Full text of the tall woman and her short husband

There is a small tree in your yard with a bare trunk. You have been used to it for a long time, but one day it suddenly became twisted and twisted, making it look more and more awkward. But as time goes by, you will start to like it, as if it is the way it should be. If one day it suddenly becomes straight again, you will feel unspeakably uncomfortable. It's monotonous, boring, simple, like a stick! In fact, it just returns to its original appearance, so why are you awkward again?

Is this a habit? Hey, don't underestimate "habit"! It is omnipresent in everything in the world. Even though it is not a legal rule that must be abided by, it will still cause you trouble and misfortune. However, don't complain about being tied up by it. Sometimes you will follow its rules unknowingly. For example: Do you dare to speak loudly and arrogantly in front of your superiors? Can you express your opinions freely in front of the elderly? In a group photo, you can ask celebrities to stand aside, but you stand in the middle and smile? No, of course not. Don't talk about this. When you marry a wife, do you dare to marry someone who is ten years older than you, bigger than you, or a head taller than you? Don't choke on empty words first, there is such a couple in front of you—— She is better than him Seventeen centimeters high.

She is 1.75 meters tall and stands out among women; her husband is only 1.58 meters tall and was nicknamed "Wu Dalang" when he was in college. His earlobes are about the same height as hers, but they look like they are two different ends apart!

As for their appearance: this woman is dry, thin, and flat, with a face like an unpainted table tennis racket. Son. The facial features are barely visible, but they are small and flat, like a bas-relief; the chest is not bulging at all, the waist is slender and stiff, and the buttocks are flat, like a stiff washboard. Her husband was like a stubby rubber roller; plump, strong, and shiny; everything on his body—the calves, mouth, nose, and fingertips—seemed to be round and elastic. Little meatballs. His skin was soft and smooth, like fine leather. The excess oil shines under the skin, and the abundant blood reveals a delicious reddish color from the skin. His eyes were like a pair of small light bulbs with sufficient voltage. His wife's eyes were like a pair of confused glass balls. When two people are together, there is no harmony, only contrast. But they still seemed to be tied together, inseparable all day long.

Once, when their neighbor’s family was having a reunion dinner, the old man of the family drank too much, so he took the opportunity to put a long and empty wine bottle on the table with a short can of canned pork. , asked the whole family: "What do you think this is?" He announced the answer before others could figure it out, "It's the tall woman downstairs and her short men!"

The whole family laughed loudly, Laughing all the way through the after-dinner chat.

How did they become a couple?

This has long been a concern for dozens of households in the Unity Building. Ever since they moved into this building when they got married, all the old residents in the building have given him curious and puzzled looks. However, some people like to keep question marks in their stomachs, while others can't help but speak out. The talkative people started talking about it. Especially when it rains, when they go out, the tall woman always holds an umbrella. If something falls on the ground, it is most convenient for a short man to pick it up. Some idle women in the building looked at this ridiculous scene and pointed at it. The uncontrollable laughter rumbled in his throat. The boredom of adults is the best way to encourage children's mischief. Some children burst into laughter as soon as they saw them, shouting: "The pole is long, the board is wide..." They ignored it and never got angry or paid attention to the children's noise. Perhaps for this reason, he has maintained a rather cold relationship with the people in the building. The few people who don't like to meddle in other people's business, when you meet them on your way to and from get off work, at most you just nod and say hello. This makes it difficult for those who are really interested in them to know more about them. For example, what is their relationship?

Why are they combined? Who will conquer whom? There is no official answer, only Just guessing.

This is an old-style apartment building. The rooms are large, sunny and bright, and the corridors are wide and dark. Outside the building is a large courtyard, with a small concierge at the entrance. There is also a family living in the gatehouse, and the head of the household is a tailor. The tailor is an honest person; but the tailor's wife is an energetic woman who travels from house to house and likes to gossip. She likes to pry into the private affairs and privacy of other people's homes. She knows everything about the relationship between husband and wife, disputes between sisters and sisters, hard work and salary in every family in this building.

If she doesn't understand anything, she will try her best to find out; this thirst for knowledge can turn stupid people into talented people. Her ability in this area is even more extraordinary than ordinary people. Not to mention observing words and colors, she can see people's hidden thoughts; just by smell, she can know who eats meat regularly, and can deduce the income of the family. For some reason, since the 1960s, this type of people have been recruited as "street activists" in every residential area. This legitimizes their desire to interfere with others, and their abilities and interests are also brought into play. It seems that the Creator really will not waste every talent.

Despite her abilities, the tailor's wife could not understand the reason for the union of this strange and extremely mismatched couple who walked around in front of her every day. This distressed her. It was as if her talents had met a powerful challenge. But based on her experience and hard thinking, she finally came up with the most convincing truth: one of the couples must have some kind of physical defect. Otherwise, no one would find a partner who is one head taller than themselves. Her basis was very reliable: the couple had been married for three years and still had no children! So everyone in the Unity Building believed in the tailor's wife's wise judgment.

Facts never show mercy to anyone, it defeated the tailor’s wife! The tall woman is pregnant. People's eyes kept glancing at the tall woman's gradually protruding belly. This belly is very obvious due to its high height from the ground. No matter whether people are surprised, doubtful or confused, the tall woman's child is born. Whenever the couple goes out when it's sunny or rainy, the tall girl holds the child in her arms, and it falls to the short man to hold an umbrella. People saw his funny look on his rounded calves, holding an umbrella half-raised, and following closely behind. They were still as curious as they were about the fact that they had become husband and wife and were so inseparable. There are still various theories that sound reasonable, but there is no confirmation from this couple. These statements are like birds that have nowhere to land, flying all over the sky. The tailor's wife said: "These two people must have something shady to do. Otherwise, why wouldn't they get close to others? The pus on their bodies will come out sooner or later, we'll see!"

As expected, one night, The tailor's wife heard the sound of breaking things in the tall woman's house. She hurriedly knocked on the door of the tall woman's house on the pretext of collecting the cleaning fee for the courtyard. She expected that the hidden danger that had been hidden between the couple for a long time had finally erupted. She wanted to see with her own eyes how the couple turned against each other and capture the most vivid details. The door opened, and the tall woman came forward with a smile. The short husband was also smiling in the room. There was a smashed plate on the floor - this was all the tailor's wife saw. After she hurriedly collected the cleaning fee and came out, she couldn't figure out what happened between the couple for a long time. There was no quarrel when the plate was broken, but it was as joyful as a happy event. Weird thing!

Later, the tailor’s wife became the street residents’ representative of the Unity Compound. When she assisted the household registration police in checking household registrations from house to house, she finally found the answer to the question that had troubled her for many years. A conclusive and irrefutable answer. It turns out that this tall woman and her short husband both work at the Research Institute of Chemical Industry. The short man is the chief engineer of the institute, and his work time is worth 180 yuan! The tall woman is just an ordinary laboratory technician, with an income of less than 60 yuan, and she was born in a family of postmen who work hard and make little money. Otherwise, why would she marry a man who was a head shorter than herself? For status, for money, for a good life, yes! She immediately told this precious information to the idle women in the Unity Building. People always interpret the world according to their own way of thinking, and try their best to level everything with their own understanding. Therefore, everyone believed what the tailor's wife said. The mystery that had remained in people's hearts for many years was suddenly revealed. Everyone suddenly realized: It turned out that the short man was a rich man with insufficient congenital characteristics, and the tall woman was a poor woman who had an eye for money and was blessed in life. When people talk about this tall woman who looks like a big ocean horse but is lucky, there is often an air of anger in their tone. Especially the seamstress wife. The good or bad of a person's destiny cannot be judged for a while, but it has to be waited and seen.

In 1966, the Unity Building was like a shrunken world. Disasters came to the world, and everyone had their own misfortunes and blessings. All the residents in the building had their chance of "turning around." Life is full of great changes and sudden changes. The short man was the chief engineer, but he encountered misfortune. His home was ransacked, his furniture was moved, he was beaten, and he was imprisoned in a cowshed. The disaster did not end there. Some people said that for many years, he worked in the research institute during the day and went home at night to secretly write the research results into a book, planning to escape the country and join a rich distant relative. Dedicating national scientific and technological information to foreign capitalists - this absurd statement is actually believed by many people to be true.

At that time, the world was in a state of chaos, and everyone was losing their normalcy. They would rather be ignorant or cruel, and they also had many bizarre delusions, and they wished they could find Hitler around them.

The people at the institute clung to the chief engineer, frightened him, beat him, and exerted all kinds of pressure. At the same time, they also forced the tall woman to hand over the manuscript that no one had seen, but No effect. Someone came up with the idea to bring the two of them to the courtyard of the Unity Building to hold a denunciation meeting; everyone was afraid of being embarrassed in front of relatives, friends and acquaintances, which was also a kind of pressure. When all kinds of pressure have failed, you might as well try this approach, maybe it will work.

That day, the Unity Building was as lively as ever -

In the afternoon, a group of people from the institute came and pulled a horizontal sign with a thick hemp rope between two trees in the courtyard, which read: The dwarf's name was marked with a cross on it; aggressive slogans were posted inside and outside the courtyard, and the dwarf's "crime" was announced on eighteen sheets of paper on the courtyard wall. The meeting was planned to be held after dinner, and the institute also sent an electrician to pull out the wires in the courtyard and install four large light bulbs of 500 candlepower. At this time, the tailor's wife had been promoted from a street representative to a security director. She was very powerful, contented, and much fatter. She was very busy that day. She led several women in the building to do a lot of busy work, such as helping to paint slogans, pouring tea and water for the revolutionaries in the institute, installing lights and using electricity from her house. It's really like her family is having a wedding!

After dinner, all the residents in the building were summoned to the courtyard by the tailor's wife. Four big lights turned on, illuminating the courtyard as brightly as a stadium at night. Many figures seemed to be magnified dozens of times and projected on the building walls. This figure was all silent and motionless, and even the children did not dare to move around casually. The tailor's wife led some people and also put on a red armband on her left arm. This armband was the most prestigious at the time. They guarded the door and did not allow outsiders to come in. After a while, a large group of people from the Chemical Engineering Research Institute, also wearing armbands, escorted the tall woman and her short husband, shouting slogans all the way, and came in a mighty manner. The short man wore a sign on his chest, but the tall woman did not. They were escorted to the front of the stage and stood side by side with their heads bowed. The tailor's wife ran up and said, "This guy is too short and can't be seen by the revolutionary masses behind. I'll think of something for him!" As she said this, she twisted the two pieces of meat on her shoulders with impulsiveness and hugged her from home. Get a soap box, turn it upside down, and ask the short man to stand on it. In this way, he was as tall as his wife, but at this moment, few people were interested in the disproportionate height of the doomed couple.

The conference was held according to the popular format. The meeting was announced and slogans were shouted, followed by impassioned speeches by the critics who had entered their roles, and slogans were shouted again. The pressure was enough, and he began to extract a confession from the tall woman. As a result, people gathered around the "manuscript" and attacked the tall woman with verbal quarrels. You asked, I asked, he asked; screamed, roared harshly, shouted hoarsely; shouted loudly, pushed hard, chased after...but the tall woman just shook her head. Shaking his head sincerely. But sincerity is the cheapest; believing in sincerity means denying everything in the world.

Whether it was grumpy men who jumped up and threatened her with their fists, or some scheming people who came up with a few clever and deceptive words to ask her, they all gave her this sincere and decisive response. shook his head and refused. If this continues, the criticism meeting will have no results, no achievements, or even an end. The people at the research institute are in a bit of a dilemma. They are worried that this will be a success, and they will come to the project in a hurry and then come back disappointed.

The tailor's wife stood aside and listened for a long time, and the more she listened, the more bored she became. She was illiterate, had no interest in any "manuscripts", and felt that the people in the institute were speaking incomprehensibly. She suddenly ran to the stage, raised her left arm with a red armband, pointed at the tall woman and asked angrily: "Tell me, why did you marry him?"

< p>This sudden question made the people at the institute startled. I don't know if there is any wonderful connection between the security director's question and what they are concerned about.

The tall woman was also stunned. She didn't know why the tailor's wife raised this question. This issue is not of concern to the world. She raised her thin face, which had been tortured for months and looked like a wrinkled withered leaf, with a look of surprise on her face.

"Okay! You don't dare to answer, let me tell you for you! Did you marry this guy because he was rich? Who would want such a dwarf if you don't have money!" The tailor's wife shouted loudly explain. There was a bit of pride in her tone, as if she was the one who knew this tall woman's background best.

The tall woman did not nod or shake her head. She seemed to suddenly understand everything about the tailor's wife.

There was a arrogant, mocking, and stubborn light in his eyes.

"Okay, okay, you're not convinced! This guy is finished now, let's see if you can still rely on me! I know what's going on in your heart!" The tailor's wife patted her chest and waved her hand. There were several other ladies cheering her on, and she was extremely proud of herself.

The people in the research institute were confused. If you don't understand something like this, it's better to just stay confused. Don't look at these women's nonsense, but they made the venue lively all of a sudden. Without this kind of atmosphere, how would the criticism end? So the people at the institute did not stop it and allowed the women to show off their power. Just listen to these women shouting:

"How much does he give you? What good things has he bought for you? Tell me!" "Two hundred yuan a month is not enough for you. You still want to go abroad, you are so beautiful!"

"Is Deng Tuo his backer?"

"One day you called Beijing, who did you call, was it ' Sanjiacun's fight?"

Whether the meeting is successful or not depends entirely on the atmosphere. The person who presided over the criticism meeting at the institute saw the right opportunity and took advantage of the excitement of the meeting. He led people to shout a series of slogans loudly, and then quickly ended the meeting. Then, the people from the institute searched the tall woman's house again, prying open the floor and knocking off the walls, but found nothing. Finally, they escorted the short man away, leaving only the tall woman.

The tall woman stayed in the house all the time, but went out alone at night. She didn't expect that although the lights were turned off in the tailor's house in the building's concierge, the tailor's wife kept watching her from the window. When he saw her going out, he followed her closely. After leaving the courtyard gate and walking two blocks to the west, he saw the tall woman crossing the street and stopping in front of a house, knocking lightly on the door a few times. The tailor's wife hid behind the telephone pole on the street, holding her breath and staring wide-eyed, as if waiting to catch the rabbit that came out of the hole. She wanted to catch someone, but she was more nervous than the person she wanted to catch.

With a click, the door opened. An old woman gave away a child. I just heard the old woman say:

"Is it done?"

I didn't hear what the tall woman said.

It was the old woman's voice again:

"The child has eaten enough and has already slept. Go back quickly!"

The tailor's wife suddenly remembered that this The old woman's mother-in-law's family was originally the child care provider for the tall woman, and her full interest suddenly disappeared. At this time, the tall woman turned around and led the child back. There was no words along the way, only the sound of her mother and her feet. The tailor's wife hid behind the telephone pole and did not dare to move. After they walked some distance away, she went home alone.

Early the next morning, when the tall woman led her child out of the building, her eyes were obviously red. No one in the building dared to talk to her, but everyone saw her red and swollen eyelids. Especially the people who had participated in the criticism meeting last night felt a strange and guilty feeling in their hearts, and they turned away from her eyes. The short man has not been released since he was taken away on the day of the criticism meeting. Later, according to the mysterious tailor's wife, the short man had some serious problems and went to jail. The tall woman became the wife of a prisoner in custody, and fell to the bottom of life. Naturally, she was not worthy of living in a spacious room like the one in the Unity Building, so she was forced to exchange housing with her tailor wife's family. She moved to a lonely hut about ten meters away from the building. This is not bad, as it saves me from having to bump into the residents in the building so often and not being able to talk to each other, which is quite embarrassing. But people in the whole building could see the lonely hut and her lonely figure through the windows. I don’t know where she sent her children. She only occasionally took them home to stay for a few days. She lived a lonely and heavy life in silence. For someone in her thirties, it was hard to tell from her appearance that she was still young. The tailor's wife made a conclusion:

"I think this girl can wait for another year at most. If the dwarf doesn't come out, she will have to remarry. If I were to divorce and remarry now, why wait for the dwarf?" , even if you let him out, he will no longer be a human being, and his money will be gone!"

A year later, the short man still has not been let out, and the tall woman still lives quietly, going to and from work, walking in and out. , lit the stove, and carried a big yellow broken straw basket to buy groceries. This happens every day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year... But one day, the short man reappears. It was the season after autumn. He was wearing thin clothes and had a short crew cut. His appearance had changed. His whole body seemed to be smaller, and his skin had lost its luster and color. When he came back, he went straight to the door of his house in the building, but was sent to the front door by the new head of the household, an honest tailor. The tall woman was squatting at the door chopping firewood. When she heard his greeting, she stood up and looked at him blankly. The couple, who had not seen each other for two years, were both stunned by the obvious changes in each other.

One is withered and the other is haggard; one looks taller and the other looks shorter. The two looked at each other for a while, then quickly turned around. The tall woman turned around and ran into the house, and did not come out for a long time. Then he squatted on the ground, picked up the ax and chopped firewood, and split the two large baskets of wood into thin wooden strips. . It seemed as if something intense and unbearable would break out between the two of them if they faced each other for just a moment. After that, they went to work together and came home from get off work together, everything was the same as before. People in the building couldn't find anything strange about them, and their interest gradually dwindled. Whether there are them or not, it has nothing to do with anyone else.

One morning, something happened to the tall woman. I saw the short man running out of the house in panic. After a while, an ambulance came and took the tall woman away. For several days in a row, the concierge was always empty, and the lights were dark at night. More than twenty days later, the short man and a stranger came back carrying a stretcher. The tall woman lay on the stretcher and walked into the small concierge. From then on, the tall woman never left the house.

The short man goes to work as usual. When he comes back in the evening, he is always in a hurry to light the small stove and go shopping for groceries with a straw basket. This straw basket is the one that the tall woman used every day a year or two ago. Now it seemed too big in his hand, and the bottom almost touched the ground.

When the weather got warmer next year, the tall woman came out of the house. Her face, which had not seen the sun for a long time, was as white as a layer of powder.

The body that had just stood up was leaning left and right. She was holding a bamboo stick in her right hand, her left arm was bent in front of her chest, her left leg was stiff, and she had difficulty walking. It was immediately obvious at a glance that her illness was cerebral thrombosis. From that day on, the short man helped the tall woman walk twice in the courtyard every morning and evening.

They walked slowly and hard. The short man held his wife's bent arm firmly with both hands. He was too short, and when he lifted her arms, he had to hunch his shoulders upwards. It was very difficult for him, but he smiled in order to encourage his wife. The tall woman couldn't lift her left foot, so he put a hemp rope around the tall woman's left foot and held the other end of the rope in his hand. Every time the tall woman wanted to lift her left foot, he would lift the rope vigorously. This scene was strange, pitiful, and quite spectacular. The people in the Unity Building couldn't help but be moved when they saw it. When these people met them again, they couldn't help but nod proactively and kindly to them... The tall woman was not lucky enough to stay with her short but beloved husband for a long time. Death is as ruthless as life. Life broke her down and death dragged her away. Now only the short man is left.

It was only after the tall woman left that Lucky came to kiss the short man’s forehead again. The policy was implemented, the confiscated items were returned to him, and the deducted wages were paid to him. Only the house occupied by the tailor's wife has not yet been replaced. There were eyes on him again in the Unity Building, waiting to see the news in his life. It is said that many people from the institute came to help him renew his marriage, but he declined them all. The tailor's wife said:

"I know what he wants. Look at me!"

The tailor's wife has passed her prime and now she has become modest. Much more. When the power is taken away from the body, a smile must be put on the face. She carried a photo of a beautiful, young woman in her arms and went to the concierge to find the short man. The woman in the photo is her niece.

She was sitting in the short man's house, looking around at the furniture and objects in the house, while proposing marriage to the short rich man. She was smiling broadly and was talking enthusiastically when she suddenly noticed that the short man was silent and his face was ashen. Behind him hung a photo of his wedding with the tall woman. The tailor's wife didn't dare to take out the photo of her niece, so she resigned voluntarily.

A few years have passed, and the short man is still single and widowed. He only picks up the child from outside on Sundays to keep him company. People in the building looked at his short and lonely figure, thought of his many incidents over the past ten years, and gradually seemed to realize the reason why he insisted on such a single life... When it rains, the short man holds an umbrella. When going to work, maybe out of habit, I still hold my umbrella high. At this time, people had a strange feeling, as if there was a long space under the umbrella, which was empty and could not be filled by anything in the world.

1982216 Tianjin

(Selected from "Shanghai Literature" Issue 5, 1982)