True
Story
6,000 Steps to
Paradise (7)
1,
A Stone Ladder
2,
A Beautiful Bride
3,
A Forbidden Love
4,
A Life in the Wilderness
5,
A House on the Hilltop
6,
Six Thousand Steps To Paradise
7, A Love Story
that Never Ends
9 December 2006
Xu and Guojiang
today before their hilltop home,
viewing the mountain shore that
stretches beyond sight
The construction
of the stone ladder finally had been
complete. When Guojiang went to market,
Xu would descend down the ladder to
arrive at the single-plank bridge waiting
for his return, then together they
climbed 6000 steps to their paradise on
the summit. When Guojiang carried out
maintenance work on the stairs, which he
kept doing so twice a year, Xu delivered
drink and food to him, and wiped sweets
off his face.
Forty-five years
had past ever since they settled their
love nest in the deepest of this primeval
forest, and it had been good 42 years
since they moved into their cosy
brick-tiled house on the top of the
desolate hill. Occasionally, Xu would go
with Guojiang to the town to visit their
children at school, and later, when they
got married, visit their homes in the
villages. And their children would also
come back to help with some heavy
household chores. But there was never an
outsider to intrude into their safe
heaven, not until one day in the autumn
of 2001.
At the moment
they strode out of the woods and found a
group of strangers wandering around, they
were equally taking a back as those wilderness
explorers.
Since then, the
story of a forbidden love told through a
stone ladder spread across the nation,
and eventually they were visited by some
journalists who braved the wild and
tortuous trial to a remote corner of the
planet to knock at their front door.
Learned that the
journalists came so far just to talk to
them, the hosts scurried through their
work at hand and warmly prepared a meal
for the guests.
"We have a
lot of pork meat left from the New
Year," said Xu, inviting the guests
to sit by a homemade square table. Before
long, dilicious Sichuan
dishes of hot spiced
pork and salted pork and quick-stir-fried
herbs were presented.
Guojiang poured
everyone a cup of rice wine, and the
guests toasted to the health and
longevity of the hosts. The conversation
quickly turned to the stone ladder, and
one journalist asked how the long stairs
were actually done.
"He did with
steel chisel and hammer," Xu
set her sight on Guojiang’s hand,
gently touching the thick callus on his
palm. "All together he has worn off
seven chisels …" The reflection
brought tears to her eyes.
Goujiang raised
his hand to wipe tears off her face.
"We’ve already made an
arrangement," said he to the guests.
"Now I’m 69 and she is 79, when
one dies one will be buired here, and the
other will go to live
with our sons, but after death, the one
left behind shall also be brought here to
bury, so we can be together
forever."
The untamed wild
mountaintop was always quiet, and for a
long while inside the house was equally
quiet. Something lingered in the air.
Finally it was Goujiang who again broke
the silence. "Come, come, bottom
up," he urged the guests, and led
the way to empty the cup. Then he
refilled the each cup again.
"Let me sing
a ditty for you," he volunteered
and, lifting his cup to his lips, emptied
it again. Cleared his throat and pitched
his voice, he began:
"初三早起去望郎，
衣袋兜米来望郎......"
"The
third day of month,
I got up earlier,
Pocketed some rice,
I ran to see my lover……"
Xu cackled, and
then joined him:
"左手牵郎郎不应,
右手牵郎郎不尝.
我又问郎想哪样吃.
郎答应：
百般美味都不想
只想握手到天亮 …"
"I held
his hand with my left hand,
He could not say a word;
I fed him snack with my right hand,
He could not eat the food.
I asked him: My lover,
What do you like me to bring to your
side."
Guojiang let his
pitch drop and sang with his true voice:
"My
lover said:
I wanted nothing else in the world,
Only to hold your hand
Until my last moment….."
Guojiang (69) and Xu
(79) today
(The End)
1,
A Stone Ladder
2,
A Beautiful Bride
3,
A Forbidden Love
4,
A Life in the Wilderness
5,
A House on the Hilltop
6,
Six Thousand Steps To Paradise
(References:
numerous Chinese newspaper reports and
online medias)
Pre Come
Home B4 Long
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