少雪的冬日 與 “雪詩”沁園春-雜感周記

A Winter of less snow and the “Snow Poem”
少雪的冬日 與 “雪詩”沁園春

雙語 雜感周記

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What happened to our winter?, Some newspaper or TV news programs really worries. It worried us too? People are funny when there is lot of snow, they are not comfortable, when there is little snow, they complaints too.

Canada, a place where snow falls a lot usually, but not this year. My wife told me her conversion with her Indian workmates, about friends' mother flight to Ontario, is merely to see the snow, however, what to see? She smiles after receiving the phone call.

One of the popular TV shows in China is the China Talent Show. What made this show so famous, and people love to watch is an English man, a man very good at singing the "Revolutionary Songs".

Those songs are coming back to it's popularity recently in Chongqing, a mountain city famous for it's mayor named Bo-xi-lai. The songs were named after Red Army and reminds people those times everything are red in color in political speaking people would say.

Not every white westerner get known this way in this land. Among few, an Canadian doctor who helped the the Army based in Yan An where those native songs rooted.

But, but one modern Canadian gained himself a great name, not by singing, but by speaking very fluent local language following a master of language in China. His name in Mandarin called Da-山. He is a good model for English speaking people mastering the Mandarin, a language said will be spoken and learnt worldwide.

Another TV show called "Come, if you're serious" 非誠勿擾 in other words, matching 24 young women with selected males from all corners and all jacks in life and ethinc background. Also, quite favoritesable among overseas Chinese. It's funny and interesting to watch, not only it works,but those Chinese young boys raised in the English speaking world, but works in China, together with together with foreigners lack of the tones of local cultures and words.

As said, the English man wants to be the most famous "Lao-Wai" in China a term to name those people from other land, ( not in bad sense, quite friendly though ) by singing this type of old songs even now-days young people know very little.

One song he sang skillfully, in his self-designed costume, "Red East" was told written in West China. Back many years, by a peasant in Shan-Bei. Northern Shan-Xi province blieved as a folk song enjoys wide huge popularity. Simplestly Most simply worded, as it goes: "Sun rises, shone the land, red." Everybody remember its tune, so do people to the color of "Sun Rise", an oil earlier impressionist oil painting, by Monet in the West.

Honestly, this song is an rewrites or one reversed from a folk-song epics the greatness of Mao, an historically and worldly arguable personality. No surprise, back in 60 or 70's as you were visiting North Korea today, those songs sang only on great occasions.
 
Personally, one big surprises I ever encountered, was a question, "what do you think about Mao" in an job interview, one Swiss interviewee asksed. In coast cities, at the time young people went out looking for working for west-invested company where free coffee offered, creatingesed later a gang of heavy drinkers among young whose used to have Tea.

"He is a great personnel, ..he writes beautiful poems," was my answer, but he asked his soldier to carry a quite load of books along the military journey led his Red Army steps thousands miles to a New Base, a little and remote town named Yan-an. "a few books maybe, on Economics." I finished in this way.

If I am wrong, I don't know how many poems in literature touches the topic of "Snow", but one I knew for sure is written by Mao, entitled exactly the word. a word of "Snow".

After years living in the snowy country, as I remembered I tried my best to put it into another language, I am still struggling with. Just a few more days before today back in 2008-01-05 one line I did was such, as he wrote:

而今我謂昆侖：不要這高，不要這多雪。

Kun-Lun, here is my say: "Not such Height,n' no more snow,"

Truly, this winter, we got less snow. It is not because of his words put down that way. Scientists from the whole world say it is not true. It is caused by the "globe-warming“. One world known English publication "Economist" tells a lot of truth of world economically, and scientifically about the world happenings. Recently it published an article about China's recent changes back from in it's late 40's to the span of 1949 to today.

I should say, I quite agree some of the lines in this not-very-long article, covering the 60 years journey of one of the nations with longest history. Yes, weather records could be traced down 60 years easily, however, it's hard to see more clearer of nation's on the track down the road.

Looking out of the window, snow falls beautifully, as winter winds softly blows,...my body is tired a little, with daily traveling for living,

I clicked the Link of "Snow Poem" by Mao, written in war-times, and here is my personal note, back in 2008 Jan 05:
Note: 近日大湖急雪，世人有聚印尼談論氣候，故有所感， 也與大家助興， 想看看手跡，一時無處尋 ! When there was snow, when drove alongside of the country fields, let the hills and lands in white left behind; I felt something in me, and then came the rhythms and lines in an unfamiliar language.

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一語小戰士
2012 元月