Prose on herding cattle in the past

In 1970s, agricultural mechanization in China was just a dream. As the main production tool of plowing and harrowing fields in rural areas, cattle are the main property of production teams, and farmers regard them as treasures. Therefore, it is particularly important to feed the cows fat and release them. Who to arrange for grazing, the production team sometimes meets to discuss, there is no patience, no love and no sense of responsibility, and there are no children with bad family composition. After attending primary school, I became one of the few cowboys in the production team at that time, which not only reduced the burden of earning work points at home, but also proved that I was trustworthy. My parents are very happy and I am very proud.

Fiona Fang Jili, the hometown was a big village at that time, with a population of more than 1000, with a per capita arable land of about one mu, plus more than 2,000 mu of sandbar land, with a daily work score of 1.2 yuan, which is one of the highest villages in the thirteen brigades of the commune. The village is divided into four production teams, and my home is in the fourth team. There are 14 or 15 large and small cows in the team, which are managed in a unified way and arranged for work, but only about half of them are really suitable for work. Because it is a plain area, all the limited land is used for reclamation. At this time, the cattle in the field have nowhere to put. If you put it on the ridge with the yellow cattle, it will not only be tiring, but also prevent the yellow cattle from "grabbing" the crops in the rice field at all times, not to mention paying attention to the polluted grass when spraying pesticides on the crops. In order to avoid disaster, walking on the edge of the field sometimes requires putting on a bamboo "cow mouth cage" and taking it off when it is safe. If the cow accidentally steps on the paddy field, the more you chase it, the more it goes to the middle, the farther it goes, and the wider it steps on, but there is no other way, impatience and heartache. The only better way is for us to hold the oxen hand in hand, like the camel caravan in the movie, with 10 or 20 heads in a straight line, marching in a chaotic pace towards the levee in the northeast of the village and the endless green sandbars.

At the bottom of the sandbar, on the north bank of Yuanhe River, 0/00 meters away from my home/kloc-. Due to the influence of geographical conditions, I don't know which year and month it was alluvial by Yuanhe River into an irregular beach with an area of about 2,500 mu. Before it was developed, there were thorns everywhere, and weeds covered the knees. Occasionally, there were a few weeds in several places, and the alluvial Luofengsha Mountain made it look desolate. Later, people gradually changed the face of the sandbar, chiseled through thorns, turned over the ground to fertilize, and built small dikes to prevent the Yuanhe River from going straight to the sandbar. Then, wheat, peanuts, rape, buckwheat, sweet potato and other crops were planted. A few years later, a fruit forest farm was built and nearly a thousand acres of fruit trees were planted. In the dry season in winter, a large area of dry riverbed will be exposed in the sandbar, but in spring, all the trees will turn green, the land will recover, and a large number of lush grass will grow on the riverbed. So at that time, dams, beaches and orchards around sandbars were the best places to put cattle.

Every morning, before the sun rises, we rub our hazy eyes and put on thin fog clothes. Urged by the singing of birds, we took the cows that had eaten dry straw all winter out of the cowshed and ate fresh grass on the beach. Along the way, the scalpers tandem. Some cowboys lie on the backs of cows and are confused for a while before they fully wake up. On the way to herd cattle, frogs on the roadside will sing tirelessly, one after another, endlessly; Some unknown insects will also catch up with the morning, look for the elegance of dew, and pose various dance postures, like provoking a sleepy shepherd boy. On the beach by the river, the grass stained with dew is as attractive as fresh noodles covered with chopped green onion, which is the favorite of cattle. We tied the cow's rope to the horn and let it run, fight and eat grass at will. Once these cows, who have been suppressed for a winter, get rid of the shackles and get free, they are full of different styles like urchins. As soon as the naughty ox let go of the reins, he spread his hooves and ran like an old friend who has not seen you for a long time. He came to meet each other from afar and smelled it here and there, which was very affectionate.

Zhuang Gui and Cui Hua are the best friends in the production team. Meeting at first sight is like a man and a woman in love, meeting in another place on the beach, smelling each other's smell, occasionally looking up, grinning happily, or rubbing against each other's body, during which the oxtail keeps swinging, as if to imply "I like you" and that friendship. When some unfriendly bulls meet cows, they naturally don't communicate with each other and go their separate ways coldly. In order to compete for their beloved cows, some aggressive and majestic bulls met their opponents, as if they had a deep hatred. From a distance, they will aim their horns at each other and fly over, only to hear a bang, the four corners collide and sparks fly, and both sides try their best to resist until one side is exhausted and runs away with its tail between its legs. Sometimes when you meet a pair of evenly matched bulls, the scene is even more intense. The two sides are deadlocked and do not give in to each other. At this time, it is necessary for the bold cowherd to go over and help dredge it, while desperately dragging their respective cow ropes and beating the cow's head with bamboo sticks. This happens three or four times a year, which is very lively.

Summer is the hardest time to herd cattle, especially in the "double grab" season. In the early morning, before the production team started, the cowherd was divided into several groups according to the labor arrangement in the team. In the constant shouts of their parents, they rubbed their sleepy eyes, took turns to take the cows out of the cowshed of the production team, and found a grassy ridge or pond to feed the cows. Because we have to arrange oxen to plow the fields after the start of work in the morning, we can't go far away to herd cattle at this time, let alone go to Shazhoutian. Therefore, cowboys often carry a small bamboo basket on their backs and cut some grass when the cows plow the fields, so that the cows can eat a few mouthfuls of grass when they rest. The hardest thing is that at noon, adults have to go home for dinner and take a nap, but we can only grab a few mouthfuls of rice in a hurry, bring mowing tools and rush to the edge of the field to lead the cattle to the pond with shade and grass for them to enjoy slowly. You can't rest at this time. You should pick up a sickle and mow the grass everywhere.

Under the scorching sun, we have to look back at the cows from time to time while mowing the grass. In summer, noon is long, the sun is fierce, and it won't take long for the skin to get hot. When you step on the ground barefoot, you always feel blisters on your feet, which are hot and painful. The clothes were wet and dry, dry and wet, and soon they were covered with a layer of white salt frost. Open fields, sparse young trees, no shady places to hide, only cows, while looking forward to the early departure and late return of the production team. In the evening, the adults who plow the fields have finished their work, and we are going out to herd cattle again. Night is a place for mosquitoes and flies. As soon as night falls, these hateful guys will fly and spin freely, fiddle with all kinds of dances, and occasionally bump into their faces and buzz in their ears, which is extremely annoying. Cattle will keep wagging their tails to drive them away when they eat grass. When the stars are all over the sky, frogs croak, and cows' bellies are gradually round, we cowboys still feel proud and down-to-earth at this time, even though we are covered in mud, smelly sweat and mosquito bites.

Autumn is the most exciting season for cowboys. The air is crisp in autumn, and the weather is slowly cooling down, so there are many things that can be eaten raw. Therefore, in the farmer's vegetable garden and the fruit tree forest of the production team, it is a place that friends who do not have enough to eat often remember. The melon garden is guarded, so we put the knowledge we have learned from' the movie of the battle movie' into proper use. First, arrange a few "scouts" to look around the terrain and remember where there is food to dabble in. Then make a picking plan, and then arrange who will keep watch, who will pick, how to transfer after picking, and how to distribute afterwards. Have a detailed plan. Because the plan is strict, there are few failures. In every movement, the friends move forward and roll on the spot, constantly erasing the traces left behind them, which is very thrilling and interesting, just like the scene of attacking enemy positions in the movie. Of course, the small fish and shrimps in the river, the lotus roots in the lake, the water chestnuts in the pond, and the crops such as sweet potatoes and peanuts in the plot are also our delicacies. After the "sneak attack" was successful, we made a wok with mussels or tiles, a clay stove with mud and broken bricks, picked up some dry firewood, lit it and stirred it slowly. Although there is not much oil and salt, it still tastes sweet and delicious. The soot on the face, the dirt on the mouth and the grass clippings on the hands are completely ignored. Everyone is eating, laughing and happy.

The most interesting thing is to bake sweet potatoes and taro on sandbars and beaches. That day, after we drove the cows to the grass on the beach, we divided the work. One group is responsible for digging some sweet potatoes or taro in the nearby farmland, and the other group is responsible for collecting some firewood in the fruit forest on the embankment. Done, find a few stones to build an earthen stove to make a fire, then wrap sweet potatoes and taro seeds in thick layers of mud with water and some mud and throw them into the fire for barbecue. When the wood fire in the earthen stove is finished, the sweet potato and taro will be cooked. Peeling off the hard mud outside, sweet potatoes and taro were steaming and fragrant, and everyone enjoyed a full meal with a smile. Later, roasted cicadas, dragonflies, loaches and other small animals followed this practice, which is a rural delicacy that children in the city will never enjoy.

Cattle herding is a part of childhood. Although my life was poor at that time, I was very happy inside. Every day, Lang Lang's laughter always reverberates on the ridge of the field and on the beach. After playing the ball, I don't forget to help my family lighten some burdens. So we use the gap between grazing cattle to collect firewood, salvage pig grass, make cow dung into cakes to dry for firewood cooking, or pick some yellow and tender spring vegetables as dishes on the plate. Those active partners, regardless of their parents' scolding, ran wildly in the empty sandbar field, chasing butterflies and birds for a while, weaving vines into straw hats for a while, wearing them on their heads like the PLA in the movie, and kept shouting, Go, kill. ...

Cattle grazing can not only earn work points, but also earn rations. Those who are not appointed as cowboys will ask their parents to talk to the production team leader, but only a few people pass. Cowherd boys from different production teams get together to talk and laugh and play various games. They are very happy. In a place full of grass, cows are eating grass slowly and people are playing slowly. The cows are full, the people have had enough fun, and the sun has set. So, we rode on the cow's back, humming a tune, humming along with the cow's voice, and walked home against the sunset. The day passed happily.

Time flies, time is running out. In retrospect, the time when I was young was simple and real, leaving behind the most beautiful innocence and the simplest life. Without the pressure of life, everything is real and beautiful. Now the children who used to herd cattle in the production team are over 500 years old. Maybe a few years later, the sweat and lost youth they spilled on the backs of cows will become stories that the younger generation don't want to hear, just like the spinning wheel and stone mortar that I didn't know when the older generation was spinning and weaving. As a symbol of a specific era, it will eventually become the past. Even if I think of it occasionally, it is in a casual afternoon, or in the greetings of old friends I haven't seen for years!