In the distant border between China and Russia, in the depths of the Great Khing'an Mountains, there lives a primitive and mysterious nomadic peopleEvenki.
They believe in shamans dancing under the moon, migrating and hunting in the footsteps of reindeer foraging, enjoying the gifts of nature while having to fight against harsh living conditions such as severe cold, fierce beasts, and plagues.
The story of this nation was recorded by the female writer Chi Zijian in a long story"The Right Bank of the Erguna River".Middle.
This ** was widely praised upon its publication and won the 7th Mao Dun Literature Award in 2008.
* is the widow of the last chieftain of the Evenks.
At the age of 90, she has witnessed the history of five generations of her family, and has also witnessed the survival difficulties of her clan again and again.
Fate is like a big hand, throwing everyone around.
In a difficult situation, some people choose to resent, some choose to bear, and some choose to let go.
Different attitudes towards life also bring completely different endings.
Evelyn, the aunt of the chief's wife, was a very strong and poor woman.
Her husband Kunde originally had a beloved Mongolian girl, but because of his father's marriage contract, he had to marry a woman he didn't love.
After marriage, Kunde was always discouraged, and Evelyn realized in hindsight that her husband had already had a crush.
She was so angry that she ran back to her parents' house with a big belly.
Kun had to come to invite her several times, but she was reluctant to go back.
After giving birth to her son, Evelyn wanted to give the child a complete home, so she summoned Kunde back, and since then she has lived in her mother's tribe.
Since then, Kunde can only live with his eyebrows low, and Evelyn will take out his anger at him if he is slightly unhappy.
For more than ten years, Kunde has been rubbed from a spiritual guy to a middle-aged man.
As for Evelyn herself, she was not happy.
The long-term unhappy marriage made her temper more and more eccentric.
She could not see the happiness of the rest of the tribe, and always spoke ill of her, and did not shy away from her jealousy and contempt.
The widowed sister-in-law and the patriarch began a new relationship, and Evelyn was not used to it, so she broke up the two on the grounds of Xi;
The niece has not been pregnant for three years after marriage, but the relationship is still sweet, Evelyn made mocking remarks, wanting to shame the younger couple;
The son's sweetheart was snatched away by his nephew, and Evelyn cursed their first child for not having a good life.
Evelyn projected all her resentment towards her husband onto the people around her, unconsciously releasing malice.
Unfortunately, the pendulum of fate soon struck her.
Evelyn said a family affair for her son, but was strongly opposed by her son. The son was unwilling to marry a girl he didn't like, so he didn't hesitate to force him to die.
Evelyn was furious: "If you really have the backbone to die, you can be regarded as my Evelyn's son." ”
Unexpectedly, the son really hanged himself from a dried pine tree after the wedding.
After his son's death, Kun was so distressed that he forced Evelyn to have another child for himself.
Evelyn was unwilling, but because of the gap in strength between men and women, she couldn't escape.
A few years later, the aging Evelyn is really pregnant, and Kunde is considerate to her, but the resentment in Evelyn's heart has reached its peak.
On a snowy day, Evelyn sneaks out and shuttles through the mountains and snow valleys for a day.
When she returned, her face was covered with tears, her legs trembled violently, and the blood oozing from her legs stained the snow-white earth red.
The child was gone, and Evelyn's eyes were full of revenge when she looked at Kunde.
But after the revenge, there was a long silence. The couple grew old quickly and never spoke to each other again.
Evelyn's life is undoubtedly tragic.
She seems to be competitive everywhere, but she is always a weak person at heart.
She could choose to renew her relationship with her husband or choose to leave, but she chose the worst way to liveResentment.
As a result, she was trapped in this unhappy marriage and lost the happiness of her life.
Fate has always been an excuse for the weak. The more difficult it is, the more we have to find a way to solve it.
If you dwell in resentment, your life will never turn around.
The chief's wife's younger daughter-in-law, Nihao, is a shaman.
The shaman of the Evenki tribe is equivalent to the messenger of the gods. They could communicate with the gods through sacrifices, dances, and chanting, and in turn protect the prosperity of the people and the reindeer herd.
Due to his special identity, Nihao's fate is destined to be different from ordinary people.
One winter, a man from the next tribe came to ask Nihao to save people. It turned out that the man's 10-year-old son was seriously ill and had a high fever that did not go away and could not eat.
For the man's request, although Nihao agreed, his brows were frowned. Because the divine power of shamans comes at a price.
If Nihao forcibly rescues someone else's child, then her own child will have to die for that child!
Sure enough, on the fifth day of Niho's departure, her eldest son lost his life after accidentally falling from a tree.
Although Nihao had long known that the price of saving people was so heavy, she still agreed without hesitation when faced with a man's request.
As the shaman of these tribes, Nihao is the embodiment of powerful divine power, how can he not be saved when he dies?
She did not want to live up to the trust of her people, and even at the risk of losing her child, she resolutely took on this heavy responsibility.
Another year, there was a great famine at the foot of the mountain, and several Han Chinese sneaked into the forest and slaughtered a deer boy to satisfy their hunger.
Because he had not eaten for many days, one of the sixteen-year-old boys, who had eaten so quickly and quickly, broke his belly and passed out.
Looking at the pale face of the young man, Nihao, who was in the third trimester, ignored the dissuasion of her relatives, and once again trembled and put on her divine clothes, put on her divine hat, danced and played drums, and passionately called for the coming of God.
A few hours later, the boy came back to life, and the tired Nihao held his premature and dead child, hanging his head and saying nothing.
For other women, giving birth to life is full of joy.
But for Nihao, being a mother has become a nightmare that she can't get rid of.
She saved many people, but her children left her one by one. She gave her great love to everyone, but she only bore the pain on her shoulders.
The last time Nihao jumped the gods, he jumped to pray for rain and for all sentient beings.
The old Nihao was also hunched on her back, and her steps were not as nimble as when she was younger, and she jumped and coughed at the same time, but she still struggled to hold on for two or three hours, until the clouds were thick, lightning and thunder roared, and the rain poured down.
At this time, before the last song was sung, Nihao fell into the rain and never got up again.
The forest fires were extinguished, the land was brought back to life, and Nihao used his life to save countless innocent lives.
There is no doubt that Nihao is a strong man in life.
She never complained, and she never backed down.
No matter how many tragedies fate has created for her, she always remembers her mission, embraces everything, and bears everything.
Life is a process of constantly tempering oneself in difficult situations.
When you grow strong enough, you will eventually be able to withstand the burdens of life.
The chief's wife, as the narrator of the whole story, is the longest-lived person in the family.
Naturally, she is also accustomed to the impermanence of life.
Her first contact with death was the disappearance of her sister.
That winter, in order to have enough prey, the patriarch organized everyone to relocate. My sister was so hungry and sleepy that she fell asleep on a walking reindeer, and she fell into the snow and froze to death in her sleep.
At that time, she was still the chief's wife of a young girl, and she could not let go of her sister's death.
It wasn't until one day, when she went hunting with her family, that she untied the knot.
That night, the moon was extremely bright, and the reflection in the water was brilliant.
However, when a gust of wind blew, the moon in the sky was still the same, but the moon in the water was wrinkled, as if it had aged much in an instant.
At this time, she suddenly had an epiphany: it turned out that the only thing that can truly live forever is something in heaven.
If my sister went to heaven, then she must have gone to a good place.
Since then, the chief's wife has learned to heal through the power of nature and slowly let go of earthly suffering.
On this road full of separation, she lost her father, mother and many relatives in the clan, and even her husband left her early due to an accident.
In order to ease the grief in her heart, she began to paint.
With the blue rock as the base and the ochre-red soil strip as the painting stick, she spoke to the heart of nature to the fullest.
After painting mountains, rivers, reindeer and people on the rocks, she seems to have completed the farewell to the deceased, the spring water gushes out of her parched heart again, and she has a new hope for life.
Later, in the midst of the war, she met her second husband, the last chieftain of the Evenks, and the two spent a very happy time.
But with the development of the times, the days in the mountains have become no longer peaceful.
* Buildings were built at the foot of the mountain, and schools and health centers were built, hoping that the hunters from the mountains would move to the city to live.
Many people have moved away for better education and medical care, including the children of the chief's wife.
The years have passed, and the people who stayed on the mountain have also passed away one after another.
The chief's wife lost her second husband, her younger brother, and even her favorite granddaughter.
It was a sad place, but she still wouldn't leave.
She chose to stay in the mountains, breathe in the fresh air of the mountains, listen to the sound of deer bells like flowing water, and fall asleep in the company of the starry sky.
The forces of nature helped her let go of her pain and continue to live strongly.
At the end of the story, the chief's wife is left with her stupid grandson.
But as long as she is still alive in the mountains, even if she is the last person left, she will not feel lonely.
Her life was given by the gods of the mountains, and no matter what tribulations she encountered, she was able to bravely endure until she gave her life back to the gods.
The chief's wife was a wise man.
No matter how many winds and swords she goes through, she can always learn to forget the past and start anew.
In the face of the wise, the predicament is nothing more than a foggy barrier in front of the eyes in the midst of a storm.
As long as you learn to let go, you will have the opportunity to break through the fog and enjoy the rainbow held up by the wind and rain.
The Right Bank of the Ergun River is a bleak historical picture of ethnic minorities, and it is also an excellent work of realism.
Every character in the book has to accept the test of fate and endure the hardships of life.
However, different attitudes towards life can lead to different results.
In the face of difficulties, if you choose resentment, life is like a prison cell from which you cannot escape, and only yourself will be trapped in the end.
But if you change your way of living, a gap will always be pried open on a gloomy day to let the sun shine in.
The strong choose to bear, and the wise choose to let go.
At every corner of fate, there is a possibility of survival.