Kong Yiji (original text)

The original text of "Kong Yiji" is as follows:

The layout of hotels in Lu Town is different from other places: there is a large square-shaped counter on the street, with hot water prepared in the cabinet. , you can warm the wine at any time. Workers, after taking a break from work in the afternoon and evening, would spend four copper coins each time to buy a bowl of wine. This happened more than twenty years ago, but now each bowl costs ten copper coins. Standing outside the counter , have a hot drink and rest; if you are willing to spend an extra penny, you can buy a plate of salted bamboo shoots or fennel beans to drink with you. If you spend more than ten pence, you can buy a meat dish, but these customers , mostly from the short-clothes gang, probably not so wealthy. Only those wearing long gowns walked into the house next to the store, asked for wine and food, and sat down to drink slowly.

I have been working as a waiter in the Xianheng Hotel at the entrance of the town since I was twelve years old. The shopkeeper said that I looked too stupid and was afraid that I would not be able to serve the long-gown customers, so I just did something outside. Although the short-coat patrons outside are easy to talk to, there are also many who are nagging and confused. They often have to watch with their own eyes the rice wine being scooped out of the jar, see if there is water at the bottom of the pot, and see if the pot is placed in hot water. Then they can rest assured: Under such severe supervision, the water is also in trouble. So a few days later, the shopkeeper said again that I couldn't do it. Fortunately, the person who recommended me was so kind that I couldn't be fired, so I was assigned to the boring job of warming wine.

From then on, I stood at the counter all day long, focusing on my duties. Although there is no dereliction of duty, it always feels a bit monotonous and boring. The shopkeeper had a fierce face, and the patrons were not nice either, and he was not very lively. Only when Kong Yiji came to the shop could he laugh a few times, so I still remember it to this day.

Kong Yiji was the only person wearing a long gown while drinking while standing. He is tall and tall, with a pale complexion and often scars between his wrinkles, and a shaggy gray beard. Although he was wearing a long gown, it was dirty and torn. It seemed that it had not been mended or washed in more than ten years. When he talks to people, he always talks a lot, making people half-understand him. Because his surname was Kong, others nicknamed him Kong Yiji from the semi-understandable words "Master Kong Yiji" written on the red paper. As soon as Kong Yiji arrived at the shop, all the drinkers looked at him and smiled, and some shouted, "Kong Yiji, you have a new scar on your face!" He did not answer, but said to the cabinet, "Warm two bowls of wine. "I asked for a plate of fennel beans." They shouted loudly and deliberately, "You must have stolen someone else's thing again!" Kong Yiji opened his eyes and said, "Why do you accuse someone of innocence out of thin air..." "What innocence? I saw you steal it with my own eyes the day before yesterday. The books from the He family were hung and beaten." Kong Yiji blushed, and the veins on his forehead popped out, and argued, "Stealing books cannot be considered stealing... stealing books can be considered stealing! "What?" followed by a series of difficult words, such as "a gentleman is poor", "he is a man", etc., which made everyone burst into laughter: the atmosphere inside and outside the store was full of joy.

I heard people talking about it behind their backs. Kong Yiji used to be educated, but in the end he didn’t go to school and couldn’t make a living. So he became poorer and poorer, until he was almost begging for food. Fortunately, if he writes well, he will copy books for others in exchange for a bowl of rice. It's a pity that he also has a bad temper, that is, he likes to drink and is lazy to do things. Within a few days, people, books, papers, pens, and inkstones all disappeared. This happened several times, and no one asked him to copy the book. Kong Yiji had no choice but to steal from time to time. But in our store, his conduct was better than others, that is, he never defaulted on arrears. Although he occasionally did not have cash, he temporarily recorded it on the pink board, but within a month, he would definitely pay it off, and Kong Yiji was wiped off the pink board. name.

Kong Yiji drank half a bowl of wine, and his flushed face gradually returned to normal. Someone else asked again, "Kong Yiji, do you really know how to read?" Kong Yiji looked at the person who asked him, obviously Showing disdain to argue. They then said, "How come you can't even catch half a scholar?" Kong Yiji immediately looked depressed and uneasy, his face was covered with a layer of gray, and he said something; this time it was all nonsense. Something like that, some people don’t understand. At this time, everyone burst into laughter: the atmosphere inside and outside the store was full of joy.

"How many? Not much."

A few times, the neighbor children heard the laughter and joined in the fun, surrounding Kong Yiji. So he gave each of them one. After the child finished eating the beans, he still didn't leave, his eyes looking at the plate. Kong Yiji panicked, stretched out his fingers to cover the plate, bent down and said, "Not much, I don't have much anymore." He straightened up and looked at the beans again, shook his head and said, "Not much, not much! Not much!" Really? Not much." Then the group of children dispersed in laughter.

Kong Yiji is such a joyful person, but without him, others would live like this.

One day, about two or three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the shopkeeper was slowly settling the bill, taking off the pink board, and suddenly said, "Kong Yiji hasn't been here for a long time. He still owes nineteen yuan!" "I also feel that he has indeed not been here for a long time. A drinker said, "Why is he here?... He broke his leg." The shopkeeper said, "Oh!" "He always steals. This time, he was unconscious and stole into Ding Juren's house. Did you steal the things from his house?" "What happened after that?" It's a discount." "How about the discount? ...Who knows?" The shopkeeper stopped asking and continued to settle his account.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the autumn wind is getting cooler day by day, and it is almost early winter. I have to put on a cotton-padded jacket even if I rely on the fire all day. During the second half of the day, there wasn't a single customer, so I just sat there with my eyes closed. Suddenly I heard a voice, "Warm a bowl of wine." Although this voice was very low, it was very familiar. When I looked, there was no one at all. Standing up and looking outside, Kong Yiji was sitting under the counter facing the threshold. His face was dark and thin, and he was already out of shape. He wore a torn jacket, crossed his legs, put a cattail bag underneath, and hung it on his shoulders with a straw rope. When he saw me, he said again, "Warm a bowl of wine." The shopkeeper also stretched out his head and said, "Kong Yiji? You still owe nineteen yuan!" Kong Yiji looked up and replied, "I'll pay it off next time." The wine is better." The shopkeeper said to him with a smile as usual, "Kong Yiji, you stole something again!" But this time he didn't say very clearly, "Don't make fun of me?" If you don't steal, how can you break your leg?" Kong Yiji said in a low voice, "Break, fall, fall..." His eyes looked like he was begging the shopkeeper not to mention it again. At this time, several people had gathered, and both he and the shopkeeper laughed. I warmed the wine, took it out, and placed it on the threshold. He took out four coins from his ragged pocket and put it in my hand. I saw that his hands were covered with mud. It turned out that he had walked here with these hands. After a while, he finished his drink, sat down and slowly walked away with his hands amidst the laughter of others.

Since then, I haven’t seen Kong Yiji for a long time. At the end of the year, the shopkeeper took off the pink board and said, "Kong Yiji still owes nineteen cents!" On the Dragon Boat Festival of the next year, he said again, "Kong Yiji still owes nineteen cents!" But he didn't say it until the Mid-Autumn Festival. I didn't see him until the end of the year.

I haven’t seen him until now - probably Kong Yiji is indeed dead.

Extended information:

"Kong Yiji" is a short story written by Lu Xun, a giant of modern literature. It was first published in "New Youth" Volume 6, No. 4, in April 1919. Later compiled into "The Scream", it was Lu Xun's second vernacular novel after "Diary of a Madman" on the eve of the May 4th Movement.

The novel describes that Kong Yiji was poisoned by the decadent feudal ideas and the imperial examination system, and became mentally pedantic and insensitive. The tragic image of being finally swallowed up by the feudal landlord class. The article is not long, but it profoundly exposes the poison of the imperial examination system to the intellectual spirit at that time and the "cannibalistic" nature of the feudal system. It has a strong anti-feudal significance.

1. Creation background:

The October Revolution of 1917 brought Marxism-Leninism to China. Chinese revolutionary intellectuals such as Li Dazhao led and instigated the New Culture Movement, which violently attacked feudal culture and education. In order to angrily crusade against the feudal system and feudal culture, and to "depict a kind of life in society and invite readers to take a look" to "draw attention to healing", Mr. Lu Xun wrote the novel in the winter of 1918 after "Diary of a Madman" "Kong Yiji".

2. Appreciation of the work:

This work is a famous novel by Mr. Lu Xun, a master of modern literature in my country, and one of the classic short stories in the history of Chinese literature in the 20th century. The author uses extremely frugal writing and typical life details to create the image of Kong Yiji, a scholar who was cruelly abandoned at the bottom of society, lived in poverty, and was eventually engulfed by powerful dark forces.

Kong Yiji's pitiful and ridiculous personality traits and tragic ending are not only a vivid portrayal of the unfortunate fate of the vast lower class intellectuals in old China, but also a concrete manifestation of the "cannibalistic" nature of China's traditional feudal cultural atmosphere.

It reveals the coldness of the world in feudal society, people's indifferent and numb mental state, and the society's indifference to the unfortunate. It reflects the decay and pathology of feudal society from one side.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - "Kong Yiji"