Departure in the Mulberry Garden

By Xu Shilin

In my hometown, locals often plant mulberry trees in their gardens. A story in a traditional Chinese opera, Departure in the Mulberry Garden, took place here—a tale that moves the audience to tears.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), the Jin Empire was invaded by King Shi Le’s troops of Later Zhao, one of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Northern China, and commoners fled from their homes. Mr. Deng Bodao escaped from the city of Taiyuan with his son Deng Yuan, his sister-in-law Ms. Jin, and his nephew Deng Fang.

When they unfortunately encountered enemy soldiers, Deng Bodao and the two little boys managed to flee, but they could not find Ms. Jin. As an aged man, Bodao was not able to take care of both boys, and had to make a choice. His son was too small to understand his father and asked, “How could you think of abandoning your own blood?” His nephew cried, “What a tragic fate it is for a father-less boy!” Some audience can’t help but weep when they hear the lyrics of this opera.

Thinking of his brother who passed away with this only one boy left, Deng Bodao made an unexpected decision—he took his son to a mulberry garden and told the boy to climb a tree to pick some edible leaves. When the son was near the tree, the father tied him up with his belt. Bodao tore off a piece of his clothing and wrote on it a plea for help with his own blood. He then put the letter on his wailing son before running to Tongguan, carrying his nephew on his back.

After the departure of the father, the undisciplined Zhao soldiers came to rob the refugees. However, the tied-up son had already passed out and nobody found him. Later when the soldiers left, a woman awoke among the corpses, and it turned out that she was Ms. Jin. Jin found Bodao’s son as well as the letter. The grateful woman untied the boy and brought him to Tongguan, where both of the families were reunited.

The climax of the opera is the part when Deng Bodao is writing the blood letter. The heart-broken father’s aria is thought to be the most touching lyric.

“As a father I have to leave my son behind,

Abandoning my blood for the greater right.

I burst into tears; my heart is more broken

When I bite my finger for blood to write.”

Among the last generation of opera actors who acted the part of Deng Bodao, Yu Shuyan was thought to be the best. You can still hear the recording of Yu’s aria, enjoying his clear and loud voice, and feeling through it the restrained sadness of a father. Although the father’s decision may not be the best or not even understandable in the modern eyes, such art representing humanity in dilemma can still be moving nowadays.

(From Shejiancaomu, Shanghai Joint Publishing Press. Translation: Wang Xiaoke. Illustration: Jia Lin )

桑園寄子

文/許石林

老家的桑樹都種在桑園，戲曲《桑園寄子》非常動人，故事就發生在桑園。

東晉時，后趙石勒進犯，民眾流離逃難。太原府鄧伯道員外攜弟媳金氏、兒子鄧元、侄兒鄧方離家逃亡。途中被亂兵沖散，金氏失蹤。鄧伯道年邁，無力背負兩個孩子趕路。孩子小，不懂事，兒子埋怨父親：愛侄兒不愛親生。侄兒悲傷：有爹的孩子有人背，沒爹的孩子很可憐。戲唱到這兒，有的觀眾已經潸然淚下。

情急之下，鄧伯道做出一個驚人的舉動：將兒子鄧元誆騙到桑園，讓他上樹摘桑葉充饑。趁他不備，解下衣帶，將他捆綁在樹上，又扯下衣襟一塊，咬破手指尖，血書來歷原因，留在他身上，以冀有人能救他。

在鄧元的哀號聲中，鄧伯道背負侄兒鄧方逃往潼關。鄧伯道逃走后，亂兵紛至，沿途砍殺搶劫逃難的百姓，沒有發現被綁在桑園樹上哭昏過去的鄧元。而被亂兵踢翻的人中，竟然有先前失散的金氏。金氏醒來，發現旁邊桑園樹上被捆綁的鄧元，萬分感傷，解救下來，趕往潼關。一家人在潼關又團圓。

戲的最高潮是鄧伯道寫血書，最精彩的唱段自然是此時唱的那一段“二黃散板”，蒼涼凄楚，十分感人：“此時間顧不得父子恩愛，眼見得親骨肉兩下分開。急忙忙扯下了衣襟一塊，咬指尖腹內痛珠淚滿腮。”前代藝人的錄音，這段唱腔尤以余叔巖的為佳。

余派的這一段，聲音干凈、高亢、抒情，在克制中掩飾不住悲愴之情，直鉆人的內心，聞之喉哽眼濕，令人百聽不厭。

（摘自《舌尖草木》生活·讀書·新知三聯書店 圖/賈林）