The Red Bean

 

BY HUILAN　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

        The red bean grows in South

        Its spare sprouts weave

with spring

        Glean some more for me, I pray

        So that you’ll see

        It’s the sign

of remembrance.              

This is an ancient Chinese poem. It is very famous in China. I read this poem for the first time when I was nine. Since then, I wanted to become a poet. And how I longed to have a red bean, a real poet’s red bean! After all, what was a poet without a real red bean? So I kept asking my classmate Xiaoyan for one, but she only had one herself and she would only smile and say sorry to me each time.

We were in an elementary school. Xiaoyan was a farmer’s daughter, but all of us lived in the city. The first time when she went to our class, she wore a very dirty and shabby skirt. The teacher told us Xiaoyan lived with her aunt after her parents died. She was good at all her subjects.

When Xiaoyan went into the classroom and wanted to take a seat, everyone told her that the seat had been taken. Then Xiaoyan changed the row for another seat. While she was walking near me, I just said, “you can sit near me if you want.” Then she sat near me without saying a word.

Soon we became very good friends. Every day we walked to class and went back home together. We were always the best students in our class.

Time passed. A new term was beginning. One day when we were climbing a mountain, Xiaoyan got so tired that she just couldn’t move a step further. She dropped to the ground and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Just then I caught her up. I sat down by her side, took out an apple to her as I usually did, but she refused it. “What happen to you?” I asked. “I am thinking this is the end.” She answered with a soft and quiet voice. “I won’t ask you for the red bean any more. I promise you, but you don’t cry, please.” I continued to say to her. However, she didn’t open her mouth this time. After a while, she told me she wanted home and she would like to see her parents very soon.

  The next week things were even worse. Xiaoyan didn’t come to class on Monday morning. It has never happened to her before. So I worried and ran to her aunt’s house at the break time. In a small and dark room, Xiaoyan was lying on her bed. Her face was pale, and her lips were white. Clearly she was very sick and was dying! Her eyes fell on me and she motioned me to come nearer. With an effort, she stopped her tears and smiled to me. She took out the red beans from a lovely box and passed them to me.

“These red beans were my mother’s. She left them to me before she was gone. She ……she wanted me to become a poet……. Now, I ……I want you to keep them.” She took a very long time to say these words. These were her last words.

    I cried out as if my heart would break. I lost my best friend at that moment. Three days later, I brought my first poem to Xiaoyan’s little mound. I didn’t cry when I was looking at her. I just put my poem to her quietly:

        I’m coming, little maid

        With the warm flame laden

        With the fruit for the trees

        With grain for the fields

        Every little stream is lively

        All the orchard trees are golden

        And on each small and waving shoot

        Hangs your dream

 

[惠蘭]

讀了,多謝.

[胡渙]

但願我們這一代能超越上一代吧。

說到老師，我有一篇寫我女兒的老師的，與你分享一下：

http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200708&postID=28461

[惠蘭]

我還記得，他死後，有個女老師說這下不用催他繳學費了。我當時心裏很難過，心想一條命還不及幾塊錢的學費？那老師姓楊，平時經常罵那個學生，不知她當時是不是有些高興她學生的死。後來有天那老師上課時，從講台上的櫈子上摔下來（她矮，寫字要上櫈子），竟沒有一個同學去救她。我本來想去扶她起來，但想到她對那死去的同學這樣凶，就沒扶。過了很久都沒同學動，大家自顧說話去了，我才去叫老師來。她從此一病不起。為這事，我內疚了很多年，到現在都還覺得對不起這老師。也不知她現在還是不是活著。

[胡渙]

欺負弱者的同學，嘲笑學生的老師：記憶猶新，曆曆在目！　　

[惠蘭]

部分同意你的看法： famous 在美語中不是非常的褒義。但一般看你指什麽具體的人或事（depends)，我個人認為一般情況下還是比較中性的，甚至褒義的成分居多。個人看法，歡迎批評。

[惠蘭]

事情是真實的，隻不過死去的那個小學同學是男同學而不是女同學。他的真名叫鄭天才，他穿得極破爛，當時班上絕大多數同學都不理他、常常取笑他，但我對他一直很好。他打豬草從岩石上摔下來，全身是血，死得很慘，讓我人生第一次體會到生命的脆弱。當時老師也看不起他，常嘲笑他的名字取得不好，但我發現他會寫詩，還會模仿電影中的人物演戲，比絕大部分自以為是的同學都聰明，是個天才。

[胡渙]

感動。都分不清這是真事還是虛構的了。

這段讓我想起了 Forrest Gump 中的一個完全一樣的情節：

When Xiaoyan went into the classroom and wanted to take a seat, everyone told her that the seat had been taken. Then Xiaoyan changed the row for another seat. While she was walking near me, I just said, “you can sit near me if you want.” Then she sat near me without saying a word.


討論：我似乎覺得 famous 在美語中不是非常的褒義。