Yun Duo is a cow, medium in size, with a solid black coat. I gave the cloud its name, but I only call it that in my heart. That day, I was lying on the beach and saw a cloud shaped like an ox floating overhead, and I gave it the name. The cow doesn't know, because I've never called it to your face, just like someone else gives you a nickname in your heart and doesn't shout it out, you won't know it for the rest of your life. The clouds are white, the cows are pure black, not a single white hair, it is said that there is something wrong, but there is a person in the village called, do you say that he is next to the? Since people who can't get along with can call it, this dark cow can also be called cloud.
As Yun Duo and I walked outside the village, Yun Duo paced idly, looking very ladylike. But as soon as it left the village, it went forward like a shrew. I was behind it, leaning back, dragged by it. I knew that the scent of grass on the river beach was pulling it forward. I led a cow, or ox rope, to be precise, and after the cow's butt, it could be said that the cow led me and stumbled forward. Occasionally, the clouds would stop and greedily eat two mouthfuls of grass by the side of the road, and I let out a shout, which seemed to understand, and raised its head and took another step. When we entered the river beach, there were already herds of cattle and sheep.
During that time, I was holding the clouds, or it was holding me, going back and forth between the village and the river beach almost every day.
Cattle and sheep were scattered on the river beach, one here, a few there, like a decimal dotted on the hillside, and no one worried that they would escape without a trace.
I tied the ox rope around the head of the cloud, tied it, and stood looking at the clouds. The cloud glanced across the river, seemed to take a deep breath, then leaned down, stuck out his tongue, and rolled toward a flurry green tuft of cattle hair at the side of his mouth. The cow hair is dense, a glance can not see the edge, the cloud bite by bite, the harvester generally rolled into the mouth, it does not chew, until the mouth can not fit, only to raise its head, grinning a few chews, and then made a swallowing action. With a grunt, I seemed to hear the sound of broken grass falling into the stomach of the clouds. At this time, the cattle fly began to bite the clouds, and the clouds tilted their heads, rubbing the left side and rubbing the right side, and the tail kept flicking up, snapping, and the cattle fly that could not be hidden fell to the ground; cunning, and then changed the place to bite.
On the beach on the opposite bank, there were cows mooing twice, and all the cattle stopped and looked at the other side, and some raised their heads and mooed twice in response. The clear eyes of the clouds seemed to be filled with a puddle of water, and its call had no intention of showing off, let alone a demonstration to anyone, it seemed to be a friendly response to the call of the other side. When the moo was finished, the cloud lowered its head and continued to enjoy its delicious meal.
This is the scene at the end of April, the Changli Reservoir has not yet reached the storage period, after a few light rains, the upstream water head from below Jiaojialing to the vicinity of Shiliangtou, but the dense grass on the river beach is still exposed, which is the best time to graze.
The wind ran along the river, and the surface of the water was full of shards of sunlight, and the blades of grass were also shiny and shiny, shaking people's eyes. The water is covered with fishing nets, and the fish float on the surface of the water, and there are adults and children under the nets. Fish in the fishing net, the fish desperately struggle, stirring the water surface waves churning, the person who got off the net went to the sinking fish float, picked up the net, plucked the fish, and put it into the basket. Groups of three or five children, half naked, touched crabs and shrimp in the cracks in the rocks on the shore. A dragonfly flew over and stopped half a meter away from me, and I held out my hand, but it flew away; a few white butterflies, surrounding a small flower, scrambled to offer their courtesy, the petals trembled, and the fragrance of the flowers flowed freely on the riverbank; a few naughty lambs, like the wind, sprang around...
I left the clouds, ran to the pile of grazing children, drew a chessboard on the ground, and fought. Dead cows, tigers eat grasshoppers, Ansan, Ansie, Ansee, Ansee, and take turns playing. Tired of it, they will play with their friends to whistle, wrestle, or run to the shore to float, jump into the water to catch some shrimp and crabs to play. Tired of tossing and turning, I lay on the beach, pulling at the sea and the sky.
The cattle and sheep on the river beach are slowly moving, we will occasionally look up, as long as we don't go very far, there is no need to call them back, everyone is free, how good!
When the clouds were full of food and drink, they lay down and rested. It lay in the sunlight, its eyes half-closed, as if looking at the mountains in the distance, and seemed to have no hope of anything, and its joy and sorrow were not on its face. Its mouth was half open, chewing slowly, the wind slipped away from its lips, the fragrance of flowers brushed the wings of its nose, the sun kissed its cheeks, and time flowed comfortably around its mouth.
The two cattle launched a temperament, caught fire, bowed their heads, their faces against their faces, and their horns against their horns, and began a tug-of-war that came and went. This was the most joyful moment for the children, who were shouting with joy, as if cheering for the fighters, but the two bulls fought for several rounds, and one of them withdrew and ran, and the winning gesture took a few steps, stopped, and groaned in the sky, declaring a brilliant victory in a war.
As the sun sets, smoke rises from the villages on the other side, birdsong gathers in the woods, and me and the slender shadows of the clouds slowly move on the way back to the village. At this time, the cloud, as if having accomplished a feat, unloaded a heavy burden, and took a slow step, as graceful as a noblewoman. I say this because it once gave birth to a baby cow and was a mother, but when it came to our house, it was dying of old age.
Clouds don't just belong to our family.
The land was contracted to the household, the production team was disbanded, the property in the team was divided, and the clouds belonged to the three of us, and the feeding took turns. I was in elementary school at that time, I didn't have classes for a while, I couldn't help at home, I couldn't work in the field, it was my turn to raise cattle, I needed someone to put them, I became the best candidate.
The wheat was harvested, and the clouds were busy, beating the fields, ploughing the fields, dragging heavy moths, plows, and rakes in the shadows of the whip, doing the duty we had imposed on it. After some hard work, my family's wheat was in the warehouse, and the ploughed land looked like the river that had been blown by the breeze. During this period, my cooperation with the clouds was when I was rake, I crouched on the rake, and the clouds pulled the rake and struggled forward under the drive of my father.
In the middle of May, it rained heavily, and the water poured in from all directions to the reservoir, especially in the upper reaches of the river, the turbid waves rolled and rolled up more than half a meter high, and it was very imposing. The water level saw it rise, and after a few days, most of the river beach was submerged, revealing only a little bit, and the cattle and sheep were crowded here. A few more days later, the clouds took their turn and my grazing life was over.
On the way to graze the clouds, I never dared to throw away the cow rope, not for fear that the cow would run away, but for fear that it would suddenly run into the crop field on the side of the road, and if it went down a few bites, it would bite the tip of the crop owner's heart and drip blood. I believe that the cloud will not do this easily, but the crop stretches out its little green hand to summon, the cloud is a cow, it must also have a cow temper, can it resist such a temptation?
New Year's Day, the clouds just happened to be my turn to take care of, the mother said that the cow is kind to people, people New Year, cattle also have to pass. Thirty nights, pancake rolls with crispy vegetables; on the morning of the first day, pancake rolls dumplings. The clouds, like us, feel the happiness of the New Year.
At the end of the spring of the following year, Yun Duo fell ill, and his body continued to lose weight day by day, and finally became a skinny and bony appearance. Dad invited the "big sheep herding" (sheep herding, knows veterinarians). The "big shepherd" pricked the cow's tongue and released a little purple-black blood, saying that it would be fine in two days. Two days later, the clouds lay on the ground, looking even thinner. After a few more days, the clouds curled up, half-closed their eyes, and gasped slightly. The bullfly pounced on it like crazy, and it sometimes shivered slightly, but it was no longer able to shake its tail. I took the fan, resisted it, and put the exquisite hay to its mouth, and it did not react at all, and it seemed that it could not even smell the breath.
What was the cloud thinking? Is it chewing on it for a lifetime of toil? Perhaps it has long understood the natural law of flowers blossoming, and in the face of death, it is so indifferent that it does not even struggle for a moment, and even the low moan is omitted!
The clouds are dead, the whole family is sad, and I feel like the world has collapsed into a corner.
It's time to graze cattle and sheep again, in the river beach, the green onion-like cow hair shuttles stand up and tender waists, the cattle and sheep shuttle, the children are enjoying themselves, I look at it from a distance, and I feel that the river beach without clouds seems to have no soul.
A few decades have passed.
Now, the Changli Reservoir is filled with water all year round, the shore is rarely grazed, and the cows can no longer be heard in the village. I stood on the shore, like a cloud regurgitating the grass in my stomach into my mouth and chewing it, the blue sky, the wind, the sunshine, the smell of grass, churning in my heart.
In the mist of tears, the clouds slowly approached me...
20022.2.26
(Disclaimer: The picture comes from the network)
About author:: Cheng Xuejun, male, senior middle school Chinese teacher, member of Pingyi County Writers Association, Linyi City Writers Association, Qilu Evening News Qingwei Supplement Writers. He has won awards such as "Yangtze River Cup", "Taishan Cup", "Wenxin Cup", "Gentle King Cup", "New Century Literature Award", "Qingwei Prose Award", "Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Qingquan Project Award" and so on. His works have been published in journals such as "Language Newspaper", "Shandong Poetry", "Genres", "Contemporary Prose" and other periodicals, as well as platforms such as China Writers Network and China Poetry Network.
One point number Cheng Xuejun