Weeding in the fields during the day and rubbing hemp thread at home at night, men and women in the village have their own housework. Although children can't plow and weave, they learn to grow melons in the shade of mulberry trees.
Original text:
The children in the village are in charge of their own affairs.
children and grandchildren are not ready for farming and weaving, but also learn to grow melons by mulberry shade.
Extended information
Writing background
Fan Chengda traveled around the country in his early years. After 57 years old, he retired and lived in Shihu, Suzhou. During this period, he wrote 6 poems about the Four Seasons, which were originally divided into five groups: Spring Day, Late Spring Day, Summer Day, Autumn Day and Winter Day, with 12 poems in each group.
Appreciation of Poetry
This poem describes a scene in rural summer life.
The first sentence directly describes the labor scene, the hard work of men plowing and women weaving, and the men and women in the village have their own housework.
"Going out to plow the fields in the daytime and getting hemp at night" means going out to weed in the daytime and rubbing hemp thread at night. "Farming" means weeding. In early summer, the rice seedlings need weeding, which is the work of men. "Ji Ma" means that after women finish other work during the day, they rub hemp thread at night and weave it into cloth.
In the second sentence, "Children in the village are in charge of their own affairs", "children" means men and women, and the whole poem uses the tone of an old farmer, and "children" means young people. "Being in charge" means that both men and women are not allowed to be idle, and each of them is in charge of his own affairs.
The last two sentences describe children's reactions.
in the third sentence, "children and grandchildren are not ready for farming and weaving", and "children and grandchildren" refer to those children who can neither farm nor weave, but they are not idle. They have been exposed to and loved working since childhood, so they "learn to grow melons in the shade of mulberry trees" and learn to grow melons under the lush mulberry trees. This is a common phenomenon in rural areas, but it is quite distinctive.
The conclusion shows the naive interest of rural children. With a fresh style, the poet gave a more delicate description of the tense labor atmosphere in the early summer in the countryside, which made him interesting to read.
The children in the poem love to work, perhaps because of a temporary interest, or because they want to do something for their families, which shows their simple and kind heart. This is a common phenomenon in rural areas, but it is quite distinctive, showing the author's praise for rural children who love labor.
The whole poem has an overview and close-ups, reflecting the rural men, women and children taking part in labor from different aspects, and has a strong flavor of life.