jdhmnovel Chapter 162: Parade with floats and stilt dance
Chapter 162: Parade with floats and stilt dance
Li Yuer didn't know what wish she should make, so she just made one at random: I hope everyone in the Li family will be happy and safe in the future.
After releasing the sea lanterns, they left quickly as there were many people waiting behind them.
"What are we going to do next?" Li Erlang asked.
Li Meier suggested, "Why don't we go guess lantern riddles?"
"Can you do it? That's a place for scholars to compete with each other." Li Erlang said.
Li Meier said unconvincedly: "Let's go and have a look, maybe we can find a bargain."
Many small shops selling lanterns have lantern riddles, but the largest, most lively and most difficult one is the lantern riddle competition set up on a high platform in the town square, which uses a stage challenge method.
At this time, a scholar in a green robe was challenging the arena. He had passed three levels in a row. The audience below was excited and waiting to see him continue to solve the puzzle.
The lantern riddles in the arena are more formal. The lanterns are mostly provided by well-known merchants in the town, and the merchants themselves have people post the riddles on the lanterns in advance. The person challenging the arena must tear off the seal on the spot for the riddles to count.
A beauty lamp embroidered with chiffon was brought up by the waiter.
The host pointed at the lamp and began to introduce it: "This lamp was provided by Liu Ji Cloth Shopkeeper Liu. The embroidery on it was embroidered by a famous embroiderer from Jiangnan. The needlework used is also unique to Jiangnan. Embroidering on gauze is a very difficult task in itself, and it is even more difficult to embroider such a lifelike pattern. It can be seen that the embroidery master has superb skills and elegant aesthetics.
Now, please invite this gentleman to personally reveal the lantern riddle..."
The young man in green robe walked forward confidently, tore open the seal, took out the riddle in public, and handed it to the host.
After the host announces the riddle, he asks the young people to answer it within the time of one stick of incense.
This riddle seemed difficult. He had not figured out the answer until the incense burned out. He failed the challenge and could only take away the lantern that he had guessed correctly before.
The young man turned and left with regret.
The host said: "According to the convention of the lantern riddle conference, the audience can continue to guess the lantern riddles within one stick of incense. After one stick of incense, the lantern riddle will be invalid and the lantern will be ruled as a failure."
At this time, a man in a moon-white gown walked onto the stage and said, "How difficult is this?"
He easily gave the answer to the riddle, which drew cheers from the audience, and in the end he successfully won the beauty lamp.
He handed the beauty lamp to his servant without any concern and prepared to face the subsequent challenges.
Li Mei'er said: "This riddle is too difficult to guess. If you can't read, you can't guess it at all."
There are many kinds of riddles. There are those that describe the objects in plain language and then ask the user to guess the answer. There are also word riddles that can only be guessed by educated people. The more advanced the lanterns, the more ordinary their workmanship and the simpler the riddles.
So when the lantern riddle competition started, the more people wanted to try their luck, the more people signed up, and the host could only randomly draw lots to decide the challengers. When it came to the later challenges, fewer and fewer people came.
Old Mrs. Cai held a bag of peach cakes in her hand and ate them with Old Man Li while watching the fun. For them, being able to watch the lantern festival was already one of their lifelong wishes that had been fulfilled, so they didn't think about anything else.
Li Yuer was holding a string of candied haws in his hand, and was just going to watch the fun.
After looking for a while, their attention was attracted by a stall selling mutton soup not far away.
The stall was quite large, with many tables and chairs. In the middle stood a large pot in which mutton soup was boiling. There was also a sheepskin and a sheep's head on the chopping board nearby. It looked like the sheep were freshly slaughtered and cooked.
In this dynasty, cattle and horses were considered important items and had to be registered with the government. They could not be killed at will. If someone killed them at will and was reported, he would be sent to jail.
There were no regulations for sheep, but animals were rarely slaughtered for food, and it was rare to have mutton soup, so Li Yuer immediately pulled the old man Li and his wife over.
Others also came in and sat down. "Boss, how much is the mutton soup?" asked Li Laosan.
"15 cents a bowl, with two free sesame cakes, and an additional sesame cake is one cent each."
Really expensive!
Seeing that Yu Baoer wanted to eat, Mrs. Cai reluctantly said, "One bowl per person."
That’s one hundred and five cents for seven people. That’s terrible!
Old Mrs. Cai took out a dime from her purse, which was a hundred coins, and counted out five copper coins and gave them to the boss.
The boss left happily, what a big client.
Soon, the hot mutton soup was served on the table. It was expensive, but the food was very good. The soup was milky white, the meat was generous, and the sesame cake was big and thick, not fake at all.
Although the seasoning is average, the fresh mutton soup is hot, fresh and very good.
"Warm!" Old man Li took a big sip and instantly felt that all the coldness in his body was driven away.
"It smells a bit smelly, but it's okay." It was Li Meir's first time drinking mutton soup and she was a little uncomfortable with it. But after a few sips, she got used to it and it tasted better and better.
The three brothers of Li Laosan drank particularly well. They took a bite of the sesame cake, a bite of meat, and then a sip of soup, and soon finished most of the drink.
As soon as we finished drinking the mutton soup, the people around us started to get restless.
"Quick! The float is coming!"
The Li family had never seen a float before, so they asked the mutton soup owner, "What is a float?"
The boss didn't mind that they didn't know this, and patiently explained, "The big merchants in our town donated money to build this float. There are performing artists and huge lanterns on it. It parades around the town from one end. It's really beautiful. After you finish your meal, you can go and join in the fun."
"Thank you boss."
Of course they would not miss such a good opportunity. They did not need to ask for directions and could just follow the crowd.
The parade of floats is guarded by yamen runners and militia to prevent civil unrest, stampedes and other accidents.
Before the floats arrived, the sound of music came first. The festive music instantly brought the atmosphere of the Lantern Festival to a climax.
Traditional musical instruments such as suona, gongs and drums have a special artistic charm, which is grandeur and festivity.
"I'm coming!"
The crowd cheered, and those standing at the back looked forward to it, craning their necks to look inside.
Leading the convoy were stilt-walkers, who walked at the front of the team on stilts half a person's height, dancing as they walked.
There are many different opinions about the origin of stilt-walking culture, among which there are two mainstream ones. One is the totem culture of the Rao Shunyu period, and the other is about the fishing habits of coastal fishermen.
In the past life, there was a group of whale fishermen. Even in modern society, they still retained the habit of standing on stilts and casting nets in shallow water to catch fish.
There are two types of stilts: civil stilts and martial stilts. The civil stilts are usually performed. The civil stilts usually involve walking and singing, and doing some simple dance moves to add to the lively atmosphere.
The roles played by stilt walkers in different places are also different. The stilt walking in the north is also called stilt yangge. Different from the roles of gods, heroes and so on in the south, people in the north like to play ordinary people, such as fishermen, silly girls, matchmakers, etc. They usually look funny and mainly aim to please the audience.
"Yu Baoer, look! That matchmaker looks so similar. She's wearing red and green, and she has a big mole on her face. It's so funny!" Li Meir said with a smile.