An Old Couple

By You Jin

There was an old couple who lived in a small village in Tianjin Bay,Shandong Province, nourishing each other for many years.

In autumn, when a big gourd was picked from thefield, the old lady put it on a tall wooden stool and positioned it with her hands as her husband cut it off with a saw. They wanted to make a ladle to scoop water for their daily use.

Resting, they sat against a pile of sunburnt corn. The old lady scratched the old man’s itchy back. “Up a little bit. A little bit more. That’s it!” he said

At the age of six, the old lady had to follow the tradition of binding her toes into the shape of snails. Generally after a busy day of farming, the old lady would put her three-inch “golden lotuses” on her husband’s knee, and he would bow his head down, trimming her stone-hard toenails with great care and patience.

When hisfinger was carelessly pricked by a thorn while working,the old lady would put on her presbyopic glasses and pick the thorn for him carefully. The old man joked, “You’re not picking a thorn. You’re digging a pit or cutting a tree.”

The old lady would reply in a low, slow voice, “I’m too old and blurred to see it clearly.”

On one Spring Festival, the old lady suffered from her lung disease and was hospitalized.The old man sat alone in the hall,poorly attended and crestfallen.When the old lady’s condition improved, the old man could not wait to rush into the hospital room. The old lady sat on the bed.He sat beside her, and wiping away his tears, he said, “We have been married for sixty-eight years.This is the first time we haven’t spent the New Year together.”

On the 70th anniversary of their marriage, their son bought an air ticket for the couple to travel to Beijing. The old lady,who was flying for the first time,was horribly jittery. The old man pretended to be a hero with an indomitable spirit and held her hands to ease her. After arriving in Beijing, the old couple, with four legs and two crutches,printed their footprints all over the capital, hand in hand.

They grew older, and one day the old man pressed the heavy coffin he had prepared and told the old lady, “You have endured a lot with me all your life. I’ll leave this coffin for you, and make a thin one for myself.”

The old lady beamed with satisfaction and said to everyone she met, “I haven’t wasted a lifetime with a carpenter.”

山東天津灣的一個小村里住著一對老夫妻，多少年相濡以沫。

秋天，從地里摘回來的一個大葫蘆。老嫗把大葫蘆擱在高腳木凳上，用手摁住，老翁則用鋸子把它鋸開做一個舀水的瓢，物盡其用。

閑來無事時，兩人坐在一長串曝曬著的玉米底下，老嫗為老翁撓背。老翁說：“往上點兒，再往上點兒，你聽見了嗎？”

老嫗6歲纏足，趾甲長成了蝸牛的樣子。忙完農事后，老嫗把三寸金蓮放在老翁膝上，老翁低著頭，很用心地為她修剪那堅硬如石的趾甲。

老翁干活時，手指不小心扎進了刺，老嫗戴上老花鏡，細心地為他挑。挑疼了，老翁便嚷道：“你這哪里是挑刺呢，簡直是挖坑、刨樹嘛。”老嫗細聲慢語：“老了，眼花了，看不清了。”

將近春節時，老嫗的肺病發作，住進了醫院，老翁孤孤單單地坐在冷冷清清的大廳里，沒精打采。老嫗的病情好轉了，老翁迫不及待地趕往醫院。老嫗坐在床上，老翁坐在床邊一邊抹淚一邊說：“咱倆結婚68年，這可是頭一回不在一塊兒過年啊。”

老翁和老嫗結婚70周年時，兒子買了飛機票，讓他倆到北京旅游。第一次乘飛機的老嫗十分緊張，老翁則像個頂天立地的好漢，握著她的手安撫她。抵達北京后，兩個老人，四條腿、兩根拐杖，他們手牽著手，把足跡印在京城各處。

兩人日趨衰老，老翁撫著收藏在家里的那口厚重的棺木，對老嫗說：“你跟著我受了一輩子苦，這口棺材留給你吧。俺再做口薄的給自己。”老嫗露出了心滿意足的笑容，逢人便說：“俺沒白跟當木匠的過一輩子啊。”