The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 127 Wild Vegetables in My Hometown

[China] Zhou Zuoren

My hometown is more than one, every place I have lived is my hometown.

My hometown is more than one, every place I have lived is my hometown.My hometown does not have any special affection for me, just because of the relationship between here and here, I meet day and night and become acquaintances, just like neighbors in the village, even though they are not relatives, sometimes I think of him after parting.I have lived in eastern Zhejiang for more than ten years, and Nanjing and Tokyo for six years. These are both my hometowns. Now I live in Beijing, so Beijing has become my hometown.

A few days ago, my wife came back from Xidan Market to buy vegetables, and when she mentioned that shepherd's purse was sold there, I thought about the things in eastern Zhejiang.Shepherd's purse is a wild vegetable that people in eastern Zhejiang often eat in spring. Needless to say, in the countryside, even in the city, anyone with a backyard can eat it at any time. Women and children each take a pair of scissors and a "seedling basket" and squat on the ground to search. A fun game of work.At that time, the children sang, "Shepherd's purse Malantou, sisters marry at the back door".Later, some villagers in Malantou brought them to the city to sell, but shepherd's purse is still a kind of wild vegetable, so you have to pick it yourself.There have always been quite elegant legends about shepherd's purse, but it seems to be based on Wu. "West Lake Travel Records" says, "On March [-], both men and women wear shepherd's purse flowers. As the proverb goes, wearing shepherd's flowers in three springs makes peaches and plums flourish."Gu Lu's "Qing Jialu" also said, "Shepherd's purse is commonly called wild cauliflower, because there is a saying that ants go to the stove on the third day of March, and people put wild cauliflower on the stove on the third day to hate insects and ants. Children in the morning village are constantly hawking. Or women wear hairpins in a bun to pray for clear eyesight, commonly known as “Eye Bright Flowers”.But Zhedong didn't pay much attention to these things, and just picked them to cook or eat fried rice cakes.

Huanghua Maiguo is called Tongshuaocao. It is a plant of Compositae. The leaves are small, slightly round and alternate, with white hairs on the surface, yellow flowers, and clustered tips.Pick young leaves in spring, mash to remove juice, and make cake with powder, which is called Huanghua wheat fruit cake.Children have a song of praise: "The yellow-flowered wheat fruit is tough and hard, and you can eat it when you close the door. You can take out half a piece, and you can eat a piece."

When sweeping tombs around the Qingming Festival, some families—probably those who preserve the ancient style—used yellow-flowered barley fruit as an offering, but instead of making cakes, they made small pieces as big as the top of a finger, or thin strips like a little finger, and five or six of them were used as an offering. Zan, the name is cocoon fruit, I don't know what it means, or because this kind of food is also used for sacrifices when silkworms go up the mountain, so it is called, and it is not known.Since I was twelve or thirteen years old, I didn't go out to participate in the grave sweeping of my grandfather's family. I haven't seen the cocoon fruit, and I've lived in Beijing recently, and I haven't seen the shadow of the yellow flower wheat fruit anymore.It is called "Yuxing" in Japan, and it is one of the seven herbs in spring together with shepherd's purse. It is Japanese style, no longer the yellow flower oatmeal cake from childhood.

There is also a kind of wild vegetable that is often eaten when sweeping graves, commonly known as grass purple, commonly known as milk vetch.After harvesting, farmers use it as fertilizer within the day of sowing. It is a very despised plant, but it is eaten with tender stems. , like a gorgeous carpet, very beautiful, and the flowers are shaped like butterflies or chickens, especially children's favorite, there are white flowers in the middle, it is said that it can cure dysentery, it is very precious, but it is not easy to get.Japan's "Haiku Dictionary" says: "This grass and dandelion are common things, and they have been familiar with them since childhood. Among women, there may be people who have never been to milk vetch." China has no garlands in ancient times. But zi vetch flower balls are something that children often play with, and I am happy for those little people at this level.Tomb-sweeping in eastern Zhejiang uses advocacy, so young people often follow the music to see "Jiaojiao in the boat going to the grave"; although people without money do not advocate, there are always bouquets of milk vetch and rhododendrons on the bow of the boat under the canopy window. That is the definite evidence of the boat going to the grave.

Heart mark notes
With strong nostalgia and a casual language style, Zhou Zuoren introduced to us various wild vegetables common in his hometown: shepherd's purse, Malantou, yellow-flowered wheat fruit, and milk vetch. He used vivid language to describe its shape and taste. , and connect them with the folk customs of eastern Zhejiang and oriental customs, endowing ordinary wild vegetables with cultural charm, so that we can feel the taste and philosophy in the process of reading.He described the seemingly boring work of women and children picking wild vegetables so interestingly and vigorously, the fusion of elegance and wildness, and the beauty and sweetness of life can be seen before his eyes.

There is beauty everywhere in life, and many small but extremely interesting and beautiful things need people's insight to discover, and all the small and touching things in life will always make people feel like drinking tea and aftertaste endless.

(End of this chapter)