2016-11-25

【Aiden in English】

        Why do trees have to dump their trash all over human lawns? I understand the fact of how trees are supposed to help us, providing the required oxygen that all humans breathe, but isn’t there another place to dump leaves?

        Everyone is in love with the seasonal changes. People write poems, songs, and books about the colors of fall. There are countless numbers of paintings portraying the beautiful crimson, golden, and flaming pigments of autumn. Movies star some of the most climactic scenes in this season, showing a quite touching and emotional moment with the dashing bright leaves flying by, carried by the wind toward the hopeful sunset.

        Real-life doesn’t really work out that way. The wind usually blows a leaf straight into the nearest building or structure, and it just plops on the ground, lays around for a few weeks. The color turns into a soggy brown blur, staining the ground. After a while, everything “beautiful” about the leaves has left, deserting the world. The …junk remaining must be raked up and thrown away.

        Truthfully, it probably is better to “leave” it there (pun), but who would want to see mound upon mound of brown stuff lying all over the front yard? Unlike some houses and properties, my home has a few plants capable of dropping leaves on the front side. They include ten or so bushes which for some reason always save their leaves for last, the regular tree, and a giant cherry blossom (Why do we have a cherry blossom tree? Spring allergies do not agree with cherry blossom trees at all). With that, all said, the front yard actually wasn’t as bad as the latter years. Around the time of Thanksgiving, I take a few (not enough) days off school, and however little rest they give us, my mother and I usually clean up the front lawn. In years past, I gave up quite early, ending with sighs and complaints of sore arms and legs. This year, I finished through a much larger portion, but still left the leaves on the front lawn for the mother to pick up. For many reasons, this year was somewhat a significant milestone for my young lifeline, showing how I have grown. At the same time, I still do not have the endurance or the patience of raking all the leaves, symbolizing the room for improvement.

        As the sunset and the sky began to shed tears, I stared outside at the three large trash bags on the sidewalk. They were filled with the once beautiful, colorful leaves, now simple items that needed to be thrown away. The dry leaves crinkle up, falling away from the tree, which waits for next year, and the fresh start of spring.

【紅霞譯文】

        樹木為何偏偏在草地上隨處亂丟垃圾？我明白樹葉本該幫助人類，為生靈提供取之不盡用之不竭的氧氣，難道天底下沒有其它地方發泄情緒？

        大家都愛季節變化，鑑於秋天色彩，浪漫者把它寫成詩，音樂家為它譜成曲，寫手們又將它編成書。無數藝術繪畫極盡渲染之能事，用深紅金黃美艷色調襯托出“秋來情味更堪論”；電影製作也趕在這個時節捕捉最富魅力的鏡頭，漫天飛舞的樹葉牽動縷縷委婉幽情，隨風飄向那滿目期待的落日黃昏。

        現實生活並非真正如此，風常常把樹葉直接刮到附近建築物旁，它撲通掉落在地，一躺就是幾個星期，顏色逐漸灰涼暗淡，染透了地面。沒過多久，一度飄零“滿地金”的瞬間悄然消逝，整個世界空寂一片，留下來的垃圾只得被清除打理乾淨。

        實際上，最好讓葉子“留”在原地（雙關語，英語中“葉子”與“留”發音相似），但誰想眼睜睜瞧着零亂不整的殘枝碎片在門前安營紮寨？與別家房舍不同，我家前院有幾棵大樹落葉成性，另外十餘棵灌木不知怎麼搞的總是死磕到最後時刻才肯退出歷史舞台，還有常見樹、巨型櫻花樹（一定要種植櫻花樹嗎？殊不知春季過敏絕對與它們相關），總的來說，最近幾年前院看起來不算寒磣。每年這個時候正值感恩節學校放假幾天（實在不夠用），雖然休息時間少得可憐，但我和母親常常藉機清理一下草坪，以往我唉聲嘆氣，不是抱怨胳膊痛就是腿部肌肉酸，沒幹多大功夫就撂挑子；今年我負責打掃很大一塊地盤，後來還是把打包收尾工作交給了母親。基於多種因素，本年度堪稱我邁入少年時代的里程碑，表明自己已經長大；與此同時，我缺乏韌勁耐心有限，仍然做不到善始善終清理落葉，亟待今後不斷改進。

        太陽落山了，天色難掩傷心淚水。我放眼遠望院外人行道上擺放的三大袋垃圾，裡面裝的都是曾經絢麗斑斕而今被當成廢物丟棄的秋葉，它們乾枯生皺，紛紛從樹枝掉下來，要等到明年春回大地的時候才會重新萌發。