The eighth mat was laid out at the western wall by the lame brother at the morning of the third day of the third moon of the ninth year.
The lame brother had — by the small specific accumulating reading at the past evening — taken from the small accumulating folded length of small grey reeds at the back of the hut a small new portion, and had laid them under a small new position at the small low pad, and had — at the small fire of the dawn — sewn from a small folded length of indigo cloth Lu Jingzhi had himself offered (from the inner lining of his small specific worn-fine robe) a small new wadded blanket. The lame brother had said, in the small low voice at the small fire of the dawn: *grandfather. The brothers will, by the small specific reading I am giving, sleep at the small specific arrangement of seven for the next eight days.*
Lao Wen, at the small wooden stool, had nodded.
Lu Jingzhi — by the small specific reading at his first morning at the hut — slept slowly on his small new mat. He had walked four months on a road at the small specific accumulating shape of an aristocrat's son who had not, in his life until the past four months, been on any specific road of consequence. He had — by the small specific reading at his small specific accumulating exhaustion at the past four months — slept perhaps the small specific deep sleep An Ashi had at his first three days at the small flat place behind the long low ridge five and a half years ago.
He woke at the noon of the first day at the small low pad. He drank the small wooden bowl of warmed water Heizi had drawn. He ate a small portion of the millet An Ashi had laid for him.
He sat at the small wooden table.
Lao Wen, at the small wooden stool, looked at him.
Lao Wen said in the small low voice with the small specific southern-Henan accent: *brother. Eight days.*
Lu Jingzhi said in the small low voice: *eight days, grandfather?*
"Eight days. By the small specific accumulating reading at the past two years, the household has — at the small specific noon of the second day of the ninth moon of the past year — decided to go down to the small specific Wagang Rebellion's small specific recruitment-and-takes-everyone at the spring. The going-down is set for the small specific dawn of the first day of the fourth moon of this year. That is — by the small specific reading at this noon — eight days from now."
Lu Jingzhi looked at him.
He looked at the brothers — at Heizi at his place at the small wooden table, at Wang Er at the eastern wall, at Tie-zhu at the small low pad, at An Ashi at the small slab, at Ah Chou at the small specific second-eye position at the western wall.
He said in the small low voice: *grandfather. By the small specific accumulating reading I am giving — the household's small specific accumulating *six-man unit* will, in the next eight days, become — by the small specific accumulating reading at this small wooden table — the small specific *seven-man unit*?*
Lao Wen looked at him.
He did not, at the small wooden table, answer at once.
He looked at Heizi.
He said in the small low voice: *lad.*
"Yes, master."
"By the small specific reading at this noon — the small specific *seven* is the lads' decision. The brother — Lu Jingzhi — has come to the household at the small specific *seeking-refuge* of an old Han protocol, by the small specific accumulating reading of his own father's small specific accumulating saying. By the small specific reading I am giving — the household has, by the small specific accumulating reading at the small wooden table at the past five hours of the morning, given the brother the small specific accumulating *seeking-refuge* he asked for. The household has not — by the small specific reading I am giving — given him the small specific *going-down*."
He paused.
"The going-down, lad, is the lads' decision. By the small specific reading at the past two years — the small specific *six-man unit* the lads have laid is, by the small specific accumulating reading of an old officer at sixty-three, the small specific shape that holds. The small specific *seventh* is — by the small specific honest reading — a small specific accumulating *unknown*. The brother has not been at the past five years and ten months at the household. The brother has not been at the small clear ground at the noon's accumulating *moment*-teaching. The brother has not been at the small specific accumulating reading of the *Mencius* and the *Daxue* at the small wooden table. The brother has been — by the small specific accumulating reading at his own small specific saying — at a magistracy court for the past five and a half years and on a small specific accumulating road for four months."
He paused once more.
"By the small specific reading I am giving — the lads must, in the next eight days, decide whether to take the small specific *seventh* down with them."
The brothers were quiet.
Heizi looked at Lu Jingzhi.
He looked at him for a long beat.
He said in the small low voice: *brother.*
"Yes, big brother."
"Tell me — by the small specific reading at the past four months on the road — what kind of small specific accumulating reading you have laid in your hands."
Lu Jingzhi paused.
He said in the small low voice: *big brother. By the small specific reading at the past four months — I have walked four months on a road I had not been on. I have eaten what I could. I have slept where I could. I have not — by the small honest measure — fought at any small specific moment, although I have been at three small specific *near*-moments where I had to draw the small specific old short sword at my belt and was not, by the small specific accumulating accident of the small specific other men's small accumulating reading, asked to use it. I have read — by the small specific accumulating reading at my father's house — perhaps four thousand characters at the small specific *Analects* and the *Daxue* and the *Han Shu* at my own father's small specific accumulating reading. I have — by the small specific accumulating reading at my father's small specific accumulating teaching — the small specific accumulating reading of a small Sui official's son at twenty-three.*
He paused.
"I have not, big brother — by the small honest measure — the small specific *moment* of an old militia officer's saber. I have not — by the small honest measure — the small specific accumulating reading of any small five-man-or-six-man-or-seven-man unit's small specific careful work. I am — by the small honest measure — at the small specific accumulating reading of a young aristocrat at his small specific accumulating *seeking-refuge*."
He paused.
"And — and big brother — by the small specific reading I am giving at this noon — I am asking, also, the small specific *going-down*."
He paused.
"My father, at his small specific accumulating reading at the past five years before his execution, had — by the small specific accumulating telling at his evenings — laid in me the small specific accumulating reading that the country was, at the small specific reading he had been giving, at the small specific accumulating *failure*. My father had — by the small specific accumulating reading I am giving — been at the small specific accumulating *honest* magistrate at his small specific position. The accumulation of his honesty was the small specific accumulating *reason* the small specific magistracy — at the past spring — laid the small specific accumulating *embezzlement* charge on him as the small specific *removing* of an honest small magistrate from a small specific failing reign. By the small specific accumulating reading I am giving — my father was, by the small specific reading at his small specific saying at his last evening, the small specific *casualty* of the small specific accumulating reign's small specific *reaction*."
He paused.
"By the small specific accumulating reading I am giving — I am asking, big brother, the small specific *going-down* at the small specific accumulating *carrying-forward* of my father's small specific accumulating reading."
He bowed, very slightly, at the small wooden table.
Heizi looked at him.
He looked at Lao Wen.
Lao Wen did not — at the small wooden stool — speak.
Heizi looked at the brothers.
Wang Er, at the eastern wall, did not — by the small specific reading at his slow honest face — by any small specific change — speak. Tie-zhu, at the small low pad, did not speak. An Ashi, at the small slab, did not speak. Ah Chou, at the small specific second-eye position, did not speak.
The four — by the small specific accumulating reading at the past five years and ten months — were, by the small specific reading at the small wooden table, leaving the small specific decision to Heizi.
Heizi thought.
He thought slowly, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past two years' political-philosophy reading and the past four months' accumulating reading at the *Mandate of Heaven* piece.
He thought of his foster father at the threshold: *you are not a boy who can kill. You will be made to. Live anyway.* He thought of his sister's stitched *生*. He thought of the small wooden bead he had laid at Ah Chou's empty bowl at the lean-to at the second stream. He thought of the small specific accumulating arithmetic of the past five and a half years at the hut.
He thought of the small specific shape of the *seven*.
He said in the small low voice: *brother.*
"Yes, big brother."
"By the small specific accumulating reading at this noon — the household will, by the small specific reading I am giving, take the small specific *seventh* down with us."
He paused.
"The brother will, by the small specific reading at the next eight days, be at the small specific accumulating *learning* of the small specific *moment* at the small clear ground at every noon. The brother will be at the small specific *third position* of the small specific seven-man unit at the small specific accumulating reading of an old officer's saying — the small specific *political voice*. The brother will, by the small specific accumulating reading of his own father's accumulating reading, be the small specific *small carrying-forward* of his father at the small specific Wagang Rebellion's small specific recruitment-and-takes-everyone, alongside the small specific *political eye* of An Ashi."
He paused.
"That is — by the small specific reading I am giving at this noon — the small specific accumulating shape."
Lu Jingzhi closed his eyes for one breath.
He opened them.
He bowed, at the small wooden table, perhaps the small specific deeper-stance bow Heizi had seen at his small specific *seeking-refuge* the previous evening.
He said in the small low voice: *thank you, big brother.*
Lao Wen, at the small wooden stool, nodded slowly.
He said in the small low voice with the small specific southern-Henan accent: *good, lad.*
That afternoon, Lu Jingzhi at the small clear ground laid in the small specific first noon's accumulating reading of the saber's *form*. He took the small specific accumulating four-step at perhaps the small specific reading of a young aristocrat at his first noon — slowly, with the small specific accumulating reading of a body that had been at a magistracy court for five years and on a small specific road for four months and that had not been at any small specific accumulating *moment*-teaching at any small specific noon.
Heizi watched him.
He filed it.
Lu Jingzhi was — by the small specific reading at the small clear ground — at the small specific accumulating *first-day* shape of an apprentice. He would not, by the small specific reading at the next eight days, be at the small specific *real* reading of any small specific *moment*. He would, by the small specific reading I am giving, be only at the small specific accumulating opening reading of the *form*.
The form was — by the small specific reading at the past five years' accumulating teaching — what Heizi had laid in his hands at the small specific accumulating reading of the past two years and four months. The form alone — by the small specific reading at an old officer's saying — was *enough* for an apprentice's accumulating reading at his first year.
Lu Jingzhi, by the small specific reading at the next eight days, would be at the small specific accumulating *first month* of an apprentice's first year, compressed into eight days.
It was — by the small specific honest measure — the small specific *minimum* the household's small specific *seven-man unit* could ask of him.
It was — by the small specific honest measure — *not* sufficient.
It was — by the small specific reading I am giving — the small specific accumulating *carrying* the household had decided to take.
That night Heizi at his watch sat at the small banked fire ring inside the south face.
He listened.
The shape of the silence on this watch was — by the small specific reading at this evening — the shape of a small old hut at the grove of twelve pines whose seven-man household would, in seven days, go down.
He filed it.
In the small lighter catalog of moments, beside the small specific dusk of Ah Chou's arrival and the small specific dusk of Lu Jingzhi's, he set: *the small specific noon of the third day of the third moon of the ninth year, when the household decided to take the small specific seventh down.*
The lighter catalog stood, at this dusk, at perhaps forty-seven items.
The dark catalog stood at six names.
He sat his watch through.
Sign in to comment
No comments yet.