Analysis:

Legend of Jiuxianqiao

Jiuxianqiao area in the eastern suburb of Beijing was once desolate. From the nearby places such as Liu Cemetery and Wangye Tomb, we can know that it was once the cemetery of dignitaries. Twenty years ago, I saw a remnant tablet by the Jiuxianqiao River. The base of the tombstone is a beautifully carved tortoise. The body and base of the tablet computer are separated by several meters. The left side of the remnant tablet is Manchu, and the right side is Chinese. I don't know Manchu. From the incomplete Chinese characters, I can find such a sentence: "I am very sorry for the first-class elite ...". It can be seen that the owner of the grave is not an ordinary person.

So where did the place name of Jiuxianqiao come from? In the past, there was a stone bridge about 800 meters west of Jiuxian Bridge, which was less than 20 meters long and five or six meters wide. This stone bridge is made up of many stone strips half a meter wide. Each stone bar is carved with a sink every 10cm, so that there will be no water accumulation in rainy days and pedestrians and carriages will not slip at ordinary times. Now that bridge is out of sight, but that bridge is the Jiuxian Bridge, which is the story of Jiuxian Bridge.

In the past, the bridge was on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the canal in the stone bridge was called Bahe River. Now there are two place names, Dongba River and Xiba River, in the eastern suburb of Beijing, which are named after the lack of water in farmland to build dams and store water. There is a temple in the north of Shiqiao, facing south. The temple is small, less than 20 meters wide. There are three tall pine trees in the front yard, which can be seen from a distance. Although the geographical location of the temple is desolate, there is no shortage of incense money. The old master in the temple took in a little orphan and taught him to help cook first, then to carry water. The monk called him "stool", and the stool lived in the concierge in the front yard. The porter opened a window to the yard. Even if the whole courtyard door is closed, guests can call stools from the window.

As the days passed, the stools had been in the temple for many years. From childhood to adolescence to today's youth, he is used to life here and thinks he is a member of the temple. Now he is responsible for carrying water, cooking, cleaning the yard and some chores in the whole temple. The old host watched him grow up and liked him from the heart. Knowing that he doesn't want to become a Buddha, let him do something for himself and make plans for his future marriage.

Cookies made by stools are delicious. Except for most monks, the rest of the stools are for sale. Every time Tomb-Sweeping Day or several generations of court officials died, the business of stools was very good. The pottery jar with copper coins was full, so I asked the stool to make a wooden till. The till has two floors, the bottom floor is enlarged, and money is put on it.

One day just after the fourth watch, someone knocked on the window of the stool. The stool vaguely thought that someone wanted to buy his sesame seed cake, so he took it to the window and opened it. Because the night is too dark, the stool can't see the faces of people clearly. Only the outline of white clothes can tell that this is a young woman. Her voice is a little soft. Maybe her white dress makes the stool feel a little cold. She only wanted a sesame seed cake, but she gave the stool a silver or two. The stool was also afraid that others would say that he wanted ill-gotten gains, so he subconsciously put the money on the lower floor of the till.

The next day, the stool didn't feel anything special, so I worked in the temple as usual, but I woke up in the fourth watch. Sure enough, after a while, someone knocked at his window. The stool is the same woman as yesterday. She still only asked for a sesame seed cake but gave one or two pieces of silver, and the stool was still taken. In this way, women come to the stool to buy sesame cakes after the fourth watch every day, but the stool never sees the woman's face clearly.

It was August 15, and the stool counted the money in the lower level of his till. He really wants to see what this woman looks like. He left the window open and the moon was hanging in the sky. The stool lay on the bed with eyes open, and the moonlight shone through the window on the table by the window at the foot of the stool. Because the window faces east, the moonlight draws a bright line on the table. This bright line reaches the window, which is a curtain made of moonlight and shakes slightly. Pine trees in the yard were rustled by the autumn wind, autumn insects were chirping in the corner, and the stool was a bit bleak. He has never felt the warmth of affection and love, and he is very lonely in this world. It's the fourth watch again, and the stool misses her a little ...

Suddenly, the stool saw her shadow appear outside the window, but why didn't she cover the moonlight? The stool is not afraid at all. He jumped out of bed and came to the window. By moonlight, the stool saw the generous woman's face for the first time. Maybe the stool saw too few women. In his eyes, this woman is simply beautiful. Her big eyes are shining, her curved eyebrows are so harmonious with her eyes, and her nose and mouth are flat. Although she lacks some red, her skin color seems to have no impurities. The stool was stunned by the beauty of the woman in front of her, and her mouth opened from ear to ear.

I didn't know how long the stool was in a daze before I asked the late-night visitor if he was buying a fire tonight. The woman said, "No, I said goodbye to you today, and I won't come again." The stool told the woman to wait for a while. He wants to come out and talk to her for a while. The woman nodded gently, and then just smiled gently. The stool was intoxicated by her smile, and he immediately fell in love with the woman in front of him.

The woman told the stool that her nickname was dimple. She was born in a middle and lower class family, and her father was a brewer. Because her parents saw that she was beautiful and had two dimples, they gave her this name. When she was fifteen years old, she was favored by a court magistrate because of her beauty. Although the prefect is more than 30 years older than dimple, her parents think that dimple will become the prefect's wife and live a good life in the future, so they agreed. In the second year of marriage, the prefect died before he was 50 years old. The prefect likes the dimple of the youngest wife best and wants her to be buried with him. After the prefect's family poisoned her that day, the soul of dimple left her body and floated. She saw that she and the prefect were buried two miles southeast of the stone bridge, and the dimples were unwilling. She is in her twenties and eighties and has no time to enjoy life.

The stool listened to the story of dimple and felt sorry for her. He tried to warm dimple's little hands with his own hands, but he couldn't. He wants dimple to be a person, not a ghost. The stool stupidly asked the dimple, "If only it could come back to life?" Dimple took the stool and said, "As long as you really like me, you will find a way, and love will bring you wealth."

"What do you want me to do?"

"The money I gave you before is the money of the dead. You will know when you go back today, but as long as you do as I say, you can get more than that, but the price you pay is also great, and your efforts are easy to fail. "

"What exactly do I need to do?"

"I need a man to love me for 30 years, during which I can't have any emotional connection with any other woman. Can you do it? "

"I can!"

"But when we can be together, we are all old. Can you really persist? "

"As long as you let me see you, I can do it."

"In the future, you can meet me at the fourth watch on the evening of August 15th every year, but we can't meet for more than a quarter of an hour, so you'd better wait for me at my grave before the fourth watch."

The dimple was over and disappeared like a gust of wind.

The stool returned to the house and took out the till, feeling much lighter. He was not surprised when he opened the lower floor. All the money has been turned into paper money. But he firmly believes that dimples say that love will bring wealth; In fact, in the heart of the stool, even if loving dimples will not bring wealth, he is willing.

After meeting that day, the stool was counting the days, and it was bitter to miss each other for a long night, but the stool had the hope of a full moon on August 15, and I was looking forward to meeting that moment, which was really just a moment.

Stools still cook and carry water for monks in the temple, sell some baked wheat cakes by themselves, and live a simple and lonely life. When it was cold, he cut wood for the temple and made a fire to keep the monks warm. It's snowing, and the dam river is flowing, but it's frozen; Winter is deep, so you should wear a cotton-padded jacket when defecating; The Spring Festival is coming, but for stools, this festival is meaningless. Spring came, the river boiled, and magpies began to crow on three pine trees, but it was still a little cold; The wild flowers by the river are in full bloom, and the stool feels that the dimple looks more charming and beautiful than the flowers, and his heart is full of joy. Stools often go to dimple's grave to fill her grave with soil and plant some wild flowers. Summer is coming, and the grass by the river grows so high. On summer nights, frogs in the river are screaming. Stools often dream of dimples at night, and dimples laugh. The stool will also smile in the dream. He has paved the dimple grave with earth, and in recent days, he has slowly built a bluestone step in front of the dimple grave. Finally, in autumn, Qiu Chan screamed under the pine tree, and the stool hoped that time would pass quickly. By the morning of August 15, just a few nights before August 15, I had insomnia in stool.

The day finally came. Just after midnight, the stool set off with its own moon cakes. The stone bridge is like jade in the moonlight, the waves of the river shine in the moonlight, and the stool goes to the cemetery. He built a bluestone step for the dimple tomb, and a full moon hung high in the sky. The stool sat on the bluestone steps, and the autumn wind blew up his new skirt that was not tied to the blue cloth gown. It doesn't rain for many days, and the grass is grass. This cemetery has been empty. Only the moon knows the stool's desire for dimples, and the curved dam river knows the stool's passing day by day. The stools are anxiously waiting for that moment, but they are afraid, because they only have a moment.

Finally, I arrived at the fourth watch. Just now, in front of the stool was the road he walked night after night. Now the dimples are in front of him, still dressed in white. Stool stood up and approached the dimple. In the silver moonlight, dimples appear purer and more beautiful. The stool clearly saw that the dimples were filled with tears. The stool grabbed dimple's hand and stared at her affectionately. .

"I miss you all the time!"

"I know all this, but if you persist for 30 years, can you persist?"

"I love you, even if it takes a long time, I will wait for you."

"Did you see my tears?"

"Yes, why are you unhappy?"

"I miss you too. You wait for my tears to stay in my dimples, take them away with reeds, and then put them in a small jar. I'm afraid the tears will dry up. Just add some water to the jar from this river and seal it, okay? When you miss me, open it and smell it There is my taste in the jar. "

"Ok, I see." The stool quickly found the reed, cut off the cleanest piece, quickly ran back to the dimple and sucked the tears from the dimple into the reed. Then the stool smiled at the dimple, charming and lovely. The stool looked at the dimple with joy and wanted to kiss it, but time was a naughty guy and liked to play tricks on people. When he wanted it to stay, he just slipped away quickly, only to hear dimples say, "Remember what I just said." The dimples disappeared quietly in front of the stool.

The stool only froze for a moment. He remembered dimples and ran back to the temple with reeds carefully in his arms. He did as dimple said, found a small jar, blew dimple's tears into the jar, scooped a spoonful of water from the dam river and poured it into the jar, then sealed the jar.

Since then, whenever the stool thinks of dimples, he will open the jar, which emits a faint fragrance. The stool has long forgotten that dimples can bring wealth, and only thoughts are left in the stool's mind.

It's only more than two miles from the temple to the dimple grave. If you walk more, you can clearly walk out of a road where you can always see stools in the middle of the night. This is a road to miss and love. The dust on the road knows their stories, and the stone bridge knows the weight of acacia on the bench. When the stool passes the stone bridge, the stone bridge can feel the vibration of the stool's footsteps.

It's another spring to go to Qiu Lai. It's written quickly here, but do you know how the stool came in 365 days? This year's stools are made of reeds. He thought that if dimple still wanted him to bring her and the reeds to tears, he could save some time to chat with dimple for a while.

This year, the moon is still big and round. When the stool saw the dimple, the dimple had seen the reeds on the stool, the reeds carefully prepared by the stool, and the moon cakes made by the stool for the dimple. Last year, dimples didn't have time to eat.

"Stool, you have to find a reed. The old one doesn't work. You have to cut it off. " The stool looked at the lovesick tears in dimple's eyes, and he almost cried, but he still had to listen to dimple to find new reeds.

Like last year, when the stool absorbed the tears in the dimples with reeds, he saw the dimples smiling and the stool's heart blossomed. Dimple asked the stool, "What's the smell in your jar?"

"Yes, it smells good, just like you."

"This 365 days is very hard? How long can you last? "

"I will insist that when you return to the sun, we will be reunited."

"I miss you, too." The dimple disappeared just after saying this sentence.

According to last year's dimple, the stool blew the dimple's tears into the jar, added a spoonful of the river water from the dam river, and sealed it. In the eyes of the stool, this jar only represents yearning, and nothing else represents anything.

In the third year, the stool asked others how to plant reeds, fearing that he would not find new reeds soon when he met someone. When he learned about it, he planted a large reed on the river bank next to the dimple cemetery. But in the third year, dimple told the stool people that if the work is not good, they must be wild, and the time together is still so little.

Time goes by day and year by year. In the tenth year, at the moment they met, Dimple asked the stool, "Didn't you use the contents of that jar for other purposes?"

"I think that jar is when I miss you. Take it out and smell it. It tastes delicious, it's your taste. "

"As long as you take out a little of my tears and put them in a barrel full of water, then the water can be turned into wine. You can sell the wine. It will definitely sell well. "

But the stool didn't follow dimple's words. He thinks it's useless to ask for money. Nothing is more important than the lack of dimples.

In this way, year after year passed. In the 29th year, the stool still lived in a small temple and lived a lonely and poor life. Although he has changed from a young man to an old man, his sideburns have turned gray. He is thinking about the future, looking forward to the day when he meets dimple again, and thinking that they will need some money in their lives in the future. In this last year, he opened a jar full of dimples and tears and filled the dam river with only one drop of water in the jar.

He sold the wooden bucket on the stone bridge, which was appreciated by people who drank it, and the business of stools was booming. As dimple said, your love can bring you wealth, but in half a year, the stool earned 182 silver by selling wine.

The stool is not a greedy person. He has income from wine. He still insists on making scones, but the scones he makes are distributed to those who buy wine and those who have no food, and no longer receive money.

Stools and dimples have been waiting for 30 years. He has been looking forward to returning the dimples to the sun with his lover and living a normal life together. The 30th meeting of stool and dimple is coming. On this day, the stool has been waiting for 30 years. On August 14, the stool went to Bahe River to fetch water with a wooden bucket as usual. He felt that someone was spying on his actions in the grass and the stool didn't pay attention.

On August 15th, the stool didn't go to Bahe River for water like Sigengli for half a year. He wants to see dimples. The dimples didn't come out until the fourth time. She just walked in the direction of the small temple where the stool lived after midnight. When she walked to the stone bridge, she left tears. Because Yan broke her previous promise, she could never go back to the sun or be with her beloved stool. Today is the last time they meet, and it will be forever.

The stool came out of the small temple and saw the dimple at a glance. He ran to the dimple happily, thinking that they would never have to be apart again. But when he learned that this last minute was her farewell to him, his heart ached, but the stool didn't cry with dimples. He wants this last quarter of an hour to be a beautiful memory of dimples. He walked quietly along the river hand in hand with dimple, and he wanted to watch dimple and her all the time.

A jealous man peeked at the secret of the stool. He told people that only when he came down from the stone bridge in the fourth watch and went to Bahe to get a bucket of river water was wine. In fact, it was because on August 14, he caught a tear from a dimple in the river. After that, no one bought wine from the stool.

Actually, the stool doesn't want to sell wine anymore. On August 16, the stool jumped into the Bahe River from the stone bridge with a jar full of dimple tears, so he went to look for dimples. On this day, the smell of wine drifted from the stone bridge to the Xibahe Sanli, and even the air was filled with the smell of wine.

But from then on, people can't drink the wine on the stool. They think the stool belongs to Brewmaster. In order to commemorate the wine he once brought to everyone, the stone bridge where he lived and went all his life was renamed Jiuxian Bridge.