Chapter 14 Qingtang lotus rhyme

There are several acres of clear ponds in front of the building.I remember that when I moved here more than 30 years ago, there seemed to be lotus in the pond, and some broken shadows of green leaves and red flowers still remain in my memory.Later, when things changed and time passed, the pond became "a half-acre square pond was opened, and the sky, clouds and shadows lingered together", and there were no more lotus flowers. I keep a lot of old ideology in my head, and every time I look at an empty pond, I always feel like something is missing.This is not in line with my aesthetic concept.If there is a pond, there should be something green, even if it is a reed, it is better than nothing.The best and most ideal is of course the lotus.There are too many descriptions of lotus in old Chinese poems.Zhou Dunyi's "Ai Lian Shuo" is probably the only one that readers don't know.His famous phrase "Xiang Yuan Yi Qing" is very popular.It can almost be said that there is no one in China who does not love lotus.But there is only a lack of lotus in the pond in front of our building.Every time I see or think of it, I always feel that it is a heart disease.

Someone came from Hubei and brought a few lotus seeds from Honghu Lake. The outer shell was black and extremely hard.It is said that if buried in mud, it can survive for thousands of years.Therefore, I used a hammer to open a crack in the lotus seeds, so that the lotus buds could break out of their shells and not be buried in the mud forever.These are all subjective wishes, and whether the lotus buds can emerge is a huge unknown.Anyway, I finally did my best, throwing five or six broken lotus seeds into the pond, and then I will obey the destiny. In this way, I have one more job every day: go to the pond to look at it several times.I always hope in my heart that one day suddenly, "the little lotus just shows its sharp corners", and emerald green lotus leaves grow out of the water.However, things turned out to be contrary to expectations. In the first year of casting, until the autumn leaves fell, nothing appeared on the water.After a lonely winter, in the second year, the pond is full of spring water, the green willows are hanging down, and it is a beautiful scenery.However, there were still no lotus leaves exposed on the water I was looking forward to.At this time, I was completely discouraged, thinking that the few hard-shelled lotus seeds brought from Hubei would probably not have any hope of growing lotus flowers due to reasons that cannot be explained by manpower.My eyes couldn't suck the lotus leaves out of the mud.

However, in the third year, a miracle happened suddenly.One day, I suddenly discovered that there were several round green leaves growing on the place where I threw the lotus seeds. Although the color is very attractive, they are thin and thin, lying on the surface of the water pitifully, like the leaves of water lilies. Same.And only five or six leaves grew at first.I always feel that this is a bit too little, and I always hope to grow a few more pieces.So, I look forward to the stars and the moon, and go to the pond every day to watch.When farmers outside the school come to fish for water plants, I always ask them to be merciful and not to break the leaves.But after a long long summer, the desolate autumn came to the world again, and there were still only five or six lonely leaves floating in the pond.For me, it's been yet another year that has been somewhat hopeful but ultimately discouraging.

The real miracle came in the fourth year.After the severe winter, the pond overflowed with spring water again.When the general lotus grows leaves, in the place where there were five or six leaves floating last year, a large green leaf suddenly grows overnight, and it seems that the lotus has not stopped moving under the ice in the severe winter, because after leaving the original The center of the pond farther away from the base with five or six leaves also grew leaves.The speed at which the blade expands, and the range of expansion, are surprisingly fast.Within a few days, not a small part of the pond has been completely covered by green leaves.What's more, the water lily-like leaves that were lying flat on the water surface gathered strength from somewhere, and some of them leaped out of the water and grew into graceful lotus leaves.It turned out that I was still hesitant in my heart, fearing that the water lily growing in the pond would not be a real lotus.In this way, the cloud of doubt in my heart was cleared away: what grew in the pond were really descendants of Honghu lotus.I was ecstatic in my heart, the past few years were finally not in vain.

The heavens and the earth give birth to all living things, and to living things such as animals and plants, including humans, they always endow them with an extremely amazing power to survive and an extremely amazing power to expand and spread, which is too great to resist.As long as you are willing to take the trouble to observe it, you will certainly admit this.Now in front of me is the lotus in the pond in front of my building.Since a few brave blades leaped out of the water, many followed.Overnight, dozens of branches came out, and spread rapidly.In less than ten days, the lotus leaves have spread to cover half of the pond.From the place where I sowed the seed, it spread in all directions, east, west, north, south.I don't know how the lotus walks in the mud in the deep water.Anyway, judging from the lotus leaves out of the water, it takes at least half a foot to form the current situation.

Of course, just growing lotus leaves is not enough.The lotus came one after another, and according to experts who know lotus, the lotus in the pond in front of my door is different from the lotus in other ponds in Yanyuan.The lotus in other places is light red in color; but the lotus here is not only red but also has many petals. Each flower can have 16 double petals, which of course looks different.These red and dazzling lotus flowers stand high above the lotus leaves, posing in the wind, as if looking down on everything.When I was young, I read old poems: "After all, in the middle of June in the West Lake, the scenery is not the same as that in four seasons. The lotus leaves are boundless in the sky, and the lotus flowers are red in the sun." I love the beauty of his poems, and I hate not being able to go to the West Lake in Hangzhou to appreciate it in person. Fan.Now what is presented in the pond in front of my door is the scene of the West Lake.I was the one who moved West Lake from Hangzhou to Yanyuan.Wouldn't it be very satisfying!Mr. Zhou Yiliang, who just moved to Langrun Garden a few years ago, named it "Ji He".I found it very interesting and very grateful.Is it possible that I will be passed on as a lottery?

The year before last and last year, whenever the lotus in Xiayue Pond was in full bloom, I wandered by the pond at least a few times a day, sitting on a stone, quietly sucking the fragrance of lotus and lotus leaves. "The forest is more quiet than the noise of cicadas, and the mountain of singing birds is more secluded." I really feel that the surrounding area is very quiet.I sat there silently in the silence, and what I saw on the water were lotus green manure and red manure.When the reflection is reflected in the water, when the wind blows, a lotus petal falls into the water. It falls from the top, but the reflection in the water falls from the bottom. When it finally touches the water, the two become one and float like a boat. There.I once read two lines of poetry in a certain book of poetry: "The flowers in the pond fall against the shadow, and the sand birds fly with the sound." The author deeply regrets that the second line does not work against the battle.It's no wonder how many people can comprehend a realm like "Pond Flowers Facing Shadows Falling"?

In the evening, our family often sits on the stones by the pond to enjoy the cool.One night, the moon in the sky was bright and bright, and sprinkled a piece of silver light on the lotus.I suddenly heard a splash, it was my little white Persian cat Mao Mao who jumped into the water, it probably thought there was a white jade plate in the water, and wanted to jump on it and grab it.As soon as it entered the water, it probably felt that something was wrong, and quickly and nimbly returned to the shore, smashing the reflection of the moon into pieces, and it took a long time to return to its original shape.

This summer, the weather is extremely sultry, but the lotus blooms very happily.The green cover lifted the sky, and the red flowers reflected the sun, filling a not-so-small pond so full that the water surface could hardly be seen.A neighbor who loves lotus flowers happily counts the number of lotus flowers every day.Tell me today that there are four or five hundred flowers; tell me tomorrow that there are six or seven hundred flowers.However, although I know that he is meticulous, I don't believe that he can really count the exact number of flowers.Under the lotus leaves, in the crevices of the stones, in every corner, I don't know how many lilies are hidden, all of which are hard to see on the shore.According to a rough estimate, nearly a thousand flowers will bloom this year.It can be regarded as grandiose.

Over the past few days, the weather has suddenly turned cold.It seems to be turning from summer to autumn all at once.Although the lotus leaves in the pond are still green, it seems that the day when they become residual lotus will not be too far away.In another one or two months, once the pool water freezes, even the residual lotus will disappear without a trace.At that time, the lotus will probably hibernate under the ice, dreaming of spring.Their dreams will surely come true. "Since winter is here, can spring be far behind?" I bless my "Ji He". September 16, 1997 Mid-Autumn Festival