The old mother who lives in the country seldom goes to town by herself, except that she often asks the villagers to bring us some fresh vegetables grown in front of and behind her house. Even so, every year when the mulberry is ripe, she goes to town almost every three days and brings us a small basket of fresh mulberry fruits that she just picked from two mulberry trees behind the house.
I told my mother that you can ask the villagers to bring it here, so you don't have to send it yourself. How many times do I have to transfer to a rural bus? How troublesome it is. The old mother shook her head and said, that won't do. I'm afraid people will accidentally spoil the mulberry fruit. It's so exquisite. I didn't notice that my mother's little basket of mulberries was lined with some foam and soft cloth.
Looking at the baskets of red mulberries sent by my old mother, I gently picked up a bunch of them with my hands, put them in my mouth, chewed them slowly, savored them carefully, and couldn't tell the taste was sweet. At this time, the floodgates of childhood memories opened instantly, and scenes of the past appeared in front of us.
When I was a child, almost every household in the village planted mulberry and sericulture. In our hometown, mulberry trees can be seen everywhere and within reach. Mulberry trees in the field are planted artificially and grow short and luxuriantly; Mulberry trees on both sides of the road beside the canal are mostly wild, with tall and straight trunks. I remember very clearly that on the eve of the wheat harvest, the mulberry fruits on the banks of the canal behind the village turned from blue to purple and slowly turned red throughout the branches.
Mulberry fruit quivers slightly in the wind, which is really attractive. Mature mulberries are somewhat similar to strawberries in shape, but much smaller. Full and bright juice is about to drip, and in the mild sunshine, delicate mulberry branches shine with glittering and translucent luster. A series of mulberries let the dense green branches and leaves cover the vertical cover horizontally, but they are beautiful and delicate, just like one gem after another hanging on mulberries.
The poem Ruan Lang Gui Sang by Ye Shenxiang, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, describes mulberry in this way: "The south wind warms the waist of wheat, and mulberry fields are spared. The three paintings of bamboo and bamboo are hard to describe, and the beads are full of buds. " The "three changes of bamboos and bamboos" in the poem means that the mulberry fruit, like beads, is green first, then yellow and then purple when it matures.
According to scientific research:
The mature season of mulberries is the happiest moment for our rural children. As a country baby who doesn't even have enough to eat, she is not qualified to "enjoy" the taste of fruit at all. Mulberry is a green and delicious gift given by nature, and eating mulberry is the hidden source of happiness behind our hard life as a child, although we knew nothing about the nutritional and medicinal value of mulberry at that time.
I always clearly remember the wonderful time when I was a child, climbing trees and picking mulberries, although it has long been an unforgettable time. In the days when mulberries were ripe, we all looked forward to leaving school early, because at that time we all ate porridge and were hungry. After school, a group of little boys often forget to send their schoolbags home, go straight to the canal behind the village and climb the tree like monkeys. Find a strong tree and sit on it. You can enjoy a good meal without blowing off dust. Holding a string of purple mulberries in his hand, he sucked gently with his lips, and his mouth was full of purple juice, which immediately dyed his teeth and lips red, followed by a slightly sour sweetness, which was simply wonderful.
After a hearty meal, we all turned into big faces, and everyone's hands, mouth and clothes were stained with purple. Our little friend thinks that's ridiculous. It took only a few days for the mulberry to fall naturally. In order to get the fruit first, a group of our friends mastered the skills of climbing trees and picking mulberries very skillfully. As long as there are big mulberry red mulberries, there will be our shadow. Climbing a tree to pick mulberries, my clothes were scratched by branches from time to time, so I was scolded by my parents.
Maybe in May when I was five years old, my mother asked me to put ducks by the river. When I drove the duck into the river, I was eager to find the big tree covered with mulberries. When I had a delicious meal and came down from the tree contentedly, it was already dusk, and then I went to the river to see where there were ducks. As a result, I was too scared to go home that day, hiding in the haystack to sleep, and my mother was anxious to find it in the middle of the night. ...
Later, rural land was contracted to households, and the big mulberry trees on both sides of the canal were cut down. I thought I would never eat sweet and sour mulberries again. It never occurred to me that my mother planted two mulberry trees in the vegetable field behind her house. I was puzzled at that time, because sericulture had long since ceased to exist in the countryside. It was not until one day that my old mother went to town with mulberries that I understood why my old mother planted mulberries. It's pity for all the mothers in the world. I can't help crying.
Mulberries bear fruit every year, and my mother sends mulberries to the city every year. Although my wife and children always show disdain for this humble "gadget", in my eyes, this "gadget" is far more delicious than the colorful fruits in the supermarket. When I slowly taste mulberries, I always feel that I am inhaling more than sweet and sour juice. ...
In recent years, mulberries are also sold in the fruit market. I have bought some and tasted them at home, but I can't taste the mulberry picked by my old mother from the countryside.
About the author: Chang Xincheng, a native of Taixing City, Jiangsu Province, has published more than 300 works in People's Daily, Workers' Daily, Economic Daily and other newspapers and periodicals since 1982, of which more than 30 have been reprinted or won prizes. His personal album is published by the national first-class publishing house.