors. Poor woman, regardless of her job and age, she should get a bonus, but-alas! She didn't get the bonus.
This doddering fish washer once scraped 40 barrels of herring a day on this Xiajiang River. At that time, she won a bonus. Today, when the contractor was checking the herring, he remembered an old tune that had been put out in the village before:
Our Qatar, unparalleled,
You get up quickly,
The number of fish you caught,
We can't keep up with the scores.
In the past, the whole village could hear this song every Sunday, but now, no one can remember the time when old Kada won the prize and worked for the whale company. At that time, Qatar worked hard in the whale company, just like the prophet ions whizzing through the whale's stomach, revenge for three days and three nights.
She used to have a room full of children. By the way, fishermen are very productive, just like those fish related to them. She spent her old age in the home of a son, the poorest fisherman in this Xiajiang River. She has been waiting for herring for years, just like a pious woman waiting for the savior in heaven. Look, here comes the herring.
In the long years, Qatar saw that she had many granddaughters, but none of them were supported. Those children are like the occasional little white cloud in the sky, which disappears after a rain. She has a girlfriend who lives in the church relief office in Ridard, Gu Ye. A long time ago, they worked together in the "Whale Company", and often you come and go, have a cup of weak coffee together and talk about whales. Then they all became beggars, begging from door to door. Every year, the old woman sends her a small ball of wool from Gu Ye Ridard. Old Kada sat in her shabby house, knitting wool into gloves and selling them to fishermen at the price of several Ors. She kept these Ors with her son. If someone goes to Gu Ye Ridard, the Qatari will put some coffee in a broken bottle and ask him to give it to his old friend. Now the old woman is dead. She died in Ridard, Gu Ye.
My Qatar, no one can match,
You will get up soon. ...
Qatar now, as in the past, stands in the barrel of herring, and its long life comes into view. On this rainy day, she tasted the endless rainy days in her life. No one except the priest knows when and where she was born, and who her parents are. Things in her life, big and small, slipped away from her like these herrings. She doesn't even remember her lover when she was young. She only vaguely remembers that she and her husband worked in a whale company in the east. They have a small house by the Xiajiang River. She gave birth to a child, gave birth to many children, and it was very easy to raise. All she remembers about her children is that she appeared and walked away, and she didn't know where they went.
The number of fish you caught,
We can't keep up with the scores.
Her long and ordinary life left only these strange repetitions.
In fact, her 90 years of life did not leave her any happy memories, but it is worth masturbating that she did not expect any happy days. At least for her. She never thought that she would have a happy day. If whales appear in the river here, if herring comes, then she will thank God. Whales are extinct, and now all the happiness of life depends on herring. But the herring also left. So Qatar stopped thanking her God. In rich days, she doesn't allow herself to drink a cup of coffee, although she seldom mixes milk. And she has never lived so generously, so don't save sugar.
In good times, men often buy themselves some wine to drink and get drunk. Of course, it depends on the permission of God and whales. But Qatar has never been used to drinking. She just cleans up the dirty things that men throw up when they are drunk.
It can't be said that the memories of her long gray life are all heavy and bitter. She has not experienced what the poet calls sadness. Her life is full of endless quarrels and meaningless and inexplicable abuse. Men and women love to call names; The most vicious and ugly people are waste inspectors and contractors. Buyers and sellers, priests and parish elders also call names. Now she should at least thank God for making her almost completely deaf, and she can't hear those swearing words any more. There is nothing in her life except endless curses. Some of her sons are sailing, some are working on land, and some don't know where. So are the daughters. Her husband died fifty years ago, and there was no sign of death before his death. No one mourned for him in particular. He was buried according to all the rituals; The priest got what he deserved, and so did the businessman. Qatar knows that she has paid all the bills. This morning, she heard that herring was coming. As soon as she got up, she came to work to earn money like everyone else. But she clearly knows that she doesn't owe anyone.
four
It's getting dark, and lights are on the dock. The women are still standing by the shiny herring barrel; Their backs are bent and straight for a while, and the undulating waves are still as colorful as rainbows. Under the irradiation of electric light, herring shines brightly, as gorgeous as gold cloned from Ike. A shower fell on all these rich seafood.
The last fishing boats approached the dock. No one will go to sea before dawn. But the women continued to work frantically to scrape clean before the next batch of fish arrived. This work is enough for them to work all night.
There was a bearded man who had just returned from the sea, walked down the dock and stood in front of the old woman. He sniffed the snuff and said:
"Mom, go home."
But the old woman didn't hear it. When he told her again, she sent some herring to another world.
"Mom, let's go home. Alas, old lady, damn it, it's almost midnight, and you can't even stand! "
But the old woman ignored all the dirty words in the world. She went on scraping and cleaning herring.
"Does the old lady really ignore me?" The man said to himself, he shouted:
"That's enough, you fucking poor! Stop early while your feet can hold on! "
Seeing that the old woman refused to listen to his advice or his orders, he couldn't stand it any longer, so he grabbed his mother's poor, aging hand and took the knife from her. The old woman turned to him, although it was difficult for her, looked at him in a trance, as if stunned by the naughty behavior of a "child", and finally said sternly:
"Give me back my knife, Haiji!"
"Shit, what's on your mind, Mom?" She said, trying to drag her away
But the old woman resisted. She grabbed the edge of the bucket desperately. The fish bucket turned over and rolled to the bottom.
"While you are still alive, go home and lie in bed! Oh, you old fool! You know you are ninety years old! It is not easy for you to get out of bed. Let me help you. "
But my mother refrained and whispered:
"Look, I'll beat you, Sigurion! Damn naughty boy! If you don't give me my knife back at once, I'll hit you! Did you hear that? "
But the son continued to pull his mother away from the dock. Keep good has struggled a little strength all have no, just begged son:
"Wait a minute, Xigu ... Listen to me, son, don't take my knife. You know, you can't put it down for a minute today: here comes the herring ..."
Somehow, she broke free from her son's hand, but she coughed badly, so she had to sit on a piece of wood and wait for the cough to pass. Her cough is like the rattle of a cart rolling down a slope, and it is like the creak of a cargo winch of a big ship loading and unloading goods.
"You are exhausted, old lady." He said softly, "You hold me and I'll help you."
But only the stubbornness of the sheep can be compared with the stubbornness of the old man. After she stood up, she walked to the dock with a fish bucket. If her son hadn't blocked her way to the river, like a stubborn sheep, she would have returned to her original position.
"Go to hell, Sigurion!" She finally realized that she was giving up, so she nagged.
My son didn't answer a word. He followed her and drove her home. The old woman hunched her back and walked along the river bank with small steps; The hat slipped off her head, and she was still mumbling something all the way. The unjust cry was mixed with a hiss from the depths of her chest. After a while, the old woman burst into tears. She stopped again, turned to her son and said with tears in her eyes:
"God will never forgive you, Sigurion! ……"
The poor 90-year-old woman groaned in pain and despair from her chest, as if she had poured out all the sufferings of the whole earth.
But the son didn't pay any attention to her moan, and the wife dragged her legs through the town in a rainy night, crying sadly. You know, when old people cry, they cry loudly and sadly like children.