I Live in the Slums by Can Xue

Author:Can Xue
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2020-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

SHADOW PEOPLE

I was one of the Shadow People in this torrid city. In the daytime, when the city was blazing hot, people moved their activities to dark places—to rooms with windows covered with thick drapes. It was said that in the past many people were on the streets, but before long they began to go into hiding, partly out of shame and partly out of cowardice. Who dared confront the sun? Naturally, this change didn’t take place overnight. At first, because of inner extrusion, people gradually became thin, and then even thinner, until they turned into shapes like flagpoles. Although there were no flags, a little something did seem to be fluttering at the top—neither quite like people’s hair nor quite like hats. Later, even these flagpoles retreated shamefacedly indoors. But if an outsider ventured to walk into a house (most houses weren’t locked), after rubbing his eyes to adjust to the dark he would find no one at all in the darkened room.

Where had the people gone? We hadn’t gone underground, nor were we hiding inside the hollow walls. We were simply in the room. If you carefully investigated the foot of the bed, the back of the bookcase, the corners of the room, the backs of the doors, and other similar places, you would discover pale shadows flexing and twisting. That’s us, the cowards. Worms hide in the earth. We hide indoors. It seems an odd way to live.

I had been traipsing around for a very long time before I reached Fire City. I still remember the longing I felt on the way. I thought I was going to the Crystal Palace—the most beautiful place found in legends. It was night when I arrived. I remember that someone dragged me into an old room smelling of broth, and then I heard someone say, “He can never leave.”

I lay on a huge wooden bed. It wasn’t just I; several other people were lying there, too. Thick drapes blocked the rays of light. It remained dark inside, even though dawn had come a long time ago. I wanted to sit up. I wanted to get out of bed and go outside. The old codger next to me held me down with his powerful hand and said, “You’d be looking for trouble if you went outside naked, wouldn’t you? One time, someone here did go out rashly, and then he died of shame.”

Why had he asserted that I wasn’t wearing clothes? How unreasonable! How arbitrary! I wanted to argue with him, but I couldn’t say a word. My brain was empty. It was really absurd. I had wanted to go to the Crystal Palace, but I had fallen into this dark place, into a city run by power politics. But the broth wasn’t bad. There was a cook in this room, though I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anyone. I just heard their voices. Then, all of a sudden, I started drinking some broth. After finishing it, I threw the bowl up in the air.

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