Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/197412
peasants down there. Tey woke up so early too. I bet they did that because they love their jobs. What noble people. Look, they're growing watermelons. . . ." And on and on this continued until Binwang fnally arrived. Tey sat there, watching each other, on top of the mountain, in silence. "SHHHHHhhhhh," Shifu intoned. His voice reminded Binwang of gas escaping from a rotten vegetable. Te noise expanded out until it reached neighboring rock walls, upon which it broke and fell to the ground in pieces like more rotten vegetables. "But Master," Binwang whispered, "I haven't said anything yet." And with that, Binwang saw rotten vegetables once more, only this time as Shifu's teeth, as he smiled in a beleaguered, overripe sort of way, revealing two broken ranges. "I know." Te pause was accompanied by Shifu leaning his head forward, presenting Binwang with a prime view of pumpkin. To be clear, he thought of it as a watermelon, even though that wasn't quite accurate. In reality it was Shifu's head, which in all fairness resembled a pumpkin due to its total lack of toufa. But his baldness no longer mattered, because in that pause, Binwang's mind had already returned to the peasants and their watermelon, or as he called it, xigua, which he found had a rather nice ring to it, one deserving of a poem perha . . . . "I was just anticipating," said the pumpkin/watermelon head. "Oh," Binwang thought, and then, "Shifu is so wise." "Listen," Shifu said. He spoke now with the force of a rainstorm, rather than any crops it might cultivate. And Binwang did not think about peasants. Tis was a time to listen. "A poor man goes out into the world to make his way. He quickly fnds himself in a forest of thick, dark trees and he is lost; he is thirsty; he is hungry; he is afraid. Suddenly he sees an elephant. It's a deranged elephant. In fact, it's a large and angry deranged elephant that turns and charges at him, trunk upraised. So the man turns, only to see an evil demoness approaching him from behind. He turns to his side and tries to escape up a banyan tree, only to discover that the branches are too high for him to reach. Terrifed, he turns to the last remaining side and jumps down a well. As he falls, he catches himself — though on nothing more than a clump of reeds growing out of the wall. "He hopes to prolong his life, if only for a few minutes. Ten he looks down and sees that this old dried-up well is not empty like he thought, but in fact is flled with all manner of deadly snakes. Just at that moment, a particularly evil-looking python turns up toward him expectantly. And he says to himself, 'I will only live so long as these reeds hold out,' but then he looks up and sees two mice gnawing at the reeds. Meanwhile, the elephant has become enraged over the escape of its prey and is now butting its head against a tree, again and again and again. A beehive from that tree is dislodged and falls directly down into the well and onto the man's head. Te bees swarm out and begin stinging him over and over. Ten, out of the beehive, out of the honeycomb, dribbles a little drop of honey. It runs across his brow, down his nose and into his mouth, and in that moment the man forgets all his troubles. He forgets the elephant; he forgets the demoness; he forgets the snakes; he forgets the mice; he forgets the bees. He thinks to himself, 'Tis is kind of tasty. Can I get some more of this?'" Tale complete, Shifu slumped forward again once more, the spitting image of a sage whose energy has just been spent spreading wisdom. You have to respect a man who has so mastered his art. Binwang looked confused. Binwang dared not think about peasants right then. He needed to fgure this out. Binwang thought and thought and thought and thought. On one side of his brow thunder clapped, while on the other raindrops fell. Tey sat there staring at each other, two silhouettes against the silkscreen of the setting sky. Binwang was confused. Binwang did not understand. "Master?" Binwang squeaked, "I do not understand." "I know," Shifu said. "Why would I tell you something you already understood?" Ten he sighed, exited Shifu mode, and said, "Look, kid, here — walk me through it." "Te elephant is death, and the demoness is old age, between whom we are all trapped. Te tree is escape, salvation, which only the extraordinary may reach in this life. Te well is life within which we hang fimsily. Te snakes are our desires, waiting to consume us, and the mice are time, shortening our lives with their passing. Finally, the bees are diseases, making life painful even as we fght to sustain it." Binwang fnished his recitation, looking crestfallen still. "You're doing good," Shifu said. "Finally, the honey. What is it?" His face was a picture of youth and hopeful agitation as he said this. In this moment, he was unrecognizable. "I'm sorry. I thought it was trivial pleasures, which trick us into accepting our situation," Binwang said. "We chase after them, and they trap us. Te man's situation was terrible, but the honey kept him from taking action. Tat's what I thought, except his fate was sealed, so the honey didn't matter, except I know it does. Is the honey a trap of earthly means?" At this point, Binwang looked genuinely pained. "Oh, no, the honey isn't a trap at all, my boy." Shifu paused. Tey sat there staring at each other, on the mountain, just out of sight, yet within perception. Ten Shifu said, "I'll give you a hint. What were you thinking of as you walked up here this morning?" "Your head as a pumpkin?" Binwang asked, intonation rising sharply like the clifs around them. Shifu's eyes bulged a little bit. Binwang, ever the master of tact, decided that now was not a good time to talk about Shifu's toufa problem. Binwang went back to thinking. As Binwang thought and thought and thought, the sun rose. Morning returned to the mountains, only, for the frst time in years, the actors had already assumed the mountaintop stage. Beneath them lay life, going on as normal. Beneath them lay the answer, just out of sight, yet within perception. And as life continued, Binwang's eyes fell upon a certain patch of life, a certain patch of watermelons. Binwang thought about peasants. Binwang slowly stood up and began walking down the mountain toward them. Tis way would not take him home, where the same good day was waiting for him as always. As Binwang walked, he thought about xigua. He was going to grow xigua and a better day. As Binwang walked, Shifu thought about xigua and touched the back of his head. He was going to grow toufa and a better day. As Binwang walked, Shifu breathed a sigh of relief and honey ran down the mountain. Rain began to fall. 11.13 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 71