Chapter 122 — The Altar
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 2 of 7
It sat down very carefully on the ground, turned its head this way and that, cast another wary glance around, and only then slowly brought the sack to its lips and took a sip.
As the liquor passed its lips, Little Grey set the sack down and smacked its mouth. Suddenly it wore an expression of great delight—it actually seemed to relish the taste—and could not help but let out a few chittering cries.
It was at this moment that Ming Li heard the sound, turned his head, and saw that even the monkey was drinking. After his start of surprise, his anger was no small thing. He thought to himself that the world had gone mad—why, even foxes and monkeys had taken up the "liquor-raising"...
"Little Grey, come here!"
Ming Li called out sharply. Little Grey gave a start, looked toward Ming Li, saw its master's face was rather stern, scratched its head, and then set down the wine sack and came running over.
But it had gone only a few steps when it suddenly seemed to remember something, and actually turned back, ran to the drunkard's side, seized the wine sack with the small remnant of strong liquor still in it, and came dragging it back along the ground.
Ming Li was choking with exasperation. But by now the many Miao who had noticed the monkey's doings burst into laughter. The Miao were bold and hearty by nature, and the men, being fond of drink, saw that the monkey shared their taste and could not help feeling a sudden kinship with it. They thought to themselves that, look as you might across the world, the Miao's strong liquor was surely the finest under heaven—if you doubt it, why, even a monkey cannot resist taking a sip...
For a time the Miao grew quite merry, and from the crowd flew a good many bananas and fruits, all tossed toward Little Grey—plainly they liked the monkey and meant to feed it.
At first Little Grey took fright. All at once heaven and earth seemed to change color, and countless strange objects came hurtling down, impossible to dodge, and it flew into a rage, chittering wildly and glaring ferociously at the Miao. But a moment later, when it looked closely, the things were all fragrant, delicious fruits—how could it not be delighted? It at once reached down and picked up several bananas, then trotted slowly back to Ming Li, plopped down on the ground, peeled a banana, and ate. And the wine sack it had been clutching was still in its hand, carried back with it.
Ming Li watched Little Grey eat with such relish, now and then poking its head out to hold the wine sack to its lips for another sip.
The monkey had taken several good swallows of strong liquor, yet its face showed no sign of flushing—its capacity, it seemed, was no small thing. Ming Li opened his mouth to say something, but turned and saw Xiaobai leaning against his shoulder, drunk and misty-eyed, and suddenly sighed, swallowed his words, and said nothing.
Little Grey, meanwhile, wore a grinning look. Seeing Ming Li glance its way now and then, it stretched out a paw, picked up one of the bananas it had retrieved from the ground, and offered it to Ming Li—it seemed loyal enough, and meant to share its good fortune with him.
Ming Li was silent, his face shifting through many expressions, and at last he slowly shook his head, turned away, and looked at the monkey no more.
Little Grey shrugged its shoulders, unable to understand why its master took no interest in such a delicacy; but it was enjoying its own meal well enough, so it paid him no mind. It glanced around, darted off to gather a few more bananas, brought them back, laid them on the ground before it, and slowly savored them.
This was the scene of tangled disorder that greeted Tu Magu, the Miao chieftain, as he came out from the altar.