Walking in the early morning, walking on the field path in early spring, my mood was particularly comfortable, and I overheard a few birdsong in the woods, "cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-cuckoo-", which was melodious, crisp and pleasant. As the saying goes: "The dove on the tree is calling, and spring has arrived." "I know that this is the hidden wild pigeon of the tall tree who has begun to call spring courtship.
The wild pigeon is the common name of the spotted dove, it is a pigeon-shaped dove in the family Pigeon, and the common breeds are mostly mountain doves and bead-necked doves.
The feathers are mainly brown, and the head and neck are dyed with a layer of wine-like red, bright and bright. The feathers of the bead-necked dove are mostly blue-gray, and the side of its neck is embellished with a black and white spot, like a layer of shiny pearls, and the feet of the bead-necked dove are purple-red, and the song is soft and pleasant, "grunt-grunt-grunt", swirling back and forth, endlessly. The dove resembles a pigeon and is slightly smaller than a pigeon, so it is called a "wild pigeon". And because it is stupid, not afraid of people, often in the threshing ground side of the grain foraging scattered grain, farmers also call it "dumb pigeon". Other nicknames include partridge, grunt bird, laughing pigeon, golden dove, and blessing dove.
The spotted dove is a beautiful bird. Its head and neck are gray-blue, some wear burgundy scarves, some wear pearl necklaces, classical and elegant, beautiful and generous. It lives mainly in mountainous and forested areas, but also prefers villages and farmhouses with beautiful natural environments and high vegetation coverage, feeding on grains, wild fruits and seeds of grass and trees. Its quality is also elegant, and there are many praises in ancient poems. The Three Kingdoms period literary scholar Cao Zhi praised in the "White Dove Praise":
Spotted dove, its quality.
Former Xiang Yin State, now Wei Chu.
Zhu Mu Dan toe, spiritual posture of the strange class.
Carry the fly and carry the sound, show my emperor Yi.
It is said that the spotted dove bird has a beautiful appearance, has the song of Qingyue, has a high standard of quality, and is a bird of auspiciousness, which can show beautiful virtues. The Western Jin Dynasty literary scholar Fu Xian wrote in the Ban Jiu Fu:
Gather the shade of the trees, and climb the weak branches to accommodate it.
The body is depressed with a text, and the tone is orderly and orderly.
The Northern Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen also said in the poem "Wing Dove": "The jade flowers on the neck are broken, and the sandalwood powder is light in front of the puff." "They all praise the beautiful trees, beautiful clothes, and beautiful sounds, and are the embodiment of beauty in nature."
The dove is the messenger of spring and the first bird to primrose. The ancients said: "Spring with birdsong" "The beginning of spring begins with bird song." "When a wave of east wind is blowing, the spotted dove perceives the message of spring early, calls on friends and leads companions, leads the neck to sing, "grunt, grunt", "grunt -- grunt-" opens the prelude of spring with a beautiful singing voice. The Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Shu sang in "Spring Dove":
Spring dove and hundred tongue, sound in the same year.
How to speak for a while, all have spring breeze pity.
Knowing the meaning of creation, when the spring does not give birth to cicadas.
Skip the screeching noise, boiling before the peach blossoms.
The dove and the hundred-tongued bird join the spring chorus together, although it is the rhyme and tone of last year, but the spring wind can really hear it, and the flowers and plants understand their feelings. They are not like the noisy cicadas in summer, the green birdsong will dye the trees and make the peach blossoms red. In the poem "Ban Dove", the Ming Dynasty poet Qian Xun also depicted a picture of the spring scenery of willow silk fluttering, pear blossom dissolving, purple dove chirping, and maiden stepping on spring, the poem said:
The female companion returned from the grass fight, and the gossamer flew to annoy Chunxin.
The purple dove sounded cold, and the door covered the pear blossoms in the twilight rain.
The dove is also a good helper for farmers, and is a diligent bird that calls rain to promote farming. Farmer's proverb: "Spotted doves call, and the rain hits the treetops." "The dove grunted, heralding the arrival of a rainy day." The spotted dove is the bird of the main rain, it calls spring, and it also urges the spring rain to make the fields full of thousands of grasses and trees. The Ming Dynasty poet Chen Xi composed the poem "Spotted Dove":
Where the fragrant birds come from, they stand together.
Arouse the Xiao Cultivators. Spring rains in the western region.
These doves flew from nowhere, standing on the high branches of the ridge, and grunted and cried out: It's raining! It's raining! Fast ploughing, fast ploughing!
Interestingly, in the earliest surviving agricultural meteorological monograph "Tian Jia ZaZhan", compiled by Lou Yuanli, a beginner in the late Yuan dynasty and ming dynasty, it also records the nature of the main rain of the spotted dove, "The dove has a voice returner, which is called a woman, the lord qing; the one who does not return the sound is called a woman, the main rain." This means that the dove chirps, and the woman should not continue to rain, but the weather should be clear. This characteristic is not known whether it is true or not, but there are many similar statements in ancient poems. For example, the Southern Song Dynasty poet Fang Yue's "Oriole" cloud:
The north of the village is rainy and dark in the south, and the east and west are aquatic.
When the woman returns, the smoke is everywhere in the spring ploughing.
Although the spring rain is as expensive as oil, but it always rains and delays farming, so I hope that the housewife will return the home, and the rain is sunny to prepare for spring ploughing. Another example is the Yuan Dynasty poet Ruan Xiaosi's "Plum Blossom Golden Dove" also has this meaning, the poem said:
The red plums with hundreds of leaves have not yet been completed, and the dove branches are suddenly double-chirped.
The spring cold does not need to frequently call for rain, and the east wind and snow outside the window begin to be sunny.
A pair of spotted doves perched on the branches of the red plum frequently chirped, and the farmer saw them and said to them: Now the spring is cold and steep, the snow outside the window is just clear, it is still early to spring ploughing, there is no need to frequently call for rain! Of course, we still cherish this great spring light, take advantage of the agricultural season, and in the urging of the sound of the dove, spring ploughing and spring planting are not idle! Therefore, the Ming Dynasty Hu Yu said in the "Inscription Of the Dove Blowing Feathers":
The sun is warm and the wind is tearful, and the dove whisks between the branches of the feathers.
In the eyes, it is the spring light that is good, and the rain is called qingmo and so on.
The dove is also a loyal love bird, a model couple among birds. There is a sentence in the Book of Poetry, Zhou Nan Guan Ju:
Guan Guan Sui Dove, in the River Continent.
Ladies and gentlemen.
"Ju Dove" is the spotted dove, which starts with the sprouting of spring love and tells the diligent pursuit of beautiful love. There is also a dove in "Wei Feng Hao":
Yu Yu dove, no food mulberry.
Yu Yu Nu Xi, no delay with the soldiers!
It is the use of spotted doves to eat mulberries with a wine flavor that will get drunk, to admonish lovers not to indulge in love. The modern poet Wen Yiduo said in the "Poetry Classics of Tongyi" that this bird "is especially devoted to the love of the two, one of which is either death, and the other is that he is worried and does not eat, and he dies of haggardness." Spotted doves are monogamous, they are very loyal to love, and the couple is also very tacit. Male and female build nests together, and their nests are also very simple, and the branches are only built with dry grass. There is a song in the Ming Dynasty's Xianyi Compilation:
Humane spotted dove clumsy, I dao spotted dove clever.
One or two sticks of firewood is the family.
They also take turns to hatch their cubs, and after the cubs are born, the male and female doves will take turns to forage and raise their offspring together, which can be described as a standard model couple.
The spotted dove is also a beautiful neighbor of the farmers, and is an auspicious bird. Late Tang Dynasty poet Wen Xian's "Spring Dove" Cloud:
The south of the village is slightly rainy, flat and green and dust-free.
Loose sleeping mulberry strips warm, singing roof ridge spring.
Distant hearing and dreaming, correspondingly in the neighbors.
Happy flower season, chasing and flying is also frequent.
It means that this bird will also fly in pairs to the farmhouse to make a nest, bringing happiness and good fortune to the farmers. Therefore, folk often use "Magpie Laughing Dove Dance" as a celebration speech, and the saying also says: "Magpies cry with joy, and happy events come; doves fly and dance, and the family is blessed." "Like magpies, spotted doves are lucky birds and auspicious birds.
Since ancient times, the dove has also been a symbol of longevity, representing the beautiful meaning of people praying for longevity. Book of the Later Han Dynasty. In the Liturgical Chronicle, Yun: "Eighty-nine, the gift is given." The king's staff is nine feet long and decorated with a dove bird. Doves, birds that do not choke also. Want the old man not to choke. Saying that the spotted dove is "the bird that does not choke" means to wish the old man good teeth, eat well, eat safely, and live a long and healthy life. "Nine" is also the largest yang number, representing the meaning of longevity, which the ancients used to symbolize the long life.
In ancient times, when people expressed respect for the elderly, they often carved the pattern of the dove on the jade staff as decoration, and rewarded it to the eighty-year-old and ninety-year-olds, which was also called "dove staff". Mei Yaochen of the Northern Song Dynasty said in the "Wing Dove": "When will you carve a staff and help the old man to do it." "The poet expresses his wish for a long life. The Southern Song Dynasty poet Liu Kezhuang also mentioned in the "Two Songs of the First Day of the Fifth Afternoon": "The teeth obstruct the dove staff column, and the words are sacrificed before the beast bottle." The poet bluntly said that although he was old, he still wanted to contribute to the king for the affairs of the country.
The little spotted dove has brought us so much poetry, so many beautiful poems, and sincere blessings! The great Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi's "Bird" Cloud:
Whoever lives in the crowd is small, and the general flesh and bones are generally skinny.
Advise Jun Mo to beat the branch head bird, and the son looks forward to the mother in the nest.
The farmer also said: "Advise the king not to beat the three spring birds, and the son will return to the mother in the nest." "We must love the dove and love the birds, and live in harmony with the nature on which we live!"
-Author-
Liu Qirui, male, a native of Tancheng, Shandong, a veteran literature lover, published the essay collection "The Song of that year", "Nostalgia is a Curved Blue Moon" and the short story collection "Hedong Hexi".