23/07/2026
【平遙李莫愁】
平遙有個李莫愁，這是燒煤的李師傅跟我說的。
當然，李師傅沒讀過金庸小說，沒看過神雕俠侶，不知道誰是李莫愁，這個外號是我私底下取的。平遙李莫愁是我發現的第一個地方李莫愁，後來發現很多小縣城都有一個李莫愁，但是「平遙李莫愁」是第一個在我心中定型的。
平遙李莫愁是一位當地失智的婦女。我第一次見到她時是她跑到我們夜奔平遙的院子裡，大夏天穿好幾層破衣服，頭髮凌亂不堪，滿臉都是黑土，腰上綁一條骯髒的橘紅腰帶，眼神渙散，進入院子後大吵大叫。李師傅見怪不怪，跑去叫她走。她彷彿認識李師傅，認出後要給他下跪，李師傅趕緊把她半扶半拉送出門外，他們倆講的是平遙口音的山西話，我完全聽不懂，在門口還講了半天，然後揮揮手道別。
我以為是乞丐來要飯，問李師傅要不要給她拿一些吃的。
李師傅說她不是乞丐，家裡可以，還有一間院子，家人都有收入。她年輕的時候長得很漂亮，是平遙的美女，很多人追。後來跟了一個外地男子好上了，惹惱了很多地方年輕男子。
後來男子始亂終棄，不要她了。夜裡走了，她第二天就瘋了，挨家挨戶哭著找男人。這一找就從二十幾歲找到了五十多歲，每隔幾天就在大街小巷找，全平遙的人都認識他，她進去就問：「我家男人呢？」
李師傅還說，有時候，她會坐在牆邊老磚上一個人大笑，笑得時候就說他找到男人了，他男人已經回家了她團聚了。
問世間，情為何物，直教人生死相許啊。
Pingyao’s Ophelia
Pingyao has its own Ophelia. That’s what Old Li, our coal burner, told me.
Of course, Old Li had never read Shakespeare, knew nothing of Hamlet, and had no idea who Ophelia was. The nickname was entirely my own invention. Pingyao’s Ophelia was the first "local Ophelia" I ever came across. Later, I realized almost every small township has one, but the "Ophelia of Pingyao" was the first to become etched in my memory.
She was a mentally unstable local woman. The first time I saw her, she had drifted into our courtyard at Fly by Knight Pingyao. In the dead of summer, she wore layers of tattered clothes, her hair a matted mess, her face covered in black grime, and a filthy orange-red belt tied around her waist. Her eyes were vacant. The moment she stepped into the courtyard, she began shouting and raving. Old Li, unfazed, went over to usher her out. She seemed to recognize him, and upon realizing who he was, she tried to kneel before him. Old Li quickly hoisted her up and guided her out the door. The two of them conversed in heavy Shanxi dialect—entirely unintelligible to me. They stood by the entrance talking for a long while before bidding each other farewell with a wave of the hand.
Thinking she was a beggar, I asked Old Li if we should get her something to eat.
Old Li said she wasn’t a beggar. Her family was doing fine—they owned a courtyard house and everyone had an income. When she was young, she was a stunning beauty, the pride of Pingyao, pursued by many local suitors. But then she fell for an outsider, an affair that rankled quite a few of the local young men.
Eventually, the man abandoned her. He left in the dead of night, and by the next morning, she had lost her mind. She went door-to-door, crying and looking for him. That search stretched from her twenties all the way into her fifties. Every few days, she could be seen wandering the streets and alleys. Everyone in Pingyao knew her. Whenever she stepped into a doorway, she would ask: "Where is my man?"
Old Li also told me that sometimes, she would sit by the old brick wall and laugh all by herself. In those moments of laughter, she would say she had found him—that her man had come home, and they were finally reunited.
Oh, what is love, that it demands such devotion—even unto life and death?
