It was two years earlier:at festival time,on the fifth day of the fifth month, Grandpa found somcone to replace him at the ferry and took the yellow dog and Cuicui into town to sce the boat race. The riverbanks were crowded with people as four long, red boats slipped across the river depths. The “Dragon Boat tide”that raised the waters,the pea-green color of the stream, the bright, clear day, and the booming of the drums had Cuicui pursing her lips in silence, though her heart swelled with inexprcssible joy. It was so crowded, with everyone strain- ing to see what was happening on the river, that before long, though the yellow dog remained at Cuicui's side, Grandpa was jostled away out of sight.

Cuicui kept watching the boat race, thinking to herself that her grandfather was bound to come back soon. But a long time passed and he failed to return.Cuicui began to feel a little panicky. When the two of them had come to town the

day before with the yellow dog, Grandpa had asked Cuicui, “Tomorrow is the boat race:if you go into town by yourself to see it,will you be afraid of the crowd?”Cuicui replied, “Crowds don't scare me,but it's no fun to watch the race by

yourself”

At that,her grandfather thought it over and finally remembered an old friend in town.He went thar night to ask the old man to come tend the ferryboat for the day so he could bring Cuicui to town.Since the other man was even more alone than the old ferryman,without a relative to his name—not even a dog—it was agreed that he'd come over in the morning for a meal and a cup of realgar wine.The next day

arrived;with the meal finished and the ferry duty handed over to the other man,Cuicui and her family entered the town.It occurred to Grandpa to ask along the way,once again:“Cuicui, with so many people down there,and so much commotion,

do you dare go down to the riverbank to watch the dragon boats alone?”Cuicui answered,“Of course I do!But what's the point of watching it alone?"Once they got to the river, the four vermilion boats at Long Depths mesmerized Cuicui.

She forgot all about her grandfather.He thought to himself, “This will take some time;it'll be another three hours before it's over.My friend back at the ferry deserves to see the young people whoop it up.I ought to go back and trade places with

him.There's plenty of time.”So he told Cuicui,“It's crowded, so you stay right in this spot.I have to go do something,but I'll be sure to get back in time to take you home."Cuicui was spellbound by the sight of two boats racing prow-to-prow,so

she agreed withour taking in what her grandpa had said.Real- izing that the yellow dog at Cuicui's side might well be more reliable than he,the old man returned home to the ferry.

When he arrived,Grandpa saw his old friend standing below the white pagoda,listening to the distant sound of the

drums.

Grandpa hailed him to bring the boat over so the two could ferry across the brook and stand under the pagoda together.The friend asked why the old ferryman had returned in such a hurry.Grandpa told him he wanted to spell him a while.He'd left Cuicui by the shore so his friend could also enjoy the excitement down at the big river.He added,“If you like the spectacle,no need to return,just tell Cuicui to come home when it's over.If my little girl is afraid to come by herself,you can accompany her back!”Grandpa's stand-in had long ago lost any interest in watching dragon boats;he'd rather stay here with the ferryman on the big bluffs by the stream and drink a cup or two of wine.The old ferryman was quite happy to hear that.He took out his gourd of wine and gave it to his friend from town.They reminisced about Dragon Boat Festivals past as they drank.Pretty söon the friend drank himself to sleep,out on the rock.

Having succumbed to the liquot,he could hardly return to town.Grandpa couldn't very well abandon his post at the ferry, cither.Cuicui,who was stranded at the river,began to worry. The boat race achieved its final outcome and the military

officers in town sent a boat into the Long Depths to release the

ducks.Still Grandpa was nowhere to be seen.Fearing that her

grandfather might be waiting for her somewhere else,Cuicui

and the yellow dog made their way through the crowd,and

still there was no trace of him.Soon it would be twilight.All

the soldiers from town who'd come hefting benches to watch

the commotion had shouldered them nowand returned home,

one by one.Only three or four ducks remained at liberty in

the river.The number of people chasing them was dwindling,

too.The sun was setting,in the direction of Cuicui's home

upstream.Dusk draped the river in a thin coat of mist.A

terrible thought suddenly occurred to Cuicui as she surveyed

this scene:“Could Grandpa be dead?”

Keeping in mind that Grandpa had asked her to stay in

this spot,she tried to disprove the awful thought to herself by

imagining that he must have gone into town and run into an

acquaintance,maybe been dragged off to have a drink.That

was why he hadn't come back.Because it really was a possi-

bility,she didn't want to leave for home with the yellow dog

when it wasn't completely dark yet.She could only keep on

waiting for her grandpa there by the stone pier.

Soon two long boats from the other shore moved into

a small tributary and disappeared.Nearly all the spectators

had dispersed,too.The prostitutes in the houses on stilts

lit their lanterns and some of them were already singing to

the sound of tambourines and lutes.From other establish-

ments came the raucous shouting of men drinking during the guess-fingers game.Meanwhile,in boats moored below the stilt houses,people were frying up dishes for a feast;greens and turnips sizzled in oil as they plopped into their woks. The river was already obscured by the misty darkness.Only a solitary white duck was still afoat on the river,with just one person chasing it

Cuicui stayed by the dockside,still believing that her grandfather would come to take her home.

As the strains of song coming from the stilt houses grew louder,she heard talking on a boat below,and a boatman say- ing,“Jinting,listen,that's your whore,singing to some mer- chant from Sichuan while he downs his liquor!I'll bet a finger on it,that's her voice!"Another boatman replied,“Even when she sings drinking songs for other men,she's still thinking of me!She knows I'm in this boat!”The first added,“So she gives her body to other people,but her heart stays with you? How do you know?”The other said,"T'll prove it to you!" Whereupon he gave a strange whistle.The singing above stopped,and the boatmen had a good laugh.They had a good deal to say about the woman after that,much of it obscene. Cuicui was not used to such language,but she couldn't leave the spot.Not only that,she heard one of the boatmen say that the woman's father had been stabbed at Cotton Ball Slope- seventeen times.That uncomfortable thought suddenly seized her again:“Could Grandpa be dead?”

As the boatmen continued conversing,the remaining

white drake in the pool swam slowly toward the pier where

Cuicui stood.She thought to herself,“Come any closer and

Tll catch you!”She kept waiting there quietly,but when the

duck came within ten yards of the shore,someone laughed

and hailed the sailors on the boat.A third person was still

in the water.He grabbed the duck and was slowly making

his way to shore,treading water.Hearing the shouting from

the river,a man on the boat yelled back into the murky haze,

“Hey,No.2,you're really something!Thats the fifth one

you've bagged today."The one in the water replied,“This

character was really clever,but I caught him anyway.""It's

ducks for you today,and tomorrow women—I'll bet you'll

be just as good at that.”The one in the water fell silent and

swam up to the pier.As he climbed up onshore,dripping wet,

the yellow dog at Cuicui's side yapped at him as a warning.

It was then that he noticed Cuicui.She was the only one on

the dock now.

“Who are you?”he asked.

“Cuicui.”

“And who might that be?”

“The granddaughter of the ferryman at Bixiju,Green

Creek Hill.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for my grandpa.He's coming to get me.”

“It doesn't look like he's coming.Your grandfather must

have gone into town for a drink at the army barracks.I'll bet he passed out and someone carried him home!"

“He wouldn't do any such thing.He said he'd come get me,so that's what he'll do.”

“This is no place to wait for him.Come up to my house, over there where the lamps are lit.You can wait for him there.

How about that?”

Cuicui mistook his good intentions in inviting her to his home.Recalling the revolting things the sailors had said about that woman,she thought the boy wanted her to go up into one of those houses with the singing girls.She'd never cursed before,but she was on edge,having waited so long for her grandfather.When she heard herself invited to go upstairs to his home,she felt insulted and said,softly,

“Damned low-life!You're headed for the executioner!”

She said it under her breath,but the boy heard it,and he could tell from her voice how young she was.He smiled at her and said,“What,are you cursing me?If you want to wait here instead of coming with me,and a big fish comes up and bites you,don't expect me to rescue you!”

Cuicui answered,“If a fish does bire me,thats nothing to you.”

As ifaware that Cuicui had been insulted,the yellow dog began barking again.The boy lunged at the dog with the duck to scare him,then walked off toward River Street.The dog wanted to chase him,having now been insulted him-

self when Cuicui yelled,“Hey,boy,save your barks for when

theyrte needed!"Her meaning seemed to be,“That joker isn't

worth barking at,"but the young man thought he heard

something else,to the effect that the dog should not bark at a

well-meaning person.He was wreathed in smiles as he disap-

peared from view

A while later,someone came over from River Street to

fetch Cuicui,bearing a torch made from leftover rope and

calling her name.But when she saw his face,Cuicui didn't

recognize him.He explained that the old ferryman had gone

home and could not come to retrieve her,so he'd sent a mes-

sage back with a passenger for Cuicui to return home at once.

When Cuicui heard that her grandfather had sent the man,

she went home with him,skirting the city wall and letting him

lead the way with his torch.The yellow dog sometimes went

in front,sometimes in back.Along the way,Cuicui asked the

man how he'd known she was still there by the river.He said

No.2 had told him;he worked in No.2's houschold.When

he got her home,he'd have to return to River Street.

Cuicui asked,“How did No.2 know I was there?”

Her guide smiled and said,“He was out on the river

catching ducks and he saw you by the dock on his way home.

He asked you,innocently enough,to go home and sit a while

in his house until your grandpa came,but you swore at him!

And your dog barked at him,having no idea who he was!“”

Surprised at this,Cuicui asked,softly,“Who is No.2?”

Now it was the worker's turn to be surprised:“You've never heard of No.2?He's Nuosong!We call him No.2 on River Street.He's our Yue Yun!And he asked me to take you

home!”

Nuosong was not an unfamiliar name in Chadong!

When Cuicui thought of her curse words a while ago,she felt stunned and also ashamed.There was nothing she could say.She followed the torchbearer silently.

When they'd rounded the hill and could see the lamp- light in the house across the stream,the ferryman spotted the torchlight where Cuicui was.He immediately set out with his boat,calling out in his hoarse voice,"Cuicui,Cuicui,is it you?”Cuicui didn't answer her grandpa,but only said,under her breath,“No,it's not Cuicui,not her,Cuicui was eaten by a big fish in the river long ago.”When she was in the boat,the man sent by No.2 left with his torch.Grandpa pulled on the ferry cable and asked,“Cuicui,why didn't you answer me? Are you angry at me?”

Cuicui stood in the prow and still said not a word.Her iritation at her granddad dissipated when she got home across the creek and saw how drunk the other old man wts.But something else,which had to do with her and not her grand- father,kept Cuicui in silence through the rest of the night.