Old Man Xinjiang by Xue Mo,
translated by Nicky Harman
The water soon came to the boil. Old Man Xinjiang began to make noodles. He got out a big china bowl. It was thick, heavy and sturdy. You couldn't buy bowls like that in the market any more. Sturdy things had many uses, and he used this bowl both to eat out of and to mix noodle dough in. It saved him buying a special mixing bowl. He put in a scoop of flour and some water and rubbed in the flour. He gave it a quick knead and brought it together in a lump the size of his fist. Then he flattened it onto his chopping board and cut it into long strips with his knife. One by one, he rubbed each strip between his hands to thin it. It was quick work. Simple food never took long to prepare.
He'd eaten like this for many years.
He was old, really old, and rich food gave him indigestion. He liked plain food with plenty of soupy liquid. You didn't need money for the good things in life. Like a simple meal, like fetching a stool and sitting down to look at the stars and the moon. Old Man Sun came up and went down, the leaves of the trees started green and went yellow. They were the good things in life and no one could take them off him.
It was dusk and the darkness crept up on him. Old Man Xinjiang's dinner was cooked and he carried his bowl to the doorway and sat down. He picked out a morsel with his chopsticks and offered it to the guardian spirits. Then he began noisily slurping his noodles. Steam rose from the bowl and up over his head. There was another bowl in front of him on the ground with the same food in it, prepared for a friend. Just then, the black dog turned up, having made its leisurely way from the woman's house on the east side of the village in the pale moonlight. Noiselessly it lapped its dinner, then raised its head in greeting. This was the time when Old Man Xinjiang felt most contented. He could forget himself, and the dog, and all the villagers.
(End)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/11/old-man-xinjiang-xue-mo-story
(The Guardian Wednesday 11 April 2012 )
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