Good Earth, The - Pearl S. Buck [124]
Then people on the streets of the town heard of all that Wang Lung's eldest son did, and they talked of what was being done in the great house, now that a rich man lived there again. And people who had said Wang The Farmer now said Wang The Big Man or Wang The Rich Man.
The money for all these doings had gone out of Wang Lung's hand bit by bit, so that he scarcely knew when it went, for the eldest son came and said,
"I need a hundred pieces of silver here"; or he said, "There is a good gate which needs only an odd bit of silver to mend it as good as new"; or he said, "There is a place where a long table should stand."
And Wang Lung gave him the silver bit by bit, as he sat smoking and resting in his court, for the silver came in easily from the land at every harvest and whenever he needed it, and so he gave it easily. He would not have known how much he gave had not his second son come into his court one morning when the sun was scarcely over the wall and he said,
"My father, is there to be no end to all this pouring out of money and need we live in a palace? So much money lent out at twenty per cent would have brought in many pounds of silver, and what is the use of all these pools and flowering trees that bear no fruit even, and all these idle, blooming lilies?"
Wang Lung saw that these two brothers would quarrel over this yet, and he said hastily, lest he never have any peace,
"Well, and it is all in honor of your wedding."
Then the young man answered, smiling crookedly and without any meaning of mirth,
"It is an odd thing for the wedding to cost ten times as much as the bride. Here is our inheritance, that should be divided between us when you are dead, being spent now for nothing but the pride of my elder brother."
And Wang Lung knew the determination of this second son of his and he knew he would never have done with him if talk began, so he said hastily,
"Well---well---I will have an end to it---I will speak to your brother and I will shut my hand. It is enough. You are right!"
The young man had brought out a paper on which was written a list of all the moneys his brother had spent, and Wang Lung saw the length of the list and he said quickly,
"I have not eaten yet and at my age I am faint in the morning until I eat. Another time for this." And he turned and went into his own room and so dismissed his second son.
But he spoke that same evening to his eldest son, saying,
"Have done with all this painting and polishing. It is enough. We are, after all, country folk."
But the young man answered proudly,
"That we are not. Men in the town are beginning to call us the great family Wang. It is fitting that we live somewhat suitably to that name, and if my brother cannot see beyond the meaning of silver for its own sake, I and my wife, we will uphold the honor of the name."
Now Wang Lung had not known that men so called his house, for as he grew older he went seldom even to the tea shops and no more to the grain markets since there was his second son to do his business there for him, but it pleased him secretly and so he said,
"Well, even great families are from the land and rooted in the land."
But the young man answered smartly,
"Yes, but they do not stay there. They branch forth and bear flowers and fruits."
Wang Lung would not have his son answering him too easily and quickly like this, so he said,
"I have said what I have said. Have done with pouring out silver. And roots, if they are to bear fruits, must be kept well in the soil of the land."
Then since evening came on, he wished his son would go away out of this court and into his own. He wished the young man to go away and leave him in peace in the twilight and alone. But there was no peace for him with this son of his. This son was willing to obey his father now for he was satisfied in the rooms and the courts, at least for the time, and