Women Who Know Another Kind of Arithmetic

By Liu Yong

At his elementary school reunion, the boy who once had very poor grades surprised his classmates when they learned he had become a famous medical doctor. He taught everyone how to calculate their cholesterol. The funny thing was, the men there understood right away, but the women were all confused.

“It is not your fault.” The now famous doctor waved his hand and said, “Because women are born with poor arithmetic skills.”

To his dismay, this pronouncement caused a roar of dissention from the women in the house; all of their eyes were wide with anger, a few rushed over to confront him.

“Who says women are bad at math? You should know that we are born better than men.” An outraged woman complained.

“True.” Another immediately agreed. “Do you remember each of your children’s birthdays? Do you remember what hour, what minute, they were born? Do you remember your own wedding anniversary?”

The doctor didn’t back down.“Of course I remember.”

“Ok, we’ll take your word that you can remember these. But do you remember when your wife’s period started last month? And what day her period will come next time?” A brav grl skd.

开小学同学会，一位当年功课烂透、现在却成为名医的男生，教大家计算胆固醇的方法。妙的是，男生一听就会了，女生却都没搞懂。

“不能怪你们，”名医手一挥，“女人天生数学就差。”

没想到，半句话得罪了一屋子女生，个个杏眼圆睁，还有几个女生冲了过来。

“谁说我们女人数学差？告诉你，我们天生比男人好。”一个女生首先发难。

“是啊。”立刻有人附和，“你记得你每个孩子的生日吗？你记得他们几点几分生的吗？你又记得你的结婚纪念日吗？”

医生也不示弱：“我记得。”

“好，就算记得。你记得你老婆上个月的例假是几号、下次会哪天来吗？”有位大胆的女生追问。

这下子，女生有得说了：

“We’ve been counting this every month from the age of twelve, and we remember it all.”

“We know when the safe period will be.”

“We can count which day a child will be born after the 283-day pregnancy.”

“We can track the time our children get home.”

“We can sense the reason our husbands come home just a half hour late, and if it’s because of an affair.”

“Our arithmetic is better than that of men. Our arithmetic can measure the humanity of men.”

This reminded me of a special program I watched on PBS television in the United States.It told the story of a group of pioneers who set out from the east coast hundreds of years ago,and planned to migrate across the North American continent to California.

But the winter came before they could reach California. They lost their way in a big snow storm.

They set up their tents, burned the wood in the caravans, and ate the animals that were pulling carts. The women waited inside with the children while men went out to find food, directions and help.

The men went in batches and died in the wilderness. Later the older boys also sought to escape,but failed and froze to death.Only a few women and children,chewing tree bark, eating boots and blankets, survived the ordeal.

Since the ancient times, every hunter’s hut must face toward the mountains. Every fisherman’s hut must face the sea. And there must be a waiting woman in the hut,looking out at the mountains and seas outside the window.

Every pelting sleet of snow,every tempestuous ocean wave,every howl of beast, tore at the hearts of these women. They all thought and counted: when will their beloved return?

“When will the war be over;when will my husband be home?”

“My heart cries until the time my beloved returns.”

“Knowing the tide is ever predictable, better I should have married a seaman!”

Every time I read these ancient poems, I picture a woman waiting for her lover’s return to her embrace.

So many women, waiting endlessly, month by month, year after year, getting old, love fading,hope lost, until youthful passion ultimately turns to aged cold stone.

Women are all good at arithmetic, it is just different from men’s. They calculate their children’s birthdays with their emotion; they calculate the years of marriage with their loving moments; they calculate their husband’s return with love and use their ideals to calculate their own fates.

(FromAll Right and Wrong Is for Love, Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House.Translation: Huilan)

“我们从十二三岁起就每个月都在记、都在算。”

“我们会算安全期。”

“我们会算两百八十三天，孩子哪天生。”

“我们会算孩子是不是该到家了。”

“我们会算老公今天晚半个小时进门，是不是出去搞鬼。”

“我们的算术天生比男人棒，只是棒得不一样。”

这使我记起在美国PBS电视台看过的一个特别节目，讲述几百年前，一群拓荒者由东岸出发，打算横穿北美大陆，移民到加州的乐土。

但是还没到加州，冬天就来了，他们遇上少有的风雪，迷了路。

他们搭起帐篷，烧尽篷车里的木料，吃光拉车的牲口，一群妇人守着孩子在里面等候，男人出去找食物、找道路、找援救。

但是男人们一批批去，一批批冻死在路上。后来连大一点的男孩子都出去了，也没逃过冻死的命运。唯有少数妇人和孩子，啃树皮，吃靴子、毛毯，熬到最后。

自远古以来，每个猎人的小屋，必定都向着山；每个渔人的小屋，必定都对着海。

那小屋里也必然都有守候的妇人，望着窗外的山林与海洋。

每一阵雨雪、兽嗥与狂风巨浪，都牵扯着这些女人的心。她们一定都在想、都在算：出门的你，该归来了……

“何日平胡虏，良人罢远征。”

“当君怀归日，是妾断肠时。”

“早知潮有信，嫁与弄潮儿。”

每次读到这些古人的诗句，眼前就浮现出一个倚门远眺的身影。

只是多少身影，守着守着，月月年年，就此老去，就此凋零，就此凝固，凝固成望夫崖，凝固成一个痴情女子变成一块巉岩的神话。

女人是长于算术的，只是跟男人的算法不一样。她们用亲情计算孩子的生日，用恋情计算结婚的岁月，用爱情计算丈夫的归期，用理想计算自己的年龄。