16.表里的生物

16. The creatures in the table

1. I lived in a small town when I was a child. There were no factories in the town, so there was no sound of machines.

2. I thought then that whatever could make a sound was a living creature; in the morning there were birds that chirped beautifully, at night there were dogs that barked fearfully, in summer cicadas chirped in the green trees, and in autumn evenings there were all kinds of worms singing different songs in the grass; the bell on the clock tower was not alive, but sometimes it rang loudly, that was an old man ringing, and sometimes the sound of a three-string rang in the center of the street, that was a blind man playing.

3. where is the dead thing that walks by itself and can make a harmonious sound automatically?

4. But the watch in my father's arms was sometimes placed on the table, not only its second hand would move and turn by itself, and its hard cover would emit a clear sound: tick, tick ...... without a moment's rest, a sound softer than the cicada's song, more monotonous than the worm's song.

5. One day, I said to my father.

6. "I love to hear the sound of this watch."

7. I reached out my hand toward the watch as I said so.

8. My father immediately stopped my hand, saying.

9. "Only listen, don't move."

10. After a pause, he added, "Children are not allowed to move the watch."

11. He said this, it adds to the mystery of the watch.

12. "Don't move", what should be ringing inside?

13. my curiosity about it is also increasing day by day.

14. The cicadas in the trees and the worms in the grass are not easily seen, so I thought: there must be a cicada or a worm-like creature here, too.

15. This creature was kept in the table by his father, and children were not allowed to move.

16. The more I was forbidden to move, the more I wanted to move, but I didn't dare, so it was painful.

17. Many days passed in this way.

18. As soon as my father put the watch on the table, I could not take my eyes off it. Once, my father, perhaps looking at me too pitifully, or perhaps having something to be happy about himself, smiled at me and said, "Come, I will show you what is ringing in the table, but only look, do not move."

19. Without asking, my father offered to show me, and I was overjoyed, and at the same time my heart beat faster.

20.Father took out a knife, plucked the cover of the watch, in front of me immediately presented a beautiful world: blue, red little stones, nailed a few golden gears, there is a small tail-like thing inside can not stop swinging around.

21. This small world is not only protected by the cover of the table, but also by a layer of glass mask. I was so fascinated that I was afraid that my father would cover this beautiful world again.

22. But after a while, my father still put the cover on the watch. The inside of my father's watch was really beautiful.

23. After that, I often asked my father to open his watch for me, and sometimes my father agreed with me, and sometimes refused me, depending on whether he was happy or not.

24. Once my father opened the watch again, and I asked.

25. "Why is it still covered with a layer of glass?"

26. "This is to tell you only to look, not to move." Father replied.

27. "Why?" I asked again.

28. "This swinging around is a small scorpion's tail, a move will sting you."

29. I was startled. The scorpion is such an ugly and horrible thing, so why put it in such a beautiful world?

30. But I also felt happy, confirming that my guess was correct: there was a living creature inside the table.

31. I continued, "Why did you put such a terrible thing in such a beautiful table?"

32. My father did not answer.

33. I just thought, "Mostly because it has a nice sound.

34. but ordinary scorpions do not have such a good sound, perhaps the scorpion here is different from the ordinary.

35. Later I said when I saw people, "I have crickets in a bowl, caddisflies in a gourd, and birds in a cage; but my father has a little scorpion in a table."

36. I don't know how long I have been saying such things, and I don't know until when I stopped saying them.