64: The Old Spear

The old spear came down from its place at the back of the hut at the dusk of the third day of the second winter.

Heizi had not, in the past year, noticed it.

It had been — by the small specific reading at the small wooden corner-shelf above Lao Wen's cot — at the small narrow gap between the upper edge of the small wooden corner-shelf and the small low ceiling of the hut, laid horizontally on a small specific pair of pegs the old scholar had set there in some unfound year before the four young men had come up the path. It had been wrapped, by the small specific old reading of an old officer's careful keeping, in a small folded length of old hempen cloth that Heizi had — at the past year — taken at every brief glance to be only a small folded specific blanket against the small specific drafts at the upper edge of the wall.

Lao Wen, at the dusk of the third day of the second winter, took it down.

He took it down slowly, with both hands, by the small specific careful pace of an old man at sixty (he had — at the dusk of the previous evening — said in passing at the small wooden table that the new year had — by the small specific reading of his own count at the third moon of the new year, by the small specific accumulating arithmetic of his birth-year — taken him to sixty). He laid it on the small wooden table.

He unwrapped the small folded hempen cloth.

The brothers, at their small specific places at the small fire, looked up.

The thing on the small wooden table was a spear.

It was — by the small specific reading at the dim grey of the dusk's small thin firelight — perhaps the length of a tall man's height plus the length of his arm. The shaft was of an old hard wood — perhaps the small specific old upper-hills oak Heizi had seen at the lower edges of the grove — darkened by the small specific accumulating reading of perhaps forty winters at a chest. The grip, at the lower third, was wrapped in old leather that had — by the small specific look at the small accumulating dryness — been re-wrapped at some long-past year. The head of the spear was iron.

The iron head was, by the small specific reading at Wang Er's eye on it from his place across the small wooden table, of a small specific kind Wang Er had seen perhaps once before in his life — at the small specific watch-stick that had been the small first iron at the hut. By the small specific look, the iron head of the spear had been beaten by the same hand. The smith of the small specific watch-camp at Wen-di seventeen — Old Zhang's distant cousin's distant cousin's husband — had made the head, and the small flat iron tip of the marching-stick, and perhaps several other small specific iron pieces that had moved out of the watch-camp's small specific accumulating making and into the small specific small careful keeping of the small five surviving comrades.

The spear was — by the small specific reading at the small wooden table — Lao Wen's small specific old militia officer's spear.

The brothers were quiet.

Heizi, at his place at the small wooden table, looked at the spear.

He had not — in the past year at the hut — fully understood that an old militia officer at sixty would still have, at his hut, the small specific iron-headed weapon of his twenty-seventh year. He had — by the small specific accumulating reading of the past year — taken Lao Wen as the man at the small wooden stool, with the small bound *Analects* and the small bound *Daxue*, with the small wooden box of inscribed tablets, with the small low altar at the back. He had not — until this dusk — taken the old scholar at fifty-five (now sixty) as also the small specific man whose small specific iron-headed weapon would, at the small specific reading of any specific season, come down from its place at the back of the hut.

Lao Wen looked at Heizi.

He said in the small low voice with the small specific southern-Henan accent: *lad. The brothers.*

"Yes, master."

"By the small specific reading at the past year — at the small specific accumulating fitness of the four young men, at the small specific accumulating arithmetic of the bandit-route's small specific accumulating becoming, at the small specific reading of the lame brother's small specific eye on the small accumulating signs at the lower contour over the past three months — the small specific time has come."

He paused.

"By the small specific reading I am giving at this dusk — the small specific time has come for the brothers to learn the small specific work of the spear and the small specific work of the saber that, by the small specific reading of an old militia officer's old saying, the small specific work of a small five-man scouting unit is at."

He paused.

"The brothers will, in the next four moons of the second winter, learn — slowly, by the small specific careful pace of a teaching that does not, by the small specific reading of an old officer's small specific old patience, hurry — the small specific bow's full draw at fifty paces, the small specific spear's careful thrust at the small specific small reach of an upper-hills hut's small clear ground, the small specific knife's careful close-quarter work, the small specific saber's careful blade-and-foot work. By the spring of the second year, by the small specific reading at the third moon — the brothers will be at the small specific shape of a small five-man scouting unit at its small specific second formation."

He paused once more.

"That is — by the small specific reading at this dusk — the small specific opening of the small specific other half of the teaching."

The brothers were quiet for a long beat.

Heizi, at his place at the small wooden table, said in the small low voice: *master. The bandit-route.*

"Yes, lad. The bandit-route. The lame brother's small specific eye has, in the past three months, reported — at the lower edges of the eastern terraces — three small specific instances of small specific intermittent fresh tracks at the lower contour. The small specific tracks are — by the small specific reading of the lame brother's eye — perhaps the tracks of a small specific band of perhaps four to six men, moving north along the contour at intervals of about every three weeks. The small specific tracks have — by the small specific reading at the past three months — been at the small specific contour two *li* below the bear-back's eastern face."

He paused.

"They have not — by the small specific reading at the past three months — come up the western face. They have not — by the small specific reading — come anywhere near the grove. The small specific accumulating reading is, however, that the route is now — by the small specific arithmetic at the third year of bandit movement at this lower contour — at the small specific shape of a road. The road has, in the past year, become the small specific road I had been telling the household at the cloth map at the third moon of the first year would, by the small specific reading at five years ahead, force a decision."

He paused.

"The five years ahead is — by the small specific reading at the past year of bandit-traffic — perhaps three years ahead. Or two. Or, by some small specific accident of a band's small specific eye on the small thin column of our smoke at some specific dusk of the next two months — perhaps now."

He looked at the four young men.

"That is — that is what I am telling you, lads. The teaching is, at this dusk, no longer at the small specific accumulating leisure of an old scholar's slow patience. The teaching is — by the small specific reading at this dusk — at the small specific accumulating urgency of an old militia officer's small specific careful preparation."

He paused.

"By the spring of the second year, the household will, by the small specific reading I am giving, be at the small specific shape of a small five-man unit that can, at the small specific event of any small specific band's small specific approach, defend itself at the small specific clear ground in front of the south face."

He paused once more.

"That is — that is the small specific shape of the next four moons."

The brothers were quiet.

The lame boy, at the small low pad, said in the small low voice: *master. The small specific eye at the bear-back's eastern face.*

"Yes, lame brother."

"I have — at the past three months — been at the small specific eye-station you laid at the cloth map. I have — by the small specific reading at the past three months — been doing it perhaps once a week. By the small specific reading at this dusk — by the small specific accumulating tracks at the lower contour — I should, perhaps, be doing it twice a week. Perhaps more."

"Yes, lame brother. By the small specific reading I am giving at this dusk — twice a week through the deep winter; three times a week from the small specific first thaw to the small specific second thaw of the spring; once at every dawn from the small specific fourth moon to the small specific eighth moon of the next year."

"Yes, master."

The smith's son said in the small low voice: *master. The small specific second knife.*

"Yes, smith's son."

"I have, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past five months at the small forge, made the small specific second knife — the larger one. I have made — by the small specific accumulating second smelting and the third — perhaps the small specific iron for two further small specific pieces. The smith's son, by the small specific reading at this dusk, asks: at the small specific reading of the small specific other half of the teaching — what should the small two further pieces be?"

Lao Wen looked at the smith's son.

He nodded.

"Smith's son. Two specific blades. The small specific *横刀*, the small specific saber of the country's old soldiers — perhaps the length of two of your forearms set end to end, with the small specific single curve at the lower edge. We will, by the small specific reading at the next four moons, work the smith's son's hands at the small specific making of one *横刀* of his own, and the lame brother's hands at the small specific making of a small specific second saber's wooden handle and the small specific careful joining."

"Yes, master."

"By the small specific reading at the spring — the household will have, by the small specific accumulating making of the smith's son and the lame brother, two small specific *横刀* of its own iron, plus the small specific old officer's spear, plus Lu Wen-han's old hunting bow, plus the small specific four small specific knives of the household's small specific eating and small specific carving."

He paused.

"That is — by the small specific reading — the small specific arsenal of a small five-man scouting unit at the upper hills in the second year of Da-ye."

He paused once more.

"It is — by the small specific honest measure — small. It is also — by the small specific careful reading of an old officer at sixty — sufficient."

The household nodded.

That dusk and through the second winter, Lao Wen — at the small clear ground in front of the south face of the hut, at the small noon hours of every day that the small specific weather allowed — taught the four young men the small specific work of the spear and the small specific work of the saber.

He taught the spear's careful thrust by the small specific careful work of an old officer who had, in his twenty-seventh year at the watch, taught perhaps fifteen young men the same small specific motion. He taught it slowly. He taught it by the small specific four-step careful method of *the small specific footwork of the long-shafted weapon*: the foot set down at the small specific angle, the small specific weight transfer at the small specific instant of the thrust, the small specific stop at the small specific point of the reach, the small specific recovery to the small specific guard.

By the dusk of the second week of the second winter, Heizi had — by the small specific accumulating reading of the past two weeks — begun to lay the small specific four-step into his hands.

He was not yet — by the small specific reading at Lao Wen's eye — at any small specific real reading of the spear. He was at the small specific first stage of an apprentice's first month at a long weapon.

The lame brother — by the small specific accommodation of the bad foot at the small specific four-step that the small specific footwork required — was at a small specific different reading. Lao Wen had, at the third day, said: *lame brother. The four-step is — by the small specific reading at the bad foot — not for you. The lame brother's reading at the spear will be the small specific *defensive holding-place* — the small specific careful work of a man who, by the small specific reading of his foot, cannot move and so must stand. The defensive holding-place is — by the small specific reading at the small clear ground — the small specific shape of a small specific corner held against an attacker who comes through. The lame brother will, in the next four moons, learn the small specific defensive holding at the small specific corner against the south face of the hut, where the small clear ground meets the small specific eastern wall.*

The lame brother had nodded.

The smith's son had — by the small specific accumulating reading of his slow honest weight — taken the spear's careful work in the small specific accommodation of a smith's son's hands. The hands were — by the small specific reading — slow. They were also — by the small specific accumulating careful work — sure. By the dusk of the second week, Wang Er was — by the small specific reading — at the small specific *thrust-and-set* shape of a smith's son who had been at his father's anvil for six years and could, by the small specific reading of his hands' slow even weight, hold the spear at the small specific point of the reach without flinching.

The boy had — by the small specific reading at his sixteenth year, at the small thin Sogdian boy's small specific recovery — been at the small specific careful work of an apprentice's first month also. The boy's hands were faster than the smith's son's; the boy's stance was less stable.

Lao Wen, at the dusk of the second week, said in the small low voice: *lads. The first reading is — by the small specific reading of an old officer's eye — what I had hoped for. We will, in the next two weeks, lay in the small specific second reading of the saber.*

The brothers nodded.

The work, by the small unhurried way of an old officer's careful pace, went on.

That night Heizi at his watch sat at the small banked fire ring inside the south face of the hut. He listened.

The shape of the silence at this watch was — by the small specific reading at the dusk of the second week of the second winter — the shape of an old hut whose old officer had, at the small wooden table at the dusk of the third day, taken down the old spear from its place above the cot and had, in the next eleven days, laid the small specific opening of the small specific other half of the teaching into the four young men's hands.

He filed it.

In the small lighter catalog of moments, beside the small specific dusk of the bog-iron's first drawing and the small specific noon of the first knife, he set: *the small specific dusk of the third day of the second winter, when the old spear came down and the small specific other half of the teaching began.*

The lighter catalog stood — at this dusk — at perhaps twenty-six items.

The dark catalog stood at five names.

He sat his watch through.

The owls of the upper hills called twice. The wind, by the small specific reading at the second hour, was at the steady cool of the second winter's deep night. The country, in the small unhurried way, kept the small old hut and the five young breaths inside it.

By the dawn, the small specific second reading of the saber would begin.

The work went on.