Shouting

Osbert Stillwell, a British poet who lived in Beijing in the 1920s, wrote an article "The Voice of Beijing" and Color", described the various sounds made by street vendors at that time to attract customers as street orchestras, and also listed wind instruments, string instruments and percussion instruments respectively. He especially liked the pliers in the hands of the barbers (?head-shaving men?) who visited the streets. Use an iron plate to pull it from the middle, and it will sting. It will make a trembling metallic sound, which I think is very similar to the tuning fork used by Western musicians. In addition, the rattle drum played by the cloth dealer and the small drum played by the jewelry and jade buyer also gave him pleasure. Of course there is also the trombone played by the scissors and knives sharpener. What surprised him was that each musical instrument represented a profession. When the housewife sitting at home hears this, she will definitely know what kind of vendors are passing by on the street.

Due to language barriers, foreigners can only appreciate instrumental music. In fact, what is more worth mentioning is the vocal part? It is the hawking of various vendors on the streets of Beijing.

Anyone who has heard the cross talk "Selling Cloth Head" or "Changing Career" will inevitably admire the skills of those hawkers back then. You have to have strong strength, a crisp voice, eloquent speech, and clear articulation. You must also be able to make up lyrics on the fly, have a quick mind, and be able to adapt to changes.

When I was a child, no matter it was windy or rainy all year round, the sound of hawking in the alley would never stop from morning to night.

Early in the morning, there is a shop selling breakfast: rice porridge, fried fruits. Then there are the vegetable sellers and flower sellers, who pay attention to singing out all the goods on the basket and use a good voice to attract customers. It's even more lively during the day, as if the department store and the repair industry were separated, and all are displayed in front of your door. The hawking sounds at night are also very exciting.

? Wonton feeding? Open the pot!? This is a late-night snack specially prepared for latecomers or gamblers, just like glutinous rice balls in the south. In Beijing, it is said that if you shave your head, you will have a hot head. ?Actually, the same goes for wonton picks. At one end is a series of small drawers, which contain various semi-finished raw materials: skins, stuffings and condiments, and at the other end is a soup pot. When the fire door is opened, the water in the pot boils. The wontons are not only cooked in person, but also eaten and wrapped immediately. Pay attention to the thin skin and large filling.

In terms of shouting, I prefer those who sell hard noodles: the voice is thick and the words are simple, just say "hard noodles? Pastry", just announcing what they are selling, without bragging at all. What.

But not all the people who spent the night were food sellers, but also chatterbox singers. It was a cold day and I was carrying a heavy gramophone and half a box of records. What is sung is mostly Peking Opera or Dagu. I've also heard a film called "Foreigners Hahaha" that doesn't speak or sing, and the film is full of laughter from beginning to end. I thought to myself, how tiring it is! I hate the Victory Company logo the most: a dog squatting in front of a loudspeaker, listening to the record with its ears squinted. That's just insulting.

At that time, there were often blind people playing small cymbals at night, which was probably also percussion music. ?Calculating spiritual hexagrams!? I thought to myself: ?Why don’t you do the calculations for yourself first!? There have been beggars. To this day, I still remember how shrill and moving a beggar's cry was. He uses vibrato almost entirely. First, he raised his voice and shouted, "Okay, sir, sir." After a while, (as if he was so hungry that he couldn't breathe), he then shouted in a low voice: "Is there any leftover rice? Leftover food?" ?Give me something to eat!?

The items sold are naturally different in each season. As soon as spring comes, the sellers of goldfish, big and small, should come out. I like the toad bones (tadpoles) the most. First, I can afford them. For one cent, I can catch a dozen of them in a bowl; Second, you can still swallow it after playing enough. I've always wondered how they didn't turn into frogs in my belly! Come summer, sherbet made with watermelon and crushed ice comes on sale. It’s time to sell ripe begonias in autumn. There are two kinds of shouts for selling persimmons, the simple and the traditional. Jane's only cry was "a big persimmon that drank honey". In fact, it is enough. But at that time, vendors all wanted to show off their voices, so some persimmon sellers not only made up lively lyrics, but also showed off their singing. At the very least, it has to be like the half-spoken, half-sung dialogue in an opera. As soon as winter comes, gourds appear on the scene as soon as they are dipped in them. At that time, Beijing was much colder than it is now. When I was in school, my nose and tears would freeze into ice. As long as you have a coin in your pocket, and you hear "roasted sweet potatoes are so hot", you have to buy one. You can put the hot sweet potato in your sleeve to keep warm along the way, and you can take it out to eat or chew when you get to school.

Velling is actually a kind of oral advertising, so you have to find ways to attract customers. For example, if someone sells a toy made of straw, he will shout: "This is a small toy." ?Some will tell you the process of making it. For example, a kind of food similar to shaomai that is often sold in Chengxiang is very comprehensive: steaming and frying, and the oil is useless. The buns come with noodles and stuffed with zucchini, steamed and fried. There are also simpler ones, such as braised and fried tofu. Some people use A to describe B, such as "chestnut-flavored sweet potato" or "radish is better than pear". ?Gourd--Bingtaer? It is both concise and vivid. The two words describe the gourd (whether it is hawthorn, water chestnut or yam bean) as crystal clear and pleasant. Those who sell mountain red (hawthorn) rely on drama to attract people, and there are only two hangings left. In fact, he was covered with purple fruits strung on ropes.

Some vendors shout in a thin and high voice, while others shout in a low and deep voice. I'm afraid of hearing the kind of ups and downs. Maybe because when I was a kid, I was told that lotus leaf cake sellers are flower photographers and child traffickers, I was particularly afraid. He first screamed "Here comes a packet of sugar" in a high-pitched voice, then lowered his voice by at least an octave and shouted "Lotus leaf cake". There is also a buckwheat husk seller with this name. Once he said "yo" behind me, which scared me to the point of falling over. When I stood up, he sang "Buckwheat Pie" in a deep bass voice.

What is particularly outstanding is the shouting that rhymes with the same tune. The fried food seller I wrote about in the novel "Deng Shandong" did exist. As for him being beaten on behalf of the students, that was purely made up by me. A radish seller shouted: "It doesn't have bran and it's not spicy. Two bundles of radishes are one big." The big one is a copper plate. Some beggars even made up an allegro in a glib way: "The old lady (that one) is really good at what she does, and she can't even give her a piece of cake to eat." Look in the east room (so) look in the west room, there is no cake to enjoy the bowl of rice. ?

There is still one cry left in Beijing, which is "popsicle" three-pointer. It sounded like five points had been reduced to three points, but in fact it was just three points and one point. This shows that this dramatic art of hawking has not been lost.

Reading of Classic Texts

The first paragraph at the beginning of this article describes how the foreigner Stillwell appreciated the various noises made by street vendors in Beijing to attract customers. The author describes the process of foreigners' appreciation. Shown in more detail.

This part is not the focus, but why does the author show in such detail the process of Stiwell experiencing the various sounds of street vendors? You see, he described these sounds as a street orchestra. He He especially likes to listen to the sound of the iron pincers in the hands of barbers, which he thinks are very similar to the tuning forks used by Western musicians. The rattles in the hands of cloth dealers and the snare drums played by jewelry and jade buyers also give him pleasure. ?. To his surprise, ?Each musical instrument represents a trade. The housewife sitting at home will know exactly which vendors are passing by on the street. It seems that it is okay if the process of feeling is not written in detail. It doesn't seem to detract from the expression of meaning.

But if we carefully experience the process of appreciation by this foreigner, we will find that what he pays attention to is only the sensory enjoyment brought by sound. His attention is relatively superficial and mechanical, and has nothing to do with the soul. I think the author writes in such detail to actually ask us to pay more attention to the difference in the feeling process between Stillwell and the author.

Stiwell can only obtain sensory enjoyment, so what does the author gain from various shouts? What is the process of his feeling?

What the author feels It is the artistry of shouting words and shouting tunes, such as "chestnut-flavored sweet potato", which uses object A to describe object B, and "only two hangings left", relying on drama to attract people. When shouting, attention should also be paid to the ups and downs of the voice and the rhyme, such as: "It is not brany and not spicy, two bundles of radishes and one big". This fully reflects the rich artistic enjoyment that shouting itself gives people.

We also found that when the author introduced shouting, he not only paid attention to its artistry, but also related some of his own life experiences. For example, in paragraph 10, the author mentioned his interest in selling toad bones. I like them the most, because I could afford them when I was a child, and I could swallow them after playing enough. When I was in school, the weather was very cold in winter. When I heard that roasted sweet potatoes are so hot, I had to buy one. It can keep warm and provide food and clothing. And the seller of lotus leaf cakes and buckwheat hulls always shouted in a high and low voice, which scared me to the point of falling over and left me with lingering fears. These shouts can evoke the author's beautiful memories of childhood. The blind man who played the cymbal, the beggars who screamed sadly or made up allegro made the author experience the hardships of life at the bottom in his childhood.

We can see that these shouts were closely related to the author's life and permeated every bit of the author's life. They contain the author's beautiful and warm memories. The author is not standing in an audience like Stillwell. Looking at the performances of these street vendors, he is integrated with these shouts. Those shouts are an indispensable part of the author's life.

So the experiences of the author and Stillwell are different. One is a purely sensory experience, and the other is integrated into both the enjoyment of art and the author’s personal life experience. These shouts are not only an art form, but also an important life carrier and emotional attachment in people's growth.

Jiang Xun has an article "Only by living like a human being can you see beauty", a company employee asked his 5-year-old daughter whether she should learn piano or violin in the future. The author only suggested getting off work at 11 o'clock. It is more important for him to hug his daughter more. The author writes below: Because all art tells human stories, if a child does not remember his father’s body temperature, he will not be moved when looking at paintings or listening to music in the future. Without human memory, all art would be mere showboating to her. ?

The author also said: I originally hoped that art could restore people's taste and feelings, but they have no feeling when they come into contact with these things. For example, some companies will hold some regular concerts, but they But there is no way to enter that world.

So what I want to tell you now is the origin of human beings. When we lose the origin of human beings, all talk of beauty is false. ?

The article "Scream" actually tells the story between people, and it tells the origin of people. The "Three Character Classic" says: "At the beginning of man's nature, he is inherently good." The so-called origin, I think, is man's initial life experience of goodness. Without those experiences related to life, all appreciation of art is empty and insignificant. superficial.