10.23 密访百花谷 Secret Visit to Hundred Flowers Valley

 

小龙女和娥黄收到了鲁班的透视图后，仔细研究。她们俩做了估算，认为30公斤黄金可以依照鲁班的设计，完成古墓皇宫的工程。决定采用鲁班的建议：她们自己去看看江南水乡著名的古建筑和几个类似的豪宅。

女英回答：“好，我跟我哥商量商量。”

After receiving Luban's blueprints, Little Dragoness and Beauty Yellow studied them carefully. They calculated that 30 kilograms of gold would suffice to complete the ancient tomb palace according to Luban's design. Deciding to adopt his suggestion that they themselves visit renowned ancient structures in the Yangtze River south water towns and several similar mansions.

Heroine replied, “Alright, I'll discuss it with my brother.”

小龙女生气地回答：“你能不能不告诉你哥，他总是带兵跟着我们，整的我们感觉自己像是瘟神似的，到哪里周围的人的表情都不是自然的。”

娥黄对女英说：“江南没人知道我们俩；我们在江南没仇人。那几个地方都在你们的百花谷附近，就算是遇见了土匪，也是你们家的土匪。你怕啥！”

Little Dragoness retorted angrily, “Could you please not tell your brother? He's always trailing us with his troops, making us feel like we're walking plagues. Wherever we go, people's expressions aren't natural.”

Beauty Yellow said to Heroine, “No one in river south knows us; we have no enemies there. Those places are all near your Hundred Flowers Valley. Even if we encounter bandits, they'd be your family's bandits. What are you afraid of?”

女婴回答：“行！这次我们去百花谷探险，就不告诉我哥了。准备工作得需要几天。我师父给我们苗族人的遗物早就准备好了。这次我回家，把他的遗物送到祖庙，供上，我就是我们苗族人的祖宗了。另外，我得侦察一下，计划一条出逃的路线，躲避开国防部的岗哨和巡逻队。”

小龙女说：“那些岗哨从来就不拦我们。”

Heroine replied, “Alright! This time we'll go on an expedition to Hundred Flowers Valley without telling my brother. Preparations will take a few days. My teacher-father has long since prepared the Miao people's ancestral relics for us. When I return home this time, I'll deliver his relics to the ancestral temple to be commonwealth-ed. Then I shall become the ancestor of our Miao people. Additionally, I must scout out and plan an escape route to evade the Ministry of Defense's sentries and patrols.”

Little Dragoness said, “Those sentries never stop us anyway.”

女婴回答：“那是他们知道我们的行程，如果他们不知道，就该找借口，不让我们通过了。”

娥黄说：“哎呀！我才明白，女英说的对。以前我去给牛郎办通行证的时候，他们就不给办。后来遇到了一个认识我的警官，问我，女婴怎么没来？我说我怕牛郎和女婴在路上打起来，我就自己来了。他们就放行了。我一直觉得这事怪！”

The baby girl replied, “That's because they know our itinerary. If they didn't, they'd make up excuses to stop us from passing through.”

Beauty-Yellow exclaimed, "Oh my! Now I see Heroine is right. When I went to get a pass for Cowboy before, they refused to issue it. Later, I met an officer who knew me. He asked, why isn't Heroine coming? I said I was afraid Cowboy and Heroine would fight on the way, so I came alone. Then they let us through. I always thought that was strange!"

 

2.

一天夜里，他们四人翻山越岭，逃出了国防部。早晨登上了女婴预定的船。到了江南岸后，看见一家新的饭店正在庆祝开业，门前有一家商贩卖的亚腰葫芦特别大。他们几个人谁也没见过那么大的亚腰葫芦，就过去买葫芦。

One night, the four of them trekked over mountains and through valleys, escaping from the Ministry of National Defense. By morning, they boarded the ship reserved by Heroine. Upon reaching the southern bank of the river, they saw a new restaurant celebrating its grand opening. In front of it, a vendor was selling exceptionally large bottle gourds. None of them had ever seen such enormous gourds before, so they went over to buy one.

女婴看见她哥哥江南鹤坐在饭店的窗台上向她招手，就自己进了饭店。她被引导着进了一房间。进去后，她大吃一惊。房间里面的布置表明这里是一位将军的司令部。女婴赶忙以军人的礼节向她哥哥行见面礼。

Heroine saw her brother River South Crane sitting on the restaurant windowsill, waving to her, and walked into the restaurant on her own. She was led into a room. Upon entering, she was startled. The room's furnishings indicated it was a general's command center. Heroine hastily saluted her brother with a military salute.

江南鹤将军开始训话了：“小龙女（即舜王，20年后的顺皇）是华国和夏国两国的继承人，也是我们龙国三足鸟计划中的第二代国家领导人。尧帝把这么重要的任务交给了我们兄妹俩，这可让我怎么去向她交待呀！借你的光，我马上就要全国闻名了！”

女婴问：“你怎么就全国出名了呢？”

General River South Crane began his address: “Little Dragoness (i.e., Shun King, who would become Emperor Shun twenty years later) is the heir to both Hua Country and Xia Country, and the second-generation national leader in our Dragon Nation's Three-Legged Bird Plan. Yao Creator (Emperor) entrusted such a crucial mission to us siblings—how am I supposed to explain this to her? Thanks to your influence, I'm about to become famous nationwide!”

Heroine asked: “How will you become famous throughout the nation?”

江南鹤回答：“现在的国防部已经接管了华国，夏国，和龙国的全部军队。二郎神已经是天棚元帅了。这是国防部三年来最大的事故，肯定会通报全国！”

River South Crane replied, “The Ministry of Defense has now taken control of all military forces in Hua Country, Xia Country, and Dragon Country. Second Wolf God has been appointed Sky Ceiling Marshal. This is the Ministry's most significant incident in three years—it will certainly be announced nationwide!”

女婴叨咕：“我师父是怎么知道的！？”

江南鹤回答：“你从他那里拿走他的盔甲的那天晚上，他就扛着他的大铁枪（即二郎戬，如图10.23-2）向我道歉去了。他说他本来把盔甲包放在了盔甲架的底下。前几天尧帝（如图1）收拾屋子，把盔甲包送到仓库去了。结果你去取二郎神遗物的时候，他就到处找盔甲包，就把元始天尊给他的，象征着咱们苗族人的生命树苗（即二郎戬，如图2，4，5）给忘了。”

注，图6，7，8是现代的苗族人。

Heroine muttered: “How did my teacher-father find out!?”

River South Crane replied: "The very night you took his armor from him, he came bearing his great iron spear (that is, Second Wolf Jian, as shown in Figure 10.22-2) to apologize to me. He said he had originally placed the armor bag beneath the armor rack. A few days ago, Emperor Yao (as shown in Figure 1) was tidying the house and sent the armor bag to the warehouse. When you went to retrieve Second Wolf God's relics, he searched everywhere for the armor bag and forgot the sacred Life Tree Sapling (i.e., Second Wolf Jian, as shown in Figures 2, 4, and 5) given to him by Primitive Sky Honor, which symbolizes Miao people."

Note: Figures 6, 7, and 8 depict modern Miao people.

江南鹤继续说：“我问二郎神，那您怎么这么着急，半夜给我送来了？他说，‘女婴不知道日程安排，你安排的。’ 我怕你离开了，这事情可就麻烦了！我俩就意识到了：你们要密访百花谷。”

女婴（如图3）哭着说：“我没想骗我师父，但他们俩都对我们周围的卫兵反感，我就一时冲动，做了糊涂的事。”

River South Crane continued, “I asked Second Wolf God, why the rush? Why deliver this to me in the middle-night? He replied, Heroine doesn't know the schedule—you arranged it. I feared if you left, this matter would become troublesome! We both realized: you were planning a secret visit to Hundred Flowers Valley.”

Heroine (see fig. 3) cried out, “I never meant to deceive my teacher-father, but they both resented the guards around us. In a moment of impulse, I acted foolishly.”

江南鹤说：“这话你别跟我说，你把这盔甲和二郎戬送去咱苗族人的祖庙，面对二郎神的圣物忏悔。二郎神让咱们的族老代替他来解决这件事。”

River South Crane said, “Don't say that to me. Take this armor and Second Wolf Jian to our Miao people's ancestral temple. Confess before Second Wolf God's sacred relics. Second Wolf God has instructed our tribal elders to resolve this affair on his behalf.”

3.

女婴从江南鹤的司令部出来后，看见小龙女他们这在一边吃饭一边和饭店的顾客唠嗑。看见女婴回来了，小龙女高兴地说：“江南人可真好客，他们帮我们画了一张行程图。”

当女婴接过行程图看时。小龙女对她说：“就因为进来找你，我们才匆匆地买了个小葫芦。我们都改主意了，决定去买个大的。你就别买了，看着饭桌。”

After leaving River South Crane's headquarters, Heroine spotted Little Dragoness and the others eating while chatting with the restaurant patrons. Seeing Heroine return, Little Dragoness exclaimed happily, “The people of River South are truly hospitable—they drew us a travel map!”

As Heroine took the itinerary to examine it, Little Dragoness said to her, “We bought that small gourd in such a hurry just because we came looking for you. We've changed our minds—we're going to buy a big one instead. You don't need to buy anything. Just keep an eye on the table.”

小龙女她们下楼去买葫芦了。女婴又被招呼到了江南鹤的司令部。江南鹤说：“她们俩在江南没有仇人，咱家的仇人多。你将来会继承二郎神的天蓬元帅的职位，多少人妒忌咱兄妹俩！你就只按照她们俩自己画的行程图走。可不要再节外生枝了。”

女婴问：“你还没看怎么知道这图上画的是什么？”

Little Dragoness and the others went downstairs to buy gourds. Heroine was summoned once more to River South Crane's headquarters. River South Crane declared, “They have no enemies in River Soth, but our family has many foes. You will one day inherit the position of Sky Ceiling Marshal from Second Wolf God. How many envy us siblings! Follow only the itinerary they have drawn for themselves. Do not complicate matters further.”

Heroine asked, “How can you know what's drawn on the map without even looking at it?”

江南鹤说：“这家饭店是我新开的。饭店的里外都是士兵和他们的家属；就只有那个卖葫芦的是外地人。我已经把他打发走了，你回去吃饭吧！她们很快就回来了！”

River South Crane said: “ This restaurant is newly opened by me. Inside and out, it's filled with soldiers and their families; only that gourd seller is an outsider. I've already sent him away. Go back and eat! They'll be back soon!”

果然，小龙女和娥黄很快就回来了。女婴问：“你们俩怎么都没买大葫芦？”

小龙女沮丧地回答：“卖没了！外面的摊贩说，‘他是山里人，每年来卖一次葫芦，有时卖一个多月。今年赶上这家饭店开业，热闹。三天就卖没了。连笸箩都卖了。’ 我第一次看见那么大的笸箩。明年这个时候咱们还来这里！”

Sure enough, Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow returned shortly. Heroine asked: “Why didn't either of you buy any large gourds?”

Little Dragoness replied dejectedly: “They sold out! The vendor outside said, He's a mountain man who comes to sell gourds once a year. Sometimes he stays over a month. But this year, with the new restaurant opening, it's bustling. He sold out in just three days—even the baskets went. I've never seen such big baskets before. Let's come back here next year at this time!”

4.

小龙女和娥黄等人出了饭店，看什么什么新鲜，一路游山玩水。第二天他们就不想走了，改成骑马向百花谷飞奔。这个传说中的百花谷距离武汉长江的南岸几十公里。

Little Dragoness and Beauty Yellow left the restaurant, marveling at everything new along the way as they toured the scenic landscapes. By the following afternoon, they had no desire to continue walking, so they switched to horses and galloped toward Hundred Flowers Valley. This legendary Hundred Flowers Valley lies dozens of kilometers south of Wuhan's Yangtze Riverbank.

这天上午，她们来到了百花谷祖庙的大门前。从门卫的院子里出来两位年轻的姑娘，抬着二郎神的盔甲包，另有两个壮汉抬着二郎神的二郎戬，给女婴送过来了。随后，出来一位长者把牛郎领走了。

牛郎离开后，小龙女抱怨：“你骗我们走了一夜的山路，腿都磕青了。你告诉你哥哥了！”

That morning, they arrived at the gate of the ancestral temple in Hundred Flowers Valley. Two young women emerged from the gatekeeper's courtyard, carrying Second Wolf God's armor bag, while two strong men carried Second Wolf God's spear, Second Wolf Jian, and presented it to Heroine. Afterwards, an elder came out and led the Cowboy away.

After Cowboy left, Little Dragoness complained, "You tricked us into walking all night on mountain paths; our legs are bruised! You told your brother!"

女婴背着盔甲包，接过了大铁枪，回答：“走，我们进去吧！我没骗你们。我去取二郎神圣物的时候，他忘记把这把二郎戬给我了。随后他就给我哥哥送去了；所以咱们的密秘计划暴露了！”

Heroine, carrying the armored bag, took the large iron spear and replied, "Come on, let's go in! I didn't lie to you. When I went to retrieve Second Wolf God's sacred object, he forgot to give me this Second Wolf Jian, so he gave it to my brother; that's why our secret plan was exposed!"

小龙女迷惑地反驳道：“谁能用这么重的武器？再说了，这枪的刺刀也不锋利呀！”

女婴回答：“这枪是你爷爷元始天尊给他的，是你们华国《杨戬计划》的象征，是按照他年青时的重量打造的。随后岁数大了，他用着是有点儿重。这枪头代表生命之树的幼苗（如图10.23-2），所以我们族从今天开始就被称作苗族了！”

Little Dragoness retorted in confusion, “Who could wield such a heavy weapon? Besides, the bayonet on this spear isn't sharp either!”

Heroine replied, “This spear was given to him by your grandpa, Primitive Sky Honor. It symbolizes your Hua Country's Salvation Plan and was forged to match his weight in youth. As he grew older, it did become somewhat heavy for him. The spearhead represents the sapling of the Tree of Life (as shown in Figure 10.23-2), so from this day forward, our clan shall be known as the Miao (meaning seedling) Nationality!”

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