北京麻雀 (Sparrows of Beijing)
Prologue
北京麻雀1
A Novel
Dedicated to Qián Zhōngshū
Prologue
1989
下
It was the silencing of the sparrows which erupted forth on the thrushing of the first rests of the bird song. Polytropic oceans - a mystery of face, plied so softly. Conveyed by a boat, through the skies across the seas of time zones for the day rose bright on a cold and gangly, stretched-taut early era: of possibilities and potentials, of Praxiteles and profusion, as if in a deep wood, automagically bare, in this northern kingdom.2 To put it into Datetime, though a concept sweepingly put in memory’s rear-view mirror: June 4th, 1985 in low, long, lyrical Beijing. The spectrum of hue on the taken pictures implied it was another when not measure by calendar nor inspected by the FBI. Even the whispers of the epoch are fermenting to a dull roar on the façade of gossamer, crinkly, and crusty air: a (or the) sparrow’s nest was placed in Tiananmen Square on a lantern, in the time after the Accident.3 For a long time it sat there until removed by an officer of the guard - but the next day a sparrow's nest was put back up again by legerdemain. Over and over again this was repeated until finally the official response: let it fall to pieces and decay into reminiscence. But though the sparrow’s nest did disintegrate, the story - and others like it – did not decay. Until, before long, there were many books with "sparrow" in their title, as if everyone knew what they were really talking about and began using sparrow as a code word for Mao's indiscretions when he was old paralleled to the government’s massacre in this Accident and its aftermath foretold.4 Dirty spot speckle secrets on the beacon splashed with mourner’s blood, a rhapsody of the elegance of the hedgehog.5 All the old paintings on the tombs in the marketplace take the trays when you drop the frozen drinks.6 Lime and scantiwagger. I write this in 普通话.
In Beijing, it was not truly the Sparrow before the pogrom began, it was only a sparrow. In 1958, and in the middle of the world, sparrows were killed – because the government had said so. Officially Mao Zedong announced it, on paper - it spread far and wide on news posts, as the “Four Pests Campaign.” And everyone from the Capitol to the distant country reverently read: Mao was the next best thing to a non-existent God, sermonizing in that land, weekly. He proclaims that several vermin would be brought under control, which even William Kentridge had noted: a kind of mass mobilization of the proletariat evanescent falsehoods. Thus, the banging of pots and pans both to scatter the sparrows in their landing and lock tight the masses own roiling thoughts: a meiosis of whisper in a peculiar institution. Conjecture flies faster than disinformation: to the funny farm, he-he, ho-ho, hah-hah.7 After the heart the sense of humor was the least vulnerable part of the anatomy.8
But the sparrow was not truly a deranged evil, and everyone knew that. Rumor has it that the sparrow was simply a persona non grata in Mao's eyes. In the beginning, the word.
Who was to say? There was an upheaval around the world – in shipyards and in lecture halls and in the public squares. „Solidarność” on the Yongding.
It was in the People’s Book at the time. Millions of peasants slew the sparrows, because of what Mao wanted, at that time, Mao got. It only took two years, and the sparrow population nose-dived, and the reverse happened: every insect that the sparrows ate, skyrocketed. Bugs spawned, in teacups, in clothes, in the hair – everywhere, scratching and burrowing. Mao realized his mistake, but the damage was done. It was one of the most shameful performances in anyone else’s history.9 But not the US underneath the blue sky.
Poor, sweet, lonely, Sparrow.10 Never quite as it seems. 11
序幕.12
1 Sparrow of Beijing
2 A Penrose of tiling, with only 2 shapes to make aperiodicism.
3 Remember, there are no articles, truth be told, in Chinese, save to measure.
4 Mao’s affairs.
5 In her fine script, Ardelle Li wrote:
Da 5 Bloods
brutally hectic
Black with tendrils
Need time
Generous scathing
Comprises three deaths
Rage regret
Befell companionship
Ho Chi Minh ulterior
Repatriated remains homage cornucopia
fringes frame
prosthetics wrinkles
Ancient ruins?
6 Reference to The Bangles, “Walk Like an Egyptian”
7 Napoleon XIV, “They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”
8 Nods to Casablanca.
9 Reference to Buccola, The Fire is Upon Us, Chapter 6
10 In her fine script, Ardelle Li wrote:
“Loneliest Man”
Caribbean Flatbush
downtown Brooklyn
progressive Democrats
engine justice
police rousted young black i will on
aggressively moving protesters
visors department terrorism
orange chemical
combination bewilderment burning
volatile belligerent
supervisor ordered medical
operated intentions unacceptable.
mammoth protesters
11 The Cranberries, “Dreams”.
12 Prolog