True
Story
6,000 Steps to
Paradise (5)
1,
A Stone Ladder
2,
A Beautiful Bride
3,
A Forbidden Love
4,
A Life in the Wilderness
5, A House on the Hilltop
29 November
2006
A cave near
a hilltop
(A computer
impression by wenhousecrafts.com)
The family
of six, led by 20-year old Guijiang with
a toddler on his back, carrying whatever
they had scavenged in the water drenched
field, jagged their way up along the
trials between ragged rocks. Eventually
they arrived near the hilltop at a cave
hollowed out of a cliff face, which had a
small level patch before the entrance and
the patch gradually opened up to a
tilting strata stretching to the gorge.
Though
surviving at something close to a
stone-age condition, at least they had
been kept save from lightening, thunder
and excessive summer rains. They felt
lucky. Yet little they had realised that
thunderstorm and flood were not the
biggest threats to their mountain
existence. A far more deadly presence was
walking towards them, literally.
One night,
Xu started up to the sound of growl that
was intimidating and awe-inspiring.
Opened her eyes, she saw magnified
shadows animating on rocky surfaces, and
the stones, in the wavering flames all
seemed to come alive, with alien whispers
booming and echoing here and there.
The fear
took hold of her heart. She checked the
children who were all in deep sleep, and
looked for Guojiang, seeing him sit at
the entrance feeding dry branches to an
open fire.
The growl
arose again, and the whole ground groaned
in the impact.
"What
is this?" Xu was alarmed.
"Tiger,"
Guojiang returned, trying to be as calm
as he could manage.
But Xu
clearly sensed the danger in his voice.
"Will it come over?"
Guojiang
hesitated a little, and said, "Let’s
hope it won’t."
That
sounded bad enough to Xu.
Moments
later, the ground bulked in the roar.
Apparently the beast had drawn much
closer to the cavern.
Xu was
shaking to the soul and looked Guojiang
in horror. Grabbing a chopper, Guojiang
headed straight out of the cavern.
Outside
was a shadowy expanse, wild and loud.
Ragged edges of precipices appeared
indistinctively in the distant moonlight,
and nearby beneath the jetting crag
before the cave, the abbey was in uproar
with echoes of the tiger’s howl.
Xu rushed
to the children. Some of them were woken
up by the hellish night wailing, sobbing
and shivering. Cuddling them in her arms,
she tried her best to pull herself
together. It was a long night, but
finally she heard the roaring sound
trailed off, and saw the silvery light of
dawn emitted in through a crack in the
rock running at an angle.
Though
still tense with lingering fear, she made
for the entrance where her man stood up
squarely against a purple sky. Seeing her
came, Guojiang gave her a relaxed smile,
but he was actually bathed in cold sweat
all over.
The family
decided to build a dwelling at the top of
the hill where they would not be haunted
by beasts. And Guojiang wanted a proper
house made of bricks and tiles, because
that was where Xu and her kids used to
live in the village.
It took
the family whole year to carry clay soil
from the lap of the mountain to the top
where Guojiang set a brickkiln. And it
took them another year to produce the
materials enough to build a house.
Two years
later on the utterly desolated hilltop
where probably no man had ever set a foot
on previously, a brick and tile house
emerged, along with vegetable gardens and
children’s playground. The big woods in
a short distance provided resources to
the family, from edible herbs, games,
firewood to a bee farm. Once in a while,
Guojiang went down to market fairs
trading honey for daily necessaries,
piglets and cashes. Before long, on their
dinner table fish and games were no
longer the only delicacy to serve; they
got pork
dishes. And they were able to send
older children to boarding schools in the
town, while kept new babies well fed at
home.
One
morning, Xu got up at dawn as usual and
found Guojiang had already left home for
market. Opened the door and windows, she
let in a fresh breeze. Then, she got the
breakfast ready for the children, cleaned
the house, swept the yard, watered the
vegetables, and fed
the pigs. When the first slice of
sunlight touched down to earth, she told
the older kids to mind the younger ones
and, carrying an empty basket on back,
set off to the woods. Since Guojiang
wouldn’t be able to return home until
nightfall, she had to start early to
collect enough herbs to feed the whole
family on her own.
Soon she
reached the other end of the woods, but
her basket was just half full. Her eyes
were dazzled in the sun, and she saw the
hills were shrouded in ruddy aura.
Reckoning that she still had a bit time
to spare before she needed to hurry back
to make lunch, she picked her way down
through narrow winding trials among the
rocks to another woods.
By the
time she re-emerged with full basket of
herbs to ascend the steep hillside, the
mountain sky was blocked by the clouds,
and light drizzles enshrouded the
landscape. Under the full load of the
basket Xu bumbled her way up. Then she
slipped. And she fell …
6,
Six
Thousand Steps
(References:
numerous Chinese newspaper reports and
online medias)
China
stories are told at wenhousecrafts.com
Pre Spokeswoman
of Confucius
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