Chapter 54 gourd ladle

In my hometown, my mother still keeps a lot of utensils from ten or twenty years ago, many of which are obsolete and useless now, and one is the gourd ladle that my mother still uses every day .She uses this ladle to scoop water and cook, and has not changed it for decades. Every time I see her use the gourd ladle, my thoughts seem to go back to our happy childhood through time and space. I still remember the days when we lived in a small mountain village. There was a scaffold made of bamboo in the backyard of our house. Using that scaffold, we planted edamame, grapes, loofahs, gourds, gourds and other vines. So that we have fresh melons and fruits to eat in all seasons.

Among them, loofah and gourd are the most useful. When they bear fruit, my mother often stands under the trellis and observes carefully, keeping the most beautiful and plentiful fruits, and picking the others for cooking. .The loofahs that were left behind dried up under the trellis after they were fully ripe. We picked the dried loofahs and peeled them to reveal their easy, dry and firm fibers. My mother cut them into sections, It becomes the "loofah cloth" we use all year round, which can be used to wash greasy dishes and spatulas, and the loofah seeds are kept for sowing next year.After picking the loofah, we cut off the old loofah tree and bottled the loofah dew at the root to wash our faces.A loofah is fully utilized in this way. Now there are many nylon scrub products called "vegetable melon cloth", and many chemical cosmetics are called "loofah dew". .

The same is true for the mushrooms and reeds we planted. They are picked after they are fully ripe and withered on the tree. Those that grow too large and not beautiful enough are cut in half and used as spoons for scooping water and holding things.If the shape is uniform and beautiful, the head is opened, and the melon flesh and melon seeds inside are taken out, leaving only a hard shell, which can be used as a jug and wine jug. In an agricultural society where plastics are not widely used, gourds are widely used and almost become a must-have item in every household. It accompanies us to grow up.Today, the natural tradition of mushrooms and reeds has disappeared, and mushrooms and reeds have also become decorations in folk art shops. Unknowing children may find it hard to imagine that it is inside: "One sack of food, one ladle of drink, people are unbearable. , I will never change my joy when I go back.” Let’s breathe together with the people!The association of gourds has a long history among the people. Many popular characters, such as Li Tieguai and Jigong, have a gourd hanging from their waists. Even the heroes in the novel, the beggars in martial arts novels, gourds are indispensable. few.As early as the official history of "Fan Hanshu", there is also such a record: "There was an old man selling medicine in the market, hanging a pot on the head of the shop, and when he was in the market, he jumped into the pot, and the people in the market would not see it."

In the "Seven Signs of Yunji", it is even said: "Shi Cun, a native of Lu, learned the way of great alchemy, met Zhang Shen, and was the governor of Yuntai. He often hung a pot, which was as big as a five-liter vessel, and turned into heaven and earth. There is the sun and the moon, and you stay in it at night." It can be seen that the folk gourd is not only a wine cry, a kettle, and a medicine jar, but it is even big enough to contain the world, the sun, the moon, and everything.In the chaotic world, the gourd on the waist of the immortal is often the hope and ideal of the people. The gourd is very useful!

Every time I watch American western movies and see the early pioneer heroes take out flat bottles of whiskey and drink from their arms, I think of the gourds that the Chinese hang on their waists.No matter how beautiful the whiskey bottle is, it cannot compare to the beauty of the gourd. This is helpless, because in the jug of the gourd, there is a strong feeling of hometown and a vast world of imagination. Although the gourd ladle my mother is still using is not as big as the sky, earth, sun and moon, it is a commemoration of the farm life in the early years. At that time, there was no running water. Our family used spring water to drink, and bamboo tubes were used to lead the spring water from the mountain to the big water at home. Water tank, a gourd ladle is always floating on the water tank, smooth and black, pondering all kinds of traces of time.

There are many exquisite products of modern spoons. I asked my mother why she still uses gourd ladles, and she said lightly: "I just get used to it, and it is not easy to use other spoons." But to me, there are many feelings.Our past rural life has long changed its appearance, but in people's hearts, the fruits produced by nature are always the most cherished. A small gourd ladle seems to represent a kind of mood - the society evolves, and people cherish it The years never completely disappear. When I go home, I like to scoop up a ladle of water and carefully look at the gourd ladle in my hand. It has aged in time and its skin has cracks, but our memory is like the clear water in that ladle, always crystal clear Clear and refreshing.At that time, I knew that the gourd ladle kept by my mother also had its own world, and it could not be said in one spoonful. When I used that gourd ladle, I almost got close to my mother's mood. The mother's hardships in the ten years of growing up.

—January 19, 1983