Ocean of Words (19 page)

He became our hero. The Political Department of Shenyang Military Region issued a general order that required all officers and soldiers to study Zhang Fan’s moving deeds and learn from his love for the Motherland and his unbreakable Chinese spirit. The newspaper
Forwards
described his life and his last moments in a full front-page article. When we read the paper, we couldn’t control our tears. He was awarded the First Class Merit Citation, and the Zhangs became a Revolutionary Martyr’s Family.

Though we all felt terrible about his death, none of us took it harder than Lev. Now he had to depend on Interpreter Jiao to translate Mr. Zhang’s story in the newspaper. The young interpreter spent a whole evening in the study putting the article into Russian. The next morning after breakfast, Lev read the article, and he cried loudly, as though his parents were dead. The whole building could hear him. He wailed for almost an hour. In fact, he later told Interpreter Jiao that Mr. Zhang had been like a father to him and had taught him a profound patriotic lesson. We had never thought Lev had a heart. That day he didn’t eat lunch.

After that Lev picked up a strange habit — whatever was Russian had to be good and better and the best: Russian weather was the most congenial, Russian girls the most pretty, Russian horses the most powerful, Russian pigs the
most delicious, Russian apples the most juicy, Russian tongues the most clever.

We didn’t bother to argue with him whenever Mr. Jiao interpreted to us what he said, except that once Wang Min challenged him to pronounce a few Chinese sounds that Lev’s clumsy Russian tongue couldn’t manage. We laughed but then agreed to let him indulge himself in his Russian chauvinistic dreams alone.

The officers all went home at night and slept with their wives. Interpreter Jiao took over the night command. He had been an officer for just three months and had not yet dropped the airs of a college student. Not used to acting as a superior, he would not demand to have more men if we left him only two men guarding Lev in the evening when the rest of us went to a movie or a game in Longmen City. Three people together with Lev could play any kind of poker game. Unlike Mr. Zhang, Jiao would join in whenever Lev played with us. He wanted to seize every opportunity to improve his Russian. He was the root of our troubles; after he came, our vigilance slackened little by little.

On a Tuesday evening, we all went to the Divisional Headquarters to see a movie, having left Vice Squad Leader Hsu and Wang Min with Interpreter Jiao at home. We heard that it was an anti-espionage movie made by North Korea, and everybody felt excited. No sooner was the title,
The Invisible Front
, shown on the screen than the lights were on again. The loudspeaker announced: “Emergency call, emergency call: All officers and soldiers leave immediately and gather outside.

“Emergency call, emergency call …”

We jumped up and ran out. In front of the movie house we joined our company. Commander Yan was walking to and fro before us with his hands behind him, waiting for more
men to arrive. The whole yard was full of shouts: “Engineer Battalion —” “Communication Battalion gather here—” “Antichemical Company go to the gate.”

Our political instructor Niu shouted to the crowd rushing out of the movie house, “Here’s Guards Company.”

Commander Yan called for attention, and we pulled our feet together. “Number One has escaped,” he declared.

I shuddered. “Number One” was Lev — our first Russian prisoner. The commander continued, “The orders just came from Beijing: We must mobilize all the troops and the militia in Longmen and the neighboring cities and counties to search every field, every hill, every ditch, every yard, every cellar until we catch him. Now, we’ve no time to decide who is responsible for his escape. It happened in our company, and it’s our responsibility to bring him back. The divisional leaders have ordered us not to return until we find him.” He paused, then shouted: “Right face. Double time.”

We actually sprinted back to our company barracks to get guns. Running in front of me, Squad Leader Shi never stopped cursing Vice Squad Leader Hsu and Wang Min. “Damn it, I’ll do the two asses in! They ruined us all. I’ll finish them off!”

Our company got on four trucks and were driven to the Eastern Airport. On the way we saw lights on in all the other barracks and heard people shouting and trucks moving everywhere. The entire city was going into action. Our trucks were running at full speed. Mosquitoes and moths struck our faces while Platoon Leader Fang, clutching the panel of the truck, was busy dividing us into groups. Each group had three men who were to stay together in the search.

The trucks pulled up in front of the building at the airport. We jumped down. Interpreter Jiao, Hsu Jiasu, and Wang Min ran over. Shi clutched the vice squad leader’s upper arm and cursed, “Screw your ancestors! You undid us all!”

“Old Shi, listen to me. Please listen —”

“Cut it out!” Platoon Leader Fang shouted. “Shi Hsiang, let him go. I said let go! You think you can get away with this? I tell you, you are the one responsible. If we can’t bring Number One back, we’ll all go home turning up dirt clods. Stop biting each other, man. Save your breath for the job. Hsu Jiasu, you go join the sixth group, and Wang Min, you go with the seventh group.”

The two squad leaders stood among their groups motionless as Wang Min walked over to our group. “Remember,” the platoon leader went on, “keep fifty meters between groups and don’t move too fast.”

We started to search. Meng Dong led our group, which included Wang Min and me. We walked slowly in a cornfield, trying hard to see if there was something hidden in the field’s ditches. The corn leaves lashed our faces time and again, but we dared not complain. It was terrifying to make our way through the crops. The cornstalks were thick and taller than we were, and we couldn’t see our neighboring groups. We only heard them proceeding quietly. The most frightening part was that we didn’t know if Lev had a gun with him, though we had been told that he had not stolen any of our pistols. He was in the dark and could observe us moving. If we ran into him, surely he would shoot first. Full of fear, we used our rifles to remove the cornstalks in our way, always keeping the barrels pointed at the darkness ahead.

After combing the cornfield, we entered a soybean field. This was less frightening, since we could see other groups advancing with us in a line. Then we got into a cabbage field. God knows how many cabbages we trampled. Behind us the field was scarred with numerous dark tracks.

In front of us, two German shepherds, accompanied by some officers, were dashing in opposite directions along a brook. One of the dog handlers was carrying Lev’s pillow, and the other was holding Lev’s washbasin. They threw the
pillow and the basin to the dogs time after time to refresh their memory of Lev’s smell so that they could pick up his trail. There were six dogs all together, running about and barking, but none of them was any good. They ran in six directions, so the officers soon lost interest in them.

In the beginning we dared not talk. After crawling through four fields, Wang Min couldn’t contain himself anymore and started cursing. We asked him how in the world the whole thing had happened. He said it was nobody’s fault. Lev, the son of a wolf, wanted to make a fool of us on purpose:

“We were playing cards, and he said … he wanted to go to the bathroom. I went with him — Watch your step, Song Ming — I saw him squat down and — as usual, waited outside for him to finish. I waited for ten minutes, and he didn’t come out. Interpreter Jiao … and Hsu Jiasu came to see what … was going on — Slow down a bit, Old Meng. We have to wait for the other groups — We three went in the bathroom. Lev was still squatting there, so we came back out. Then we heard a thump, and we went in again. Lev was not there! He had jumped out the window. We leaned on the window … and saw him down there staggering along … toward the cornfield.

“ ‘Halt! Le-v, halt! Come back, Lev!’ we shouted from upstairs. He didn’t even turn his head, just walked straight ahead, and disappeared in the field. Interpreter Jiao didn’t know what to do. He could only shout, ‘Just look at that, just look at that!’ Hsu Jiasu told him … to call the headquarters. Then we both ran out looking for Lev in the fields.”

“Did you find him?” Meng Dong sounded rather serious.

“Damn you, Old Meng. You can still joke about it.”

“You shouldn’t have tried. It was impossible you two could get him back.”

“You may be right, but we had to do it. It’s a part of the job, you know.”

“What will you do if we catch him?” I asked Wang Min.

“I’ll make him drink horse pee!”

“I’ll increase his meal expenses,” Meng said. We all laughed.

“Hey, stop laughing, men,” Ma Lin shouted at us. He was in the group on our left. “We’re all going to the hill ahead and beat the woods.”

We set out for the foot of the hillock. Lev’s escape puzzled us. Did he plan to meet someone, an agent, at a certain place? Did he know in what direction Russia was? He must have known, otherwise what was the good of escaping? Did he have weapons and food with him? Why did he run away just a week before the National Day? Was he joining someone in order to destroy a factory or blow up a bridge on October 1? None of these questions could be answered. But one thing we were all certain about — if he knew his whereabouts, he would be able to return to Russia, because it was midfall now and the crops could cover him. Though more than thirty thousand troops and militia were in the operations, there was no way that we could go through every place in this vast area of eleven counties and three cities. Besides, he was a live creature and could move about to avoid us. More to his advantage was that he would not starve in the season of harvest, since there were fresh beans, corn, potatoes, and vegetables in the fields everywhere and even ripe fruits in the mountains. As long as he knew his bearings, he could get back to Russia. It seemed somebody among us must have accepted his bribery and told him that he was in Longmen. If Lev succeeded in hiding out or crossing the border, then everyone in our squad would be suspected. We had to bring him back to clear ourselves.

It was one o’clock now. We had been searching for almost five hours without rest. Whoever we came across, soldiers or
militia, would curse “The Russian Big Nose,” “The Polar Bear,” “The Russian Hairy Beast.” They didn’t know Lev’s name, or what he looked like. We dared not tell them, because he had broken loose from our hands. Also, Lev was really an egg of a turtle, deserving any name. We had treated him so well, but he betrayed us and made us crawl around on a dark night like this, hungry and exhausted.

We hadn’t brought overcoats and food, nor could we go back and fetch them. The orders stated clearly: “Do not return until you find him.” After five hours’ walk, we were tired out and dying to eat something. There were edibles in the fields, but none of us dared touch them. The Second Rule for the Army says never take anything that belongs to the people, so we tried hard to stand the hunger and went on searching.

But we couldn’t keep this up. It was cold. Dewdrops fell on us from the tops of the crops, and our clothes were soaked through. Without food in our stomachs, we felt as if our bones were hollow inside and couldn’t help trembling.

We entered a turnip field where sorghum also grew. Between every dozen rows of turnips, there were four or five rows of sorghum. Every group was walking in its own turnip strip and couldn’t see the other groups in the adjacent strips. Wang Min said, “Can’t we have a tur-turnip?” His teeth were chattering.

“It’s gnawing inside,” I said, kneading my stomach.

“Why not?” Meng Dong kicked down a turnip. He tore off the leaves and began gobbling.

We all got our turnips. Wang Min stabbed the head of his turnip with his bayonet to get rid of the leaves. “Don’t use the bayonet. It’s poisonous,” Meng warned him.

Wang was a new soldier and forgot that. He threw away the turnip and pulled up another one, as big as a baby. Soon we all stopped talking and ate quietly. We were afraid that
the groups on both sides might know what we were doing, so we tried to make as few noises as possible. Who knew what they were doing? They might have been eating turnips too. People all at once fell into silence, and we only heard muffled footsteps advancing.

I finished the turnip and yanked up another. Meng got his second one too. Wang’s was too big to finish. Thank God, the field was long, and I could eat up the second turnip before we got out of it.

Now it was two-thirty, and we were told to pull up and get two hours’ sleep. Our company leaders must have thought that the search would last for days, so they didn’t want to wear us out too soon. We all sat down on a flattish slope that separated a soybean field and an oak wood, but this time everybody stayed by himself and kept a distance of thirty meters from the next man.

Soon it became quiet, and only a few barking dogs could be heard vaguely. Stars hung loosely in the dark purple sky. Some streaks of clouds fluttered beneath the majestic silver moon, which laid its steely beams on the damp plants and the furrowed land. The stuff in my stomach started stirring and made me want something warm and hot, soup or porridge, which could relieve the uneasiness inside. Turnips were a good vegetable for opening bowels, and one turnip was more than enough for that purpose, but I had rammed two into my stomach. Now heartburn replaced hunger.

If only we had a fire and could roast some fresh soybeans … it’s so cold … oh my knees … they are numb … not my own …

Peanuts, fresh peanuts, so delicious, just roasted … together with the vines … come sit here, close to the fire … what a good flat stone, warms up your feet so well … give me some room … I want to heat up my lunch — salted mackerel and corn cake … smells so good … the sun, what
a spendid sun, dry and warm … those clouds … wonderful — horses and cows … also apples and pears … hah, we have everything here … Fourth Dog, where’s your brother … call him to stop digging for potatoes … don’t be greedy … the whole field is ours … nobody knows this place … Lilian, take a bite of this melon … it will melt your teeth … why laughing … it’s sweeter than anything from Dwarf Liu’s garden … hey, all of you … come here … peanuts, fresh peanuts roasted with vines … don’t you want to have some … sit here around the fire and eat … everybody is welcome … today’s Communism Day — take whatever you need … why are you giggling, Old Meng … don’t you feel happy … you son of a goat … don’t you want to have fun … where’s Lev … he was eating peanuts here just now … you mean he’s taking a piss in the bushes … hey, who’s there … is that you, Lev … no, it’s Wang Min … Wang — Min — … tell Lev we have baked sweet potatoes too … more good eats for him to wipe out … Ma Lin, give me your fur coat … don’t be selfish … it’s my turn to be warmed … who is blowing a whistle there … damn, who’s the killjoy —