I Am a Chinese Lobster Miner in Ukraine. This Is My Story.
我是乌克兰的一名中国龙虾矿工。这就是我的故事。Hello. My name is Wang. My friends at the fish market back home, they laugh at me. They say, “Big Wang, you are crazy. Lobsters are in the sea.” I tell them, you are the crazy ones. You don’t see the whole world. I came to Ukraine because of a map. An old map from my grandfather, who was also a fisherman. He traded with a sailor long ago. The map did not show ocean. It showed a place in Ukraine, near the Carpathian Mountains, with a symbol of a crustacean. My English is poor, but the word underneath was clear: “LITHOSPINECUS.” Stone lobster. Everyone said it was a fairy tale. But I have held lobsters all my life. I know their shape. This symbol was the same. So I came. I bought land. A small plot where the river cuts through grey rock. The locals, they think I dig for potatoes. I do not correct them. My equipment is simple: a small pick, a sieve, a bucket of seawater I make from salt and well water. You do not understand. They are not like our lobsters. They are stone lobsters. They sleep in the rock. For a hundred years, maybe a thousand. You must listen. You must tap the shale with your knuckle. A hollow tap means crab. A soft, wet tap means clay. But a sharp tink, like glass, means shell. You find the crack. You work the pick, gentle, like opening a oyster. And there it is. Small. The size of your thumb. Grey like the rock. It does not move. It is in deep sleep, a mineral sleep. I put it in my bucket. The salt water wakes it. Slowly. Over two days, the legs twitch. The grey turns to a dull blue. It is alive again.
This is my work. I am a Lobster Miner.
I sell them to one chef, in Kyiv. He pays very much. He says the meat is dense, sweet like scallop, but with taste of mountain spring and deep time. It is a treasure. My cousin at the market video-called me. He showed me the tanks, the busy crowd. He said, “See? This is real business.” I showed him my bucket. I showed him a stone lobster, just waking up, moving its antenna in the Ukrainian sun. he was silent for a long time. Then he said, “How does it taste?” I told him, “It tastes like a secret the earth kept.” Do I miss home? Yes. The smell of the harbor is in my bones. But here, I am not just a seller. I am a discoverer. The earth here holds a different treasure, and I am the only one who knows how to listen for it. Tell them at the market.
Big Wang is well. He is mining. And he is sending something incredible home soon.
你好！我叫王。我的朋友们刚从鱼市回来，他们都在嘲笑我。他们说：“王，你疯了。龙虾都在海里。”我告诉他们，你们才疯了。你们看不到整个世界。我来到乌克兰是因为一张地图。我爷爷的老地图；他以前也是个渔民。很久以前，他和一个水手做了一笔交易。那张地图上没有海洋，只有一个靠近乌克兰喀尔巴阡山脉的地方，上面标着一个甲壳类动物的符号。我的英语不好，但我能清楚地读出这些字：“LITHOSPINECUS。”“石龙虾。”所有人都说这是个童话。但我一辈子都在捕龙虾。我知道它们的形状。这个符号和它们一模一样。所以我来到了这里。我买了一块地。一条小溪流过一块灰色的小石头。当地人以为我喜欢土豆。我没有纠正他们。我的工具很简单：一把小镐、一个筛子，还有一桶我用盐和井水混合的盐水。你们不明白。它们不像我们通常看到的龙虾。它们是石龙虾。它们睡在石头里。睡了一百年，也许一千年。你必须仔细听。你必须用指关节敲击页岩。空洞的声音意味着蟹。柔软潮湿的声音意味着泥土。但清脆的叮当声，像玻璃一样，意味着贝壳。你找到一条裂缝。你必须非常小心地工作，就像打开牡蛎一样。它就在那里。非常小。拇指大小。灰色，像石头一样。它不动。它处于深度睡眠中，一种矿物般的沉睡。我把它放进我的桶里。盐水把它唤醒了。慢慢地。两天多以后，我的腿抽搐了一下。灰色变成了深蓝色。它复活了。这就是我的工作。我是一名龙虾矿工。我把它们卖给基辅的一位厨师。他付了很多钱。他说这龙虾的肉质非常紧实，像扇贝一样鲜甜，却又带着山泉般的清新和岁月沉淀的醇厚。简直是无价之宝。我表弟从市场给我打来视频电话。他给我看了水箱和熙熙攘攘的人群。他说：“你看到了吗？这才是真正的生意。”我给他看了我的水桶。我给他看了一只石蟹；它刚醒过来，正在乌克兰的阳光下晃动着触角。他沉默了很久。然后问：“它尝起来是什么味道？”我告诉他：“它尝起来像大地深处的秘密。”我怀念家乡吗？是的，港口的气息已经融入我的骨髓。但在这里，我不只是一个卖家。我是一个探索者。这片土地蕴藏着不同的宝藏，而我是唯一一个知道如何倾听它们的人。
告诉市场里的人们。国王一切安好。他正在挖掘宝藏。他很快就会带回一些令人惊叹的东西。”
