Drum piece by Feng Jicai
① Yang Liuqing of Tianjin Wei ① has spiritual energy, and everyone in every household is good at painting. The elders draft the manuscript, the men engrave the blocks, the women dye their faces, and the children color them. It has been passed down from generation to generation, and there are many masters. Every twelfth lunar month, every family takes their paintings to the streets to sell them. New paintings and new designs appear one after another, dazzling the eyes. But no matter how many new drawings come out, one will always come out after selling them. The "drum" Yang Liuqing talks about is "living" - whoever sees it says he likes it, whoever sees it wants to buy it, and everyone is vying to buy it. This portrait is magical and can sell like crazy at once.
② There is a New Year picture maker in the town named Bai Xiaobao. His ancestors have been doing this business for several generations, and it has been passed down to him. , I can only use a few old ancestral blocks to print and paint. For example, "The Lotus Years Are More", "Two Guns Lu Wenlong", "Whistleblower", and another kind of "Golden Faced God of Wealth". These old paintings have been selling well, and they are enough for food, clothing and use. But Lao Hua couldn't drum it up again. If he couldn't drum it up, he wouldn't be able to make a lot of money. He felt aggrieved and couldn't do anything about it.
③After the beginning of winter in the eighth year of Tongzhi, he put up the painting case, installed the old version, rolled up his sleeves and started printing. "The Year of the Lotus" shows a fat, white boy holding a big red carp, with green leaves and pink lotuses in the background. This painting is available in many art shops, and it is very similar. Two thousand pieces are sold every year.
④ It was noon this day, Bai Xiaobao was tired from printing and painting, so he went to a tavern on the street to drink. An old man at the same table was also drinking. The territory of Yangliuqing is not too big, and everyone in the town knows everyone. The uncle's surname was Gao, and the two chatted while drinking. When it comes to painting, and who's painting will be "dazzling" this year, Mr. Gao said casually: "Old Bai, you can't succeed just by eating ancestral food." This sentence was like a stick poking into Bai Xiaobao's ribs. He couldn't lose face and got up to go home.
⑤The more I thought about it, the more angry I became, angry at myself for not being able to do it. When I entered the house and saw the old copy handed down from my ancestors on the painting table, I became angry and grabbed a carving knife on the table to destroy the old copy. His wife quickly grabbed him, and he immediately fell to the ground in a drunken state, unconscious.
⑥ When he woke up the next day, he saw that it was terrible. The old version passed down from his ancestors - "The Lotus Years Are More" was really ruined. He cut out a piece along with the printing line. After a closer look, he was still lucky. , the baby's face was not injured, but the peony flower in the braid on one side of the head was gouged out - there used to be one braid on each side of the head, with a peony flower on each side, but now they are no longer paired. There is nothing you can do in a hurry. The gouged out plate is like the flesh that has been cut off and cannot be replaced. The New Year pictures will be on the market in the next two days. Fortunately, a thousand copies were printed the day before yesterday, so I had to make do with another thousand copies and sell them.
⑦As soon as the New Year pictures came on the market, something strange happened. Not only did the people who bought the painting not dissatisfied that there was one less flower on the doll's head and it was mismatched, but they all laughed and said that the fat baby was so naughty and had all the flowers on his head tricked off. He was so adorable! After saying this, the doll in the painting moved and came to life! So you want one, I want one, and a thousand pieces are blown away like a gust of wind. Bai Xiaobao had no more drawings to draw, so he had to sell the doll with double braids and double flowers that he had printed earlier. But the person who bought the painting asked: "Are the ones like yesterday sold out?" He was dumbfounded: "Why is everyone so attracted to the one with a missing flower on his head?"
⑧Hurry up when you come back in the evening Printed with the missing braided flower "Lotus Years of Prosperity". As soon as the paintings were put out, they were sold out in an instant. If something catches fire in the market, even water can't put it out. Suddenly a neighbor came to him and said, "Old Bai, the whole town is making noise, your painting is in trouble this year!" Then he asked in a low voice: "How many lifetimes has this painting been printed in your house? Why is it in trouble this year? "
⑨Bai Xiaobao just smiled and didn't say anything. He understood in his heart. But when I thought about it more deeply, I didn't understand. Why did the flower become bulging instead of missing one?
⑩On the 30th night of the 10th year, Bai Xiaobao counted the money and made a fortune.
? He was looking forward to seeing the painting still bulging in the next year, but unexpectedly the feng shui changed in the next year. Although the painting sold well, it was not his painting that really bulged. Replace it with a new painting from a small and inconspicuous art shop called "Yihecheng". The painting is called "The Taiping Family".
Six women were playing the peace drum. I couldn't tell what was particularly good about the painting, but it was selling like crazy. Every day before dawn, people waiting in line to buy paintings lined up at the door of Yihecheng.
(Selected from the 4th issue of "Harvest" in 2015, with deletions)
Note ① Yangliuqing is a town in Tianjin, famous for its New Year paintings.
16. Briefly analyze the function of paragraph 2 of the novel. (3 points)
17. Combined with the full text, talk about why the novel has the character "Uncle Gao". (4 points)
18. In paragraph 9 of the novel, it is said that Bai Xiaobao "thought about it deeply, and he didn't understand it anymore. Why is it that one flower is missing but it is bulging instead?" Why do you think this is? (4 points)
19. At the end of the novel, what is the purpose of translating the scene of a new painting of "Yi Hecheng" selling well? (3 points)
20. Talk about the beauty of the novel's title "Drum". (3 points)
Reference answer:
16. (3 points) Explain the family background of Bai Xiaobao’s ancestral New Year paintings and the current situation that the old paintings cannot be promoted (2 points) . Pave the way for the development of the plot below (1 point).
17. (4 points) First, promote the development of the plot of the novel (1 point). Uncle Gao's words stimulated Bai Xiaobao, and Bai Xiaobao destroyed the old version in anger (1 point). Second, Uncle Gao’s words hint at the theme of the novel. It is only possible to develop new paintings, and the old-fashioned ones will eventually be eliminated by the times. (2 points)
18. (4 points) First, the doll’s head is gone, it is lovable and has a strong flavor of life (2 points). Second, the doll head is gone, which makes the old version change and have new ideas (2 points).
19. (3 points) First, it makes the plot of the novel ups and downs (1 point). Second, echo the title and beginning (1 point). Third, it sublimates the theme of the novel and triggers thinking (1 point).
20. (3 points) The title is not only the narrative clue of the novel, but also summarizes the main plot of the novel (2 points). The title has strong local characteristics and attracts readers' interest in reading (1 point).