Chapter 20 a day of spring

At the end of last winter, I wrote a letter to a friend far away, saying: "I will try my best to swallow this year's spring in Beiping." This year, spring in Beiping came very late, and when I didn’t know where the spring was, I looked up and suddenly saw green leaves and catkins flying in the yellow dust. Only then did I realize that behind the thick yellow curtain of dust and sand, spring had not yet appeared. However, it has been quietly drawn away.It's like this all over the world-- Last winter was very cold and very long.Every night, sitting alone under the lamp, listening to the wind howling against the window, the small building vibrating, I feel that there is no warmth in my body and heart. In the winter, all happiness, liveliness, strength, and life seem to be curled up in every room. the depths of a cell.I comforted myself boredly and said, "Just wait, winter is coming, can spring be far away?"

However, the ranks of strong wind, heavy snow, and winter are unexpectedly long, and it seems that there is no end.One day when I saw the ice on the lake softened, my heart suddenly rejoiced and I said, "Spring is here!" That night, the north wind whipped up the yellow sand all over the sky again, and angrily rushed towards my window, blowing away the spring in my heart. , and blown away.One day I saw the willow shoots turning yellow, and that afternoon, it was raining continuously without snow, and at dusk, I put on my winter clothes again.One day I saw peach blossoms blooming in the courtyard. It was just after noon that day, and from the southeast sky, there was an instant of gloomy yellow clouds, followed by the dry branches, and the spring flowers that had just blossomed were buried in the desert. In the yellow dust...

Ninety days to see the end - I do not believe in spring! A few friends said, "Go to Dajue Temple to see the apricot blossoms." Although I never heard of spring in my heart, I followed everyone.Arriving at Guanjialing, amidst the wind and dust, the branches of hundreds of apricot trees are full of dead flowers and stamens; turn to Dagong, in the sunny valley, there are still a few red apricots in full bloom, but they have exhausted their strength in full bloom. It's not the mood of the tree full of thick red and the stamens alternated with each other. I thought, "Let's go when spring is gone!" On the way home, I felt calm, with three parts regret and seven parts hatred. In short, I don't believe in spring.

On the afternoon of April 30th, a friend invited me to see Begonias in the Wu Family Garden in Guajiatun, "I hope the weather is fine"—— Looking back now, that day was the only spring in the Ninety Springs—the Begonia flower was my favorite, so I readily agreed. Dongpo hates that the crabapple has no fragrance, but I think that if the fragrance is not good, I would rather have no fragrance.I planted several cloves and pearl plums in my yard, as well as hostas in summer and chrysanthemums in autumn, and I regretted it after planting them.Because the fragrance of these flowers gives me a headache, I can't fold them and keep them in the house.So among the fragrant flowers, I only love orchids, sweet-scented osmanthus, tofu and roses. Among the non-scented flowers, crabapple is my favorite.

The crabapple is light red, so red that it is "happy but not lewd", light white, so white that it is "sad but not hurt", and it is covered by green leaves of trees. It is moderately slender, like a naive, fit and cheerful The girl is also the most proud work of the creator. In the setting sun, I was sitting down facing the blossoming trees. Spring is here! These four crabapple trees are in front of Huaixin Hall, and the two in the north are larger, about five or six feet higher than the eaves of the hall.After the flowers, there is a clear blue sky, a faint semicircular moon, overlooking the treetops.On these four trees, there are tens of thousands of exquisite and delicate flowers, crowded and blooming on the branches...

Have you ever seen kindergarten after school?From the small door, thronging and rushing out a bewildering crowd of joy, liveliness, strength, and life; forever spring! The spring of working hard on the crabapple branches made me feel the same at that time. The hatred of spring for a long time has disappeared at this time, and I look up with joy, and in front of my eyes are the brilliant spring, the extravagant spring, the glamorous spring-it seems that spring has wandered countless times in the past ninety days. Thousands of blocks, just for the purpose of letting go on the branch of this tree today!

Seeing it just right, he thanked the master and came back.This spring has a lingering fragrance in your mouth!Three or four days later, another friend came to make an appointment to go with me, but I declined.It is always too late to look for spring this year. I know that if I go there at that time, it will be "a sea of ​​sorrows in the fall". Spring is so bleak that there is no need to provoke the sea of ​​sorrows. Although there is only one day of spring in the ninety days, it seems that spring has been avenged, and there is no longer any hatred or hatred.It's just that apart from being satisfied, I also feel a little regretful, like children looking for each other after a fight. Everyone couldn't help but get angry and laugh, but they refused to make up immediately. Knowing that you came to coax me to find me again, why did you freeze me there in the first place?"

On the night of May 8, 1936, in Peking. (This article was originally published in Cosmic Wind, Issue 18, June 1, 1936.)