55: The Old Bow

The bow came out at the dusk of the fourth day.

Heizi had — at the morning of the second day — laid Lu Wen-han's old hunting bow against the wall of the hut beside his sleeping place, with the small bowstring still wrapped in its cloth and the small hempen quiver of perhaps a dozen arrows beside it. He had not, in the past three days, taken the bow up. The bow was, by the small specific reading of the past three days at the hut, a thing the household would need in the next three or four moons to take a deer or a small specific large game in the country around the grove. It was not, by any small specific reading, a thing for the first three days.

Lao Wen, on the morning of the fourth day, asked about it.

He asked, at the small wooden table after the morning's small portion of millet, in the small low voice he had been speaking in: *lad. The bow you brought up from Lu Wen-han.*

"Yes, Lao Wen."

"Show me."

Heizi went to the western wall. He took up the bow and the small wrapped bowstring and the small hempen quiver of arrows. He brought them. He laid them on the small wooden table.

Lao Wen looked at them for a long beat.

He took up the bow.

He held it across both palms, in the small specific way of a man taking up an old object to weigh it for the first time. He turned the bow slowly. He looked at the small specific shape of the wood — the small specific darkening of the grain at the grip, the small thin places at the upper and lower limbs where the bow's draws had, over many years, slightly bent the wood at the inner curve, the small specific notch at each tip where the bowstring would lay.

He took the small wrapped bowstring. He unwrapped it. He laid the small bowstring across his palm. He held it close to his eyes.

He looked at the small braid of the bowstring — at the small specific way the small thin sinew strands had been twisted, at the small specific places where the small accumulating drying of the past two years had begun to crack the small specific outer fibers.

He set the bowstring down.

He said, in the small low voice: *the bow is — by the small specific reading at this morning — perhaps eighteen years old. The wood is mulberry. The grip is wrapped in old leather, perhaps re-wrapped twice, by what I can see. The draw weight is — by the small specific reading of the small specific spring of the limbs at my fingers — perhaps fifty *jin*. That is — by the small specific honest measure — a good farmer's hunting bow. It is not a soldier's bow. It is not, by the small specific look, the small heavy bow of the upper-hills hunters of fifty years ago. It is a small specific intermediate bow.*

He paused.

"The bowstring is — by the small specific look at the cracking — at perhaps the small accumulating end of its small specific working life. The bowstring was — Lu Wen-han said? — perhaps two years old. The cracking is the small specific cracking of an old bowstring at its second winter. It will, perhaps, give in the third or fourth full draw. It will not, by the small specific reading, hold the next year's hunting."

He paused.

"We will, in the next four days, at this small wooden table, make a new bowstring. The household has — by the boy's small careful arithmetic at the small wooden corner-shelf — twelve arms of horsehair on the spool. We will, by the small specific reading of an old bow's small specific need, take perhaps four arms for a new bowstring. The remaining eight arms will be — by the small specific reading of the boy's snare-line — sufficient for the snares."

The boy, at the small slab Lao Wen had set out at the eastern wall on the morning of the second day, looked up. He had been at his small specific quartermaster's arithmetic, with the small thin charcoal sliver and the small folded scrap of pine bark.

"Grandfather. Eight arms of horsehair at ten snares is — by the small specific reading — about three quarters of an arm per snare. That is enough for the small four-strand twist with a small specific fold for the small loop. The line will work."

"Yes, boy."

"And the bowstring."

"The bowstring will — by the small specific reading at four arms, twisted into a small specific six-strand braid with the small fish-glue at the splice — hold. I have made — by the small specific reading at my militia year, in Wen-di seventeen — perhaps twenty bowstrings. The small specific work has not, in my hands, been done at the small specific careful detail in some time. We will, lad — yes, big brother, I am speaking to you also — at the small wooden table at the next four evenings, make the bowstring together."

Heizi looked at him.

"Lao Wen. Your militia year."

"Yes, lad."

"You — you were a militia officer."

The old scholar set the bow down, very slowly, on the small wooden table.

He sat back on the small wooden stool.

He looked at Heizi for a long beat.

He said, in the small low voice with the small specific southern-Henan accent: *yes, lad. In Wen-di seventeen — eighteen years before Wen-di's death, in the third year of his second decade — I was, for a single year, a militia officer at the watch above the Henan border. The watch I have spoken of when I told you about Old Zhang and Cao Ergou and Wei Lao-han and Lu Wen-han and the eastern-pine hermit. I was — at twenty-seven, at the year before I took my magistracy — at the watch as a small specific intermediate officer of perhaps fifty men. Old Zhang was, among others, a man under my small specific command for that year. Cao Ergou was. Wei Lao-han was. The eastern-pine hermit was. Lu Wen-han was.*

He paused.

"Lad, I was their officer at the watch."

He paused again.

"They have — by the small specific way of the country's small unhurried arrangement — never once, in the past nineteen winters at this hut, given me away. No peddler has come up the path saying *the old scholar at the grove was once an officer of the watch.* No old comrade has, in the small old village mouth-to-mouth way, allowed the small specific name of the watch's officer to circulate past the immediate small specific count of the four of them and now — at this morning — the four of you."

He paused once more.

"I had — at the third moon, when I read your *四 人* paper at the foot of the path — known that you and the brothers were, by the small specific accumulating reading of the foster son of Old Zhang and the smith's son of a smithy in the same village and the lame brother of the carpenter Lu's nephew — at most one mouth-to-mouth removed from the small specific knowledge that *the old scholar at the grove was once Old Zhang's officer.* The four old comrades had, by the small specific reading, decided to keep the knowledge in their own small specific keeping; they had not given it to you. That had been — by the small specific reading at the third moon — the small specific reason I had read *北* at the *北* paper. Their not giving it to you was — by my small specific reading — a small specific instruction to me to honor the not giving."

He paused.

"At the *四 人* paper, however — at the small specific reading of *four people* in your small even hand — I had decided that the small specific count of seven had become, in the past nine months on a road, the small accumulating reason to give it to you myself. I am — at this small wooden table at the morning of the fourth day — giving it."

He paused.

"You are, lads, in the hut of Old Zhang's officer of the watch in Wen-di seventeen."

The brothers were quiet for a long beat.

Wang Er, at the eastern wall — he had been at the morning-wood pile at the small kindling at the back of the hut and had come in for the morning's small portion at the small fire — looked at Lao Wen.

He said, in the small low voice he had been speaking in: *grandfather. My father — at the small forge — has had us, in our village, in the past three years, light a small candle at the small specific date of the third moon's third day, in the small old way of a household honoring a man who was — by my father's saying — once a small specific officer of an old watch. My father has not, in three years, spoken the small specific name. My father has only said — at the third year, last spring, when I asked — *lad, the man we honor at this candle is the man your foster-uncle Zhang was at the watch under in the year of his youth. The man's name is not for our mouths. The man went, in the third year of Wen-di, into a small old quiet place in the country, by the small specific reading of his small specific decision. We honor him. We do not name him.**

Lao Wen looked at the smith's son.

He nodded — once, slowly, with the small specific change of the small old face Heizi had seen at the small wooden table at the moment of the *四 人* paper's reading.

He said, in the small low voice: *smith's son. Thank you. Thank your father, when you see him. The candle has — by the small specific way of the country — held me through nineteen winters at this hut. I had not — until this morning — known that it was being lit. I had only — in the small specific reading at the small altar at the back of this hut — felt the small accumulating warmth of a small specific household I had not seen, lighting a small specific candle for me.*

He paused.

"That is — that is the small specific way of the country's small old running, lads. The small specific work is — at the lower country, at the village's third-moon's third day — being done by households I do not know. The small specific thanking, by the small specific old way of the watch, is for me to do back. We will, lads — at the small specific way of the next four months — light a small specific candle at this hut, at the third-moon's third day, against the small specific reading of three names at the altar at the back, and against the small specific reading of the four old comrades and the unnamed fifth, and against the small specific accumulating reading of the smith's son's father at the village's small forge."

He paused.

"That is — that is the small specific old way."

He turned, after the long beat, to the bow on the small wooden table.

He took it up again.

He said, in the small low voice with the small specific change toward the small specific militia officer's small specific old voice: *now. The bowstring. Lad — yes, big brother — you will, in the next four evenings at this small wooden table, learn the small specific making of a horsehair bowstring. You will, in the small specific way of the small four-evening careful work, learn the small specific six-strand braid, the small specific fish-glue at the splice, the small specific waxing at the finish. You will then, lad, by the small specific way of the household's small accumulating arithmetic, be the household's small specific bowstring-maker. The smith's son will, in the same four evenings, learn the small specific stringing-and-unstringing of the bow at the small specific cold-weather accommodation Lu Wen-han taught you. The smith's son will be the household's small specific bow-keeper. The lame brother will, in the same four evenings, sit at his small specific bench against the eastern wall and watch — and at the noon of the fourth day, take a single shot at the small specific target I will lay at the rock face outside the hut, at five paces, to test his small specific eye. The boy will, in the same four evenings, learn the small specific making and counting of arrows. The boy will be the household's small specific arrow-maker."

He paused.

"And lads."

"Yes, grandfather."

"In the small specific way of the household's small specific roles, at the small accumulating arrangement of the past three months that the lame brother has been laying — I am, at this morning, adding one small specific further role to each. The big brother will, in the next four moons, be the household's small specific bow-shooter. The smith's son will be the household's small specific bow-keeper. The lame brother will be the household's small specific eye, for the small specific reading of any animal at distance. The boy will be the household's small specific arrow-maker."

He paused.

"By the spring, lads, the household will have a small specific functioning bow-and-quartermaster system that, by the small specific old reading of the watch in Wen-di seventeen, would be the small specific arrangement of a five-man small specific scouting unit. We are, lads, in the small specific accumulating way I am about to teach you in the next four moons — preparing."

He set the bow down, very gently, on the small wooden table.

The brothers were quiet.

Heizi, at the small wooden table, said in the small low voice: *Lao Wen. Preparing for what.*

The old scholar looked at him.

He looked at him for a long beat.

He said, in the small low voice with the small specific change Heizi had heard, briefly, at the small wooden stool at the small fire two evenings ago when Lao Wen had spoken of the small specific reprisal at the third year of Wen-di: *lad. The country, at this winter, is — by the small specific reading of the past three years — beginning to break. The Da-ye reign has — by the small specific arithmetic of the corvée and the small specific arithmetic of the magistracy's white-cord lists for women on the canal — been at a small accumulating slope toward a small specific failure for the past two reigns. The failure will, by the small specific reading I am giving at this small wooden table, be in the next ten years.*

He paused.

"The household — by the small specific way of four young men of fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen, at the small specific year of Da-ye one — will, in the next ten years, be at the small specific working age of young men whose hands the country, at the small specific failure, will need. You will, lads, by the small specific arithmetic of an old militia officer at a small wooden table, be at the small specific years of twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight when the small specific failure comes. You will be, at the small specific failure, the small specific kind of young men the country has — at any small specific failure of any reign in the past thousand years — needed. The country will need you. By the small specific old reading of the watch in Wen-di seventeen, the country will need every small specific kind of young man it can find — bow-shooters, bow-keepers, eyes, arrow-makers, heads, hands, operators, quartermasters."

He paused.

"And lads."

"Yes, grandfather."

"It is the work of the next four moons — and the next seven winters — at this hut, to make of the four of you the small specific kind of household the country will, in ten years, need. I will — by the small specific reading of an old militia officer who is also an old scholar of the Confucian classics — teach the big brother to read, to think, to lead. I will — by the small specific reading of an old militia officer — teach the smith's son to keep the small specific iron of the household. I will — by the small specific reading of a man who has, in the past nineteen winters, watched many small specific upper-hills creatures — teach the lame brother to read country and to read animals. I will — by the small specific reading of a man whose father once taught him the small specific accountings of a county magistracy — teach the boy to count and to provision."

He paused once more.

"I will — at the small specific old way of an old militia officer at a small wooden table — also teach the four of you, in the next four moons, the small specific reading of a winter bow in cold weather, the small specific accumulating careful work of a small five-man unit at a small specific terrain, and the small specific old way of a small specific militia patrol at the small specific edges of a country at the slow accumulating slope of a failing reign."

He paused once more.

"That is — that is the small specific work I am offering."

He looked at the four young men in turn.

"Lads. I am asking. By the small specific old way of an old officer at a small wooden table at his hut, with four young men of his old comrade's house in front of him at a winter, asking. You will — you will, by the small specific decision of the household's operator, by the small specific decision of each of you — accept or refuse. The hut is yours for the winter at the small specific arrangement of the small daily shape regardless. The teaching is — at this small wooden table — a different small specific question. You may, by the small specific decision, take only the daily shape and the reading and the salve, and by the spring go on at the small specific way of four young men who had been at an old scholar's hut for a winter."

He paused.

"Or you may, lads — by the small specific decision — take the small specific other thing also."

He laid both palms flat on the small wooden table.

The brothers were quiet for a long beat.

Tie-zhu, at the small low pad at the western wall with the bad foot up on the small folded pad of pine needles, looked at Heizi.

He said, in the small low voice: *big brother.*

"Yes, lame brother."

"The decision."

"Yes."

"By the small specific accumulating arithmetic of the past nine months — the courier in the gully, the small farm at the steep place, the eight men on the far ridge, the band that took the load at the saddle of the third ridge east — the country has been, by the small specific reading of an old scholar at a small wooden table, at the small specific accumulating slope. We have — at the small specific reading — been on it without the small specific tools. The big brother — by the small specific reading I am giving now, lame brother — has been doing the small specific work of a head of household in a country that has been preparing for a small specific failure, without yet having the small specific tools."

He paused.

"The decision is — the decision is yours, big brother. But by the small specific reading I am giving at this small low pad: take it."

Heizi looked at the lame brother.

He looked, after a beat, at Wang Er.

The smith's son nodded, once.

He looked at An Ashi.

The boy said, in the small low voice: *big brother. By the small specific arithmetic of a Sogdian merchant's son who has been carrying, for nine months, the small specific weight of a younger brother taken at Liangzhou — the small specific tools the old scholar is offering are the small specific tools I have been, in the small specific interior register of my own small accumulating work, hoping for. Take it.*

Heizi turned back to Lao Wen.

He bowed.

He said, in the small low voice: *Lao Wen. Yes. The household accepts. The four of us will, by the small specific decision at this small wooden table, take the small specific teaching of an old militia officer who is also an old Confucian scholar, in the next four moons and the next seven winters, against the small specific accumulating slope of the country.*

The old scholar nodded.

He nodded slowly.

He said, in the small low voice: *good, lads. Good.*

He took up the bow.

He laid it across the small wooden table between them.

"Now. The bowstring. The smith's son will go to the small wooden corner-shelf and bring down the small spool of horsehair. The lame brother will sit at the small low pad and watch. The boy will take out, from his coat, the small folded scrap of pine bark and the small thin charcoal sliver, against any small specific note he will need to take. The big brother will sit beside me at the small wooden table. I will, in the next two hours of the morning, show you the first small specific four-strand braid of the horsehair bowstring."

The work began.

That afternoon and into the evening, Heizi sat at the small wooden table beside Lao Wen, with the small spool of horsehair between them, and learned the small specific six-strand braid of an old militia officer's old bowstring.

The brothers, at their small specific places — the smith's son at the small kindling at the back, the lame brother at the small low pad with the bad foot up, the boy at the small slab at the eastern wall with his small folded scrap of pine bark — did the small specific work each had been given.

The hut, in the small accumulating way of a household at its small new daily shape, held five.

That night, Heizi at his watch listened to the shape of the silence at the hut.

The silence — by the small specific reading at the watch — had a small specific new shape.

It was the shape of a small old hut at the grove of twelve pines, in which an old militia officer at the third evening of the small house's full count had — at the small wooden table at the morning — given the small specific old name of his old work to the four young men whose hands the country, in ten years, would need.

He filed it.

In the small lighter catalog of moments, he set: *the small wooden table at the morning of the fourth day, with the old bow laid across it, when Lao Wen named himself the officer of Wen-di seventeen.*

He sat his watch through.