南海潮歌

36 My brother began to talk about Chinese history in spirits. He said, "China has five thousand years of civilization, and We have four great inventions." I asked, "Four great inventions? What are they?" My brother answered, "They are gunpowder, compass, papermaking and printing." I said, "Bamboo dragonfly was also invented by Chinese, but why isn't it called five great inventions?" My brother answered, "Bamboo dragonfly is only a small toy. In China this kind of small inventions are countless." I said, "I see, Brother. You said a propeller can drive a plane to fly. If we install a propeller to a cart, I think the cart will fly up." My brother said, "That's a good idea, Brother. But the propeller must be turned by an engine. Otherwise it can not revolve." I said, "I understand. The cart will not be able to fly without an engine." My brother said, "That's right." Suddenly I thought of the paper kite. I said, "The paper kite doesn't need an engine，neither does it need a propeller. But it can fly very high." My brother asked me, "Do you know why the paper kite can fly?" I answered, "Of course I know. The wind blows softly, and then the paper kite flies up." My brother asked me again, "At first we have to run for a while. Then the paper kite flies. Why?" I answered, "I don't know." My brother said, "The air does its work when the paper kite moves quickly, so it flies up. The wind is a kind of phenomenon that the air flows. The faster the air flows, the stronger the wind is in the sky." I thought it over and said, "It's very cold in the sky, isn't it?" My brother said, "Yes. Sudongpo was an ancient poet. He said in his poem that the height is very cold. Brother, I teach you to make a paper plane." He took out a piece of paper and taught me how to make. I finished the paper plane and flew it. I watched the plane that I made myself flying away and I felt very joyful.

37 When we were playing the paper plane, the group of young fellows arrived. They took some toys in their hands, such as a kite, an earth whistle or a bamboo flute. I told them that was a paper plane. Then I flew it. They showed great interest in it, and then raced to fly the paper plane and the bamboo dragonfly. Watson had a look at the paper plane, then said, "It's easy to make it." I said, "Yes, very very easy. Wait a moment, I'll take you some paper." I took out some small paper and gave them. They made the paper planes quickly and flew them. We urchins liked to do everything and to use our brains. When we saw another child had a new toy, we imitated to make one. Sometimes we helped each other to make it. Knives were our tools that we usually used. Wood，stone and earth were the materials that we often made use of. Our toys were all made of those simple materials. The paper plane that I flew was a little funny. It just flew out but it suddenly turned back and hit right onRunqing's bamboo flute. A bamboo flute was made of a piece of water bamboo. One end of the bamboo was made into a sound organ. The other end of it was twined with some wild pineapple leaves. It sounded loud but nice like a trumpet. It had only three tones. The melody was simple, and it went on and on. But people enjoyed the tones very much. In my homeland rice was planted twice a year. During that planting time the pleasant tones of bamboo flutes could be heard. It was a habit that after the rice transplanting work was finished, children of the families blew their bamboo flutes, celebrating it. By then the loud and wonderful sounds of bamboo flutes were heard inside or outside our village and were full of vigour. The sounds of bamboo flutes showed a strong local flavor in my homeland. They summoned each creature to love deeply its homeland, and to struggle for the prosperity of its homeland.

38 Qingsheng said, "Runqing, blow your bamboo flute." Runqing raised his bamboo flute and blew it. Everyone of us burst laughs into tears, because he blew it too bad. After a while Runtong said, "I'll go and fly the kite. Anyone goes?" We all said, "All right, let's go." We arrived at a place called Doorway Slope. There were many fields and there was a highroad through the middle of them. It was in the south of the village. I said to Runtong, "I hold the kite for you and you fly it." Runtong handed me the kite and pulled the string. When he pulled it straight, he shouted, "One, two, three, fly!" I sent the kite up. He ran backwards a few steps, then turned rapidly to ran forward. The kite flew up at once. Runtong went on running and running, and loosened that mass of string as he ran. The kite flew high up in the sky, sounding a buzzing sound. In the end the kite flew high enough, it "ate the sky wind" (The airflow did its work). The kite kept still in the sky. Once more we talked of the story about a deaf and a blind man: Some one were flying a kite. They went to watch. The deaf sighed, "How high it is! But how loud is it?" The blind man sighed, "How loud it is! but how high is it?" There were several kinds of kites in my homeland. One of them was round, and it was not easy to make. The kite was equipped with a sounding bow. It sounded loud and well in the sky, and it could be heard in the distance. The sounding bow was made of pumpkin stem. The skin of pumpkin stem was thin and not long enough. So two or three pieces of thin skins were docked with pumpkin Juice. Then they were made into a bow. The kite was a little heavier, so it needed stronger wind to fly up. It was said that a sheet copper bow sounded much louder and much more wonderful. But we didn't make any. Because we were very poor, and we had not a single coin to buy a copper piece at all.

39 One day at noon, a bombing sound came from the outside of the castle. I went out and saw my young fellows playing near the wall. There was a pile of smoking fire. They said, "Don't go near, Uncle. It's dangerous." Then a bombing sound scared me, and sand gravel splashed. On the white wall there were some colorized stains. I asked, "What's this?" They replied, "It's a stone cracker." Runtong said, "Give you one." I took and watched it. It was a stone. It was round and smooth, and it looked just like an egg. People in my homeland called it stone cracker. A stone cracker was lighter than a normal stone, because it was empty inside. Of course some stone crackers had some earth or sand inside. They sounded a little sound when they were swayed. A stone cracker would break and let out a sound of crack when it was thrown on the wall or on something hard. If it was put into a firfor a while, it would be heated and the sound would be much louder. But it would be too hot to get and would be very dangerous. Maybe it would blast and the debris of stone would hurt people. Stone crackers could be found only on several hills in my homeland. At first we didn't understand why the Stone crackers would explode. We thought maybe there was something special in them. We broke some stone crackers and found them empty. We also found some of them had some powder. We put the powder on a fire to burn, but nothing happened. After a long time we make it clear that a stone cracker was only a hard shell outside. The air inside the shell expanded when it was heated. When the stone cracker was hot enough and the air expanded too much, the stone cracker broke out itself at once. I took the stone cracker home. My brother saw it and scared me, "Brother, how dare you play a stone cracker? It would hurt your eyes." I said, "I dare not play it." Mother looked at me and said, "Accept it. Elder brother is just for your own good." 

40 In the next early morning, my mother woke me up. She said, "Little Brother, get up quickly. Go out to pick some tea leaves." I got up at once and asked, "Mother, what use are the tea leaves that you ask me to pick?" My mother answered. "Today is June the nineteenth. It's Guanyin's birthday. We are going to worship Guanyin. Tea is needed." I went out of the castle and saw a little girl carrying water. It was Runlian. She smiled naively and her two little feet moved hard, step by step. Two buckets nearly brushed the earth. Water in them was less than half. I got to the side of the well. Near it were several green tea trees. People in my homeland worshiped Guanyin with this kind of tea, so it was called Guanyin tea. Soon I picked a lot. My mother boiled the tea and poured it into a teapot. Then she put the teapot, a big plate of cakes, two candles, a small bundle of joss sticks and a pile of joss paper in the bamboo basket. She said, "Let's go and worship Guanyin." I followed my mother and entered Chen Ancestral Hall. On the altar were the spirit tablets of Guanyin and Chen Ancestors. My mother lit the candles and the joss sticks，then put them on the altar. Her two hands were together in prayer. Then she poured the tea into three cups on the table in front of the altar and put the plate of cakes on the table, too. Mother said, "Little Brother, worship Guanyin." I bowed to Guanyin's tablet, and my two hands were together in prayer as my mother did. Guanyin's tablet was the tallest. It was in the middle of the back row. My mother said, "Today is Guanyin's birthday. We worship Guanyin with cakes and tea. I pray that Guanyin bless my son with a bright future in studying all the way." I said, "I pray that Guanyin bless my mother with  good health and a long life." Mother lit joss paper and saluted to Guanyin once more. In my soul of childhood, the image of Guanyin was supreme.

41（To be continued)