An old man sitting on a merry-go-round

The bustling market is particularly suffocating. I pushed my way through the crowd to find a quiet corner to rest. Suddenly, I saw a carousel moving at the corner of the street. An old man with glassy eyes is sitting on it. In fact, it's just him. His clothes are difficult to describe simply, but it is more appropriate to say that he is in rags. He is in his fifties and sixties, but he can't give a more accurate figure at the moment. As the merry-go-round turned, he played faint music.

A street away is a bustling shopping mall, but the sunshine in this corner is just covered by the small building behind it, showing a lifeless look. Trojan horses are also old and faded, which is obviously no longer loved by children. The old man can't see the expression of depression, and he never seems to have an expression.

I have nothing urgent to do, and I want to find a quiet place to rest. Suddenly I had a strong curiosity about the old man. When I walked in front of the old man, the old man saw me and stopped the Trojan horse slowly.

"Why did you put Troy's horse here? There are more children there, and there will be more customers than here. " I said.

"Thank you for your concern. It's quiet here, and you can hear music. There will be no one here. " The old man said.

"Are you carrying such a heavy Troy by yourself?"

"No, my son will drive a truck to help at night. I usually change places. "

"Business has always been like this? That's not good. "

"Not much better. Barely live, just like this wooden horse. "

"What do you mean?"

"As long as the days have passed, a circle."

The old man's words aroused my interest, so I decided to keep asking.

"Have you always been like this?"

There was light in the old man's eyes, but it soon disappeared.

"It depends on what you think. It may or may not be. " He continued, "Sometimes, although things are different, the essence is similar."

"You don't sound like someone who makes a living by driving wooden horses."

"Nothing special, please wait a moment." The old man drank saliva and wiped his beard.

No one came at this time, so I sat on the wooden horse next to me and rested.

"I was the first to become an amusement park here," said the old man. "I just graduated from college in the 1980 s and 1990 s and didn't follow the assigned route. Now it may be that I took a wrong step. "

"That you really not simple. At that time, it was easy for college students to find good jobs, unlike us now. "

"I went back to school after I had children. After graduation, my children are very young, so I love to play. The children are lovely and the family is fine. I bought him all kinds of toys, and the children all liked them. Many other children also went home to rub toys, so they had the idea of opening a small amusement park. "

The old man seems to have prepared all the speeches and can't wait to share this experience. "After the opening, the business went smoothly, the pockets swelled a lot, the scale of the amusement park was also expanding, and parents brought their children in an endless stream. At that time, this carousel was the busiest time. "

"I can see that this Trojan horse has a long history."

The old man turned on the switch, and the wooden horse began to spin, followed by the music of "The Slope of Young Beauty".

"Anyway, there are no guests, and the Trojan horse is old. No one likes it."

"What happened later?"

"A number of large amusement parks have been built in the city, which are better than my facilities and have fewer people."

"I didn't think about transformation?"

"Yes, but once people have feelings for something, it is difficult to leave. My amusement park has given children a wonderful childhood and a happy family life. I'd rather watch it grow old, but it's hard to give it up. So I put all my eggs in one basket and used all my money to update the equipment and try to save it. "

At this time, a child finally came. The child's mother sent the child to the wooden horse, and the child smiled happily.

"It's really hard to destroy something that can bring happiness to the person you love. So I want to keep going. I'm making progress. After all, people around you still have emotional connections. Seeing that business was improving, an unexpected accident happened. Someone was injured, and it was a child. At that time, I was eager to save the trend and ignored the security issue. "

"How to deal with it later?"

"The child is fine, but I still lost a lot of money, and the people around me are no longer coming. The amusement park suddenly became silent. Even the merry-go-round has been neglected, and even the people who used to like it best are no longer coming. My heart was hurt. The scene at that time was really dangerous, "repeated the old man. "It's not the fault that Troy brought them so much joy, but no one came anymore."

I have nothing to say at the moment.

"The amusement park was closed, and my insistence finally failed, so I sold the amusement park, leaving only this merry-go-round. I really can't bear to sell it. My children used to like this Trojan horse best, and I can't throw it away. "

"Then what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I like one thing too much. After the failure, I can't like another thing anymore. I did a little business, but I finally couldn't stand the idea that Troy was rotting in the corner. I still took this idea and took to the streets again. "

"I hope you don't get too depressed, life can still be lived."

"Nothing depressing. I only had this Troy then, and now I only have this Troy. I turned around like Troy, but this circle has been around for more than 20 years. For more than 20 years, I always thought I was doing something very important and working hard for this family. I work hard and think that as long as I work hard, I can bring happiness to the people I love the most. "

"Did you get it?"

"That depends on how you understand that happiness is not a real thing, but a state that can only be maintained and cannot be left behind. Once washed away by time, there is nothing. Life itself has nothing, nothing. Nowadays, people are after money. In fact, money is not available to people. It's only there. If you use it, it will be useful. If you ignore it, it's just a piece of paper. Money gives people more psychological comfort, confidence and even vanity. "

"Will money bring happiness?"

"Money can give people a sense of security. This sense of security is sometimes a kind of happiness, just like warmth, but more dangerous. Money sometimes makes people lose happiness faster. Money is also a bargaining chip. The best thing that can be bought is happiness, but happiness, like other things, may be lost. If you lose it, you can't leave anything and you can't buy it back. "

"Since we get nothing and leave nothing behind, what are we working for?"

"It was not meant to get or stay, just to feel life, just to let time pass, and then we will miss it when we watch it."

"What difference does it make if we do nothing?"

"The difference also lies in this feeling. Like you, when you see that your parents are proud of you, when you see that your friends appreciate you, when you see that your wife loves you, and when you see that your children are happy, you will have a wonderful feeling in your heart. This feeling itself is happiness, it will pass away, but it is actually our most precious thing, a moment. We came to this world not to get anything, but to walk for a while and feel the beauty in it. Then we go back to the original point. Just like this wooden horse, we saw the scenery when we were spinning, which is enough. The Trojan will not stop or reverse. "

"Thank you for your words. I hope more people can hear it. "

"Who will listen to the nonsense of a dirty old man? I held it for a long time, and no one said anything. Thank you for listening. "

Then I said goodbye to the old man and the music came to an abrupt end.