one
In Copenhagen Seaside Park, the mermaid, the daughter of the sea, has been sitting alone on the boulder above the water for nearly a century, and will continue to sit alone in the years to come. She leaned on her side and stared at the deep sea, letting the long time pass quietly. Although someone once stole her little head at night, cut off her arm, painted her naked body in a bikini, dyed her hair blood red, and even painted her whole body with black paint, her posture will never change. No matter what kind of wind blows in the four seasons and what kind of clouds float overhead, she is so persistent. The fishtail-shaped lower body clings to the boulder and maintains the same posture, just as she would rather sacrifice her beautiful tongue and hand over her beautiful voice in order to obtain "an immortal soul" and become a mute who can't talk or sing. In order to stick to my inner love, I would rather sacrifice my life and become a bubble in the sea. Every day, tourists from all over the world unscrupulously touch her with their eyes and spy on her with cameras and video recorders; Many people know that this is a character in Andersen's fairy tales, but few people remember her dreams and her determined soul.
When I came to the river bank where the mermaid was with a group of tourists, I couldn't help shivering with nervousness. Looking at the mermaid's petite brown body, I feel that she is definitely not just a lifeless bronze statue. There must be an immortal, expanding soul in it. In poetic fairy tales, Andersen endowed her-the Little Mermaid-with a noble life spirit, which I think flows in the copper body in front of my eyes. In the extremely secular world, life has already become the last sacred thing; And the fear of life, to some extent, is the fear of divinity. However, in the face of this living bronze statue, excited tourists pointed and held up cameras and video recorders. Some tourists even climbed to the boulder to touch her cold skin and took photos with her "I'm glad you came". No one cares how lonely she is, and no one thinks that she may need to face the sea and her home quietly. I don't know how many tourists come here to see her, just like watching a world-famous rare animal, just satisfied with the sightseeing psychology of "I have been here, I have seen it", but I don't know what kind of blasphemy it is to her noble and lonely soul.
The sea water in autumn is as blue as ink and as hard as ice, which makes the mermaid's figure more lonely and gloomy. Standing on the shore, it is difficult to really see her eyes turn to the sea. In order to see her eyes clearly, I tried to jump on a small stone not far in front of her. However, my foot slipped and I fell into the cold water. I only glanced at her eyes for a short time. I hurried back to the bank. Another tourist with the same psychology as me jumped off the rock without learning my lesson, and the result was worse than mine. His foot slipped and the sea suddenly overflowed his knees. Maybe she can't bear to let us remember her eyes forever! But those are eyes full of melancholy and sadness! It's heartbreaking In The Daughter of the Sea, Andersen said that as a mermaid at the bottom of the sea, she and her kind have no tears. In order to gain the prince's love and immortal soul, the youngest mermaid replaced the fish tail with a leg that can walk like a human at all costs, and as a result, she had to endure the pain of tearing like a knife all day; When love becomes hopeless and dreams go up in smoke, she has no tears to shed; Because she has given her tongue and voice, she can't tell her wishes and pains through words and songs. Therefore, all the pain and sadness, all the dreams and hopelessness can only be trapped in her eyes forever, trapped in her figure turning sideways.
two
When the little mermaid was fifteen, her grandmother allowed her to float to the surface of the sea to have a look at the human world. This is like her bar mitzvah, and her fate and future will unfold to her from now on: first, she met a handsome prince who was shipwrecked and saved his life; Then I understood that although human life is shorter than the mermaid at the bottom of the sea, it does not become a bubble in the water like a mermaid after death, but rises to the mysterious and beautiful sky and shining stars after death; Because mermaid has no immortal soul, and "human beings have souls; It lives forever, even if the body turns to dust, it is still alive. " Therefore, in order not to die like other mermaids, become bubbles in the water, never hear the music of the waves, never see the beautiful flowers and the bright red sun, the little mermaid is determined to live for an immortal soul at all costs, even if it is only to live in the world like human beings for one day.
18 19 In September, when 14-year-old Andersen was as thin as a bamboo pole, he said goodbye to his hometown of odense and went to Copenhagen, where he also experienced a mermaid-like rite of passage. Near dusk, he stood on the hill of Fort fredericks, looking at the huge and unfamiliar downtown Copenhagen, magnificent palaces, towering church spires, various magnificent buildings and spacious streets stretching out in front of him; For an instant, he must have fainted; He found himself so small and lonely, and all kinds of tastes rolled irresistibly in his heart; Bitter tears even came to his eyes. He is the son of a poor shoemaker and washerwoman, his grandfather is a madman, and his grandmother looks after the garden in a workhouse and a madhouse. At that moment, he must have thought of his poor life, his fantasies, and his mother who washed clothes for rich people by the river from morning till night, regardless of cold and heat. However, he still resisted the loneliness and tears that filled his eyes; He told himself: In order to be happy and dream in the future, he should travel to Copenhagen, a vast and strange world, bravely and confidently, and do something unusual. His rock-solid determination is no different from the determination of the little mermaid he later created to pursue immortality.
However, the real human world is definitely not as simple and beautiful as the little mermaid dreamed, and the human soul is by no means as ugly and dirty as she imagined. When Andersen, who didn't know the depth of the world, held the dream of becoming a stage actor and singer and plunged into Copenhagen like a monster, he quickly tasted the changes of human feelings and the ups and downs of the world. Those arty upper-class people looked at the skinny boy with contempt and suspicion, just like a tall and thin stork. He brought a dozen dollars from odense, and soon, like snowflakes in spring, they were all spent, leaving only the courage and determination with a bleak future. He persistently knocked on the doors of celebrities and nobles, seeking support and protection everywhere. The first official performance on the stage-playing an insignificant little dwarf in ballet, made him ecstatic, as if seeing a brilliant future. However, he was not a born actor, and his once proud voice changed in the second year of Copenhagen, which made his dream of becoming a singer go up in smoke. So he decided to become a writer and poet. He remembered Shakespeare's tragedies he had read in odense before. He began to study hard and couldn't sleep at night. Books often make him forget the cold and hunger and immerse him in a colorful and brilliant world. Although he couldn't spell correctly and properly, he began to write his own plays and poems. He seized every opportunity to go to celebrity salons and make friends with famous poets and writers in Copenhagen. In the living room of wealthy businessmen and nobles, he constantly reaps the ridicule and ridicule of others. But when he has a goal, he will never back down. When he left his hometown of odense to travel around the world, he once said: It would be a great misfortune to give up his vocation. After all kinds of ups and downs, he found his vocation, became a poet and became a "Dicter" (Danish poet) admired by the world. Screenplays and novels, poems and fairy tales are constantly born from his works; From an early age, he dreamed of owning a wonderful castle of his own in the future. Now he has begun to build a colorful literary country with his own works, and he himself has changed from an "ugly duckling" who was initially despised and taught by the world to a "white swan" soaring in the literary sky.
However, although Andersen, who became a celebrity, got rid of material difficulties, he always lived a lonely bachelor life. He has been in love several times, but all failed, and the trauma caused by each emotional impulse is unforgettable for life, just like the little mermaid failed to get the love of the prince although she loved him deeply. In Andersen's life, the most influential love is his infatuation with Yan Ni, an opera singer who enjoys the reputation of "Swedish Nightingale". Linde. He and Yan Ni? Linde had a lot of heart-to-heart talks; For a time, regardless of his indecent appearance, he fell in love with this northland nightingale. At that time, he felt that everything around him was eclipsed, and his heart was full of Yan Ni? Linde's face, figure, singing skills. However, what about Yan Ni? Linde just extended his brother's hand to him and treated him simply and calmly, but never accepted his fiery love. He can only bury his feelings in his heart; In order to get rid of loneliness, he spent most of his time traveling abroad. During the journey, he licked his emotional scars alone, and then he kept brewing ideas and eventually sublimated them into beautiful works. In fact, all the women he once loved eventually became beautiful, kind and noble heroes in his works, just like Yan Ni in The Nightingale? Linde is described as a bird, whose song is as beautiful as a clear spring.
three
On the Xingang side of Copenhagen, there is a very ordinary white four-story building, squeezed between two large buildings. There is a bronze medal between the first and second floors of the small building, which shows that Andersen once lived on the third floor of this single apartment during the period of 1846- 1865. It is said that the only preserved former residence of Andersen in Copenhagen is here, but it is usually closed to the public. The facade of the building used to be a canal pier built in the seventeenth century, and the scene of busy masts in that year has long been a historical memory; Although there are still some sailboats moored on the shore, they are only for tourists to watch as the history of the city and the scenery that no longer plays the role of shipping. On June 65438+1October 1 1 day, 2004, I wandered here with admiration for Andersen. The door on the first floor of the small building was quietly locked, as if the owner had just left for a distant place not long ago. I stood on the shore of the pier and looked at this humble building with imagination: the hustle and bustle of the pier in Andersen's era has gone away, just like the prosperous scenery in many times has disappeared, but his works are still circulating, and the vivid fairy tale characters he created are still roaming in the hearts of people all over the world.
Not far from Xingang Wharf, is the new Danish Palace. The guards there wore towering black bear fur hats, opera uniforms and loaded spears in their hands. They stood absorbed, motionless as rocks. In those days, when Andersen strolled to the new palace square, he must have looked at these guards with awe and appreciation for countless times. Later, he described these guards as "determined tin soldiers". His tin soldier has only one leg, because the tin smith doesn't have enough tin, but the tin soldier is determined. Despite all kinds of difficulties, he still insists on his love for the paper dancers in the paper-cut palace. In fact, many of Andersen's fairy tales are full of supreme praise for the noble qualities of loyalty, kindness, perseverance and even self-sacrifice like tin soldiers. Many years have passed, and I still remember the simple and poor woman he described in Mother's Story. Death took away her only child; In the dark, she braved the heavy snow to look for her children. In order to ask the way, she warmed a bunch of thorns that were about to freeze to death with her chest, making them grow fresh green leaves; In order to swim across a big lake, she kept crying and dedicated her bright eyes to the big lake to make it greener. In order to enter the magic garden of death and save her children, she exchanged her beautiful black hair for a snow-white silver hair with the old woman guarding the tomb. How can this selfless and determined soul, which can give everything for love, not be shocked and admired? Its power has been boiling for years. I believe that when Andersen wrote this fairy tale, his lonely single life and infinite nostalgia and attachment for his mother must have deeply penetrated his heart and made his imagination generate infinite energy.
In his later years, Andersen liked to walk in the streets of Copenhagen. At that time, he was already a world celebrity with a high reputation, and his beautiful fairy tales have touched the hearts of readers all over Europe and other parts of the world from this small kingdom of Denmark. In the past, people laughed at his appearance defects and his ambition to become a poet, which has long been a memory. Whenever he wandered the streets of Copenhagen wearing a19th century hat, coat and crutches, some pedestrians would greet him with reverence and watch him leave.
On the afternoon of June 5th, 2004+10/October 5th, I respectfully visited the bronze statue of Andersen on the street side of Copenhagen City Hall. He sat on a square stone seat with a cane in his left hand, a notebook in his right hand and a hat. It seems that he had a rest during the trip. His head turned to the upper left, and his eyes were full of hope and relief. He looked at Tivoli Park across the street. The main entrance building of the park is like the magic castle in his fairy tale; Built in 1843, the park was originally just a place for citizens to get together, dance, watch performances and listen to music. Now, a tour route is built to simulate the plots and characters in Andersen's fairy tales. Andersen, who has been watching the fairy tale world all his life, really lives next to his dream world! The imagination of Danes and the way to commemorate outstanding poets are really admirable.
In the square in front of the city hall, flocks of pigeons sometimes fly, hover over the square, and sometimes fall gracefully, pecking at the bird food scattered by pedestrians or people staying in the square. There are several white clouds floating in the blue sky, and the bright sunshine shines comfortably. I sat on a bench at the edge of the square and lit a cigarette, ready to enjoy the calm scene. However, not long after, a young black man in rags came from a distance. At first, he didn't attract my special attention. But he suddenly took off a leather shoe and threw it at a group of pecking pigeons only five or six meters away from me. A docile pigeon fluttered its feathers at once, flapped its wings a few times and stopped moving. The guy casually leaned down, picked up his shoes and picked up the pigeon he had killed. I was shocked at once. Is he going to cook dinner with pigeons? Who would have thought that such a tragedy would happen in the city hall square? That pigeon must be hard to believe, too. This is her fate in broad daylight. On the bench next to me, there are two middle-aged women and a little girl of eight or nine years old. The cruel killing that happened in front of her eyes made the girl cry; The two adults accused the black man and took the frightened little girl away. In the center of the Danish kingdom, where fairy tales are everywhere, such barbaric acts of blasphemy and destruction of life have taken place. I think if Andersen, who is sitting next to the city hall, sees this scene, he will be deeply saddened. His eyes will be full of sadness, pain and even hatred.
-22 March 2007
Published by Nie Luda on March 24th, 200711:00: 48 [full text] [comments] [quotes] [recommendations] [files] [tweets to friends] [collections to the internet].
2007-3-7
The brooding Prince Hamlet
Published by Nie Luda on > 2007-3-7 13:26:08[ full text] [comment] [citation] [recommendation] [file] [tweet to friends] [collection to webpage extract].
2007-3-7
Worship Shakespeare's hometown
(Do not reprint without the author's permission! )
Worship Shakespeare's hometown
In the villages and towns of England in late March, although there were still a few clouds floating in the sky, the chill of winter had already escaped without a trace. The warm wind of the Atlantic Ocean blows from the west side of the British Island, covering the earth with green clothes; Decorated with colorful and vibrant buds and flowers, they reveal rich fragrance and make people feel that the warm and pleasant season has arrived.
It was at this time that I came to Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare's long-awaited hometown, and made a pilgrimage to the place where the Renaissance literary master and the giant with the reputation of "drama emperor" were born and lived.
Stratford is located between Manchester, an important industrial town in Britain, and Oxford University Town. It takes more than two hours to drive from Manchester. The British call this town "Shakespeare's World" because there are Shakespeare's former residence, Shakespeare Exhibition Center, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare Society, Shakespeare Bookstore, the church where Shakespeare was buried and so on. It is said that the local population of this small town is only 60,000, but because of Shakespeare's name, about 2 million tourists come here from all over the world every year to make a pilgrimage to the British giant in the European Renaissance.
Shakespeare's former residence is located in Henry Street, a small town in Stratford. This is an ordinary two-story building with attic, typical16th century English style, wooden house frame, sloping tile roof, earth-colored exterior wall, windows and doorways protruding from the wall. On one side of the street door of the extremely ordinary or even short former residence, there is a wooden sign with the English words "William? Shakespeare's former residence. On the right side of Shakespeare's former residence is a modern luxury building, which is the exhibition center of Shakespeare. Visitors here must visit the exhibition center before they can enter the former residence of this literary giant. In the exhibition center, there is a huge portrait of Shakespeare. The dramatic poet's bright forehead and wise eyes are awe-inspiring. The glass cabinets in the exhibition center display a large number of manuscripts, pictures and letters of Shakespeare, as well as wax figures based on his dramatic characters. I stopped for a short time in front of the precious yellow manuscript stained with Shakespeare's ink, imagining how the dramatic poet won the favor of the muse and wrote immortal plots with quill pens under the oil lamp 400 years ago, such as vengeful Prince Hamlet, crazy King Lear, Romeo and Juliet who praised youth and love with death, and so on.
Outside the exhibition center is the backyard of Shakespeare's former residence, a small garden in Elizabethan style. Through the path paved by Shi Zhuan, I entered the former residence where Shakespeare was born and raised through a small door opened on the gable on the right side of the former residence. A feeling of awe immediately captured me, as if the breath of a great man had gone through hundreds of years and still permeated around. There is a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom and a workshop on the ground floor of the former residence, where Shakespeare's father used to process wool and leather. All the equipment is simple and simple, without a trace of luxury. Going up the creaking stairs to the second floor, the first thing you see is the master bedroom, which has a double bed with red and green curtains and a wooden crib. 1564 On April 23rd, Shakespeare was born here. Next to the master bedroom is a small room with a small writing desk against the wall. It is said that this is the place where Shakespeare studied and wrote before he left his hometown for London to make a living. On the other side of the master bedroom is a spacious exhibition room, which displays the genealogy table of Shakespeare's family, Shakespeare's handwriting and his suicide note. In addition, there is a square table with a big autograph book on it. Tourists from all over the world line up and write their own messages or names on them in turn, expressing their sincere admiration for the great drama poets in this ordinary but simple and touching way. I don't want to be unconventional either. I wrote in neat Chinese characters: "The son of a farmer from the Far East came to worship across time and space" and signed his name. At the same time, I pray in my heart, hoping to get some inspiration from this immortal king who understands human nature. I wandered around my former residence, admiring the relics left by this literary master, and fantasizing: I once enjoyed his standing statue in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey in London, and I also studied his bust relief on the wall of Hamlet Castle in Denmark. I don't think Shakespeare, who was born in this small building that is not luxurious and rich, certainly didn't expect that he would later become a great man admired by the world.
Hyacinthus orientalis, violets, rosemary, marigold and other flowers are planted in the backyard of Shakespeare's former residence, as well as several mulberry trees, walnuts and a pine tree with an umbrella crown-it is said that this pine tree was planted by Shakespeare himself. The lush small garden seems to symbolize Shakespeare's eternal life. Standing next to the bust of Shakespeare in the corner of the garden, I stubbornly flipped an idea: although this small garden is colorful, the literary world created by Shakespeare is more colorful and all-encompassing. When I was in college, I once read a sentence in an English book, which has been deeply engraved in my heart: everything in the world is in Shakespeare.
Opposite Shakespeare's former residence, there is a Shakespeare bookstore, which displays various versions of Shakespeare's works, stills and picture books of Shakespeare's plays all over the world, as well as photos of some famous Shakespeare actors, and so on. Everyone who dreams of making achievements in the literary world, while admiring and excited, will feel a kind of pressure from classic masters, as if these classic masters are gods on Mount Olympus in Greece, brilliant stars in the spiritual sky of mankind, and you are just a trivial mortal. Therefore, I dare not stay in this bookstore for too long, so I quickly withdrew.
Not far to the southeast along Henry Street, there is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on the quiet Ewing River. The outer wall of the theater is all brown bricks, which looks like a solid castle from a distance. Behind the theatre, across the Avon River, the steeple of a church stands upright. There is Trinity Church, which is not only the place where Shakespeare was baptized after his birth, but also the last stop of his life and his real burial place. In his later years, the dramatic poet returned to his hometown from the London stage where he struggled for most of his life and enjoyed a quiet life for several years. Finally, on the birthday of 16 16, he bid farewell to the troubled and dirty world. Shakespeare's graveyard is on the solemn altar of Trinity Church. There is a bust of Shakespeare in the niche above the cemetery, which is said to have been built shortly after his death, vividly reappearing his own appearance; His slightly protruding forehead seems to tell the world that there is indeed a vast talent and amazing creativity here. Shakespeare's burial place also has a tablet stone tablet engraved with four lines of poems, which is said to be the epitaph written by Shakespeare himself:
Jesus Christ, good friend, don't do this,
Don't dig this mound with human remains buried.
Cherish the graves here and you will be blessed.
Whoever touches my body will be cursed.
These lines of epitaph really played a role. It is said that someone tried to dig up the remains of the poet from here and bury them in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey in London. This inscription prevented them from doing so. So, until today, the drama emperor has been sleeping undisturbed here, making people feel that this church on the banks of the Avon River is like a sacred cemetery that he enjoys alone.
The Ewing River, which once nurtured this great poet, flows slowly between Trinity Church and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The gurgling sound of running water never stops, just like a long elegy for the immortal soul of the poet. The banks of the river are shaded by green willows, and the white geese and gray ducks float leisurely on the quiet mirror-like water. 18 century famous British actor David? Gary Rick roaming here, once left a touching poem:
Silver Avon River, you slowly flow,
By your river, Shakespeare often dreams of immortal things;
By moonlight, fairies danced around his green bed.
Because the grass on his head is sacred fertile soil.
In front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, across the Avon River, there is a big garden called Bancroft. There are bronze statues of Shakespeare and famous figures in his plays. The king of human nature, who doesn't need a crown and scepter, wears a medieval robe, holds paper in his left hand and a pen in his right hand, sitting majestically in a chair at the top of the monument surrounded by bronze laurels. Around the monument, there are four representative figures he created: Prince Hamlet, holding a skull in his hand, meditating on life and death; Lady Macbeth, who has a dark mind and loves her husband deeply; And John, he is horny, boastful and paunchy. Sir Falstaff, and Prince Harry, who is full of vigor and vitality and holds the crown. I stroked these statues, excited by my sudden closeness to these famous people in Shakespeare's drama gallery, and ashamed of this stuffy, narrow-minded, narcissistic and even arrogant Englishman. Shakespeare wrote 39 plays in his life. Apart from historical plays, many other plays are written with foreign materials. But in this sunny and vibrant garden, overlooking the church steeple in the distance, the four figures around Shakespeare's statue are all from England except Prince Hamlet from northern Denmark. However, I think Shakespeare's characters should not care about being made into several rigid statues, because they have lived and will live forever in the hearts of millions of people in Qian Qian.
Shakespeare's hometown in spring is quiet, bright and pleasant. If I live in the land where this writer once lived, my heart is shrouded with the complex feeling that the years are long and the immortal things are all in the surrounding air and ruins. While thinking about the picturesque countryside of Stratford in the16th century, I silently thanked this sacred land, because it was she who raised Shakespeare for the whole world.
March 2007 1 day
Nie Luda published in > 2007-3-713: 21:35 [full text] [comments] [quotes] [recommendations] [files] [tweets to friends] [collections to websites].
2007-2- 14
Hello, old Shakespeare!
The portrait of Shakespeare in Shakespeare Exhibition Center
Nie Luda published in > 2007-2-1417: 01:00 [full text] [comments] [quotes] [recommendations] [documents] [tweets to friends] [excerpts from web pages collected].
2007-2- 14
In the yard of Shakespeare's former residence
Nie Luda published in > 2007-2-1416: 55: 55 [full text] [comments] [quotes] [recommendations] [files] [tweets to friends] [collections to web pages].
2007-2- 12
Single Shakespeare
(Please don't reprint without the author's permission)
One,
In March 2005, after attending the London Book Fair in England, I visited Shakespeare's hometown-Stratford-on-Avon with the feelings of pilgrims. The British call this town "Shakespeare's World" because there are Shakespeare's former residence, Shakespeare Exhibition Center, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare Society, Shakespeare Bookstore, the church where Shakespeare was buried and so on. It is said that the local population of this small town is only 60,000, but because of Shakespeare's great name, about 4.8 million tourists come here from all over the world every year to make a pilgrimage to the English giant of the European Renaissance.
When you walk into Shakespeare's former residence, a solemn emotion will immediately capture you, as if the breath of the great man born here in 1564 still permeates around after hundreds of years. This is an ordinary two-story building with attic, typical16th century English architecture, wooden house frame, sloping tile roof, earth-colored exterior wall, windows and doorways protruding from the wall. On a square table on the second floor, there is a magnificent autograph book. Tourists from all over the world lined up to write their own messages to express their sincere admiration for this great poet. I wrote on it in neat Chinese characters: "The son of a farmer from the Far East came to worship across time and space"; I pray in my heart that my dream is to seek some inspiration from the king who understands human nature. In the backyard of the small building, there is an Elizabethan-style garden with flowers such as bellflower, violet, rosemary and marigold, as well as several mulberry trees, walnuts and a pine tree with an umbrella crown-it is said that this pine tree was planted by Shakespeare himself. The lush small garden seems to symbolize Shakespeare's eternal life. Standing next to the bust of Shakespeare in the corner of the garden, I stubbornly stirred up an idea: although this small garden is colorful, the literary world created by Shakespeare is more colorful and all-encompassing. When I was in college, I once read a sentence in an English book, which has been deeply engraved in my heart: everything in the world is in Shakespeare.
Not far from Shakespeare's birthplace, there is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre by the quiet Avon River, which performs Shakespeare's classic plays every year. Behind the theater, across the Avon River, the steeple of a church stands upright, and Shakespeare's mausoleum is there. It is said that in the cemetery of our drama emperor, there is a tablet stone tablet with four lines written by him:
Good friend, for Jesus' sake, please don't do this.
Don't dig the mound where the remains are buried.
Cherish the graves here and you will be blessed.
Moving my body will be cursed.
Perhaps it is precisely because of these lines that the bones of the emperor have been sleeping here, making future generations feel that this church is like a cemetery that he enjoys alone. The Ewing River, which once nurtured this great poet, gurgled between the church and the theater. The banks of the river are shaded by green willows, and the white geese and gray ducks are quiet.