In the countryside, the kerosene lamp in the depths of memory

Text: Sun Yanbing

Figure: From the network

For rural people born in the 1970s and 1980s, kerosene lamps should not be unfamiliar, it was the main lighting tool in the countryside at that time, and it was also the memory of people of that era, accompanied by our dark nights, but also left many good memories.

At that time, it was also a relatively poor era on the mainland, materials were relatively scarce, and many things could be purchased by relying on planning and allocation.

The same is true of kerosene for kerosene lamps.

I remembered that there was a small shop in our village, right on our village. Every once in a while, the shopkeeper would drag back a large barrel of kerosene from the township supply and marketing cooperative, and then inform the families to buy it as planned. Naturally, it is not all about selling kerosene, and at this time, it is often tied to sell some things that are not in short supply, such as matches, which increases the profit of the store in disguise.

Although the farmers have opinions, it is not easy to say, after all, the specific insider information is only known to the shopkeeper himself. Besides, if you buy it at his house, it is difficult to buy it with money elsewhere. Probably because kerosene is small, it is imported from abroad, and many places at that time called kerosene "foreign oil".

The kerosene purchased as planned is basically enough to maintain the use of daily lighting. Therefore, every family is also saved, do not dare to have the slightest waste, every afternoon is to cook early, eat early, eat after eating feel that there is no big deal, but also go to bed early.

In the village, generally at seven or eight o'clock in the evening, it is already a piece of darkness, quiet, and occasionally some wind and grass move, causing the dog of the family to bark a few times "Wang, Wang, Wang", which will break the tranquility of the village for a while. However, it immediately returned to its original state.

In many homes, the lights in our homes tend to go out the latest.

At that time, several of our sisters were in school, some were in elementary school, some were in junior high school, and the eldest brother lived in the township high school. Sometimes to do some homework or read a book, you have to light a lamp.

Therefore, our kerosene is basically the fastest used by the Zhuangshang people every time. Often the next kerosene supply is not yet in the day, but our family's kerosene has been used up for a few days. Sometimes I would go to my neighbor's house to borrow a little, and when I really didn't have it, I also used soybean oil to light a lamp.

Now that I think about it, how many dark nights, the light of the kerosene lamp emanating from the dilapidated thatched house of our house was really like the stars in the sky at night, becoming a dazzling light in the darkness, a light full of hope.

My mother is very frugal in life, but she has always been very supportive of our learning. For the sake of our study, she would often consult with the owner about whether she could consider the special situation of our family and sell a little more kerosene to our family.

Because the owner and the shopkeeper are all a farmer, they are more familiar with each other, and they know that our sisters love to learn, and their academic performance is good, the shopkeeper will also support a little appropriately, which also makes our family very grateful.

Although the owner has been dead for several years now, his warm, helpful spirit has always infected and inspired me to this day. If others have any difficulties, I always try to give some help as much as possible.

Life is not afraid of suffering, but only afraid of no dreams.

For countless nights, under the light of the kerosene lamp, a few of our sisters gathered around the table where we had just eaten, reading books and doing homework together, while my mother sewed and mended. This heartwarming scene has always been deeply imprinted in my mind. Whenever I think about it, there will always be an invisible force surging in my heart, making me forge ahead, work hard, and move forward bravely.

The production of kerosene lamps is not complicated, usually to find a bottle with a good cap when the ink has been used up. Make a hole in the cap, the hole is just enough to insert a long tube made of empty iron, and add a cotton rope twisted with cotton in the middle, and pass into a bottle filled with kerosene, and it can be used simply. Before use, the wick should be penetrated through kerosene to facilitate combustion.

Of course, after burning for a while, you must also use a needle to pick the wick upwards, which can continue to ensure a certain fire. People with good conditions will buy the lamp with the glass cover, the light will be relatively better, the damage to the eyes will be less, and the soot will be less.

Compared with the various electric lamps now, the "disadvantages" of kerosene lamps are still obvious.

Its light is still much worse than that of electric lights in any case. Reading and studying under the kerosene lamp, for a long time, there will be black soot in the nostrils, which is also a kind of harm to the eyes. However, fortunately, at that time, the students' homework was not as "Alexander" as the children are now, and there were not many people with myopia, which was also a blessing in misfortune.

In addition, its safety is not as good as electric lights, sometimes reading books tired of falling asleep, inadvertently causing a fire is not once.

Li San in our village once was tired of reading a book, fell asleep, and knocked down the lamp, which caused the mosquito net to catch fire and burned to the quilt. As it happened, his father got up at night to untie his hands, smelled the burnt quilt, and went in to put out the fire. Otherwise, Li San would probably be burned.

Unfortunately, despite his hard work, he also took the college entrance examination several times, and finally failed to get the title of the gold list, jumping out of the farm, which made people feel a little fatalistic.

However, the help effect of kerosene lamps in our homes is obvious.

Without it, there might not have been a good day for our sisters today.

Under the light of the "shortcoming" kerosene lamp, four of our five sisters were admitted to secondary school, college, and teacher training, which was extremely rare in the countryside in the 1980s.

In particular, my sister and I were admitted to secondary school at the same time in the year of the late 1980s, and double happiness became the "number one news" in our village. Everyone was happy, and my mother was even more so. Her years of expectations became a reality.

That was the year that everyone in our village was also connected to electricity.

I remember that when the bright electric light shone on the wide courtyard of our house for the first time, everyone cheered and cheered, but my mother muttered to herself alone, "If only now, you would be fine." ”

I know how my mother said we used to struggle to read under a kerosene lamp.

But many people's lives are not all from bitter to sweet struggle, who said that it is not the most precious wealth in the world?

Time can pass, but memory is eternal.

The kerosene lamp became a lamp in my heart that never extinguished, giving me confidence and strength.