Disappeared Village (Original)
Time is like clouds in the sky
Memories are like slate moss
Because I was always worried about the thousand-year-old tree in my heart, I used the weekend to go into the dry ditch again. Although I am very close to this ditch, it is a ditch in my village to be exact, but because the villagers in the ditch have already moved, I rarely come in for many years.
After walking about two kilometers of cement road from the mouth of the ditch, you basically reach the ditch, the old houses in memory have basically been demolished, the barking of dogs and chickens in the past has long disappeared, let alone the villagers who are digging the ground with hoes while singing ancient mountain songs with their throats, empty valleys, full of weeds and trees, a group of sparrows flying around, chirping, the call of thrushes in the bamboo forest is crisp and pleasant, becoming the most beautiful music in this lonely mountain, from time to time, woodpeckers play drum kits on the big trees to accompany. A whizzing cold wind, the bare trunk whined, and the wild cotton under the tree trembled and shivered. The old sheep gut trail has been washed away by the summer torrents. Turning from the center of the ditch to a raised earthen platform, I saw an old house that had not been demolished, and the roof was covered with stone slabs, and I don't know if this stone slab house is a specialty of the mountains of southern Shaanxi. The house has long been dilapidated, the weeds in front of the door are waist-high, and there is a land temple next to the dojo, where the owner of the house has moved away for more than ten years, presumably no one burns incense in this land temple. Some ancient furniture, back baskets, stone mills, pickled tile posts, and even the black coffin, there is nowhere to put it, and now it can only be left to the wind and rain, sun and night dew. In the distance, you can already see the tall ancient tree, along the mossy stone steps up the steps, about two hundred meters, then came to the ancient tree, the leaves have long been finished, protruding, about forty meters high, thick branches, strong and powerful, the diameter of the chest is estimated to take four or five people to hug. There is a label on the tree, indicating that the tree is 1,000 years old, and in the past, only this tree was known as the Horse Chestnut Tree, but I didn't know its scientific name was Horse Chestnut. The huge rhizome is tangled and protrudes like a large stone overgrown with moss. The local people believe that ancient trees will show spirits, so there is a temple next to it, and the trunk of the tree is also hung with red cloth.
In the past, in front of the big tree was a courtyard of more than a dozen families, but now it has long been razed to the ground, they have long been relocated to the settlement, and the young and middle-aged laborers have deeply integrated into the hustle and bustle of the city full of high-rise buildings. Standing on this high earthen platform, the view is silent and peaceful, except for the whining of the wind and the chirping of birds in the valley. Looking at the white clouds swimming in the blue sky through the branches of the ancient trees, it seemed anxious. On the mossy stone steps below, the dew glowed by the sun. Seeing this ancient village and cultivated land overgrown with weeds slowly disappearing with the years is sad. The years are easy to age, and they will not return to Shaohua. Ancient trees, in the future, you will no longer accompany you with singing and laughter, dogs barking chickens, and when you are lonely, you can only listen to the chirping of cicadas.
