▍The early bird I teach in a countryside school far from my town about ten kilometers. There are many inconveniences, for instance, can’t buy writing materials and books, materials of housekeeping etc. The students almost buy all of them before school beginning, or take the bus to town to buy them on holiday. Someone who is on intimate terms with me often ask me to buy. I frequently am their duty buyer. I often buy the things the same day when they asked me to buy, and bring for them in order not to break the promise. However, there is one time I forgot it, not buy it I promised that night, think it of till next morning I want to go to work. They are three rolls of the yellow Peking paper which the students asked me to buy. Three or four shops are on the town, I think originally it’s easy to buy them as I go to the street, but it unexpectedly I haven’t bought them. I went to the shop I often used to buy first, but its door is closed; I go to the biggest one again, it’s closed also; then I go to another shop, the result is the same: door closed. I suddenly think of there is a shop still while I guess to knock the door hard and fast, I go there just to make a try, unexpectedly I bought them at that shop I scarcely buy. It’s the only material shop in the town which opens the door to sell. Due to this reason, my impression about this shop has a great change; I also decided from now on, I will go to this shop to buy. On the way to school, I ponder a proverb of the West: “The early bird catches the worm.” Yes. It really contains profound meaning limitlessly.
▍The Afterglow Garden Raise my head, I just view there is an afterglow garden hangs slightly on western azure, brilliant and splendid, bright and radiate, as dream as illusory… There jumbled the flower nursery of many shapes, that is, the round, the ellipse, the semicircle, the square, the rectangular, the rhomb, the triangle, and the irregular, appear miscellaneously, included within one by one… The flowers are fully blossom, half blossom, slight open, be in bud, the flower, the bud, the flower bud, mix together, set off the green leaves… Numerous and complicated the flower colour, multicoloured, there are red, yellow, white, purple, blue, indigo-blue and many kinds of colour on a flower… May it be the rose . May it be the orchid. May it be the lotus. May it be the chrysanthemum. May it be the crape myrtle. May it be the sunflower… The honey bee comes. The butterfly comes. The moth comes. They flutter, shuttle among the flowers, leisurely, fell happy and contented, gather nectar, disseminate pollen… Of course, there is someone shuttle among them. May he’s the gardener. Lo! He waters the flower, and also he weeds. And these are the men appreciate the flower. They walk on the path among the flower nurseries. From one flower nursery to another flower nursery, they now walk now stop, now stop now walk, point and dot, sometimes bow their waists and stretch their hands to hold the flowers to peer them carefully, to smell them, to appreciate them… Wordlessly, this is the picture created by the Creator who grasps the coloured pen of the setting sun in his hands. He wields. He paints. He offered all his painstaking care, then there has this afterglow garden hangs slightly on western azure, to make me so jubilation…
▍The water lyre (In Lieu of Preface) There is a river, flows from my childhood, slightly, slowly, flows into a water lyre, deep in my heart. There are many water weeds and stones on the banks of the river. There are million of strings created by the Creator. The river water is the fingers of the lyre, keen and long, plays the strings day and night ceaselessly, nimble and skilled. How does it like a girl play the lyre! She holds her deep emo-tion with concentrated attention on her finger points, pours to the strings, turn into colourfull butterflies one by one, raising curl upwards, flies to her prince charming in her dream. Is it the violin? The seven-stringed plucked instrument? The Pipa? The huqin? Or the piano?… Is it the serenade? Or the aria? The lyric poetry? The Sang Ci? The Yuan Qu?… One melody follows one melody. It’s the created melody by the Creator strains his mind. Slightly, slowly, and soft, long and exquisite, deep emotion in great earnest, kilo wind and hundred curl, linger and linger ceaselessly, don’t disperse for long… They are a flower and a flower, spatter fully on the river back, sparkle rays of light a bit and a bit… They raise slightly roll of joyousness, gentle and pleasant, drive away whole the unhappy and worry… Gurgling, murmuring, bubbling, ding-ding, dong-dong…it’s the water lyre playing, slightly, slowly, soft and soft, comes from my childhood, within my deep heart still…
早起的鳥兒 The early bird 晚霞花園 The Afterglow Garden 啊,沉醉 Oh, Be Intoxicated with 思維那隻小鳥 That Tiny Bird of Thought 夜來香 The Tuberose 天堂鳥 The Bird of Paradise Flower 七里香 The Orange Jasmine 春郊 The Suburb of the Spring 春情 The Spring Emotion 春的訊息 The Message of the Spring 畫春 Painting the spring 與春對話 Dialogue with the Spring 與春同在 Get Together with the spring 炮竹花 Fire-cracker Vine 報春花 Chinese Primrose 春天球戲 The Ball Game of the Spring 花季 The Blossom 在暖春裡 In the Warm Spring 羊蹄甲 The Orchid Tree 春晨 The Vernal Morning 春光如酒 As the Wine Splendour of Spring 春.蝶舞 The Butterfly Dancing in the Spring 晨鳥鳴唱 Singing the Morning Birds 落地生根 The Miracle leaf 土香 Fragrance of the Soil 珊瑚世界 The World of coral 黃槐 The Sunshine Tree 番麥 The Corn 茉莉花 The Jasmine 繁花 Multiplex flowers 蘭花 The Orchid 勿忘我 Forget-me-not 仙草 The Mesona 彩葉草 The Coleus 鳳仙花 The Garden Balsam 太陽花 The Portulaca grandiflora 葡萄 The Grape 土豆 The groundnut 尋夢草 The Clover Looking for Dream 蓄電池 The Storage Battery 晴朗的夏晨 The Sunny Dawn of the Summer 康乃馨 The Carnation 新頁 New Page 牽牛花 The Morning-glory 夏的韻味 The Graceful Manner of Summer 夏夜的風 The Wind of Summer Night 游泳去 Let’s go Swimming 向日葵 The Sunflower 荔枝 The Litchi 稻子成熟時 When the Rice is ripened 看蝴蝶 Let’s go to Watch Butterfly 流星 The Meteor 石榴 The Pomegranate 我們來跳繩 Let’s Come to Rope Skipping 海邊戲水 Free play on seaside 美好的世界 It must be a fine world 微風裡 In the Breeze 星星 Stars 走進山裡 Enter the mountain 浪花 The Spray 快樂早晨 The merry morning 迎向藍天 In Face of Azure 森林的早晨 The Morning of the Forest 走進山林 Enter Mountain Forest 走向大自然 Going to the Nature 桂花 The Sweet Olive 曙光已現 Dawn is Appeared 雞冠花 The Cockscomb 蟬 The Cicada 訪遊去 Let’s go to visit 只想到溪頭 I just Want to Xitou 秋的腳印 The footprints of the Autumn 秋海棠 The Begonia 秋葉 The Autumn leave 好,很好 Well, very Well 前進,繼續前進 Go Forward 鳥 Birds 雲海 Sea of clouds 菟絲花 The Dodder 紙船 The Paper Boat 燭火 The Candle 燈 The Lamp 新娘花 The Blushing bride 忍冬花 The Honeysuckle 冬夜裡 In the Winter Night 攀登 Climb up 皺紋正義 The True Meaning of Wrinkle 堅持 Insist on 松 The Pine 聖誕紅 X’mas Flower 虎 The Tiger 抱怨 Complaint 丟棄 Cast away 勤勞 Hardworking 用鋤頭寫詩 Write Poems with the Hoe 新 New 希望 Hope 年輕 Young 萬年長青 Flourish Forever
水琴(代序) The water lyre (In Lieu of Preface)
早起的鳥兒 The early bird 晚霞花園 The Afterglow Garden 啊,沉醉 Oh, Be Intoxicated with 思維那隻小鳥 That Tiny Bird of Thought 夜來香 The Tuberose 天堂鳥 The Bird of Paradise Flower 七里香 The Orange Jasmine 春郊 The Suburb of the Spring 春情 The Spring Emotion 春的訊息 The Message of the Spring 畫春 Painting the spring 與春對話 Dialogue with the Spring 與春同在 Get Together with the spring 炮竹花 Fire-cracker Vine ...