Editor’s note: In my childhood in rural life, the old people would always tell stories about gods and ghosts to scare the children. But a sad thing did happen to the author. Let's take a look at the story "Water Ghost"!
When I was a child, I often heard the elders in the village say that the water ghost on the west side of our village There were water ghosts in that deserted pond, which were scary. My mother was afraid that the water ghosts would hurt us, so she never let my sister and I get close to the pond. But every summer, the little friends in the village would carry adults on their backs and secretly go to the pond to play in the water. My sister and I would show them their clothes every time and stand guard. When I saw an adult coming from a distance, I would shout loudly and they would be naked. They ran up, hugged their clothes and ran away. Whenever adults catch their children at this time, they always scold their naughty children, slap them on the buttocks a few times, and question them to see if you still dare to go into the pond, to see if you still dare. Don’t dare to go into the pond! Aren’t you afraid that the water ghost will pull you into the water and drown you? Of course, I didn’t forget to praise my sister and me who were fully dressed. Look at how good the two sisters are. If you don’t play in the water, it’s just you. Show off. When I was a child, I was a good girl in the eyes of adults.
The pond is indeed too tempting for friends. In summer, the pond is surrounded by reeds that are as tall as a person. It is full of green and vitality, making it a good place for hide-and-seek on the water. In the shallow water of the pond, unknown water ducks bloom with small pink-yellow flowers, and the refreshing fragrance attracts people. Groups of dragonflies and colorful butterflies came to attract the attention of the friends. The children liked the competition of catching dragonflies and butterflies the most. On a sunny day, the sun is blazing and the heat is unstoppable. The water in the pond is green and very clear, and there are many small fish swimming in it. Jumping into the water and drowning, doing a dog paddle, lying on the water and doing a backstroke, it goes without saying that it is cool and comfortable to beat the heat; the fun of getting into the water to catch fish is even more indescribable; three in a group, five in a group The joy of a group fighting against each other and having a water fight is unparalleled. Although the adults watched and guarded against letting their children play in the pond, as long as there was time, the children would still run into the pond in groups.
When it rains on cloudy days, the water in the rice fields of the production team will clear into the pond, and the pond will become extremely turbid. As for how deep the pond is, it is an unsolved mystery. The friends always swim around the edge when playing in the water. No one dares to go to the middle. The water in the middle is deep and they are afraid of water ghosts in the middle. But day after day, no one has seen what the water ghost looks like, and the water ghost has never pulled anyone into the water. The various legends about the water ghost have made my curiosity more and more intensified. I even hope that the water ghost will appear so that people can see what it looks like.
One time I dreamed about a water ghost, which scared me to the core. After I woke up, I kept trying to recall the appearance of the water ghost in my dream, but the water ghost was vague and had no specific shape. In the end, I had to draw a conclusion based on my imagination: the water ghost's head is as big as a dustpan, has a catfish mouth, a pair of sneaky black eyes and a few long beards. Although I can't describe the body, it is scary enough. From then on, the water ghost had a shape, and I would vividly describe the appearance of the water ghost to my friends, as if I had seen the water ghost with my own eyes. Some timid friends were so frightened that they no longer dared to play in the pond. The bold ones only played on the edge of the pond and did not dare to take another step to the center of the pond.
Year after year, we grew up and went to school. There were fewer and fewer opportunities to play in the pond. The mud in the pond became deeper and deeper, and the reeds grew longer. become more and more lush. Once upon a time, the pond was covered with water plants everywhere, but no water ghost was ever seen. Therefore, the legend of the water ghost in the pond gradually faded away, and no one even mentioned it anymore.
When I was 10 years old, I was in the third grade of elementary school. During the summer vacation, my sister and I went to herd donkeys in the wild. My sister sat on the donkeys, sang songs, and watched them eat grass, while I caught butterflies on the side. Suddenly, a large and beautiful butterfly with bright colors came into my sight. I really wanted to catch it, so I ran after the butterfly and unknowingly ran not far from the pond. At this time, I saw Da Niu, who was the same age as me, grazing cows by the pond. The cows were grazing on the side. Da Niu was sitting by the pond looking at the water in a daze. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He was so lost in thought that I was very far away from him. Even when I got closer, I couldn't find it. I didn't want to disturb him, and I didn't want him to find me, so I gave up chasing the butterfly and quietly retreated to find my sister and go home.
Daniu has a bit of a weird personality, and the children don’t want to play with him. I heard from my mother that Daniu’s grandfather was very poor, so she named Daniu’s father Liu You, hoping that with a son, the family would have everything. But Daniu Daddy got polio when he was a child, and his legs were inconvenient to walk. His family was still impoverished and had nothing. When he was fifteen years old, his parents passed away one after another, and Daniu Daddy became an orphan. He was raised by the production team. Because of his lame leg, no one called him by his real name. They all called him Liu Laizi. When he grew up, he could not work in the fields, so he worked as a breeder in the production team. Because his family was poor and his legs were disabled, he could not find a partner. He was still single in his thirties, living and eating alone in a breeding room.
One day, a beggar girl came to the village. She was unkempt, with ragged clothes, and was thin and pitiful. The production team leader took her home and asked his wife to boil a large pot of water, give the girl a bath, put her daughter's clothes on, and served her food. Although this girl is ugly and stupid, she is not a fool. Liu Zhankui, the production team leader, was Liu Ciezi's distant uncle. He had been looking after Liu Ciezi and said that this girl and Liu Ciezi were a perfect match. He had the beauty of a man and wanted to give Liu Ciezi a family. His mother-in-law said, "You don't ask about the girl's life experience, nor whether she is willing to marry a cripple, so you just mess around with her." The captain said, then just ask! The captain's aunt asked her why she was asking for food and whether she was willing to get married. She also introduced Liu Laizi's situation. When asked, the girl broke down in tears and said that she ran away from home because she was mistreated by her stepmother and couldn't see her anymore. She couldn't stay at home any longer. After hearing about Liu Laizi's situation, she didn't think he was poor or lame. As long as Liu Laizi was kind-hearted and could treat her well, she would be willing to marry him. The production team leader was very happy after listening to my mother-in-law's report, and said humorously, "A crooked pot goes with a crooked stove, and a lame donkey goes with a grinding mill. I knew she would be willing to do it." My mother-in-law said, what are you talking about? It would be bad for a girl to hear it. He said that this is the truth, and he also learned the lyrics from the play "Old and Young Wife Swap" and said proudly, "The ugly is matched with the ugly, the willow is matched with the willow, the bad woman is matched with the bad willow, and the crippled Liu is matched with the ugly beggar girl." The days of being a bachelor have finally come to an end. He sent people to clean up Liu Gaizi's house, summoned all the members of the team to collect rice, noodles and money, and held a lively wedding for Liu Gaizi. On their wedding night, Liu Laizi exchanged heart-to-hearts with his daughter-in-law. He learned that her name was Wang Cuihua, and that her natal family was actually not far away, just thirty miles away in the Wangzhaqiao Brigade of Hongqi Commune. He also learned about her life experience and experiences; Although it was ugly, to the bachelor who had been looking forward to the rain for a long time, it was like "Sister Lin falling from the sky". He vowed to love her well. Wang Cuihua had no friends because of her ugly appearance, was abused by her stepmother and lacked relatives and love, and had no dignity because of begging for food. With the love of Liu Laizi, she also felt that she had a destination and had a good impression of Liu Laizi. That night, she The two of them were like glue and paint. Love in every possible way.
Having a daughter-in-law, Liu Laizi is grateful to the production team leader and the breeders who feed the animals are particularly diligent in their work. When the big cow mother was giving birth to a big calf, a big cow in the team gave birth to a calf. Liu Laizi devoted himself to delivering the big cow, completely forgetting that his wife was in labor. By the time the big cow gave birth to the calf and returned home, the big cow's mother had already given birth to the big calf with difficulty without anyone's care and passed out. There was blood everywhere on the kang, and the big calf's umbilical cord had not been cut. Crying in a pool of blood. Danniu Daddy panicked when he saw it. He limped and cried and ran out quickly to find Aunt Zhang, who often delivered babies in the team, to help with the cooking. Because there was no one around to take care of the baby, Daniel's mother still had a fever. Although she was sent to the hospital for treatment, after the fever subsided, she was half-stupid and could not speak. Daniu's mother fell ill during confinement and after giving birth to Daniu, she stopped having children and had only one son, Daniu.
When the breeder Liu Laizi loved cattle as much as his life, he named his son Daniu. He was thin and wanted his son to be as strong and hard-working as cattle. When the production responsibility system was implemented, the team assigned animals to take care of him, a disabled person, and asked him to choose first. He didn't choose mules or donkeys, but chose a big cow for grazing. He said that he was not good at farming, but he was good at raising cattle. , I want to develop the cattle raising business so that my wife and children can live a good life.
Daniu has been influenced by his mother since he was a child. He doesn't like to talk, and he has always been weird and unsociable. His mother has been sick since giving birth to Daniu, and she has never been in contact with anyone. He The house my family lives in is also strange, as there are no windows. Every time I pass by Daniel's house while playing hide-and-seek with my friends, I feel very uncomfortable and want to leave quickly.
His yard is low-lying, and the adobe house is much shorter than other houses. It is as high as the old wall in the village. The wall about 60 centimeters high under the wall of the house always looks wet and mottled. There was dirt on the ground, and about three houses only had a small one-foot-square window for ventilation. The windows were covered with yellowed old newspapers. Therefore, people in the village said that his house had no windows. In short, everything in Daniu's house is mysterious and strange, making people feel particularly uncomfortable.
It rained a lot that summer. In the evening, it started to rain lightly. The villagers fed the animals early and put them into their pens, the chickens and ducks drove into their nests, and the children returned to their houses to take shelter from the rain. The man sat on the threshold smoking a pipe and watching the rain fall, the woman quickly lit the fire to cook, and the children were laughing and playing in the house. After a while, smoke drifted from the roofs of every house, and the village had a peaceful and quiet scene. This time every day is the happiest moment in childhood memories.
It was drizzling all the time. The uncle who lived in the front yard of my house came to my house to borrow a donkey, saying that he would go to town to collect ammonia water tomorrow. My donkey is taller, and the ammonia bucket is very heavy. He can't pull the cart with his horse of the same size alone, so he asked to borrow my donkey to help. The sky was already dark, but the rain was still falling, showing no intention of stopping. The uncle stuck his head out to look at the weather, sighed, and said bitterly, damn the weather. I walked to the door and looked into the distance. I could vaguely see the ancient locust trees at the head of the village changing their hairstyle like a changeable ghost. When the wind picked up, I couldn't help but shudder.
When the meal was cooked, my mother wanted to keep my uncle at home for dinner. At first, my uncle was embarrassed to push me, but he couldn't stand his parents' repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, so he decided to just sit down on the kang instead of being respectful. Along the way, he happily picked up the chopsticks and picked up a large mouthful of vegetables and put it into his mouth. He took another bite of steamed buns, and his furry beard and bulging cheeks moved as he chewed. While he was eating, he was talking to his father. My father said, when there is a drought, we look forward to the rain, but when the weather is waterlogged, we worry about the rain. You see, it is raining endlessly, and the rice is blooming and filling. I am most afraid of continuous rainy days, and I am worried! Uncle It is said that things in the world are unpredictable and God's will is hard to go against. But even if it rains, God has a big problem. Worrying is of no use. I can only accept my fate. Sometimes in fate, it should be there, but in fate, there is never a time. Don't force it. I seemed to understand what the uncle said, but my father quickly nodded in agreement and continued to put vegetables into the uncle's bowl.
My son, my flesh, my life! Woo, woo? Suddenly a woman's wailing sound came over, the cry was pitiful, plaintive, and creepy. Everyone put down the dishes and chopsticks in their hands and ran out to see what was going on. In the mist and rain, they saw the big cow mother with disheveled hair and mud all over her body. She was wearing a dirty mud shoe on one foot. It was hard to see what the shoe was. The color, the other foot was bare and without shoes, stumbling, stumbling and crying in the rain, it was horrible to see. She wailed at the top of her lungs and cried out in grief, "Big cow, my big cow, my darling, where are you, woo, woo?" The entrance to the village was filled with people, and everyone risked their breath. The fine raindrops gathered around the old locust tree and chattered. No matter what happened in the village, big or small, everyone always liked to gather under the old locust tree at the head of the village. Our family also came under the old locust tree. After asking around, I found out that Daniel was nowhere to be found. Daniel had gone out to herd cattle in the morning and had not returned home yet. At that time, there were no roads or traffic in the village. There was a long distance between one village and another, and most children would not go to neighboring villages to play. At noon, Daniel's mother found that Daniel had not come home for dinner, so she went out to look for Daniel. There were puddles all over the beach outside the village. She searched from house to house in the village but could not find her. She then ran to the neighboring village to look for him until it rained in the evening. Daniel was not found either. Later, the cows that Daniel had herded came back, but Daniel still didn't come back. His mother cried like crazy and ran wildly in the rain. Her heart-rending cry alarmed the whole village.
Instigated by the production team leader, the whole village joined the search for Daniel. However, one day, two days, and three days passed, and all possible places where people could leave were searched. Even the neighboring villages were searched several times, but there was no trace of Danniu. Danniu disappeared from the world inexplicably. Some people analyzed that Daniel was probably dragged into the pond by a water ghost. I suddenly remembered that I caught butterflies that afternoon and saw Daniel sitting by the pond in a daze, so I told my mother about it. My mother asked me to stay at home and look after the house, so I went to the team to find my father. Dad asked the captain to analyze the possibility of this matter, so the pond became the focus of the search, and the captain immediately organized a salvage operation.
The uncle also participated in the process of salvaging the big cow. Because the uncle often fished, he cast the net very well. He almost caught all the nets and harvested every net. He was a famous fishing master in the village. Because the water in the pond never dries up all year round, there was no water pump in the village at that time. It was August, and the rice was in bloom, so it didn’t require much water. Some rice fields even had gaps dug for drainage. The water that came out flowed into the pond continuously along the only ditch. In addition, it rained a few days ago, and the water in the pond was turbid and full of water. It was almost overflowing.
The uncle ordered people to first build the gap dug in the rice field, and then build a strong dam into the gap of the ditch flowing into the pond. After confirming that all water sources were cut off, he ordered four young and strong boys to drive a row of wooden stakes around the pond and let one of them go into the water to explore. Brother Bing volunteered to go into the water first to test. Brother Bing is the 18-year-old son of his uncle's family. He is strong and proficient in water. The uncle agreed to let Brother Bing wear his underwear and go down first to explore. When he first entered the water, the water only covered his knees. The uncle told Brother Bing Take the long pole prepared in advance to explore the bottom and inform the water situation in time. So Brother Bing held a long pole in his hand and moved slowly towards the middle of the pond step by step while describing the situation in the pond. The water on the edge of the pond was very shallow, about 1.5 meters and the bottom was very solid. When you are two meters away, you will step on soft water plants under your feet. Moreover, you have to take a long pole to explore it before you dare to step forward, because the bamboo pole cannot probe the bottom of the porcelain, and it is like a swamp. Sag downward. After walking about five or six meters, the water had already reached Brother Bing's chest. At this time, he could not move forward without saying anything. Although Brother Bing is proficient in water, he cannot display his skills in this swamp-like pond. He said that he was stuck thigh-deep in the mud and could not move, so the uncle threw a strong straw rope to Brother Bing and asked Brother Bing to pull it and ordered others to pull Brother Bing up at the other end of the rope. The soldier who was pulled up with a straw rope sat on the ground and gasped. His legs and feet were covered with black and yellow mud, and there were some water plants stuck to the mud. He gasped and murmured, "You really don't know if you don't look, and you'll be shocked when you look. Let alone a baby, even an adult would be dead if it fell. The middle was filled with one meter deep mud, which was so soft that it couldn't withstand people at all." If the water ghost doesn't eat you, the mud will eat you. The uncle was smoking Laohan cigarette while listening to Brother Jun's nagging, and he didn't have any good ideas for a while.
At this time, people saw Big Niu Daddy taking off his shoes eagerly to get into the pond, so they stopped him. In just a few days, his hair was all gray and his back was even more stooped than before. He looks thinner. The captain asked the uncle to cast two nets to see what he could catch, and the uncle could only agree. The uncle used his net-casting skills, swung the net into a round shape and spread it down. He slowly closed it and slowly pulled it back. However, what was pulled up was all aquatic plants and a few small fish. The uncle picked up the aquatic plants on the net. Some of the aquatic plants got entangled in the fishing net and couldn't be pulled off. The uncle tore off the aquatic plants entangled in the fishing net and touched his fishing net distressedly, and then released it with all his strength without hesitation. Second network, third network. When the fourth net was pulled up, a child's shoe was actually found among the entangled water plants. Ah! Everyone present screamed, and the big cow daddy threw himself on the shoe and held it up with trembling hands. The little shoe, which was covered in mud and no one knew what color it was, closed his eyes, as if praying that the shoe would never belong to his son, Daniel. He slowly walked to the edge of the pond and squatted down with difficulty to clean the mud shoe, but the more he washed, the slower he moved. Finally, his eyes were dull, and he was seen mechanically holding the wet shoe with both hands, his whole body trembling slightly. Qingzhu cried. People suddenly understood that these were Daniel's shoes and that Daniel was in the pond. Finally, Danniu’s father cried out loudly and sadly, “Daniu, my son, how can I live? Wu, Wu, Wu?”
The next days are the most important in the village. The main thing is to salvage the body of Daniel. Temporary tents were set up beside the pond, and the team leader arranged for young and middle-aged workers who knew how to cast nets and water to change shifts and salvage. One day, two days, and three days passed, and nothing was salvaged. On the fourth day, when people were becoming increasingly impatient, the sunny weather suddenly changed. A group of black clouds rolled in from the northern sky, getting lower and lower. Thunder and lightning were like explosives exploding above the head and in front of the eyes. The sound was deafening and the light was dazzling. Then, there was a heavy downpour with a crash. After a while, the water in the pond became turbid and rose again, and the salvage team members huddled in temporary tents to take shelter from the rain.
Suddenly, someone pointed at something floating in the pond and shouted, "Look, what is that?" Everyone ran to the pond in the rain. The first thing they saw was a round and bulging belly, and then the whole body. Oh my gosh, that's a real person. So, everyone unfolded the net and pulled up the floating corpse together. Alas, it was beyond recognition. The whole body was soaked in the pond water and was white and fat. Some parts had begun to rot. The whole body was mutilated and horrific. The news that the body had been recovered soon spread throughout the village in the rain, and people swarmed towards the pond.
The rain gradually stopped, and Daniel’s parents came. After everyone confirmed again and again that this was Daniel’s body, Daniel’s mother fainted several times. My aunt stayed by her side and pinched her body. The cry among her people came to life. With the help of all the villagers, Da Niu's body was carried back. Da Niu's parents cried and changed Da Niu's clothes, wrapped Da Niu's body in a straw mat, and buried it with the help of neighbors. .
The days passed day by day, but no children went to the pond to play in the water anymore, because everyone said that Daniel was pulled into the water by the water ghost in the pond. Whenever this matter is mentioned, it is always given a layer of mystery, which makes people feel very scary and give them goosebumps all over their bodies. After experiencing this incident, it seems that people are more convinced that there are water ghosts in the pond. What's even more strange is that late one night half a month later, Daniel's crazy mother jumped into the pond and committed suicide, leaving his shriveled and thin lame father alive. There is a new legend in the village, saying that Big Niu’s mother was sent by the water ghost to call Da Niu?
Later, people often saw a thin old man with gray hair and a stooped body, limping I turned the corner and walked towards the entrance of the village, standing alone under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, staring blankly at the pond to the west, like a puppet, standing there for a whole day, almost every day, that situation was so pitiful, that was Daniel 's dad.
The legend of the water ghost and the tragic experience of the Daniel family were deeply engraved in my young mind. They stayed in the depths of my memory throughout my childhood and cannot be erased even if I want to. .
Author|Du Fengqin
Public account|Ganningjie
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