第8章 南乡子（1）

湖南益阳渡口，1951

路北旧祠堂，

杂草枯藤断裂墙，

祖辈风光流水去，

沧桑，

前代空为后代忙。

道口树成行，

阵阵飘来果味香，

甜杏稍黄还带绿，

装筐，

三日航程到岳阳。

注：

作者由湖南沅陵到长沙参加高考，途经益阳。当时没有资江大桥，长途汽车在益阳渡口排队上船，摆渡过江。

Tune: Song of a Southern Country

—At the ferry in Yiyang, Hunan, 1951

On the road's north stands an old ancestral temple,

With grass rank, vines withered, and walls likely to topple.

Past glories went away with running water,

Everything shifts,

Old generation strived for the young, fruitless and futile.

Along the causeway trees lie in a row,

Gusts of wind the scent of mellow fruits blow.

Sweet apricots are yellow-green in color,

Into baskets,

Yueyang-bound, they have three days to go.

Note:

The author left Yuanling for Changsha, Hunan to take the National College Entrance Examination, by way of Yiyang. As Zijiang Bridge was not in existence then, long-distance buses had to queue at the ferry in Yiyang to be ferried across the river.