蝗灾

蝗虫来了。

The locusts have come.

他们说蝗虫来的时候，跟沙尘暴似的，半边天都黑了。如乌云密布，遮天蔽日。人往重灾区一站，不一会儿身上就停满了虫子，像穿了一身又硬又厚的盔甲。

They say when the locusts arrive, it looks like a sandstorm, with half the sky darkened. It’s like thick clouds obscuring the sun. When one steps into the heavily affected areas, before long, one’s body is covered in insects, like wearing a hard and thick armor.

那情景是我没有见过的。

That scene is something I have never witnessed.

还有这么一个数据，说今年闹蝗灾的地区，最高虫口密度为一万五千头/平方米。这也是我没见过的。想想看，一个平方的面积里居然能挤下一万五千只蝗虫！那肯定是虫摞虫了，而且还会垒得很高很高。

There is also a data point stating that this year in the affected areas, the highest locust density reached fifteen thousand per square meter. This is also something I have never seen. Just imagine, in a square meter, there can actually be fifteen thousand locusts! They must be piled on top of each other, and stacked really high.

一个平方一万五千只！真恶心……他们怎么算出来的？难道还一只一只地数过吗？真恶心……

Fifteen thousand locusts per square meter! That’s so disgusting… How did they come up with that number? Did they really count them one by one? So disgusting…

为了抵御这场灾害，政府号召灾区群众多养鸡。有人告诉我，养鸡灭蝗的事情还给编了新闻上了电视呢。画面的大概情景就是：村干部们全体出动，把一群鸡从山上往山下呼呼啦啦地赶，鸡们纷纷展着翅膀，光荣地浩浩荡荡冲向抗灾一线。

To combat this disaster, the government has called on the affected communities to raise more chickens. Someone told me that raising chickens to eliminate locusts even got covered in the news on TV. The general scene in the footage is that village officials all mobilized to drive a flock of chickens down the mountain, as they spread their wings, gallantly rushing towards the disaster relief frontline.

哎！肯定吃美了！

Ah! They must be having a feast!

可惜，那幕情景还是没有亲眼见过。

Unfortunately, I still have not seen that scene with my own eyes.

说到养鸡，想起了另外的一件事。十几年前塔克斯肯口岸刚刚开关的时候，我表姐也去那里做生意了。我和我妈便跟着去瞅了瞅热闹。

Speaking of raising chickens, it reminds me of another thing. More than a decade ago, when the Takushiken port first opened, my cousin went there to do business. My mother and I followed her to check out the bustling scene.

在那里，政府要求当地群众积极参与贸易活动。提倡的办法之一也是号召大家多养鸡，因为鸡下了蛋就可以用鸡蛋进行边贸互市了。

There, the government encouraged the local people to actively participate in trade activities. One of the promoted methods was to raise more chickens, as when the chickens lay eggs, they can be traded for cross-border commerce.

另外，还可以把鸡做成红烧鸡卖给外国人吃。不知道蒙古国那边有没有鸡……

Additionally, they could turn the chickens into braised chicken and sell them to foreigners. I wonder if there are any chickens in Mongolia...

呃，回过头来再说虫灾。那么多的虫，鸡能对付得了吗？一个个吃到撑趴下，也是趴在虫堆里吧？那么多的虫——每平方一万五千只……太可怕了。

Uh, back to the locust disaster. With so many locusts, can chickens really handle it? If they manage to eat enough, wouldn’t they just end up lying in a heap of locusts? So many locusts—fifteen thousand per square meter… it’s terrifying.

不过用鸡灭蝗好歹属于生物技术呢。听说还有的地方在喷药。喷药当然会更有效一些，但那么做总让人感觉不舒服：“药”比蝗虫更可怕吧？

But using chickens to combat locusts is still a biological technology, at least. I heard that in some places they are also spraying pesticides. Spraying would definitely be more effective, but it always feels uncomfortable to do that: aren’t “pesticides” more frightening than locusts?

因为它实在太“有效”了，全盘毁灭一般的“有效”，很不公平的“有效”。

Because they are just too “effective,” completely destructive in an “effective” way, it feels unfairly “effective.”

我们在深山里的库委牧场，离灾区还很远，但也能明显地感觉到蝗灾的迹象。尤其是前山一带地势坦阔的地方。

At our Kuwei Ranch deep in the mountains, far away from the disaster zone, we can still clearly sense the signs of the locust plague. Especially in the flat areas of the front mountain.

往草丛里扔一块石头，就像往水里扔一块石头似的“哗啦啦”溅起一大片。在又白又烫的土路两边，一片一片全是黑乎乎的东西。

Throw a stone into the grass, and it splashes up like throwing a stone into the water, creating a huge commotion. On both sides of the white and hot dirt road, there are patches of dark things everywhere.

开始还没在意，后来不小心踏上去一脚，踩死一大片，才知道……

At first, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but later when I accidentally stepped on one, squashing a large number, I finally realized…

我们这里的小孩子，钓鱼用的饵全都是蝗虫。不知道这有什么好吃的，鱼居然也能给骗上钩。

The kids here all use locusts as bait for fishing. I don’t know what’s so good about them, but the fish can actually be fooled.

我记得小时候，还在县城里上小学时，我经常穿过整个县城去到北山脚下找一个叫燕燕的女孩玩。她还有两个妹妹，一个叫霞霞，一个叫明明。

I remember when I was a child, still in elementary school in the county town, I often crossed the entire county to play with a girl named Yan Yan at the foot of the north mountain. She had two younger sisters, one named Xia Xia and the other Ming Ming.

她家的房子很破，很空，但是很大。院墙从南到北、山上山下地围了一大圈，差点儿就无边无际了。

Their house was very dilapidated, very empty, but very large. The yard wall encircled a huge area from south to north, up and down the mountain, almost boundless.

她们的父母总是不在家，我们就可以自由自在地在院子里跑来跑去地玩。后来我们跑了出去，外面是成片的戈壁滩、起伏的粗砾沙丘。

Their parents were often not home, so we could run freely in the yard to play. Later, we ran out, and outside was a vast expanse of gravel desert, with undulating coarse sand dunes.

我们四处捡拾干牛粪，拾回来可以当柴烧。因为她家很穷。穷人就烧这个，富人则一年四季都烧煤。

We collected dry cow dung, which could be used as fuel. Because their family was very poor. Poor families burn this, while rich families burn coal all year round.

我们去了很远很远，远得快要回不来了。后来我们回来时，红日悬在山头，晚霞辉映大地。我们放下牛粪块，开始捉蝗虫玩。

We went very far, almost getting lost. When we returned, the red sun was hanging on the mountain top, and the evening glow illuminated the land. We dropped the cow dung blocks and began to catch locusts to play.

那么多的蝗虫，那个时候就已经有那么多了。

There were already so many locusts back then.

——我们轻轻地走上前，轻轻地蹲下身子，突然罩上手，一下子就逮住了。捂在手心的虫子它虚弱地挣扎着。

- We gently walked forward, squatted down lightly, suddenly covered them with our hands, and caught them in one go. The insects struggling weakly in the palm of our hands.

因为它是活的，有生命的，于是捏在手心里总是令人异样地兴奋。它的腿能动，关节灵活；触须虽然看来和麦芒一样，但却是有感觉的，是灵敏的，再轻微的触碰都会使它迅速做出反应；还有它的翅子，那么精巧对称……

Because it was alive, it had life, so holding it in the palm was strangely exciting. Its legs could move, its joints were flexible; its antennae, though looking like wheat awns, were sensitive, reacting quickly to any slight touch; and its wings, so intricate and symmetrical…

对一只蝗虫仔细观察，从寻常中看出越来越多的不可思议时，世界就在身外鲜明了，逼近了……

When observing a locust closely, discovering more and more incredible details, the world became vivid outside, closing in…

我看到燕燕的眼睛闪着瑰丽的光。抬头一看，绯红的夕阳恰在此时全部沉落西山。天色迅速暗下来。一回头，一轮大得不可思议的金黄色圆月静止在群山之上。

I saw Yan Yan’s eyes shining with brilliant light. Looking up, the crimson sunset just sank beyond the western mountains. The sky rapidly darkened. When I looked back, an unbelievably large golden yellow full moon hung still in the mountains.

蝗虫是有罪的吗？作为自然界理所应当的一部分，它们的种种行为应该在必然之中：必然会有蝗灾出现，必然得伤害人的利益以维护某种神秘公正的平衡。

Are locusts guilty? As a natural part of the ecosystem, their various behaviors should be inevitable: locust plagues will occur, inevitably harming human interests to maintain a certain mysterious balance of fairness.

当蝗虫铺天盖地地到来的时候，我们为保护自己而使用的任何方法，其实也是对自己的另一种损伤吧？

When locusts come in droves, any method we use to protect ourselves is actually another kind of damage to ourselves, right?

唉，我们这个地方的农牧民真倒霉。不下雨的时候总是会闹旱灾，雨稍微一多又有洪灾；天气冷的时候有雪灾，太热了又有冰雹灾；秋天会有森林火灾，到了夏天呢，看看吧，又总是有蝗灾。

Alas, the farmers and herders in our area are truly unfortunate. When it doesn’t rain, there are always droughts, and when it rains a little too much, there are floods; during cold weather, there are snow disasters, and when it’s too hot, there’s hail; in the fall, there are forest fires, and in the summer, well, just look, there are always locust plagues.

此外还有风灾啊、牲畜瘟疫啊什么的。然而尽管如此，还是有那么多的人愿意在这里继续生活，并且也不认为受点天灾有什么太委屈、太想不通的。

Besides, there are also wind disasters and livestock epidemics, among other things. Yet despite all this, many people are still willing to continue living here and don’t think it’s too unfair or incomprehensible to suffer some natural disasters.

蝗虫也愿意在这里生活呢，草地一片一片地给它们咬得枯黄，于是羊就不够吃了。蝗虫真可恨，但也可怜。因为它们的初衷跟羊一样，只是找口吃的而已。

Locusts also want to live here; they are gnawing the grasslands until they turn yellow, which means there isn’t enough food for the sheep. Locusts are truly detestable, but also pitiable. Because their intention is the same as that of the sheep, they are just looking for something to eat.

比起蝗虫，羊群的规模更为庞大，并且发展态势更是不可阻挡。我们所有的行为都向羊的利益倾斜，其实是向自己的利益倾斜——我们要通过羊获得更宽裕的生活，什么也不能阻止我们向着无忧无虑的浪费一步步靠近。

Compared to locusts, the scale of the sheep flock is much larger, and the trend of growth is unstoppable. All our actions lean towards the interests of the sheep, which actually leans towards our own interests—we aim to achieve a more comfortable life through sheep, and nothing can stop us from moving closer step by step to a life of carefree indulgence.

我们真强大，连命运都能控制住了。蝗虫来一拨，就消灭一拨。我们真强大，一点儿不怕它了。

We are really powerful; we can even control our destiny. When locusts come in swarms, we eliminate one wave after another. We are truly strong, not afraid of them at all.

可是，这是不祥的……因为蝗虫仍在一拨一拨地继续前来，并且越来越难以对付（名字也越来越神气，什么“亚洲飞蝗”啊，“意大利蝗”啊……）。

However, this is ominous... because locusts continue to come in waves, and they are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with (and their names are becoming more imposing, like "Asian Migratory Locust," "Italian Locust," and so on...).

自然界的宏大程序继续有条不紊地一步步推进，无可抗拒。尽管什么也看不到什么也感觉不到，只能以本能的敏感去逼真地体验些什么。

The grand processes of nature continue to unfold in an orderly manner, unstoppable. Even though we can see and feel nothing, we can only experience something vividly through instinctive sensitivity.

只知道，“更多的那些”，已经不像蝗虫那样好打发了。又想起童年中的燕燕和明明。

All we know is that “the more numerous ones” are no longer as easy to handle as the locusts were. I also think of Yan Yan and Ming Ming from my childhood.

此时，不知她们正在世界的哪个角落里平凡地生活。已经完全忘记了过去那些蝗虫的事情，一日一日地被损耗着。

At this moment, I have no idea where they are living their ordinary lives in some corner of the world. They have completely forgotten about those locust events, being worn down day by day.