席梦麟：上海崇明国际生态岛之往事1月

Chapter 1 拉开自然的帷幕

元旦春香枝头闹，

小寒萝卜土里冒，

腊八猫儿檐下叫，

大寒羊羔圈边绕。

跨年夜后的第一个早晨，也是新日历启封后翻开的第一页，等待元旦假期后上学的孩子们在这个时间总是忧喜参半：喜的是隆冬里日日放烟花的寒假在即，忧的无非是爸妈一致关注的期末考逼近。但最为期待的时刻则莫过于突然来一场大雪。崇明的雪从来没有北方的雪景那般落地无声的寂美和满目皑皑的壮阔，而是悉悉嗦嗦地漫天飞舞，河流、泥径、田埂、矮冬青，甚至土狗蜷缩栖身的小草垛，都会在一夜之间魔法般地披上晶亮的外衣，随手抓握一把隔夜的雪，片刻就在掌心中化为小冰片和水滴，凉意逐渐沁透到指尖和手腕。

Chapter 1 Pulling up the curtain of nature

The New Year's Day brings the tangerines of spring,

Minor Coldknows carrots booming,

Labahears kitties singing,

Major Coldsees lambs circling.

The first morning after the New Year’s Eve means that the first page of the new calendar is opened. The children going to school after the New Year holiday alwayshave mixed feelings toward this very day. The happiness comes from missing the winter holiday of fireworks,whereas the worry arisessince the final exam draws the parents' unanimous attention. The most anticipated moment, however, is a sudden snowfall, even though the snow of Chongming has never been as silent and beautiful as the snowy scenery in North China. Nevertheless,when theydanceover rivers, mud trails, ridges, dwarf holly, and even the grass that the dog lay a few minutes before, they magically help everything wear the bright coat overnight.The touch ofthe snow flake will instantly dissolvethe ice and water droplets flowing all over the palm, as a result, the coolness gradually spreads to the fingertips and wrists.

岛上没有雪的元月为数最多，万物会在凌厉的寒风和萧索泛绿的背景中被一一剪影出来，杨柳、水杉、紫藤、凌霄都灰褐光秃地让人担心数月后的春天还是否能催它们爆出芽来，只有四季常青的冬青和桔树是这片土地上一眼望去仅存的生机，春天的信使在他们的身上保存着觉醒的线索。

It rarely snows in the island in January, thus everything will be silhouetted clearly in the background of the fierce wind and the sorrowful green. The willows, metasequoia, wisteria, and scorpion are so gray and barren that people may worry whether the spring can remind them to grow buds or not. Consequently, it looks like only the evergreen holly and orange trees are the remaining vitality in this land as the spring messenger leaves awakening clues on them.

    结伴而行的上学途中，望着池塘里的薄冰冻着光秃秃的柳条，总有种几何线条的浮想，甚至会生出一种素描课上不断打线的错觉。此外，冷不丁还会被河边枯败的芦苇丛中突然窜出的翠鸟或者麻雀唬一跳，猜想着《朝花夕拾》里雪地捉鸟的方法在这个场景里是否可行。

    The scenery, on one’s way to school, that the thin ice in the pond has frozen the willow branches resembles a kind of geometric lines, sending the illusion of lines drawing practice in the sketch class to one’s mind. Besides, the children astonished by the birds suddenly bursting out of the river reeds, begin to guess whether the method of catching birds in the snow written in the book is feasible here as well.

期盼了一天的放学铃声终于响起，随着暖阳让河面的薄冰逐渐消逝，男孩子们欢快地顺着斜阳西去的方向，寻找薄石片，在窄窄的河岸边开始了打水漂的竞赛，翻纸板、打弹珠的比赛就更不在话下。女孩子们则踩着五点准时响起的农场广播音乐，在黑板报的专栏里开始了写字和画画，童趣又天真的言语，烂漫且稚嫩的画技在漆黑的版面上恣意流淌，满心期待着第二天来自老师和同学赞赏的表情。

 The school bell finally rings. As the warm sun gets the thin ice on the river fade away, the boys happily run out of school, looking for thin stones to start the stone-skipping contest over the pond, with competitionsof cardboard turning and marbles rollingtaking place everywhere near. The girls, however,hearing the farm music that sounded at five o'clock, march to the columns of the blackboard in the school for creation.Soon the childlike and innocent languages together with the funny and naive paintingsare displayed on the blackboards, lookingforward to the appreciation from the teachers and classmates the next day.

小寒的节气是冬衣全部就绪的日子，若遇到雨季，还要备着套鞋防止一段泥路，倒不是怕脏，而是怕浸湿了的鞋把寒气从脚上送到了肺里，这是妈妈经常唠叨的感冒原理。崇明从入冬之日起就害怕阴雨，因为潮气很久都难褪去，铜制的汤婆子白天不断在衣袜和毛巾间流转，晚上就成了被窝里的除湿器。家里在这段日子里，连烹饪都会下意识多放些姜。外婆还偶尔会从自己栽种的朝天辣椒里摘上一两颗，煲在豆腐羹里力图“拔寒气”，拔在崇明话中有着费力去除的意思，想来这感冒跟丛生的杂草导致的苦恼一样，非祛不可又劳心劳力。

Minor Cold is the day when winter clothes should be all ready. Should it be a rainy day, one has to wear overshoes to prevent a muddy road. It is not the dirtinessthat one gets afraid but the soaked shoes that sends the cold from feet to lung, which is mother’s explanation of getting a cold. Chongming’s winter daysare full of moisture that will linger for a long time. Therefore, the foot-warmers, the earth ware bottle containing hot water, are used to dry the damp clothes and the towels during the day, while dehumidify the sheets in the bed at night. Moreover, home cooking requires more ginger,thus grandma occasionally picks one or two Chili peppers that she planted to drive out the possible cold, which according to Chongming local belief, cold can be rooted out in this way.

转眼到了腊八，和南方长大的冰心笔下腊八不同，崇明的腊八节没有那么多的礼数讲究，八种粮食在这里常常会缩水成五种或者四种，赤豆花生是必不可少的，驱寒在这天照例是首要的饮食准则，为防止下一场冷空气带来的感冒隐患，这一天若是过得不匆忙，总会记得补上一碗青菜红烧羊肉萝卜，给未成年的孩子补一下体力好扛过这个漫漫冬日。萝卜会是这一碗牙祭的主角，一来羊肉吃多了怕上火，二来青菜是多半孩子都不亲睐的，因为见惯了地里绿油油的菜娃娃，虽然看着喜人，但在嘴里尝起来总觉得味如嚼蜡，其中的鲜甜健康要在多年后才能回想得过来。而白白胖胖的脆萝卜，经过了红烧前和羊肉的充分炖煮，既没有羊肉的膻味，又具备羊肉的肥厚质地，加上红烧后的酱油入味，常常让人分辨不出肥羊肉和萝卜乍一看的区别。

 AsLaba festival, the eighth day of Lunar December, draws near, the traditional ritualof cooking eight kinds of grain together is to be performed. However, people in Chongmingwill decreasethe amountto five or four kinds of grains instead, with red bean and peanuts as most essential, with a view to reduce complexity. Since driving outcoldness is the primary rule for the cuisinein winter as mentioned above,a bowl of mutton stewed in soy sauce with carrot will be a preferred dish for the underage children to store sufficient physical strength for the long winter. The carrotplays the main role in the dish because on the one hand the green vegetableare generally not favored by children who will realize its value in their adulthood,while on the other hand, mutton meat is too heavy for their delicate stomach. Hence, the white and crispy radish, after being braised with mutton, absorbsboth the smell and the fat texture of the meat so well thatitbecomes even difficult to distinguishedthe two by look only.

大寒到来的标志就是泥径上冻出的裂痕以及落霜后被太阳照得泛白的路面。寒意顺着脚着地的一霎似乎可以传导到双腿，逼得走路步伐不断加快，一路小跑似地抵达学校，口中呵出的热气几乎能把戴着的口罩都湿透。帽子脱下的一瞬间，头顶也会有着仙气冉冉的活佛式样出现。孩子们竞相比热气长短也是惯有的事。

The sign of the arrival of Major Cold is the cracks on the frozen mud path that is whitened by the sun after the overnight frost. As a result, the chillinesswill be transmitted from foot to the legsthe moment one steps onto the ground, forcing the speedy pace of walk till one reaches the classroom all the way. The hot air from the mouth soaks the mask while the hat, full ofsweating moisture,inspires thecompetitionof moisture.

一月就是这样，在脚趾冻得发麻的课堂里等待下课，在出生的羔羊边上观察外婆冲奶粉的步骤，在妈妈红烧羊肉萝卜时围着灶台打转，在偶尔下雪的瞬间冲出门迎接这位仿佛只属于北方的稀客。

This is January. Children wait for the end of the class with foot toes frozen numb. Grandchildren are observing and inquiring Grandma the steps of feeding a newly born lamb with milk.Kids walk around the stove eagerly when mother braises the mutton and radish. Studentsare ready to rush out of the door at the occasion of the snowfall which seems belong to the North China only.