This is a series of travel notes published by the author Vladimir Kravdiyevich Arseniyev (1872-1930) in the press in 1910 under the name of “Excerpts from the Travel Diary” based on his own experience. article. It has been more than 100 years since it was published as a book in 1921. From then until now, this classic book of ecological civilization called “In the Wild Forest of Ussuri” has been circulating in Tsarist Russia, Soviet Russia and even today’s Russia and around the world. Soon after the book was published, its fresh and natural writing, accurate and vivid descriptions and thought-provoking insights attracted Gorky’s attention, and he was fascinated and captivated by its expressiveness. He believed that reading Ashi’s works “would be a wonderful enjoyment.”
In Arseniyev’s eyes and pen, the Ussuri area is vast with vast forests, rivers crisscross, birds sing, and fishes fly shallowly. The natural law of natural selection and survival of the fittest has made this green land full of vitality, and the protagonist of the forest, the cute animal, has broken into Ah Shi’s field of vision countless times, and the son of the forest— – With the help of Del Su, the many funny habits and innocent wisdom on them were described by Ashi in the original way, and the curtain of the animal world was lifted.
Autumn is here, and the migratory birds in Ussuri start to get busy. Ashi saw “unimaginable scenarios for people who haven’t been there during the migration season” in the lower Le Fu River. The highest flying is the eagle, and the one flying lower than the eagle is the geese, and the sky is full of their calls. Beside them fly white-fronted geese and swans.
Further down, nearer to the ground, were the irritable wild ducks flying noisily, and close to the surface were thousands of white-browed ducks and other small wild ducks.
Kestrels can be seen everywhere in the sky, light and beautiful seagulls and small and clever terns are as white as snowflakes in the blue sky, the big curlew flies lightly and smoothly, the sharp-billed red-breasted merganser duck always flies It was looking around, as if looking for a place where they could settle. The Golden Mylar always flies over the swampy lowlands. “What a splendid sight it is all these birds are fluttering to the south in different spaces in layers!”
In the temporary camp, Ah Shi saw “an interesting scene”: there were so many fish in the small river that the river was blocked. This was salmon, and there were piles of dead fish in some places. In order to clean up these rotten fish, “nature sent bears, wild boars, foxes, badgers, raccoons, crows, sambo birds and jays and other hygienists out of concern.” Ah Shi’s nib is humorous.
Birds mainly eat dead fish, while beasts try their best to catch live fish. Ah Shi found that brown bears like to eat fish heads and throw away their bodies, while black bears eat fish meat and throw away their heads. But the two wild boars are eating only the fish tail with relish, and the head, body and tail of the fish are digested in an orderly manner.
Most of them are birds. The eagle landed on the edge of the water, calmly pecking at the bear with a sense of superiority and eating the rest of the food. Crows hopped up and down the shoal to eat fish that were beginning to rot. The jays were scrambling through the bushes, arguing with other birds, screeching.
Some places in the river have begun to freeze. Fish frozen in ice will stay here for the winter. When spring comes, the fish and ice will be washed into the sea, and the animals of the sea are there waiting to destroy them.
”What a good cycle!” Ah Shi saw that the natural cycle chain was so complete and perfect by the river. He was amazed.
In the book, Ashi made a vivid description of the animals’ forest dance. “The most interesting time in the primeval forest is at the end of August and the beginning of September.” At this time, the red deer began to whimper, and the deer fighting when the two males compete for females during the estrus period Ming is the call of love. Once, Arseniyev and Deersu went deep into the virgin forest to observe the nightlife of red deer after preparing for the deer calls.
At the end of the day and night, a solemn and solemn atmosphere rises in the forest, and the emotions of sadness and reverie come from it. “Suddenly, a red deer chirped in a place in the south, and its call resounded throughout the forest. A red deer who was very close to me immediately responded.” Ah Shi responded with a deer call. hold it.
There is also a deer that responds to Ah Shi’s deer bark again. The red deer who are in love are not able to distinguish the true from the false. In less than a minute, Ah Shi heard the snapping sound of dry branches breaking, and then saw a male deer with a uniform and beautiful body, shaking his head, pushing away the stumbling branches, and walking lightly to Ah. ‘s eyes. Ash held his breath, motionless. But the buck, feeling the presence of an enemy, got emotional, and he started digging with his horns, then raised his head and gave a loud yelping, hot air spurting out of his mouth.
Suddenly, a faint voice came from the left side of Ah Shi’s hiding place, and a doe appeared quietly, “When I looked back at the two male deer, they had already fought.” The clatter of antlers, the sound of moans , a deep gasp sounded together. Soon, Ah Shi found that there were not only one pair of deer, but many, their calls came from all directions, and the forest was full of noise. In this way, when Arseniyev and Dessau returned to the camp and wanted to rest, the roaring of the red deer in estrus actually disturbed them and made them unable to sleep at all. It was not until the sun came out that the forest returned to silence.
When the sun sank into the horizon and the vast twilight enveloped the earth, the red deer screeched one after another, and this magical music resounded through the forest—until the east was brighter and the sun rose again.
This is the dance in the dark, the dance of life.
In the book, the characters that the author writes the most are the Hezhe hunters-Dersu, Uzala. And through the real story that happened to him, he revealed the mysterious way of life and spiritual world of the ancestors in this area. “Hezhe” is a Manchu language, meaning “people from the East”, living on both sides of the Ussuri River. The population of this group is smaller than that of other ethnic groups. They live by fishing and hunting, believe in shamanism, and believe that all things have animism. Due to the limited number of humanities and history books recorded in this area, the texts that directly describe the life of the Hezhe people are even rarer, which makes many native aboriginal cultures hidden in the depths of history.
The Del Su in Ashi’s writings is not tall, 50 years old, stout and sturdy, with the typical characteristics of aboriginal people’s high jaws, small nose, big mouth, and looped legs. But “his eyes are serene and childish, making people feel that he is bold, straightforward, and kind-hearted.”
Del Su has always made a living by hunting. In this vast forest, he had his own childhood. What he remembers most clearly is the river, the shack, the bonfire, the father, the mother and the little sister, but they have long since died. He used to have a wife, son, daughter, and a warm home. But smallpox came, and they all went, leaving Del Su alone. There is no home, the big forest is his home. He doesn’t have a house and lives in the rough for many years. He put a few wicker sticks behind him, covered the tent on the wicker stand, then spread the roe deer hide on the ground, put on the leather jacket and sat down, and fell into a deep sleep.
Living in the deep mountains and forests for many years, Der Su’s rucksack contains many strange things, “empty sacks, two old shirts, a thin belt, a small bundle of rope, old Wengde, bullets Shells, gunpowder bags, lead bullets, a small box of flash hats, a tent cloth, a roe deer skin, a tea brick, tobacco leaves, empty cans, awls, small axes, small iron boxes, matches, flints, scythes, tinder, pine , birch bark, a small pot, cup, small pot, a small local machete, tendon thread, two needles, an empty spool, unknown hay, wild boar gall, bear ears and claws, musk hooves, a bunch of lynx Claws, two copper buttons, a whole bunch of other junk.” What puzzled Ah Shi was that he threw away many things and was picked up by Del Su. Ashi once confessed: “The more I observe this person, the more I like him. Every day I find new advantages in him. In the past, I thought that savages were particularly selfish, and the feelings of humanity, benevolence, concern for the interests of others, etc., Only Europeans have it. Am I wrong?”
This is the reflection of a “civilized man” on a “barbarian”.
Delsu, Uzala is a person who lives in the forest, but he is like a part of the forest. He works hard, is free, and is satisfied. The big forest is his home.
The lonely Del Su has a primitive and lovely world view, and all living things in the forest are regarded by him as “people”. In his eyes, “the sun is the most important person. When he is dead, everything around him is dead!” “The earth is also a person, with its head in the northeast and its feet in the southwest.” And water and fire “are also two. Strong people, fire and water are dead, and everything – all at once.” And all kinds of birds, animals and plants in the forest are “people” with emotions, souls, and perceptions. This kind of animism formed under the specific living environment and national cultural heritage opened Arseniyev’s eyes, and also gave him a vivid and meaningful understanding of Hezhe’s worldview from the bottom of his heart. Personalize nature, treat nature with the mentality of treating people, and use it as a ruler for behavioral orientation. With this scale, Hezhe people have awe for the sun, sky, earth, forest and river, and Ashi also expresses this awe with fresh and vivid brushstrokes.
Under the domination of this natural worldview, Del Su rescued the red deer trapped in the deer cellar; he shot away his most feared king of beasts, Amba (tiger), and let the red deer indulge in love. to escape. He needs prey, but only in the range that is most needed for survival, and will not hunt and kill indiscriminately…
He is simple, as simple as a small animal in the forest, so that the simple questions he asks make “civilized people” ‘ Arseniyev thought about it. It was a conversation by the bonfire. Ashi found that Del Su wanted to ask something, but was embarrassed to speak, and Ashi encouraged him to speak out.
”I heard that there are also red beards (bandits) in Russia, is this true?” he asked embarrassedly.
”Really, but the red beards in Russia are only the activities of one or two people, and they never form gangs like the red beards in China. The Russian government does not allow this.”
Ashi thought that this explanation would satisfy the Hezhen people, but He found that Del Sue was thinking about the problem from a different angle.
”Why?” he said to himself. “There are tsars, all kinds of officials, and red-bearded ones. The same is true for the Chinese: there are emperors, and red-bearded ones. How do we live? Not for the tsar, not for the sergeant, not for the red beard.”
This is a simple question, but a more complicated one, especially if it was said from the pure and kind Hezhe hunter, it must have been incomprehensible for a long time. In a civilized world with multiple social structures and strata, why are there these contradictions? In fact, in modern society, we don’t have many “Der Su-style questions” in our minds: Since it is known that global warming is mainly caused by human factors, why are we still desperately pursuing GDP? Since the known resources are limited, why are humans not restrained? Since the atomic bomb is known to be a terrible weapon to destroy human beings, why are they still being manufactured and possessed?
Such “Dersu-style questions” can also be asked in a long list. This is also a question and answer question left by this book for future generations. It requires human beings to make serious answers with their own actions.
