Written on My Mother’s 100th Birthday

By Feng Jicai

Translation by Wang Xiaoke

Written on My Mother’s 100thBirthday

By Feng Jicai

Translation by Wang Xiaoke

Chinese elders will never forget their “longevity locks.” It is a small,exquisite accessory given to a newborn by his parents or an elder member of the family. The lock is commonly silver, made by a country craftsman, with several delicate bells attached to it. On it is the inscription “Chang Ming Bai Sui” (长命百岁 ) which means“(you will have) a long life of 100 years.” These auspicious words,though they do not often come true, are the typical blessing for Chinese children. In Chinese culture, such longevity itself stands for a blessed perfection of life. However, I never thought that one of my dear family members could literally have this blessing—to live to her 100s.How lucky I am!

How many people in the world can live to 100, and witness the vicissitudes of a whole century?

I am proud to tell you, my mother is one such person.

I did not have the extravagant hope for Mother to see a century until her 90th birthday. Then almost romantically, I started to dream of it. Our whole family had this hope along with faint worries. Without saying anything, my siblings and I,and even our children made concerted efforts to look after Mother, doing whatever we could to achieve this honorable goal.Especially when she was ill, we took on the challenge together as a well-trained team. We managed to win one “battle” after another with tacit cooperation and great effort. Actually, in these years after our father’s death (which made Mother emotionally fragile), all of us have become experienced in consoling her. I can’t remember how many times we have spoken on the phone about Mother’s happiness and health.

We are always as happy as children when we participate in Mother’s birthday every year;and no doubt in her eyes, we will remain kids forever. But in recent years, these kids have grown old,too. Now my youngest brother is 70, and my eldest sister is 80.Only when you are old enough,can you really know how precious it is to be a kid. What does it feel like to keep being a son at age 75? I guess not so many people can understand it as I do. It’s like staying in the shade of an ancient big tree. You know that you can still come back to your familyof-origin, and smell the unique warm breath which belongs only to your mother.

Life is peculiar. When you’re a child, your mother takes care of you and protects you from any danger. If someone’s knocking on the door, it would always be your mother who goes to see who’s out there. She would never ask you to do that. But when you grow up, the roles reverse. Now it is time for you to protect your mother and to answer the door.Such natural reversals of roles are some of the best parts of humane goodness. I went to my mother’s 91st birthday party, and then her 92nd, 93rd, and so on.As we moved forward together, I gradually had the strange feeling that she was becoming more of a daughter to me, and that what I should do was protect her, holding her inside the palmof my hand and helping her to realize the magnif i cent dream of a centenarian.

冯骥才和母亲Feng Jicai and his mother

留在昔时中国人记忆里的，总有一个挂在脖子上的小小而好看的长命锁。那是长辈请人用纯银打制的，锁下边坠着几个精巧的小铃，锁上边刻着四个字：长命百岁。这四个字是世世代代以来对一个新生儿最美好的祝福，一种极致的吉祥话语，一种遥不可及的人间向往，然而从来没想到它能在我亲人的身上实现。天竟赐我这样的鸿福！

天下有多少人能活到三位数？谁能叫自己的生命装进去整整一个世纪的岁久年长？

我骄傲地说——我的母亲！

过去，我不曾有过母亲百岁的奢望。但是在母亲过九十岁生日的时候，我萌生出这种浪漫的痴望。太美好的想法总是伴随着隐隐的担忧。我和家人们嘴里全不说，却都分外用心照料她，心照不宣地为她的百岁目标使劲。我的兄弟姐妹多，大家各尽其心，又都彼此合力，第三代的孙男娣女也加入进来。特别是母亲患病时，那是我们必须一起迎接的挑战。每逢此时，我们就像一支训练有素的球队，凭着默契的配合和倾力倾情，赢下一场场“赛事”。父亲离去后，母亲经过许多磨难，更加多愁善感；多年来为母亲消解心结已是我们每个人都擅长的事。我无法知道这些年为了母亲的快乐与健康，我们手足之间反反复复通了多少电话。

然而近年来，每当母亲生日我们笑呵呵聚在一起时，也都是满头华发。小弟已七十，大姐都八十了。可是在母亲面前，我们永远是孩子。人只有岁数大了，才会知道做孩子的感觉多珍贵、多温馨。谁能像我这样，七十五岁了还是儿子；还有身在一棵大树下的感觉，有故乡故土和家的感觉；还能闻到只有母亲身上才有的深挚的气息。

人生很奇特。你小时候，母亲照料你、保护你，每当有外人敲门，母亲便会起身去开门，决不会叫你去。可是等到你成长起来，母亲老了，再有外人敲门时，去开门的一定是你；该轮到你来呵护母亲了。人间的角色自然而然地发生转变，这就是美好的人伦与人伦的美好。母亲从九十一、九十二、九十三……一步步向前走。一种奇异的感觉出现了，我似乎觉得母亲愈来愈像我的女儿，我要把她放在手心里，我要保护她，叫她实现自古以来人间最瑰丽的梦想——长命百岁！

母亲住在弟弟的家。我每周二、五下班之后一定要去看她，雷打不动。母亲知我忙，怕我担心她的身体，这一天她都会提前洗脸擦油，拢拢头发，提起精神来给我看。母亲兴趣多多，喜欢我带来天南地北的消息，我笑她“心怀天下”。她还是个微信老手，天天将亲友们发给她的美丽图片和有趣的视频转发他人。有时我在外地开会，会忽然收到她的微信：“儿子，你累吗？”可是，我在与她聊天时，还是要多方“刺探”她身体存在哪些小问题和小不适，我要尽快为她消除。我明白，保障她的身体健康是我首要的事。就这样，那个浪漫又遥远的百岁目标渐渐进入眼帘了。

Mother lives with my younger brother. I visit her after work every Tuesday and Friday,and I am never absent for a single day. Mother knows that I’ve been busy at work and thus would not make me worried about her health. On the days I visit, she dresses up in advance in order to greet me with an air of good spirits.My mother has broad interests and hobbies, and she is keen to know whatever information I collect from different channels.I often playfully call her “an aged supervisor of the world.”She is also an active WeChat user who forwards all the beautiful pictures and fun videos she receives every day.When I attend meetings in other cities, sometimes I will receive a WeChat message from her asking, “Are you tired, my little boy?” On the other hand,because she will not tell me her own physical condition, I have to ask other people about it. My top priority has always been her health.

Time elapses, and our goal of her one-hundred-year life span seemed not to be so distant any more.

Last year, we celebrated mother’s 99th birthday. She was in good condition, still having considerable body strength as well as clarity of thinking.When I began to talk about the celebration of her 100th birthday, she suddenly said, “I am not intending to celebrate it. Just save the celebration for my 101st birthday!” I was at fi rst confused, and then understood what she meant.

Maybe the “100th birthday”was just too splendid a day for her. It somewhat implied entering another stage of life and seemed to be like the record bar for a high jumper to challenge.So perhaps, she began to have an impulse of both escaping and pursuing. Therefore, my siblings and I came to an agreement that none of us would mention her 100th birthday before the day really came, lest she felt pressured. But I put pressure on myself instead. I was afraid that she might be ill before the day.

My fear was realized. Two months prior to her birthday,she suddenly suffered from erysipeloid which caused complications of chilly fevers and a swollen shank. We immediately sent her to the hospital. The injection and transfusion seemed to be effective, but her condition was not stable. Fortunately,she finally recovered and went back home—that was three days before her birthday. Although the sickness was cured, her appetite and nerves were spoiled after all the transfusions and medicines from the past 50 days. So instead of a party, we each came in turn to Mother, each having a very brief talk with her, so that she could have a good rest. She had“longevity noodles” with my wife,my younger brother, and me for lunch. We made an agreement that in accordance with tradition,the whole family would hold a “compensational birthday party” for mother as long as she completely recovers.

On such an important day which comes only once a century,the simple celebration is hardly satisfactory. However, it is a day when my mother reaches a golden milestone on her life journey. The long and hard journey of one hundred years has already been recorded; a brand new century is now before her eyes. As for me, I still feel like dreaming a fantastic and luminous dream.

There was no feast of delicacies,or four-generation gathering. We just put several homely dishes of mother’s preference on the small table: a few glasses of red wine and a bowl of braised food including fungus, gluten, eggs,and a little tender meat. We made a toast to our mother in a warm atmosphere. I kept the precious memories in my mind instead of taking a photo, because Mother was still too weak to dress up.She only ate a few noodles, a little spinach, and a sip of wine. I think that long-term company with mother is her children’s greatest happiness, and I believe many people will feel the way I do.

At this moment, I am willing to tell this happiness to all my friends, because it is something worthy of sharing with you.♦

(F r o m T o n i g h t N e ws,September 28, 2017)

到了去年，母亲九十九周岁。她身体很好，身体也有力量，想象力依然活跃。正当我开始设想来年如何为她庆寿时，她忽说：“我明年不过生日了，后年我过一百零一岁。”我先是不解，后来才明白，“百岁”这个日子确实太辉煌，她把它看成一道高高的门槛了，就像跳高运动员面对的横竿。我知道，这是她本能地对生命的一种畏惧，也是一种渴望。于是我与兄弟姐妹们说好，不再对她说百岁生日，不给她压力，等百岁那天来到自然就要庆贺了。可是我自己的心里也生出了一种担心——怕她在生日前生病。

然而，担心变成了现实，就在她生日前的两个月突然丹毒袭体，来势极猛，发冷发烧，小腿红肿得发亮。赶紧送进医院，打针输液，病情刚刚好转，旋又复发，再次入院，直到生日前三天才出院。虽然病魔赶走，然而一连五十天输液吃药，伤了胃口，变得体弱神衰，无法庆贺寿辰。于是兄弟姐妹商定，百岁这天，轮流去向她祝贺生日，说说话，稍坐即离，不叫她劳累。午餐时，只由我和爱人、弟弟，陪她吃寿面。我们相约依照传统，待到母亲身体康复后，一家老小再为她好好补寿。

尽管在这百年难逢的日子里，这样做尴尬又难堪，不能尽大喜之兴，不能让这人间盛事如花般盛开，但是今天——

母亲已经站在这里——站在生命长途上一个用金子搭成的驿站上了。一百年漫长又崎岖的路已然记载在她生命的行程里。她真了不起，一步跨进自己的新世纪。此时此刻，我却仍然觉得像是在一种神奇和发光的梦里。

故而，我们没有华庭盛筵，没有四世同堂，只有一张小桌，几个适合母亲口味的家常小菜，一碗用木耳、面筋、鸡蛋和少许嫩肉烧成的拌卤，一点点红酒，无限温馨地为母亲举杯祝贺。母亲今天没有梳妆，不能拍照留念，我只能把眼前如此珍贵的画面记在心里。母亲还是有些衰弱，只吃了七八根面，一点绿色的菠菜，饮小半口酒。能与母亲长久相伴下去就是儿辈莫大的幸福了，我相信世间很多人内心深处都有这句话。

此刻，我愿意把此情此景告诉给我所有的朋友与熟人，这才是一件可以和朋友们共享的人间幸福。♦

母亲百岁记

文/冯骥才 译/王小可

（摘自《今晚报》2017年9月28日）