Commentary on watching giant salamander in Jiuniuba

Old Shulu is recuperating in the hut of Jiuniuba. On the last day of March in the seventeenth year of Kangxi, an acrobatic foreman came to my door and said, "Shall we open a venue to relieve the master?" My old man nodded with a smile. Acrobatics classes lined up under the big tree by the river. It was cloudy without rain that day, and it was cool, cloudy but not dry. In this way, the neighbors, the whole Zhou family, his guests, friends and relatives, as well as the shepherd boy, woodcutter, plowman, people carrying umbrellas on the road and boating in the river, all stopped their work, put down their things and got together to watch the performance.

The performance has begun. Several tables have been folded. A woman was lying on her back, propped up and holding a child about eight years old, pushing it around. Sometimes she lies down, sometimes she gets up, sometimes she straightens her neck, and sometimes she bends with her hands folded. Let him stand on his head and put his shoulders on the woman's feet. Children's feet are also upright, and their hands and feet can flex freely and make various postures. Then the woman put one foot on the child, and the child curled up like a lotus out of water. Under the table: two men, a woman, a girl and an old woman are singing folk songs and Buddhist songs while beating gongs and drums. It was a long time before the women and children came down. On another occasion, Mrs. Guang came to the stage, lying like that woman just now, with her feet up, pedaling the table, turning it around, holding its sides and back; The child went up, stood on the table supported by the woman's feet and bent down to stand up as before. After the child came down, the woman hammered with her feet. The mallet is a foot and a half long, and its diameter is about half its length. Women pedal it in circles, lift it up and throw it high, and then catch it with their feet when it falls. After the woman's performance, a man went to the table, lay down, and cocked his feet, propping up a five-step ladder with his feet. The child climbed to the top of the ladder, then stood upright and got down from the first ladder. My old man pitied them for their hard work, told them to have a rest and asked someone to bring them wine to drink.

After the break, the acrobatic class changed the performance venue to another place, picked a flat ground with short grass, picked up all the stones and tiles, and then picked up a stick to walk on stilts, about eight feet from the ground. A man painted his face, waved a fan in his hand, sang songs and told jokes on stilts and strode up and down. He jumps on stilts again and again, and then jumps, rotates and dances on it with a big knife, which is very rhythmic. This kind of performance sometimes happens in my hometown and Jiangdong area, even stilts are more than ten feet high, but performers can only walk on them and dare not dance.

Finally, a soft rope was pulled out, one foot high and two feet long. A girl is walking on a rope. She has a bamboo pole in her hand, and stones are tied at both ends to keep her balance. When she reached the end of the rope, she walked backwards, sometimes lying on her back and sometimes standing by herself. Sometimes you walk with your back bent, or walk with a bamboo pole like a load. Sometimes people fall and hang on the rope, and then jump on the rope in the air. The people below are playing drums, singing and acting. They all have names. The performance time of rope walking is the longest, about half an hour. After the girl came down, a woman asked for a handkerchief, blindfolded her, pretended to be blind, and then jumped on the rope. Like a blind person, she tried to grope with her feet and walk on the rope. Sometimes she slipped like she was about to fall, and sometimes she shook her body like she was scared. It took a long time to finish the performance. She also holds a bamboo pole, and two stones are heavier to keep balance.

When the acrobatic class first came on stage, the audience saw the thrilling place, their thighs trembled, their hair stood on end, they were dizzy and nervous, for fear that the performers would fall. Everyone in my old man's observation team can keep calm and calm. Eight-year-old children are also serious, wholeheartedly like a scholar, and their concentration is undisturbed, like a meditation monk. This is because he has been single-minded for a long time, focusing on the repeated practice of performance skills, working hard to tackle key problems, constantly losing and fighting without wavering, mastering the key to the action and finding the place to exert his strength; He practiced for a long time until he reached perfection, turning the most dangerous job in the world into a simple job. Acrobatics is such a success. From this we can know that the most exquisite skills come from the most ordinary training. It is by no means rude and rash to concentrate on the spirit and push his mind with it. Zhuangzi knows this. He loves himself and doesn't use his talents in society. The same is true of Zhang Yi and Su Qin, who repeatedly refined and used their talents, toyed with the fate of other countries and loved wealth, thus damaging their health and reputation. Zhuangzi talked about Yi Liao playing marbles, the cook killing cows, hunched over and catching cicadas, and Xie Zi raising cockfighting in the season. And that fool can walk backwards on the extremely high cliff road, with his heels exposed outside the cliff; Men in Lvliang can dive into the water, walk hundreds of steps in a waterfall 30 feet high and 40 miles long, and then come out. No one is not trained like this. -In a word, focus. My father looked at the audience again. After watching it for a long time, they forgot the thrill of the performance, as if they were performing on a flat road. Their feelings are integrated with the performers. Habit can change people's temperament, what a powerful force it is!

The monitor told me that his ancestors moved from Henan to Lingling. This industry has been handed down for three generations and has taught more than 100 apprentices. There is not much land at home, so I can't afford to pay taxes and work. So, I took my wife, my wife's sister-in-law, my nephew and the baby in my arms to perform everywhere to make a living. If I had money, I would use it to pay taxes. They have been to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and remote areas outside the Great Wall. Along the way, I only walked on my shoulders and feet. I took everything with me and didn't borrow it from others. They are familiar with the characteristics of wild vegetables and wild fruits. When you have no money to buy food, pick them to feed your stomach and feed your children.

I think this monitor in a tattered cotton gown is very happy on the floor of Le Tao Tao, although it is difficult to live around. People in the class live in harmony. Boys and girls are taught skills when they are five or six years old and don't go home until they are old.