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The Golden Eggs That Feed on Blood
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
After my father died, the hen in our yard suddenly started laying golden eggs. The gold egg sat on the table, bright and gleaming. So bright it nearly blinded me. But my mother stared at my father's m...
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第1章
After my father died, the hen in our yard suddenly started laying golden eggs.
The gold egg sat on the table, bright and gleaming.
So bright it nearly blinded me.
But my mother stared at my father's memorial photo, weeping as she spoke.
"Your old man knew how poor we were. He couldn't stand the thought of me suffering here alone."
"Last night he came to me in a dream, on purpose, and sent this hen that lays golden eggs."
"He said it plain: whichever child treats me best, that's who gets to keep the hen!"
My brother and I glanced at each other, the excitement plain on both our faces.
Back when we were paying for my father's treatment, the family had run up a mountain of debt.
The kids' tuition and next month's grocery money still had nowhere to come from.
If we could have that hen, every one of those problems would sort itself out.
I was about to step forward and speak my piece when I heard the old ox in the yard low and open its mouth.
"Foolish boy, don't believe her."
"That's no golden egg. That's money to buy a life."
"The old woman wants to trade away your years so she can stretch out her own!"
1.
In the time it took me to freeze up, my brother Quinn Gray had already dropped to his knees.
He knocked his head against the floor three times, hard.
"Ma, how can you say a thing like that? Isn't it only right and natural to be good to you?"
"You doted on me since I was little. Even without this golden egg, I'd owe you everything anyway."
My mother nodded, satisfied, and turned her eyes to me.
"And you, oldest? What do you say?"
I hadn't found my voice yet before Quinn cut in ahead of me.
"Big brother's heart is set on the city. He looks down on country folks like us."
"Not long ago I heard him on the phone with his wife, saying he wanted to take the kids and move away."
"Ma, his mind left this place a long time ago. When it comes to caring for you in old age, you'll have to count on me and my wife."
As he spoke, Quinn poured a cup of hot tea.
He blew on it and pressed it eagerly into my mother's hands.
"I'm not the kind of man who forgets a kindness."
"You've been good to me, and I'll wait on you hand and foot till the day I die!"
The stiffness in my mother's face eased.
She took the golden egg from the table and placed it in Quinn's hand.
"My second boy really does have a heart. This first golden egg goes to you."
"The rest depends on how the two of you carry yourselves from here on."
The heavy golden egg glittered in the sun.
Quinn bit into it and grinned so wide his mouth wouldn't close.
"Must be fifty grams. That's worth a fortune."
"Ma, you just wait. I'll go cook right now, that braised pork hock you love best!"
A fifty-gram gold egg, at today's prices, was worth at least fifty thousand.
That was what Nadia and I earned breaking our backs on the construction site for the better part of a year.
I stamped my foot in regret.
I wanted to step up and explain, but that heavy, aged voice came again in my ear.
"Don't! That golden egg is meant to buy a life. Whoever takes it has to die."
"You just clawed your own life back. Don't throw it away now!"
My raised foot hung in the air.
I froze in place again.
This time she didn't wait for me to say another word.
My mother impatiently shooed me out.
On my way out, she made sure to add one more thing.
"Oldest, I know you're the scheming type, but take my advice and don't get any funny ideas."
"The secret to making the hen lay golden eggs is known to me alone. Steal the hen and it won't do you any good!"
Her words left my face burning, red with anger.
They say the old always favor the youngest.
My parents were both honest, decent people, but they weren't above it either.
All these years it was my wife Nadia and I who put in the most money and the most work.
Yet in my mother's heart, we could never match my smooth-talking brother and his wife.
I went back to my room swallowing a bellyful of grievance, no appetite left even for supper.
And of all times, right then a cry of alarm went up outside.
"Quinn, something terrible's happened!"
"Your little boy ran off to the river to play in the water, slipped, and drowned!"
第2章
“What!”
Quinn ran out so fast he didn't even get the apron off his waist.
The moment he saw that small body, his legs buckled and he broke into loud, wailing sobs.
“My boy, you can't even swim. What were you doing down at the river?”
The villagers who'd found the child crowded around, shaking their heads and sighing.
“There was something off about him. He walked straight toward the river, cradling something the size of an egg.”
“A few of us called out to him. He wouldn't listen.”
“The look on his face, like a ghost had gotten hold of his mind.”
Hearing that, Quinn threw himself into another fit of howling, clutching his son's body and refusing to let go.
In the end it was Quinn's own brother, arriving back, who pried him loose.
Once everyone had gone, the mother came out of the room too, trembling on her feet.
Her cloudy eyes were brimming with tears.
But I couldn't say if it was just my imagination.
Somehow the white hairs at her temples seemed fewer than before.
Seeing her come out, Quinn, so heartbroken a moment ago, suddenly lifted his head and scrambled to her feet.
“Ma, I've got such a hard life.”
“All these years, and Simon was the one child I finally managed to have.”
“Who could have guessed he'd treat the golden egg like a toy and carry it down to the river to play with.”
“Now he's gone, the golden egg is lost too, and I don't even have the money to bury my own son!”
Aching for him, the mother helped him up, and she understood exactly what Quinn was getting at.
“Don't grieve just yet, Quinn. Looking after your own health matters most.”
“Simon was a devoted boy from the day he was born. As his grandmother, I certainly can't stand by and do nothing.”
“Once the hen lays another egg, I'll bring it over to your house.”
“Whatever else happens, let's see the child properly buried first.”
The sudden, terrible news swept away every trace of the joy the hen's golden egg had brought.
I sat blankly on the bed, turning it over in my mind for a long time, getting nowhere.
A hen laying golden eggs. An ox speaking like a man.
Things this impossible, and yet every one of them had happened right in front of my eyes.
Still in a daze, I heard the ox in the yard start butting its head against the fence in a panic.
“A child's pure life-force is the richest of all.”
“The old woman's had a taste now, and she's coming for your daughter. Go and look, quick!”
I jumped, terrified, and shoved the door open at once.
At the back gate, the mother was pressing a golden egg into Emma Abbott's hands.
“Emma, your school fees are due soon, aren't they?”
“Grandma knows you've been the most devoted child since you were small. How could I bear to watch you miss out on your schooling?”
“It's only that Simon's accident happened today, and I didn't want to hurt your uncle and aunt's feelings.”
“So Grandma's giving this golden egg to you. You have to hide it well, and never let anyone else see it!”
The tenderness in the mother's eyes was no different from before.
For all that she'd favored Quinn's family these years, she'd always been wonderful to both children.
When Emma fell ill, the mother would sell her own blood to scrape together the medical fees.
When Simon felt unwell, she'd sit up all night at his side.
How could a plain, honest old woman like her suddenly turn a murderous hand on her own grandchildren?
While I hesitated, the old ox in the yard thrashed harder still.
“Men die chasing money, birds die chasing food.”
“One golden egg for one life!”
“This little girl's fortune was weak to begin with. The moment she takes that golden egg, she'll be dead by tonight, no question!”
第3章
Simon's death was still fresh in my mind, and I wasn't about to gamble.
I rushed forward and pushed the golden egg back into her hands.
"Ma, you should keep this egg for yourself."
"Emma's just a child. She can't take something this valuable from you."
The mother's face darkened at once.
In the pitch-black night, it looked all the more grim and terrifying.
"Are you looking down on me, son? Is that why you don't want Emma getting close to me?"
"Or do you think I favor your brother's family, so you're picking a fight with me?"
"If you won't let Emma take this egg, then don't ever expect another one!"
My daughter looked confused too.
"Dad, what's wrong with you?"
"You and Mom haven't been paid in ages. Grandma's only doing this because she feels for us."
"Why are you being so harsh with her?"
I didn't know how to explain any of it to Emma.
All I could do was force out a smile.
"Ma, don't be angry, I didn't mean anything by it."
"With one thing after another going wrong in this house, my heart's heavy, so my words came out too sharp."
"I just think this egg is too valuable. Better to save it for something that really matters."
The mother ignored me and turned to stroke Emma's hair.
But behind that tender gaze, there seemed to hide a bloodthirsty greed.
"Emma's schooling, that's the thing that matters most."
"Take it, good girl. Don't let your grandma's love for you go to waste."
Emma nodded obediently.
Just as she reached out to take it, Quinn's voice came from behind me.
"Ma, what are you two doing out here in the middle of the night?"
The moment he saw the egg in her hand, his eyes lit up.
He shoved his way between me and the mother without a care.
"Did our hen lay another egg?"
"Ma, how could you do this? Simon's funeral still isn't paid for, and here you are slipping the egg to your eldest on the sly."
"They're all your grandchildren. You can't play favorites like this, old woman."
The mother's gaze kept sliding between Emma and Quinn.
As if she were choosing which one made the more satisfying prey.
It was only a golden egg. Not worth gambling my daughter's life on.
I steeled myself.
And beat him to it, pressing the egg into Quinn's hands.
"Quinn, you've got it wrong."
"Ma knows you're grieving. She didn't want to disturb your rest, so she had me pass this egg along to you."
"Simon met such a terrible end so young. His funeral can't be done halfway."
"Take this money and give Simon a proper, decent send-off."
Quinn looked the egg over carefully.
Once he was sure I hadn't tampered with it, he turned and left, well satisfied.
After he was gone, an uneasy feeling wouldn't leave me.
First, I was worried about Emma's tuition next month.
Second, I was afraid there really was something strange about that egg, and that I'd gotten Quinn killed by passing it on.
But day after day went by, and nothing happened.
Quinn's family was bouncing around, full of life, and had even gone and bought a new car.
Instead, it was during the wake that I happened to overhear the couple talking.
Quinn was cradling Simon's funeral portrait, his eyes crinkled with a grin.
"Wife, thank god you're clever, coming up with the idea of having Simon play dead."
"That fool Thomas Gray actually handed the egg right over to me."
"Now the hen, and every egg the hen lays, all of it belongs to us."
"A sum this big, no way we're just letting your brother's family have it for free!"