Years leave marks (3)-Swallows nest in my house.

years leave marks (3)-Swallows build nests in my home

Text/Zhu Qiuxia

My home is at the southernmost tip of the village, with three tile houses and a small courtyard with earth walls. There are willows, locust trees and neem trees outside the courtyard, and there are several jujube trees in the courtyard. There are several tall poplars behind the house. The breeze blows, and the poplar leaves are rustling, and occasionally magpies stop on the branches. There is a pond in front of the house. In summer, frogs croak in the pond and dragonflies water. After the rain, cicadas fly over the willow trees.

In spring, trees sprout, flowers bloom, insects and birds sing, and swallows fly into the farmhouse in pairs. They are looking for a suitable place to nest and reproduce. It is said that the family that swallows choose to nest must be a kind, kind and wealthy family. People always believe that swallows make nests when they get home, which indicates that the family will turn around and prosper.

A pair of swallows hovered back and forth in front of my house. My father told me to be quiet and not to scare the swallows away. I held my breath and watched them fly around. The swallows circled several times and then flew away. My father looked at the flying swallows and said to himself, "Maybe they can fly back!" "

Another spring has arrived, and a pair of swallows have finally made a nest on the purlin of my house. They hold mud nests one after another. My father's face lit up, and he was very quiet when he came out and went in. He didn't allow me to speak loudly.

The swallow's new nest has been built. Two swallows lie in the nest alternately day and night, and begin to hatch the little swallow.

After more than ten days, I heard the cry of "Haw Haw". I looked up and found a few little swallows' heads exposed in the swallow nest, opening their mouths to look for food. The old swallow flew back with a bug in her mouth and landed beside the nest. Xiaoyan opened her mouth and tried to lean out and almost fell down. After feeding one, the old swallow turned and flew away, and then another old swallow came back, and flew away quickly after feeding. A few little babies, really enough for two old Yan busy. During the day, two old swallows go out for food, and at night they guard the nest around. Swallows are really spiritual animals.

Under the careful care of Laoyan, Xiaoyan grew up, her feathers became abundant, and her bird's nest became crowded. Laoyan stopped vigil at night.

I'm used to Xiaoyan's chirp, and I have to pay attention to them for a long time every day. One night I heard something rustling on the ceiling, and there was no movement during the day. A few days later, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by the noise of poop-poop. I turned on the light to look for it and found a white thing eating a swallow near the swallow's nest. The swallow's wings were flapping and struggling desperately, and the others screamed and fluttered. "Get up, the mouse ate the swallow!" When my sister got up and looked at it, she was also shocked and quickly called the father of Dongwu to come and see it.

My father came in to have a look. He didn't say anything. He went to the yard to take a shovel and measure it. It was too short. I moved the chair, and my father stood on it and could reach it. My father told us to get out of the way. With a shovel and a shout, a big snake fell. The snake rolled over and climbed. My father jumped out of the chair and stamped the snake with his foot. My father stamped it with his slippers several times, but it didn't work. The snake still wanted to climb away. My sister hurriedly handed it to my father with a bench. My father took it and killed the snake without a few strokes. My heart is pounding, and the snake has been smashed and is now dead. What an abomination!

The Xiaoyan bitten by a snake fell, her head was wet, her wings fluttered to the ground, her eyes were frightened, her body trembled and she cried miserably. I asked my father, "Why don't you put it back in the nest?" Father looked at it and shook his head: "I'm afraid it's hard to live!" "

The next day, the injured Xiaoyan died. I said to my father, "People say it's not good to kill a snake!" Father took a puff at his cigarette, paused for a moment and said, "If you don't kill him, I'm afraid you will be afraid."

Suddenly a little swallow is missing, and the two old swallows seem to know what happened. From the second day of the dangerous situation, two old swallows have been guarding the nest for several nights.

after a while, the little swallows are full of feathers, and one by one they leave the nest and fly away, and the bird's nest is empty.

Maybe Xiaoyan didn't want to experience any more danger. They didn't come to my house the next spring, nor did they come in the following spring, leaving only a bird's nest hanging on the purlin.

In a foreign land, every spring, when I see swallows flying into people's homes in pairs, looking for a treasure trove to settle down, I think of my father's happy expression when swallows came to my house to nest that year. I neglected how lonely my father's heart should be when swallows no longer patronize my home in the future! A farmer's life can be seen at a glance, and his hope has long been exhausted by years. How can a pair of swallows bring good news to life? It's just a spiritual sustenance!

About the author: Zhu Qiuxia, a native of Shanxian County, Shandong Province, is fond of writing for many years. Her series of essays, such as Memories of Hometown, Years Leaving Traces, Country Stories, and novella Migrant Workers, are mainly realistic in style, recording the past, so that tiny figures can leave a little imprint in the years and be preserved as text images.