What is the answer to this nursery rhyme? !

Let's look at the original story (a little long). That's not a rabbit, but a shrimp. Look at it and you'll know if it's horrible.

Shrimp is sick, two shrimp look, three shrimp buy medicine, four shrimp boil, five shrimp die, six shrimp mourn, six shrimp sit on the ground crying, and seven shrimp ask him why he is crying. Six shrimps said five shrimps would never come back!

First of all, the invisible tombstone

This nursery rhyme was heard by the folklorist Sima Zijian on his way back to the city from Yuejiacun.

That day, their car just passed a mountain road and suddenly found a landslide ahead. Mud and stones washed down from the mountain cut off the road. The mountain road is narrow and it is impossible to turn around and go back. It seems that only the engineers trapped here waiting for the clearing of obstacles can clear the road and go back.

Sima Zijian and Yang Lele were bored and panicked in the car, so they got out of the car and went to the roadside for ventilation.

This is a winding mountain road. There are some five or six-year-old children playing by the roadside. They sang the children's song while playing.

Sima Zijian suddenly became interested in this children's song. He remembered that he was collecting nursery rhymes from all over the country and was going to compile a collection of nursery rhymes, so he asked Yang Lele to get a recording pen from the car and record the nursery rhymes.

"This is really a strange nursery rhyme." After listening to nursery rhymes, Sima Zijian's brow wrinkled slowly. He turned to Yang Lele and asked, "Why did the prawn get sick and five prawns died? This seems illogical. "

Seeing Sima Zijian's serious face, Yang Lele almost laughed: "When I was a child, I sang' Little Mouse on the Lampstand'. Can a mouse really be called grandma? This is just a nursery rhyme that children use to practice counting. "

Sima Zijian shook his head and disagreed with Yang Lele's statement: "I know the culture of China. Many nursery rhymes look inconspicuous, but they actually have origins, at least related to local folk customs. "

Sima Zijian learned from several children that it was not far from a village called Hu Aishu Village. He decided to visit the village with Yang Lele, hoping to find something interesting. Seeing a guest walking to the village, several children shouted and ran to the village.

The car turned a corner along the mountain road and saw a village. There are dozens of families in this village, and all the houses are scattered on the nearby hillside. I heard that a foreigner came and many villagers gathered around. Sima Zijian asked them about this nursery rhyme.

Soon, he found that many young people here sang this nursery rhyme when they were young. However, older people have never heard this nursery rhyme when they were young, and they don't know where it came from. It seems that all of a sudden, many children can sing. Judging from the time, this nursery rhyme is only 30 years old in the local area. Where did the children learn it in such a closed village?

Sima Zijian turned on the computer search and found that there was no record of this nursery rhyme anywhere else. This nursery rhyme seems to have fallen from the sky to Hu Aishu Village!

Sima Zijian is thinking. At this time, someone shouted: "The village director is coming!" Sima Zijian turned around and saw a man about forty years old. The village director was very happy to learn that Sima Zijian was an expert in investigating folk customs, and repeatedly invited them to stay in the village for a few more days. Then came the news that the road could not be repaired for the time being. Sima Zijian decided to stay in the village for the time being and return to the city when the road was repaired.

After dinner at the village director's house, the village director arranged for Sima Zijian and Yang Lele to live in two vacant rooms.

After making the bed, Sima Zijian went to Yang Lele's room and asked her to record the nursery rhymes into the document according to the recording. Yang Lele just finished typing when Sima Zijian suddenly cried with a loud "Ah"! Yang Lele was startled and asked, "What's the matter?" At this time, Sima Zijian didn't know whether it was because of panic or excitement, and his face turned red. He pointed to the nursery rhyme just entered by Yang Lele on the computer and asked in a trembling voice, "Look, what does this nursery rhyme look like now?" Yang Lele looked at the screen and saw the nursery rhymes on the file lined up in the middle.

"Like what?" Yang Lele still doesn't understand.

"Tombstone!" Sima Zijian explained while gesticulating with his hand, "Here is the top of the monument, here is the body of the monument, and here is the base of the tombstone!" After hearing what Sima Zijian said, Yang Lele really found that the nursery rhymes on the screen are really like tombstones standing on white paper!

At this time, Sima Zijian's eyes lit up, and he found something: "Look, the middle part of this tombstone is just the sentence' Five shrimps died', which means …" Before Sima Zijian finished, Yang Lele took it: "It means that this tombstone was built for five shrimps that died in this nursery rhyme!"

"Yes!" Sima Zijian nodded approvingly. "The function of the tombstone is to tell others who is buried here, and this nursery rhyme is actually the tombstone of five shrimps! To uncover the secret of this nursery rhyme, the key is to know who the' five shrimps' died in the nursery rhyme! " Yang Lele shuddered, and the quiet night in the mountain village suddenly became a little eerie. Yang Lele never sleeps alone again, saying he wants Sima Zijian to accompany him. Sima Zijian had to sit in Yang Lele's room and put on his clothes until dawn.

Early the next morning, Sima Zijian drew the outline of the "tombstone" arranged in nursery rhymes with a pencil and showed it to the village director. Unexpectedly, the village director told him that the villagers in the village rarely used tombstones after their death. He was afraid that Sima Zijian wouldn't believe it, and he also found two villagers to accompany Sima Zijian to the mountains to find a circle, but he didn't find the tombstone.

This made Sima Zijian doubt his guess last night: Is it really a fuss, this is just an ordinary nursery rhyme?

Second, death.

Sima Zijian returned to the village, and Yang Lele was chatting with netizens. She saw Sima Zijian standing behind her and looking at herself, and immediately made a "886" and got off the line. Sima Zijian's head suddenly flashed like lightning. He grabbed the computer and quickly typed a string of numbers.

Yang Lele was startled. He looked over his head and saw what Sima Zijian had written on the computer: 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 10, 9, 4, 8.

"What does this mean?" Yang Lele asked.

"Words, every word!" Sima Zijian pointed to the computer and said, "Look, the number of words in each line of this nursery rhyme is this string of numbers!" "

Yang Lele counted the number of words in each line of nursery rhymes, which is consistent with the string of numbers written by Sima Zijian. However, she still didn't understand: "But what does this mean?"

"Homophonic!" Because of excitement, Sima Zijian's breathing is a little short. "Five is me, four is death, and this string of numbers is ..." Before he finished, Yang Lele suddenly understood and blurted out: "I die, I die, I die, I die!"

Hearing Yang Lele's voice, the room suddenly became dead silent. Sima Zijian found Yang Lele a face of panic, and he also felt a cold sweat coming out of his back!

A moment later, Sima Zijian broke the silence and whispered, "Judging from this sentence, the author of nursery rhymes is the dead' five shrimps'. He knew he would die, so he said' die!' "

Sima Zijian's words reminded Yang Lele, and she went on to say, "This also explains why we can't find the tombstone of the deceased. Because the deceased expected that there would be no tombstone after his death, he made up this children's song to set a tombstone for himself! "

"Yes!" Sima Zijian nodded. "Not only does he not have a tombstone, but he may not even have a grave. Moreover, he probably guessed that the truth of his death would be buried, so he wrote this nursery rhyme and told us some secrets that he didn't want to be known! "

Is there any secret hidden in this nursery rhyme? Yang Lele felt incredible, but Sima Zijian's analysis seemed reasonable. "But, the villagers in this mountain, let alone hiding a secret in nursery rhymes, I'm afraid they can't even make up the most common nursery rhymes?" Yang Lele asked.

Sima Zijian nodded slightly, which is where he has been thinking impassability. He quietly read nursery rhymes several times, and then looked out of the window thoughtfully.

I don't know how long it took, but Sima Zijian suddenly stood up, ran out of the house and asked some children playing in the yard, "Children, where is your river?" The leading child replied, "Uncle, we don't have a river here. The water is picked from the well. " As soon as the child finished speaking, Sima Zijian immediately turned back to the house and said excitedly, "Shrimp! Shrimp! There is something wrong with the' shrimp' in this nursery rhyme! "

"What's the problem?" Yang Lele got up and asked.

Sima Zijian picked up a glass of water and gulped it down. Then he explained: "There is no river here, so naturally there is no' shrimp'. But how can there be such a thing in nursery rhymes that no one has ever seen? They want to knit tigers, foxes and rabbits, even dogs and cats can't knit a shrimp! This shows that the word' shrimp' must be meaningful! "

After hearing what Sima Zijian said, Yang Lele nodded again and again: "Yes! Children's songs and nursery rhymes have really never seen anyone sing shrimp. I told you that this nursery rhyme is so awkward, and that's the original problem! "

"But what does' shrimp' mean?" Yang Lele think impassability.

Sima Zijian seems to have thought of it long ago. He picked up a pencil and wrote the four characters "rural educated youth" on the white paper on the table. Then draw a circle on the word "Xia" and "Zhi" respectively, and then say that "shrimp" is the homonym of "Xia" and "Zhi". Could it mean "educated youth in rural areas"?

Yang Lele woke up. If this nursery rhyme was written by educated youth in rural areas, the problem would be solved. Educated youth has a culture, so it is not surprising that such nursery rhymes can be compiled. And nursery rhymes appeared in the past 30 years, just when the educated youth went to the countryside. And the secret hidden in this nursery rhyme is probably the story about seven educated youths!

The two felt that they were close to the answer to nursery rhymes at once.

Sima Zijian quickly found the village director. The village director confirmed that educated youth did come to the village more than 30 years ago, but it was not the seven that Sima Zijian guessed, only six.

Sima Zijian was somewhat disappointed with the village director's answer. How could it be six? There are seven "shrimp" in this nursery rhyme. If my reasoning is correct, there should be seven educated youths!

When the village director saw that Sima Zijian had doubts about his answer, he said, "The production captain when the educated youth went to the countryside may know more about the situation. I'll let him tell you. "

Soon, the village director brought an old man in his sixties. The village director said that this is Zhu Dajiang, the production captain of Hu Aishu Village 30 years ago. After Sima Zijian explained why he asked the number of educated youth, Zhu Dajiang pondered for a long time and told everyone with certainty that the village director was right. At the beginning, there were only four men and two women and six educated youths in the village.

"Are these educated youths back to the city now?" Sima Zijian will not give up.

"Only three people returned to the city." Before Zhu Dajiang answered, the village director had already answered.

Sima Zijian was surprised: "There are still three people?" The village director replied: "The remaining three people, two stayed in the village and settled down, one …" Speaking of which, the village director looked at Zhu Dajiang, and then sighed, "There is another … Wu Jianwei, who stole the materials from the production team and ran away before the educated youth returned to the city. Maybe he slipped back to the city, maybe he went somewhere else, but there was no news of him. In those days, the old captain was punished for his things ... "

"Stop it!" Zhu Dajiang sighed and interrupted the village director. "What are you talking about?" Say, then quit smoking.

It is said that there are two educated youths left here, and Sima Zijian intends to visit them.

Third, nursery rhymes kill people.

The village director said that the two educated youths left behind were Chen Hai and Dong Liu. Because I married the girl in the village, I didn't go back to the city and settle here. Of the two people, Chen Haijia is halfway up the mountain, which is the closest to here. You can go to him first.

Following the village director, Sima Zijian and his wife soon came to Chen Haijia halfway up the mountain. After knocking at the door, Chen Hai's family told the village chief that Chen Hai would go to Shiyazi in Qianshan every afternoon to collect medicine, and he might be there now.

The village director took them back and walked towards the stone cliff in the front mountain.

Shiyazi is a cliff tens of meters high. On the cliff, the village director looked around, but he didn't see Chen Hai. He shouted at the top of his voice for a while, but no one answered. Everyone was about to go back when Sima Zijian found a rope in the grass. One end of this rope is tied to a big tree on the cliff, and the other end hangs down the cliff.

"Chen Hai must be below!" The village director took off his coat and said to Sima Zijian, "Let me go down and have a look!" " With that, he tugged at the rope, tied it again, and then dragged it off the cliff. Looking at the village director slipped down, Sima Zijian was not at ease and followed him down the cliff.

Before Sima Zijian's feet landed, she heard the village director shout, "It's broken! Chen Hai has fallen! " Sima Zijian looked down and saw a man in his fifties lying on his back on a big stone under the climbing rope at the bottom of the cliff. The village director grabbed him and shouted.

Sima Zijian let go of his hand, quickly slipped to the bottom of the cliff and ran past in a few steps.

The old man's head on the stone has been broken, there is a big pool of blood, and he is out of breath. His hands clenched into fists, as if he were still holding the rope. He still carries a basket on his back, but it has been squashed and the herbs in it have fallen all over the floor. It seems that he suddenly fell down while climbing.

The village chief cried for a while and told Sima Zijian that this was the Chen Hai they were looking for.

"This old man who has been collecting medicine for decades has actually planted it on this cliff." After climbing the cliff, the village director told Sima Zijian that he would go back and inform Chen Hai's family to collect the body. He asked, "Are you going to find Dong Liu yourself, or are you waiting here for me to call someone and then accompany you ..." Hearing that you want to stay here, Yang Lele jumped up, "Let's find it ourselves!"

Sima Zijian knew that Yang Lele was afraid of people who had just died here. He smiled and said to the village director, "Go about your business first, and don't have to accompany us. Just tell us where Liu Dongjia is and we'll find him ourselves. "

The village director told them that Dong Liu had no children and his wife died of illness a few years ago. Dong Liu's legs and feet are inconvenient and he seldom goes out. The village took good care of him and arranged for him to see the fruit forest. His home is next to the fruit forest. Say that finish, the village director pointed to the green on a hill not far away. Sima Zijian found that the green looked not far away and the road was easy to walk, so he wrote down the route and took Yang Lele to the green.

The road in the mountains looks near and walks far. Yang Lele soon cried out and couldn't walk any further, so Sima Zijian had to stop.

Sima Zijian had just sat down on a stone by the roadside when Yang Lele suddenly shouted, "Fire! Green is on fire! "

Sima Zijian looked up and saw a thick smoke rising from the green in the distance. It was really on fire! He forgot about Yang Lele and got up and ran to Green.

When he ran panting to the grass, Sima Zijian found that it was the woodcutter's hut on the grass that was on fire! Dong Liu's legs and feet are inconvenient. Maybe he's still in there! At this point, the fire has jumped to the roof, the beams seem to have been burned out, and the tiles on the roof are falling off.

Just then, there was a moan in the room. "Not good! Dong Liu is still inside! "

There is a well in front of the house. Sima Zijian hit a bucket of water twice, poured it on his body and bowed his head and ran to the burning room!

The door was locked from the outside, and Sima Zijian kicked it open and rushed in. The room was filled with smoke, but Sima Zijian saw a man lying on the ground at a glance, motionless. He didn't dare to neglect, rushed forward, held back the choking smoke, put the man on his back and rushed out.

At that time, Yang Lele has caught up. Sima Zijian put the man on the ground, and Yang Lele quickly brought well water from the broken bowl on the ground and fed it to the man.

This is a man in his fifties whose left leg was amputated below the knee. Is he Dong Liu? I saw the lame man's eyes closed, his hair burned, and his forehead was covered with blood, as if he had been knocked unconscious by falling tiles.

Not long after the cold well water was poured down, the lame man's eyes opened slightly. Seeing that his lips were shaking all the time, Sima Zijian knew he was going to talk, so he leaned down and asked, "How did the fire start?"

The lame man didn't answer, his lips trembled a few times, and he read intermittently: "Prawn is sick, two shrimps look, three … three shrimps buy medicine, four shrimps … endure, five shrimps die, die …" After reading a nursery rhyme, the lame man cocked his head and closed his eyes.

Fourth, the mysterious woman

Before long, the village director rushed over with villagers carrying buckets and washbasins, shouting.

It turned out that people in the village saw smoke in the house. It's just too far from here. By the time we arrived, the fire had destroyed the house.

The village director confirmed Sima Zijian's guess that the lame man who was burned to death was Dong Liu! But why did his house suddenly catch fire? The door was locked from the outside. Did someone set fire to it?

The village director directed the villagers to clean up the burned houses, hoping to find some clues.

In order to avoid causing panic, Sima Zijian did not mention that Liu Dongsheng had read this nursery rhyme before. He vaguely felt that the fire and Chen Hai's death were related to the mysterious nursery rhyme. He has been recalling what happened that day. What a coincidence! When Chen Hai fell to his death, I was looking for Chen Hai to learn about nursery rhymes. When Dong Liu died again, I was looking for Dong Liu. It seems that they didn't die in an accident, but if someone tried to kill them, who would it be? Only the village director knows about finding two people. But the village director has been with himself and has no time to commit crimes.

But Sima Zijian felt that one thing was certain, that is, something must have happened between the seven educated youths in those years, and all this was hidden in that mysterious nursery rhyme.

V. Past

The villagers carried Dong Liu's body to the village committee. Shen Fei walked slowly behind everyone, recalling what happened thirty years ago. She told Sima Zijian that they did have six educated youths who jumped the queue here. Among them, her husband Pan Dajun was the oldest, Chen Hai was the second, Dong Liu was behind Chen Hai, and she and another female educated youth were the youngest.

Hearing this, Sima Zijian took out his notebook and quickly wrote down several names mentioned by Shen Fei. He stared at Shen Fei and asked, "Did any educated youth disappear in those days?" Sima Zijian found that Shen Fei's face suddenly skipped a subtle touch. She was silent for a while, then replied softly: "His name is Wu Jianwei, the fourth child of six people, only a little older than me." Speaking of which, Shen Fei looked ahead, sighed and said, "He is very nice at ordinary times, but no one thought that he would ..."

"He stole the materials from the production team and then disappeared?" Sima Zijian asked.

Shen Feizhi nodded: "I haven't heard from him at all for so many years. Everyone said that he must have fallen off a cliff and died while running away. In addition, his parents died in the cowshed and had no relatives. Naturally, no one asked him where he had gone. There were so many missing people in those days, who could care ... "Sima Zijian saw that when she talked about Wu Jianwei, her expression became more and more bitter, and she vaguely guessed the relationship between them. "You are dating Wu Jianwei, aren't you?"

Shen Fei was startled by Sima Zijian's question, then lowered his head and nodded silently. After a long time, he whispered, "Wu Jianwei is introverted, loves literature and takes care of me ..." Shen Fei seemed to be talking to himself, immersed in memories of the past.

Shen Fei's words made Sima Zijian shine at the moment, and he thought of something. He opened the page in his notebook where nursery rhymes were recorded, wrote down the names of Pan Dajun, Wu Jianwei and Shen Fei respectively behind prawns, five shrimps and six shrimps, and drew two lines to connect Chen Hai with three shrimps and Dong Liu with four shrimps.

Yang Lele, who had been silent, realized that Sima Zijian had found an important clue. She gently tugged at Sima Zijian and asked in a low voice, "Is this Shen Fei the' six shrimps' in nursery rhymes? Is her husband Pan Dajun a prawn? "

Sima Zijian stopped, waited for Shen Fei to go away, then nodded affirmatively and explained, "Pan Dajun is the oldest, so he is naturally a prawn. Wu Jianwei is the "five shrimps" in nursery rhymes. He was born in an intellectual family and loved literature. It shouldn't be a problem to create such a nursery rhyme. More importantly, in nursery rhymes, after the death of' Five Shrimps', only' Six Shrimps' cried for him. This' six shrimp' is naturally Wu Jianwei's lover-Shen Fei! "

"But, Shen Fei is not to say that their educated youth is only six people, and Wu Jianwei is not old four in age? How can it be' five shrimps'? " Although Yang Lele thinks that Sima Zijian's speculation has some truth, he still can't figure it out.

Sima Zijian frowned and replied, "I can't figure out why there is a shrimp in the nursery rhyme." Perhaps it is because Wu Jianwei used the homonym of his surname, using' five shrimps' to imply' educated youth surnamed Wu'. " At this point, Sima Zijian's voice rose. "Besides, I'm sure the first sentence of nursery rhymes means' sickness'!"

Yang Lele was surprised for half a day from ear to ear. Then, in Sima Zijian's narrative, a tragic story gradually became clear. Sima Zijian speculated that Wu Jianwei and Shen Fei fell in love quietly at first, but Pan Dajun also fell in love with the beautiful Shen Fei, and he was lovesick. If Pan Dajun wants Shen Fei, he must find a way to get rid of Wu Jianwei. But for some unknown reason, Chen Hai and Dong Liu acted as accomplices of Pan Dajun, that is, a "buy medicine" and a "endure" in nursery rhymes. Finally, three people poisoned Wu Jianwei and forged the illusion that Wu Jianwei absconded after stealing the materials from the production team. After Shen Fei lost Wu Jianwei, Pan Dajun naturally jumped in and got Shen Fei.

"If I didn't guess wrong, Chen Hai and Dong Liu were accomplices in the disappearance of Wu Jianwei. Today, the two of them died ... "

"Someone killed someone!" Before Sima Zijian finished, Yang Lele blurted out, "The disappearance of Pan Dajun and the death of two people can't be a coincidence!"

By this time, it was already dark. Everyone is busy building a mourning hall in the village Committee, while Shen Fei is looking for Pan Dajun everywhere in the village. The village director also called several little boys to help find Pan Dajun with torches.

But until dawn, I searched the whole mountain village, but I didn't find the shadow of Pan Dajun. Sima Zijian became more and more uneasy. Thinking of the bizarre deaths of Chen Hai and Dong Liu, he suggested that the village director call the police as soon as possible and let the police intervene. This will not only help to find Pan Dajun, but also thoroughly find out the causes of death of Chen Hai and Dong Liu.

Although the village director thinks that Sima Zijian's words are reasonable, he thinks that there is a landslide on the highway and there are cars on the roadside. I'm afraid it's not easy for the police to come in. Therefore, it is imperative to organize villagers to look around again.

Sima Zijian was tired all night and couldn't support it any longer. He plans to have a rest first.

Six, another life

He was just about to lie down when the village director burst in and told Sima Zijian that they had forgotten a place they had not found. The village director said that this place used to be the warehouse of the production team, that is, thirty years ago, educated youth Wu Jianwei stole the materials of the production team. Because of its age, this warehouse located in the Woods next to the village has been abandoned and gradually forgotten by the villagers. Just now, the old captain Zhu Dajiang reminded me that the village director remembered that he had not been there.

The village director immediately rushed to the old warehouse with Sima Zijian, Shen Fei and others. It's a broken house, the roof has collapsed in half, and it's obviously abandoned for a long time.

The door of the warehouse is unlocked. The village director went to the door and pushed the door. I didn't expect the door to be resisted from the inside. The village director leaned against the door and squeezed hard, only opening a crack. He was about to squeeze into the door when suddenly something stood in front of him. He raised his head. "My God!" Let out a cry and throw yourself on the ground.

Everyone ran up and struggled to open the door, only to find that the body that stood against the library door from the inside was a corpse hanging on the door frame! When Shen Fei saw the body, he just let out a cry of "Army" and then passed out in a flash.

Sima Zijian knows that this is undoubtedly Pan Dajun who disappeared yesterday. At this point, Pan Dajun's neck was hung on the door frame by an old hemp rope, and a few red bricks were scattered not far from his feet, and his body was already stiff. It seems that he hanged himself with the red brick under his feet and the rope on the door frame.

After removing the body, Sima Zijian walked into the warehouse and saw a few lines written obliquely on the wall not far from Pan Dajun's hanging. When Sima Zijian looked carefully, he actually wrote that strange nursery rhyme: "The prawn is sick, look at those two shrimps …" This nursery rhyme seems to have just been written. Did Pan Dajun write it before hanging himself?

But why did this nursery rhyme appear here? Pan Dajun was really the murderer of Wu Jianwei's disappearance. Did he kill Chen Hai and Liu Dongcai? And he committed suicide because he realized that this nursery rhyme revealed everything about himself, so he had to die?