In the Pond by Ha Jin

Author:Ha Jin [Jin, Ha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8041-5372-0
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2014-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

AFTER BREAKFAST, Bin put the letter of complaint into his inner breast pocket and went to the theater in the marketplace, where the conference was to be held. Usually by this hour the country fair in the marketplace would be bustling with people, animals, poultry, vegetables, fruits, the explosions of corn poppers, the clanking of hammers, the croaking of bellows, the jangling of iron-rimmed cart wheels. But today it was quiet. All the vendors and craftsmen had been ordered to go to the plaza in front of the train station. At the entrance to the marketplace, a large notice was posted on a granite wall, directing customers to the plaza for the fair.

Seeing a few militiamen from a distance, Bin put on his shell-rimmed glasses, which at once made him resemble an official participant in the conference. He walked deliberately with his feet splayed, once in a while taking a puff on a cigarette, as though pondering something.

Nobody stopped him all the way to the theater. He went through the front door, made of jujube wood. Inside, a large crowd was gathering. Bin planned to wait among the people; not until all the attendants took their seats and the leaders were introduced would he ascend the stage. He would go directly to the highest-ranking official from the Provincial Administration and present to him the letter of complaint with both hands; then he would shout to the audience: “Yang Chen suppresses the revolutionary masses in this commune! Down with the bureaucrat Yang Chen! Give us an upright Party secretary!” He wanted to make it as dramatic as possible, so dramatic that Yang wouldn’t be able to explain it away in front of hundreds of people and dozens of his superiors.

Bin had not yet decided where to sit when Secretary Liu came up to him. “What are you doing here, Shao Bin?” he asked sharply.

“Just looking around.”

“This isn’t a place for window-shopping. Go back to the plant and work.”

Director Ma hurried over too. He had seen Bin a moment before but mistaken him for an official because of Bin’s glasses. Liu’s voice had helped him identify his worker.

Ignoring Liu, Bin moved aside to take a seat.

“Come, let’s get out of here,” Liu hissed, and grasped him by the upper arm.

Ma went forward and grabbed his other arm, cursing, “Damn you, you can’t live without making trouble.”

Bin was struggling to free himself, shouting, “Help! Help! They’re kidnapping me! Save my life!”

People stood up, and some were coming over to watch. “Who kidnapped you?” Ma cried, pulling Bin closer. He was so outraged he hit him in the crotch with his knee.

“Oh!” Bin dropped to the floor, gasping and moaning. He was lying on his back with both hands covering his crotch, his legs stretching out in the shape of a flock of flying geese.

For a moment, neither of the leaders knew what to do with this man who was pretending to be paralyzed. Then the union chairman Bao and a few young men arrived and tried to persuade Bin to get up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.