Cattails
Dong Guobin
1719 words
In the countryside, there is a kind of aquatic grass that the countrymen call it pucao, and it has another nice name called cattail. Whether I call it pu grass or cattails, I am not a stranger to living in the countryside. In fact, it is a very common grass that grows at the water's edge.
As soon as winter passes, the earth is cold, the field has a green color, and before you can blink, spring will fill the four directions. In the countryside, the spring water began to warm up, the water surface of Zetang was not yet covered, but the grass sprouted quietly under the water, and it did not take more days to drill out of the ground. When the spring color is strong, the tip of the leaves of the grass does not shyly rise from the water surface, and the gushing spring water shows infinite vitality. In this season when everything is born, all kinds of plants sprout in their respective gardens, gradually blossoming and leafing, and when the cherry blossoms bloom, the grass sprouts and grows in its own way. In the spring, Zetang is not lively at all, and in summer, the grass grows into narrow leaves, tall, and a cluster of tufts swaying and undulating with the wind in Zetang, looking at it from a distance, like a sea with waves. At this time, the grass saw some interest. When they are in high spirits, they will also be very domineering, and the pieces of Pulin will indisputably occupy the shallow water edge of the entire Zetang, like a curtain standing on the edge of the pond, becoming a paradise for water birds. This natural rhythm is really quiet and noisy.
Grass grows in shallow water, which is rare in depth. Unlike reeds, where straight rods pierce the sky, the stems of the grass are inconspicuous. The leaves of the grass are carried upwards one by one, and the water part is only seen, and most of the stems are silent in the water. The grass is white underwater, the near-water part is lighter in color, and it grows taller than a person. The grass hula rose all over the Zetang, and one after another dyed the Zetang green, but it was far less imposing than the reeds, and only showed its face in the Zetang, or made an embellishment. However, there is also a little bit of moving in the grass. The leaves are flexible and slender, like a green sword, awe-inspiring, revealing a kind of chivalrous spirit, making people full of awe and joy. In the lively summer, although the grass is dense and lush, it cannot be hidden, and some time is only calm. Sunrise, quietly emitting greenery in the thin morning. As the sun sets, I fall into contemplation. However, the children of the countryside have their own preferences. Like other plants, it bears fruit in the summer, and at first it is a thin stick with a thin finger, a pale yellow color, and reflects the turquoise leaves, which are the fleshy spikes of the grass. The countrymen call it a stick according to the shape, and it is also figuratively called a water candle. Children pass by Zetang and will wade into shallow water to pick some up. It is very fun to hold the stick in your hand, and you can also eat it, in fact, it can only be eaten, the taste is not very good, when I was a child in my hometown in the countryside, I did not eat less of this. That little bit of crumbs will stain the corners of the mouth, will also get to the face, if you look in the mirror, it will make people can't help but be funny. At the edge of the Pond, a group of children were playing and nibbling on this fun thing, all of them looked like this. From summer to autumn, the hard-bound sticks will become soft and hairy bodies, and they will sink down with a light press. The straight stick, as soon as the season changes, it becomes another look, and it is really interesting. If you take it, your eyes will immediately be filled with colorful stick flowers, and groups of children will attract them and play with interest for a while. It was like dandelion and like willow fluff, and when the wind blew, the sky was full of it, and zetang was dyed a layer of white. There are also more fun dry sticks, which can be used as lamps, and children are very casually called lanterns. Former children used to use it as toys, flashing in their hands at night, like flowing little stars. When I was a child, my children and I lit up one by one, and when we didn't go home to sleep very late, the adults came and called us. Of course, the children did not give up, and the adults forced us to pull us home.
Pucao is a common plant in the countryside, the leaves are yellow in autumn, and the countrymen harvest it to weave it into pu mats, fans and pu bags, and also make pu shoes and coats. These commonly used items were inseparable from the former rural families, and the mats and coats were even more common. There are pedestrians wearing bucket hats, wearing cloaks, slowly walking through the rain, raindrops hit the body and slipped down, this situation of wearing a hat is very poetic and interesting, now I think about it, this mood I like very much. The mat is soft and comfortable, and it is more suitable for the human body. The soft cotton of the stick is used as a pillow core, which can also make people sleep peacefully. Grass is very common, and it is very practical.
Grass is a folk custom in the countryside, and I did not want to be full of poetry. There is a sentence in "Peacock Southeast Flying": "The king is regarded as a rock, the concubine is treated as a reed, the reed is tough as silk, and the rock has no transfer." The Song Dynasty Su Rui poem said: "After the occasional doctor, do not go to the three classics of autumn." Lotus is inserted in the middle of the ano, and the rhombus is also easy to find. The Song Dynasty Dao has a poetic cloud: "The wind and pu hunting are gentle, and the dragonflies are not free." In May, linping mountain down the road, lotus flowers countless Mantingzhou. These famous verses gave the grass another poetic and elegant meaning, and added to my liking and identification with the grass.
In the past, the old family in the countryside lived next to the pond, the pond surface was wide, and there were grasses overgrown in the ze pond. In the spring, it is a landscape that is beautiful and beautiful. Summer is a paradise for children. In autumn, the grass is harvested. In the small courtyard by the Zetang, the long pu leaves kept flying through the mother's hands, and one by one the baskets and the pu fans were arranged as if they were tricks. At that time, some of my family's supplies were woven from the grass itself, and it was used year after year, accompanying us through a difficult period of time. Now that life is better, the grass and some interesting things of childhood have been lost in the dust of history, but I am nostalgic, often nostalgic for the zetang of childhood and the very ordinary grass called cattail.
(Source of this article: Wangyue Literature Mailbox)
Photography: Zhou Shenbao
Mochizuki Literature