Fate is a mysterious bird and Swallow flies. Swallows glided down from the platform of The Book of Songs, which attracted Zhuangzi's attention. Zhuangzi's eyes are not entangled with the swallows in the air, but chased to the end, that is, the nest of swallows-isn't it a great wisdom to live in harmony with people under the eaves? Zhuangzi's Bixing Epiphany has undoubtedly narrowed the distance between the swallow and life, and made the word "swallow" have the meaning of being comfortable and living in peace and contentment, and the "swallow house" has become a noble hall. Then, the swallow crossed Yuefu folk songs, leaving an indelible shadow on the horizon of Tang poetry, and then realized various images in Song poetry, and its cultural nature continued to ferment.
In the dead of night, the moonlight shines, and swallows always fly high. They don't buzz like nightingales, so even their shadows are hard to recognize. During the day, swallows are exposed to light, and their black feathers reflect iron-like textures, much like bullets leaving the chamber. They never stay on branches, beams and flat ground. They are always flying, just like cultivating air. Then, they put away their knives and went back to the ground, releasing the shape of a shadow warrior with wires. I seldom see a swallow flying alone, but occasionally I see it flying over the city.
Swallows play an important role in the spring rain, so this season always makes us nervous. I don't know when, the swallow has the meaning of "close", "Yan Hao", "Yan Yan" and "Yan Hui". Swallows also have ambiguous colors. In Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica, the swallow has always had magical power: "The eagle harrier dies after eating it, which can make Haidong green, so it is called a raptor. It is called praying for rain, so there are a lot of waves. " The danger of "Raptor" is obviously hidden in the beautiful "swimming wave". The cloud in Notes of Ancient and Modern China and Foreign Countries says: "Swallow is a goddess", which means that swallows are light and cunning as women. Compared with the rippling women in Chun Qing and the wisdom rising from this atmosphere, traditional culture is undoubtedly very happy.
Swallows flying in ancient poetry always have the moving image of "the return of the swallow", and the cultural showers spread by swallows have always nourished the hearts of lonely people. According to legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to explore the migration law of swallows, the ladies-in-waiting in Wu Palace cut off the paws of swallows to see if they would fly back to their original places the next year. Coincidentally, a man named Fu Xian in the Jin Dynasty also used this method to "push the bird himself". This swallow without claws will fly again next spring. But the swallows in life don't seem to agree with this. In southern Sichuan where I live, local farmers don't like swallows very much, thinking that they are "too poor to love rich people". They say that when swallows come to a place, they just want to build their nests under the splendid eaves and never settle down under the eaves of poor families. Although the poor welcome the swallows, the rich often think they are noisy and drive them away, but the swallows still come. Therefore, as the saying goes, "Swallows don't live in a house without feng shui." The location of the swallow's home means a kind of control over their fate.
The German poet Becker wrote a poem Swallow.
Swallows from Kuroha will come back.
Hang the bird's nest on your balcony,
I also use my wings when I play.
Tap on your glass window;
But some didn't make it home,
Appreciate your beauty and my happiness,
Those who once knew our names
Swallow ... never come back!
In other words, once the poet's life is absent as a witness of love, life will fade. The swallows with fire hurried to the sky with the past, but life was still slowly passing away.
Jiang Lan is a poet, essayist and author of many anthologies. )