Iron River in the Spring Mist: You come or not, it is beautiful there alone

I didn't meet you, only because I was in a hurry; I met you only because of your charming shadow in the light smoke and mist.

In the misty smoke, on the other side of the river, the woods are not woods, the houses are not houses, just connected into a pure gray blurred ink painting, reflected in the water.

There was a black blob on top of a tall neem tree, and I guessed it was most likely a magpie's nest. Is it just a nest or do magpies live in it? When I was wondering, suddenly, a "quacking" sound came from the fog, it was a magpie, it cut through the mist, it flew towards us, the feathers were black and white, the dance was strong and light, like flying in a shadow puppet play, like flying in a black and white movie, and then singing its song again, flying to the old nest in the tree.

Magpies have always been called auspicious birds, and there is some truth to that. Good birds choose trees to roost, and when magpies feel safe, they build their nests on a big tree to roost here for a long time. It is a spiritual bird, and if humans destroy its nests, or even point their guns at them, it will be absolutely difficult to find them in this place.

That experience as a child is still unforgettable.

Near my house there is a big tree where two people hug each other, and there is a magpie nest on it. Listening to my mother, the magpie sang for the people in the village for more than ten years on this tree, and reported more than ten years of joy. People heard from their voices that "the mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of buildings", and they heard "the sunrise in the east and the rain in the west".

They are singers, an annunciators, weather forecasters. The people in the village do not listen to their voices for a day, and if they do not see their shadows for a day, they will not get used to them, and they will worry about them: The magpies are gone? Sick?

Therefore, the call of the magpie is the "tranquilizer" of the people. Adults warn children not to climb the big tree, let alone destroy their nests. In addition to guarding them, the hunters in the village also advised the hunters outside that it was a place that could not be targeted.

There was a lazy man in the village who had no firewood to burn at home, and he started the idea of a magpie. One afternoon, he climbed the big tree and went to demolish the magpie's nest.

At that time, the magpie screamed in a hurry, fled in panic, flew to the top of the tree, still "quacking", and there was pleading, protest, anger, until finally helpless.

The man demolished the magpie's nest and got more than forty pounds of sticks and firewood. It was the magpie that came one by one, it was the old nest that had survived for ten years, it was the painstaking effort of ten years of childbearing, and now it was destroyed.

Since then, if there are any three long and two short things in the village, and what trivial things, people will blame the slacker, saying that he demolished the magpie's nest, destroyed the feng shui, and ruined the atmosphere. Ten eyes see, ten hands point. A thousand people pointed out that they did not get sick and died. The man was physically and mentally burdened and anxious to die. From that day to the present, in our village, we have never seen the shadow of a magpie again, and there is no sound of it.

I was not familiar with the village across the river from the misty sarong, but I had only heard about it from my uncle who lived here. There is a rule in the village rules of that village: do not harm magpies, and protect the magpie's nest. The magpie was fortunate to find such a place to live. The villagers are very fortunate to live in a beautiful countryside accompanied by magpies, with a simple wind and a benevolent heart.

"Boom, boom...", the melodious bells drifted through the fog, and even the sound was with fog, which was the monthly bell of the monks in the Tiehe Temple on the mountain opposite the river.

When the sun is shining, standing on the flat land in front of the temple, the bamboo cultivation under the mountain, the black tile yellow wall, the clear stream of the iron river, the flat boat up and down, all in the eye. On the night of March and May, the mountain temple, the village, and the Iron River are a black and white silhouette.

"The moon is falling and the sky is full of frost, and the river maple fishing fire is sleeping. Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, midnight bell to the passenger ship. Zhang Ji stayed overnight at Hanshan Temple, and after experiencing setbacks, he used his talent and passion to conceive this ancient song, so that the unknown Hanshan Temple has since remained in the elegant literary hall. If Zhang Ji had stopped at the Tiehe Temple, then this poem would have been written to The Tiehe.

At this time, the thick or light spring fog locked the other side of the Iron River, enveloping the upper reaches and covering the downstream, while the Iron River in front of it did not have a trace of fog, so quiet and clear, without any ripples. Suddenly, three wild ducks emerged from the river, "Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet", the poet did not write for wild ducks, but wild ducks should know more about spring rivers.

This body of water is a paradise for wild ducks. The mallard plunges headlong into the water, either floating upstream, or appearing downstream, or emerging at the same time in the middle of a river. Or arrange in a triangle, or pose a word, play in the water, or draw a river of spring water into pieces, or draw a circle.

There was a wild duck that did not play with the water and swam toward us. Grey-hemp feathers, pale black pointed beak. The wild duck raised its head, its round eyes, and the black grapes dripping and turning, looking around alertly, and then slowly swam toward a black canopy boat on the shore.

The uncle said that the owner of the boat often fed the wild ducks where they docked, and after a long time, they accepted the kindness. The owner has not been here since last year, but the wild ducks still hang out to the side of the boat every day. Having spent a long time with the people on both sides of the shore, they are not afraid of people. However, this is only in recent years. In the past, some people used bird hammers filled with iron sand to hit wild ducks, and when the iron sand was scattered, it was lethal and large, and after the sound, the wild ducks often could not escape the disaster. The wild ducks at that time were terrified.

The cotton coat was still worn on the body, but by the river under his feet, the grass could not hold back the spring heart, shaking off the cold, and drilled out of the dirt, from the cracks in the stone, from under the rubble. Shallow, green, squeezed together, weaving a strip of grass, if there is a horse, asakusa has no hooves.

After wind, frost, rain and snow, after nine mid-winters, a dry grass next to it looked tired, shrugging the lazy yellow leaves, and immersed in the memories of winter.

The messengers of the two seasons, one green and one yellow, are clearly demarcated on the surface, but secretly send autumn waves. The grass sends a wisp of spring to the yellow leaves, and the yellow leaves send a piece of warmth to the grass. They consulted, stretching upwards, spreading downwards, disappearing into the fog, peeking into how thick the fog was, wondering how thin the fog was.

A field of rapeseed grows on the edge of grass, rooted in the fertile yellow soil, full of early spring greenery, topped with three or two golden flowers. On the verdant green leaves, there were drops of water, which were about to drip but did not fall. At this point, I slowed down, not daring to speak loudly, for fear of the dew on the leaves.

In the vegetable garden, the greens are green, the cabbage is wrapped in vitality, and the chives are green. A garden of vegetables, full of spring colors, the fence can not be stopped.

In the fields, the grass called on friends and friends, densely packed, crowded with each other. At the edge of the vegetable garden, seven or eight chickens are foraging, a with a red crown uses its sharp claws to cut through the soil, find an earthworm, do not eat it, make a clucking call, invite a few hens, let them enjoy, watch from the side, in order to win the favor of the hens.

At this time, it is advisable to take a walk with clear tea, to look at the distance from a close distance, to sing poetry, and to ponder deeply. The Iron River in the mist, if you come, is indeed so beautiful; if you do not come, it is still so charming.

【Related Links】

Tiehe, also known as Tiejiang, is a first-class tributary of the XiangJiang River, named after the clear river, the pebbles of the riverbed, and the color is like iron. The Tiehe River Basin is located in the Liyou Basin in the Xiangdong region of Hunan.

【About the Author】

Jin Jinyun, a native of Liling City, Hunan Province, is engaged in teaching management, likes to write in his spare time, and is now a member of the Liling Writers Association and the Zhuzhou City Writers Association, and has published many novels, essays and biographies. Among them, the biography "Chen Jue and Zhao Yunxiao" has been published by Hunan People's Publishing House.