Read Online Along the River by Adeline Yen Mah - Free Book Online Page B

of people gathered round the stallkeeper. He’s standing in front of a number of bamboo cages, each containing a single bird.
    “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” the bird-seller is saying. “The price of one of these sparrow hawks alone is twenty tong bi (copper coins). How can I sell you this stack of three birds for ten coppers?”
    “I’m not particular about what kind of bird it is,” Ah Zhao replies. “Just let me have any three birds for ten coppers. In fact, you can even keep your cages if—”
    “What about getting the sparrow hawk? This one is trained to hunt.”
    The merchant takes the black-and-white bird out of its cage and places it on his left forearm. He points to a sparrow hopping around from stall to stall, then coaxes the hawk into a lying-down position on his right palm. Immediately, the hawk’s eyes rivet on the sparrow.
    “Give me fifteen copper coins and I’ll show you how to throw my hawk at that sparrow like a dart. If it doesn’t kill its quarry with one try, you can have your money back and take any one of my birds home for free. If it succeeds, I keep the money and this sparrow hawk is yours. How about it?”
    “No! I loathe birds that hunt!” Ah Zhao says. “Give me three birds for ten coppers and keep your cages.”
    “I never heard of such a thing! How’re you going to take the birds home without their cages?”
    “That’s my problem. Not yours.”
    “I’ll go bankrupt if I sell you three birds for ten coppers.”
    “All right! How about two birds for ten coppers?”
    “Who keeps the cages?”
    “You do.”
    “Any type of birds?”
    “Yes.”
    “How about these two pigeons for ten coppers?”
    “Fine!”
    “So, these two pigeons are yours for ten coppers. Now, I’d like to see what you’re going to do with them without a cage.”
    He hands over the two caged birds to Ah Zhao, who pays him. Ah Zhao calmly opens the doors of the cages and releases the pigeons, one after the other, into the sky. A murmur of astonishment goes through the crowd of onlookers. I can tell by the way they shake their heads that they can hardly believe what they are seeing.
    The bird-seller is outraged. “What did you do that for?”
    “If you were a bird imprisoned in a cage, what’s the one thing you would yearn for?”
    “I have no idea. What is it?”
    “Freedom! Lack of freedom is a fate worse than death!”
    “You’re mad! But why should I care? Just give me back my cages, as agreed, and we’ll go our separate ways.”
    I watch as the two pigeons flap their wings and soar away joyously toward the horizon. Happy birds, I think to myself. I wish I had eyes buried in their feathers so I could follow their flight across the wide blue yonder and go wherever they roam. I can see from Ah Zhao’s body language that he’s happy to have set the birds free. It occurs to me that, as a servant, he must feel like a caged bird himself. Just like me.
    At that moment, Gege creeps up stealthily behind Ah Zhao, tackles him from behind, covers his eyes and shouts, “Guess who I am, Big Nose!”
    “Can it possibly be the handsome and talented Zhang Ze Duan, famous court-painter-to-be?” The two boys laugh and shadowbox and chase one another along the grassy shore.
    “Tell me about the boats, Ah Zhao,” I say.
    “Amazing variety, aren’t they?” He brushes grass off his black, hemp cloth trousers as I join them. “See the cluster of boats on the other side of the teahouse? Most of those belong to fishermen. Families of four or six people sleep, eat and work in them.”
    “I see some fishermen even keep birds as pets.”
    “Those are special birds called cormorants. The fisherman places a metal ring round their neck so they can’t swallow big fish. He lowers them into the water to catch fish, then takes the ones they can’t swallow from their mouths.”
    “What about that cargo boat laden with boxes? What’s making it move up the river?” Gege points to two vessels close