春的消息

　　冰心

　　坐在書桌旁往外看，我的窗外周圍只是一座一座的長長方方的宿舍樓，樓與樓之間沒有一棵樹木!窗前一大片的空地上，歷年來堆放著許多長長的、生了銹的鋼筋——這是為建筑附近幾座新宿舍樓用的——真是一片荒涼沉寂。外邊看不到什么顏色，我只好在屋子里“創(chuàng)造”些顏色。我在堂屋里掛上綠色的窗簾，鋪上綠色的桌布，窗臺上擺些朋友送的一品紅、仙客來，和孩子們自己種的吊蘭。在墻上掛的總理油畫前，供上一瓶玫瑰花、菊花、石竹花或十姊妹。那是北方玫瑰花公司應(yīng)我之請，按著時(shí)節(jié)，每星期送來的。我的書桌旁邊的窗臺上擺著一盆朋友送的還沒有開過花的君子蘭。有時(shí)也放上一瓶玫瑰。這一絲絲的綠意，或是說春意吧，都是“慰情聊勝無”的。

　　我想起我窗前的那片空地，從前堆放鋼筋的地方，每到春來，從鋼筋的空隙中總會(huì)長出十分翠綠的草。夏雨來時(shí)，它便怒長起來，蔓延到鋼條周圍。那勃勃的生機(jī)，是鋼鐵也壓不住的。如今，這些鋼條都搬走了，又聽說我們樓前這一塊空地將要種上花草。春寒料峭之中，我的期望也和春寒一樣地冷漠。

　　前幾天，窗外一陣陣的喧嘩笑語，驚動(dòng)了我。往外看時(shí)，原來是好幾十個(gè)男女學(xué)生，正在整理這片空地呢!女學(xué)生穿的羽絨衣、毛衣，紅紅綠綠的;男學(xué)生有的穿綠軍裝，有的穿深色的衣服。他們拿著種種工具，鋤土的鋤土，鏟土的鏟土，安放矮欄的就在場地邊上安插下小鐵欄桿�？磥砦覀儤乔斑@一大片土地，將會(huì)被這群青年人整治成一座綠草成茵，繁花似錦的公園……

　　窗外是微陰的天，這群年輕人仍在忙忙地勞動(dòng)著。今天暖氣停了，我脫下毛衣?lián)Q上棉襖，但我的心里卻是暖烘烘的，因?yàn)槲业玫搅舜旱南��?

　　中央民族學(xué)院高知樓

　　1987年3月16日

　　Signs of Spring

　　Bing Xin

　　Looking out of the window from where I sat at my desk, all I could see were rows and rows of tall apartment buildings, with not a blade of green between them. As to the empty lot beneath my window, for years it had been the dumping site of rusting iron bars left over from the construction of apartment buildings nearby. A desolate sight. The outside being devoid of color, I had no choice but to create some color indoors. I hung up green curtains in the living room, and covered the table with green table cloths. On the windowsill I put out the poinsettias that friends had given me and the bracketplant that my children had cultivated. In front of the oil painting of premier Zhou Enlai hanging on the wall, there was always a vase with roses, or chrysanthemums, or carnations. They were from the North Rose shop, which had contracted to supply me with flowers of the season every week. On the windowsill near my desk was a friend’s gift of a pot of orchids that had not yet flowered, or sometimes there would be a vase of roses. All those signs of green, or rather signs of spring, were makeshift compensations for the lack of green in general.

　　I thought of the empty lot beneath my building, the dumping site of rusting iron bars. I remember that with the coming of spring, blades of jade green grass would sprout between the iron bars. When the rains come, they would grow at a furious pace and overwhelm the rusting iron bars. Even iron could not keep down the force of bubbling life itself. By now the iron bars have been removed, and it is said that the empty lot will be planted with flowers. But in the chill of early spring, my expectations were just as dull and listless.

　　A few days ago, however, I was disturbed by sounds of laughter wafted through the window. I looked out of the window, and what do I see but groups of young men and women; they were students clearing out the empty lot! The girls were in colorful woolen sweaters and downcoat, the boys in khaki or dark colored clothes. Tools in hand, they were digging and shoveling while others raised an iron fence on the outskirts of the lot. Hopefully, the empty plot in front of our building will be turned into a beautiful garden of green shades and multi-colored flowers, all through the handiwork of these young people…

　　The sky outside is overcast, but the groups of young people are still busy at their work. The heating in the apartment has been turned off today, and I had to replace my sweater with a cotton-padded jacket. But my heart is suffused with warmth because I have seen the signs of spring.

　　1987 at the “Higher Intellectuals” Building of the Institute of National Minorities

　　(朱虹 譯)