God and the red-eyed woman

When I was a child, if I became evil (meaning "naughty"), my grandmother would tell her story: "Red-eyed girl, with long nails, I pinch that child when it cries!" Grandma always sings these two sentences first, and then says that there is a red-eyed girl living on Santai Mountain, who is carrying evil children. In order to convince me, my grandmother specifically named my most familiar cousin F, saying that because he was disobedient and gluttonous (that is, "picky eaters"), he told the red-eyed girl to carry it back, and now she is locked in a cave, peeling jiaozi one by one and eating only stuffing, but most of the time she eats chestnuts as food, and so on. I believe this story very much. Our village is at the foot of Santai Mountain. My cousin lives in the east of the village, near Santai Mountain. It's very convenient to take back. Although the second grandma often brings her cousin to my house to play, saying that she has just been released, she has actually been locked up in a cave in the mountains for several days, and if she does evil again, she will carry it back. So I have been very nervous, afraid of going crazy again, afraid of following in my cousin's footsteps. So I was very docile and obedient when I was a child.

And if the food is wasted, such as the rice left in the bowl, the food is wowotou, the pancakes fall to the ground and so on. Grandma will tell her story vividly. It is said that a long time ago, God sent someone to understand the situation on earth, and the visitor became a unkempt and ragged old woman begging along the street (equivalent to the later "traveling incognito"). But most people don't want to send beggars. The old woman came to a door, and the woman of this family shouted at her: "Nothing to send! There are still some white cakes left for my son to wipe! " In a fit of pique, the old woman went down to the fields and broke off wheat, sorghum, millet and the like, which were originally full of grain from root to tip, again and again, leaving only the grain at the top of the tree for those good people, leaving only one or two corn; Only beans are covered with pods from bottom to top, because when you touch them, the pods sting very much. After listening to this story, I naturally believed it. I often think: If we have sinned against God, even the little wheat left at the top of the tree will be swept away. What shall we eat? No food, no starvation? Starving to death, what's the point? So I dare not waste food. I had to pick up steamed bread and pancakes bit by bit. Needless to say, I went to the field to pick up wheat, even if it was only three or two ears of wheat. I scooped up beans with a small ladle and dug them out with a small stick. As soon as I hear the beggar's begging outside the door, I will immediately tear a big pancake or break a big steamed bread, and then present it to the beggar with a smile.

Of course, only children believe the story of God and red-eyed women, but adults don't, especially red-eyed women. But adults also have things they believe in, such as karma: they believe that if they do bad things in this life, they will be punished in the afterlife and go to eighteen hells; They also think that bad things done by adults will affect their children and grandchildren. Many people avoid doing bad things. In addition to moral cultivation, in addition to loving face and being afraid of jokes, a big reason is to cultivate good fortune for your children and grandchildren.

In short, at that time, adults and children believed more or less, so they were afraid.

It's different now. People no longer believe in God and the red-eyed girl (perhaps because God didn't promote good and punish evil as people expected, perhaps because the red-eyed girl was bribed by others and spared the evil child), but they don't believe that they are simply fearless: they either go their own way and do whatever they want, or indulge in extravagance and spend money like water, or get carried away, leisurely and carefree. This lifestyle looks chic, but there are always times when it is not chic. (End)

1996 65438+ February?