Singing Zhang Yongzhong in the fragrance of birds and flowers
In March, we went to the Hunan Provincial Botanical Garden to step on the spring, and made an appointment twice before entering the garden, which shows the grand occasion of the general public looking for fragrance in the day.
My wife and I chose a secluded path in the botanical garden. In Pingyang, there are several benches, retaining three or two pairs of people who are resting in the shade of the trees. Whisper from time to time, be in a daze from time to time, and then leave. My wife and I sat on one of the wooden benches.
At this time, a group of voices rushed to the ears, as if there were cicadas, but it was not. It is certain that this is different from the sound of birds, it is the song of insects, the song of insects that leaks out of the fragrance of birds and flowers. Insects chirping among the birds and flowers? I suspect it's auditory hallucinations. I asked my wife for confirmation, and she said, yes, she heard it too.
So, we quieted down. The sound was clustered, first the birds in the forest, then the frog drums in the pond under the forest, and the squeaky insects in the distance. Compared with the clear sound of birds, the turbidity of the frog drum is heavy, but the insect song seems to be depressed and timid, and the sticky silk is thin, not as sharp as the summer and autumn insects. Gradually, I was sucked in by the sound of the worm. The sound of insects, coming from a distance, seems to be in the ears. Suspicion is high up, and it seems to be under your feet again. The sound of insects, one after another, responds to each other, and seems to be arguing. After a while, this secluded space was filled with such sounds, and even the noisy birds were only singing.
I am glad that I heard such a rich singing of insects in the spring sun of this home of flowers and birds. I don't know which insect made this sound, and I don't know them, their bodies are hidden in the microcosm, only the sound proves the vitality in the macrospace, decorates and beautifies the world.
Originally, the spring insects were singing, which should be a natural thing. It's just that with the idioms and habits of the autumn sound insect language in front of you, coupled with the closed ears and eyes, people don't focus on the message of the insects in spring. People pay attention to the song of the bird and the fragrance of the flower, and the song of the insect is inadvertently blocked. What's more, the insects at this time are all old insects that have woken up after the hibernation of winter, or newborn larvae, and they will never be as proud and high-profile as the strong insects that dominate the autumn sound.
In spring, the air is full of hormones. Flowers are being pollinated, birds are courting, and even the clouds in the sky are entangled. The "Book of Songs" has said, "Yo Yo Deer Song, Eat the Apple of the Wild" and "Guan Guan Ju Dove, in the River Island". All things sprout, relying on the spirituality of insects, it is impossible to be without movement. Among the blades of grass, I saw the insects and butterflies that were interlocked, stacked, and trampled.
For a while, I was intoxicated by the atmosphere of "mixed peanut trees, warblers flying and grass growing", listening to the voices of insects, fresh and persistent.
With a "buzz", a gray-brown beetle slammed into me and bounced off the ground. It rolled over on its back, paddling in panic with its feet, and could not roll over. Apparently, it was overshadowed by this encounter. I bent down and flipped it over with a thin twig, hesitated, crawled a few steps, looked at me in a panic, and then squeaked and flew into the woods again. Its voice, melted into the air, swirled and amplified.
In the forest, there are some irises with pale purple flowers, plowshare lilacs, pink and white filigree wood, and golden retriever ferns holding small velvet fists. There are also banana seedlings rolling out of new sprouts by the pond, and so on. The bamboo forest is still verdant, and you have to wait a few days for the bamboo shoots. Wild strawberries with thin yellow flowers that shimmer golden in the sun. But all of this is suppressed in the sound of insects.
The spring sun, the birds, the fragrance of flowers, and the sound of insects are suitable for the word "bright". I think it is inconceivable to have a forest without the sound of insects, just as it is without the song of birds and the fragrance of flowers. When I was amazed by the sound of insects in the spring, I pinched my fingers and calculated, twenty-eight days had passed. Heaven and earth are in order, the four seasons are not deceived, and everything is at the right time. This is nature.
After a stroll, it was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, and I walked to the north gate. A sign that reads "Reservation Full" did not block the flow of people entering the park. A waterfall of purple flowers beckons us out the door, and the rosemary under the trellis smoky aroma tantalizes the appetite. It can be regarded as a garden visitor.
After descending a few steps, we were in the midst of the rolling city. Without the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, you can't hear the insects singing and harmonizing.
Selected from "Xinxiang Review" Issue 9, 2024
First instance: Chen Jiaqi
Second trial: Wu Jin
Third trial: Zhang Qinfan
Read the party journal in the palm of your hand
Xinxiang Review
Issue 9, 2024
Click on the cover
Go to the e-newsletter