好日子，雨水多Good Days, Plenty of Rain

国庆节第四天，雨水多。趁着节日的好辰光，四个老表兄弟姐妹结队，早上从嵊州出发，中午赶到了杭城，连忙去瞧一瞧不曾谋过面的小孙女。见面好，见面真，只是小宝贝睡着了，只好拉拉手，权当见过面了。

The fourth day of the National Day holiday, and plenty of rain. Making the most of the festive days, four of us cousins set off together from Shengzhou in the morning and reached Hangzhou by noon, hurrying to see a little granddaughter we had never met. It was good to see her, good to see her for real — only the little darling was fast asleep, so we just held her tiny hand and called it a meeting.

午饭是大家一起啃了羊肉串，盖浇饭，大碗面。然后打着雨伞，结队游西湖。本来计划从雷峰塔开始，走苏堤，敬岳王，再走白堤。结果心心念念的雷峰塔，人山人海，太多了，排队排得老长老长。只好更改计划，直接徒步走上苏堤。苏堤口，一个小孩站苏公像前。我调侃你会写诗吗？嘿嘿，不会写诗的两妯娌也跟着拍照。照片一张，到此一游。现在到此一游，上抖音拍短视频，有声音有动态画面，科技感十足。

Lunch was lamb skewers, rice with toppings and big bowls of noodles, all of us together. Then, under umbrellas, we set off as a group to see West Lake. The plan was to start at Leifeng Pagoda, walk the Su Causeway, pay our respects to King Yue, then walk the Bai Causeway. But Leifeng Pagoda, which we had so looked forward to, was a sea of people — far too many, with a queue that went on and on. So we changed plans and walked straight onto the Su Causeway. At its entrance, a child stood in front of the statue of Lord Su. “Can you write poems?” I teased. Heh — the two sisters-in-law, who can’t write poems either, posed for photos too. One photo: proof we were here. These days, “we were here” means a short video for Douyin, with sound and moving pictures — very high-tech.

雨中漫步，即景浪漫，一把年纪的人，操着年轻态的心。那新鸳鸯蝴蝶梦的歌声，不时响起：几千年来，那花花世界应该是揣个明白，还是装个糊涂？

Strolling in the rain, the scene itself was romantic: people of a certain age, with young hearts. Every so often the old song “New Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies Dream” played: for thousands of years now, are we meant to see this dazzling world clearly, or just play the fool?

苏堤秋雨一场寒，一件冲锋衣拆分两件，刚好防那细雨，又抵御风寒。物尽其用，那是刚刚的好。

An autumn rain on the Su Causeway brings a chill. We split one three-in-one jacket into two — just right to keep off the drizzle and hold back the cold. Making full use of things: that is just right.

苏堤北端是岳王庙，那精忠报国的武穆遗书，还我河山的报国思想，让我们洗礼了一次爱国主义教育。那满江红的壮怀激烈，激励了一代又一代中华儿女。其实在清代以前，岳飞是一代武圣，因为岳飞抗金，清朝是金人的后人，所以清廷推出关羽来当武圣。但从关羽的谥号“壮缪”来看，“武而不遂，名与实爽”，关羽的名声大于武功，以至于大意失荆州，断了蜀汉的战略。因此武圣这个名号，岳飞当之无愧。

At the north end of the causeway is the Temple of King Yue. Yue Fei’s writings on serving the country with utmost loyalty, and his cry of “Give us back our land,” gave us a lesson in love of country all over again. The fierce heart of his “The River All Red” has stirred generation after generation of Chinese. In fact, before the Qing dynasty Yue Fei was honored as the martial sage. Because he had fought the Jin, and the Qing rulers descended from the Jin people, the Qing court put Guan Yu forward as the martial sage instead. But look at Guan Yu’s posthumous title, Zhuangmiu — “brave but unsuccessful; his name exceeded his deeds.” His fame was greater than his feats of arms, so much so that through carelessness he lost Jingzhou and broke Shu Han’s strategy. The title of martial sage belongs, by every right, to Yue Fei.

是夜，凤凰窠里小聚在杭城，杯来盏去，一喝就多，以至于话不投机半句多。

That night the Phoenix Nest — as our family calls itself — got together in Hangzhou. Cup after cup went round; once we started we drank too much, until, as the saying goes, when talk stops agreeing, even half a sentence is too many.

万丈红尘三杯酒，千秋大业一壶茶，是非只在多口舌，沉默从来是金声，最是得意处，又是失心时。俗话说得好：智者寡言愚者善辩，继续修行呗……

A whole red dusty world in three cups of wine; a thousand years of great deeds in one pot of tea. Right and wrong come only from too many tongues; silence has always rung like gold. The moment you are most pleased with yourself is the moment you lose your head. As the saying goes, the wise say little and fools love to argue. On with the practice, then…