The fresh air, with a little coolness, seems to have a faint fragrance, which seems to be absent. I opened my mouth and took a breath. Aromatic air permeates the throat from the nose and mouth and spreads to the five internal organs. For an instant, I felt refreshed and light.
It must be osmanthus fragrance outside the hospital. I almost ran to open the door. Standing in front of the osmanthus tree, I was immediately wrapped by the rich Gui Xiang.
In the second half of 20 17, when I moved here, this osmanthus tree was there. The crown is almost two meters high, the trunk is not thick, but the branches and leaves are swaying, which is the most lush osmanthus tree in the whole street. This year, I bathed in its fragrance for the fourth time.
Strange to say, I have been singing the song "Osmanthus fragrans Blooming everywhere in August" since I was a child, and I also like to use the word "Osmanthus fragrans in autumn" when writing articles. Osmanthus fragrans obviously blooms in autumn, but why does this tree bloom in winter? Before and after New Year's Day every year, buds the size of small grains of rice emerge from the dense branches and leaves, just like the night sky full of small stars.
That's osmanthus fragrans, a friend said.
No, Osmanthus fragrans can be found in all seasons, and it is most prosperous in autumn. This kind of tree only blooms in winter and usually lasts until after the Spring Festival. The weather is dry this year. It has been almost four months since the National Day. Some time ago, the cold wave followed, and the temperature was lower than normal. The tree has sprouted, but it can't smell the fragrance. Sometimes you put your nose up before you smell a trace of fragrance. I feel very disappointed, and the days seem to be much darker. Fortunately, the temperature has risen these days, as if overnight, osmanthus quietly bloomed, bringing a touch of agile charm to the bleak winter and affecting the lonely time.
I lingered under the osmanthus tree for a long time and didn't want to leave. I separated the leaves and observed them carefully. It turns out that osmanthus fragrans is clustered among green leaves, and the single osmanthus fragrans is pitifully small. On the short and thin stem, there are four small white petals with two small yellow flower cores in the middle. From a distance, it looks like a light lemon color.
At this point, I no longer worry about what this tree is and why it only blooms in winter. In fact, everything in the world is colorful. What osmanthus varieties are there, such as osmanthus fragrans, osmanthus fragrans, osmanthus fragrans, osmanthus fragrans, Yin Gui? It is said that there is a mandarin duck osmanthus in Suzhou Liuyuan, and there is an orange osmanthus in the golden osmanthus. It is not a grafting, but a "bud change" of plants. Isn't it a bit lucky to enjoy the fragrance of the garden endowed by osmanthus trees in the winter when flowers bloom?
two
When I was a child, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family enjoyed the moon while eating moon cakes. Grandma told us the legend that WU GANG cut the laurel.
There is a palace on the moon called Guanghan Palace, where the lonely Chang 'e lives. WU GANG, the commander of the worse gate, fell in love with Chang 'e and often remembered that he was going to see Chang 'e, so he didn't close the door properly. The Jade Emperor was angry. He asked WU GANG to cut down a big laurel tree on the moon. If you can't cut down the laurel tree, you won't see Chang 'e. WU GANG cut and cut, and he was very happy to see the tree cut down. I didn't know that the Jade Emperor sent crows to make trouble. The crow took WU GANG's coat from the tree. WU GANG had to put down his axe and chase the crow. After the clothes were taken back, WU GANG went back to the tree and saw that the cut tree had grown back together. In this way, Wugang will never cut down the osmanthus tree to see Chang 'e.
"You look carefully, there are osmanthus trees on the moon? Is there anyone under the tree? " Grandma said.
We stared at the moon with our eyes wide open.
"I saw the osmanthus tree."
"I also saw osmanthus trees."
However, we can't see the people under the tree. It may be too far to see clearly. That's what I was thinking.
I later learned that there are several versions of this legend told by grandma. This story was first seen in Youyang Miscellany in the Tang Dynasty: "In the old legend, there were laurel trees and toads in the moon, so different books said that laurel trees were 500 feet high. There is a man under the tree who often deceives him. The tree works with him. His surname is Wu, Minggang, and he is from Xihe. He studied Taoism and ordered to cut down trees. "
Fairy tales told by my grandmother when I was a child brought me endless fun and stimulated my imagination. From then on, as long as there is a moon in the sky, I will look for osmanthus trees and WU GANG. I even thought: where did Chang 'e go? Is the osmanthus tree on the ground growing from osmanthus seeds falling from the sky?
Coincidentally, there are fairy stories about osmanthus trees in western mythology.
Apollo, the sun god, was shot by little love god's golden arrow and fell in love with Daphne. Daphne was shot by a lead arrow without love and hated it. Apollo chases, Daphne runs. Running, Daphne turned into a laurel, her skin turned into bark, and her hair turned into leaves. Apollo still did not change the original intention of love, and made laurel leaves into crowns and kept them on his head. The "laurel" later evolved into an honorary symbol of winners in various competitions.
Coincidentally, there was also a saying of "laurel tree" in ancient China, referring to the imperial examinations and. Is this different from the western "laurel"?
three
Osmanthus fragrans is one of the top ten traditional famous flowers in China. There are many aliases, mainly cinnamon and osmanthus, as evidenced by poems. Liu Yong wrote about Lin 'an (now Hangzhou) in "Looking at the Tide": "Sanqiu has cassia seed and Shili has lotus flowers." Cai Yun's "Wu Biao" in the Qing Dynasty said: "There are seven boats in Qilishantang, and the fragrant wood has songs and strings."
Osmanthus fragrans is a native flower in China with a cultivation history of over 2,500 years. It was mentioned twice in Shan Hai Jing, a classic before Qin Dynasty. Qu Yuan, who loves vanilla, even wrote in "Nine Songs": "Help Beidou drink cinnamon pulp, and be happy to be a laurel flag." Since then, all generations, from court dignitaries to literati, like to plant osmanthus trees and give them a beautiful meaning.
Legend has it that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once asked Dong Fangshuo, Confucius and Yan Yuan who were the sages. Dong Fangshuo replied: Yan Yuan is virtuous, but he is just like a osmanthus mountain, fragrant alone; Confucius' morality is as strong as the spring breeze, and everything in the world is edified. It seems that osmanthus fragrans, like plum blossoms, are somewhat narcissistic.
Since ancient times, there have been countless poems describing osmanthus, and Li Qingzhao's Partridge Sky can be said to be the best among them.
The word says, "The yellow light, soft corpus luteum, distant feelings, only fragrance still exists." Why light blue and light red? It's a first-class flower Ding Mei is jealous, Chrysanthemum should be ashamed, and the Mid-Autumn Festival ends. A poet can be ruthless and think about what he didn't get in the past. "
Osmanthus fragrans is ordinary, low-key and quiet in appearance, which is different from the beauty of peony. However, although osmanthus has no national color, it is full of fragrance, which is also dwarfed by Xuemei Qiuju. "Being a first-class flower" turns stone into gold and crowns osmanthus. Since then, Osmanthus fragrans has occupied an irreplaceable position in the garden and has been immortal.
Nowadays, Osmanthus fragrans has already become a flower that can be seen everywhere south of the Yellow River. Its rich fragrance has also entered the homes of ordinary people. The autumn before last, I went back to my hometown in Jiangxi to visit relatives. In many small farmhouses, I also smell the fragrance of osmanthus.
It is said that osmanthus is the city flower in more than 20 cities. I know Hangzhou, Suzhou, Hefei, Guilin and so on. It can be seen that people love this sweet-scented osmanthus.
four
I seem to have an indissoluble bond with osmanthus.
The first stop of my career after graduating from college is a county middle school. The campus is very small, and there is almost no scenery. But there is a osmanthus tree with a crooked neck, but it has been rooted in my memory and lingering.
It is a tall osmanthus tree, with thick trunk and swaying branches and leaves, standing on the road leading to the canteen like a huge green umbrella. On the west side of the tree, there is a two-story building, which blocks its sunshine and inhibits its extension. It leans helplessly to the east, and slowly, it becomes a crooked-neck tree.
I stayed on campus for a few days, and when I passed by the tree, I smelled a faint osmanthus fragrance. This is the first time I have ever seen osmanthus trees and smelled this refreshing flower fragrance. Looking up, the autumn sun in September passed through the dense branches and leaves, and the thick osmanthus blinked like an elf. When the wind blows, small flowers like rice grains fall like showers in Mao Mao. I am under the tree, covered with flowers. At this point, if you sneeze, it must be delicious.
In the next few days, Gui Xiang floated around the campus without walking under the tree. Stay in the room, just open the window, and the gentle autumn wind will send the fragrance to you. People say that "the osmanthus trees in the garden are fragrant", and it really is.
One night, I was reading in my room when someone knocked at the door. I opened the door and came in smelling good.
"Look, what have I brought you?" He put a canned pear bottle with sugar water on my desk.
"Osmanthus fragrans!" I shouted excitedly.
"To be precise, it is sweet-scented osmanthus sugar."
"You made sweet-scented osmanthus candy?" In my eyes, he is just a weak scholar who can only read, write poems and speak.
He saw my suspicion. "It's very simple. Take a piece of plastic cloth and a bamboo pole and tap under the osmanthus tree a few times, and you will collect a lot of osmanthus. Pick it clean, put it in a clean bottle and seal your mouth with some sugar. It will become sweet-scented osmanthus candy in a few days. Used for soaking in water, clearing away heat and toxic materials, and beautifying. "
I immediately used two cups, each dug a spoonful of sweet-scented osmanthus candy, washed it with warm water, and tasted it with Yi Ming. For the first time, I know that osmanthus is not only for seeing, but also for smelling, and can also be eaten. Take a sip, your mouth is full of fragrance. Sweet taste stirs your taste buds and captures your heart. Perhaps from that moment on, it was this sound that this talented and maverick man began to sneak into my heart and opened a sweet and sad first love.
Today, 38 years later, that crooked neck tree has long since ceased to exist. Where is the person who drinks sweet-scented osmanthus candy with me?
The first time I saw a large piece of osmanthus fragrans was in Yuyuan Garden in Wuhan, the former campus of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
South China University of Technology has a beautiful campus environment and a good reputation as a "forest campus". Peach blossoms are like clouds in spring, lotus flowers reflect the sun in summer, sweet-scented osmanthus in autumn, and Lingxuemei flowers in winter.
When I went, it was in the season when osmanthus fragrance was fragrant. I remember it was an afternoon with blue sky and warm sunshine. Hua Jun took my hand and showed me around his campus with great interest. Cross Wu Tong Avenue, which covers the sky, cross the youth park surrounded by lotus leaves in summer, and turn a corner to the South Gate Square. In the center of the square stands a white marble statue of Chairman Mao.
It smells good! I smelled osmanthus fragrance intermittently along the way. But the smell here is different, it is the kind of sticky and insoluble smell. To exaggerate, it is to break your nose.
"Over there." Hua Jun pointed to the door of building 1. We ran over and saw a row of dense osmanthus trees in front of the whole building, one next to the other. Each tree was covered with dense flowers, red, yellow and white. I didn't know their names at that time. Later, I learned that they were Tan Gui, Jin Gui and Yin Gui. They were bathed in the warm sunshine at noon, as if every flower was smelling. There are as many trees as there are flowers in a tree. The aroma they give off at the same time is superimposed together, not to mention the avalanche, which really makes us drunk.
I can't describe my feelings in words, so I asked Hua Jun, "Which osmanthus poem do you like best?" Although he is a straight man in science and engineering, he is also very interested in poetry and songs. When we first got married, we often read classical poems together.
"Of course, it is Li Qingzhao's" Partridge Sky "." Then he sang softly.
"Well, this word is really big, I also appreciate it. At the same time, I also like Zhu's "Mu Zhi":' Playing the west wind is good and fragrant, helping Iraq in autumn. Under a book window, people and flowers are fragrant. " "
"What do you say?" Hua Jun probably wanted to test me.
I am glad to accept the challenge. "Osmanthus fragrans is the master of autumn. It is so gorgeous that it occupies all the autumn colors. The book window is quiet and elegant, and it is a place to read. Outside the book window, a sweet-scented osmanthus tree is competing with each other, and the faint book fragrance and the faint Gui Xiang set each other off. What an ultimate enjoyment. This kind of enjoyment is not only sensory, but also psychological and spiritual. Osmanthus fragrans is noble, the book window is noble, and the reader is noble. The gentle brushwork, expressing the will, has a deep charm. "
"wonderful! Wonderful! My wife is really learning Chinese. " While praising me, Huajun held me in his arms and drunk with me in osmanthus flowers and ancient poems describing osmanthus flowers.
It's all over. Osmanthus fragrans in Yuyuan Garden is fragrant every year, and we are no longer young. I think of the sentence written by Liu Guo in Tang Duoling in the Song Dynasty: "It is not like a youth tour to buy osmanthus with wine." I can't help but sigh.
Tonight, I came to the osmanthus tree outside the hospital alone. The moon is high, and Gui Xiang attacks people. I drink osmanthus with wine. Who can get drunk with me?