Still lush and green, two century-old sycamore trees

Outside the window of my elementary school teaching building, there are two century-old sycamore trees.

The ancients compared the phoenix tree to the "king of trees". "Menglianglu" records that "when the beginning of autumn comes, the historian Chuan Bing reports: 'Autumn is coming', and at that time one or two phoenix leaves fall in response to the sound, heralding the coming of autumn." The phoenix tree stands on the temple, which shows how noble it is.

In the past, there was the Zhou emperor who conferred the title of emperor to his brother with a tung tree leaf, and later there was the poem “The Peacock Flies Southeast” in which “pines and cypresses are planted in the east and west, and paulownia trees are planted on the left and right.”

My primary school was originally an old temple, so it is not surprising that there are sycamore trees there. This primary school, which was rebuilt on the site of an old temple, has the most beautiful opening line in the Book of Songs, "Reeds are green, white dew turns to frost," as its name.

When I was young, I was very naughty and was often punished by the teacher to stand in the corner. Because I refused to change after repeated warnings, the punishment was moved from the indoor corner to the outdoor corridor. The unique advantage of "leaning on the sycamore tree alone on the idle steps" made me look at the sycamore tree in front of me. It is taller and thicker than ordinary trees, and is thick enough for several people to hug. It can be called the "man" among trees.

In midsummer, its lush branches and leaves stretch towards the sky, just like the giant umbrella of the God of Wealth in "Journey to the West", providing a shade over my head. I am very fortunate that thanks to its shade, I did not faint from heatstroke after standing in the scorching sun for a whole day.

In the early autumn when the wind is gentle, the scattered falling sycamore leaves are like a dancer, spinning in the wind. Because the sycamore leaves are relatively thick, unlike the delicate leaves of poplars and willows, they are quiet all around. When the curled-up body is brushed by the autumn wind across the ground, it will make a loud noise. So much so that when I later listened to the ancient song "Pu Ye Dancing in the Autumn Wind", I immediately identified that the sound of the ancient zither was from the sycamore leaves, not the ginkgo leaves. In addition to falling leaves, sycamores also drop seeds. Some girls squatted down, picked them up one by one, put them in a bowl, and took them home to fry and eat, just as Wang Zengqi said, "The fried sycamore seeds are very fragrant and crispy." The sky in early autumn is high, vast, clear and transparent. The sparse and bright sycamore leaves sway in the sun like golden bells.

In the late autumn when "everything changes color and the mountains and rivers become thin", one evening, I was alone in the classroom correcting my test paper. The sky suddenly darkened, and the wind and rain blew violently. They knocked on the window lattice frantically, and also knocked on my eardrums. Through the glass window, in the thick night, the dark green outline of the sycamore tree was particularly hideous. The sound of the branches and tops shaking gave me the illusion of "ghosts crying and wolves howling". The fallen sycamore leaves seemed to be magical pottery figurines, walking in the corridor, which made people imagine more. For the first time in my life, I felt fear, but for the sake of my remaining pride and self-esteem, I resisted the urge to run to the second-floor office where the lights were still on to "seek help", but answered all the questions on the test paper alone with tears in my eyes.

The next day, winter was approaching, and I was still standing in the corridor as punishment. I looked up and saw the bare branches, which looked like a piece of oracle bone inscription. With the remaining gnarled branches, it stubbornly began to resist the erosion of wind and snow in the winter.

The seasons change, year after year. It is said that "the phoenix will not roost unless it is on the sycamore tree". Graduation season is approaching, and this primary school, which ranks at the bottom of the city in terms of comprehensive strength, actually flew out a "genuine" golden phoenix. That year, the provincial key middle school set up a junior high school department for the first time in history, and publicly recruited 30 primary school graduates in the city. Calculated, its admission rate was lower than that of Tsinghua University and Peking University. In that era when college students were still rare, being able to enter a provincial key school meant that one foot had already stepped into the university and was locked in. Therefore, many parents racked their brains and even spent a high sponsorship fee to get their children into this famous school. I have a distant relative. Because his son's score was not enough, when he found out that the principal had taken a fancy to my family's resettlement house, he actually asked my father with a smug face if he could lower the price and sell it to the principal. Of course, this was just his wishful thinking.

When a big red announcement with black characters on a red background was posted at the school gate, all the teachers and students were dumbfounded after seeing the name clearly. It was a girl whose academic performance was not outstanding. She was usually inconspicuous. She came from an ordinary working-class family and was not a genius student with a superior IQ, but she was obviously mentally precocious compared to most confused children.

The head teacher, who was about to retire, was promoted to the principal because of the student she had always looked down upon, which brought a perfect end to her nearly 40-year teaching career. That year, my primary school was merged with a neighboring school, and this happy event also added a colorful ending to the school history. We are used to seeing the parties enjoying the success and bright glory, but we often ignore the efforts and sweat behind the success. Later, I heard from the girl's mother that she was so tired from studying that she lost her hair, coughed up blood, and became as thin as a straw.

"If you don't study hard, you will only be able to sweep the streets and pull manure carts in the future!" My mother's scolding is still fresh in my ears. On the eve of graduation, I ran to a tree and stood there all night, thinking all night. I couldn't tell whether I was repenting for wasting my time or feeling reluctant to leave because of the sorrow of separation.

Many years later, I passed by my alma mater. It had changed a lot. It had become a teacher training center, and the yellow sand playground had been changed into a gravel road. Only the old plane trees were still lush and leafy, shading the mottled red brick old house as they had been for hundreds of years.

The four seasons of the phoenix tree have seen spring and bright scenery, and also dark and stormy weather... It obeys nature, but also fights against it. This is very similar to the common people living at the bottom of society, who understand their fate, but do not succumb to it, but stand up and fight against it. Decades have passed like a dream, and things have changed. Only the phoenix tree in front of the steps remains the same as it was back then. This is probably the love that plants and trees have for time.