Famous articles about integrity by famous writers

Yu Qiuyu's "The Letterer" is a text included in junior high school Chinese. One of the central ideas is that of honesty

一

My home is in a neighboring village. There was a letterman who was quite young and had been traveling long distances for twenty or thirty years.

He went to a private school, and when he was older, he went out to work on the docks②. He ran into several obstacles, was poor and depressed, and had no way to make a living. He came back and became a letterman. There is another reason why he is a letter guest.

It turned out that there was an old letter guest in the village. Once, a girl from a family in the village was getting married. The girl's father, who was making a living in Shanghai, asked an old letterman to bring him two pieces of red silk. The old letter customer just wanted to give a gift to a distant relative, so he cut a narrow strip of red silk to tie the gift. It looked pretty. Unexpectedly, the person in Shanghai asked another person to bring a message home, saying that after receiving the red silk, he would check whether there were small circles drawn on both ends to prevent the letter from being tampered with. At this time, Lao Xinke fell into trouble, and his scandal immediately spread around the countryside. Every family that had asked him to bring things before was recalling the doubts, as if everything in his family was due to deductions. But his home was dilapidated and gloomy, with nothing of value left.

Old Xinke couldn't speak clearly and his face was sad. He picked up the pair of scissors for cutting red silk and stabbed his hand directly. The next day, he held his scarred hand and found a young man from the same village who had just returned from Shanghai. When he entered the door, he said: "My reputation has been ruined, but this country cannot live without loyal guests."

For two days, the old letterman told him in a slow voice who was out in the surrounding villages, how to find the door of each house in the countryside, and how to find a way to make a living for everyone in the city. It was very difficult when talking about several routes in the city, and I kept drawing pictures on paper. This young man didn't even know most of the people who went out to make a living. The old believers talked and compared and compared, and even introduced their temperaments and habits.

After finishing all this, the old letter guest told him which small hotels he could stay in along the way and which waiter in the hotel he could trust. There are also places to eat, which stall has the thickest flatbreads, and which small shop can only buy rice without vegetables.

From beginning to end, young people never promised to take over. But after hearing the old man talk so much and in detail, he no longer refused. The old man's last instruction was to raise his pricked hand and say, "Being a guest or being a guest is just a letter. Don't imitate me."

The young man thought about the old man’s future life and said that he would help him after making money. The old man said: "No. I go to the cemetery and I can make a living. I stink, and if you are next to me, I will make you stink."

Old Xinke was originally single, and he never wanted to be alone again. Did not return to the village.

After young believers set out on the road, they encountered inquiries about old believers along the way. I have been traveling hard for most of my life, and I have known him all along the way. Wanderers living abroad are waiting for the sound of his footsteps year after year. Now, he was hiding in a shabby thatched hut next to a mountain cemetery, suffering from insomnia every night. He kept his eyes open in the darkness and confusedly recalled the piers, the ships, and the faces.

When it was windy or raining, he would stand up, hold the door frame for a while, and secretly tell the young believer to be careful along the way.

Two

The young believers are gradually getting older. He often suffered from stomach ailments and rheumatism, and when he did, he would think of Lao Xinke. The old man had said everything, but why didn't he mention these two ailments? By the way, please ask your family to take some time to bring some food to the cemetery. He himself had been there several times, and the old man forced him to talk about the changes and news at each dock. There have always been more bad things than good things, so they lamented together. If their conversation could be recorded, it would definitely be a historical record of the changes in urban and rural areas in modern China that historians are extremely interested in. Unfortunately, this place is in the mountains, and just the two of them drifted away as soon as they spoke. Outside the hut, there were only strong mountains. wind.

Religious guests cannot visit the elderly often. He was really too busy and spent too much time on the road. As soon as he got home, he was busy sending out letters and things, and also receiving the things he would bring out next time. He had to be present and check everything with his own hands. Once he saw the old man, he would make others wait.

Whenever Xinke returns to the village, his house is always packed with people. Most of them are not here to send or receive letters or gifts, but just to watch the fun and see what kind of people are coming from each house and what rare items they have brought with them. In the eyes of farmers, there is envy and jealousy; in comparison, there is also contempt and ridicule. These looks are how rural China rates its adventurers. These eyes are the exploration of the city from the hometown for thousands of years.

Finally, a woman came to whisper to the letterman: "Take care of him and bring things back several times, and don't leave them in pieces."

"Tell him, those goods cannot be stored in Shanghai?" I am a woman, what should I do if robbers and thieves come..." Xinke nodded calmly. He had seen too much and fully understood all of this. The ups and downs of honor and disgrace in the city shocked the rural nervous system that had been dull for a long time. He was The most sensitive nerve endings.

Someone who made a living in the city suddenly fell ill and died. This happened often in those years. Xinke heard the news from his fellow city residents. He would rush off to arrange the funeral arrangements and collect the belongings on behalf of his family and fellow villagers. When he returned to the countryside, he would put on a black umbrella with the handle facing forward and walk toward the deceased's home. Everyone in the countryside who reported the death would treat him as black. The umbrella is used as a sign, and the villagers will know at a glance that another person has died in a foreign land. When they arrive at the deceased's home, the letterer will look sad and tell the poor family members the bad news in a gentle tone that they have thought about for a long time. Even though he was fainting, he could not leave, so he helped comfort Zhang Luo. Some peasant women became angry after hearing the news of his death. They hated the city with gnashing of teeth, hated going out, and also hated the visitors. They regarded him as the evil spirit of death and yelled at him. He could only keep his eyes down and keep saying "No".

In the afternoon, he had to send the deceased's belongings. This matter was even more dangerous. Rural women would regard this pile of simple relics as the price of their husband's life. , almost no one believed this. There were sharp doubts in the red eyes, and Xinke felt uncomfortable, as if he had done something wrong. He could only report the funeral arrangements in Shanghai softly. Rural women were completely ignorant of Shanghai society, and the questions they raised often made him unable to answer them.

It wasn't until he shed a few sweats and made a lot of apology that he could walk out of the deceased's house with a look of disgrace on his face. Do you want to do this? No. I am also a fellow countryman, so I can’t show some nostalgia and friendship. The old believer said that being a believer in this country has to bear the burden of life and death. , rushing back and forth. People from all over the country put their blood, sweat and tears on his shoulders. I often read and write letters on my behalf. If there is no important matter, I just need to send a message. When I want to write a letter, there is always something ominous. Pondering over sentences. He always organizes endless resentments and urgent worries into elegant sentences, puts them solemnly in envelopes, and then carries his broken and anxious hearts to the distance.

Once, he walked into a house in the city with a letter full of resentment. He saw that the wealthy recipient was already living with another woman. He hesitated twice to see if he should send the letter. Take it out. Knowing that he would do something bad when he came, he deliberately pretended not to know him and asked him sharply who he was. This angered him, and he immediately held up the letter and shouted: "This is your wife's letter." ! ”

The fashionable girl opened the letter and cried loudly after reading it. The fellow countryman couldn’t get off the stage, so he said that he was a thief who broke into the house and brought out a fake letter. It was just a way to get out. In order to calm the woman's crying, the fellow villager slapped him twice and sent him to the patrol room.

He explained his identity to the police officer and also showed many other things. The fellow villagers summoned raised funds to bail him out and asked him why. He only said that he was confused and went to the wrong house.

When he returned home this time, he immediately went to burn incense at the grave of the old man, who had been dead for many years. He knelt on the grave and asked the old man to forgive him: he would never be a guest again. He said, "This road is getting more and more dangerous. I can't hold on anymore. "

He told the villagers that he had a disease in his legs and feet and could no longer travel far away. Some family members who were away fell into panic for a while and looked around for new believers, but couldn't find any.

Only then do people remember all his benefits, and often bring him a few bowls of food and snacks when he has lost his source of livelihood, and then ask him to think about ways to communicate.

This is also considered luck in the countryside. Fortunately, the fellow villager who slapped the letter guest in the city suddenly became kind-hearted. The man later made a fortune. The fashionable girl left him immediately after reading the letter, and he went to another fellow villager. He learned that Xinke had not said anything bad about him, and that Xinke had been idle since then. He was deeply moved by all these things. He came back to his hometown once, and first went to the county post office to give money to them and asked them to come here. There is an agency attached to the Xiang Xiao Nan Goods Store, and it is proposed that Xinke take charge of this matter.

After all this was done, he returned home to express condolences to his neighbors. He even went to Xinke's home to apologize quietly and asked him to accept the postal service. The letter guest was very respectful to him and asked him not to remember the past. As for the postal service, there is someone available at Xiaonan Goods Store, but I am not in good health so I can’t do it. He did not take any money given to him by his fellow villagers, but only accepted some gifts.

After that, a green mailbox was hung at the door of Xiaonan Goods Store, and parcels were mailed. These villages were once again connected to the city.

Xinke began to make a living by writing letters on his behalf. There were many people who asked him to write letters. His life in the countryside was average.

Four

Two years later, several private schools merged into one elementary school and adopted new teaching materials. There was a shortage of geography teachers, so everyone thought of Xinke.

Xinke teaches geography vividly and with great effect. He was originally illiterate, but after decades of traveling around the country and writing countless letters, his actual educational level was among the best among several teachers, and he was able to teach Chinese with ease. He has a broad vision and is able to tolerate all kinds of new knowledge. What's even more valuable is that he has a deep understanding of the world and is very considerate, and he quickly became the backbone of this elementary school. Soon he became the principal of an elementary school.

During his tenure as principal, the teaching quality of this primary school was among the best in the county. The proportion of graduates admitted to urban middle schools is also very high.

When he died, many people came to express condolences, many of whom came from other places. According to his last wish, his tomb was built next to the tomb of Lao Xinke. At this time, most of the villagers had no idea who Lao Xinke was and what his relationship was with the principal. In order to look good, I also repaired the shapeless grave.