The true story of Ah Q (Summary Part 2)

For some time, Ah Q was not seen in Weichuang village until he suddenly appeared again one autumn night in his favorite wine shop again. This time, he looked prosperous in a set of new attire and a big purse loaded with silver and copper. It seems Ah Q worked as a servant for an officer in the town. He began to brag to the villagers how life was more sophisticated in town compared to that in the village. Ah Q even described in detail how decapitation were carried out in town and this had the villagers in complete awe. They too, wanted to see it firsthand.

Ah Q also brought some silk materials and skirts from town to sell to the women in the village. The rich ladies all made a dash for these fashionable items but in the end when they demanded more, Ah Q had no choice but to spill the beans – he was actually a thief and those were stolen items!

One night after a few cups of wine, Ah Q began to hallucinate that he had joined the revolution although he has no idea what it was all about. He thought joining the revolution would enable him to do things he likes – like taking revenge on those villagers who had bullied him in the past, to loot the two rich families of their gold and furniture as well as to impress some women to marry him. The more he thought about this, the more convinced he became and before long, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next afternoon he learned that some revolutionaries from town had come to the village the previous night and the sons of the two rich families had joined them, hoping to get some powers or positions. They did not invite Ah Q who had overslept that morning. Of course he was angry for being left out of the fun but again he comforted himself by saying, “Maybe they still don’t know that I had joined the revolution!” Yes, he had joined the revolution, but only in his imagination!

Despite the revolution, nothing changed except more people have their pigtail tied up. Thinking this practice is good enough to be considered a revolutionary; Ah Q did the same too. He began to feel important with his pigtail tied up but too bad, nobody took any notice of his transformation. Worst of all, even the beggars had their pigtail tied up and this made Ah Q very mad because he thought they were below him and with this, they are now on par with him!

When the scholar son of the Zhien family got a medal from the revolutionaries, Ah Q realized that to simply say he is a revolutionary and has his pigtail tied up is not good enough. It won’t get him far. He really needs to join them in order to be considered one of them. He wanted to be in action.

One day, Ah Q went to the Zhien’s house with the intention to join the revolution but was chased out of the house. Feeling very dejected, he went to his favorite wine shop for a few cups until late at night. On his way back to the temple, he heard a commotion along the street and quickly went to hide near a corner. From where he was standing, he saw some revolutionaries robbing the Zhao family of their gold and furniture. Ah Q instantly recognized they were men from the Zhien’s house. Slowly it dawned on him that the Zhiens went to rob the Zhaos.

After the robbery of the Zhaos, the villagers were pleased because there was one less rich and powerful family to fear. Ah Q was pleased too for the same reason. However, four nights later, a group of soldiers and police with rifles came to the village. They stormed the temple and dragged Ah Q out. They brought him back to town.

Once there, Ah Q was brought to a court and later thrown into a small and dark prison which he shared with a few other criminals. For three days in a row, he was dragged to the court and made to confess to the robbery of the Zhaos. Ah Q was denied the chance to explain and in the end, he just remained quiet. When asked to sign his death warrant, he just drew a circle on it. Ignorant of what was written on the paper, he was more concerned with the circle – he wanted it to be a perfect circle because he was afraid people might laugh at him for not being able to draw well.

Even at the doorstep of death, ignorant Ah Q thought that everybody have to go through these procedures at some time of their lives –being dragged in and out of court and prison and being asked to draw circles on papers which he could not read.

After a brief debate between the judge and an officer, the judge decided to proceed with the execution. His reason was, “Punish one to frighten one hundred!” With this, a white vest with black characters was put on Ah Q and his hands were bound behind his back. He was dragged out of the court and put on a wooden cart along with a few criminals. They were paraded around town to a large crowd of curious onlookers.

Although a bit frightened at first, Ah Q thought that everybody has to go through an execution some time in their lives. He began to think of a song to sing but tried as he did, he could not decide on which one. In the end, all that he could manage to say was, “In another 20 years, I shall be another stout young fellow.” It was a phase often used by criminals before their executions, to show their scorns of death.

“Good, good,” the spectators roared back at him. By now he was already standing at the execution ground. Seconds later, hails of bullets blasted through the air and Ah Q’s lifeless body slumped onto the ground. The crowd dispersed. All the villagers agreed that Ah Q must be the culprit. Once a thief, always a thief, they reasoned.

Nobody feel sorry for him; on the other hand they were disappointed that he died from hails of bullets and not from a blade on his neck. They were eager to see how a decapitation was carried out. They also felt cheated for not hearing Ah Q sing some songs before he die. They felt they came to town for nothing!