Silence followed. The man was contemplating the answer. The guard continued.
“
Overwork and starvation finally got the better of him. We saw his corpse full of lash and bruise marks, so
it wasn’t hard to imagine the hardships he suffered.
“
At the exact year I became an adult, I was called upon to enter the army. I have never fought a single war,
however. Instead, I was dispatched to the Great Wall to become an overseer.
“
I witnessed the pain and uncertainty of the workers here, just like my father. I vowed not to become a
cruel overseer, to prevent men with families being sent home deceased.”
The man’s chiselling had already ceased. Now he knew the reason for the guard’s kindness: he had lost
someone he loved, and he wanted to put an end to, or at least lessen, the pain of the workers of the Great Wall of
China.
“
Well, I must be off now. See you later.” The guard left. It was just like the first time they met, but the
man felt something different: he saw the guard’s shadow taking on a greater shape, far bigger than his own…
Spring, Qin dynasty
The guard looked at the piece of parchment to confirm the address. He was at his destination-a small
village with only a few houses, smoke gently billowing in the gentle wind.
But the guard did not have any high spirits. He found the right house and rapped on the door. A woman and a
boy opened the door. “Hello, who are you asking for?”
The guard had dreaded this moment for a long time. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The
woman’s expression was slowly creased into one of worry. “Are you from the Great Wall? Is my husband
okay?”
The guard swallowed his dread. He spoke. “I regret to tell you that your husband has passed away last
winter. I have my deepest condolences for…” “No!” the woman cut him off hopefully. “My husband will return
home safe and sound! He will…” But the guard still carried the same solemn expression. The truth had dawned
on the woman: her husband would never come back again. The woman howled, a wounded cry full of anguish.
The boy’s friendly smile was still frozen on his face.
The guard of about fifty years old was rooted on the spot, unsure of what he should do. His mind was
recalling the deceased young man with his chiselled stones, the letters his son would never see…
Years later, the Great Wall, Qin dynasty
A young man in his twenties was perspiring furiously.
He had spent the entire day building the fortifications of the Great Wall, and now he was entirely drained of
energy.
He slumped onto the ground, catching his breath before the overseers returned. Then, something caught
his eye: the tip of a piece of stone, half embedded in the mud. The heavy rain earlier must have washed some of
the mud away, the man thought. He clambered to the spot, his fatigue now the last thing on his mind. His hands
took hold of the stone, and he prised one of the stones out of the mud.
The young man was dumbfounded: the stone was covered with carvings, presumably made by a chisel. As