春
丰子恺
春是多么可爱的一个名词!自古以来的人都赞美它，希望它长在人间。诗人，特别是词客，对春爱慕尤深。试翻词选，差不多每一页上都可以找到一个春字。后人听惯了这种话，自然地随喜附和，即便实际上没有理解春的可爱的人，一说起春也会觉得欢喜。这一半是春这个字的音容所暗示的。“春!”你听，这个音读起来何等铿锵而惺忪可爱!这个字的形状何等齐整妥帖而具足对称的美!这么美的名字所隶属的时节，想起来一定很可爱。好比听见名叫“丽华”的女子，想来一定是个美人。
然而实际上春不是那么可喜的一个时节。我积三十六年之经验，深知暮春以前的春天，生活上是很不愉快的。
梅花带雪开了，说道是漏泄春的消息。但这完全是精神上的春，实际上雨雪霏霏，北风烈烈，与严冬何异?所谓迎春的人，也只是瑟缩地躲在房栊内，战栗地站在屋檐下，望望枯枝一般的梅花罢了!
再迟个把月罢，就像现在：惊蛰已过，所谓春将半了。住在都会里的朋友想象此刻的乡村，足有画图一般美丽，连忙写信来催我写春的随笔。好像因为我偎傍着春，惹他们妒忌似的。其实我们住在乡村间的人，并没有感到快乐，却生受了种种的不舒服：寒暑表激烈地升降于三十六度至六十二度之间。一日之内，乍暖乍寒。暖起来可以想起都会里的冰淇淋，寒起来几乎可见天然冰，饱尝了所谓“料峭”的滋味。天气又忽晴忽雨，偶一出门，干燥的鞋子往往拖泥带水归来。“一春能有几番晴”是真的;“小楼一夜听春雨”其实没有什么好听，单调得很，远不及你们都会里的无线电的花样繁多呢。春将半了，但它并没有给我们一点舒服，只教我们天天愁寒，愁暖，愁风，愁雨。正是“三分春色二分愁，更一分风雨!”
春的景象，只有乍寒、乍暖、忽晴、忽雨是实际而明确的。此外虽有春的美景，但都隐约模糊，要仔细探寻，才可依稀仿佛地见到，这就是所谓“寻春”罢?有的说“春在卖花声里”，有的说“春在梨花”，又有的说“红杏枝头春意闹”，但这种景象在我们这枯寂的乡村里都不易见到。即使见到了，肉眼也不易认识。总之，春所带来的美，少而隐;春所带来的不快，多而确。诗人词客似乎也承认这一点，春寒、春困、春愁、春怨，不是诗词中的常谈么?不但现在如此，就是再过个把月，到了清明时节，也不见得一定春光明媚，令人极乐。倘又是落雨，路上的行人将要“断魂”呢。
可知春徒美其名，在实际生活上是很不愉快的。实际，一年中最愉快的时节，是从暮春开始的。就气候上说，暮春以前虽然大体逐渐由寒向暖，但变化多端，始终是乍寒、乍暖，最难将息的时候。到了暮春，方才冬天的影响完全消灭，而一路向暖。寒暑表上的水银爬到temperate上，正是气候最temperate的时节。就景色上说，春色不须寻找，有广大的绿野青山，慰人心目。古人词云：“杜宇一声春去，树头无数青山。”原来山要到春去的时候方才全青，而惹人注目。我觉得自然景色中，青草与白雪是最伟大的现象。造物者描写“自然”这幅大画图时，对于春红、秋艳，都只是略蘸些胭脂、硃磦，轻描淡写。到了描写白雪与青草，他就毫不吝惜颜料，用刷子蘸了铅粉、藤黄和花青而大块地涂抹，使屋屋皆白，山山皆青。这仿佛是米派山水的点染法，又好像是Cezanne风景画的“色的块”，何等泼辣的画风!而草色青青，连天遍野，尤为和平可亲，大公无私的春色。花木有时被关闭在私人的庭园里，吃了园丁的私刑而献媚于绅士淑女之前。草则到处自生自长，不择贵贱高下。人都以为花是春的作品，其实春工不在花枝，而在于草。看花的能有几人?草则广泛地生长在大地的表面，普遍地受大众的欣赏。这种美景，是早春所见不到的。那时候山野中枯草遍地，满目憔悴之色，看了令人不快。必须到了暮春，枯草尽去，才有真的青山绿野的出现，而天地为之一新。一年好景，无过于此时。自然对人的恩宠，也以此时为最深厚了。
讲求实利的西洋人，向来重视这季节，称之为May(五月)。May是一年中最愉快的时节，人间有种种的娱乐，即所谓May-queen(五月美人)、May-pole(五月彩柱)、May-games(五月游艺)等。May这一个字，原是“青春”、“盛年”的意思。可知西洋人视一年中的五月，犹如人生中的青年，为最快乐、最幸福、最精彩的时期。这确是名符其实的。但东洋人的看法就与他们不同：东洋人称这时期为暮春，正是留春、送春、惜春、伤春，而感慨、悲叹、流泪的时候，全然说不到乐。东洋人之乐，乃在“绿柳才黄半未匀”的新春，便是那忽晴、忽雨、乍暖、乍寒、最难将息的时候。这时候实际生活上虽然并不舒服，但默察花柳的萌动，静观天地的回春，在精神上是最愉快的。故西洋的“May”相当于东洋的“春”。这两个字读起来声音都很好听，看起来样子都很美丽。不过May是物质的、实利的，而春是精神的、艺术的。东西洋文化的判别，在这里也可窥见。
Spring
Feng Zikai
What a lovely word “spring” is!
Men have praised it since ancient times, hoping for it to stay in the human world forever. Poets, especially ci composers, cherish it with an especial deep love for spring. Try to leaf through the collection of ci (poetry) and you can find the character “春” (spring) on nearly every page. The descendants become used to listening to these and they naturally begin to love and chime in with those around them. Even those who do not really understand the loveliness of spring, while talking about it, they would feel a pleasant sensation. This is partly because the likeness is suggested by the word spring. Listen “Chun!” (spring) How sonorous, sleepy and lovely the sound flows! Notice how the formation of the character “春”is neatly arranged and symmetrically aesthetic! Thus, the season attached by such a beautiful name must also be lovely to think of. It seems the sound of a girl’s name “Li Hua” must remind us of a beautiful woman.
However, spring, in fact, is by no means such a pleasant season. With my experience of thirty-six years, I feel deeply that life before late spring is rather unpleasant.
The plum blossom in snow is said to be the harbinger of spring. But it is just a spring in the mind. Actually, there is still rain and snow and the north wind is still chilly cold. Is there any difference between spring and winter? The so-called spring ushers can just curl up in the cold behind the window or stand trembling under the eaves to watch the plum blossom on the dry twigs!
In another month, as in these days, the Waking of Insects (the third solar term) is over, known as half of the spring has passed. My friends living the cities think that villages at this time are picturesque and beautiful. They sent me a letter, urging me to write something about spring as if I were snuggling up to the spring and had provoked their jealous feelings. Actually, those living in the countryside to not enjoy the pleasures of spring. On the contrary, they suffer from the various discomforts; the thermometer shows a sharp change between thirty-six and sixty-two degrees. These abrupt temperature changes are all within a day. When it is hot, you may think of the ice-cream in the city; and when it is cold, you can see natural ice. You can taste the so-called “chill of spring” to the fullest. When you are away from home and the weather changes from sunny to rainy, your shoes often become sloppy when you return. “How many fine days we have within a spring season!”is true; but “We can hear spring rain falling in a small mansion all night!”is really nothing special. Actually, it is very boring and far inferior to the various wireless broadcasts in your city. Now half of spring is over, but it gives us no comfort. On the contrary, every day it makes us worry about the chill, warmth, wind and rain. In fact, “within the three portions of spring two for sorrows and one for wind and rain!”
In a spring scene, only the abrupt changes from warmth to cold and the unusual clearness after the rain is distinct. Although there are some beautiful spring sights, they are mostly dim. Only by careful search will you find traces of spring. Is this the so-called “seeking spring”? Someone says “Spring lies in the calls of the flower girls”, while others say “Spring lies in the pear flowers” and still others say “Spring flourishes on top of the red apricot tree”. However, this scene can hardly be found in our dull and lonely village. Even if we could find spring, we may not easily recognize it. In short, the beauty that spring brings to us is little and somewhat concealed. The uneasiness that spring gives to us is plenty and obvious. It seems as if poets and ci composers reveal this point as well. Aren’t spring chills, spring sleepiness, spring sorrow and the complaints in spring time frequent topics of their poetry? It is not the only case now, but even if a month later, when the Pure Brightness (the fifth solar term) arrives, it is not likely to be a charming and most pleasant time. And if it rains again, the many street pedestrians will become “heartbroken”.
From this we know that spring is not worth such a beautiful name, for in practical life it is rather unpleasant. Actually, the most pleasant season of the year begins in late spring. So far as weather is concerned, although in general it becomes warmer and warmer, it varies frequently. There is always the abrupt change from warmth to cold, we can find no time without weather change. It is until late spring when the influences of winter have completely disappeared that it gradually becomes warmer and warmer. When the mercury in the thermometer rises to temperate, it is just the temperate season. So far as the scenery is concerned, there is no need to seek out a spring scene, for there is a vast expanse of green hills which are pleasant to the eyes. An ancient poem goes: “The song of cuckoo symbolizes spring’s departure and hills turn green above the treetops.” It turns out that only when spring has gone will the hills become green and attractive. In my opinion, among the natural scenery, green grass and white snow are the greatest of phenomena. When God depicts nature on a huge scroll, he paints the red spring and colourful autumn with only a dab of carmine upon his brush and a little touch upon the paper. But when he paints white snow and green grass, he would spare no dye to immense his brush in the white lead powder, gardenia and cyanine and paint in big strokes, making all the houses white and all the hills green. It seems like the “details adding method” of landscape painting at the Michelangelo School and also like the “colour chunk method” of Cezanne landscape painting. What a pungent style it is! The vast expanse of green grass is especially affable and unselfish. Sometimes the flowers are secluded within the private yards, and having suffered from their private penalty by the gardeners, they apologize to the ladies and gentlemen, while grass can grow anywhere it likes with no distinction between superior and inferior classes. Everyone thinks that flowers are the product of spring. Actually, the work of spring lies not in flowers but in grass. How many people can enjoy flowers? But grass grows freely across the fields, and is generally accepted and appreciated. This kind of beautiful scenery is seldom seen in early spring. For then the fields are covered with dry grass, a desolate scene fills our eyes and gives us nothing but an unpleasant sensation. It is only in late spring when dry grass is replaced by lush fields and real blue mountain and green fields that the world would take on a new look. The view at this time of the year is the finest. And the kindness to man bestowed by Nature is the deepest.
The practical westerners have always paid attention to this season: they call it May. May is the most pleasant time of the year. There are various kinds of festive occasions in the human world, including the May-queen, the May-pole, May-games, etc. Originally, the word May means “youth” and “vigour”. From this we can see that westerners regard the month of May as the youth of a man, the most pleasant, happiest and the most excellent period of one’s life. It is really worthy of the name. However, easterners hold a different view: they call it late spring. It is a time of asking spring to stay, sending spring off, cherishing spring, grieving for spring and a time of sighing, grieving and sobbing. It’s no time for pleasure at all. The pleasure of easterners is in the new spring when half of the green willows begin turning yellow. It is a time of sudden shine, sudden rain, now warmth and now cold. One can never see time without change. Actually, at this time of the year, life is by no means comfortable. It is only through a careful examination of the budding of flowers and willows and a close examination of the arrival of spring in nature that we can have a pleasant sensation in our hearts. Thus, May in the western world is actually equal to Spring in the east. These words are both pleasant to the ears and good-looking to the eyes. But while May implies material and profit, Spring is spiritual and artistic. From this we can get a hint of cultural distinctions between the east and the west.
(张梦井、杜耀文 译)
