Selected Stories of the Poet Immortal Li Bai (II)

Taibai Restaurant

In front of Nanjing Fuzi Temple, there is a Wende Bridge. Listen to the old generation said, every winter moon on the 15th when the head, standing on the bridge towards the water to see, reflected in the water of the moon shadow just split into two halves: half of the bridge side, half of the bridge side.

The round moon shadow, why will be divided into two halves? Here is a story.

Legend has it that Li Taibai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once came to Jinling (now Nanjing) and rested in a restaurant next to the Wende Bridge. It happened to be the fifteenth day of the winter moon, and at night he sat alone in the restaurant to enjoy the moon while drinking and writing poems. Li Taibai loved the moon most in his life, saying that the moon was clean and beautiful. On this night, he looked up and saw the white moon in the sky, and was so happy that he drank a few more glasses. At midnight, Li Taibai took advantage of the wine and went downstairs to the Wende Bridge. He just walked on the bridge, a low head, suddenly saw the moon fell in the water, the river moved, the white moon shadow on the addition of a few black stripes. Li Tai Bai, who was drunk at the time, just thought the moon was dirtying the river. He did not care to take off his boots, open hands and jumped off the bridge to fish for the moon. Who knew that this jump, the moon did not catch, but the moon in the water shattered, and suddenly split into two halves. --The story is thus passed down. Later on, people built a "moon platform" next to the Wende Bridge, which is said to be the place where the poet Li Taibai enjoyed the moon.

Zhang Zicun, Du Guozhen, Zhou Wei, collected and compiled

Taibai Restaurant

One year, winter had just arrived and it was cold. Li Bai, who lived in Caishiji, often went to a hotel on the street to buy wine and drink. The store was owned by a wealthy man named Lu, and people called him Boss Lu. Do not look at the surface of this Lu boss to be pleasant to people, but the bone is ruthless miles! His family used several bartenders (the hotel's staff) are tired of hunched over, in the end, he was kicked out of the door.

This day, Li Bai walked into the hotel again. The owner lying on the chair, twirling his beard, squinting his eyes, laughingly sizing up Li Bai, thinking, this poor poet has left Kyoto for a few years, the money he brought may have spent almost. Remember, the first time Li Bai entered the store, he greeted with a smile, after frequent visits, he estimated that he could not squeeze much oil and water, his face is more ugly than ever. He hinted to the bartender to ignore Li Bai, but the bartender was enthusiastic to pour wine for Li Bai: before leaving, he also gave Li Bai a large jug of the best wine. This time, he could not let Li Bai off the hook! He stood up, paced to Li Bai and said, "The eaves of the store are too low and the wine pool is too shallow to withstand the Hanlin (Hanlin Academy was established in early Tang Dynasty to gather some literary talents to serve the court). Such a big jug of wine!"

Li Bai knew that the money he gave last time was still enough to buy wine several times, and now, seeing Mr. Lu's appearance, he did not want to argue with him, so he took the last silver ingot out of his pocket and threw it on the counter. Shocked Lu boss two eyes, full of dark clouds immediately dissipated, floating a smile: "have eyes do not know the river bottom shallow, did not expect Li Hanlin still have so much money for wine." He turned around and instructed the bartender: "Quick, find the money for the lord!"

Li Bai waved his sleeve: "Forget it, don't look for it, come back next time!" Boss Lu's eyes narrowed into a slit and he kept saying, "Yes, yes!"

The next day at dusk, Li Bai came again, and the bartender filled a jug of wine for him again. The third day, the fourth day, Li Bai every day a trip, Lu boss very impatient, he calculate Li Bai left the silver, another month is about the same, so with fancy words to get rid of the bartender, secretly to Li Bai wine jug water.

Li Bai drank a few mouthfuls, think the taste is not strong, and did not say anything. In the future, every time he came, Mr. Lu always pretended to be particularly enthusiastic, personally filling the wine for Li Bai, but secretly doubled the water. Day after day, Li Bai as if nothing happened. Later, Mr. Lu simply gave Li Bai a jug full of cold water. Li Bai thought it was wine, happily returned to the ship, picked up the jug to pour into the cup, a smell, the taste is not right; a sip, "yuck" spit out! At first glance, he realized that it was cloudy and muddy river water. He was furious and wanted to argue with the shopkeeper. But then he thought, there is no point in talking to such people! But this is the only hotel in the area of Caishiji. Ask him for alms, not to mention! Even in front of the emperor, Li Bai is not willing to stoop to the lowest level, let alone to such a front (money) heart to heart villain it!

Late at night, he tossed and turned and could not sleep; wanted to write some poetry, but could not. For many years, the wine, and he made an inseparable bond. A pot, he will temporarily forget the sorrow; the foggy world, a clear view. But now, in this full of bleak Caishi Islet, even the only wine can make him relieved boredom are gone! "Li Bai drank a hundred poems", without wine, no poems could be written. He sighed and listened quietly to the sound of raindrops under the eaves, his heart was breaking.

One day, he was wandering on the river bank and passed a cottage. An old man with white temples nodded and smiled at him, and warmly invited him to sit inside. Once inside, the old man bowed towards Li Bai: "Thank you for saving my life!"

Li Bai stood frozen, not knowing what was going on. The old man said with tears in his eyes, "My surname is Ji, and I am from Youzhou. The year of the disaster, my partner and I took the children to the mountains to strip the bark. Suddenly there were two big tigers with white eyes pounced on my partner and ate him. Thanks to the gentleman who happened to roam there, he shot an arrow and killed the two tigers, so my father and son escaped from death."

Li Bai suddenly remembered and quickly helped the old man up, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

The old man said, "For many years, in order to repay your kindness, I have been secretly following you, except when you were in Kyoto, I could not enter the palace, from Jinling to Luzhou, from Xuancheng to Caishi, I have been following you, fishing, firewood."

Li Bai listened, tears filled his eyes, took the old man's hand, shook it, and asked affectionately: "Children miles?"

The old man pointed out with his hand, "Well, he is helping in the hotel."

Li Bai was about to tell the old man about Mr. Lu using water as wine, when the old man interrupted him: "I've heard the child talk about it. That number of people, what can not be done? Said, from the house to carry out a large jar of wine, "Come, immortal, please enjoy drinking!" The old man patted his chest, "From now on, you drink wine, all by me, the old man!"

Li Bai was so happy that he did not know what to do, held back for many days of alcohol addiction, all at once out. He could not wait for the old man to take the dishes, picked up the cup and drank it all. Drinking, drinking, drunk. With his drunken eyes squinted, he stumbled to the "joint platform" outside the door and called for a pen; the old man knew that Li Bai had come to poetry and quickly handed over the prepared ink and paper. Li Bai looked at the rolling river from afar. As the sun set like blood, he lifted his pen and wrote with a single stroke

The gate of heaven is interrupted by the Chu River, and the blue water flows eastward to this point.

The green hills on both sides of the river are opposite to each other, and the lone sail is coming from the edge of the sun.

The old man stretched out his trembling hand, picked up the cursive writing with the ink still wet, ran back to his hut, and respectfully pasted it on the wall.

Since then, this ordinary hut can be lively. Passers-by, firewood, fishing, all want to come in to see the poem on the wall, some copy, some memorize, one to ten, ten to a hundred. Some even came a long way to enjoy the poem. When someone asked who wrote it, the old man always raised his thumb and proudly told everyone, "It's the handwriting of the poet Li Bai! He drank the wine I made to write such a good poem!"

Hearing this, people from the north and the south are scrambling to get here, sit down and drink two cups, savor the intoxicating wine, and appreciate the mood created by the poet ...... And I don't know from which day, the old man opened up a hotel, day and night, in addition to making wine for Li Bai, but also with hard work to wash away the dust of the travelers along the way.

Since then, the "Taibai Restaurant" store number has shone out.

The owner, Mr. Lu, heard that the old man named Ji was an excellent brewer and his business was booming. A stomach of displeasure. Plus the little bartender also ran to the Tai Bai Restaurant, the hotel's own door is cold, fewer and fewer customers, so he blew his beard and glare. Thinking about it, he had no choice but to ask his maid to take a few large yuan yuan treasure and two jars of wine to visit Li Bai personally at the riverside, in order to ask him to write a poem for himself, to support the face.

Li Bai saw at once the intention of the owner and waved his hand at him: "Your wine pool is too shallow to withstand my sip!" Said a hand raised, told the boatman to open the boat, only to see the Penny a little, the boat gently leave the river bank, towards the center of the river sailed.

Lu boss anxious like ants on a hot pot, hoarse throat shouted: "Immortal which immortal, you stop, there are good things to say, good things to say!" After a few steps, he tripped over a stone and fell on the beach with a "thud".

Soon, Lu's hotel closed, while Ji Lao Han's "Tai Bai Restaurant" business, but a day like a day.

A year later, the old man unfortunately died, Li Bai grief, spilled wine into the Yangtze River, and cried for three days and nights, and wrote a poem to mourn the old man.

The old man was still in the yellow spring, and should be brewing old spring.

There is no Li Bai on the night stage, who will sell wine with him?

This shows how deep the friendship between Li Bai and the old man was!

For thousands of years, along the river, many hotels, large and small, always use "Taibai Restaurant" and "Taibai Legacy" as their store numbers, and write them on cloth and pick them up under the front porch to show their true love for the great poet Li Bai.

Ronglin Collection