I once spent a whole afternoon chatting with an old melon keeper by his field. I have never eaten so many melons in my life. When I stood up to say goodbye, I felt like a pregnant woman and could barely walk. Later that day, I sat beside a woman who had become a grandma, on a doorsill. While weaving straw sandals, she sang Ten Months of Pregnancy for me. Sitting in front of farmhouses as dusk fell was the best time for me – I would watch farmers pouring well water across the ground to weigh down the dust. When the light of the setting sun shine through the trees, I’d take a fan passed from the villagers, taste some pickled vegetables as salty as salt, and watch a few young women chat with men.

I always wore a wide-brimmed straw hat and slippers, with a towel hung on my belt behind – flapping on my butt like a tail. Throughout the day, I yawned with my mouth wide open, strolled along the paths between fields, with my slippers flip-flopping and stirring up dust as if wheels were rolling by.

I wandered everywhere and forgot where I’d been and where I had not. When I approached a village, I’d hear children yelling:

“The yawning man is here again!”

And the villagers would know - the man good at telling dirty stories and singing love songs was coming. In fact, I learned all these dirty stories and love songs from the villagers– I knew their interests, as I shared the same interests. One time, I ran into an old man sitting on the balk crying with his face bruised. He was overwhelmed by sorrow and cried even louder when I walked by. I asked who did this to him. He told me in anger that it was his disobedient son while picking off mud from his pants with his fingers. When I asked further about why – he equivocated and beat around the bush. I immediately understood that he must have hit on his daughter-in-law. Another night when hurrying on my way, my flashlight shed upon a pair of naked bodies beside a pond. One on top of the other. The bodies were still as night when my light was on – except for a hand gently scratching a thigh. I turned off the light immediately and left. Another afternoon during a busy season, when I stepped into a house with open doors to ask for some water, a man in shorts nervously stopped me – he led me directly to the well, attentively fetched me a bucket of water, and sneaked into the room like a rat. These were nothing new to me - they were as many as the ballads I have heard. And I had a better understanding of the vigor of the crops when looking at the fields covered in green.

I almost fell in love that summer. I met an adorable girl – her tanned face still gleams in my head to this day. When I first saw her, she was sitting on green grass by the river with her trousers rolled up – looking after some plump ducks with a bamboo stick in her hand. This sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl spent a hot afternoon with me. She would lower her head whenever she smiled. I noticed how she subtly put down her trousers and hid her bare feet in the grass. That afternoon, I talked through my hat and tried to convince her of my plans to take her travelling, and she was somewhat surprised and pleased. Under the influence of strong feelings, I really meant it. I just felt good being with her, physically and mentally, and didn’t think about what would happen afterwards. However, when her brothers - three men strong as bulls – came over, I was startled into my senses. I knew that if I didn’t make a run for it, I’d have no choice but to marry her.

I met the old man named Fugui when summer just started.

I walked to a tree with lush leaves in that afternoon. The cotton had been harvested and several women with headscarves were collecting the stalks in the fields. Their butts would wiggle from time to time when shaking off the soil on the roots. I took off my straw hat, reached for the towel behind to wipe away sweat on my face. There’s a pond beside me glittering in yellow in the sun. I sat down against that tree, facing the pond. Soon, I felt drowsiness creeping in. So, I lay down on the grass in the shade of the tree, covered my face with my hat, pillowed on my backpack, and closed my eyes.

That ten-years-younger me slept for two hours among leaves and grass. During that time, a few ants crawled onto my legs, but my fingers still accurately flicked them away in my sleep. Later, I felt like being near water, where an old man was reproaching on a bamboo raft far away. I broke free from my dreams and heard the reproaching clearly in reality. When I stood up, I saw an old man in the nearby field talking to an old buffalo.

The ploughing buffalo may be exhausted and stood still with its head down. And a bare-backed old man was behind the plough. He seemed unhappy with the buffalo’s slack, and I heard him saying to the buffalo loudly:

“Buffalos plough, dogs guard houses, monks beg for alms, roosters herald the break of day, and women weave. Is there a buffalo that doesn’t plough? These are the truths that have existed since ancient times. Move. Move.”

Hearing the old man’s reproaching, the exhausted old buffalo raised its head as if it understood its mistake and started pulling the plough forward.

我曾经和一位守着瓜田的老人聊了整整一个下午，这是我有生以来瓜吃得最多的一次，当我站起来告辞时，突然发现自己像个孕妇一样步履艰难了。然后我与一位当上了祖母的女人坐在门槛上，她编着草鞋为我唱了一支《十月怀胎》。我最喜欢的是傍晚来到时，坐在农民的屋前，看着他们将提上的井水泼在地上，压住蒸腾的尘土，夕阳的光芒在树梢上照射下来，拿一把他们递过来的扇子，尝尝他们和盐一样咸的咸菜，看看几个年轻女人，和男人们说着话。

我头戴宽边草帽，脚上穿着拖鞋，一条毛巾挂在身后的皮带上，让它像尾巴似的拍打着我的屁股。我整日张大嘴巴打着呵欠，散漫地走在田间小道上，我的拖鞋吧哒吧哒，把那些小道弄得尘土飞扬，仿佛是车轮滚滚而过时的情景。

我到处游荡，已经弄不清楚哪些村庄我曾经去过，哪些我没有去过。我走近一个村子时，常会听到孩子的喊叫：

“那个老打呵欠的人又来啦。”

于是村里人就知道那个会讲荤故事会唱酸曲的人又来了。其实所有的荤故事所有的酸曲都是从他们那里学来的，我知道他们全部的兴趣在什么地方，自然这也是我的兴趣。我曾经遇到一个哭泣的老人，他鼻青眼肿地坐在田埂上，满腹的悲哀使他变得十分激动，看到我走来他仰起脸哭声更为响亮。我问他是谁把他打成这样的？他手指挖着裤管上的泥巴，愤怒地告诉我是他那不孝的儿子，当我再问为何打他时，他支支吾吾说不清楚了，我就立刻知道他准是对儿媳干了偷鸡摸狗的勾当。还有一个晚上我打着手电赶夜路时，在一口池塘旁照到了两段赤裸的身体，一段压在另一段上面，我照着的时候两段身体纹丝不动，只是有一只手在大腿上轻轻搔痒，我赶紧熄灭手电离去。在农忙的一个中午，我走进一家敞开大门的房屋去找水喝，一个穿短裤的男人神色慌张地挡住了我，把我引到井旁，殷勤地替我打上来一桶水，随后又像耗子一样窜进了屋里。这样的事我屡见不鲜，差不多和我听到的歌谣一样多，当我望着到处都充满绿色的土地时，我就会进一步明白庄稼为何长得如此旺盛。那个夏天我还差一点谈情说爱，我遇到了一位赏心悦目的女孩，她黝黑的脸蛋至今还在我眼前闪闪发光。我见到她时，她卷起裤管坐在河边的青草上，摆弄着一根竹竿在照看一群肥硕的鸭子。这个十六七岁的女孩，羞怯地与我共同度过了一个炎热的下午，她每次露出笑容时都要深深地低下头去，我看着她偷偷放下卷起的裤管，又怎样将自己的光脚丫子藏到草丛里去。那个下午我信口开河，向她兜售如何带她外出游玩的计划，这个女孩又惊又喜。我当初情绪激昂，说这些也是真心实意。我只是感到和她在一起身心愉快，也不去考虑以后会是怎样。可是后来，当她三个强壮如牛的哥哥走过来时，我才吓一跳，我感到自己应该逃之夭夭了，否则我就会不得不娶她为妻。

我遇到那位名叫福贵的老人时，是夏天刚刚来到的季节。

那天午后，我走到了一棵有着茂盛树叶的树下，田里的棉花已被收起，几个包着头巾的女人正将棉秆拔出来，她们不时抖动着屁股摔去根须上的泥巴。我摘下草帽，从身后取过毛巾擦起脸上的汗水，身旁是一口在阳光下泛黄的池塘，我就靠着树干面对池塘坐了下来，紧接着我感到自己要睡觉了，就在青草上躺下来，把草帽盖住脸，枕着背包在树荫里闭上了眼睛。

这位比现在年轻十岁的我，躺在树叶和草丛中间，睡了两个小时。其间有几只蚂蚁爬到了我的腿上，我沉睡中的手指依然准确地将它们弹走。后来仿佛是来到了水边，一位老人撑着竹筏在远处响亮地吆喝。我从睡梦里挣脱而出，吆喝声在现实里清晰地传来，我起身后，看到近旁田里一个老人正在开导一头老牛。

犁田的老牛或许已经深感疲倦，它低头伫立在那里，后面赤裸着脊背扶犁的老人，对老牛的消极态度似乎不满，我听到他嗓音响亮地对牛说道：

“做牛耕田，做狗看家，做和尚化缘，做鸡报晓，做女人织布，哪只牛不耕田？这可是自古就有的道理，走呀，走呀。”

疲倦的老牛听到老人的吆喝后，仿佛知错般地抬起了头，拉着犁往前走去。