Five Spice Street

Someone recalled that before X had come to this street of ours, and before X and Q’s adultery, our widow hadn’t yet fully demonstrated her genius. Back then, Five Spice Street was really like a small, quiet island, and the people were as simple as ants. Was it because X came here that our lives were turned upside down? We should put it this way: it was because of X that our good character and our noble sentiments had the chance to be revealed. Indeed, Madam X was the person we had earnestly longed for. She had come to Five Spice Street, and not some other place, in response to our summons. ‘‘That was an unforgettable day. That morning, the earth was filled with large, beautiful chrysanthemums…’’ We all loved this sentimental song. From that day on, we-these silent ants-loudly proclaimed our existence to the world. Each of us revealed his or her true self. How could we be ants? Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve seen our story. How will you answer? X will go on living here, and our performance will pause for a while because of Q’s disappearance, but it is not the end. Perhaps it will never be concluded. A new show awaits us! Not long ago, we ran up against a little puzzle: that was one noon when we were sitting along the street. A sixteen-year-old said to everyone in a clear voice: ‘‘This X incident actually isn’t one bit interesting.’’ We immediately surrounded him and interrogated him: ‘‘Why?’’ He said he didn’t know, but in any case it was thoroughly boring. All along, he had wanted to break away and go to the mountain to collect butterflies. He had already wasted a lot of his precious youth. He argued until his face turned purple as an eggplant. We asked how old he was. He said sixteen, ‘‘almost seventeen!’’ At first, the crowd was so angry no one could say anything. Then they appeared embarrassed, and then our widow came over. She stroked the youth’s hair and just sighed and acted as if she were going to leave. Then she stopped suddenly again, sized up the youth, and asked, ‘‘Have you ever believed in anything? Have you ever pursued anything luminous?’’

The youth stood in amazement. He looked at her blankly. Her voice gradually became tough and powerful: ‘‘What makes you qualified to talk of the shockingly

big question of life’s significance? Huh? Do you want to deny the spiritual achievement of your father’s generation? From the day you began to understand things, you took it for granted that the world had always been like this, and you were coming into this world merely to enjoy it. You could never imagine that over a long period, your predecessors were crawling through a dark tunnel. They could see neither an exit nor any light.