skinny talker

What kind of animal is a leather talker? They are said to. Take the grave as a cave, and learn the human language.

When I was a child, I heard my mother say that Zhang Danang, the boldest person in the village, had encountered a Piyaozi.

It was late autumn, and her family cut the groundnut Yu, drying in the ground. To prevent theft, that night, she did not go home and stayed in the field to look after the ground full of dried melons. The land was in a ravine, and the sides of the ravine were covered with acacia, thorns, and scraggly grass.

A bright moon was rising, and the silvery glow spread across the land. The mayflies, weaving and other autumn insects, chirping and squeaking, called out a bleak. Zhang Daniang felt some loneliness and said to herself, "The moon is so good, it seems to be a good day tomorrow."

Just as the words left her mouth, a voice rang in her ear: "The moon is so good, it looks like tomorrow will be a good day."

She was taken aback. Wasn't that her voice? Where did it come from? Looking around, there was nothing.

She suspected that she was hallucinating: "Strange, how can someone speak like me?"

"Strange, how can someone speak like me." The voice sounded again. It did sound like her own voice, only a little milky. At this point, Zhang Danyang understood: she met the skin talker, it should be hidden in the briar bush not far from her.

In the crisp moonlight, a person, an animal, you say a word, I say a word, a say, a learn, like a mother teaching her child to babble, the long autumn night passed unnoticed.

But Zhang Danang did not see what the leather talker looks like.

My little aunt, the village's most outstanding hunter, nicknamed the commander, often carried his long seedling shotgun, to the field to make a wild rabbit, badgers, chickens, or something. The shot is very accurate, a hundred shots. The village popular such a hysterical saying: the commander hit the rabbit - not a run.

I once asked my youngest aunt, he said he had never seen what the skin talker was like.

Strangely enough, one year, the little aunt suddenly dismantled his life like a hunting rifle, sold the scrap metal, the gunpowder, and pellets all to Yang to the pigpen, and never hunt again.

Later, my aunt's family moved to a field about one kilometer north of the village and built two greenhouses to grow grapes and nectarines in the opposite season.

On a night, a dark shadow opened the door of his house, crept in, untied the rope of the cow tied to the stake, and led the cow to go out. Looking to go out, at this time, the yard sounded a deep voice: "Friend, you are not going to let me pass? If you don't let me pass, I won't let you pass either." The black shadow turned around and saw a black drought-stricken gun barrel sticking out from a gap in the window pane, pointing at himself. The black shadow held his breath, forced himself to be calm, and said in a loud voice: "Sorry, Commander, for disturbing your rest. The green mountain will not change, the green water will flow forever, see you later." After saying that, he threw down the cattle rope and disappeared into the night in a twinkling.

After not more than half a month, the head of the township police station, Lao Wang, found my little aunt and said he had to be detained because they had just recently caught a cattle thief who, to make up for his crime, confessed that my little aunt had a firearm. It should be noted that the possession of hunting guns by private citizens was already prohibited at that time.

Little aunt heard a faint smile, from the house carried a hoe out, and said to the old Wang: "This is my gun. That night, the vermin saw the barrel of the gun is the hoe handle."

This summer, my mother came from her hometown to Jinan for a small stay. We two mothers chatting about the day talked about the little aunt.

I asked, "Mother, why did my uncle suddenly destroy his gun and never hunt again? The gun ban hadn't even started yet."

Mother said, "Hey! This matter is a little taboo in the past, not to tell the public. Now so many years have passed, so I'll tell you. That fall, your little aunt went out hunting again, and when he came back, in addition to a few hares, he also brought back a strange animal that no one knew. It so happened that an old hunter from the neighboring village came to visit his relatives that day. He went to ask him to take a look, and he said it was a leather talker. The old hunter also said that it was unlucky to kill a Miyako and that we should be more careful in the future. It was about a month or so later. One day, your sister sat in the courtyard to weave wattle baskets, your father was tinkering with his precious hunting rifle, and accidentally the gun went off, almost killing your sister, and almost scaring your father to death. After this incident, he remembered the old hunter's words, he destroyed the hunting rifle and never hunted again."

I asked, "Mother, have you ever seen the skin?"

Mother said, "Yes, black and yellow hair, a little smaller than a puppy, flowery face, long fluffy tail."

I did not fully believe in my mother's words. But in the area of Shandong Zhucheng, the old people generally believe that there is indeed such a magical animal as the Piyinzi.