Days of carrying water

Author: Wen Yajun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The water carrier, Corporal, had taken up this job half a year ago. The task was actually quite simple: each day, he would lead a donkey to the Gaiji River at the foot of the mountain to carry water uphill. The entire company's drinking and cooking water was transported this way, one trip after another by the donkey. Before that, a sergeant had been driving a yak to carry water, but the yak died of old age one day. The company had planned to buy another yak to continue the task, but the newly appointed quartermaster went to Stone City and returned with a donkey instead. The company commander asked the quartermaster why he didn't buy a yak. The quartermaster replied that donkeys were cheaper—you could buy two donkeys for the price of one yak. The company commander praised the quartermaster for being so frugal and approved the decision. But neither of them had expected that the donkey would have a bit of a temper. When it was time to go carry water, the donkey would stubbornly refuse to let the water bucket be placed on its back. Every time the bucket was placed on it, the donkey would shake it off. The sergeant didn't believe in superstitions and called for some soldiers to help tie the bucket to the donkey's back with a rope. The donkey grew angry and kicked and jumped. The sergeant whipped the donkey and cursed, "You think you can be more stubborn than a person?" He then whipped the donkey and forced it to carry water. It wasn't until night that the donkey managed to carry back only two and a half buckets of water, and that was only with the quartermaster and some soldiers helping the sergeant to drag the donkey back.
The quartermaster then realized that he had wasted money on a foolish decision and went to the company commander to admit his mistake and propose trading the donkey for a yak again. However, the company commander said, "Let's just stick with the donkey. Every time we trade, it delays the entire company's water supply." The quartermaster said, "The donkey is unruly and refuses to carry water." The company commander smiled and said, "If it doesn't want to carry water, why force it? That would just cause chaos!" The quartermaster asked, "What then?" The company commander replied, "Break it in!" The quartermaster looked at the company commander in confusion. The company commander explained, "I don't mean for the sergeant to break it in—he's even more stubborn than the donkey. We need someone else." The company commander then proposed that the corporal take over the water-carrying job.
The corporal was a second-year soldier, usually quiet and shy, always blushing when speaking to others. How could he break in a stubborn donkey? The quartermaster thought that carrying water was an important task, affecting the entire company's daily needs. Entrusting such an important job to a soldier who rarely spoke more than half a sentence was a bit of a gamble. But the company commander said, "Let him try."
The next morning, before the wake-up call even sounded, the corporal had already woken up early, led the donkey out of its pen, and placed the water bucket on its back. The donkey, however, didn't show any respect to the new face. It was still extremely reluctant, and every time the bucket was placed on its back, it would shake it off mercilessly. The corporal was not impatient or whipped the donkey. Every time the donkey shook the bucket off, he would place it back on. The bucket was made of leather, so it wouldn't break. He placed it on and off again, using enough patience to compete with the donkey. After a lot of effort, both he and the donkey were sweating profusely, but the corporal finally managed to convince the donkey not to shake the bucket again before leading it down the mountain.
The mountain where the company was stationed was 8 kilometers away from the Gaiji River. Eight kilometers wasn't far in Xinjiang, but it still took nearly two hours for the corporal to lead the donkey there. The donkey deliberately lagged behind, refusing to walk properly. The corporal remained calm and let the donkey walk at its own pace.
When they reached the river, the corporal filled the buckets with water. The donkey then started to cause trouble again, shaking the bucket off several times, splashing water all over the corporal. The corporal, however, remained calm, just like when he arrived. Every time the donkey shook the bucket off, he would place it back on. After much patience, the donkey finally grew tired.
It wasn't until the middle of the afternoon that the corporal returned, carrying two and a half buckets of water. The company was waiting for water, but the quartermaster was about to go help the corporal, but the company commander stopped him. The company commander said, "Let him struggle on his own. If too many people go, we'll just get impatient and make the donkey think we can't handle it. It might become even more stubborn."
After the corporal had drunk water, he didn't rest and grabbed two bread loaves, ready to lead the donkey back to carry more water. The quartermaster was afraid they wouldn't make it back before dark and told him not to go. But the corporal insisted that the water wasn't enough for today and had to go. The quartermaster let him go.
When it got pitch black, the corporal returned with the donkey, still carrying two and a half buckets of water. After drinking, the corporal fed the donkey some hay, ate his own meal, and then led the donkey silently back down the mountain. The quartermaster followed and asked, "Are you going again?" The corporal replied, "I didn't carry enough water today!" The quartermaster said, "It doesn't matter if it's not enough. As long as we have enough to eat and drink, and can wash our faces, that's enough." The corporal said, "Since I didn't carry enough water, I can't stop." As he said this, he glared at the stubborn donkey, which was tugging at the reins in his hand.
The quartermaster thought it was too dangerous to go out in the pitch-black night and insisted on accompanying the corporal. He went to ask the company commander, who said, "Let him go. Maybe this is the only way to deal with this stubborn donkey. There are no on this bare mountain—just let him take a flashlight." The quartermaster still felt uneasy. The company commander said, "You can follow along with some men in the shadows."
That night, the corporal led the donkey out twice more to carry water. It wasn't until just before dawn that he finally let the donkey rest. The next morning, as soon as the wake-up call sounded, the corporal led the donkey out of the pen, fed it, and then went to carry water. Although he carried water until the middle of the night, the buckets were almost full. For several days, it was the same—unless the donkey carried four trips of water, the corporal wouldn't let it rest. But he never whipped the donkey.
The donkey had once been whipped, but it didn't know whether it was grateful for the corporal's kindness or if it had truly been tamed. Gradually, the donkey lost its temper, and the company's water-carrying duties returned to normal. The company commander then told the quartermaster, "See? I told you I didn't pick the wrong corporal. Only someone as persistent as the corporal can handle a stubborn donkey like this." For this, the company commander praised the corporal at the soldiers' meeting.
And so, the corporal began his work as a water carrier. At first, he led the donkey to carry water every day. Gradually, the donkey lost its violent streak, and under the corporal's patient and calm training, it became as gentle as water grass by the river.
In the daily routine of carrying water, the corporal felt that the donkey had truly accepted him and grew even more affectionate toward it. The donkey understood the warmth in his eyes and barked a few times into the empty mountain, then tapped its hooves like a drum in the echoes of its own barks as it walked happily. The corporal sensed the donkey's joy and realized it recognized him. He patted the donkey's back more heartily and then looped the reins around its neck, letting it walk on its own while he followed from behind.
The mountain paths were narrow, sometimes so narrow that only one person could pass at a time. The corporal would walk behind the donkey. Over time, the donkey grew accustomed to this routine, and the corporal mostly followed behind, whether going up or down the mountain. Sometimes, if the donkey walked too fast and the corporal didn't keep up, it would stand by the roadside waiting until the corporal caught up. When the corporal reached it, he would stroke its messy mane and say, "Let's go," before the donkey continued its journey.
At the river, the corporal simply filled the buckets on the donkey's back with water. Once the water was full, the donkey carried it back. In the summer, when the Gaiji River was overgrown with grass, the corporal would let the donkey rest and eat some fresh green grass. He would lie on the grass, feeling the moist mountain breeze from the Gaiji River, watching the donkey chew the grass. The sweet scent of the chewed grass filled the air, and the petals would fall back into the grass. He closed his eyes, listening quietly to the sounds of small insects jumping from one blade of grass to another, and the rustling of the wind entering the grass. He listened so intently that he faintly caught the sound of a long, melodious flute. He suddenly opened his eyes, but the sound was gone, leaving only the tranquil summer sunlight spreading over the mountain, and the donkey nearby chewing grass, occasionally looking up at him with eyes as gentle and tender as a woman's.
Whenever this happened, the corporal would sit up and watch the donkey eat grass, thinking of the deep bond he had formed with it over the days. They were so in sync that when he said "go," the donkey went, and when he said "stop," it stopped—working together perfectly. He realized how adorable the donkey was.
When the corporal felt the donkey was adorable, he suddenly thought of giving it a name. Every day, by the river and on the mountain paths, when he told the donkey to go or stop, he always said "stop" or "go" bluntly, which hurt their bond. It would be better to give it a name. The idea excited him. Without hesitation, he named the donkey "Black Guy."
The corporal named the donkey "Black Guy" because the company commander often called the soldiers "this guy" and "that guy." Since the donkey was all black, he gave it this name. Although the donkey wasn't a soldier, it was still part of the company and his comrade-in-arms, and of course, his subordinate. The name was easy to say and fitting. The corporal started calling it "Black Guy."
At first, the donkey didn't understand that "Black Guy" was its name. Seeing the corporal call to it all the time, it gradually realized. But it still wasn't used to the name and seemed slow to respond to the corporal's constant calls of "Black Guy." Over time, as the calls became more frequent, the donkey had no choice but to accept the name.
Every day, the corporal led "Black Guy" to the mountain to carry four trips of water—two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Each trip carried two buckets, totaling eight buckets. Four buckets were for the mess hall, three for Companies 1, 2, and 3, and one for the headquarters. The morning trips were first for the mess hall, the second for Companies 1 and 2 (one bucket each) for washing, and the afternoon trips were again for the mess hall, the second for Company 3 and the headquarters (one bucket each). This routine gradually became second nature to "Black Guy," which would know exactly where to go and deliver the water without any reminders, saving the corporal a lot of trouble.
One day, the corporal had a stomachache from a cold at night and diarrhea in the morning. On his way back with the second trip of water, he couldn't hold it in and went to the mountain gully to take care of business. When he returned to the path, he found that "Black Guy" had already gone far ahead, turning several mountain ridges away. He hurried to catch up and eventually reached the company. "Black Guy" had already delivered the two buckets of water to the doors of Companies 1 and 2, and the soldiers had already poured the water. "Black Guy" was waiting for the corporal to take down the bucket and eat lunch. The quartermaster was anxiously waiting in the courtyard, thinking the corporal had gotten into trouble and was about to send people to look for him. The corporal rushed to "Black Guy." "Black Guy" thought it had done something wrong and looked at the corporal with wide eyes, waiting for his displeasure. Instead of scolding it, the corporal gently stroked its back and praised it. "Black Guy" barked excitedly, and its enthusiasm infected everyone, making them happy too.
After that, the corporal told the mess hall to let the donkey carry the water back alone. After filling the buckets by the river, he said to "Black Guy," "You go back on your own." "Black Guy" then went up the mountain alone. The first time the corporal let "Black Guy" go alone, he still felt uneasy and secretly followed for several miles. On the winding mountain path, "Black Guy" was undisturbed by anything around it—there wasn't much to distract it anyway. The corporal stood still, watching "Black Guy" walk off alone. From a distance, he saw the donkey's steady figure, which was the only moving point in the quiet mountain peaks and valleys. In the corporal's eyes, this lone moving point suddenly gave the silent mountains and valleys a sense of touching emotion. But he couldn't quite put his finger on what that emotion was.
He watched "Black Guy" walk further and further away until it disappeared from his sight. When "Black Guy" was no longer in his view, the corporal suddenly felt a sense of emptiness. The loneliness from all directions pulled him out of that nameless emotion. He shivered, realizing that loneliness had already seeped into every part of him in an instant.
Only then did the corporal realize that "Black Guy" had taken up a significant place in his heart. In their daily interactions, he hadn't paid much attention, but once "Black Guy" left—even for a short time like this—his sense of loss sprang up like a seed in spring, quickly breaking through the ground. The corporal longed for the sight of "Black Guy" on the mountain path. After more than an hour, his wish was granted—"Black Guy" returned to the river with an empty bucket. The corporal was overjoyed and even kissed "Black Guy," praising its bravery and rewarding it with the fresh grass he had cut while waiting. The "Black Guy"’s mouth one by one, and it shook its tail happily in response.
The corporal had bought a book from Stone City titled "The Days of Carrying Water," "The Charm of Kashgar," "Narration in the Wind," "People and Sheep in a Drought Year," "Making the Man He Loved Cry," "Hand and Back," "Flowers on the Dew," "There's a Sky Ahead," "Saving a Friend," "A Familiar Stranger," "Nomadic Tribes," "Summer Shouts," "Suna Town," "Green Palms," "A Man's Knife," "Sister in Memory," "Sea and Sea," "Blooming Season," and "Everyone in Their Place."