My first encounter with a snake
◎Guangzhou Tianhe District No. 1 Experimental Primary School Grade 5 Wu Yuchen
◎ Instructor: Lin Zixia
Snakes are ancient and mysterious animals that both frighten me and intriguate me. In ancient mythology, the serpent was the ultimate representative of the dark power, like the serpent hair of the banshee Medusa and the nagaini, the great serpent who was inseparable from the Dark Lord Voldemort. It is precisely because it is so mysterious, if you can meet a snake in real life and retreat from the whole body, wouldn't it be exciting and powerful? When I signed up for the night viewing activities organized by the South China Botanical Garden, I had this idea in my heart.
On midsummer nights, the southern sky refused to darken for a long time. The teacher who led the night watch team said solemnly: "Everyone must not walk on the grass again!" The silver-ringed snake hid during the day, and now is the time for it to come out to feed. Listening to him say this, I was very scared in my heart, and my eyes were all the way to the ground, afraid of accidentally walking into the grass. But I was expecting to meet a snake. I heard that the teacher who led the team would catch snakes, and I wanted a big snake hanging from the vine and subdued by him, how exciting!
The night watch team set off, and along the way, the teacher pointed out various small creatures to show us: frogs, toads, tree frogs, geckos, mantises, ailanthus, praying mantis... Walking along, the botanical garden was almost finished, and I still didn't encounter a snake. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed: all I saw along the way were boring little bugs and amphibians, but what about my big snake fairy?
When I walked to the "First Village of Guangzhou" in the Botanical Garden, I met another group of students who were watching at night. They shouted excitedly, "There are snakes in the pool of the first village!" We listened, went straight to the pool, crouched by the pool, eyes fixed on the water. After a few minutes, I don't know who shouted, "Snake! "The teacher heard the noise and rushed, I didn't see it clearly, only to see him wave his big hand, he fished up a small snake, and squeezed its head and mouth tightly to avoid hurting people."
This little snake is only about 20 centimeters long, and although it is not the big snake I hoped for, it is still worth seeing for me. I leaned forward to measure it carefully, only to see its dark, round eyes wide open; its turquoise belly bulging, presumably just eaten tadpole; its light brown scales flickering; its pointed tail flicking back and forth. It was the first time I had ever seen a living snake so close!
The teacher told us that the name of this snake is called the macular fishing snake, which is a very common water snake and is non-venomous. The students all competed to touch this little snake, and the little snake looked like "there is no love for life", and could only be touched by the students. I watched from the side, not participating in the snake touching. The teacher put the little snake back into the pool, and it swam away in a panic, as if frightened.
After seeing the little snake, he walked towards the gate and prepared to end this night view. As I walked, suddenly the flashlight swept to the side of the road under the tree there was a large white thing, a closer look, less than half a meter away from me, there was a big snake as thick as a wrist, yellow-black scales, white is its belly, dozens of times larger than the small snake just now!
I was so frightened that my blood was cold, and subconsciously hugged my mother, and we both shouted uncontrollably: "There is a snake!" ”
"Where?" The teacher rushed ahead of us with an arrow. "This is a macular fishing snake!" Already an adult! Dead! As soon as the teacher's voice fell, I realized that this was a false alarm, it was a dead snake.
The teacher said that this macular fishing snake was an adult, about a meter long, and judging from its situation, it had just been killed. I looked at the big snake that was motionless, and I couldn't help but feel a wave of pity, completely forgetting the panic I had just had. Recalling the helpless expression of the little snake, and then looking at the expressionless dead snake in front of him, pity and sighed: Can we really touch the snake like this and do whatever we want to it? Is the snake really supposed to be killed, as some people think?
It should be known that the snake was revered as a god animal in ancient times, and the uprising of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, was also through the decapitation of the head of the white snake, which shows that the extraordinary snake is matched with the emperor. Such a fierce snake was disposed of by humans at will, so will today's solipsistic human beings one day end up with a similar fate? Is this ferocious COVID-19 pandemic a warning to humanity? I would have thought that if man could meet a snake, it would be remarkable that he could retreat with his whole body. I really didn't expect that when people and snakes meet, they should think about retreating from the whole body, but it is the snake. I worry about snakes, I worry about people.
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This article is very high-minded, the writing is also vivid and delicate, it is commendable that the author does not only attribute his contradictory feelings about snakes to "environmental protection", but contains more and more complex thinking, whether it is the image of the snake in mythology, or the legend of "cutting the white snake" in Chinese history, which provides depth to the article.
The snake is a classic character in mythology and literature, but there are not many works with it as the protagonist, and here I recommend an English novelist and poet D. H. Lawrence's famous work "Snake", the psychological process he describes is more subtle and complex, and its perspective is more grand, which is worth reading.
╰Comments on teachers╮
Liang Yanyan, senior education reporter of Southern Metropolis Daily, executive coordinator of Nandu non-fiction writing growth platform project.
Fang Jun, senior editor of Southern Metropolis Daily, content director of the key news department.
Essay Notice
In September, from the sweltering heat to the slight coolness. This is a season worthy of our longing and hope, and a season for us to reminisce about and enjoy. When the school started, the campus became lively; the warm love reflected the smiling face of the teacher; Haizi's poem "Beating horses across the grassland" still reverberates to this day... Write a story about September and let's savor the ripeness and harvest of autumn together.
Essay target: Primary and secondary school students
Genre: Documentary (except poetry and literary text)
Submission platform: WeChat search "Nandu non-fiction writing growth platform" mini program
Coordinator: Liang Yanyan Fang Jun
Illustration: Shen Shuting
Moderator of this issue: Nandu reporter Liang Yanyan Liu Xue intern Mai Xiaoting