Chapter 8 - Two Tigers Cannot Live in the Same Mountain (1/2)
Proofread by Fu Tianying
It is a slightly warm morning with cool wind and rising sun. In the yard birds are twittering, and mixed fragrance of flowers and grass refreshes the mind and heart of people. Of course, Ma Tian’en does not notice that.
Ma Tian’en has racked her brains all night to write only three lines of a poem, and she could not come up with the last line. She has no choice but to take her unfinished poem to the study with the thought of “Early Depart, Early Revive”. However, she only went around a few times as she got to the study, daring not to get in. While the myna under the corridor shouted, “The young lord is coming! The young lord is coming!” Ma Tian’en tapped the myna on its head, and said angrily, “Long-tongued”.
Wu Zhong has been waiting for him with a book in his hand for reading. Seeing that Ma Tian’en entered in self-distrust, and took her poem in hands folded behind the back, he couldn’t help but smile.
“You finished the poem? Let me have a look.”
“Sort of finished,” Ma Tian’en showed the paper hidden behind her back, but she was unwilling to hand it over to Wu Zhong.
“Don’t worry. You haven’t learned composing a poem before, so I will not blame for your bad writing. At least you had the courage to play a start, which is a good beginning,” Wu Zhong encouraged him. Actually Ma Tian’en did not want to write a poem, but if he did so, his mother would blame him for skipping class again. Alas! What a mother good at nagging and fighting! He wondered why his father fell in love with her. Maybe he was forced to marry her.
Ma Tian’en went off into fancy for a while, and then bargained, “I wrote one, but completed only three lines… My mother asked me to show her my poem, and could you please say some good words for me?”
Then Ma Tian’en handed over the poem with her face full of smile. Wu Zhong actually had no expectation for his poem at all, but he found it composed of smooth lines, which was not a surprise but at least not a scare as he imagined. Though a little ugly, her handwriting was clear, which might be the result of efforts. Ma Tian’en deserved to be called a smart student. After listening to my explanation of some poems of lotus, he was able to imitate some lines, which proved that he could be taught.
On the paper is:
Lucid is the water of the lake and red are the lotus,
Wide are the lotus leaves and blocked are the fishermen.
Better to be in the water than enjoy the flowers…
Only three lines. Wu Thong guessed that Ma Tian’en really could not get any other ideas. Wu raised his head to look at him, whose eyes show dark circles. He must have stayed up late. He has always heard that Ma Tian’en is a toff, but after getting along with him, he found that he is a child who wants to be recognized by adults. He fakes being indifferent to everything all the time, but in fact he cares about others’ thoughts in his mind. So much trouble he invited him actually arose from his desire to be praised by others.
Thinking of that, Wu Thong laughed and said, “It is OK”. Then he put the paper on the table, and imitated Ma Tian’en’s handwriting to add a sentence behind. Finishing that, he handed it to her and said, “Go and show it to Mrs. Ma.”
Without any expectation that Wu Thong would add the last line for him, Ma Tian’en was seized by happiness. The moment he got the paper, she ran away toward the room of his parents rather than checked it first.
When Ma Tian’en came running, the servants just finished clearing after Mr. and Mrs. Ma had breakfast. She narrowly bumped into the servants as she opened the door.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Mrs. Ma couldn’t help chattering. “Please be cautious to avoid falling and bumping.”
“I came to show Dad and Mom my poem,” said Ma Tian’en, and then he handed over the paper as if it was something treasured.
The couple looked at each other, because they didn’t expect that Ma Tian’en would hand in his poem so quickly though they told him yesterday.
Mrs. Ma was not literate, while Ma Chaosheng liked reading though he lived on water transport of grain to the capital. He took over the paper and read it out for Mrs. Ma.
Lucid is the water of the lake and red are the lotus,
Wide are the lotus leaves and blocked are the fishermen.
Better to be in the water than enjoy the flowers,