Ye Shengtao: Three kinds of boats.

I haven't been back to Suzhou for three years. I was a little free this autumn, so I went to the grave. The significance of going to the grave is nothing more than sending some money to grave sweepers to let them know that a grave is not illegally sold. You must go to my grave by boat. Suzhou people always go to the grave by boat, and the weather is fine. It's really comfortable to escape from the city circle and breathe freely on the clean river for a day and a half. On this trip, I rented a familiar boat. The painted paint almost peeled off, the window frame was askew, and the flat plate was broken, looking like a basket case. Asked the boatman, sure enough, the ship hasn't been repaired ashore for several years. There was a severe drought this summer, and the ship was trapped in a shallow river. Where is the business, where is the money to go ashore for maintenance? Even in previous years, except for sweeping graves in spring, the boat just stopped at the dock to welcome the breeze and send the sunset. Over the past few years, I have been to various towns and villages with boats. Otherwise, I can take the Dangdang boat from Shaoxing, which is not slower than the boat and the price is very cheap. If you don't go to the grave, I'm afraid all the ships in Suzhou will have to cut wood. And going to the grave is probably going to drop, just like me, and it has been changed to going to the grave every three years.

Ships in Suzhou are called clippers, which are really not fast compared with ships in other places. Because we don't intend to pass through any big lake in the Yangtze River, the draft is very shallow and the bottom of the boat is wide and flat. Except that the bow is open-air, it is divided into three parts: the middle cabin and the canopy. The head cabin can be raised so that people can stand up straight without meeting. There are two or a small backrest on each side and a small coffee table. Red and green corner lights are hung on the front eaves, and red and green tassels are hung on the corner lights. It is a flat plate of light, usually six pieces, supported by horizontal straight wooden strips. Uncover the flat roof, and below is the boatman's storage room. The middle cabin is also covered with several flat plates, but they are almost attached to the bottom of the ship, so it takes more than a foot to cross from the head cabin to the middle cabin. Next to the middle cabin are two rows of small square windows, the upper row can be hung up, and the second row can be removed to look out at the ship's rail. In the past, windows were filled with exposed tiles, or such a small piece of glass was set in the middle of the scattered exposed tiles. Later, when there was more glass, it was made entirely of glass. There are six small screen doors for painting and calligraphy at the boundary between the canopy of the middle cabin and the first cabin, which are installed in different grooves up and down. If you want to turn them on or off, you just need to push them left and right. Most of the paintings and calligraphy are painted in gold, nothing more than cold rain entering Wu, frosty night, Mei Lan, Zhu Ju and so on. In the middle cabin, there is a long board on the back and right side for guests to rest and sit. If you spend the night, just put one or two long boards back and you can make bedding. There is a small square table near the left window, and there are four small square stools next to the square table. If you put a round table on a small square table, a dozen people can eat. The long board on the right back and the flat board in the front cabin are all seats, and a small square stool is put in the corner to make up the number. Finally, when it comes to the canopy, it is the boatman's whole world. Like the first hut, the canopy is located under the apartment, with pots, stoves, cabinets and bedding boxes. Uncovering a flat plate, the boatman squatted there to cut meat and cook, and it was also the place where the paddlers stood and paddled. There is an oar on the left and right, and each oar is served by two people, one as a handle and the other as a rope. If the boatman has a child and he can't walk, he lies in a trapped bucket and puts it on the upturned stern. If he can walk, let him climb there, tie a rope around his waist and tie it to the tent post to prevent him from falling into the river. Four sticks were exposed at the back of the boat and tilted side by side in a smooth way. At first, they may be weapons to protect ships, but later they became decorations. Except for the water part, all the doors and windows on the ship are open, so there is no unpleasant smell of tung oil that is common on other ships. Things that are light are easy to clean, and there is much water beside the boat. As long as the boatman is not lazy, the boat can shine at any time.

Once upon a time, my aunt went back to her family and the old lady went to visit her. It was too hard to ride in a sedan chair, so she called a clipper. Sitting comfortably in the boat, it is better to lie down, drink tea, absorb water and even smoke. It's just that the river in the city is dirty, the garbage dumped by others, the colored water released by the dye house, rice washing, washing clothes and flushing toilets are all by the river, which makes the color and smell of the river indescribable. Sometimes the bodies of dead cats or dead dogs are floating with their stomachs full. Watermelon skin lined with red, white and yellow in summer is even more spectacular. There are many rivers in Suzhou, and some people say it is Venice in the East. How can Venice be envied like this? These, regardless of the aunt, the old lady and others, as long as Xiaotian is comfortable in other places, it is better to be sloppy outside, and it is good to get used to nature, so even the strength of raising your hand and pinching your nose is unnecessary. The river outside the city is much wider and fresher. It is of course the happiest to go to nearby towns, or to travel in the spring and autumn, and to call a clipper on the grave. This is a major event in a patriarchal society. The dishes cooked by boatmen are incomparable to those cooked by restaurants. They are called boat dishes. There are many kinds of regular boat dishes, besides dishes, there are all kinds of snacks, which can't be eaten at one meal. It is ok to do a few things informally. The boatman is well-trained and never takes off his vegetables. To put it bluntly, the food on board was so good that only one seat, a small wok and a small pot were prepared. Soup and water don't mix, and the materials are not sloppy. Naturally, everything has its real taste, which makes people drool. If the boatman enters the big kitchen of the restaurant, stir-fry shrimp in a wok and cook chicken in a cauldron, it will definitely collapse. Having said that, since the food on the boat is good, it is comfortable to sit on the boat, and you can look out and play with a smile day and night, so the clippers are often in short supply. At that time, the idle Suzhou people did not know the word depression, and there was no similar depression in their minds. The clippers acted as the lucky ones to adapt to the time and place.

In addition to cooking, boatmen also have a great skill, that is, swearing. It's not surprising if you can only defend and not attack. After a few words, it won't be entangled like a vine, and it can only be regarded as a second-class role. Pure grammar is conventional, and rhetorical changes will not be applied, so even if it is tangled, there is nothing wonderful. The boatmen and others scolded each other and had no regrets about the three-story building. Well done. The ship is sailing in a narrow river. There is a countryman's firewood boat or something in front, which is rickety and reckless. On the verge of collision, the boatman attacked each other in a tone of abuse. Are you blind? Will this rampage kill you? And so on. If the other party reacts, it will progress to the stage of entanglement, and simply stop the hand that shakes the pole and repeatedly curses. In short, the fault lies with the other party, so his anger is unstoppable. However, it is rare to use force. They think that it is not within the scope of mutual scolding for men to braid their hair and women to twist their chests. At this time, you have to appreciate their rhetorical ability. For example, I can't think of it at the moment, but when I hear what they say, you will think, never think that words can say this, but only by saying this can it contain all kinds of ingredients such as resentment, malice, arrogance and contempt. Scholars who edit life geography textbooks may not have thought that the rivers in Suzhou have developed the ability of boatmen to scold each other.

Their sculling skills were successfully trained in the rivers in the city, so their advantage is that they can be cautious, and ships pass by and never collide. When you get outside the city, you will certainly pull the fiber when you meet the headwind, and you will certainly get a small tarpaulin when you meet the downwind, but compared with other drivers on the ship, it is too shameful. When they dare to pull optical fibers or open tents, the wind must not be very strong. If there is a strong wind, they will reply to you carefully and can't go today. For example, when I go to sweep the grave, I have to pass through Shihu Lake. Although Mr. Wu Qu 'an once wrote a poem saying that the stone lake is stormy and the mountain is low for me, it is really a small lake with only a small square going up the mountain. Every year on the 18th day of the eighth lunar month, many witches go up the mountain to burn incense. As soon as the boatman heard that he was going to cross the Shihu Lake, he looked up at the sky to see if there was any wind. As soon as I entered the stone lake, my face became tense and I stopped talking and laughing. Listen to the sound of the bow gurgling slightly, gently alert each other, waves! Wave! One year, my family went to the grave, and the wind became stronger after ten o'clock. The boatman said that he was not allowed to turn around and insisted on not crossing the Shihu Lake. This time, our legs struggled to run back and forth for 20 miles before they became graves.

Now let's talk about the Dangdang boat of Shaoxing people. That kind of boat is equipped with a gong. When sailing, this is a signal. When passing through the town, it will clang to greet passengers, so it has this strange name. There was no such boat in Suzhou when I was a child. When did it start? I don't know. It wasn't until I went to Jiaojiao to be a teacher that I became attached to that kind of boat. The ship is moored outside the city. It is rumored that it had a fight with the original ship. When the ship saw it coming to grab business, it couldn't help but want to stop it. But when the boatmen only know hard work, if you want to stop them, they will fight you. After several rounds, the boatman knew that he was no match for those Shaoxing people, so he had to look at them with disdain and be free on the water. I wonder if there are any procedures for filing or registering in the middle. In short, it is a fact that Shaoxing people use their wrists to open up routes. We have a saying that sparrow tofu comes from Shaoxing, which means that where there is sparrow tofu, there are Shaoxing people, and Shaoxing people are as common as sparrow tofu. Through the comparison between Dangdang boats and sailboats, it can be proved that Shaoxing people play a very good role in struggle for existence, which is as common as sparrow tofu and has its own reasons. This will be known after reading the following article. Let me describe the system of Dangdang.

Dangdang ship belongs to the system of Wu Peng ship, with square head, cocking tail and dome canopy, and only two people can sit side by side horizontally, so the hull is particularly good. The boat was painted with green glaze, but the bottom was painted with red glaze. When it is lightly loaded, red will appear in the water, which is in sharp contrast with green. The tent is pure black. The rudder is either red or green. When not in use, it is inserted upside down in the middle of the boat, and the name of the town it passes through is marked obliquely, mostly white. The whole ship's materials are very crude, so it's ok to make them, as long as the river doesn't fall over. It doesn't matter if you cross a piece of wood and erect a board, just like mending a worn-out dress. We always enter the cabin from the bow on the next boat. This is not the case when you get on the boat. We often step on the side of the boat and get into the cabin between the two arched canopies that have been pushed open, feeling refreshed. As no one likes to drill the hatch, the goods inspected by the boatman are piled there and the hatch is simply blocked. But be careful when you stand by the boat. Rowing in the West Lake is unstable. Several people must have been to Hangzhou. Dangdang is not much bigger than the rowing boat in the West Lake, and its activities are unstable. You have to face the situation, let the center of gravity fall on the foot standing beside the boat, and then the other foot gently leans down to light up the flat covered in the cabin. You must sit down when you enter the engine room. Near the sides of the boat are narrow and thin long boards, which are only one foot higher than the paved flat. When you sit down, you have to shrug your knees. If someone stands on the other side, it will be a real knee jump. The vest can lean against the awning, and it is best not to straighten the trunk. When you straighten your head and touch the top of the awning, you will inevitably feel a sense of promotion. Most of the people who arrived first sat in the gap between two arched canopies that were pushed open. Although it is a service road, it is always troublesome for people to get far away, but it is a superior position, which is breathable and can see the scenery along the way. You can also put your arms on the side of the boat in turn to relax your sedentary sleepiness. However, in case of wind and rain or extremely cold weather, the awning must be brought in, so there is no upper position. Everyone is equal, buried in the dark and stinking.

There are almost no more than forty boatmen on Dangdang, and they are all strong and do not know how to cherish their own strength. As soon as they set sail, they rowed like hell. Five people stood on both sides of the high-pitched stern. Each person is responsible for an oar, one hand makes the oar handle and the other hand makes the oar rope. The paddle is very long and lighter than the paddle on the boat next to it. As soon as the oars were pushed out, their upper bodies rushed out as if they were going to fall into the river. Then take back the paddle handle, and their bodies lean back as if to sit down. The five oars paddled vigorously in the water, and the hull moved forward quickly. Sometimes an oar is added to the bow and the vest is pulled in front, which naturally improves the speed. I only heard the river flowing back alive and playing a brisk tone. The boatmen rowed, sang Yue Opera casually, or played jokes on each other. They have Shaoxing-style sexual dialogue and humorous words, so they forget fatigue and passengers get good information to relieve boredom. They also like to compete with other ships. When they saw a boat ahead, the boatman seemed to be rocking the boat very hard. One of them gave the order to catch up, and the others immediately agreed, pushed and hugged hard, and then rushed out and bent over, as if suddenly crazy. After a while, the boat in front was caught up. They laughed to celebrate the victory and resumed their original speed. Because they row fast, impatient people are happy to take their boat. For example, the 49 road (36 miles) from Suzhou to Jiaotoe. Similarly, it takes six hours by boat and four hours to land early. Even if you don't want to do anything, your body will be less bound. Moreover, the ship price is also 140p14 copper coins. This price was fifteen years ago and should be raised now. )

Of course, it was smooth sailing, and the boat was covered. Awning is made of rags, old elegiac couplets, dry bread and other materials, most of which are almost square. Because the hull is not large, you can see that the canopy is particularly large and a bit out of proportion. The awning pole stands at the position of the bow hatch, which is a less thick bamboo head. The stronger the wind, the more bent the awning pole, and the windy awning is carried on one side of the boat. At this time, the speed of the ship is naturally faster, listening to the sound of water, as if riding a motorboat. But people who are not so courageous can't help but panic, because the sides of the boat are uneven, the low side is almost level, and the waves are very big. From time to time, water splashes out from the cracks in the canopy. If you sit low and passively lean back, no one will think that you will be the first to fall into the water as soon as the boat capsizes. It takes more effort to sit in a higher position. You should straighten your legs and put your feet on the flat plate, so as not to get up from your seat and fall on the opposite person. Sometimes the wind blows from the cross, and they also set up a canopy, sometimes on the left and then on the right, so that the boat can draw a curve on the river. So the sides of the boat alternate, and passengers are like sitting on the seesaw in kindergarten. This kind of life can be uncomfortable, and some people secretly complain. But when there are few shipwrecks, the wind is really wrong, and those boatmen still have a hard time. Once I went to cross my toes, the wind was so strong that I was almost immersed in the water. Although the weather was bad, the passengers were happy because the ship was sailing very fast. Later, I entered the Wusong River, where the river is very wide and the ship walks along the headwind. Suddenly, a few more violent winds blew, and the awning was wet and left the water. Passengers can't even call out, but they just hold on to the canopy or wooden board where they are sitting. Plop, plop, three or four boatmen jumped into the water. Together, they held the protruding side of the boat, and when the boatman who stayed on the boat put down the canopy, they climbed onto the boat dripping with water, took off their wet clothes, picked up the paddle and rowed desperately.

When it comes to sailing, almost everyone who makes trouble has a philosophy that he will always be a realist no matter what. It's always one anyway. What is important? I didn't burn my eyebrows when I arrived. Slow down. Therefore, most of the boatmen hold pipes more than a foot long, close their eyes and occasionally take a sip when they think of it. As soon as one tube is finished, they slowly screw on the tobacco and then suck the second tube. Contrary to Dangdang, few people are under forty. The smoke went smoothly, so I got up and straightened the tent rope and made a pot of male tea. Don't think that the ship is about to set sail, they have to sit down and talk about idle days. It was not until the burden of delivering letters and things to others returned to the ship that there was a little hope. Fortunately, it doesn't matter to the guests on board. They come once or twice every ten minutes or twenty or thirty minutes. After disembarking, they go ashore again, buy snacks and drink tea for ten minutes or a moment. Some people buy soju, dried tofu and peanuts, and they are going to drink them all the way. Some people didn't buy anything, but they brought an endless stream of mouths, and they talked before they sat down to choose their opponents. In their place, it really doesn't matter if you are late, and it doesn't matter if you don't arrive. People who are used to going by boat and train have to work hard to cultivate their health before going by boat, otherwise this kind of trip will be unhappy for at least three days.

The ship is much bigger than Dangdang, with an open hull and a square wooden cabin, unlike Dangdang, which only uses reed mats. The canopy is also very wide, and the boatmen are covered when it rains and sunny. The middle cabin in the front cabin is the passenger area. Sitting cross-legged in the first cabin. In the middle cabin, there is a long board lying horizontally. Sitting on the board, the calf can be vertical. But sometimes the middle cabin needs to be loaded, and there are bean cakes and vegetable oil under the long board, so passengers have to sit with their legs up. The window is a piece of wood. You must remove them if you want to open them. If not, you must close them. Usually there is a door on each side, so sitting in the cabin is a little uncomfortable. Sitting bored, if you look back at the old people rocking the boat in the canopy, you will feel bored. Their push-pull distance is very small, as if they have no strength at all, and their eyes look blankly at the shore. After so many years, they stepped on footprints, but they didn't seem bored. They still go the same way every day, and they are familiar with every grass and stone. Compared with the two, taking a boat is slow and boring. It's faster by boat, just looking forward to the wind. The awning pole stands between the first cabin and the middle cabin. It is a thick and long piece of wood. The canopy is huge, with a straight top and many bamboo heads supported horizontally. Push forward proudly after eating the wind, which is very imposing. On the windiest day, Suzhou arrived at Jiaodi at 3: 30. However, the passenger is always an idealist after all. Although he shouted that it was a rare day, on the other hand, he seemed to feel that the wind was too strong and the ship was too fast, and he couldn't help showing disappointment on his face when he crossed the shore. Stop work when you encounter a headwind, unlike Dangdang, you always have to fight with manpower anyway. When the guests walked to the dock, they saw a lonely boat parked there, and there was no one there. Knowing that he was standing, he turned around casually. The wind will stop one day, so the ship will leave one day. I can't be so quiet when I am busy posting letters. Every time the janitor returns the letter, he says that the ship can't sail today, so I have to put up with discomfort all day.

Published in Taibai, Volume 1 No.7 (193465438+February 20th), signed by Ye Shengtao; 198 1 year165438+1modified on October 23rd.