59: The Long Patience of the Third Moon

The third moon, at the upper hills, was a long moon.

It was long not by the small specific count of its days but by the small specific accumulating slowness of its small inner work. The country, by the small specific reading at the second week, had stopped accumulating new snow. The small specific accumulating depth — at perhaps three hand's-depths at the small flat clearings, perhaps half a man's-depth at the lower drifts in the lee of the brush — held. The wind, by the small specific intermittent reading the lame brother gave at the dusks, was at a small specific irregular pattern: north for two days, then south for one, then north again. The small specific southerly days came in with a small thin trace of warmer air at the noon, and went out, by the dusk, into the small accumulating cold of the upper hills' winter night.

The household, at the small daily shape, did the small specific work of the third moon.

Heizi, at the small wooden table at the morning, took the small specific reading of the next ten radicals from Lao Wen's small wooden tablets. By the dusk of the third week of the third moon, he had a hundred and fifty radicals. He could read, by the small specific accumulating combination of An Ashi's eighty plus the radicals' guessing-method, perhaps three hundred characters. The first chapter of the *Analects* was — by the small accumulating reading at the long evenings — almost finished. Lao Wen had, at the second week, begun to add a second small bound book at the small wooden corner-shelf to the daily reading: a small bound copy of the *Daxue*, the *Great Learning*, perhaps a fifth as long as the *Analects*. They read both together — *Analects* at the morning, *Daxue* at the evening — with the small specific old method of *the* Analects *for the small specific work of a young man with brothers and the* Daxue *for the small specific work of a young man with a country.* That had been Lao Wen's small specific saying at the second week.

Wang Er, in the same three weeks, took up the small specific work of an iron-keeper at a hut without iron.

There was, by the small specific reading at the small wooden corner-shelf, no iron at the hut beyond the small specific tools Lao Wen had laid out for Tie-zhu's bench and the small specific wooden-handled knife at the cooking. The smith's son's hammer, that he had carried in its sling at the back for nine months on the road, was — at the third week of the third moon — laid in the small wooden chest at the foot of Lao Wen's cot, with Lao Wen's small specific quiet acknowledgment.

There was, however, the small specific fact that the household had — by the small specific accumulating arithmetic of An Ashi's quartermaster work — no iron at all and would, by the small specific reading of the next three winters, need iron. Lao Wen, at the small wooden table at the noon of the third day, had said: *smith's son. The household has — by the small specific reading of an iron-keeper at a hut — at this winter no iron we have made. By the small specific reading at the next three winters, we will need to make some. The small specific making is the smith's son's work. There is — by the small specific old accumulating reading of an old officer — a small specific bog-ore deposit in the lower edge of the western face of the bear-back, at a small specific place I will show you in the spring. The bog-ore is the small specific iron the country has, in the small specific way of the upper hills, given itself. The smith's son will, in the spring and the summer, work at the small specific accumulating gathering of the small bog-ore and at the small specific making of a small specific small forge.*

The smith's son had nodded.

In the same three weeks, the smith's son's small specific quiet work was the small specific accumulating preparation for the spring. He cut, slowly, at certain afternoons, the small specific small-trunk poles he would need for a small forge's small frame — perhaps six poles at the lower edge of the grove. He gathered, slowly, at certain mornings, the small specific small flat stones he would need for a small forge's small hearth — perhaps thirty stones at the small slope below the grove. He laid them, by the small specific arrangement at the small back of the hut, at a small specific accumulating pile against the spring.

The work was — by the small specific reading — the small specific accumulating work of a young iron-keeper preparing the small specific *making* of an iron-keeper's first piece.

Tie-zhu, at the small wooden bench against the eastern wall, did the small specific work of a carpenter's apprentice who had, by the small specific reading of the first month at the hut, been given by an old scholar a small specific set of joiner's tools that had not been used in five years. He carved. He carved slowly. He carved, in the third moon, the third and the fourth of the small set of four wooden bowls he had begun at the small flat place in the ninth moon. By the dusk of the third week, the third bowl was finished. By the dusk of the fourth, the fourth was nearly so.

He carved also, on certain afternoons, at the small specific work of small specific other things: a small wooden cup of the kind a small house kept at the small altar; a small flat wooden box for An Ashi's growing collection of small folded pine-bark notes; a small set of three small wooden spoons of the kind a household ate the small portions of millet with. The small specific accumulating work was — by the small specific reading at the small wooden bench — the small specific work of a young apprentice who was, at the third moon of his nineteenth year, making the household's small specific accumulating small inventory of small wooden ordinary things.

An Ashi, at the small slab at the eastern wall, finished the small bark-copy of the cloth map by the dusk of the second week. He laid it at the small slab. He took, in the same three weeks, the small specific accumulating arithmetic of the household's stores at the third week of the third moon: ten weeks ahead of the spring; the deer's three weeks of meat hung at the bench; the snare-line still holding at six hares a week; the millet at perhaps eight weeks remaining at the new larger portion; the salt at perhaps three weeks. The boy, by the small specific reading at the small slab, said to Heizi at the morning fire of the third week: *big brother. Salt is — by the small specific reading at this morning — the only small specific store at the small specific edge of running short by the spring. We will, in the next two weeks, need to plan for the salt.*

Heizi nodded.

"What — what is the boy's small specific reading."

"The lower country. The brackish spring. We — we cannot, by the small specific reading at the small thaw of the second moon, send anyone down to the brackish spring. The lower country will, by the small specific reading at the small thaw, be at the small specific bandit-route's small specific accumulating becoming. The brackish spring is — by the small specific reading — at the small specific contour the bands move on. The salt-trip will not, by the small honest measure, be safe in the next moon. After the small thaw — perhaps the second week of the second moon of the new year — perhaps."

He paused.

"Until then — by the small specific reading at the small slab — we eat the salt at perhaps a third of the small portion. We will run out, perhaps, at the second week of the second moon. We will get the salt then, if we can."

Heizi looked at him.

He nodded.

"Yes, boy."

"And grandfather knows of the brackish spring?"

"Yes. I asked him at the second day. He said — he said the country has, in the upper hills, a small specific other place where a small portion of grey salt can be made. There is, by his small specific reading, a small specific other brackish spring at the upper edge of a small valley two days' walk west of the bear-back. He has not been to it in five years. He said — he said *the boy and the smith's son and I will, in the second week of the second moon at the small thaw, walk to it together. We will see if it is still there.*"

Heizi nodded.

He filed it.

The brothers — by the small specific reading at the small wooden table at the small noon meal of the third week — had, in the past three weeks, settled into the small daily shape of the household at the hut to a degree Heizi had not yet, at the third week of the third moon, fully named.

The naming, when it came, came at the small specific evening of the last day of the third moon.

Lao Wen, at the small wooden table after the small evening meal, set down the small bound *Daxue* and looked at the four young men around the small fire.

He said in the small low voice: *lads.*

They looked up.

"Tomorrow is the first day of the second moon of the new year."

"Yes, grandfather."

"By the small specific reading of the country, the small thaw will begin in the second week of the second moon. By the third week, the small specific lower contour will be passable. By the fourth, the bands will begin to move on the route."

He paused.

"The household, by the small specific reading at the small slab, has six weeks of full-portion eating left, plus the small specific small accumulating new snare-line take, plus the small specific second deer the lame brother has read at the eastern terrace as feeding three days ago. The household will, by the small specific reading, eat through to the second week of the third moon of the new year, when the first wild greens come up. The small specific salt-trip the boy and the smith's son and I will take in the second week of the second moon. The bog-ore work the smith's son will begin at the spring's first thaw. The small specific lessons at the small wooden table — at the *Analects* and the *Daxue* — will continue through the spring and the summer at the small specific accumulating pace."

He paused.

"That is — by the small specific reading at this small wooden table — the small specific shape of the next three moons."

He looked at each of the four young men in turn.

"Lads. By the small specific reading at the past month at this hut, you are — by the small specific accumulating reading of an old officer's eye — at the small specific shape of a small five-man scouting unit at its small specific first formation. The big brother is — by the small specific reading — at the small specific reading-pace and the small specific shooter's posture and the small specific *where to stand* of a young head. The smith's son is — by the small specific reading — at the small specific quiet weight of a young iron-keeper preparing his first piece. The lame brother is — by the small specific reading — at the small specific carpenter's accumulating work of a young apprentice making a household's first inventory. The boy is — by the small specific reading — at the small specific quartermaster's accumulating work of a young provisioner running a household's first five-mouth winter."

He paused.

"You are — at this evening at the small wooden table — the household I had, at the *四 人* paper of three months ago, asked the small specific way of the country to send up the path."

He paused once more.

"That is — that is what I am saying."

He bowed his head, very slightly, at the small wooden table.

The brothers — by the small specific reading at the small fire — were quiet for a long beat.

Tie-zhu, at the small low pad at the western wall, said in the small low voice: *grandfather.*

"Yes, lame brother."

"Thank you."

The lame boy did not say more.

The thanking was the thanking.

Lao Wen, at the small wooden table, nodded.

He took up the small bound *Daxue* again.

The lessons went on.

That night, Heizi at his watch sat at the small banked fire ring just inside the south face.

He listened.

The shape of the silence at the third week of the third moon, on the last night of the third moon, was — by the small specific reading at this watch — the shape of a small old hut at the grove of twelve pines whose household had, at the small wooden table at the small evening meal, just been named.

He filed it.

In the small lighter catalog of moments, beside the noon of the cloth map and the morning of the first deer and the small wooden bowl that had waited three months and the small new fifth blanket and the small specific morning when An Ashi had said the household was three weeks ahead of the spring, he set: *the small evening at the small wooden table at the last day of the third moon, when Lao Wen named the household at the small specific shape of a small five-man scouting unit at its small specific first formation.*

The lighter catalog stood — at the third week of the third moon — at perhaps fifteen items.

The dark catalog stood at five names.

Five and fifteen.

The two were not — by any small honest measure — at any small equilibrium. The five names had each been a small specific person. The fifteen lighter moments had been small specific moments only — each one a small specific small lighter beat in the small accumulating fabric of the household's small specific keeping.

But the two catalogs were — by the small specific reading at this watch — both kept.

Heizi sat his watch through.

The owls of the upper hills called once.

The small banked fire held.

The country, in the small unhurried way of the upper hills' winter, kept the small old hut and the five young breaths inside it.

By the dawn of the first day of the second moon of the new year, the small specific second moon of the new year had begun, and the small first signs of the small accumulating slow turning of the upper-hills winter toward the small specific first thaw — by the lame brother's small specific reading at the noon — had begun to show at the lower edges of the small specific lower brush.

The small specific accumulating winter was — by the small specific reading at this dawn — at the small specific tipping. The small specific accumulating spring was — by the small specific reading at the same dawn — at the small specific approach.

The work, in the small unhurried way of the household at the small old hut, went on.