The people of Five Spice Street reacted in no time. They immediately altered their daily schedule, sleeping in the daytime and working intensely at night. Nonetheless, the results were very slight. Those two persons didn’t even leave their own homes at night- nobody could deny the fact-unless they morphed into ‘‘invisible persons.’’ And this change in work and rest times harmed everyone’s health. In the daytime they couldn’t sleep. They were listening to Mr. Q dribbling the ball at a certain spot for all he was worth. Its earthshaking sounds completely dispelled their drowsiness. Were the colleagues wrapped up in blankets in their offices able to doze off? How long would this uncertain situation continue?
5. MADAM X IS UP A CREEK
Madam X sat in her gloomy room, carefully analyzing future developments and possibilities. She concluded that she was standing on a huge, creaking sheet of thin ice. A crack was widening. She was finished. Her sister said she could fly. If so, why didn’t she brush all of this off and leap into the air?
‘‘Ah, I can’t. You have no idea how much I’ve been drawn to all these things. I cared about nothing else.’’ As she said this, she pointed at her toes, indicating that her feet were stuck to the ice. “There’s nothing I can do.’’
It appeared that she had only herself to thank for the spot she was in. She’d asked for this. Now, stuck firmly to the ice, her feet were immobilized. If the ice cracked, she would sink. That was predictable. In any case, she was determined to act out the drama to the end.
As she was obstinately clinging to that thin sheet of ice, her sister’s confidence in her abruptly wavered. She carefully stepped to the water’s edge quite far from the ice. She didn’t dare walk any farther. The sunshine was cold. The two sisters looked at each other and made megaphones of their hands and shouted. Madam X’s face was livid, and she looked stern and impatient. She stamped her feet, widening the crack even more. Her sister’s eyes were fervent and imploring, brimming with tears. She was all but kneeling. Their conversation lasted an hour and a half. Both were shouting themselves hoarse. Later, heedless of her own safety, the sister wanted to dash out onto the ice to save Madam X. But Madam X wasn’t grateful and reproached her sternly. The sister went back, depressed.
The sister: Let’s come up with a scheme that will satisfy both sides. Lift your toes lightly and run quickly across the ice. I’ll meet you on this side. If we just make up our minds, we’ll succeed.
Madam X: Before I pick up my toes, I must have the will to do so. But I prefer to stay where I am, wait for the crack to blast open, and then play it by ear. Do you think I’ve stayed too long? I’ve just begun! Ha, in every moment it begins! There is the fuchsia-colored glow of the weak sunset! Do I still have time to sort it out? I will decide. There is always a possible scheme. It emerges suddenly from chaos, like the lurking shark.
The sister: You have no choice. Look at that crack, look at that crack: it has already stretched from your feet to the edge of the ice. The shark has opened its mouth and is waiting on the reef over there. This water is so frighteningly black! It’s so cold I’ll soon freeze to death.
Madam X: I hear there isn’t much time. Must this drama end? Finally, do I-this woman who sells peanuts-have to grit my teeth and hold out until the end, and flip my body-wounded all over by arrows-into the sea? Wait, I still want to do something whimsicaclass="underline" I want to dance on this sheet of ice. It’s so bright! So bright!
The sister: Let’s go, let’s go. It’s getting dark. Who’s shouting? I’m scared to death.
Madam X: Who’s there? Who are you? How can you stay there? Go away! I don’t like spectators, not even friends or relatives: all of you hinder me. That time in the mountain gully, they acknowledged my steely heart. Go away! You gossipy woman! I never believed there could be any scheme that would be satisfactory to both sides. I have always been capricious, contemptible, and abnormal. Just go away! Don’t exaggerate: it has nothing to do with winning or losing. I’ve done no more than find a different place to observe the stars. Heaven is so bright, the stars have passed by. Go!!
After her sister left, Madam X picked up a flashing sliver of ice and kept reflecting heaven’s dim light in it. Sometimes she squatted, sometimes she stood. Then she struck the ice beneath her feet with an ice brick, freeing her feet. Perhaps someone thought she would get away, but she didn’t. She sat down at the edge of the floating ice and thrust her feet into the black water. In a flash, she dreamed of the southern jungle and also of the swamps. She went on dreaming this way as she sat there elegantly with her eyes open. She was humming some song, and at the same time, the crack kept widening and breaking up the ice. The next day at dawn, her sister returned and saw that Madam X’s face had grown rosy, and that she was more ‘‘radiant and beautiful’’ than she’d ever been, and was so ‘‘amiable’’ that the sister felt ‘‘a great load had been lifted from her shoulders.’’ She finally made up her mind not to interfere.
But there was another question: Would the people on Five Spice Street be indifferent to Madam X’s predicament? Was it possible that they were too busy to notice? Or would they be uninterested and look on with one eye closed? In fact, they didn’t know where Madam X was, nor had they heard about the floating ice. This was Madam X’s secret. You could say it was a fairyland. We had known for a long time that Madam X was a sort of sorceress. She could fabricate miracles-couldn’t she also fabricate a fairyland? So she made up her mind to stay away from the crowds and to dwell on a floating sheet of ice. This was no more than a whim, a fairyland that ordinary people couldn’t enter. Even her own sister could reach only the side of the enclosure and encounter her ‘‘meditation.’’ With it, she could be a stranger to her own sister. Her ability had actually become more and more mighty. She could enter ‘‘a meditative state’’ at any time and at any place. When speaking with her, a certain person would sometimes notice that her sight was fixed, while her expression was roving. How would this person know that in this instant she had probably gone beyond the highest heavens! It was a big joke. We kicked up a fuss, followed her, and held meetings-in short, we took it quite seriously. She, however, was fine: she was sound asleep on the floating ice! We didn’t know her secret, yet we were confident and persistent, blindly following the set path to the end.
Only years later did the younger sister reveal Madam X’s magical ability. Word spread until everyone knew. Only then, feeling lost, did we remember a little something. Then someone shouted, ‘‘All our efforts gave full consideration to her intrigue. We were really canny!’’
The little sister retorted: how did he know her older sister’s ability? That wasn’t possible. He was just talking. It didn’t affect Madam X in the least. She never let anyone see her deploy her magic. She didn’t use props. Her ability now was much loftier than when she’d been doing research with mirrors and microscopes. That research could be called low-level by comparison. Only now was she truly inventing and creating. No one else, including her followers, could attain this level. Not even she-her younger sister. As for the ordinary people, they were completely out of reach of Madam X’s realm. If one kept probing, one might see some unusual expression on Madam X’s face, but nothing more. She performed a special magic. Although her soul was wandering, she appeared no different from anyone else. She had never paraded her newly attained ability, nor did she think she was above others. Quite the opposite. She was a little diffident. She didn’t want others to be aware of her new magical ability. The little sister-who had lived with Madam X and been influenced by her-approached the border of her older sister’s fairyland several times, but though she had some sense of it, she couldn’t completely understand it.