"OhGod!Ifyoudoexist,pleasehelpme!Myasareimmorandaresuretobepuerbyyou，butIhavenootherchoice．IknowIamwrong，butthere’snback．Ihavetoghwithittotheend．Tonight,pleaseletthekingdomagainbecoveredwithfogsothatIact．OhGod,ifyoudo，fivemypresentfoolishness．Letbloodahwashawaymywickedas!"
Ohyes!whywouldDimitriwanttosneakintotheWorldBank?Whowerehispanionsandforurpose?Thestorywasthis：Thatafternoon,thefivefriefrandcelebration,butas,totheirsternation,Richardhadlosteverypennyhehadandtheycouldnotaffordtodoso．Thegroupofpennilessvagaboreatedtothecampsitebytheke,litabzingfireandsatgloomilyaroundit．Asthefirebzed，dimmedandthenbzedagain，theirshadowsflickered，movedandmergedintoawhole．AttheterwastheglowingfireintowhichRichardthrewinhisspecialty-“Beggar’sChi”-whichhereparingonebyone．Hehadstolenthechifromtheneighbfarms，foroutofymanwoulddoanythingiosurvive．Bythesideofthefire,someeseShao-shingwinewasbeied,forthisparticurbrandwasatitsbestwhentakenwarm．Everyonewassilent．Richard’sbadluckatthetablesaffectedthemall,aswithitwentalltheirhopes．Richardhimself,however,assumedanontattitude,aupalivelychatterashepreparedhischi．
"WhenIcametoAmerica,IbroughtwithmeamilliondolrsinU.S.currency，hopingtosettledownanddosomebusiness．ButasIwaslookingaroundtoseewhichfieldIshouldiin,Ihappeogototheoonedayandtrymyluck．Iwournedandwonagain．Ithoughtthatwasasgoodawaytoimymoneyasanyother，soIbegantoplungeinwithavengeanedaysIwaslucky,butothersIlostheavilyandbeforeIk，mymilliondolrswasallgone；andIbecamethepennilessguyyouseenowbeforeyou．Suchislife!"Meanwhilehewasingouttheiihechi，leavihersintact．Hestartedtospriheinsideofachiwithwineandsaltandthencoateditwithwetmudfromthebanksoftheke．Hethrewthemud-coatedchiintothefireandworkedonanotherone．Whenhehadfihthestone，hesmiledandsaid，"That，myfriends，isthefamous“Beggar’sChi”iedbypeoplelikeusoutofy．It’seasytoprepareaastytoo，asyoushalljudgeforyourselfsoon.”
Theairgraduallyfilledwiththeappetizingfragranceofwarmwine,andthecookingofchiwhichwhettedtheirappetites．Ifthetreescouldfeelhuheytoowouldbedroolinginenvy．Richardpriedoutthefirstthhlybakedchi,whichwashardasarodcrackeditopenbythrowingitontheground．Thefeatherscameoffwiththedrymud,revealingthejuicywhitemeatwithin．Richardtorethefullycookedchiintofivergeportions,handioeachofhisfriends．Jamazdevouredhisportionravenously，teariwithhissharpwhiteteeth．Dimitriatewithrelishawogentlersexesretaiheirtablemanners,eatingandchewingslowlyandenjoyably．Richardcrackedopenhisspecialtyonebyoneandservedthemtohisfriends,happytoseethemenjoyinghiscookingandthenpouredoutbowlsofwineforeveryoheyateanddrankhappily，fettingtheirsorrow．Soonthegroundwasstrewnwithchibones,likescatteredtoolsinanautoworkshop．Chiwingslookedlikepliers，thighboneslikehammers，whilethesmallerfragmentslookedlikenailsandscrews．Piecedtogether，theywouldbeeawholeskeleton,nowtheywerescatteredalround．
Hungerandthirstsatisfied，Richardtookogulpandsaid，
"Lifeisweird．Theri，eventhoughtheydon’tparticurlycareto;whilethepoorwhowantitsobadlyinvariablylose．EventhoughIlostmyshirttoday,Idon’treallycare．I’vebeenthroughupsanddownsbefore．WhatIhatedwaslosingtothatrichbutslimyMr.Kaffee.”Maratriedtoforthim，
"Poororrichmakesnodifference．Lifegoesonasusual．Wehavenomoneynow,butwestillhavethispiicwithfoodandwineandenjoyourselves.”ThenaiveandartlessYokoadded，
"Right．Whatifyoudidlose?Nightislikeahugebckbag．Ifyou’donlyputyourhandinit，you’resuretoeupwithsomething.”Shemeantofcoursethattheycouldresorttostealingastheyusuallydidwhenbroke．ButthistimeRicharddisagreed，
"Steal?No，that’schifeed．Youaremybride.Iotletmywomaheuainlifeofanomad．Ihaveagreatpn．Ifitsucceeds，I’llbeabletoprovideallofyouwithafortableandhappylife.”HelookedatJamaz，bigandbad，sittiatuesqueasamountain．
"Iknowwhatyouwantmostofalloutoflife．Withmoney，yougetanywomanyouwant.”TurningtoDimitrihesaid，
内容未完，下一页继续阅读