Swallows do not live in enemy houses
(Short Story)
Author: Xu Fuyuan (Farmer, Shunyi, Beijing)
On The third of March, the swallows come; on the ninth of September, the swallows go.
Grandma Three still lives in five old houses. The old house has bricks with horns, blanks filled with cores, and the roof hangs a foot thick straw. It is covered with wheat straw mud and hung with small green tiles.
On the smoky black ridge of the hall house, there is a bird's nest. This bird's nest is long, wide and deep, and it is so beautifully made.
The swallows are divided into clumsy swallows and qiao swallows, and the nests made are different.
The nest made by QiaoYan, the nest of mud starts from a point, unfolds in a fan face upwards, and gradually protrudes from the belly, which reserves a warm nest space, so that it can have children and raise daughters and nurture offspring.
Nests made of clumsy swallows, flat and flat, like a large sole hanging on it.
Qiao Yan also pays attention to hygiene, so clean. The of the milk swallow pulled, it all came out of the nest and sent to a far place.
The humble swallow is sloppy, and the nest is in a mess.
Illustration for this edition: Guo Hongsong
The third grandmother's family lives in Qiao Yan.
Swallows have such habits. Where the host family is united, quiet and peaceful, the swallows fly south in autumn and fly back in the spring. Just on top of the old nest, peck a new circle of mud. At the same time, under the eaves, in the box, new houses are added to form a microclimate.
The eldest son of the third grandmother is called Dayan, and the second son is called Eryan. They went out of school and entered the doors of the organs, all of them worked in the field, and they all made their homes in the field. A few years ago, I came back from the Spring Festival and stayed for a few days. Now that I am busy, my son is also old in the end, and he has not returned for several Spring Festivals.
The person who takes care of the third grandmother every day is the old girl Qiaoyan. The in-laws are dang villages.
The one who spends all day with the three grandmothers is the swallow.
At the beginning of spring, the swallows standing in front of the fight came. They first landed on the roof ridge and the eaves of the gatehouse, and then circled a few times in the yard in mid-air, and the "唰" went through the top window of the door, and saw that the old nest was still quietly waiting for them, and then flew out.
So, a small number of swallows flew in succession, and they flew obliquely from the top of the third grandmother's head and behind the front of the eyes, circling in circles, and murmuring, as if to tell the third grandmother: We are back again.
Every time at this time, the third grandmother asked Qiao Yan: "People have words, and birds have bird language." Do you know what the swallow is talking about? ”
Qiao Yan deliberately said, "I don't know." ”
Therefore, the third grandmother repeated to Qiao Yan year after year: Don't eat you, don't drink you, borrow a roof to have children.
In fact, the bird's nest was not quiet for long, and the milk swallow hatched. First I just heard the sound of "chirping", and within a few days, I shouted "chirping". The chicks were lying on the edge of the semi-circular nest, revealing a black little brain melon and sipping their yellow mouths. But as soon as the swallow mother returned, they opened their mouths like a race and formed a row of small black hole holes. Mom would feed the little worms and mulberries mouth-to-mouth.
The third grandmother's yard is large, with more than one acre. Poplar, toon, acacia and mulberry trees are all lush. In the evening of summer, swallows walk between grape racks, gourd sheds, bean seedlings, and leek mounds, cutting back and forth. Among the fun, the three grandmothers will feel the most: yellow flowers brewing bee honey, drizzle and swallow mud; summer solstice red snow wall head apricot, white dew winter melon frosted skin.
As soon as the swallows came in spring, the third grandmother let the old girl cook and boil water under the south wall of the courtyard, afraid of smoking the swallow nest in the hall house. The old girl wanted to make the yard into a concrete floor, but the third grandmother would not let her, saying that the swallow nest should use mud and drink water. Therefore, the three grandmothers in the yard always left a small puddle.
Before September 9, the swallows hatch three nests of small swallows. The autumn wind came down, and the three nests of small swallows had to be taken to the south for winter.
Every year when the swallows are leaving, you see. A large group flew around the three grandmothers, and a few of them landed on the shoulders and backs of the three grandmothers. Then, around the courtyard of the three grandmothers, turned around three times, and then flew south reluctantly.
Every time at this time, the third grandmother was very sad, and said to the old girl Qiao Yan, "Man, in fact, it is the same as the swallow." Swallows nest, mouthfuls of mud. When I built this old house, your father and I were dehydrated, so tired that I couldn't stand up straight. When your eldest brother was studying, he didn't have enough to eat, and it wasn't me who shaved the sweet potatoes in the front yard, so I didn't want to eat them, steamed them and dried them, and drove them to his school on a donkey. I sold more than twenty trees for your second brother to get married. For you to go to high school, even the old sow was sold. ”
The old girl and the third grandmother were the most intimate, and couldn't help but say: "You say, man, what is this for?" ”
"Why, not for." Grandma Three said this more than once: "Have you seen swallows?" They fly from the south to the north, have children, and bring them back to the south, not afraid of the long distance. Three nests of swallows are hatched in a season, and they are fed one by one when they are young. When the wings are hard, they fly out. If you meet them halfway, you don't necessarily know them all, right? Or to give birth to people, like your eldest brother, second brother, people can't come, and the phone comes. ”
On this day, the old girl Qiao Yan told her mother: Here is to build a motor city, to be demolished. According to the policy, the older the house, the more valuable it is, and the land is worth more than the house, and the price is at least a few million yuan. Do you want my eldest brother and second brother to come back?
The third grandmother has a score in her heart: the big swallow and the second swallow will fly back soon.
Sure enough, two days later, Qiao Yan's eldest brother and second brother returned.
Dayan said to the third grandmother, "Mom, I am really waiting for the money now." My second son got married to buy a mortgage house, the down payment was at least hundreds of thousands of yuan, and now the house price is really expensive. You know best in your heart that when I first joined the work, I earned thirty-eight yuan a month, and I sent twenty yuan a month to my father to see a doctor. ”
Grandma Three nodded and said, "Yes." ”
Eryan said to the third grandmother, "Mom, you know best in your heart." My, your granddaughter is going to study in Canada at her own expense, and she will get hundreds of thousands of yuan in reserve money. When I first started working, I was in the coal kiln. I used the year-end bonus to build our West Wing, which was exchanged for my life, you said right? ”
Grandma Three also nodded and said, "Yes." ”
Qiao Yan also couldn't hold her breath: "Mom, your heart is like a mirror." After all these years, who has served you? As soon as you are sick, I carry it in and out. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have stopped going to college, would I? Now, only my account is with you. Besides, daughters also have the right to inherit property. How can I have to have a door? You say, I'm right? ”
Grandma Three still nodded and said, "Yes." ”
Dayan, Eryan, and Qiaoyan complained about the three grandmothers together: "Don't just 'right', 'yes', 'in'." If my father had divided the family when he was alive, would he have had this sequelae now, calculated according to the family list? ”
The third grandmother looked quite guilty and nodded, "It's all my fault." ”
In the days that followed, between Dayan, Eryan and Qiaoyan, they negotiated, negotiated, argued, and even turned against each other for this huge amount of real estate. Finally, hire a lawyer and go to court.
In the farm yard of the third grandmother, there was a lot of traffic and the sound of sirens.
The third grandmother was sick, and she was still very sick. There is a breath that comes out, and there is no breath that goes in.
Dayan, Eryan and Qiaoyan, this time Qi Brush knelt in front of the third grandmother Kang, and they couldn't stop crying.
The third grandmother was very calm and asked the three brothers and sisters: "What about the swallows of our family?" ”
Dayan, Eryan and Qiaoyan suddenly remembered: What about swallows? When did it fly away without a trace?
They looked up at the roof ridge, ran out again to see under the eaves of the box, and inspected the bird's nests, all empty. Even a nest of small milk swallows that are just about to fly is gone. The sky, which was originally covered with shade and swallow shadows, is now as empty as death. There were still two stubbles of milk swallows that did not hatch, and the swallows decided to abandon the house.
What's going on?
When the third grandmother was about to breathe, she told her sons Dayan, Eryan and daughter Qiaoyan:
"Swallows don't live in a house of hate."
Guangming Daily (2021-08-20 14 edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily