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.

【红霞译文】

        树木为何偏偏在草地上随处乱丢垃圾？我明白树叶本该帮助人类，为生灵提供取之不尽用之不竭的氧气，难道天底下没有其它地方发泄情绪？

        大家都爱季节变化，鉴于秋天色彩，浪漫者把它写成诗，音乐家为它谱成曲，写手们又将它编成书。无数艺术绘画极尽渲染之能事，用深红金黄美艳色调衬托出“秋来情味更堪论”；电影制作也赶在这个时节捕捉最富魅力的镜头，漫天飞舞的树叶牵动缕缕委婉幽情，随风飘向那满目期待的落日黄昏。

        现实生活并非真正如此，风常常把树叶直接刮到附近建筑物旁，它扑通掉落在地，一躺就是几个星期，颜色逐渐灰凉暗淡，染透了地面。没过多久，一度飘零“满地金”的瞬间悄然消逝，整个世界空寂一片，留下来的垃圾只得被清除打理干净。

        实际上，最好让叶子“留”在原地（双关语，英语中“叶子”与“留”发音相似），但谁想眼睁睁瞧着零乱不整的残枝碎片在门前安营扎寨？与别家房舍不同，我家前院有几棵大树落叶成性，另外十余棵灌木不知怎么搞的总是死磕到最后时刻才肯退出历史舞台，还有常见树、巨型樱花树（一定要种植樱花树吗？殊不知春季过敏绝对与它们相关），总的来说，最近几年前院看起来不算寒碜。每年这个时候正值感恩节学校放假几天（实在不够用），虽然休息时间少得可怜，但我和母亲常常借机清理一下草坪，以往我唉声叹气，不是抱怨胳膊痛就是腿部肌肉酸，没干多大功夫就撂挑子；今年我负责打扫很大一块地盘，后来还是把打包收尾工作交给了母亲。基于多种因素，本年度堪称我迈入少年时代的里程碑，表明自己已经长大；与此同时，我缺乏韧劲耐心有限，仍然做不到善始善终清理落叶，亟待今后不断改进。

        太阳落山了，天色难掩伤心泪水。我放眼远望院外人行道上摆放的三大袋垃圾，里面装的都是曾经绚丽斑斓而今被当成废物丢弃的秋叶，它们干枯生皱，纷纷从树枝掉下来，要等到明年春回大地的时候才会重新萌发。