南海潮歌

26 The film we saw was in the neighboring village. When it just got dark, we several fellows started happily and got there soon. In the countryside, films were on show in the open air. The film we saw was Fierce Battles. In Chinese, we called the film Fight South Fight North. It was about one of the Three Great Military Campaigns in China. That campaign took place in 1947. It was called Huaihai Campaign. The story said that the People's Liberation Army fought against the Nationalist Army. First they fought in the south of that area and the PLA troops won the battle. Then the PLA troops moved to the north of that area and wiped out the Nationalist forces in the end. The villagers believed what the film said was true. Maybe it was because the China Civil War just had been over not long before, and most people in South China had never seen a fighting. When everyone saw the battle scene each time, none could stop exciting. For we seldom saw films, as if we were in the battle, forgetting we were seeing the film. An old peasant saw a lot of cattle on the screen, he cried out, "Oh! That group of sheep trample our roof!" Everybody laughed. In fact, the screen was hanged behind his house. We children liked a war film the most. We talked about the figures and the matter of the movie in a low voice. Watson said, "The fat man fights bravely. He is not afraid of death." Runtong said, "Those who are fighting are not afraid of death. The elders said that death isn't dreadful at all and it is just like asleep." Runlian said, "The gunfire is so fierce that Countless people are killed. How horrible it is!" I said, "Don't be afraid. It is not true. Those solders are actors. They are just acting a play." Runtong sai, "Yes, they are actors. They pretend to be dead. If they were really shot, who dared to be an actor?"

27 Runlian asked me, "How do you know, Uncle?"I answered, "My brothers told me about it. My brother said that the actors acted the play. The play that the actors act is just as the opera we see in our homeland." Runlian said, "I see. But I have seen so many people die, I'm still a little afraid. "I said, "The actors are still alive. They will act another plays. The plays will be made into films and will be on show." Runjin said, "That's right. Films and plays are both interesting. I like them. How fun it is to be an actor!" In the past, there was no film in our hometown. Plays were virtually the only form of entertainment. That kind of plays that we once watched mainly were Guangdong Opera and puppet show. We could seldom watch a opera, because the troupes of traveling actors were not many. After liberation movies were a new form of amusement, but we could only see a few movies every year. At that time most of the movies were about revolution, and we like fighting movies the best. Revolution was a magnificent word in China and it was popular like a a blazing fire all over the country. Chinese people had to say revolution whatever they said. We worshiped the word very much, and we learned to say it. When we were talking in a whisper, We heard others talking about the film, "How brave our revolutionary soldiers are! They have wiped out so many enemy soldiers." A boy asked, "Father, what is enemy?" His father was a teacher. He worked in a nearby school. He knew much revolutionary theory. He answered, "A man who does not support revolution is reactionary." After a while, the boy asked once more, "What is revolution, Father?" His father answered, "To wipe out reactionary and enemy is revolution."

28 Hearing what the teacher said, we had a first fuzzy concept about revolution in our mind: Those who could say anything in public and let people obey were revolution; Those who won the war with guns were revolution; Those who were beaten were enemy. In fact, those who complained about having a hard life, or about not being treated equally were also enemy. They would be severely punished, and that kind of punishment was called "Proletariat Dictatorship". In those years, we were only a group of naughty children who had never gone to school. The revolution concept was too abstract to us. We only knew how to play games, how to catch birds and fish. We had to know how to study, how to  work and how to face life. But the society forced us to learn that speaking and acting were two different matters. No one knew what a person was thinking about. But it was good to say "revolution". I said, "I want to be a revolutionary soldier when I grow up." Someone praised me at once, "Really a good boy. He has a revolutionary ideal." Soon the film was over. We returned home. At midnight I had a strange dream. In my dream I saw a group of people were fighting hard. They had knives or guns in their hands. Many people were killed. After a while more people who took guns appeared. The fight was more intense. Some of them fell down and let out terrible cries. The fields were running with blood. Then those people became tigers and lions. They continued fighting and fighting. They tried to kill the other side with their paws and teeth. It was a awful scene. Just then I found two tigers rushing up to me. I felt a little horrible and I walked away slowly. The two tigers couldn't catch up with me. Then they became two dogs. They followed and became my good friends. In the early morning I woke up. I told my aunts and hall sisters-in-law about it. They said, "it's a lucky dream. People who dreamed of being chased by tigers or dogs are in good health."

29 But that was not my first dream. I remember that I began to have dreams when I was two or three years old. In one of my dreams I went to see a public meeting not far from my village. Many people were there. Suddenly I saw some boys were dancing. They were students coming from the local village school. Among them was one of my Brothers. Many people watched around that group of boys that were dancing. They laughed and laughed. I was astonished at the scene, because the boys had nothing on. Their bodies were seen clearly. The boys danced and danced without any words. Then they began to sing, as if they were singing an anthem. They kept on singing and dancing. After hearing my dream my aunts and hall sisters-in-law looked serious. Some sighed and shook their heads. An aunt said with discomfort, "Oh, this dream is very bad. Perhaps you will get into much trouble in future." I was a little afraid. One hall sister-in-law said, "He is too young. How can he understand?" An aunt analyzed the process and said, "A group of boys danced. They had nothing on them. People watched and laughed. That is to say, the world will be in a mess. Surely the common creatures will have no peace." Another aunt said to me, "The living condition will get worse and worse. It is not easy for you to live in such condition. You have to be careful and work harder than other people." I said, "Aunts, I see. I'm sure to remember your words. I shall study hard and work hard. You can rest assured." But one aunt stared at my face and said, "In my view, the problem is minor. A man depends on his nose, as the saying is. As you see, his nose is big and tall and he looks like a foreigner." A hall sister-in-law said, "Right. He looks like a foreigner. He has just a fate with foreigners. Their God would help him." Many years later, God did help me.

30 We continued talking about the tiger, though we had not seen a tiger even its fur. An aunt asked me, "Have you seen any tigers?" I answered, "No, I haven't seen any." They laughed and said, "You haven't seen any tigers. How do you know what the tigers look like?" Runlian said with a smile, "Uncle, you didn't know what a tiger was like. How did you know the beasts that you dreamed of were tigers?" Hearing what she said, I felt a little ashamed. I answered, "I have seen them in the picture books. So I know what the tigers are like." The aunt praised me and said, "You are very clever. You know what the tigers look like according to the pictures that you have seen." A hall sister-in-law nodded and said," He is sure to make progress in his study in the foreseeable future." One of my little fellows asked me, "What does a tiger look like? I have never seen any." I answered, "A tiger looks just like a very very big cat. Its teeth are both very long and sharp." My hall sister-in-law said, "Yes, a tiger's fur is just like a cat's fur. It's black and white. It is also a little red. It is much bigger than a big fat pig. Tigers eat cattle, even eat human. " I said, "That's right." The little boy said, "It's very terrible. What should we do if we meet with a tiger?" One uncle said, "You'd better climb up a tree. The tiger can't climb up the tree." Then he told us a tale: "A tiger is hungry, because he can't find anything to eat. The other animals bully him, because he is not able to beat them. But the animals dare not bully the cat. The cat is nimble and versatile. So the tiger asks the cat to teach him talent and skill. The cat pays pity on him and teaches him skill. The tiger works hard, then he has learned much skill. No one is able to beat him. When the tiger has learned the talent and skill, he catches the cat and says he wants to eat her."