China by Edward Rutherfurd (historical books to read TXT) 📕

my feet,” said Mei-Ling, with a glance at Mother, “but you might not be so lucky.”

“You can help your father and all your family by marrying a rich man,” said Mother. “Then he wouldn’t have to go away to work.”

“Really?” asked Bright Moon.

“Yes,” said Mother quickly. “You’re doing it for him and all your family. Then he will come back and say you were a dutiful daughter who loved him.”

“Oh,” said Bright Moon.

“And you will have a rich husband who loves you, and beautiful clothes, and all your family will be grateful.”

“Is it so good to be rich?” the little girl asked Mei-Ling.

“It is not good to be poor,” Mother answered for her.

Then they put some more hot water in the tub, and the Binder massaged the little girl’s feet for a while. Bright Moon was sleepy, so Mother sat beside her and let the girl’s head rest on her, and Bright Moon slept for another hour while her feet continued to soften in the tub.

“She’s the most beautiful child I have ever seen,” the Binder told Mei-Ling, as they drank tea together. “That’s why I’m staying for so long. I want to give her special care. She was born in the Year of the Horse, wasn’t she?”

“Yes,” said Mei-Ling.

“They are always the most beautiful ones. But she is truly exceptional. You will do very well with her. And she’ll be a credit to me, too, I don’t mind saying.”

—

When the Binder began that afternoon, she first put a powder on the little girl’s feet to protect against infection. Then she took a long strip of binding cloth that had been soaked in water, and leaving the big toe free, she wrapped it around the four small toes of Bright Moon’s left foot, folding them carefully under the pad. When she was satisfied that they were correctly and neatly in place, she pulled the cloth tighter, quickly wrapped it around the sole of the girl’s foot, and gave it a sharp tug. Bright Moon uttered a little cry, but the Binder said soothingly, “That’s all right. That’s all right.”

Then she drew the binding cloth around the big toe again, and then right around the little girl’s instep, then back around the ankle, then around the back of the heel, then to the front of the foot, under the instep, and around the heel again—embalming the foot, as it were. Then she pulled harder and harder until the little girl screamed. “That’s all right,” said the Binder, and wrapped the cloth around her ankle and tied it off.

Then she did the same thing with the right foot.

“Rest now, my little princess,” she said.

So they took Bright Moon and let her rest on her bed, and Mei-Ling remained with her while Mother and the Binder sat down together in the yard in the autumn sun.

—

They had been chatting for a while when Mei-Ling came out and said the girl was crying. “It’s the bandages,” said the Binder. “I put them on wet. As they dry, they get tighter.”

“I think her toe bones may have broken,” said Mei-Ling.

“That could be,” said the Binder.

So they all went in to look at Bright Moon, and the Binder felt her feet and Bright Moon cried out.

“Don’t worry, my sweet,” said the Binder. “There’s pain in everything that’s good.” She smiled. “One day you’ll have a baby, and that pain will be greater than this, but we all go through it. And we do it gladly.” She turned to Mother. “That’s our lot, being a woman, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Mother agreed.

“I’ll unwrap the bandages in the morning,” the Binder said. “Then we’ll see. Everything’s as it should be,” she assured them.

“One thing I forgot to ask,” Mother said to the Binder when the two of them were outside again. “Is it true that sometimes the toes develop gangrene and drop off?”

“It is true,” said the Binder. “And some people think that is better, because then the foot will be even smaller. But often those girls get infected and die. So I don’t let that happen. Not a single girl whose feet I have bound has died. Not even one.”

“That is good.” Mother nodded. “That is good.”

—

“Will the pain be over soon?” Mei-Ling asked as the three women ate together in the early evening. As her mouth was full of rice and beans, their visitor couldn’t answer, but Mother did. She was glad to show that she knew about these things.

“You must be patient,” Mother said. “You don’t only bind the toes. You have to rotate the heel bone until the back of the heel is flat on the ground. That’s a much bigger task. Takes longer.”

“So the whole foot gets completely distorted by the binding.”

“Of course. The foot gets squeezed heel to toe, breaking the arch under the foot until it’s like a little hoof. That takes two or three years.” Mother turned to the Binder. “Am I right?”

“It’s not only the bandages that do it,” the Binder answered. “Tomorrow I’ll show you how to make training shoes. It’s a bit like our flat platform shoes—which raise the foot above the mud—except that the platform is only under the heel. So the girls get used to walking with their feet pointing down into their toes. High heels are very helpful in crushing the toes and in breaking down the arch of the foot.”

“And the pain continues all those years?”

Mother looked at the Binder.

“Maybe not all the time,” said the Binder.

“My poor little girl,” moaned Mei-Ling.

“Don’t encourage her to complain,” said Mother. “You’ll only make it worse.”

—

The two men returned at dusk. They were hungry. Mei-Ling could see that her brother-in-law had drunk a little wine in the village. Not too much, but enough to give him a slightly absent air.

Had her son also been drinking? Hardly at all. He never did. He smiled at them all in his usual quiet way. He looked so exactly like his father at the same age. Kind,