山上的草绿了又黄,黄了又绿。
山下的水清了又浊,浊了又清。
日子尽管过得艰难,小兴和还是渐渐长大了。
周兴和八岁那年,父母送他到学校去读书。
“万般皆下品,唯有读书高”,“朝为田舍郎,暮登天子堂。”兴和的父亲虽不识字,但他早年要饭时,像所有的乞讨者一样,学会了不少要饭的顺口溜,也到过乡场大庙里听人念过不少戏文,他早年听到别人说的这些话,虽没有完全弄懂其中的涵义,但大概的意思他还是知道的。
父母从小生活在贫穷艰难之中,他们没有上学读书的机会,大字不识一个,这让他们一辈子吃尽了苦头,所以他们当然不希望自己的儿女也成为睁眼瞎子。这时已经解放好几年了,连老头老太也要被赶到村上扫盲班去扫盲,何况正在读书年龄的儿女呢!所以不管家里再穷再苦,他们也要送儿女们去读书。
“三更灯火五更鸡,正是男儿读书时。黑发不知勤学早,白首方悔读书时。”兴和背着书兜上学第一天,学校的老师就给大家念了这首颜真卿的《劝学》诗。那时兴和人还小,虽不能完全弄懂这几句话的良苦用心,但基本的意思他还是知道的。
农村孩子上学不容易。学校在山那边盐亭县的毛公乡,无论寒冬酷暑,无论天晴落雨,他每天都必须沿着通往毛公乡那条崎岖的山道,翻过那座山,再下山来到学校上学,来回大概要走两个小时。刚开始家里还有点吃的时,他就带个红苕或包谷中午充饥;到后来,家里没有东西可带时,中午就只能喝几口凉水,饿着肚皮等着放学回家去。
小时候,兴和是个比较内向的人,他整天沉默寡言,也不善言辞,不愿和同学们过多的交流。他们班上的同学,大多是农村孩子,家里虽说都不富裕,但比起兴和来,还是要好得多。夏天,兴和从来没有穿过鞋子,都是打着光脚爬坡上坎;冬天,衣着单薄的他,常常蜷缩在课桌下,冻得像只瑟瑟发抖小狗。然而,由于他聪慧敏思,学习还算努力,成绩在班上不算落后,有时还受到老师表扬。
父母虽都不识字,但和天下所有的父母一样,当然都望子成才,将来能有所出息。他们教育儿女的方法,除了信奉民间那“黄荆棍儿出好人”的至理名言外,督促儿子学习的方法更是别出心裁闻所未闻。
贪玩是儿童的天性。放学后,为了下塘去洗澡,上山掏鸟窝,兴和有时做作业就难免马虎了事。父亲倒还好一些,反正他不识字,小兴和作业做得好坏,无论给他作何种辩解都能蒙混过关。但,只要他老人家听到老师或同学告状,小兴和就别想蒙混过关了,必然就要受到父亲惩罚。父亲惩罚他的方式,就是打他的屁股。为了打儿子的屁股,他还专门研究过打屁股的黄荆棍儿粗细。棍儿粗了,怕打折了儿子的骨头;棍儿细了,又怕起不到惩罚的目的。最后他得出的结论是,农村吃饭的那种筷子粗细最为合适。同时,为了对儿子起到警戒和威慑作用,他老人家经常准备了10来根粗细不一的棍儿,放在固定的位置上,有备无患随取随用。
相比起来,他母亲就显得比父亲精明多了。
母亲虽不识字,可比兴和的父亲强多了,她自有对付能识字儿子的办法。那时的老师,都要求学生要写毛笔字。由于没有字帖,老师先在学生作业本上写一行字,然后学生照着老师的字再写。这种学生临摹老师字迹的方法,无论如何聪明的学生,都不可能把每个字的一撇一捺,写得和老师的一模一样——这就好了,每当兴和把字写完,他母亲就开始检查他的作业了。她虽不识字,但自然有她检查作业的方法,她别出心裁地用农村缝衣裳的棉线来当标尺,来量每个字一撇一捺的长短,看他写的字是否都和老师写得一模一样。如若有的字笔画写长了或写短了,在她心情不好时,小兴和就惨了,不但要被扯耳朵,还要被黄荆棍儿抽打。
可怜天下父母心!
兴和至今都还记得,有一次母亲外出了,他做作业时就马虎了一些,母亲回来时已经很晚了,但她再晚再累也要检查儿子的作业。她不检查则罢,这一检查,周兴和就倒了霉。她依然用她有效的工具来量每个字的长短,测量的结果,兴和这天写的字,10个就有8个长短与老师写的不一致!
这还得了!母亲检查完作业后勃然大怒,一下就走到床边,一把揪住小兴和的耳朵,大声责问他为什么作业做得这样马虎!兴和痛得从睡梦中醒了过来,由于多次受到母亲这样的惩罚,他也憋了一肚皮的气,不由自主就顶撞了母亲几句——这下他就更惨了。母亲一只手扯住他的耳朵,另一只手就抓起父亲早准备好的黄荆棍儿,劈头盖脸就给兴和一顿乱打。兴和一边哭叫,一边辩解,可他母亲根本就不听他的辩解,反而打得更凶!
父亲见母亲打他打得有些过分,倒心痛起儿子来。他劝他母亲道:小孩家不听话,要打就打他的屁股,不要把他的耳朵扯聋了。谁知母亲闻言更是愤怒,她回过头来把气撒在他父亲身上:娃儿不听话,你还要给他护短!你老叫我不要扯他的耳朵,要打他的屁股。我问你,打他屁股?那屁股能听话吗!
尽管母亲没有文化,但她骂的话其实是没有错的,人听不听话,关键在于耳朵,关屁股什么事呢?
“现在想起来,父母望子成才的良苦用心值得理解。连香港有位著名的企业家都说‘孩子三天一打,打进清华’之说。我们当然更不能苛求没有文化的父母,对他们的儿子能采取更好的教育方式。”周兴和说道,“其实,如今我能写得一手好毛笔字,还要感谢他们这种特殊的教育方式呢!”
寒风萧瑟,黄叶纷飞。转眼间,难熬的冬天又要到了。
那时,幼小的兴和在父母黄荆棍儿惩戒下,无非是偶尔遭受些皮肉之苦罢了,在那些艰难苦涩的年月里,留在他心灵中更刻骨铭心的痛苦,则莫过于空前的饥饿了。
The grass on the mountain turned yellow from green, and green from yellow.
The water under the mountain was turbid from clear, and clear from turbid.
Although the days were hard, little Xinghe grew up gradually.
When Zhou Xinghe was eight years old, his parents sent him to school.
"The one who has studied to become a scholar stays on the highest rung of the social ladder", "In the morning, one was still a farmer in the field, and in the evening, he attended the throne hall of the King."Xinghe's father could not read, but in his early years, like all beggars, he had learned a lot of rhymes about begging, and had also heared a lot of plays in the fair. He had not fully understood the meaning of these words he had heard in his early years, but he knew their general meaning.
The parents had been living in poverty and hardship since childhood. They had no chance to go to school, and they were illiterate, which made them suffering all their lives. Therefore, they certainly did not want their children to become illiterate.At that time, it had been liberated for several years, even the old man and the old woman were driven to the village literacy class for literacy, let alone the children at the age of school!So, no matter how poor the family was, they also wanted to send their children to study.
"It was the best time for boys to read every day, when it was late at night, and the cock was crowing in early morning.When I was young, I only knew how to play, but I didn't know how to study hard. When I was old, I regretted that I didn't know how to study hard when I was young."On Xinghe's first day at school, the school teacher read the poem "To Encourage Learning" by Yan Zhenqing.As a child, Xinghe did not fully understand the meaning of these words, but he did know the basic meaning.
It was not easy for rural children to go to school.The school was located in Maogong Village of Yanting County over the moutnain. No matter in winter or summer, no matter in rain or shine, he had to walk along the rugged mountain road leading to Maogong every day, climb over the mountain and then go down to the school. It took him about two hours to walk back and forth.At the beginning, when there was something to eat at home, he took a piece of sweet potato or corn for the meal at noon;later, when there was no food to take from home, he could only drink the cold water at noon and waited for leaving school to go home hungrily.
As a child, Xinghe was an introvert. He was silent all day and not good at speaking, unwilling to communicate too much with his classmates. Most of the students in his class were rural children. Although they were not rich at home, they were still much better off than Xinghe. In summer, Xinghe never wore shoes, but climbed the hill with bare feet. In winter, dressed in thin clothes, he often curled up under the desk, cold as a shivering puppy. However, because he was intelligent and sensitive, his study was still hard, his grades were not bad in the class, and sometimes he was even praised by the teacher.
His parents were illiterate, but, like all parents in the world, they, of course, held high hopes for Xinghe.The way they educated their sons and daughters were unique and never unheard before, in addition to believe in the folk wisdom of "good man from sticks".
It is the nature of children to play.After school, in order to swim in the pond and take the birds' egg from nests up in the hill, Xinghe sometimes did his homework carelessly.His father, however, was easy to fool around. He was illiterate, and whatever excuses could be made reasonable for his bad or good work.However, as soon as the old man heard anything bad from Xinghe’s teacher or classmates, little Xinghe would not muddle through and definitely be punished by his father.His father punished him by spanking him.In order to spank his son, he also studied the size of the stick for spanking.If the stick was thick, he was afraid of breaking his son's bones.If the stick was thin, he was afraid that it would not serve the purpose of punishment.In the end, he came to the conclusion that the type of chopstick used for eating in the countryside was the most suitable size.Meanwhile, in order to play a warning and deterrent effect on his son, the old man often prepared about 10 sticks of different thickness, which were placed in the fixed position and used at any time as a precaution.
By contrast, his mother seemed much more astute than his father.
His illiterate mother was better than Xinghe's father, and she had her own way of dealing with her literate son.Teachers at that time required students to write Chinese calligraphy.Because there was no copybook for calligraphy, the teacher firstly wrote a line in the students' workbook, and then the students wrote according to the teacher's calligraphy.No matter how clever a student was in copying his teacher's handwriting, it was impossible for him to write every stroke exactly like his teacher's. That’sthepoint. Every time Xinghe finished writing, his mother started checking his homework.She did not know how to read, but of course she had her way of checking his homework. She used the cotton thread for sewing to measure the length of every stroke to see if he wrote exactly as the teacher did.If some of the strokes were too long or too short, or when she was in a bad mood that day, it would be miserable for Xinghe. He would not only have his ears pulled, but also be punished by sticks.
All parents worry for their children!
Xinghe still remembers that once when his mother was out, he did his homework carelessly. When his mother came back, it was already very late, but she still had to check her son's homework even if she was tired.She checked carefully, and Zhou Xinghe was out of luck.She still used her effective tools to measure the length of each stroke, and the result was that among all the Chinese characters written that day, 8 out of 10 characters were different from the teacher's!
That's terrible!After checking the homework, the mother flew into a great rage and went to the bedside, grabbed little Xinghe by the ear and asked him loudly that why he did homework so carelessly!Roused from his sleep with pain, Xinghe had been punished so many times by his mother, so he felt wronged and could not help contradicting her - which made things worse for him.His mother grabbed him by the ear with one hand, and grabbed the stick that his father had prepared with the other hand, and gave him a beating all over his face and body.Xinhe cried and tried to explain, but his mother did not listen to him at all. Instead, she beated him even harder.
When the father saw that the mother had beaten Xinghe too much, his heart ached for his son.He advised the mother, "Spank the child if he doesn’t listen to you, but don't pull his ear or deafen him."But the mother got angrier for hearing these words, she turned around to the father and pissed off: "The child is not obedient, but you still give him protection rather than education!You keep telling me not to pull his ear but to spank him.Let me ask you, spank him?Can his ass listen to you?"
Although the mother had not received any school education, but she was not wrong in the words: when the people does not listen, the key lies in the ears, what is the matter with the butt?
"Now that I think about it, it is worth understanding that all parents have a good mind to make their children successful.Even a famous entrepreneur in Hong Kong said, 'Beaten once every three days, the child will enter Tsinghua University.'We certainly can't expect the uneducated parents to have a better way of educating their sons."Zhou Xinghe said, "In fact, now I can write calligraphy well, which really thanks to their special way of education!"
The wind was cold and the yellow leaves were flying.In a twinkling of an eye, the tough winter was coming again.
At that time, when Xinghe was young, he had only occasional sufferings under the discipline of his parents’ sticks. In those hard and bitter years, what remained in his mind was nothing more than unprecedented hunger.
