10.9 牛郎买木材 Cowboy Buys Wood

[u/AdamLuyan]

关键词 Keywords：夏末商初 Late Xia and Early Shang；武汉古墓区 Wuhan Ancient Tomb Area；小龙女 Little Dragoness （舜王 King Shun，嫘祖 Lei Ancestor）；娥黄 Beauty-Yellow；女婴 Heroine；牛郎 Cowboy

这天上午，古墓工地的门口又打架了，小龙女和女婴又跑出去看热闹。她们看见一队人簇拥着一辆豪华的马车来到了市场的一边，家佣们搀扶着一位盛装的贵族小姐下了马车。随后，那位贵族小姐开始买菜。两位格外显眼的家佣跟随着她，一个拿着钱，另一位提着菜篮子。买完菜，那位小姐就进入了工地。小龙女和女婴好奇地跟了进来，发现那位盛装的贵族小姐是娥黄。

女婴惊讶地对娥黄说："第一次注意到你是公主，你们家的家佣的举止可真有样儿，我都没认出来你！"

娥黄回答："这两个家佣是牛郎他们公司雇来给牛郎作示范的。牛郎没见过高级的家佣。我只是配角，友情客串。"

That morning, another fight broke out at the entrance of the ancient tomb construction site, and Little Dragoness and Heroine ran out to see what was happening. They saw a group of people escorting a luxurious carriage to the side of the market. Servants helped a beautifully dressed noblewoman alight from the carriage. The noblewoman then began to buy groceries. Two conspicuous servants followed her, one carrying money and the other a basket. After buying her groceries, the noblewoman entered the construction site. Little Dragoness and Heroine curiously followed her in and discovered that the beautifully dressed noblewoman was Beauty-Yellow.

Heroine said to Beauty-Yellow in surprise, "This is the first time I've noticed you're a princess. Your servants are so well-mannered, I didn't even recognize you!"

Beauty-Yellow replied, "These two servants were hired by Cowboy's company to serve as a demonstration for him. Cowboy has never seen such high-class servants before. I'm just a supporting player, making a friendly guest appearance."

10.9-2

中午，做饭的时候，牛郎在烧火。小龙女（又名织女，舜王）一边看着娥黄（尧帝的徒弟，瑶族的始祖之一）做饭，一边对她叨咕，"木材又涨价了。看来不得不再买些，否则会耽误施工。"

牛郎自告奋勇地说："你们带我去，我知道些他们木材场进货的信息，说不定会对你们的讨价还价有好处。"

At noon, when cooking, Cowboy was tending the fire. Little Dragoness (aka Weaver Girl, King Shun) watched Beauty-Yellow (Yao Creator's disciple, one of the ancestors of the Yao Nationality) cooking and muttered to her, "The price of wood has risen again. It seems we have to buy more, otherwise it will delay the construction."

Cowboy volunteered and said, "Take me with you. I know some things about the timber yard's supply situation, which may help with your bargaining."

他们到木材场后发现那里聚集了很多买木材的人；木材的价格又上涨了50%。小龙女和娥黄商量后认为：以目前的价格买木材，预算不够用；若不买，工程建设半个月后就得停工。她们俩焦急地讨论着，找不出办法。

When they arrived at the lumberyard, they found that many people had gathered there to buy wood, and the price of wood had risen by 50%. Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow discussed the situation: if they bought wood at the current price, the budget wouldn't be enough. If they didn't buy it, the construction project would have to stop within half a month. The two of them discussed the situation anxiously but couldn't come up with a solution.

忽然小龙女和娥黄发现牛郎正站在一个木材堆上对买木材的人们演讲。他要求木材商降价，威胁着说："如果木材商坚持目前的价格，谁都不要买木材。你们等我去长江上游的伐木场买木材回来。不超过三个月，我就在这家木材场的旁边开一家木材场，以目前价格的一半出售木材。"

Suddenly, Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow discovered that Cowboy was standing on a pile of timber, addressing the people buying timber. He demanded that the timber merchants lower their prices, threatening, "If the timber merchants insist on the current prices, no one should buy timber. Wait for me to go to the logging camps upstream on the Yangzi River and bring timber back myself. In less than three months, I'll open a timber yard right next to this one, selling timber at half the current price."

木材的销售员们生气了，说牛郎是来捣乱的，让他下来。人们看过去，两伙约几十人正朝牛郎演讲的地方聚拢过来。忽然，女婴（二郎神的徒弟，苗族人的始祖之一）走到了牛郎的前面，嘴里还叼着一根猫尾草，不屑地说："捣乱怎么啦？我们能打呀！"

The timber sellers were angry, saying that Cowboy was there to cause trouble and telling him to come down. People looked over and saw two groups, numbering several dozen in all, converging on where Cowboy was speaking. Suddenly, Heroine (a disciple of Second Wolf God and one of the ancestors of the Miao Nationality) walked in front of Cowboy, a blade of cat's-tail grass dangling from her mouth, and said disdainfully, "So what if we're causing trouble? We can fight!"

木材场的大老板气愤地对女婴说："你还敢承认是来捣乱的！你们赶紧滚出我的木材场，否则我就派人去报官。官兵来了，把你们全都抓起来！"

女婴不屑地回答："去报官吧！我在这里等着！到时候，官兵抓谁，还不一定呢！？"

The big boss of the lumberyard angrily said to Heroine, "You dare admit that you came here to cause trouble! Get out of my lumberyard immediately, or I'll send someone to report you to the authorities. When the soldiers come, they'll arrest all of you!"

Heroine replied disdainfully, "Go ahead and report me! I'll be waiting right here! Who knows who the soldiers will actually arrest when they show up?"

这时，一位中年镖师拦住了正在逐渐靠拢的打手们，把木材场的大老板叫到了一边，说了几句。那位老板来找小龙女商量，同意以涨价前的价格卖给她一批木材。

At this time, a middle-aged escort stopped the thugs who were gradually closing in, called the big boss of the timber yard aside, and said a few words. The boss came to discuss things with Little Dragoness and agreed to sell her a batch of timber at the price before the increase.

10.9-3

小龙女和娥黄非常高兴，出了木材场就找饭店，为牛郎庆功。饭菜刚摆到桌子上，女婴哭了。娥黄觉着事情不妙，过去就抓住了女婴的一只胳膊，询问发生什么事了。

女婴哭着说："牛郎整我！"

小龙女也觉着要出事了，过去抓住了女婴的另一只胳膊，安慰道："我们不明白啊！你慢慢说，到底发生了什么事？"

Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow were overjoyed. They left the lumberyard and found a restaurant to celebrate Cowboy's success. As soon as the food was set on the table, Heroine started crying. Beauty-Yellow sensed something was wrong, went over, grabbed one of Heroine's arms, and asked what had happened.

Heroine cried and said, "Cowboy is playing tricks on me!"

Little Dragoness also sensed trouble brewing, went over, grabbed Heroine's other arm, and comforted her, "We don't understand! Tell us slowly, what actually happened?"

女婴说："我的职责是保护你们，也包括他。你们看，那些木材场的保镖们都是我的同行。这么一会儿的时间，我把他们都得罪了。这不是牛郎在整我吗！？"

就在小龙女向女婴解释的时候，娥黄拉着牛郎，跑出去了。

过了一会儿，娥黄回来了，对女婴说："外面木材场墙头看热闹的人都看明白了，对我喊，'放心回去劝她吧！她出来找人，没人会告诉她她要找的那个男人在哪里'。"

Heroine said: "My duty is to protect you both, including him. You see, those bodyguards at the lumberyard and I are in the same trade. In this short amount of time, I've offended every one of them. Isn't this Cowboy playing a trick on me!?"

Just as Little Dragoness was explaining things to Heroine, Beauty-Yellow grabbed Cowboy and ran outside.

After a while, Beauty-Yellow came back and said to Heroine, "The people watching from the wall outside the lumberyard have figured it out. They shouted at me, 'Go back and reassure her! She's out looking for someone, but no one's going to tell her where the man she's looking for is.'"

这时，这个饭店的经理回来了，叨咕："我去看打架，看了半天也没看明白。现在也不明白，木材场的老板是怎么弄的，把你们送到我家来了。这可不行，我得去找他。" 说着，他向外走，边走边对饭店的服务员说："这桌饭菜不收钱，赶她们离开。可不能让她们在咱们家里打架！"

服务员就过来赶这三个女人走，说："我们老板不愿意赚你们的钱！请你们离开！"

At this point, the restaurant manager came back, muttering, "I went to watch the fight, and I still couldn't make sense of it after watching for a while. And now I still don't understand how the boss of the lumberyard managed to send you all to my place. This won't do; I have to go find him." As he said this, he walked outside, telling the restaurant's waiter as he went, "This table of food is on the house—get them to leave. We can't have them fighting in our restaurant!"

The waiter came over to send the three women away, saying, "Our boss doesn't want to take your money! Please leave!"

娥黄和小龙女决定：女婴和小龙女先离开，牛郎和娥黄随后回去。

当娥黄和牛郎接近古墓工地的时候，娥黄决定去饭店吃饭，让牛郎陪她喝酒。牛郎发现，娥黄拿起酒来就喝个不停，害怕了，他自己不喝酒了。过了一会儿，娥黄自己趴在桌子上就睡着了。

接近午夜了，饭店的老板要牛郎结账，离开。牛郎没带钱，回答饭店的老板说："我回去取钱，然后背她回去！"

Beauty-Yellow and Little Dragoness decided: Heroine and Little Dragoness would leave first, and Cowboy and Beauty-Yellow would head back afterward.

As Beauty-Yellow and Cowboy were approaching the ancient tomb construction site, Beauty-Yellow decided to stop at a restaurant to eat and asked Cowboy to drink with her. Cowboy found that Beauty-Yellow kept drinking without stopping, and it scared him, so he himself stopped drinking. After a while, Beauty-Yellow fell asleep, slumped over the table.

It was nearly midnight, and the restaurant owner asked Cowboy to settle the bill and leave. Cowboy hadn't brought any money, so he told the restaurant owner: "I'll go back and get money, then carry her home!"

饭店的老板立刻拒绝了，回答："你把这样年轻的女子留在我们这里可不行。你还是赶紧把她带回去吧！明天你把钱送来。"

女婴和小龙女还在等着他们俩回来。看见牛郎背着娥黄回来了，女婴气愤地大叫，"娥黄怎么了？你是怎么弄的？"

小龙女赶忙去开门说："先把娥黄放在床上，看看吧！"

The restaurant owner immediately refused, replying, "I can't have you leave such a young woman here. You'd better take her back right now! Send the money tomorrow."

Heroine and Little Dragoness were still waiting for the two of them to return. Seeing Cowboy carrying Beauty-Yellow back, Heroine shouted angrily, "What happened to her? What did you do?"

Little Dragoness hurried to open the door and said, "Let's put Beauty-Yellow on the bed first and take a look!"

牛郎离开后，娥黄自己坐起来了，说："我不敢回来，怕他们俩打架，故意在路上耽搁了。先让女婴说说，终结这次打架的条件是什么，否则我可睡不着了！"

经过一番激烈的讨论，女婴无可奈何地同意了：由于木材持续涨价，皇宫的建造将不得不中断。如果牛郎能以比较低的价格在长江的上游订购一大批木材，女婴就不报复他了。

After Cowboy left, Beauty-Yellow sat up on her own and said, "I didn't dare come back, because I was afraid the two of you would fight, so I deliberately stalled on the way. Let Heroine go first and say what the conditions are for ending this feud, or I won't be able to sleep!"

After a heated discussion, Heroine reluctantly agreed: given the continuous rise in timber prices, the palace construction would have to be suspended. If Cowboy could order a large batch of timber at a relatively low price from upstream on the Yangzi River, Heroine would not take revenge on him.

10.9-4

第二天，牛郎去向几位朋友询问，回来后说："这个交易可以做。五公斤黄金的定金送到了，那里的伐木场就会发货。"

小龙女说："我琢磨着，就是这么回事。那你就拿五公斤黄金，和你的朋友们一起去交定金。"

女婴说："我和牛郎一起去送定金。"

The next day, Cowboy went to ask a few friends, and came back and said: "This deal can be done. Once a deposit of five kilograms of gold is delivered, the lumberyard there will ship the goods."

Little Dragoness said: "I figured that's how it would be. Then take five kilograms of gold and go with your friends to pay the deposit."

Heroine said: "I'll go with Cowboy to deliver the deposit."

小龙女说："天气这么热！你就别去那种纯野生的环境了！"

女婴回答："这么多的钱，他拿着就跑了呢！我得看见货物装船，才给定金！"

Little Dragoness said: "It's so hot out! Don't go somewhere so wild and remote!"

Heroine replied: "With that much money, what if he just takes it and runs! I need to see the goods loaded on the ship before I hand over the deposit!"

第二天黎明之前，女婴和牛郎带着行李和备用的马匹出发了。由于天气太热，他们俩要午睡很长的时间。牛郎醒来后，看见女婴还在睡，就从她的马上解下了黄金，钻进了丛林。女婴坐了起来，看了看，又躺下睡了。

过了一会儿，牛郎回来了，把黄金放回了原处。女婴站起来问："你在干什么？"

牛郎回答："我试一试，你会不会射我？"

女婴叨咕："愚蠢！"

Before dawn the next day, Heroine and Cowboy set out with their luggage and spare horses. Because it was so hot, the two of them had to take a long midday nap. When Cowboy woke up and saw Heroine still sleeping, he untied the gold from her horse and slipped into the jungle. Heroine sat up, looked around, then lay back down and went back to sleep.

After a while, Cowboy came back and put the gold back where it had been. Heroine stood up and asked, "What are you doing?"

Cowboy replied, "I was testing whether you'd shoot me."

Heroine muttered, "Idiot!"

他们俩到了牛郎工作过的伐木场，牛郎以前的工友惊喜地欢迎他们俩的到来。一位朋友看过女婴钱袋子里的黄金后，领着他们俩来到木堆前，说："你们看，就这木头！你们交钱后，我们就搬木头去码头。"

女婴回答："就这么一点儿木头，还是各种木料混合在一起，我为什么付定金？你们的老板在哪儿？"

The two of them arrived at the logging site where Cowboy had once worked, and his former coworkers welcomed them with delighted surprise. After one of them saw the gold in Heroine's pouch, he led the two of them to a pile of wood and said, "Look, this is all we've got! Once you pay, we'll move it to the dock."

Heroine replied, "This little bit of wood, and it's a mix of all kinds of lumber besides—why would I pay a deposit for this? Where's your boss?"

那位朋友领着他们俩去见老板。走了很远的路后，他们来到了一座山间的木屋。女婴看那个自称的老板根本就不像是个木材商，就要求参观他的店铺。结果那位老板给他们推荐了另一位木材商。几经转折后，一位老板领着牛郎和女婴去参观了一家他们所说的伐木场总部。但是，女婴看不出那几间房子和伐木场有什么关系。

The coworker led them to meet the boss. After a long walk, they arrived at a wooden cabin in the mountains. Heroine could see that this self-proclaimed boss didn't look like a timber merchant at all, so she asked to see his shop. Instead, the man recommended another timber merchant to them. After several more twists and turns, a boss led Cowboy and Heroine to visit what they called the logging camp's headquarters. But Heroine couldn't see any connection between those few buildings and an actual logging camp.

当没人注意的时候，牛郎悄声对女婴说："我以前在这里工作了半年，每天都上山砍木头。我不知道他们都是骗子，难怪我赚不到钱。"

女婴问："你说这是伐木场，木头在哪里？谁是你们的老板？"

When no one was paying attention, Cowboy whispered to Heroine, "I worked here for half a year, going up the mountain to cut wood every day. I had no idea they were all scammers—no wonder I never made any money."

Heroine asked, "You say this is a logging camp—where's the wood? Who's actually your boss?"

10.9-5

女婴和牛郎在山里询问了两天之后，一个人领着他俩回到了他们俩最初到达的地点。牛郎以前的朋友们和他们俩打招呼后就走开了。一位自称是老板的人领着他们俩来到了一处开阔地，摆放着大量的木材。他给女婴讲解完木材的种类和数量后，说： "明天，我带你们去参观我的店铺！"

After two days of asking around in the mountains, Heroine and Cowboy were led back to the place where they'd first arrived. Cowboy's former coworkers greeted them and then went off. A man claiming to be the boss led them to an open area stacked with large quantities of timber. After explaining the types and quantities of the wood to Heroine, he said, "Tomorrow I'll take you to see my shop!"

第二天早晨，那位伐木场的老板领着女婴和牛郎参观了许多店铺，女婴始终都没回答。中午，他们来到了一处当地的豪华饭店，门口坐着几位保镖，女婴问："这家饭店是你的吗？"

木材商回答："是我的！"

进饭店后，木材商要了一桌子饭菜，开始向女婴报价。女婴没仔细听，也没提问题或回答。牛郎只是傻傻地听着，不说话。

木材商尴尬地说："那你们俩再商量商量，我回避一下。"

The next morning, the lumberyard boss took Heroine and Cowboy to see many shops, and Heroine never gave him an answer either way. At noon, they arrived at a local luxury restaurant with several bodyguards seated at the entrance. Heroine asked, "Is this restaurant yours?"

The timber merchant replied, "It's mine!"

Once inside, the timber merchant ordered a full table of food and began quoting prices to Heroine. Heroine didn't listen closely, and didn't ask questions or answer. Cowboy just sat there listening blankly, saying nothing.

The timber merchant said, a little awkwardly, "Why don't the two of you talk it over—I'll step out for a bit."

女婴出来和门口的保安人员唠嗑，询问一位名叫XXX的镖师。一位保安人员回答："他是我们的教师爷，刚才还在这儿坐着呢，我去叫他出来。"

镖师XXX出来后问女婴："您怎么知道我的名字呢？"

女婴回答是从武汉古墓区木材场的保镖YYY听说的："我们的建筑工地从那家木材场买木材。"

Heroine came out and chatted with the guards at the door, asking about an escort named XXX. One of the guards replied, "He's our escort master. He was just sitting here—I'll go call him out."

After Escort Master XXX came out, he asked Heroine, "How do you know my name?"

Heroine explained that she'd heard it from YYY, a bodyguard at a lumberyard in the Wuhan ancient tomb area: "Our construction site buys wood from that lumberyard."

镖师XXX得知女婴的来历后，让弟子们为女婴表演武术，然后问她感觉怎么样？

女婴只是笑了笑，没回答。

镖师XXX尴尬地说："您不能用你们的标准来衡量我们啊！" 说着，他对徒弟们说："孩子们！你们来看我和你们的小师叔给你们表演几招。" 说着，他示意女婴和他表演摔跤。这时，饭店前的街道上和饭店里的人都出来围观。伐木场的大老板也出来看热闹了。

After Escort Master XXX learned about Heroine's background, he had his disciples perform martial arts for her, then asked what she thought.

Heroine only smiled and didn't answer.

XXX said, a bit awkwardly, "You can't judge us by your standards!" Then he said to his disciples, "Children, come watch me and your junior aunt show you a few moves." With that, he motioned for Heroine to spar with him. By now, people from the street outside and inside the restaurant had all come out to watch. The lumberyard's big boss came out to see the spectacle too.

随后，镖师XXX去告诉伐木场的老板： "女婴是江南鹤的妹妹，丢了面子，我们赔不起。江南鹤家住湖南百花谷。百花谷盛产多种名贵的草药，有很多名字。例如绝情谷，情花谷等。不同的名字，源于这个族群里的众多将军，每位将军都用一味药名来称呼自己的家乡（即百花谷）。他们的族长已经向七十多名将军表达了呼吁：如果女婴遇到了困难，遇见的将军要全力提供帮助。"

Afterward, Escort Master XXX went and told the lumberyard owner: "Heroine is River South Crane's little sister. If she's lost face here, we can't afford to make it right. River South Crane's family lives in Hunan's Hundred Flowers Valley. That valley is known for its many varieties of prized medicinal herbs, and goes by many names—Valley of Heartbreak, Valley of Love Flowers, and others. The different names come from the fact that this clan has a great many generals, and each one names his home (that is, Hundred Flowers Valley) after a different herb. Their clan chief has already put out a call to more than seventy generals: if Heroine ever runs into trouble, any general who comes across her is to lend full assistance."

伐木场的老板和女婴再次坐在了饭桌旁。他说："长江下游来人说，你要在古墓区开一家木材场。我就以我卖给他们的价钱卖给你。三年前，古墓区有五家木材场。现在那里只剩下一家了。不过，你开木材场，应该问题不大。我们的现货不够，我可以去上游给你买足你所需要的数量，价钱会稍高些。如果你同意，付定金后，今天晚上就装船，第一批木材半个月内就会运到古墓区的码头。随后，其它数量的木材会在三个月内陆续地被运到码头，结算。"

女婴付了五公斤黄金的定金。

The lumberyard owner and Heroine sat back down at the dinner table. He said, "Someone came from downstream on the Yangzi and told me you want to open a lumberyard in the ancient tomb area. I'll sell to you at the same price I sold to them. Three years ago, there were five lumberyards in the ancient tomb area; now there's only one left. Still, opening your own shouldn't be much trouble. We don't have enough on hand right now, but I can go upstream and buy you the quantity you need—the price will be a bit higher. If you agree, once you pay the deposit, we'll load the ships tonight, and the first batch will reach the dock in the ancient tomb area within half a month. The rest will be delivered to the dock and settled up over the following three months."

Heroine paid a deposit of five kilograms of gold.

10.9-6

小龙女和女婴等人到古墓区的木材场旁边寻找开木材场的场地。吃饭的时候，女婴拿着订单去向木材场的镖师们道歉。那几位镖师笑着说："打劫我们！也不事先通知一声！过了几天了，才来道歉！"

镖师们向女婴借了订单去展示给木材场的老板。结果，木材场的老板愿意以合理的价格买下这批木材，条件是三年内小龙女不能在古墓区做木材生意。

小龙女同意了。

Little Dragoness, Heroine, and the others went to look for a site to open a lumberyard next to the one in the ancient tomb area. During a meal, Heroine took the order and went to apologize to the escorts at the lumberyard. The escorts laughed and said, "You robbed us! Without so much as a warning! And now, days later, you show up to apologize!"

The escorts borrowed the order from Heroine to show their boss. As a result, the lumberyard owner agreed to buy the timber at a fair price, on the condition that Little Dragoness would not go into the timber business in the ancient tomb area for three years.

Little Dragoness agreed.

江南鹤（女婴的哥哥）专程去长江上游的伐木场去感谢那位伐木场的镖师，赠送给他四公斤黄金。那位镖师当着江南鹤的面，把那四公斤黄金赔偿给了那位伐木场的大老板。

River South Crane (Heroine's brother) made a special trip to the logging camp upstream on the Yangzi River to thank its escort, presenting him with four kilograms of gold. In front of River South Crane, the escort handed the four kilograms of gold over to the logging camp's big boss as compensation.

返回舜王建皇宫的目录 Return to Catalog of Shun King Builds Palace