On the road, such intermittent humming made us happily spend up to eight or nine hours in the air, not at all lonely. And the most sung was "A Night Outside Moscow" until the plane landed on the ground in Moscow. When the plane landed, from the plane overlooking Moscow, into the eyes of the blue sky green trees and clear transparent rivers, lakes, the city is surrounded by a "big ring" - highway. Moscow is very green, a city in the forest, and is said to be one of the greenest cities in the world. Moscow, as I saw it through the in-flight screen, looked like a giant spider crawling in the deep forest. There are no transportation highways directly east or west, and the spider's web radiates in all directions. Two thirds of the city is covered in forest. Therefore, Moscow is also known as the "city in the forest".
I didn't realize that on the way to Moscow, we couldn't help but sing this song; I didn't realize that we couldn't help but sing it on this land. This is a good start. Next, we sang to the forests on both sides of the highway outside the window, to the blue sky and white clouds in the distance, we were interested in the very laid-back Russian leisure scene sing, we sang to the evening sunset, to the dense woods of a birch tree sang ...... us why, my ears have been ringing with this old song? I asked myself this over and over again, searching in my mind for the red memories that China and Moscow once had, memories related to the former Soviet Union.
It can be said that our parents and our generation grew up singing Soviet songs, watching Soviet movies and talking about Russian literature. Chinese people can sing a lot of Soviet songs, such as "Katyusha", "Little Way", "Hawthorn Tree", "Song of the Youth League", "Quiet in the Fields", "Three Sets of Cars", "Cranberry Blossoms" and so on, but for the majority of Chinese people, there is no song that can surpass the influence of "A Night Outside Moscow". When I arrived in Moscow, the feeling for this song was unusually strong. The feeling was just like when you arrive at the Xiangjiang River, you can't help but sing "Liu Yang River". Each member of our delegation sang the same song with different "voices" along the way, and even in Moscow, at the end of the exchange with the Russian writers, both of us couldn't help but sing the song in both Chinese and Russian languages.
It seems to be the case that for many friends who do not have the opportunity to set foot in Russia, for the understanding of Moscow, it seems that most of the feelings also come directly from the song "the night outside Moscow". When you come to Russia, to Moscow, naturally you will want to feel the night in the outskirts of Moscow. The beautiful song brought me pleasant feelings and good memories in the embassy, on the country road in Tula, in Tolstoy's estate, and in the hearts of each of our fellow writers. Thus, in Moscow, with the memory of the "Moscow suburbs", we began to search for the "suburbs" of the song "A Night Outside Moscow".
In Moscow, we met Kang Kai, a young man from Shanxi, China, who came to Moscow 14 years ago, finished his undergraduate studies in Moscow, and then got his master's degree in Moscow, and has never been to any other big city in Russia outside of Moscow. He was our tour guide, guide and interpreter in Moscow. When we had trouble communicating with Russian writers, his fluent Russian made the Russian interpreters look bad; he played the piano for us in the restaurant to relieve our boredom; he taught us simple Russian colloquialisms; he accompanied us to the supermarket to buy things like the Russians do. ...... He accompanied us through our first days in Russia, as well as the time when we came back from St. Petersburg until we left Russia. St. Petersburg until we left Russia, and all those wonderful days we had in Moscow, he spent with us.
When we were in Moscow, Konkai, unable to resist our "passionate request", sang "A Night Outside Moscow" to us over and over again in Russian, which made us realize the flavor of the Russian version of the song, and told us the meaning of the direct translation of the Russian language as he sang it. He said he had loved and been fascinated by this song as much as we had been. I now realize that there is a very strong "Moscow complex" in the hearts of Chinese people. Muscovites love literature and reading. In the cars and subways, there are people reading newspapers and books everywhere. Kang Kai loves to read, so he knows a lot of things, especially about Moscow, and I said that he has become a Muscovite. Kang Kai told me that "Night outside Moscow", also known as "Moscow Nights", is one of the most internationally influential Soviet songs, which was later translated by Xue Fan and became a household name in China with a strong Russian flavor. He also told us that the "suburb" sung in the song refers to the woods next to Moscow University, where it is really quiet, and at night, it feels quiet wherever you go, so quiet that you can only hear the rustling of the leaves and nothing else. He told us that the original lyrics in the line "late at night in the garden around quiet, only leaves in the rustle" direct translation of the meaning of "late at night in the garden is very quiet, so quiet that even the rustle of the leaves can not be heard".
In the song, the sincere excitement and the feeling of farewell before dawn are harmoniously blended with the beauty of nature. In the last 20 years, "A Night Outside Moscow" has been more widely circulated in China. There is hardly a music publication, a collection of foreign songs in which this song is missing, and there is hardly a record company that has not recorded this song. The motherland of "A Night Outside Moscow" is Russia, and the mother tongue of "A Night Outside Moscow" is Russian, but in the world, there are far more people who sing "A Night Outside Moscow" in Chinese than in Russian, so it is no wonder that some people say: "Sung in Chinese, 'A Night Outside Moscow' has long since penetrated into our lives and incorporated our experiences and feelings, and in a sense, it has become an authentic Chinese song."
That said, there is a phenomenon that is very interesting. In recent years, I have traveled through many large and small cities, from Asia, which I am familiar with, to Europe, which I am very eager to visit, from the majestic ancient civilization to the flowery water towns, it seems to me that the romance of Moscow seems to be obviously different from that of other cities. If the romance of Paris is the Eiffel Tower on the high altitude kiss, walk hand in hand on the banks of the Seine River; if the romance of Provence is a large area of lavender into the purple sea, is a leisurely afternoon coffee, the evening afterglow of the setting sun; then, belonging to the romance of Moscow, as if condensed in the Moscow suburbs of the evening, that is the aftertaste of spirits, that is the strong color of the painting of Leben, that is so thick and heavy! , as if it is from the pair of deep dark blue eyes that look at you with an unwillingness to shed a light sadness.
Many years ago, there was a young man named Park Shu, who sang a song "Birch Forest" at the Spring Festival Gala. The next day was widely circulated, household name, there are some may be because of this song like this singer. I have thought about why in this era, will still be sought after such a song with a strong "Moscow style" song, that is probably because in the hearts of the Chinese people are still very strong "Moscow complex" it, that kind of reluctant to part, men and women friends lingering friendship, they made an appointment to see you. They made a promise "I hope that from now on, you and I will never forget". "The quiet village drifted with white snow / the pigeons flew under the cloudy sky / the birch tree was carved with the two names / they swore to love each other for the rest of their lives / ...... / the snow is still falling that the village is still peaceful / the young people faded in the birch forest /... ...the long road is coming to an end / the girl is already gray-haired / she often hears him calling from his pillow / come on darling come to this birch forest ......"
I looked out of the window at a piece of birch forest and the village houses next to the forest, and could not help but humming Birch Forest and A Night Outside Moscow, and softly sighed in my heart: what a beautiful and sorry world it is.
"Late at night in the garden, all around the quiet / only leaves rustling / night is so good / fascinating / what a quiet night / the river quietly flowing slightly rippled / the river is flooded with silvery moonlight / vaguely heard / someone sings softly / in this quiet night / my beloved sitting next to me / silently looking at me silent / I want to speak to you / but also I want to tell you, but it's hard to do so / How many words remain in my heart / The long night is almost over, the day is dawning / I wish you good luck, girl / I hope that from now on / You and I will never forget / The night outside Moscow ......" The moral of the lyrics is very subtle, all is so natural, so pure, so completely beautiful. Couples in the birch forest outside Moscow tell each other how they feel, they love each other, but do not express it directly. In such a night, the clouds cover the moonlight, and everything becomes shy. In such a night perhaps everything can be entrusted to each other. Rich language in an instant becomes pale, nothing is superfluous, are not enough to express all the subtle feelings of the heart. Who let love is originally a kind of hundred turns? We can imagine, in those days, perhaps they have not had time to taste the sweetness of love, to be separated by thousands of mountains. That night, the moon is still misty, the birch forest came from the hidden sobbing, the girl escaped the reproach of her parents, came here to send off their sweetheart, he will leave early tomorrow morning, far away to the battlefield, who do not know when to come back, maybe tomorrow, maybe never come back again. They stare at each other, trying to carve each other into their minds, oh, and maybe a deep hug, after all maybe tomorrow is the end of the sea. I guess, they must say: "From now on, never forget ......"
The summer in Moscow is very charming, the city is neat and clean, the scenery along the highway is beautiful and unique. That day, after dinner, we waited for the bus to pick us up to take us to the Lenin Railway Station to take the train to St. Petersburg, during which we had a few hours to sit on the grass and walk, watch the sunset, sing, dance, read books and play poker. Wandering through a suburb like Moscow, humming songs like these, you can't help but get lost in contemplation from time to time if you're not careful. We stood right next to the forest on the side of the road and sang that song, and then braked to a lot of old Russian-Chinese songs, and the four of us women couldn't help but dance in a foreign country. The Russians walking their dogs, some of them slowed down, some stopped to look at us, and smiled at us.
Once upon a time, we also had such a parting, and friends and relatives, and life has been placed in the heart of the love, we tightly pull out the memories, like pulling out a hidden in the heart of the fine silk, too fine mood has long faded, this moment has been unable to say that the moment of the parting of the taste is what. So, were we at the station? On the street at the end of the alley? Look, no matter what time, no matter what kind of person, in this kind of scenery, will not be able to help but ask many years ago that self, or, do not ask anything, has long been drunk in this kind of scenery, these old songs, so that the dusty long time mood took out, easy to breathe through the air. In any case, we do not necessarily talk to each other in such a birch forest, we do not necessarily have the sadness and helplessness of World War II, two such sweet hearts, how can we part?
Real art has no borders, real art is never buried, the more connotation, the more depth of the work, its artistic charm is often not recognized at once. Just like this song "A Night Outside Moscow". It is said that this song has gone through some twists and turns in its introduction to the market. It was 1956, when the USSR was holding the National Games, and the Moscow Film Studio produced a large documentary called "In the Days of the Sporting Congress". The studio invited the famous composer Solovyov Sedoi to compose the score for the movie. Serdoy scored the music for his movie. The composer, in collaboration with the poet Madusovsky, wrote four interludes for the movie, one of which is "Evening outside Moscow". The song combines some of the characteristics of Russian folk songs and Russian urban romances, but with a twist. Although it is a short song, it shows the master's craftsmanship. When the song was taken for recording, the head of the music department of the studio was not satisfied with it and said to Solovyov Shedoi nonchalantly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry". The head of the studio's music department was not satisfied with the recording of the song and said to Solovyov Sedoi nonchalantly: "This new work of yours is very mediocre. I didn't expect a famous composer like you to write such a thing." A pot of cold water poured over the composer's head. After the movie was released, however, the song became popular with young people. The following year, it won a gold medal at the 6th World Youth Gala. Young people from all over the world boarded the train and said goodbye to Moscow singing "I hope that from now on you and I will never forget the night outside Moscow". Since then, this mesmerizing song has traveled beyond the borders of the USSR and started its global journey.
"The suburbs of Moscow" now? Why did the "suburb" refer to this place? With a few questions in mind, we drove all the way to the outskirts of Moscow.
On that day, two days after leaving, we returned to Moscow from St. Petersburg, and it was dawn when Konkai received us at the train station, and he took us to have breakfast at the international students' restaurant in the basement of Pear Blossom Hotel across the overpass from the General Staff Military University of Science and Technology. While we were having breakfast, Kang Kai sat down at the piano and played a few piano pieces for us, including "A Night Outside Moscow" and "I Love You, China". Then he took us on Sparrow Hill, to see Moscow at dawn and Moscow University in the morning. We came to the heights of the Teplostanskaya plateau, the highest point in Moscow (Moscow is located in the middle of the Russian plains, on the banks of the Moskva River, and the terrain is flat, with only the southwestern part of the city having this plateau, which is only 253 meters high). At the time, it was a sleepy land. Konkai pointed to the birch forests outside the university and said, "This is the place where "A Night Outside Moscow" is sung. This is the famous "suburb"! We have finally arrived at "that suburb"!
The dawn in the suburbs of Moscow is also so quiet, so gentle and sentimental. It looks like. Last night there was a rave here, bottles of all kinds piled up around the garbage cans, many cars, motorcycles, and students nearby, racing friends, and many young people around the private cars, lazily waiting for the day to dawn, waiting for the city to wake up with them.
Take a few of us to feel. I have long heard that in Moscow there are large expanses of birch forests, and I love the outskirts here because of the birch forests. Because Moscow (including the area within the ring road) covers an area of 900 square kilometers, including the outer green belt *** for 1725 square kilometers. Moscow is the most populous city in Europe with very few people in the outskirts, people that are mere accents in the landscape picture. We walked from the side of the Moscow University (facing the entrance to the University of Moscow), along the right side of a random walk into a birch forest, a large tree in front of us.
It has been said that Russia and the birch tree produced an unbreakable bond, perhaps no other tree is more adapted to the natural conditions and spirit of Russia than the birch, the first history of the Russian land was written on birch bark, and in the ancient rural schools of Russia's exercise books were also made of birch bark. Students who did not study hard were punished with "birch porridge" (beatings with birch branches). This porridge was feared not only by students who did not study hard, but also by diseases, because birch branches and leaves contained aromatic substances that were very beneficial to the human body and could be used to ward off diseases. For this reason, Russians have long had the custom of bathing with a broom made of birch branches in the bathhouse. It is not for nothing that the Russian words "birch" and "cherish" are from the same root, as the birch tree cares for the human body and brings great benefits to people. For example, the wine made from the black-brown fungus growing on the trunk of the birch tree can overcome diseases and drive away death; the solution made from the birch buds can be used for washing hair; the birch tree can be used to extract tar, and the tar soap made from it according to the ancient prescription can treat skin injuries. Birch also brings people light and warmth, and its trunk is the best wood and fuel. Once upon a time peasants used it to build durable huts, for lighting, heating and bonfires - because it burns for a long time and produces the most heat. In addition, according to the tour guide, Russian birch furniture has long been in the world, and a type of wood called Karelian birch is particularly valuable because of its smooth texture and soft feel. The cross-section of the grain is very special, after processing is very much like elephant bones. Also, the bark of the birch tree contains the same composition as oak bark, which is strong and impermeable. People have long used it to make lightweight but strong buckets and year-round wearable bark shoes. In winter you can wear these shoes not only across the Alps, and even to the Arctic Ocean, because wearing it feet will not be soaked, and will not be frozen. It seems that not only is it an unexplained relationship, but the Russians regard the birch tree as a treasure, and everywhere it can be fully utilized to bring convenience and wealth to the Russians. The forest is scattered with dappled light, full of wild, shady dense forest, birch trees wearing green dress, those swaying trees stand tall, full of vitality, full of mystery. Some grew to over 20 meters tall, with upright and beautiful trunks, with tiny branches, some with many small tumors on top. At this time it was felt that most likely no other tree is better adapted to the natural conditions and spirit of Russia than the birch, because at this time it is impossible to find a more beautiful landscape than the birch. At this time it seems that the summer cannot be truly pleasant without the birch. No wonder, the birch tree has always been one of the eternal heroes of Russian folk songs, poems, fairy tales and legends. The Russian words "ереза" and "еречь" are from the same root, because the birch tree cares for the human body and brings great benefits to people, and no one can surpass it, so in the birch forests there is no other tree species. The It is a beautiful painting. Along the path through the forest, you can see many local people walking or running with their dogs.
The people of Moscow like to drink, but they are not too particular about the food. The ladies usually drink champagne and fruit wines, while the men favor vodka, which is a kind of white wine made from grain. A good vodka has a high degree of alcohol, but it is not easy to drink after the head. The square, the woods, and everywhere you look, bottles of liquor are tipped over.
Moscow people especially love small animals, like cats, dogs, etc., the forest has a lot of all kinds of birds, I do not know what people in the forest in many trees tied one after another empty bottles or empty cans, that is to allow passers-by to put food and water for the birds.
Here, no one knew me, and I knew no one. But none of them seemed curious about my existence. It was as if I had been thrown in time and space in such a strange place, but inside I was at immense peace.
That day, we walked freely in the "famous" "Moscow suburb" next to Moscow University, the world's civilization, and in retrospect, it was such a rare and precious time when we flew more than 10,000 kilometers to Moscow, and then to its suburb, and walked there. Its outskirts, where we walked ....... Only, we weren't at night, we were in the pre-dawn when all of Moscow was still asleep. Small cars flew by on the highway, and their shrill chirping like racing cars with expanded decibels could be heard from afar, and still the beautiful melody of the old song echoed in our ears. After dawn, it was as quiet as the night, and everything was peaceful and beautiful. One of the great things about being in a foreign land is the absence of all sorts of inexplicable interruptions. It's possible to slow ourselves down a bit to catch up and wait for our souls. Beautiful love, beautiful stories take place in such places ......
The forests on the outskirts of Moscow are so beautiful with fragrant grass, and all kinds of birches stand around them. Whenever you visit a region, you can feel the natural scenery there, and of course coming to Russia is no exception, the birch trees are so many and so dense that I can't figure out if Moscow is a city in the birch forest or if the birch forest is a forest in Moscow. Before going to Russia, through the network learned that the birch tree is Russia's "national tree", but also because it is the national tree, so it has become one of the eternal heroes of Russian folk songs, poems, fairy tales and legends. When I personally stood on this land, I really felt the birch tree standing quietly here, which usually grows to a height of 20-25 meters, with an upright and beautiful trunk, small branches and many small tumors on it. It is also because of the white bark that grows on the roots of the tree that it has such a chic name - birch. Muscovites, too, are particularly fond of flowers and have some planted in their homes, while I would see baskets of them at the train station carried by people visiting friends who seemed to have come from this suburb.
The landscape is as beautiful as the Russian painters' paintings, which are about their landscapes and their lives. In the painter's paintings, the birch trees in the birch forest are always full of "eyes", and it is the same here, all kinds of thick and thin trunks, big and small eyes, seem to jump out and scare you. But this will not make you afraid, but is the spirit of life, is a kind of reverence for life. See? No matter what you are doing, there is always a pair of eyes staring at you, forcing you to be brave, forcing you to be honest with yourself. I don't know whether it's because this is a materialistic era, or we ourselves have long abandoned the pure heart out of the body, so that no thought of living beings and we can make friends, and even imagined that they will be with them and produce a **** sound. The birch tree became our friend, and we would like to take such a pure friendship to heaven. The sadness of the birch tree is a melody we will never understand ...... such "eyes", even if not from the birch tree, but also from your heart!
Walking in the forest full of leaves, the feet ringing a melodious sound. Like a horse-drawn carriage crushing standing water on an empty street, when I reached out and touched the bare trunks of the birch forests, as I did when I first touched the Yellow River, I felt a palpable warmth. I am convinced that they are not fundamentally different from me, and that the same blood flows through them. I have always admired the upright image of the birch forest, looking at the birch forest in front of me, I realized a truth: positive and straight is the first condition on which they rely for survival, which tree in the growth of deviation from the direction, that is to say, means the loss of sunlight and death. It is because each tree is straight upward growth, they each occupy the space is not much, they can be gathered into a forest, and live together in harmony and peace. I think this eternal and just law of survival in the world of trees and forests also applies to human society. No matter what kind of environment she is in, whether the sun is abundant, whether the climate is suitable, she is fearless, firm will, determined to stand up. Birch tree style make the whole forest world for the fall. She is closely united, selfless and unique. In the thousands of trees, she stood leisurely, releasing a passion, a spirit. She does not rest on her laurels, she is not greedy for enjoyment, and she reveals the virtue of simplicity.
Like the Parisians, here also like a slow life, but the difference is that Russia's land is vast, and people here will be even slower than the Parisians, and it seems that people here do not like to work overtime, and they work very late, 10 o'clock to go to work slowly, and get off work very early, and they get off work at 5 o'clock. The vastness of Russia has fostered a leisurely outlook on life and unique values among Russians. Konkai told a story about his own experience. He saw an old lady sitting on the beach for days looking at the sea. You asked her, "Are you waiting for someone? She says, "No. You ask her if she is here to reminisce about the good old days. She said, no. Waiting for the result you can not imagine, that is a novel language - the old lady said, I am enjoying the time inch by inch.
Yes, such a nice birch forest, such a nice sun, such a nice moon, the Russians can not pay attention to leisure?
After work Russians do not like the superior arbitrarily call to call overtime. If called, that is overtime pay to talk, but also to see whether they are willing to go. When you go to work is also a kind of enjoyment seems to be in order. You again in a hurry, they will not be in a hurry, in the customs border control, will take several times longer than us, no three or four hours you can not enter Moscow; in the supermarket cash registers, standing in front of me in the customer's shopping cart there are ten pieces of the same goods, the cashier will be piece by piece slowly and patiently scanning the price. The Russians' rigid adherence is something we have come to fully appreciate these days. In Moscow, we encountered pouring rain, saw the sprinkler from the rain spraying through, the workers do not care about the rain in the manual sprinkling is how superfluous, no matter how wet and clean the street at this time, no matter how much of a waste of water, he is only in this work time to complete this he should do the work itself so as to receive a paycheck. And, the man standing by the roadside control, although no one needs him ...... All in all, I feel that people here are fully enjoying the passage of time, I accidentally have been experiencing the slow life here.
After nine o'clock in the evening, there is no disco, no stalls, but can always be idle.
The forest provides people here with a leisurely lifestyle, and people here are fully enjoying the feeling of time passing, and we were infected by it, so we sang "A Night Outside Moscow" in the woods on the street where they were walking their dogs, and some of my companions who couldn't remember the lyrics sang along with us.
We really left Moscow singing the song "A Night Outside Moscow". At that moment, I also remembered a few lines from the Moscow city song "My Moscow": "I love the rustle of the woods on the outskirts of the city, and the big bridges over the canals, I love to go for a walk in the city's Red Square, and listen to the Kremlin bells ringing. Everywhere people are singing for you, in the city, in the village ......"