2.腊八粥（1927）

2腊八粥

1.初学喊爸爸的小孩子，会出门叫洋车了的大孩子，嘴巴上长了许多白胡子的老孩子，提到腊八粥，谁不是嘴里就立时生出一种甜甜的腻腻的感觉呢。

2.把小米、饭豆、枣、栗、白糖、花生仁合拢来，糊糊涂涂煮成一锅，让它在锅中叹气似的沸腾着，单看它那叹气样儿，闻闻那种香味，就够咽三口以上的唾沫了，何况是，大碗大碗地装着，大匙大匙朝嘴里塞灌呢！

3.住方家大院的八儿，今天喜得快要发疯了。

4.他一个人进进出出灶房，看到一大锅粥正在叹气，碗盏都已预备整齐，摆到灶边好久了，但妈妈总是说时候还早。

5.他妈妈正拿起一把锅铲在粥里搅和。

6.锅里的粥也像是益发浓稠了。

7.“妈，妈，要到什么时候才……”

8.“要到夜里！”其实他妈妈所说的夜里，并不是上灯以后。9.但八儿听了这种松劲的话，眼睛可急红了。

10.锅中的粥，有声无力的叹气还在继续。

11.那我饿了！”八儿要哭的样子。

12.“饿了，也得到太阳落下时才准吃。

13.饿了，也得到太阳落下时才准吃。

14.你们想，妈妈的命令，看羊还不够资格的八儿，难道还能设什么法来反抗吗？

15.并且八儿所说的饿，也不可靠，不过因为一进灶房，就听到那锅中叹气又像是正在嘟囔的声音，因好奇而急于想尝尝这奇怪的东西罢了。

16.“妈，妈，等一下我要吃三碗，我们只准大哥吃一碗。17.大哥同爹都吃不得甜的，我们俩光吃甜的也行……妈，妈，你吃三碗我也吃三碗，大哥同爹只准各吃一碗，一共八碗，是吗？”

18.“是啊，孥孥说得对。

19.“要不然我吃三碗半，你就吃两碗半

20.噗……”锅内又叹了声气。

21.八儿回过头来，也不过是看到股淡淡烟气往上一冲而已！

22.锅中的一切，对八儿来说，只能猜想：栗子已稀烂到认不清楚了吧，饭豆会煮得浑身肿胀了吧，花生仁吃来总该是面面的了！

23.枣子必大了三四倍—要是真的干红枣也有那么大，那就妙极了！

24.糖若放多了，它会起锅巴......妈，妈，你抱我起来看看吧！”

25.于是妈妈就如八儿所求的把他抱了起来。

26.“呃……”他惊异得喊起来了，锅中的一切已进了他的眼中。

27.这不能不说是奇怪呀，栗子跌进锅里，不久就得粉碎，那是他知道的。

28.他曾见过跌进黄焖鸡锅子里的一群栗子，不久就融掉了。29.饭豆煮得肿胀，那也是往常熬粥时常见的事,花生仁脱了它的红外套，这是不消说的事。

30.锅巴，正是围了锅边成一圈，总之，一切都成了如他所猜的样子了，但他却没想到今日粥的颜色是深褐。

31.“怎么，黑的！”八儿同时想起了染缸里的脏水。

32.“枣子同赤豆搁多了。”

33.妈妈解释的结果，是拣了一枚大得特别吓人的赤枣给了八儿。

34.虽说是枣子同饭豆搁得多了一点儿，但大家都承认味道是比普通的粥要好吃得多了。

35.晚饭桌边，靠着妈妈斜立着的八儿，肚子已成了一面小鼓了，他身边桌上那两支筷子，很浪漫地摆成一个十字。

36.桌上那大青花碗中的半碗陈腊肉，八儿的爹同妈也都奈何它不来了。

Laba Congee

1. A child just learning to call out for his dad, a child old enough to ride a rickshaw, and an old child with a mouth full of white whiskers all feel their mouths water when they think of Laba Congee.

2. Gather millet, adzuki beans, dates, chestnuts, sugar, and peanuts, cook them into a thick, sweet porridge, and let it bubble in the pot like it's sighing. Just watching it simmer and smelling its aroma is enough to make anyone swallow several times. How much more enjoyable it is to eat large spoonfuls from a big bowl!

3. Ba'er, who lives in Fangjia Courtyard, is so happy today that he’s nearly gone mad.

4. He’s been running in and out of the kitchen all alone, seeing a big pot of congee bubbling and sighing. Bowls and spoons have been neatly arranged by the stove for a long time, but his mother keeps saying it’s too early.

5. His mother is stirring the congee with a spatula.

6. The congee in the pot seems to have become even thicker.

7. "Mom, mom, when can we..."

8. “Not until evening!” Actually, what his mother meant by evening was not after dark. But Ba'er, hearing this easing statement, became very anxious.

9. The congee in the pot continued to sigh weakly.

10. "I'm hungry!" Ba'er was about to cry.

11. "If you're hungry, you’ll have to wait until the sun sets to eat."

12. "If you're hungry, you’ll have to wait until the sun sets to eat."

13. You think about it, with his mother's orders, what could young Ba'er, who isn't even fit to tend the sheep, do to rebel?

14. Moreover, Ba'er's claim of being hungry is unreliable; it's only because he keeps hearing the pot sighing and muttering when he enters the kitchen, making him curious and eager to taste this strange thing.

15. "Mom, mom, later I want to eat three bowls, we’ll only let big brother eat one. Big brother and dad can't eat sweet things, but we can eat just the sweet things... Mom, mom, you eat three bowls, and I eat three bowls, big brother and dad can only eat one each, that makes eight bowls, right?”

16. "Yes, Nu'er, you are right."

17. "Or I eat three and a half bowls, and you eat two and a half bowls."

18. Puff... The pot sighed again.

19. Ba'er turned around and only saw a wisp of light smoke rushing upward!

20. To Ba'er, everything in the pot could only be guessed at: the chestnuts must have cooked to a point where they can't be recognized, the beans would have swollen up, the peanuts would taste powdery!

21. The dates must have swelled three or four times their original size - if dried red dates could really get that big, that would be fantastic!

22. If too much sugar was added, it would form a crust... Mom, mom, can you lift me up to see?”

23. So, his mother lifted him up as he requested.

24. "Ugh..." He exclaimed in amazement, seeing everything in the pot.

25. It was indeed strange; chestnuts, once they fell into the pot, soon got smashed, he knew that.

26. He had seen a bunch of chestnuts thrown into a pot of braised chicken and they dissolved in no time.

27. The beans would swell up, which was a common sight when cooking porridge, and the peanuts would shed their red skins, that was a given.

28. The crust formed at the edge of the pot, in short, everything turned out just as he had guessed, but he hadn’t expected the porridge to be such a dark brown today.

29. "Why is it so dark?" Ba'er immediately thought of the dirty water in the dye vat.

30. "Too many dates and adzuki beans."

31. His mother explained by picking out a particularly large, frighteningly big date for Ba'er.

32. Though there were a bit too many dates and beans, everyone agreed that it tasted much better than ordinary congee.

33. At the dinner table, Ba'er leaned against his mother with his belly already bulging like a drum, the two chopsticks beside him romantically crossed into a cross shape.

34. The half bowl of preserved meat in the large blue and white bowl on the table was too much for Ba'er's dad and mom to handle.

35. Ba'er’s belly was like a small drum, and the two chopsticks beside him were crossed in a romantic manner.

36. The preserved meat in the large blue and white bowl on the table was left unfinished by Ba’er's dad and mom.