把秧安放进大地

文/周华诚

六月常山稻田风光。The rice fields in June at Changshan county.

六月，中国南方省份已经进入梅雨季节。大雨，中雨，小雨，阵雨，有时有雨，阴转小雨，中到大雨，暴雨如注。雨以各种不同的姿态轮番出场，扑向大地。我们终于在这密集的雨群中觅得一个间歇。

吃饭的时候还下着雨，我们到了田边雨势转小，真的要下田时，雨就止了。此时山峦明净，四野清晰，空气如洗，泥土的气息与植物的气息在村庄里飘浮。大家脱了鞋袜，把脚伸进泥土。细腻的泥水在趾间滑动。左手一把秧，右手把一棵秧苗插进泥土之中。

诞生于田间的脚下观

手把青秧插满田，低头便见水中天。

六根清净方为道，退步原来是向前。

这几句诗里，隐藏着插秧的技术要领。一是必须低头和弯腰。低头和弯腰是与田野进行亲密接触的首要条件。弯腰使得人呈现一种低微谦卑之态，低头是把视野变小，把世界观变成脚下观。这个时候我们看见水，看见泥，看见水中有天，看见天上有云，看见水中有自己，也看见水中有蝌蚪。二是必须手把青秧。手把青秧，使得我们站在田野中间时不再百无聊赖，我们每个人都在操持正事。手把一只手机使我们联通全世界，手把一株青秧就使我们联通土地。此刻我们放弃了全世界，只为了脚下的土地。我们手执一株青秧，弯下腰身，伸出手去，以手指作为前锋，携带着秧苗的根须，植入泥土之中。泥土微漾之间，一种契约已经生效：你在泥间盖上了指纹，每一株青秧都将携带着你的指纹生长。

插秧的技术要领还包括一些似是而非的规定动作。比如双脚与肩平，分开站立，同时尽量少移动双脚。双脚戳在泥中，并不是要把脚插在田里生长。如果一双脚在田间站满五个月，脚下会生根，头上会开花，并结出沉甸甸的粮食，麻雀将会光临，并在头发中间筑巢，或许会有小雀育出。这是稻草人的故事。我们不是稻草人，所以我们脚下不会生根，我们走来走去，但事实上应该少走动。脚的少走动，使我们把精力集中在手上，插秧的效率将得以提高，而脚坑的减少也不会使一株秧落入陷阱一般的空虚中。

1. 2017年，中国“杂交水稻之父”袁隆平院士为作者所在的常山县五联村题词——“耕读传家”。2.“父亲的水稻田”教会孩子们很多关于土地和自然的秘密，也把快乐带给稻田。1.An epigraph written by academician Yuan Longping (1930-2021), China’s “father of hybrid rice”, for Changshan county’s Wulian village, extoling its farming and education traditions. 2.The “Father’s Rice Fields”program has taught children many secrets about earth and nature, and brought joy to the rice fields.

还比如说，插秧其实是一种倒退行为。倒退的时候你其实是看着眼前的田野被成绩所覆盖，于是，得到鼓舞，得到信心，得到一种心灵的丰富与充盈。你将看不见令人感到恐慌的空白。它们终将被填满。你只是在倒退，倒退，一抬头看见青秧又多了数百行，多了数千行。你距离最初植下的第一株秧又远了好多。它越来越渺小。你倒退着倒退着，终于脚后跟触碰到了田埂（另一种底线），于是心里一阵欣喜。这种欣喜有时又是极为平静的。它更多的时候，代表的是你对自己的一种满意度。

这一切我们不会对下田插秧的孩子说。虽然他们人数众多，有一二十个，从遥远的城市或幼儿园或课外培训班或游乐场所而来，他们将十分需要稻田大学校长对他们讲述一些关于田野的故事。但是睿智的校长同志什么也没有说。校长只是举起一株秧，把这株秧举给他们看。然后校长弯下腰身，把这株秧稳稳地安放进了大地。

孩子们总是会了解这一举动的意义的，不是在今天就是在明天。或许在两年后，或许在二十年后。

父亲带着孩子来到田间。他手上拿着稻秧，俯身与孩子耳语。事实上他们内心都隐藏着一个希望，恨不得把自己知道的这个世界的所有秘密都传授给年幼的孩子。

这时他会想起自己的父亲，曾经对自己耳语过的那些话。那些话具体的章节与指向的事实都已经模糊不清，早已在时间里飘散，但是耳语的动作与意义却清晰无比地流传下来。

他不会告诉孩子一屁股跌进泥水中是什么感觉。除非孩子自己真的一屁股跌进泥水中，这种感觉才能被准确地传达。所以看到孩子摇摇晃晃踉踉跄跄地行走在泥水中间时，他一点儿也不紧张，他甚至有一点儿希望孩子脚下能滑一下，小小地滑一下，然后果真，孩子一屁股坐进泥水中。

世间的另一些大侠

还有一些大侠遵循着自古以来的习惯，沉默不语。

作者创立的稻田文化品牌“父亲的水稻田”，包装盒里有米也有书。The products, including rice and books, from the brand “Father’s Rice Fields”,created by the author.

“拱墅·常山”山海协作文化走亲活动在“父亲的水稻田”举行。图为稻田春社艺术作品展示。Artworks are seen at an event held at the “Father’s Rice Fields”.

他们在练习一种绝世武功。很多时候这个世界的人们并不怎么理解他们。村庄中的大部分人乐于接受新鲜事物，他们总是很快地知道哪些地方最缺什么工种，哪些地方的老板开工资最慷慨大方，他们洗干净了脚就奔赴那些地方去了，过年的时候带回很多年货和现金，过几年在村庄里把楼房就造得又高又漂亮了。

另一些大侠—毫无疑问是极少数—他对自己年复一年盖进泥土中与青秧一起生长的指纹坚信不疑，或许是指纹拴住了他，谁知道呢。他有些惧怕外面的世界，他只对父亲教给他的关于庄稼的那些事情熟稔于胸，胸有成“稻”，底气十足，喉咙梆梆响，对此他是有发言权的。而对于田野之外的事情他不予置评，甚至带着摒弃的态度。他有时也试图遮掩自己的心虚和怯懦，面对那些过年的时候带回很多年货和现金的人，总是底气不足。所以他从人群里折返，又回到庄稼中间，用一把年久不必修的锄头，这里挖两下，那里挖两下。起先那把锄头有些滞，有些冷，渐渐地那把锄头开始热，开始熟，继而开始柔，开始活，开始行云流水，开始凌波微步，开始蝴蝶穿花，开始鹞子翻身，开始风摆荷叶，开始叶底藏花，开始风起云涌，开始长虹挂天。然而最终是以点到为止，以马踏残雪收尾。他歇下锄头，望向远处天边下的青山一片，抽烟。

很少有人知道，这是一种功夫。

也很少有人知道，这是一种门派。

如果我是周星驰，我会来拍一部这样的电影。这一次很幸运地，我们在田野中间遇到了他们。我们向他们讨教一招半式，他们起先很迟疑，后来很高兴，觉得终于遇到了知音。这些年已经极少有人对他们的武功感兴趣了。

安放进故土大地的秧

就这样，我与父亲一起，穿过江南的梅雨季节，去田里插秧。我离开这个叫常山的故乡已经多年，离开这片叫稻田的土地已经很久。

现在，我回来了。

在我的身后有几十个人，他们都是从大城市而来。最远的一个，是从一个叫作伦敦的地方来的。来干什么，只是为了插秧。

父亲抬起头，在这个烟雨朦胧的清晨，这位稻田大学校长同志面向稻田所有的来宾举起手来。他的手中有一株青秧。他把这株青秧举给大家看。然后，他弯下腰身，恭恭敬敬地，把这株秧，稳稳地安放进了大地。

Plant Your Seedling Firmly into the Ground

By Zhou Huacheng

In June, the southern provinces of China have entered its rainy season. Heavy rain, moderate rain, showers, drizzles ...different types of rain take turns to hit the ground, in the middle of which we finally had a respite.

It is still raining while we are eating, but when we are approaching the fields and ready to go down, the rain turns smaller and stops. The hills are refreshingly clear, and the rain washed air is filled with an earthy, botanical scent. Everyone takes off their shoes and socks, gets down into the mud, and begins to plant seedlings into the mud.

There are certain technical essentials to follow in rice planting.First, you must lower your head and bend down, which is to show a modest gesture and for your view to narrow down and focus.Second, you must hold the green seedlings in your hand to make sure you are engaged in the business. The technical points also include some prescribed movements. For example, you should stand with parted feet, level with your shoulders, while moving your feet as little as possible. Or rice planting is actually an act of going backwards. When you are stepping back, you are in fact looking ahead at how far you have achieved with this field, and thus filled with inspiration and confidence.

All this we will not say to the children who are trying to do rice planting here, although they have come from distant cities in quite large numbers and are eager to learn about such stories. They will understand the significance of rice planting one day, maybe in two years or twenty years, if not now.

A father takes his child to the field. He holds rice seedlings in his hand and leans down to whisper to the child. The truth is that all parents have a hidden hope to pass on all the secrets they know about the world to their children. At that moment, he remembers the words his father used to whisper to him. The specific words have been blurred and drifted away in the course of time, but the act and meaning of whisper itself has been passed down with unmistakable clarity.

He will not tell his child what it was like to fall on his butt into the muddy water. This feeling could only be accurately conveyed when the child himself/herself falls into the muddy water. Therefore, when seeing his child staggering and stumbling in the muddy water, the father is not nervous at all. At some point,he even hopes that the little fellow would have a little slip under his feet, a tiny little slip. And his hope is indeed answered — the child suddenly sat on his/her butt in the muddy water.

There are also some great kung fu masters who have been habitually silent since ancient times. They are practicing a supreme form of martial arts — which is not well understood by common people — in the fields only, and know their crops from inside out.As to things outside the fields, they just could not care less. If I were Stephen Chow, I would come here and make a movie about them.This time, luckily, we met them in the middle of the field, and asked them to teach us a trick or two. They were hesitant at first,but soon felt happy because they had finally met their soulmates— very few people are interested in their martial arts these days.Together with my father, I walk into the rainy season of the(south of the Yangtze River) region and towards the fields to plant rice seedlings. I have been away from my hometown Changshan for many years, and away from the rice fields. Now, I am back. Behind me are dozens of people, all of whom come from big cities. What do they come here for? Just to plant rice seedlings.

It is a drizzly morning. My father looks up, takes a green rice seedling in his grip and raises his hand in front of all the guests.Holding this plant up high for everyone to see, he then bends down,and respectfully places the seedling firmly into the ground.

作者正在田间插秧。The author plants rice seedlings in the field.