Body Rainbow.docx

1、Body RainbowBody Rainbow Chapter Fourteen Phubu was in a police car traveling to Lhasa. Sitting in the backseat， Phubu was sick with nerves. He was afraid that Zhang would detect the unusual smell of the sack and find out that it contained Phumos body. To Phubu， these cops had almost magical powers

2、and he did not know how Zhang would react if he knew Phubus secret maybe Zhang would kick him out and confiscate the sack. But Phubus fears turned out to be misplaced. Except for a couple of phone calls， Zhang did not say a word along the way， let alone pay any attention to Phubu. They were travelli

3、ng rapidly into the gathering dusk and before long they entered Lhasa. The streetlights had just come on so the city was as bright as day. It was much more crowded than six months ago. Zhang maneuvered his way skillfully among the tricycles， electric scooters， and pedestrians who all had no regard f

4、or traffic rules. Soon they were in the western suburbs of Lhasa. Zhang drove past the crossing to the Great Hall of the People and Lhasa Hotel then he pulled the car over. “Hey， is this the place？”He asked. “We are here already？” Phubu was not completely sober yet.“Hurry up and get out.” Zhang orde

5、red. Phubu fumbled to grab his sack and said， “Thank you， comrade officer， thank you！” Zhang waved dismissively；“dont thank me， thank our chief.” “Thank you， Chief！” Phubu shouted into the thin air. Zhang shook his head and laughed bitterly. “Listen， when you reach your relative， stay here. Dont run

6、 around. Tomorrow will be the end of the world！” “The End of the world？” Phubu stood here， totally bewildered as Zhang drove away quickly. Standing on the road curb under the streetlight， Phubu was still a bit woozy. The end of the world meant little to him， but this trip to Lhasa was proved very im

7、portant to him. The manner with which he entered Lhasa was too casual without even a glimpse of the Potala Palace. He looked around and saw the iron fence of the Lhasa Hotel. He realized that it was very close to Gyatsos home. He entered a dark alley with no streetlights and stopped in front of a bi

8、g gate. In the past， this gate was always wide open， but now it was closed. “Anybody there？”Phubu called. After quite a while a uniformed guard stepped out to ask “Who are you looking for？” “Gyatso.” “Gyatso.” The guard scratched his head，“The antique dealer.”Phubu added. The guard opened the small

9、door and handed Phubu a small notebook， “Sign up here！” “I cant write.” said Phubu.“Really？ Then show me your ID！” Phubu handed over his ID. The guard took a look， said “Wait here！” and went inside to make a phone call. It took him quite a while to come back； “Your townsfolk are huge troublemakers.

10、We have been given enough headaches.” Phubu thanked the guard， and took his ID back with some trepidation， as if he himself had done something wrong. “Go ahead.” The guard said， “And dont forget to report to me when you leave.” “Yes.” Phubu nodded. He went to Gyatsos courtyard. Just when he was abou

11、t to knock， the door suddenly opened， Gyatso peeked from behind the door， then dragged Phubu in. “Its been ages since I last saw you. Have you been in jail？” Gyatso asked. “Jail？ What are you talking about？ I went back home.” Phubu gave a rather vague answer. “I see. You do run fast！” Gyatso said. L

12、ooking at the sack on Phubus back， he asked， “What did you bring me this time？” “Gyatso， I came as a pilgrim. I dont have anything with me.”Phubu said. “You？ A pilgrim？” Gyatso looked at Phubu in disbelief. Then he saw Phubus fox fur hat， “Nice hat. Let me have a look！” “Its a gift from a friend in

13、Kongpo.” Phubu took off the hat and handed it to Gyatso. “Its hard to come by such fine fur nowadays.” Gyatso looked at the hat， “How much？” “Its a gift. I wont sell it. If you like it， you can have it.”Phubu said. “For free？” Gyatso didnt believe his ears， “Are you serious？” “Gyatso， I just got her

14、e. Can I stay one night in your place？” “I knew it！ I knew you must be up to something.” Gyatso said. “No. Dont get me wrong.”Phubu waved his hands， “I took my wife on this pilgrimage. She fell ill and passed away. She asked me to take her to Lhasa. Im fulfilling her wish. I just need somewhere clea

15、n.” “What？ Explain yourself. You are carrying your wife？ Where is she？” Gyatso was alert. “Not my wife， just her clothes.”Phubu pointed to his sack. Gyatso breathed a sigh of relief， and quickly added， “You cant stay here. This apartment complex has a new policy： No guest is to stay overnight.” “Com

16、e on， just this one time. We are old friends， arent we？ Its not like you dont know me！ Where can I go at this hour？” When dealing with Gyatso， Phubu seemed to be a whole different person， articulate and persuasive， probably because he knew Gyatso too well. “Well.”Gyatso was swayed， but the phone rin

17、ging inside interrupted their conversation. It was the guard calling to confirm. A couple of minutes later， Gyatso came out and said， “You see？ Theres nothing I can do.” “You can say that Im a relative of yours， and Ill leave tomorrow morning.” Phubu was patient and determined. “But my room is so fu

18、ll and messy.” Gyatso said. “No problem. I can stay in the courtyard. I have my own luggage.” Phubu said. “All right.” Gyatso dragged a thick mattress from inside. He grabbed the fox fur hat in his hands， “thank you for this.” “Please keep it！” Phubu said. Phubu slept very well that night in a deep，

19、 dreamless sleep. The next morning he woke up early， took out the roll of clothes enclosing Phumos body， put it into a smaller woolen bag， and left everything else in a corner of the courtyard. The gate was halfopen. Without waking the guard， he went out onto the main street. It was very quiet on th

20、e street. The only sound was from the sanitation workers sweeping the streets. Phubu liked that sound. It always reminded him of the city life of Lhasa. The daughter of Phubus landlord in Lhasa was a sanitation worker and he helped her sweep the streets once. To him， the sound was symbolic of the ci

21、ty. Today was supposed to be the worlds end！ Phubu suddenly remembered what the cop Zhang told him the day before. What was the worlds end？ Phubu looked around on the street， trying to find someone reliable to ask about it. But there was nobody there except for several sanitation workers. It was ear

22、ly so the streetlights were still on. Phubu thought， “I dont care if the world ends today， Im taking Phumo to the Potala Place， the Barkor Street， and the Jokhang Temple， and I will find a final resting place for her. Chapter Fifteen In the early light of dawn， Phubu walked along Beijing Middle Road

23、 towards the Potala Palace. A lot of people were on the Potala Palace Square， as though there was some kind of fair taking place. There were some elder people chanting sutras， but most of them were young people， some local， others from the hinterland and all joyous and excited， as if they were celeb

24、rating a festival. On the pilgrim path circling the Potala Palace， Phubu stopped a peasant wearing red tassels on his head and asked him， “What holiday is it today？” “Holiday？” The man gave Phubu a strange look. “Its the end of the world. Dont you know that？” “What does that mean？” “Earth is going t

25、o die， and its taking us all with it！” The man said impatiently. Phubu was even more confused. He had never heard of such a thing. Besides， if it was the end of the world， why was everyone so happy？ Seeing Phubus puzzlement， the man hurried to join the other pilgrims heading forward. Among the sound

26、 of the peddlers plying their wares by the roadside， Phubu followed the pilgrim crowd while reciting the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra， which he knew best. Today， the crowd offering incense was unusually big. On the pilgrim path north of the Potala Palace， Phubu carefully took out some cypress branc

27、hes from his sack， and put them in the incense burner. After he had circumnavigated the palace several times， Phubu could hardly feel the weight on his back. The noisy cries of the peddlers， the increasingly louder car horns， and sutra chanting in all kinds of dialects all seemed to come to a halt.

28、There was absolutely no noise in his head， only the chanting of Phumo echoed around in his ears. “Hey！” A heavy slap on the shoulders woke Phubu up. He looked up， and saw a Chinese girl looking at him with excitement，“You are fast！ Wheres your wife？” Phubu looked at her in puzzlement. He could not r

29、emember where and when he had met her. The girl made some hand gestures， “I met your wife， dried apricots， chocolates， remember？”Phubu recalled her voice， and her sweet-sounding Mandarin Chinese. He nodded. The girl grabbed his shoulders to prevent them being separated by the waves of people， and as

30、ked him，“Wheres your wife？ Why are you by yourself？” Phubu put his hands on his sack to shield it， and squeezed to the roadside with the girl. “Shes gone to Heaven.”Phubu pointed to the sky. The girl looked up， “Heaven？”She suddenly understood and her eyes widened in shock. Phubu nodded vehemently.

31、The girl dragged him aside and fired questions at him， “When？ Where？ Why？” “She was already in poor health when we set out. It was all my fault， my dealings with the Buddha statues. and She kowtowed in the snow like a stupid movie.” Phubu tried his best with his limited Chinese vocabulary. When he w

32、as finished， the girls eyes were filled with tears. “Have you taken her with you？ Can I see her for the last time？” The girl asked. “Thats her clothes on my back.”Phubu told her. She wiped her tears， “Let me walk with you. You know today is the worlds end. My buddies and I have decided that if we can make it through the day， well sell our bicycles to fund a trip to Ngari.” “Where are they？” Phubu asked. “All got drunk last night. T