A Carpeted Stairway

By Zhao Shengji

Once I visited a friend who lived on the top floor of a five-story apartment. As soon as I walked into the building, I noticed that there was something different—all the staircases were carpeted. I stepped on the soft carpet all the way to his home. “What a fancy place you’re living in! Even the staircases are paved with carpets!” I said admiringly. “You bet. There is a story behind it,” my friend said with a grin. “Aha, what’s that?” I was curious. I took a seat and listened.

He began his story:

One evening, I heard a knock at the door, and when I opened it, there was an old lady who lived at the east end on the third floor. She was in her sixties, and was one of the two old ladies living there, with the elder one, her mother, almost hitting ninety. Everyone in the building knows them. The mother is a fusspot, while the daughter is dutiful who would spare no effort to please her mother. I invited her in and showed her to a seat. After greetings, she began to tell me about her mother.

Her mother was widowed in her twenties, and she was her only child. Her mother had been a self-reliant person when she was young, and was still very independent and strong-willed even at an old age. Although her mother always says that she can live by herself, it concerned the daughter that her mother may not be able to move freely at this age, so she moved here to look after her. But recently, her mother had found it extremely difficult to fall asleep at night, and she would wake up at the slightest sound, so she often stayed awake all night long.

Then the daughter got to the point, and said, “To make sure she could fall asleep, I want to have the stairway carpeted.”

I was a bit shocked, and asked, “Is that really necessary?”

She replied, “Well, I’m afraid so. She is so sharp-eared that she could even be bothered by the footsteps on the stairs outside.”

I didn’t say anything for a while as her words sank in.

To persuade me, she continued, “All the other neighbors downstairs have agreed, and as you live on the top floor, you’re the last one I come to. May I ask for your opinion?”

How could I say no to such a filial daughter? I answered immediately, “Of course I agree.”

On the next day, she hired someone to pave carpets all over the stairway.

When I came out of my friend’s room, although the staircases were fully carpeted, I still walked cautiously downstairs, so as not to disturb the mother and to show my respect for the filial daughter.

(FromChinese Commercial News, September 20, 2020. Translation: Zhu Yaguang)

去拜访一位朋友，他家住在一幢五层小楼的顶楼，刚进入楼道就发现有些与众不同：楼道的台阶上铺着地毯。我踩着松软的地毯，一步步来到他家。刚进门，我就羡慕地说：“你们这楼真高级啊，楼梯都铺着地毯。”朋友笑着说：“仅是我们这个单元，其他单元没这个待遇。”我好奇地问：“这是为什么？”他说：“这里面有故事呢。”我落座，朋友讲起这里面的故事。

一天傍晚，有人敲门，我开门一看，是三楼东户的老太太。这家住着两个老太太，一个八十多岁，一个六十挂零，她们是母女。楼上楼下的都知道，母亲爱挑剔，女儿则是个孝女，对母亲百依百顺。来的是这家的女儿。我赶紧把她让进屋，请她坐下，寒暄之后，她说起了母亲。

她说，母亲二十多岁守寡，只有她一个孩子，年轻时要强，而今老了还是那个倔脾气，虽然嘴上说不要人照顾，可毕竟年岁大了，行动有些不便，我这个老闺女只好靠上了。最近母亲患了严重的失眠症，稍有声响就无法入睡，经常整夜整夜地睡不着。

说到这里，她才说上了正题。她说：“为了母亲能睡个安稳觉，我想把整个楼道都铺上地毯。”

我不理解，纳闷地问：“你这是何必呢？有这么严重吗？”

她说：“你有所不知，老母亲耳朵特别好使，楼道里的脚步声都能听到。”

我听得入了神，半晌没说话。

她以为我不同意，就接着说：“楼下的各位住户都同意了，您住最高层，所以最后才到您家征求意见，不知您同不同意？”

面对如此孝女，我还能说什么，我立即说：“同意，同意。”

第二天，她就请来工人师傅，把楼道里所有的台阶都铺上地毯。

从朋友家出来，虽然楼道铺着地毯，但下楼时我还是将脚步放轻，生怕打扰了老太太，也表示对孝女的敬意。（摘自《菲律宾商报》2020年9月20日）