Guo Liquan's Swaying Customs on the Earth

Of all the crops in the Yellow River Estuary, the best is of course wheat, and the best is sorghum. Sorghum is a natural model figure, with a tall figure, slender waist and pink face, swaying like a star on the earth, full of amorous feelings and charming.

The western end of Tanmaqiao Village, Dongling of Caoqiaogou and the crops covered with slopes all belong to our village. For so many years, my spoony eyes always like to pass through the mottled sorghum leaves and look at the eternal sorghum red.

two

Since ancient times, sorghum has been an important raw material for brewing wine, making vinegar and processing sorghum maltose. No matter Du Kang, Maotai, Wuliangye, Lanling, Xifeng and Xinghua Village, sorghum is the first choice for all famous wines. But in the era of food shortage, sorghum is first and foremost people's rations. When the famine came, other crops were not harvested well enough to eat, so high-yield sorghum came in handy. Before I graduated from high school, sorghum was the food I ate the most. Sorghum at that time was a lifesaver for the people in the north.

Perhaps, the information of sorghum in botany textbooks is more abundant-sorghum, also known as millet, glutinous rice, reed millet, glutinous rice, glutinous rice and so on. , with the reputation of "the essence of five grains, the length of a hundred grains", is sweet and mild, belonging to Gramineae and Panicum, with a height of 3-5 meters and a horizontal diameter. Adults say this white powder can stop bleeding. When I was a child, I ate a sweet stick. When I cut my hand with a cushion, I often put some on my hand. It really works. Sorghum has been planted in China for at least 5000 years. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Corn is planted in the north to prepare for food shortage, and the rest is for cattle and horses. It has been cultivated for 4,900 years. " Sorghum appeared in the Book of Songs a long time ago: "Yellow bird, yellow bird, don't gather mulberry, don't peck me." Look, it was a headache for migratory birds to peck sorghum at that time.

Zhang Hua's Natural History in Jin Dynasty recorded sorghum earlier: "I planted corn for three years, and then I planted snakes for more than seven years." I don't know if there is such a mysterious connection between sorghum and snakes, but I really saw so many snakes in sorghum fields when the Yellow River flooded that year. Sorghum is drought-resistant and waterlogged-tolerant, with vigorous growth and high yield. Even if it is flooded, there will still be a lot of gains. 1975 The Yellow River levee was cut off. Fortunately, there is a second dam to keep the water in the northeast. All the men, women and children in the village went to the dam to prevent floods. Women and children stood on the dam and watched the water and the sky meet outside the dam. Short beans are submerged below the water surface and have lost their yield. These people waded through waist-deep water and caught sorghum. The river has flooded the neck of sorghum, leaving only the upper part of the ear exposed. The members pushed the dustpan to press sorghum. Many sorghum ears are covered with long worms (snakes) hiding in the water, which scares women to shout loudly, but fortunately, the vegetable snakes in the Yellow River estuary are not poisonous.

After a few days, the water receded, and at the northernmost part of the northeast depression, several sorghum plants on Gaogang stood there coldly. They are still in shock after a disaster. Where sorghum bent down to drink water, a group of fish swam around in the wild water. My sister asked anxiously, the water is used up. What shall we do with these fish?

three

In my hometown, sorghum is eaten in various ways. The simplest way to eat it is to stew sorghum rice into dry rice, which is mellow and refreshing and maintains the unique fragrance of sorghum. The usual way to eat sorghum noodles is to steam them into buns or cakes, which are firm and chewy, especially when full. Who builds the house in the village, the villagers help for free, and the main family manages the rice. Breakfast is steamed bread with shrimp sauce. At noon and in the evening, stir-fried radish strips or stewed cabbage, one person with a sea bowl, two nails and steamed bread, are in full swing. I have done tamping, bricklaying, mixing mud and making blanks. On the brand-new balcony, the adobe is swaying, and the songs are bursting, which is as lively as the big drama in the village. Sorghum also has a way of eating, turning pastry. Mother often makes sorghum bread with a little white flour, rolls it into pancakes and puts it in a pot with low fire. The white flour on both sides of the cake will slowly swell, and a drum with two lids will make a "pastry cake". Cut a cake into four corners, coat it with homemade noodle sauce, roll up a onion and take a big bite. It's refreshing. Of course, the most I drank since I was a child was sorghum sticky porridge cooked by my mother. My mother said that since I can move the bowl, I like to hold the bowl in the corner, support my straw bag and shout to people coming and going: "Peas stick to drink, peas stick to drink ..."

four

Grandpa Bud said that there are many varieties of sorghum, which are divided into big scatter, lion head, black shell and high tip according to their shapes. 1973 hybrid sorghum was popularized in a large area, with short straw, lodging resistance, close planting and high yield. Members took the kind of paper hat that bully Hu Hansan wore in the street parade in the movie, and beat sorghum ears with sticks for cross pollination. "Sorghum beans, not enough to eat." This definitely refers to high-pointed sorghum, and short-pointed hybrid sorghum is enough to eat, because this hybrid red sorghum is difficult to digest. As the lazy boy said, it is boring to chew in your mouth, and it will swell your stomach and pull up shit to suffer. People who have a better life can mix some bean noodles and stick noodles, which can be slightly milder and easier to digest. But our family is poor, so we have to steam corn with pure red sorghum. At an early age, I can't solve it. I put my hands on the ground, and * * * was so high that I couldn't pull it out with all my strength. I cried. My mother gently comforted me with a hard straw stick while digging it out little by little. Alas, I will never forget the pain of constipation.

There is also a sticky sorghum in sorghum, which is generally used to steam rice cakes. As sticky as millet, it can wrap dates well. There is a saying in the village that describes a greedy and small person: "If you can't bite the jujube, you will be annoyed and throw the cake on the ground." Even in the era of a large number of sorghum, sticky sorghum is only a supporting role. There are even fewer now. Last autumn, when I returned to my hometown, on the rugged roadside, the silhouette of several sticky sorghum plants occupied October Sky, which was the loneliness and beauty in the depths of Xiang Qiu.

In the Yellow River estuary, no crop is as rich as sorghum. Sorghum, the real hard-core crop of ordinary people! After sorghum threshing, sorghum ears are called "chaff" in my hometown and "chaff" in Qianqiao people. After the shell rope on the grate is scraped off with a sickle, it is called a broom seedling. Broom seedlings can be spun into long-handled brooms to sweep the floor or short-handled cooking brooms to wash dishes, which is light and durable, economical and environmentally friendly. Now my third aunt sometimes brings me a broom for cooking or covers the sun. "Gaitian" is made of stilts, that is, pot covers. Probably because it covers the grain, and people regard grain as the sky, so it is called "covering the sky". Small covers are generally used to put jiaozi and handmade noodles. I know all about spinning brooms and nailing the sky. These dense stitches are connected with a string of homesickness.

Shell rope can hold a pillow, so it is soft and comfortable to sleep. Turning over in my dream, I can hear the rustling of sorghum in my hometown.

Farmers' use of straw is a bit dazzling. You can make a book and cover it on the roof, which is warm in winter and cool in summer; Eight lords also made granaries, grates and baskets into bowls, put bowls and chopsticks on the bed and break them into mats like magic. It can also be tied into thin sticks (fences), but my favorite is the fruit cage made by Grandpa Eight. It's beautiful and strong, and it won't wear out for a summer.

After the first snow, the land was vast. Sparrows jump around the haystack, looking for grass seeds and sorghum grains. Haystacks in winter are children's paradise, where we practice handstands and hide-and-seek, drill around in sorghum piles and leave the joy of childhood in the depths of those piles. At night, sleepless stars can still see young people quietly coming outside the village and getting into the straw pile to find the smell of sunshine.

Ah, hometown, mysterious haystack!

five

"Yang Ye shot Mao Mao, and sorghum smashed the ground." Grandpa Bud said that the solar terms of sorghum were around Tomb-Sweeping Day, and the farmer's proverb said, "Clear sorghum grains make rain flowers, and small cotton doesn't go home." When the soil moisture is good, sorghum will roll in the field and emerge in four or five days. When the weather is fine, sorghum grows quickly. "The wheat fell and the sorghum overflowed the cow." When the wheat was harvested, the sorghum was waist deep.

When I was six or seven years old, Grandpa Bud from Campo often took my sister and me to play in the sorghum fields of Hezixi. We still like hybrid sorghum because its trees are sweet. I think of these "sweet sticks" and always like to break a few when adults are not paying attention. When Master Eight catches him, he will be scolded. Looking at the sorghum ear thrown aside, he gave out a series of squeaks: "Alas, what a waste of food!" " However, Grandpa Bud often sympathizes with children's greedy and naughty nature. In order to prevent us from "innocently folding" again, he began to teach us to choose sweet sticks: "Be careful, the color of straws should be dark green, and when they are folded, they will make a crunchy sound from the roots, and keep them sweet." And break a few sorghum trees that can't show their ears, so that we can solve our problems.

In fact, in the sorghum field, it is not only sweet sticks that attract our attention, but also ebony (which villagers call Gu Mi). Ebony is a spore produced by variation of sorghum varieties. Its appearance is plump and attractive, its skin is white and flesh is black, its hair is slightly sweet, and it has a special smell. My sister and I often take a bite of gray and black, like drawing a circle of black beard. Wumi is also a medicinal material, which can regulate menstruation and stop bleeding. Generally speaking, children are not allowed to beat black rice in the production team, because the temptation of black rice is hidden in the newly packaged ear head, and children are not sure, which often destroys crops.

Grandpa Bud talks a bit ramblingly, and sometimes I don't know whether he is talking to us or talking to himself. He said that people who eat red sorghum have a hard life, while ordinary people eat red sorghum; He also said that the sorghum field was a good place to fight the devils, and then he sang "September 18th Minor": "The sorghum leaves are green, and the Japanese soldiers came on September 18th."

Following the Eighth Master, there are always endless game: roasted grasshoppers, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted green beans, Huang Cancan hidden in the grass, delicious small-leaf melons and a doodle of black rice hidden in sorghum bags, which makes my stomach round. My sister sings in the sorghum field: "sorghum leaves, Hua, it's either you or him", or sings: "sorghum leaves, blow haha (suona), my mother doesn't tell me about her husband's family."

This sorghum field is too big for us to walk out for a long time. In the morning, the sun rises from the sorghum fields in the east; In the evening, the sun sets from the sorghum fields in the west, and the sorghum in the morning glow is red all over the earth, red to the horizon. Dew slipped quietly on the sorghum leaves, pattering on the sorghum leaves below, saving strength and slipping down again, hoping to jump into the embrace of the earth. The gourd blossoms, the fruit sings, and the spider is busy in the sorghum field. Before sorghum germinated, a large group of sparrows flew noisily, expecting sorghum to ripen faster than anyone else.

six

As the main food crop in the north, rough sorghum once warmed my rumbling stomach. When I was in middle school, the land was contracted to every household, and my sister and I were old enough to carry hoes. Delicious wheat and profitable cotton occupy the living space of sorghum, and sorghum gradually shrinks from people's eyes. But our family still planted five acres of sorghum in four fields. Twenty days later, all the sorghum will be hoed. My sister is worried that she won't dig sorghum seedlings. I said, don't worry, take a Sunday off, I'll get some classmates to help me, and I'll finish weeding in one day. The first week when I came back from home to school, I tied four hoes on the back seat of my bike. The next weekend, I got up early, called CoCo Lee, Xiushun, Ceng Hua and Wen Qi, set out from Lijin No.2 Middle School, went north, went to Luo Zhen and then went east, rode five or six miles to meet my sister at the fourth venue, and the sun just rose by one pole.

In the activity of hoeing, the highest technical content is "gouging out sorghum seedlings". There are three processes. First of all, we should hoe the grass on the back of the ridge. Second, we should set a pier for sorghum. In order to make a pier for a sorghum plant, it is necessary to dig a nest with three hoes and let the sorghum seedlings squat in the middle of the nest, so that even a little rain can keep the sorghum alive in the dry spring. Sorghum is drought-tolerant, with deep roots and lush leaves. Even if you accidentally hoe off a few roots when mowing the grass, as long as one root is connected with the soil, it will not die. Third, we should plant seedlings. Sorghum can't be planted closely, otherwise it will easily lodging. As the saying goes: "The grain should be thin, the wheat should be thick, and the cows lie in the sorghum field." The key to thinning seedlings is "the old woman keeps the nest and leaves three in one step", that is, only three sorghum seedlings are left in one step, and the rest should be hoed off. These three processes make the treatment of sorghum in crops different.

At lunch, my sister brought candied haws and pickles from home, which was the best meal we could have at home. A plastic kettle was passed around, and everyone was filled with cold water and sat on the edge of the sorghum field to have a rest. Xiu Shun took out his harmonica, a song "Morning on Campus", and spread it around the sorghum seedlings, which moved the young leaves of sorghum to tremble. ...

The second sorghum was hoed by my sister herself. Sorghum is poetic, but weeding sorghum is not poetic, tired and sultry. Sorghum powder sticks to the body after sweating, which itches and hurts. This kind of hard work, my sister experienced more than me.

Crops planted with sorghum in spring are not as tall as sorghum. It's time for sorghum to show its ears Xiusui is the birth of a new life, but her head is upward. The first thing that bears the sunshine is her ruddy head. Sorghum heading is slow. If you want to see a sorghum heading on a sunny day, you will be disappointed. It is best to set up a slope shed next to sorghum when packing, and stare at the beauty of her head at close range.

In fact, camping around the person you love is a very happy thing. Besides, there are spinning girls singing for me day and night everywhere.

Weaver Maid was found in sorghum fields and sorghum fields. They were still singing enthusiastically until I saw sorghum's face flushed.

If you want to show the Yellow River mouth dancing, corn can't do it, and sorghum can do it. Sorghum is a born dancer. Compared with them, sorghum is soft and corn is tall and straight; Sorghum leaves are narrow and long, while corn leaves are wide and short. Sorghum likes the wind caressing its bright leaves. If the wind blows, the corn shakes its leaves at most, and the sorghum fluctuates with excitement and whispers.

Sorghum that has just sprouted is exposed at a glance, the seed of love. A string of ears is a poem picked by sorghum stalks in the air.

Sister came to hoe sorghum for the third time again. Her heart also rises and falls with sorghum. Sorghum flower heads have fallen on my sister, and my sister who hoes sorghum has grown up. Sorghum is red, and my sister's face is red in the sorghum field. As soon as my sister entered the sorghum field, I couldn't tell which was sorghum and which was my sister.

seven

After three hoes, it's time to hang the hoe.

Sorghum roots are thick and ears are big, and it grows into a tree, but it has no bowlegs.

These days, sorghum doesn't like to be disturbed by anyone except birds that can't be blown away. She is going to dry the rice.

Sorghum is colored day by day in the sun, and the energy it deliberately absorbs from the sun will eventually be absorbed by a poor boy in Tanmaqiao Village.

After beginning of autumn, vines at the foot of sorghum will crawl all over the floor. My sister and I will cut off the vines, sun them for 60% to 70%, pack them in a car and take them home for silage, which will be the favorite of animals in winter. When I stepped on the car and climbed onto the roof, I saw the red dragonfly flying over the sorghum ear and staring at the horizon at sunset, and everything was deeply immersed in the boundless red of sorghum. I think it would be arrogant to find a huge blanket and spread it on a piece of sorghum, so that sorghum can hold me and my youthful ideals and roll on it for a few laps.

My sister said that when the sorghum is ripe, you can only come by yourself. I signed up for a class to learn to be a tailor. I know, I can only go by myself, because my mother really found my sister's husband's family. Sister said, elder brother, I don't want to. Before I could say anything, a gust of wind blew and sorghum leaves clattered.

Of all the crops, sorghum is closest to the sun. I like the feeling of hiding in the field. It's totally different from hiding in a crowd. There are too many dangerous pleasures hidden in the sorghum field, just like Mo Yan's piece of red sorghum. The dense and deep sorghum fields, with beautiful images and floating fragrance, are most suitable for the interpretation of simple love. However, the film "Red Sorghum" by Lao Mouzi is a bit exaggerated, which is about affairs and kindness. Such a large piece of sorghum still needs to be stepped on. The occurrence of a beautiful story requires only one sorghum field, and there is no need to spoil so many sorghum at all.

The harvest season has arrived, and the sun's yearning awn comes out from the clouds, holding each sorghum ear tightly, and the beauty of sorghum standing is coming to an end.

It's late autumn. I'm going to see what Gao Liang looks like after listening to Xiu Shun's harmonica solo. In the morning, I drove the donkey cart to four depressions early. In the wilderness, there is only one donkey cart moving forward. Rabbits in autumn eat fat and roll around in the harvested bean fields. From time to time, the lark's cry swept across the sky. In the distance, the slope keepers set up a pavilion on several willow trees, and next to the pavilion were the nests of two old people. On a bright moonlit night, how comfortable it is to lie in the arbor of this tree, accompany the old man, smell the ripe crops everywhere and sleep!

Four games are coming. Sorghum stands proudly in the field, and its height comes from its high confidence in itself-as a crop, how can it not make people shrink back in a year or so? This piece of sorghum in the depression is a seed shipped from Qianqiao Village, forty or fifty miles away. Perhaps, I am the flying bird, and this piece of standing debris is a stop left by my relatives. Seeing me coming, sorghum is twisting in the late autumn wind, and the radian of the figure is fascinating. I know it has been waiting for me for a long time in the depression of the old Yellow River.

I tied the donkey to the pole of the ground shelf and let it chew the grass by itself. The donkey ate the creeping grass without looking up. I began to string sorghum quickly with a knife called scorpion in my right hand. As soon as the sorghum ear fell, one ear bit the other, layer by layer from my left hand to my elbow, and placed it on a chopped straw. After five or six floors, I tied a bundle of straw and tied a sorghum head. The sorghum ears on the ground are finished, and it's getting late. I carried the sorghum head near the train and fed some sorghum ears to the donkey. Then I got on the train and loaded it to make it look like a sharp willow hill. I cut some beans and threw them on the roof, and drove the donkey cart to the village in the sunset, with the whip tip swinging in the air. The night is getting deeper and deeper. I'm a little dressed. I just lay on the sorghum pile, and the hot sorghum ears warmed my body. I seldom call a donkey. The old donkey knows the way. It has run this road countless times. The stars in the sky are approaching my yard according to a car full of sorghum. ...

Sorghum stalks have been standing, and their legs are numb in the ground. Because the most important sorghum grains have been stored. When all the crops were harvested, only a few flat-bellied cotton peaches hung on the stems, then people remembered that it was time to clean the sorghum stems. There are two ways to clear sorghum, one is to cut it with a sickle and leave the stubble head in the field for the winter; One is to pick up the sorghum stalks one by one with a pickaxe. The sorghum stalks in my four fields have been standing until after autumn, and it took me a Sunday to finish them. I grabbed a sorghum stalk and threw the pickaxe into the sky. In one day, all the sorghum stalks were laid flat on the ground in the sun. Since then, we have never found patches of sorghum in our village.

The fiery sorghum fields are gone, and the rushing sorghum leaves are also gone. Even if there is, it is still on the edge of the field, and planting a few trees can't be a climate at all. Few children have seen sorghum now, and the custom of swaying on the earth has disappeared.

Who can tell me where my sorghum is?

eight

I miss my sorghum. I’m going home. I went home with the name of sorghum. But there are no pieces of sorghum on the earth. My old house has collapsed, my parents have returned the land, and my sister has married. There are only two bony jujube trees in the yard.

I miss the sorghum fields in my hometown, where the breeze is diffuse and the sun is shining. I miss the beauty on the earth-quiet and warm, simple and wild, closest to the sky and far from the earth.

Sorghum is a red dress in my hometown. When the autumn wind comes, it is gorgeous and the skirt flies.

Sorghum, a poet in the field, always ignites the old homesickness in the autumn wind.