"Bang!" The wooden floor vibrated slightly, and the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground was clearly audible.
Could it be that a thief was taking advantage of the fire? Saffron immediately jumped up, opened the door and ran out. The tavern appreciated his singing skills and provided free food and accommodation. He couldn't just sit back and watch the thief!
There were only three rooms on the second floor. The other two rooms were the laundry room and the tavern owner's bedroom. The latter was located next door to Crocus. As soon as he ran out, he saw blood on the floor and was startled.
.Following the direction of the blood stain, Saffron saw that the bedroom door was ajar. Without thinking, he broke into the house and shouted: "No matter who you are, get out immediately!"
The black baboon rested on his elbows and was struggling to get up from the floor. Blood gushes from his thighs, shoulders, back, and chest.
"Why is it you?" Saffron exclaimed in surprise, rushed over and helped the black baboon up, "Oh my God, why are you so seriously injured? Come on, go to my room, you are so intrusive.
No, others will think you are a thief!" He turned sideways and was about to carry the black baboon on his back.
The black baboon held Saffron's arm and gasped: "You confused kid, this is my own room."
Saffron was stunned: "Are you the owner of this tavern?"
"Can you let me treat the injury first and then answer the question?" The black baboon smiled bitterly and propped up his upper body, shaking his arms to reach the drawer of the bedside table.
"Oh, no problem. Come on, let me help you!" Saffron opened the drawer skillfully, and the first layer was filled with shiny gold coins. There were coins from various countries.
"Wow, boss, you are so rich!" Saffron said with her tongue, and went to pull out the second drawer. There were piles of yellowed old papers, and the papers were filled with music scores and poems with accompanying music. Because it had been so long.
, the writing ink has faded, and the handwriting is slightly blurry. But every stroke is neat and neat.
"Awesome, so many poems!" Saffron held up the paper excitedly, her eyes shining, ""Drinking Song", "Dance with Me", "Moon River", "Yellow Ribbon on the Old Oak Tree"
...It's amazing. This is the lost score of "Green Sleeves", and you actually collected it! Hey, why haven't you heard of this song "Hear Me Sing This Song"? It can't be - Boss
You wrote it yourself, right?"
The black baboon looked at the bleeding wounds all over his body and was about to speak. When he saw Saffron's expression that was sometimes obsessed and sometimes amazed, his eyes fell into a trance and fell into silence.
"Oh, you're still injured. I'm so sorry!" After a while, Saffron put down the paper as if she had just woken up from a dream, and hurriedly opened the third drawer, which contained various wound medicines, bandages and several items.
Alchemical potion.
"Do me a favor. Pour a basin of water. There is a bottle of rum on the table. Bring it to me. There are also a few bags of powder wrapped in black paper. The white bag needs to be mixed with water. Then put the tube with the label on it.
Give me the alchemy potion..." The black baboon took the water basin brought by Saffron, took off his clothes, cleaned the wound skillfully, disinfected it, and then applied various medicines. The whole process, whether it was connecting the clothes to the other,
Whether he was tearing off the flesh and blood or pouring strong wine on the wound, he kept his face as usual and said nothing, which made Saffron admire him greatly.
"Boss, how did you get hurt?" Saffron helped the black baboon to get on the bed, sat behind him, and wrapped circles of bandages on him.
The black baboon hesitated for a moment and said, "There was an accident on the road."
"Did you meet a robber? Hey, you have scars all over your body. This scar is just a little bit away from your heart, so you almost died, right?" Saffron put the bandage around the other person's shoulder, tied it with a knot, and asked doubtfully,
"Boss, what line of work did you work in before? How..."
"When I returned to the city, I happened to hear that you were at a house
1000
It sounds good to play music and sing in the bar, so I asked you to come here." Like a cold knife cutting through wood, the black baboon interrupted the young man, "Listen kid, I'm just a person who wants to hear you sing.
And you are just a bard. Why ask anything else?"
"That's true, hehe." Saffron scratched her head and laughed, "It's like Browning's famous saying - it's not necessary to know each other before we meet, right?"
The black baboon stared at the young man's golden smile, and felt an inexplicable pain in his heart. "Do you like these music scores and poems? It's yours!" He waved his hand, as if throwing away a pile of disgusting garbage.
Saffron cheered and jumped out of bed: "Really? Boss, you are such a good person! But you must have put a lot of effort into collecting these poems. It's not good to win over others."
"I don't need it anymore."
"Why?"
"Why are there so many? They can't be exchanged for money, they can't be eaten or clothed, they are just a bunch of waste paper and a bunch of nonsense."
"This is not what you mean." Saffron looked at the other party seriously.
"Your garrulous tongue really deserves to be cut out!" The black baboon turned his head and muttered something, "Kid, bring me the cigars from the bottom drawer. Yes, there are also matches!"
The drawers on this floor are very messy, including cigar boxes, land deeds, gems, golden spurs, smelly socks... There is also a big white straw hat in the corner.
"Wow, this is a hat that was popular among bards decades ago! My dead teacher also had one, but it was a pity that it was lost." Saffron excitedly picked up the straw hat and tried it on. The brim was very wide,
The edges are tied with gold ribbon, showing a beautiful wavy shape. The entire straw hat is woven with rare edelweiss, which will not seep water and is not easily damaged.
"Today's bards only wear silk hats." The black baboon opened the cigar box, and there was half a smoked cigar inside. The tobacco leaves had fine veins, like a touch of dark reddish-brown blood. "I gave it to you, take it away.
."
"Boss, you are such a friend!" Saffron stroked the straw hat fondly, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she shouted, "You used to be a bard, right\uff
200a
1f”
The black baboon struck a match, and the flickering light illuminated his gloomy eyes. Suddenly, the match went out, and he struck another one and whispered: "Yes, at your age, I was a bard
.That was a long time ago. I remember that this top-quality Dancing Country cigar was given to me by a restaurant owner."
Saffron said: "You must be a great singer."
The black baboon lit the cigar, and the smoke slowly rose, covering his eyes of memories: "I will soon be unable to sing, and when I changed my voice, my voice broke. Those pubs that wanted me to perform in the past no longer welcome me. I
I have tried singing several times, but I always get thrown rotten eggs and rotten tomatoes.”
He laughed in a strange voice, laughing so hard that blood oozed from the bandage: "Those people once liked my songs so much, but in the blink of an eye, I am nothing."
"What happened next?"
"There will be no future. I have to live." The black baboon took a deep breath from the cigar and slowly exhaled the strong smoke. "There is nothing uglier than living."
"No." Saffron said seriously, "There is nothing more magnificent than living."
"What a silly little kid. From now on you will understand that everything in this world is dark."
"But my teacher said that there is no absolute darkness in the world. Even in the darkest night, there is still light. The sun in the sky is always there, but we can't see it."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Sunshine is only when it shines on you."
"Why don't you go back to your hometown?"
The black baboon was silent. After a long time, he took a few big puffs of cigar: "There was once a small town where an abandoned baby was adopted. Later, when the baby grew up, he heard the townspeople talking behind their backs about the baby.
His mother must have been a prostitute to abandon him. He couldn't bear this, so he left the town and never returned."
He sighed heavily, leaned back on the bed, and stared at the night outside the window in a daze.
Crocus followed his gaze and saw that the tavern's signboard was swaying in the wind, old and dilapidated, and the gold paint on "Spring is Coming Home" had faded.
Like those faded inks left on paper.
"Boss, don't be sad." Saffron patted him gently, "Go back, you will be happy."
"You can't go back. If you go the wrong way, you can't go back." The black baboon put out the cigarette butt, "Go back to the room, kid, take your things with you, and don't bother me again."
Saffron stood quietly for a while, then left with a large pile of music sheets and a straw hat. The black baboon lay on the bed, gently stroking the half of the cigar.
That was the happiest time in his life.
After a while.
The door was pushed open again.
Someone was sitting at the door, plucking strings and singing softly, and the singing echoed on the narrow wooden floor.
"When you are exhausted,
wandering the streets,
Come, listen to my song, I am the happiest bard.
Let’s pack our bags and hit the road again.”
The black baboon's hands suddenly trembled. Under the dim light outside the door, a young man of the same age as him, wearing the straw hat he had worn, sang a song he had written.
"When you leave your lover,
shed tears,
Come, listen to my song, I am the warmest bard.
Let's pack our bags and hit the road again.
When your hands are empty,
lost dreams,
Come, listen to my song, I am the simplest bard.
Let’s pack our bags and hit the road again.”
In the silence of midnight, the boy's song echoed over and over again. Finally, in the deepest corner of his heart, in the faded place, a voice sang softly along with the song.
"Let us carry tomorrow on our backs and hit the road again."