True
Story
6,000 Steps to
Paradise (5)
1,
A Stone Ladder
2,
A Beautiful Bride
3,
A Forbidden Love
4,
A Life in the Wilderness
5, A House on the Hilltop
29 November 2006
A cave near a
hilltop
(A computer impression by
wenhousecrafts.com)
The family of
six, led by 20-year old Guijiang with a
toddler on his back, carrying whatever
they had scavenged in the water drenched
field, jagged their way up along the
trials between ragged rocks. Eventually
they arrived near the hilltop at a cave
hollowed out of a cliff face, which had a
small level patch before the entrance and
the patch gradually opened up to a
tilting strata stretching to the gorge.
Though surviving
at something close to a stone-age
condition, at least they had been kept
save from lightening, thunder and
excessive summer rains. They felt lucky.
Yet little they had realised that
thunderstorm and flood were not the
biggest threats to their mountain
existence. A far more deadly presence was
walking towards them, literally.
One night, Xu
started up to the sound of growl that was
intimidating and awe-inspiring. Opened
her eyes, she saw magnified shadows
animating on rocky surfaces, and the
stones, in the wavering flames all seemed
to come alive, with alien whispers
booming and echoing here and there.
The fear took
hold of her heart. She checked the
children who were all in deep sleep, and
looked for Guojiang, seeing him sit at
the entrance feeding dry branches to an
open fire.
The growl arose
again, and the whole ground groaned in
the impact.
"What is
this?" Xu was alarmed.
"Tiger,"
Guojiang returned, trying to be as calm
as he could manage.
But Xu clearly
sensed the danger in his voice.
"Will it come over?"
Guojiang
hesitated a little, and said, "Let’s
hope it won’t."
That sounded bad
enough to Xu.
Moments later,
the ground bulked in the roar. Apparently
the beast had drawn much closer to the
cavern.
Xu was shaking to
the soul and looked Guojiang in horror.
Grabbing a chopper, Guojiang headed
straight out of the cavern.
Outside was a
shadowy expanse, wild and loud. Ragged
edges of precipices appeared
indistinctively in the distant moonlight,
and nearby beneath the jetting crag
before the cave, the abbey was in uproar
with echoes of the tiger’s howl.
Xu rushed to the
children. Some of them were woken up by
the hellish night wailing, sobbing and
shivering. Cuddling them in her arms, she
tried her best to pull herself together.
It was a long night, but finally she
heard the roaring sound trailed off, and
saw the silvery light of dawn emitted in
through a crack in the rock running at an
angle.
Though still
tense with lingering fear, she made for
the entrance where her man stood up
squarely against a purple sky. Seeing her
came, Guojiang gave her a relaxed smile,
but he was actually bathed in cold sweat
all over.
The family
decided to build a dwelling at the top of
the hill where they would not be haunted
by beasts. And Guojiang wanted a proper
house made of bricks and tiles, because
that was where Xu and her kids used to
live in the village.
It took the
family whole year to carry clay soil from
the lap of the mountain to the top where
Guojiang set a brickkiln. And it took
them another year to produce the
materials enough to build a house.
Two years later
on the utterly desolated hilltop where
probably no man had ever set a foot on
previously, a brick and tile house
emerged, along with vegetable gardens and
children’s playground. The big woods in
a short distance provided resources to
the family, from edible herbs, games,
firewood to a bee farm. Once in a while,
Guojiang went down to market fairs
trading honey for daily necessaries,
piglets and cashes. Before long, on their
dinner table fish and games were no
longer the only delicacy to serve; they
got pork
dishes. And they were able to
send older children to boarding schools
in the town, while kept new babies well
fed at home.
One morning, Xu
got up at dawn as usual and found
Guojiang had already left home for
market. Opened the door and windows, she
let in a fresh breeze. Then, she got the
breakfast ready for the children, cleaned
the house, swept the yard, watered the
vegetables, and fed
the pigs. When the first slice of
sunlight touched down to earth, she told
the older kids to mind the younger ones
and, carrying an empty basket on back,
set off to the woods. Since Guojiang
wouldn’t be able to return home until
nightfall, she had to start early to
collect enough herbs to feed the whole
family on her own.
Soon she reached
the other end of the woods, but her
basket was just half full. Her eyes were
dazzled in the sun, and she saw the hills
were shrouded in ruddy aura. Reckoning
that she still had a bit time to spare
before she needed to hurry back to make
lunch, she picked her way down through
narrow winding trials among the rocks to
another woods.
By the time she
re-emerged with full basket of herbs to
ascend the steep hillside, the mountain
sky was blocked by the clouds, and light
drizzles enshrouded the landscape. Under
the full load of the basket Xu bumbled
her way up. Then she slipped. And she
fell …
6,
Six
Thousand Steps
(References:
numerous Chinese newspaper reports and
online medias)
Pre Spokeswoman
of Confucius
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