Chapter 55 From "Travel Here"

Dear ××: Two hours before I got on the train, I received your call, which was a surprise to me. I thought you were in class.Your small but agitated voice on the phone made me quite sad!We had such a good time together that day, although everyone was a little tired by the end of the day.Hope we can meet again in the near future. It has been more than half a month since I came back from the south of the Yangtze River. The sun is shining all day long in Beijing, and the whistling wind is blowing day and night, especially outside the city.Thinking back to my three weeks in Jiangnan, apart from three sunny days—how lucky, the day we played together, it was still sunny at the end—it was either cloudy or rainy, and almost all the scenery in Jiangnan was Watching it in the rain is really "Amidst Jiangnan".

There were so many people that day, I didn’t have a chance to describe to you the various victories in the south of the Yangtze River that I played: like Slender West Lake in Yangzhou (this is Jiangbei); ; Shanjuan Cave in Yixing, Shanjuan Temple is the legendary reading place of Zhu Yingtai; Huqiu, Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden in Suzhou; A place that has never been.These places are beautiful in the first place, and after the recent vigorous repairs by the people's governments of various places, they are completely new.After visiting, I feel endless joy and pride for the wisdom and efforts of the people of the past and present of the motherland!In this letter, I don't want to describe the scenery too much. Anyway, these places are not far from you. You will have the opportunity to visit them in the future. I just want to talk to you about something that makes me sad.

During my visit this time, I often found "×××" written with chalk, pencil or carved with a knife on the newly plastered walls, newly painted door leaves, stone tables, and trees. Come here for a visit", below is the year, month and day.These days are not very early, within about ten days.It’s better to see a lot of people in the obvious places, but there are more remote places, and there are big characters all over the place, which is really uncomfortable to read! In the hearts of these people, it may be understandable.On the "guest book" at the gate of Suzhou Lingering Garden, I read many words and sentences left by tourists, most of which praised the beauty of this scenic spot, and then expressed a kind of emotion, I don't know when I will come back after this time?Or it's a pity that my friend so-and-so didn't swim with me and so on.These emotions are one of the sources of literary and artistic works.Many scenery descriptions or works given to friends in ancient and modern Chinese and foreign anthologies are derived from this emotion.

But does this kind of emotion have to be written on the local wall?I don't think it is necessary!If you feel that you must pour it out at that time and place, you might as well write it down in a notebook like the visitors in the guest book of Lingering Garden, and leave it for later people to read.If you just write "××× came here for a visit" and then note the year, month and day, it is meaningless at all! If you are writing for others to read, it means that you ××× have been here.People who don't know you will not only have no impression of your two or three-character name, but will also leave a very bad impression.People who know you will see it, and maybe when they write a letter or meet you, they will ask: "Have you been to a certain place? Why did you write nonsense on the wall and destroy public property!"

If you are writing to keep a souvenir for yourself, when you are planning to revisit in the future, so that you can look for the old handwriting and evoke everything in your thoughts and feelings at that time, then you might as well go back and record your feelings in a diary or write them in a letter. Post it on the wall newspaper or school magazine, so that you can write your own feelings and share your happiness with others.Many famous travel articles have been handed down in this way. The worst phenomenon is: I look at the flowers on my own, and I don’t have any feelings. I just see others writing like this, and I don’t want to be left behind, so I add another line on the white wall!

These handwritings are probably not very skillful and neat, but from the names and dates, we can't tell that they were painted by children. Only once, I saw red paint written on the stone wall "XXX Squadron, here The words "a visit" surprised me!These scenic spots are all the crystallization of the wisdom of the people of the motherland for thousands of years. The people's government has managed to restore them from their desolate and desolate conditions for our sightseeing. However, following behind those who destroy public property, destroying and spoiling, this runs counter to the qualities that newcomers in a socialist society should have.

The weather is getting warmer and warmer, and it is a good time to go out for sightseeing. I hope that when you go out to play, not only will you not write "××× come here for a visit" or other words on the wall, but also discourage others from this way.In addition, I also saw in parks or other tourist places, some people randomly moved and trampled the couch chairs and tables inside, threw the shells of melon seeds and peanuts, and candy wrappers all over the place, and spit everywhere!This is the worst and most unethical style brought about by the old society. We must not do this ourselves, and we must persuade others not to do it!

"June 1st" is coming soon, is there any celebration in your school?Is there any show for you?Have fun, play like a new Chinese boy! Your friend Bing Xin, May 30, 1957 (This article was originally published in Wen Wei Po on June 1, 1957, and later included in the collection of essays "After Returning".)