From Marrow Fourth Wife You said, "We are trying to cure his daughter's illness. There's nothing to explain." With this, she entered the tomb, squatted down in front of the coffin and pushed aside a couple of maggots that had fallen onto the leg bones. She looked everything over and saw that, apart from some white moss, the walls of the tomb were completely intact. "Good soil in this tomb," she remarked. Then she turned and asked, "Did you bring a sack?" Second Son-in-Law took a white cloth out of his pocket and laid it out in the lighted area at the entrance to the tomb. Fourth Wife You asked, "Which bone do you want?" Second Son-in-Law said, "Whenever Second Daughter has an episode, her hand begins to tremble, so let's take a bone from his hand." Fourth Wife You took two bones from her husband's hand and placed them on the cloth, then asked, "What else?" Second Son-in-Law said, "Whenever she has an episode she loses the ability to walk." Fourth Wife You took one of her husband's leg bones and placed it on the cloth, then asked, "What else?" Second Son-in-Law said, "Anything is fine. Just take a few more." Fourth Wife You said, "Mental illness is the result of something wrong in the brain, and if the brain can be fixed the illness will be cured. So, we should definitely use the skull." As she was saying this, she took the skull and held it in both hands as though it were a bowl, then gently placed it on the cloth. Excerpted from The Years, Months, Days by Yan Lianke All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.