Dongling memeiry
As I grow older, I really want to look at the place where I farmed when I was a child. This idea grows stronger day by day, like a weed grows on the damp soil, and grows vigorously in the gentle wind and drizzle.
This place is the East Ridge of Daxi Village, twenty or thirty miles away from home, and there is a large ridge of mountains and fields. One weekend, I cycled alone, around the winding mountain road, an hour away, and an hour away to get there. This place is etched in my memory like a knife. Now, it is more like clear water, flowing quietly in my heart. A journey of mountains and a journey of water, I saw that field from a distance, a large patch of weeds grew wildly, a few bushes occupied the ravine, the wind was strong, and the weeds and leaves were rubbing and making rustling sounds. Over the years, everything has changed and caught me off guard. Is the familiar and unfamiliar place in front of me, the kind and distant place, the land where I have worked? There was no way to go. Facing the scene in front of me, I was stunned by the thorns and thatch in front of me. I didn’t move for a long time, and my heart was empty.
When I was young, my family had more than a dozen paddy fields in Dongling. In the dim dawn, my mother prepared a few balls of white rice, mixed with a few grains of salt, and baked them in the pot, as well as a small bowl of sauerkraut, a few pieces of dried tofu, this is the whole of lunch, as simple as ours The clothes are so clean. In the urging, the father and son are on the road, we take the path, the path is close. The mountains are foggy, and everything is soaked by dew. Walking on the mountain road is like soaking in a milk bath. The surrounding fog is so thick that it cannot be dispersed, and the fine water vapor wets my hair; , rustling, a coolness creeps all over the body; a tree is blooming, a few tits are chirping on the mulberry branches, and the air is filled with the fragrance of various plants and trees, including wild roses, locust, paulownia, it seems that this lively Seasons are just for us. My father kept telling me to see the way, a stone might kick a toe, a kudzu vine could trip someone. I stop and go, stop and go, as if the mountains are full of fun: a cobweb with dewdrops, a string, a little, quivering in the breeze, bright, like a crystal necklace; in the grass” “Wow” caught my attention, and a grey-backed partridge staggered and hopped past, with a pink crown, golden feet, fish-scale feathers folded, and its tail up and down; a The earthworm sneaked out of the ground. It was just to take a break and cool down. It didn’t want to be hit by a group of hungry black ants. , I wanted to help, it looked like black sesame paste, so I had to give up…
The sun grows quietly from the top of Dongling Mountain like a huge mushroom, shining red and slanting down, passing over the canopy, and pouring down to the ground. The fog floated up, and the woods gradually became brighter. At this time, bursts of strong or light fragrance came to my nostrils, aroused my appetite, it was mushrooms, yes! “The smell of mushrooms beats the smell of chicken,” everyone said. Mushrooms only grow in pine forests, and there are four or five or more than ten trees at a time. I searched in the woods, ripped through the grass, the grass was wet, the ground was wet, steaming, bare, and nothing. My heart was still like a bird in a cage, flying up and down, bumping, and pounding for a while, until I heard my father’s cry, and I stopped.
My father told me that there is a way to pick mushrooms, and they generally only grow under the pine forest that grew last year. Mushrooms depend on the color. The white mushroom cap is slightly bluish-black, which is the real mushroom. If you see a bright, bright, completely white mushroom, don’t touch it. It is a poisonous white mushroom, which can poison a big buffalo. After a heavy rain, the sun broke out of the clouds, and the earth was scorched like a fireball. The villagers called it “Mushrooming Sky”. At this time, the forest will grow vigorously. My father also warned me that it is very dangerous to walk around in the woods: wasps often make their nests inside, which disturbed the wasps, and the swarms rushed out like bombers. , a frantic sting. The most afraid of encountering a “bandit bee” with a fat body, a thin waist and a strong physique, the name alone is enough to scare off a field platoon. It is said that after being stung three times by it, a person will become dizzy, have black lips, and then foam at the mouth, twitch his legs and feet, and in severe cases, endanger his life. When encountering a bee colony, it is best to stand still or lie down on the spot. The bushes, especially the dense wild bamboo forests, should be explored with a wooden stick to prevent the red-tailed snake from ambushing in the middle. This small snake, with a triangular head, red eyes and green body, and a dry scorched tail, looks like it has been burned by a fire. The bamboo forest spins silk, and once something touches the net, it swoops up stupidly, biting whatever it sees, it is very poisonous. I couldn’t help but stuck out my tongue, only to realize that there is so much knowledge in mushroom picking and so much wisdom in living in the mountains.
There are several boulders on the hillside, lying lonely in the forest for many years, some like stacks of steamed buns, some like two frogs, one big and one small hugging tightly. Looking up, the stone is higher than the canopy; looking down, there is a recess at the bottom, which can accommodate a square table, which can protect from the wind and rain. I thought it would be a very pleasant thing to eat here at noon, but at that time it was just an extravagant hope. A kelp tree accompanies the boulder in loneliness, with the breeze blowing, the leaves and the stone rubbing, making a rustling sound, like a whisper of affection; a few vines climb the stone cracks and grow upward in twists and turns, supporting a touch of dark green. Legend has it that Taoist Zhang Shengjun drove a group of buffaloes to pass by, and when he saw the five ghosts doing evil, he cast a spell. Hearing that these stones were made by buffaloes, I felt as if they had life.
There is a mountain stream at the foot of Dongling Mountain, the stream water is translucent, slow and urgent, and there is a deep pool, surrounded by trees. Every time I came here, my father would rest his feet, cut a few pieces of “planting rope”, tie one end to a branch, and put fishing bait at the other end and sink into the water. I flipped over the rocks in the shallow water excitedly, and a frightened thorn chest frog jumped out of a zhang, dived for a while, emerged from the water, dived for a while, stuck to the wet rock wall, blinked its round eyes, and relaxed its chin. In the exhibition, I don’t know who disturbed its dream; there are a few shiny small snails on the rock wall, I grabbed the gravel and smashed it hard, but the snail didn’t hit, the big frog rushed to the shore, Not in the grass. My father motioned me not to move, and I stopped, knowing that I can’t disturb the turtles at the bottom of the pool because of the small and the big. It is from this deep pool that my father fished some turtles, and from time to time, he improved our life for our family that lacked meat and oil. After I was busy fishing for turtles, my father chose a few small wooden sticks and inserted them into the bottom of the pool. I was very curious and wanted to know what happened. My father smiled and said that he would tell me when he went back. Fishing for turtles fills my mind, and I look forward to catching big turtles.
After crossing the mountain stream, you will arrive at the paddy fields. He Miao was so well served by my father that it was taller than my thighs. I want to pick up the grass, my wrist is soaked in the field, the grass juice inadvertently plated a layer of gold on the palm and the back of the hand, which cannot be washed or rubbed off. For a long time, the fingertips will barb, the skin will dry and shrink, some of them will fall off, and become very soft, as if the wind will break, it will pierce the sharp thatch roots on the edge of the field, and the blood and water will drip; , As if the warriors were wielding green spears and daggers in a prudent manner, they pierced their eyes, nostrils, and slashed their wrists and faces, causing a sharp pain. In Shimizu’s reflection, I was startled to see that my face was scratched in a mess.
The leech has a pointed head and a round tail, wandering ghostly in the paddy fields. Whenever there is movement, it sneaks close, sucking blood from its sticky legs like maltose, and can’t pull it out, for fear that its head will be broken in the muscle. Some people say that the dead leech will flow all over the human body along the blood, and finally settle down under the scalp. One day, the human will lose a lot of hair, pull it hard, the whole scalp will fall off, wriggling in ugly strips. leech. I have never seen such a scene before, but I saw my neighbor Asan, the old people used smoke tar to smoke out the leeches hidden deep in his nostrils, and stepped on them hard. Before Asan was unbearably thirsty and drank the dirty water in the field, the leeches took the opportunity to climb into his nostrils, and he couldn’t rely on it. Finally, the experienced Asan Ye found it. I rolled up my trousers so high, tucked them for a while, paused for a while, and looked left and right before I felt relieved.
There is also a kind of pupae called “worm drills” in the mud. It looks like a maggot. Its head wiggles non-stop, stings on the legs, and immediately puffs up a small lump, which is painful and itchy. Fortunately, the pain will disappear naturally.
The fields are not all disgusting things. Occasionally, I will step on the hard ones. When I touch them, a large snail is found. As the saying goes, “one bowl of snails and nine bowls of soup”, the plump snails taste good, taste a bite, and your tongue will be full. Fresh off; there is the slender eel that slips between the fingers and disappears with a flick of the tail; there is the amber water beetle, which looks cute, hold it down, and bend and stretch its calves vigorously; and There are wild water chestnuts, shaped like black beans, crunchy and delicious…
All the way to Dongling, it only takes three or four hours to walk back and forth. We never take a lunch break. Our lunch is under an old maple tree on the edge of the field ridge, and we devour a few mouthfuls under the cool stream of water. Although this kind of lunch is simple and shabby, and life is poor and hard, I can sit under the shade to eat, drink, and rest for a while, and my heart is more of a kind of satisfaction.
We continued to smash the grass. The scorching sun opened my pores, and the heat was constantly emitting. The sweat wetted my chest and back. The hot sweat and cold sweat alternated until there was no sweat to flow, and the clothes were soaked with sweat salt. It was dyed into a circle, and when I touched it, the fine salt powder slapped it down. The skin is hot, the white turns red, the red turns black, and the skin begins to peel after a few days of black. The paddy field is very bright, and the temperature rises rapidly. When I step on the field, it is a little hot, and the methane is bubbling white, which stimulates my sense of smell and makes me dizzy and confused. , For a long time, it seems that there is also the stench of biogas in my mouth. How I long for a cloud to float across the sky, covering a corner of the sun, but the cloud seems to oppose me, floating lightly on the top of the mountain, motionless.
As the saying goes, “Put ducks to catch prawns, let oxen to chop firewood, and let goats to croak (crying)”. Farmers never go home empty-handed. Everyone has to pick some firewood, and I am no exception. My sore body was like a windmill that was about to fall apart. I didn’t feel tired at first, but after a while, I gasped for breath. I was thinking about the turtle in the pool, and I moved faster, but it was an empty joy. When I pulled on the fishing line, there was a water snake the size of my thumb hanging on it. I caught a snake and let it go; The sticks, crawling on the little snails, and when I collected them, there was a pocket full of them. I finally understood the purpose of my father putting the wooden sticks when I came.
There were times when I was walking in the cold and icy woods, and there was an unknown black strange bird in the woods. Every evening, it was like a grieving woman on a lonely boat crying at night in the desolate cold wind. It was creepy when I heard it. A fluffy cold hand stroked up and down behind my back, and I seemed to hear a faint sob.
There were times when I was so hungry that my belly was as thin as a pancake, and when I saw the tender white reed roots sticking out of the ground, I really wanted to take a bite. Cold leftovers, sauerkraut roots, all became delicious, and I swallowed them.
Several times, the lightning lashed the sky violently like a whip, leaving cracks and cracks that quickly closed, like a monster with a big mouth and a curled blue tongue, engulfing me, and the torrential rain was like a huge curtain. Between the mountains and fields, in a daze, I looked around for a place to shelter from the rain, but there was nowhere to hide in the mountains and forests.
There were times when the gully swelled and the mountain torrent was like a galloping wild horse, rushing from left to right, making a loud rumbling noise. I fell on my father’s back in fear, panic and helplessness…
Time flies, and more than 30 years have passed. Daxi Village has newly built and widened the cement road, which is no longer the bumpy road that used to be uneven. I walked along the Daxi Reservoir several times, and the sky was bright and cloudy, and the sky was full of clouds. I caressed every tree, every grass there with my eyes, as well as the strange rocks crouching among the grass and trees. It was a landscape, a peculiar landscape, once created by people like me. Although the fields have been abandoned, there is always light in my heart. I heard that the village is planning a new tourist route, and a path has been re-opened along the right side of Dongling. In the future, pavilions will be built and flowers and plants will be planted. My heart gradually relaxed, warm and moist.
