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Waerly Jong
I was si when ther taught the art of inisible strength. It was a strategy for winning argunts, respect froothers, aually, though her of us k at the ti, chess gas.
quot;Bite back your tongue,quot;lded ther when I cried loudly, yanking her hand toward the store that sold bags of saed plu. At ho, she said, quot;Wise guy, he not go against wind. In ese we say, e froSouth, blow with wind—poo—North will follow. Stro wind ot be seen.quot;
The week I bit babsp; tongue as we ehe store with the forbidden dies. When ther finished her shopping, she quietly plucked a sll bag of plu frothe rad put it oer with the rest of the ite.
My ther iarted her daily truths so shuld help older brothers and rise aboe our circes. We lied in San Francs atown. Like st of the other ese children who pyed in the back alleys of restaurants and curio shops, I didnt think we were poor. My bowl was always full, three fiurse als eery day, beginning with a soup full of sterious things I didnt want to know the nas of.
We lied on Waerly Pce, in a war , two-bedrooft that sat aboe a sll ese bakery specializing in stead pastries and disu In the early when the alley was still quiet, uld sll fragrant red beans as they weroked down to a pasty sweetness. By daybreak, our ft was heay with the odor of fried sesa balls and sweet curried chi crests. Fro bed, I would listen as father got ready for work, then locked the door behind hi owo-three clicks.
At the end of our two-block alley was a sll sandlot pyground with swings and slides well-shined down the ddle with use. The py area was bordered by wood-st benches where old-try people sat crag roasted waterlon seeds with their goldeh and scattering the husks to an iatient gathering of gurgling pigeons. The best pyground, howeer, was the dark alley itself. It was craed with daily steries and adentures. My brothers and I would peer into the dial herb shop, watg old Li dole out onto a stiff sheet of white paper the right aunt of i shells, saffrolored seeds, and pu leaes for his ailing ers. It was said that he once cured a won dying of an aral curse that had eluded the best of Ari doctors. o the pharcy rinter who specialized in gold-eossed wedding initations aie red banners.
Farther dowreet ing Yuen Fish Market. The front window dispyed a tank crowded with dood fish and turtles struggling to gain footing on the sli green-tiled sides. A hand-written sign inford tourists, quot;Within this store, is all for food, not for pet.quot; Ihe butchers with their blood-stained white scks deftly gutted the fish while ers cried out their orders and shouted, quot;Gie your freshest,quot; On less crowded rket days, we would ihe crates of lie frogs and crabs which we were warned not to poke, boes of dried cuttlefish, and row upon row of iced prawns, squid, and slippery fish. The sanddabs de shier each ti; their eyes y oened side and rended of thers story of a careless girl who ran into a crowded street and was crushed by a cab. quot;Was ssh ft,quot; reported ther.
At the er of the alley was Hong Sings, a four-table caf?with a recessed stairwell in front that led to a door rked quot;Tradesn.quot; My brothers and I belieed the bad people erged frothis door at night. Tourists neer went to Hong Sings, sihe nu rinted only in ese. A Caucasian n with a big cara once posed and  ytes in front of the restaurant. He had us e to the side of the picture window so the photo would capture the roasted duck with its head dangling froa juicered rope. After he took the picture, I told hihe should go into Hong Sings a dinner. When he sled and asked what they sered, I shouted, quot;Guts and ducks feet and octopus gizzards!quot; Then I ran off with friends, shrieking with ughter as we scaered across the alley and hid iryway grotto of the a Gepany, heart pounding with hope that he would chase us.
My ther nad after the street that we lied on: Waerly Pce Jong, official na for iortant Ari dots. But faly called Meii, quot;Little Sister.quot; I was the you, the only daughter. Each before sy ther would twist and yank on thick bck hair until she had ford two tightly wound pigtails. One day, as she struggled to weae a hard-toothed b through disobedient hair, I had a sly thought.
I asked her, quot;Ma, what is ese torture?quot; My ther shook her head. A bobby pin was wedged between her lips. She wetted her pand sothed the hair aboe ear, then pushed the pin in so that it nicked sharply against scalp.
quot;Who say this word?quot; she asked without a trace of knowing how wicked I was being. I shrugged shoulders and said, quot;So boy in css said ese people do ese torture.quot;
quot;ese people do ny things,quot; she said sily. quot;ese people do business, do die, do painting. Not zy like Ari people. We do torture. Best torture.quot;
My older brother Vi was the one who actually got the chess set. We had goo the annual Christs party held at the First ese Baptist Church at the end of the alley. The ssionary dies had put together a Santa bag of gifts donated by ers of another churone of the gifts had nas ohere were separate sacks for boys and girls of different ages.
One of the ese parishioners had donned a Santa Cus e and a stiff paper beard wittton balls glued to it. I think the only children who thought he was the real thioo young to know that Santa Cus was not ese. When turn ca up, the Santa n asked how old I was. I thought it was a trick question; I was seen a to the Ari for a by the ese dar. I said I was born on March 17, 1951. That seed to satisfy hi He then solely asked if I had been a ery, ery good girl this year and did I beliee in Jesus Christ and obey  arents. I khe only ao that. I nodded back with equal soleity.
Haing watched the other children opening their gifts, I already khat the big gifts were not necessarily the ones. One girl age got a rge c book of biblical characters, while a less greedy girl who selected a sller bo receied a gss ial of eoilet water. The sound of the bo was also iortant. A ten-year-old boy had chosen a bo that jangled when he shook it. It was a tin ;ar;/arglobe of the world with a slit for iing ney. He st hae thought it was full of dis and nickels, because when he saw that it had just ten pennies, his face fell with sudisguised disappoihat his ther spped the side of his head and led hiout of the church hall, apologizing to the crowd for her son who had such bad nners huldnt appreciate such a fine gift.
As I peered into the sack, I quickly fihe reining presents, testing their ght, igining what they tained. I chose a heay, pae that was ed in shiny siler foil and a red satin ribbon. It was a twele-pack of Life Saers and I spent the rest of the party arranging and rearranging the dy tubes in the order of faorites. My brother Winston chose wisely as well. His present turned out to be a bo of intricate pstic parts; the instrus on the bo procid that when they were properly asseled he would hae an authentiiature replica of a World War II subrine.
Vi got the chess set, which would hae been a ery det present to get at a church Christs party, ecept it was obiously used and, as we dered ter, it was ssing a bck pawn and a white knight. My aciously thahe unknown beor, saying, quot;Too good. st too ch.quot; At which point, an old dy with fine white, wispy hair oward our faly and said with a whistling whisper, quot;Merry, rry Christs.quot;
Whe ho, ther told Vio throw the chess set away. quot;She not want it. We not want it,quot; she said, tossing her head stiffly to the side with a tight, proud sle. My brothers had deaf ears. They were already lining up the chess pieces and reading frothe dog-eared instru book.
I watched Vi and Winston py during Christs week. The chess board seed to hold eborate secrets waiting to be untahe chessn were re powerful than Old Lis gic herbs that cured aral curses. And brothers wore such serious faces that I was sure sothing was at stake that was greater than aoiding the tradesns door to Hong Sings.
quot;Let ! Let !quot; I begged between gas when one brother or the other would sit back with a deep sigh of relief and ictory, the other annoyed, uo let go of the oute. Vi at first refused to let  y, but when I offered Life Saers as repts for the buttons that filled in for the ssing pieces, he relented. He chose the fors: wild cherry for the bck paeppernt for the white knight. Winneuld eat both.
As our ther sprinkled flour and rolled out sll doughy circles for the stead dulings that would be our dihat night, Vi epihe rules, pointing to each piece. quot;You hae siteen pieces and so do I. One king and queen, two bishops, two knights, two castles, a pawns. The pawns only e forward oep, ecept on the first e. Then they e two. But they only take n by ing crossways like this, ecept in the beginning, when you e ahead and take another pquot;
quot;Why?quot; I asked as I ed  awn. quot;Why t they e re steps?quot;
quot;Because theyre pawns,quot; he said.
quot;But why do they go crossways to take other n. Why arent there any won and children?quot;
quot;Why is the sky blue? Why st you always ask stupid questions?quot; asked Vi. quot;This is a ga. These are the rules. I didheup. See. Here. In the book.quot; He jabbed a page with a pawn in his hand. quot;Pawn. P-A-W-N. Pawn. Read it yourself.quot;
My ther patted the flour off her hands. quot;Let see book,quot; she said quietly. She sed the pages quickly, not reading the fn English syols, seeng to search deliberately for nothing in particur.
quot;This Ari rules,quot; she cluded at st. quot;Eery ti people e out frofn try, st know rules. You not know, judge say, Too bad, go back. They not telling you why so you use their way go forward. They say, Dont know why, you find out yourself. But they knowing all the ti. Better you take it, find out why yourself.quot; She tossed her head back with a satisfied sle.
I found out about all the whys ter. I read the rules and looked up all the big words in a diary. I borrowed books frothe atown library. I studied each chess piece, trying to absorb the power each tained.
I learned about opening es and why its iortant to trol the ter early on; the shortest distaween two points is straight down the ddle. I learned about the ddle ga and why tactics between two adersaries are like g ideas; the one who pys better has the clearest pns for both attack;ar?9９lｉｂ?;/aring aing out of traps. I learned why it is essential in the endga to hae fht, a thetical uanding of all possible es, and patience; all weaknesses and adantages bee eident to a strong adersary and are obscured to a tiring oppo. I dered that for the whole ga o gather inisible strengths ahe endga before the ga begins.
I also found out why I should neer reeal quot;;quot; to others. A little knowledge withheld is a great adantage one should store for future use. That is the power of chess. It is a ga of secrets in whiust show and ell.
I loed the secrets I found withiy-four bd white squares. I carefully drew a handde chessboard and pi to the wall o bed, where at night I would stare for hours at iginary battles. Soon I no longer lost any gas or Life Saers, but I lost adersaries. Winston and Vi decided they were re ied in roang the streets after school in their Hopalong Cassidwboy hats.
On ld spring afternoon, while walking ho froschool, I detoured through the pyground at the end of our alley. I saw a group of old n, two seated across a folding table pying a ga of chess, others sking pipes, eatis, and watg. I ran ho and grabbed Vis chess set, which was bound in a cardboard bo with rubber bands. I also carefully selected two prized rolls of Life Saers. I ca back to the park and appr;rk;/rkoached a n who was the ga.
quot;Want to py?quot; I asked hi His face widened with surprise and he grinned as he looked at the bo under ar
quot;Little sister, been a long ti since I py with dolls,quot; he said, sling bely. I quickly put the bo dowo hion the bend dispyed retort.
Lau Po, as he allowed to call hi turned out to be a ch better pyer than brothers. I lost ny gas and ny Life Saers. But oer the weeks, with each dinishing roll of dies, I added new secrets. Lau Po gae the he Double Attack frothe East a Shores. Throwing Stones on the Drowning Man. The Suddeing of the . The Surprise frothe Sleeping Guard. The Hule Serant Who Kills the King. Sand in the Eyes of Adang Forces. A Double Killing Without Blood.
There were also the fine points of chess etiquette. Keep captured n i rows, as well-tended prisoners. Neer announce quot;Checkquot; with anity, lest sooh an unseen sword slit your throat. Neer hurl pieces into the sandbo after you hae lost a ga, because then you st find theagain, by yourself, after apologizing to all around you. By the end of the suer, Lau Po had taught all he knew, and I had bee a better chess pyer.
A sll weekend crowd of ese people and tourists would gather as I pyed aed oppos one by one. My ther would join the crowds during these outdoor ehibition gas. She sat proudly on the bench, telling adrers with proper ese hulity, quot;Is luck.quot;
A n who watched  y in the park suggested that ther allow to py in local chess tours. My ther sled graciously, an ahat ant nothing. I desperately wao go, but I bit babsp; tongue. I knew she would not let  y ang strangers. So as we walked ho I said in a sll oice that I didnt want to py in the local tour. They would hae Ari rules. If I lost, I would bring sha on faly.
quot;Is sha you fall down nobody push you,quot; said ther.
During first tour, ther sat with in the front row as I waited for turn. I frequently bounbsp; legs to unstick thefrothe etal seat of the folding chair. When na was called, I leapt up. My ther uned sothing in her p. It was her g, a sll tablet of red jade which held the suns fire. quot;Is luck,quot; she whispered, and tucked it into dress pocket. I turo oppo, a fifteen-year-old boy froOaknd. He looked at , wrinkling his nose.
As I began to py, the boy disappeared, thlor ran out of the roo and I saw only white pieces and his bes waiting oher side. A light wind began blowing past ears. It whispered secrets only uld hear.
quot;Blow frothe South,quot; it rred. quot;The wind leaes no trail.quot; I saw a clear path, the traps to aoid. The crowd rustled. quot;Shhh! Shhh!quot; said the ers of the roo The wind blew stronger. quot;Throw sand frothe East to distract hiquot; The knight ca forward ready for the sacrifice. The wind hissed, louder and louder. quot;Blow, blow, blow. He ot see. He is blind now. Make hilean away frothe wind so he is easier to knock do;quot;
quot;Check,quot; I said, as the wind roared with ughter. The wind died down to little puffs, owh.
My ther pbsp; first trophy o a new pstic chess set that the neighborhood Tao society had gien to . As she wiped each piece with a soft cloth, she said, quot;i win re, lose less.quot;
quot;Ma, its not hoieces you lose,quot; I said. quot;Sotis you o lose pieces to get ahead.quot;
quot;Better to lose less, see if you really need.quot;
At the our, I won again, but it was ther who wore the triuhant grin.
quot;Lost eight piece this ti. Last ti was eleen. What I tell you? Better off lose less!quot; I was annoyed, but uldnt say anything.
I attended re tours, eae farther away froho. I won all gas, in all diisions. The ese bakery downstairs froour ft dispyed growinlle of trophies in its window, adst the dusered cakes that were neer picked up. The day after I won an iortant regional tour, the window encased a fresh sheet cake with whipped-creafrosting and red script saying, quot;gratutions, Waerly Jong, atown Chess Chaion.quot; Soon after that, a flower shop, headstone engraer, and funeral parlor offered to sponsor in national tours. Thats when ther decided I no longer had to do the dishes. Winston and Vi had to do chores.
quot;Why does she get to py and we do all the work,quot; pined Vi.
quot;Is new Ari rules,quot; said ther. quot;Meii py, squeeze all her brains out for win chess. You py, worth squeeze towel.quot;
By ninth birthday, I was a national chess chaion. I was still so 429 points away frogrand-ster status, but I was touted as the Great Ari Hope, a child prodigy and a girl to boot. They ran a photo of in Life gazio a quote in which Bobby Fischer said, quot;There will neer be a won grand ster.quot; quot;Your e, Bobby,quot; said the caption.
The day they took the gazine picture I wore ly pited braids clipped with pstic barrettes tried with rhiones. I ying in a rge high school auditoriuthat echoed with phlegghs and the squeaky rubber knobs of chair legs sliding across freshly waed wooden floors. Seated across fro was an Ari n, about the sa age as Lau Po, ybe fifty. I reer that his sweaty brow seed to weep at eery e. He wore a dark, lodorous suit. One of his pockets was stuffed with a great white kerchief on which he wiped his palbefore sweeping his hahe chosen chess piece with great flourish.
In crisp pink-and-white dress with scratchy ce at the neck, one of two ther had sewn for these special oasions, I would bsp; hands under , the delicate points of elbows poised lightly oable in the nner ther had shown for posing for the press. I would swing  ateher shoes bad forth like an iatient child riding on a school bus. Then I would pause, su lips, twirl chosen pie dair as if undecided, and then firy pnt it in its hreatening pce, with a triuhant sle thrown back at oppo food asure.
I no longer pyed in the alley of Waerly Pce. I neer isited the pyground where the pigeons and old n gathered. I went to school, then directly ho to learn new chess secrets, cleerly cealed adantages, re escape routes.
But I found it difficu to trate at ho. My ther had a habit of standing oer while I plotted out gas. I think she thought of herself as  rotectie ally. Her lips would be sealed tight, and after each e I de, a soft quot;Hphquot; would escape froher nose.
quot;Ma, I t practice when you stand there like that,quot; I said one day. She retreated to the kit and de loud noises with the pots and pans. When the crashing stopped, uld see out of the er of eye that she was standing in the doorway. quot;Hh!quot; Only this one ca out of her tight throat.
My parents de ny cessions to allow to practie I pihat the bedrooI shared was so noisy that uldnt think. Thereafter, brothers slept in a bed in the liing roofag the street. I said uldnt finish ribsp; head didnt wht when stoch was too full. I left the table with half-finished bowls and nobody pined. But there was oy uldnt aoid. I had to apany ther on Saturday rket days when I had no touro py. My ther would proudly walk with , isiting ny shops, buying ery little. quot;This daughter Wae-ly Jong,quot; she said to whoeer looked her way.
One day, after we left a shop I said under breath, quot;I wish you wouldnt do that, telling eerybody Iyour daughter.quot; My ther stopped walking. Crowds of people with heay bags pushed past us on the sidewalk, buing into first one shoulder, then another.
quot;Aiii-ya. So sha be with ther?quot; She grasped haighter as she gred at .
I looked down. quot;Its not that, its just so obious. Its just so earrassing.quot;
quot;Earrass you be daughter?quot; Her oice was crag with anger.
quot;Thats not what I ant. Thats not what I said.quot;
quot;What you say?quot;
I k was a stake to say anything re, but I heard oice speaking. quot;Why do you hae to use to show off? If you want to show off, then why dont you learn to py chess.quot;
My thers eyes turned into dangerous bck slits. She had no words for , just sharp silence.
I fe the wind rushing around hot ears. I jerked hand out of thers tight grasp and spun around, knog into an old won. Her bag of groceries spilled to the ground.
quot;Aii-ya! Stupid girl!quot; ther and the won cried. es and tin s careened down the sidewalk. As ther stooped to help the old ick up the esg food, I took off.
I raced dowreet, dashiween people, not looking back as ther scread shrilly, quot;Meii! Meii!quot; I fled down an alley, past dark curtained shops as washing the gri off their windows. I sped into the sunlight, inte street crowded with tourists eaning tris and souenirs. I ducked into another dark alley, dow, up another alley. I ran until it hurt and I realized I had o go, that I was not running froanything. The alleys tained no escape routes.
My breath ca out like angry ske. It wald. I sat down on an upturned pstic pail o a stapty boes, cupping with hands, thinking hard. I igined ther, first walking briskly dowreet or another looking for , then giing up aurning ho to await arrial. After two hours, I stood up on creaking legs and slowly walked ho.
The alley was quiet and uld see the yellow lights shining froour ft like two tigers eyes in the night. I clied the siteeo the door, adang quietly up each so as not to ke any warning sounds. I turhe knob; the door was locked. I heard a chair ing, quick steps, the locks turning—click! click! click!—and then the door opened.
quot;About ti you got ho,quot; said Vi. quot;Boy, are you in trouble.quot;
He slid back to the diable. On a ptter were the reins of a rge fish, its fleshy head still ected to bones swiing upstreain ain escape. Standing there waiting for  unishnt, I heard ther speak in a dry oice.
quot;We not ing this girl. This girl not hae ing for us.quot;
Nobody looked at . Bone chopsticks ked against the insides of bowls beiied into hungry uths.
I walked into roo closed the door, and y down on bed. The roowas dark, the ceiling filled with shadows frothe dii lights of neighb fts.
In head, I saw a chessboard with sity-four bd white squares. Opposite was oppo, two angry bck slits. She wore a triuhant sle. quot;Stro wind ot be seen,quot; she said.
Her b adanced across the pne, slowly rg to each suessie leel as a single unit. My white pieces scread as they scurried and fell off the board one by one. As her n drew closer to edge, I fe self growing light. I rose up into the air and flew out the window. Higher and higher, aboe the alley, oer the tops of tiled roofs, where I was gathered up by the wind and pushed up toward the night sky until eerything below disappeared and I was alone.
I closed eyes and pondered e.
百度搜索 The Joy Luck Club 或 The Joy Luck Club 本站 即可找到本书最新章节.