Great Tang Idyll

The moon looked like a hook and the night was quiet. Lamp oil dripped with the solitary light. The diligent pen never rested; the ink spread lightly and the wrist slowly retracted. Two shadows remained on the wall and accompany each other in the heart.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan slept for four hours after dinner, and got up again in the middle of the night to read, and practice calligraphy. Both of them knew that happiness was not given by others; they had to pursue it themselves. They took advantage of their young age and that they were more sensible than other children, and learned more. Some of the knowledge could be used in the future. It was particularly useful for Zhang Xiao'bao since he has to take the Imperial Examination. With an official position, it would be convenient for him to handle certain matters.

The plan for the two of them was to sleep eleven hours a day. After dinner, they would sleep forfour hours from 6 pm to 10 pm, then get up to study for four hours. At 2 AM they will sleep all the way until 6 AM, and after they ate breakfast, they would exercise through playing games. Afterwards, they would take a bath and then sleep for an hour. They would eat lunch at noon, and if there were no important things happening, they would sleep for two hours. Their day went by just like that, and special arrangements were made if there were special occasions.

Both Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan have undergone special sleep training. There were two types: one was to quickly enter deep sleep, which can speed up the recovery of their bodies by a lot, and the other was to enter light sleep, during which if there were no movements and no threats, they would sleep, otherwise, they would be able to immediately wake up and react instinctively.

Shi'liu was laying in the outer room and slept early since she had a lot of work to do during the day. Originally, she wasn't given this kind of treatment but Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan insisted that she should sleep more. Two others kept watch at night in the room that was even further out, so they did not have to worry that they wouldn't have time to react if something happened.

"Zhou Xi'hu's uncle is arriving soon. Magistrate Cheng used such a harsh trick. If it weren't forsomeone from the administrative office coming over to tell me, I would have thought MagistrateCheng would treat those people with delicious foods and drinks, so that they could not pay attention to others."

After writing for more than an hour, Wang Juan stopped first, rubbed her wrists, and picked up the oil lamp again. With two crackling sounds, the light brightened again.

"Yeah. Those people are officials by title but they have no real power. You don't have to worry about Magistrate Cheng offending people. Besides, as long as Magistrate Cheng doesn't let them know who made the arrangements, they can only hate the villagers over there. Retaliation is impossible since the lives of the villagers are worthless, but their own future is important.

One lamp is too dim, add-- replace it with a candle. We made so much money, so might as well spend it. Where could we go get our eyes treated if our vision worsens from straining our eyes? Someone come, bring three candles and light them all."

Zhang Xiao'bao continued analyzing the situation and then felt that his eyes were sore so he ordered the people outside who were on night duty to bring candles. The two girls that were sitting out there were chatting and eating snacks when they heard what happened inside, and they did not dare to neglect their duties so they followed his orders to bring in candles. They didn't bring three, but one bundle of them instead so that they can easily change them later.

Once the candles were lit, the brightness in the room became completely different. Zhang Xiao'bao was satisfied. "Not bad. Is my dad also reading at night? Send some candles to my dad. If he doesn't want it, then bring this oil lamp over there. If my family still suffers even after I earn a lot of money, then why bother earning money??"

The two girls didn't say anything, and they took the oil lamp and left. One continued to stay there to keep watch, and the other went out. She looked at the night sky outside, and shivered. Fortunately, there was a torch in the yard swaying with the wind, so it was not so dark. She encouraged herself to not be scared and then walked out of the yard.

Just when she walked to a dark corner, she noticed that there seemed to be a shadow shaking there, and she almost dropped the lamp in her hand. Seeing the shaking shadow stop moving, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She remembered that these were the people that were arranged to be stationed there in the Manor, and her suspended heart completely settled down.

She didn't know that the Manor had put a lot of effort into choosing people. There were many people who had fled the crisis to here, but only two families were chosen, and they had to report to the administrative office.

"It seems that this drought will stay; now we don't have to worry anymore. The day was so cloudy but there was not a single drop of rain. When will our grains, chickens and ducks be delivered there? It's a long journey so it's going to take a long time."

Wang Juan dipped the brush in ink. When she was about to start writing, she asked Zhang Xiao'bao.

"In another two months. When the locust plague over there has begun, we will make a move. That way, its arrival will perfectly coincide with the period of time where they're anxious to eradicate the locusts. The eggs that Ying'tao have incubated will hatch by then, and they can be brought there too to eat locusts. Eggs can be sold in exchange for other things to bring back."

"Are the chickens going to be brought back?" Wang Juan asked another question.

Zhang Xiao'bao nodded affirmatively and said, "Of course they have to bring it back, they're egg laying hens. I also hope to give the residents another source of income. The chickens can be herded all the way back to here and there is no need to feed them other food. Locusts can fly, so there will probably be some here too. We can say we're doing this in the name of eliminating harm for the people, so righteousness is on our side."

Wang Juan was about to write, but when she heard this, she put down the brush again and stared at Zhang Xiao'bao. "Are you stupid? What righteousness? When there was a locust plague, the people prayed on their knees. It was actually that person whose surname was Yao that took up the responsibility and began the extermination of insects."

"What you have just said is also correct. In history, it was said that he killed the locusts in a timely manner. In fact, it was nothing more than not allowing the locusts to spread on a large scale. Both of those two places have suffered a lot. Li Long'ji2 wanted to eliminate the locusts, but he did not want to be held responsible for offending the heavens. Government officials and commoners did not want to exterminate them.

With that said, we can't use "in the name of righteousness" as an excuse anymore. I have to think of a way... I know, the chickens can still eat on the way back, but during that time, we can exchange eggs with the surrounding commoners for anything besides grains. It can just be said that these chickens were specifically here to deliver eggs to everyone during the disaster. Inform the one surnamed Yao, and ask for him to send a document. There are so many chickens and ducks, they will look like a royal swarm of mighty phoenixes3. "

"No, I have little arms and legs, I don't want to leave any long term damages. Xi'hu's uncle may be there tomorrow week. Let's study."

Zhang Xiao'bao yawned. He picked up the towel in the basin next to him and wiped his face. He felt more energetic, and continued to write.

"Is this even something people eat? There isn't even a bowl of soup, bah!" In the small mountain village, Magistrate Cheng and the others were finally able to eat food, and the people in the village served the food--- rice balls after rice balls.

To be precise, it was something made from a mixture of brown rice, bran and some wild vegetables steamed together. When a bite was taken, an astringent taste was brought to the mouth. If it was swallowed just like that, then the inside of the esophagus will be scratched. If the person tries hard to chew on it, then the moment the person bites down, their entire mouth will be filled with fibrous bits. When the person tries to force it down with water, a line of burning sensation that starts from the neck is felt.

In addition to this thing, which can be regarded as a complete meal by itself, there was also a side dish made from "Granny Ding5", which was just dandelion, and a wild vegetable called bitter butterfly6, and it was mixed in with large grains of black salt. The taste was bitter and it stung the inside of the mouth.

After eating a few bites, there was one person who immediately couldn't stand it. He puked out the bits of bran and complained loudly.

"Stop puking it out, just eat. It's better than being hungry. Out of all the dishes they normally ate, aren't these the best dishes? If you puke it out, then you're the one that starves. If that does happen, don't even think of eating our shares. Tomorrow morning we have to get up and work on the village. By then, you will be hungry and you won't have any energy. If you can't get any work done, do you think people will give you food at noon?"

Another official heard the man complaining and felt that the food in front of him was even more unpalatable, so he interrupted the man's word. He picked up a bite of the small dish, and he opened his mouth and stuffed it in. He chewed down hard a few times and then took another bite out of the rice ball again. Putting his life on the line, he desperately mixed the two things together in his mouth and picked up his water and flushed it down. Then, he let out a long sigh.

"Eat it all, it's okay tasting. My stomach feels much better now. After we do two days of work, and after Magistrate Cheng sends a person to come with money, and other foods, then this will be all over. The two Deputy Chiefs are enjoying the food right now. Could it be that we don't understand the suffering of the people?"

Everyone gritted their teeth and ate. The two Deputy Chiefs were enjoying their food. Their rice balls also had brown rice, bran and wild vegetables, and the side dish in front of them was also the same as the other ones. Without close inspection, it looked like there was no difference, but if the rice ball was ripped open, the difference was obvious once a closer look was taken.

The inside of the rice balls they ate were filled with shredded pork. The wild vegetables were cooked in oil, and the bran was finely grounded. The brown rice was steamed first before it wasmixed in. The salt used in the side dishes was also different. It also looked dark, but it was actually meat sauce that was fried in oil.

"Yes, it's not easy for the people. They normally eat this kind of food. We have to be strive hard to be more conservative. It's also good to occasionally eat unrefined grains. What do my two lords think?"

Zhou Kong picked out two pieces of shredded pork with his tongue and chewed them in his mouth as he spoke to others.

"That's right." The Ministry of Work Deputy Chief and Ministry of Rites Deputy Chief said at the same time. They now know that it was not easy for the people. Even though other ingredients were added to their foods, it was still hard to bear with eating it. It was even more obvious when they looked at those that ate ones without extra ingredients. How would the commoners afford to eat meat and use oil on a daily basis?

The other officials weren't able to say anything else, so they only nodded their heads in agreement with this statement. After they finished eating in a while, they went to bed early. They will start working tomorrow morning to help the people in the village carry water and irrigate the soil; the payment will be these two days' meals.

"My lords, maybe you think the food is unpalatable, but tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow, I'll get them to make some soup and cook two more dishes." Village Chief Qin was standing on the side servicing them, and at this moment, he spoke with an apologetic face.

1. Father Zhang 张父

This refers to Zhang Xiao'bao's father.

2. Li Long'ji

This is the personal name of Emperor Xuan'zong of Tang. His reign of 43 years (713-756 CE) was the longest during the Tang Dynasty and he was known to be a good ruler.

3. "they will look like a royal swarm of mighty phoenixes" 浩浩荡荡的，这叫凰恩浩荡

This was extremely hard to translate because there were two levels of wordplays involved. Zhang Xiao'bao first describes the chickens and duck as mighty and vast (浩浩荡荡)and then he makes a connection to another Chinese phrase that uses similar words; this was the phrase 皇恩浩荡 which means "the Emperor's benevolence is mighty and vast". However, Zhang Xiao'bao made a pun using the two homonyms, 凰 and 皇, which are both pronounced "huang". The former means phoenix and the latter refers to the emperor. The phoenix is metaphorically referring to the chickens and ducks. Therefore, the literal translation is "the phoenix's benevolence is mighty and vast".

I tried my best to keep some of the original meaning intact while making it consistent with the text and understandable to English readers, but so much was lost in translation, so I deeply apologize for this.

4. "What royal might, more like a swarm of mighty locusts" 什么皇恩浩荡, 蝗虫更浩

Another pun was made by Wang Juan. As mentioned in translator's note #3, Zhang Xiao'bao made a pun using two homonyms, however since he was saying this joke out loud, the listener would not be able to pick up the difference. So here, Wang Juan thought that Zhang Xiao'bao said "皇恩浩荡 which means "the Emperor's benevolence is mighty and vast". She then goes on to make her pun using the two homonyms 蝗 and 皇 which are also both pronounced "huang" but the former refers to locusts and the latter refers to the Emperor.

Her joke is more obvious since she doesn't stick with the wording of the original phrase, and what she said literally means "locusts are more mighty".

Once again, I apologize for the inaccurate translation!

5. Granny Ding 婆婆丁

This is another name for dandelion, and this term is commonly used by people in Northern or Northeastern China.

6. Bitter Butterfly 苦蝶子

I kept the literal translation of this plant name and it is referring to the plant Ixeris sonchifolia. It's an edible plant that is in the same family as daisies and sunflowers.