surprise to me, for he wore khaki military trousers with wide red stripes and they were putting on a military coat with bright gold shoulder stripes. I did not know what rank the stripes represented nor how he won that rank. He was put in the coffin in a rather awkward position; at his feet were placed a pair of brown leather shoes, a paper sword by his side and, to one side of his pale dark face, a military cap with a gold band.
The three relatives wept for a while over the coffin, then stopped and wiped off their tears. The boy with a string of hemp tied on his head withdrew; Third Liang also went out of sight. They must have been born under the signs of the tabooed animals.
I went up to take a last look at Lien-shu as the laborers lifted up the coffin lid.
He lay peacefully in his ill-fitting and incongruous clothes, with his mouth and eyes closed and the corners of his mouth curled in a cold smile, as if he were amused by his amusing corpse.
Mourning wails began simultaneously with the hammering of the laborers. The mourning distressed me. I retreated into the yard and continued to retreat until I was out on the street. The damp roadway was clearly visible. Looking up I found that the thick clouds had disappeared and the full moon was exuding a cold, still brilliance.
I walked very rapidly as if trying to break through something heavy and oppressive, but I could not. Something seemed to be trying to struggle its way out of my ears. After a long while it succeeded in freeing itself. It was as a long howl, the howl of a wounded wolf in the wilderness deep at night, a howl that conveyed pain, fury, and sorrow.
My heart felt lighter, and I walked on serenely on the damp, stone-paved road under the moonlight.
