<p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 白孝武的出現(xiàn)恰當其時。他穿一件青色棉袍，挺直的腰板和他爸腰折以前一樣筆挺，體魄雄壯魁偉，肩膀寬厚臀部豐滿，比瘦削細俏的孝文氣派得多沉穩(wěn)多了。白嘉軒仍然在臺階上安一把椅子坐著，孝武歸來及時替代了不爭氣的孝文的位置，也及時填充了他心中的虛空。</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Bai Xiaowu's appearance was perfectly timed. He wore a blue cotton robe, his back as straight as it had been before his father's back bent. He was robust and imposing, with broad shoulders and a full bottom, much more dignified and composed than the thin and delicate Xiaowen. Bai Jiaxuan was still sitting on a chair on the steps. Xiaowu's return timely replaced the unworthy Xiaowen and filled the emptiness in his heart.</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 孝武領涌完鄉(xiāng)約和族規(guī)的有關條款，走到父親跟前請示開始執(zhí)行族規(guī)。白嘉軒從椅子上下來，蹺下臺階，從族人讓出的夾道里走過去，雙手背抄在佝僂著的腰背上。白嘉軒誰也不瞅，端直走到槐樹下，從地上抓起扎捆成束的一把酸棗棵子刺刷，這當兒有三四個人在他面前撲通撲通跪倒了，白嘉軒知道他們跪下想弄啥，毫不理睬，轉過身就把刺刷揚起來抽過去。</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> After Xiaowu finished explaining the relevant clauses of the village covenant and clan rules, he went to his father to ask for permission to begin implementing the clan rules. Bai Jiaxuan got off the chair, stepped down the stairs, and walked through the narrow passage cleared by the clansmen, his hands behind his back. Bai Jiaxuan didn't look at anyone, walked straight to the locust tree, picked up a bundle of jujube thorns from the ground to brush them off. At that moment, three or four people knelt down in front of him. Bai Jiaxuan knew what they wanted to do, ignored them, turned around, and lashed out with the thorns.</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 孝文一聲慘叫接一聲慘叫，鮮血頓時漫染了臉頰。白嘉軒下手特狠，比上次抽打小娥和狗蛋還要狠過幾成。這個兒子丟了他的臉虧了他的心辜負了他對他的期望，他為他喪氣敗興的程度遠遠超過了被土匪打斷腰桿的劫難，他用刺刷抽擊這個孽種是泄恨是真打而不是在族人面前擺擺架式。白嘉軒咬著牙再次揚起刺刷，忘記了每人只能打一下的戒律，他的胳膊被人捉住了，一看竟是鹿子霖。</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Xiaowen screamed in agony, blood instantly staining his face. Bai Jiaxuan's blows were exceptionally brutal, even more so than when he had whipped Xiao'e and Gou Dan. This son had disgraced him, betrayed his trust, and failed to live up to his expectations. His disappointment and frustration far surpassed the ordeal of having his back broken by bandits. He was venting his anger and truly striking this bastard with the thorn-wielding brush, not just putting on a show in front of the clan. Bai Jiaxuan gritted his teeth and raised the brush again, forgetting the rule that each person could only strike once. His arm was grabbed, and it was Lu Zilin.</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 鹿子霖是那三四個下跪求情者中的一個。這個向族長跪諫的行動其實就是鹿子霖策劃的。他聽到孝武給他傳述的白嘉軒要懲罰孝文的決定以后，鄭重其事地找到白家，大聲吵著要白嘉軒取消這次施刑的舉動：“我敢說這根本不怪孝文！你也招不住這個折騰喀！”</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Lu Zilin was one of the three or four who knelt down to plead for mercy. This act of kneeling before the clan chief was actually orchestrated by Lu Zilin. After hearing from Xiaowu that Bai Jiaxuan intended to punish Xiaowen, he solemnly went to the Bai family and loudly demanded that Bai Jiaxuan cancel the punishment: "I dare say this has nothing to do with Xiaowen! You can't handle this commotion!"</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 白嘉軒冷著臉心決如鐵：“鑼都敲了你還說這話做啥！你后晌能到祠堂來，就算給老哥賞光了?！甭棺恿睾笊稳レ籼美镌诖逑锢锿葱暮輾獾乇г箮讉€老漢：“你幾個老者難道都是石頭心恨？嘉軒要整孝文你們能忍心叫他整？為啥不勸他不阻擋他？這孝文比不得旁人咋能隨便用刷子打？”那幾個老漢被他熱誠的斥責弄得感動又愧悔，便策劃了這出跪諫的插曲。</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Bai Jiaxuan, his face cold and his mind as firm as iron, said, "The gong has already been struck, why are you still saying such things! If you can come to the ancestral hall this afternoon, that's already an honor for your elder brother." Later that afternoon, Lu Zilin went to the ancestral hall and complained bitterly to several old men in the village alley, "Are you old men all made of stone? Jiaxuan wants to harm Xiaowen, how can you bear to let him do it? Why didn't you try to persuade him or stop him? Xiaowen is not like others, how can you just use a brush to beat him?" The old men were moved and ashamed by his fervent rebuke, so they planned this episode of kneeling remonstrance.</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 鹿子霖從白嘉軒手里奪下刺刷又撲通跪下了，說：“嘉軒哥！你不饒孝文我不起來！”白嘉軒冷著臉說：“我不受你的跪拜。誰的跪拜我今日都不受。誰愛跪誰就跪。孝武，往下行——”說罷，用手撩著袍杈兒走過人窩兒，重新在祠堂臺階的椅子上坐下來。白孝武從執(zhí)刑具者手里接過刺刷，照哥哥孝文赤裸的胸脯抽擊了一下，血流順著胸脯一條條拉下來……</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Lu Zilin snatched the thorn brush from Bai Jiaxuan's hand and knelt down again, saying, "Brother Jiaxuan! I won't get up until you spare Xiaowen!" Bai Jiaxuan said coldly, "I won't accept your kneeling. I won't accept anyone's kneeling today. Whoever wants to kneel can kneel. Xiaowu, move down—" After saying that, he lifted his robe and walked through the crowd, sitting down again on the chair on the steps of the ancestral hall. Bai Xiaowu took the thorn brush from the person holding the instrument of torture and struck his brother Xiaowen's bare chest once, blood flowing down his chest in streaks...</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 如同祠堂院子里的爭執(zhí)在白家庭院里也剛剛發(fā)生過。老娘白趙氏白吳氏以及兩個媳婦結成同盟，堅決反對白嘉軒懲罰孝文的毒刑，白趙氏勸不下兒子就罵起來：“你害死孝文你哪象個老子？你要把孝文捆到樹上我就脫光站到孝文前頭，你先用刺刷刷死我再刷死孝文！”</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Just like the dispute in the ancestral hall courtyard, a similar incident had just occurred in the Bai family courtyard. The old woman, Bai Zhao, Bai Wu, and her two daughters-in-law formed an alliance, resolutely opposing Bai Jiaxuan's cruel punishment of Xiaowen. When Bai Zhao couldn't persuade her son, she started yelling, "You killed Xiaowen, how can you be a father like that? If you want to tie Xiaowen to a tree, I'll strip naked and stand in front of him. You can kill me with thorns first, then kill Xiaowen!"</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 仙草則用哭諫，兩個兒媳一齊求情。白嘉軒對誰也不松口，連一句話也不說，一任她們罵呀哭呀乞求呀絕不動心。直到第三天孝武和鹿三從山里回來，白嘉軒把全體家庭成員叫到上房正廳，在祭桌前發(fā)焚香，然后征求大家的意見：“有話對著先人的面說。”白趙氏白吳氏和孝文孝武的媳婦陳述了早已表明的態(tài)度，輪到至關重要的一個人白孝武了。</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Xiancao then pleaded with her daughters-in-law through tears, while Bai Jiaxuan remained unmoved by their pleas and accusations. On the third day, when Xiaowu and Lu San returned from the mountains, Bai Jiaxuan summoned all family members to the main hall. He burned incense before the ancestral altar and then asked for their opinions: "Speak your mind to our ancestors." Bai Zhaoshi, Bai Wushi, and Xiaowen and Xiaowu's wives stated their already expressed stance. Now it was the crucial turn of Bai Xiaowu.</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 白孝武站在祭桌前一字一板他說：“按族規(guī)辦?！蹦棠贪宗w氏正愣著神兒，母親白吳氏的耳光已經抽到他臉上了。孝武瞅了一眼母親不惱也不愧。仍然面色不改。白嘉軒用惱怒的眼色制止了妻子白吳氏的輕舉妄動，轉過臉問孝武：“為啥？你說為啥？”白孝武沉穩(wěn)他說：“這是白家的立身綱紀。爸你說的我不敢忘……”白嘉軒迫急地一拳砸在桌子上，說：”著！忘了立家立身的綱紀，毀的不是一個孝文，白家都要毀了——”</u></b></p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Bai Xiaowu stood before the ancestral altar and said, word by word, "Act according to the clan rules." His grandmother, Bai Zhao, was still stunned when his mother, Bai Wu, slapped him across the face. Xiaowu glanced at his mother, neither angry nor ashamed. His expression remained unchanged. Bai Jiaxuan, with an angry glare, stopped his wife, Bai Wu, from any rash actions, and turned to Xiaowu, asking, "Why? Tell me why?" Bai Xiaowu calmly replied, "These are the fundamental principles of the Bai family. I dare not forget what you said, Father..." Bai Jiaxuan slammed his fist on the table in exasperation, saying, "Stop! Forgetting the fundamental principles of the family and its members will not only ruin Xiaowen, but the entire Bai family will be destroyed—"</b></p> <p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"><u> 陳忠實（1942年8月3日—2016年4月29日），陜西灞橋人，中國大陸當代作家，曾任陜西省作家協(xié)會主席、黨組成員、名譽主席、中國作家協(xié)會副主席，是西北五省繼柯仲平之后第二位擔任中國作家協(xié)會副主席的作家。</u></b></p><p class="ql-block">? </p><p class="ql-block"><br></p><p class="ql-block"><b style="font-size:20px;"> Chen Zhongshi (August 3, 1942 - April 29, 2016), a native of Baqiao, Shaanxi Province, is a contemporary writer from mainland China. He served as chairman, party group member, honorary chairman, and vice chairman of the Shaanxi Writers Association. He is the second writer from the five northwestern provinces to serve as vice chairman of the China Writers Association after Ke Zhongping.</b></p>