The Pond and Something (standard:other, 2555 words)
Author: Mookoo Liang	Added: Feb 16 2006	Views/Reads: 3197/2110	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
"Something ordinary, something special; something imaginary, something sensible."

The Pond And Something 

by Mookoo Liang 

============= 

Every morning I spend about 20 minutes jogging at a senior high school
near my house. When walking toward the school, I pass by a very 
charming pond on campus. 

The pond is charming in a mysterious way. I am delighted to see it with
my eyes, and I enjoy thinking of it when it is "out of sight." Its 
attraction, existing outwardly over there and inwardly in my heart, is 
some sort of "wholeness of beauty" -- composed of quite a number of 
beautiful things. 

The pond is well fenced around, partly with a concrete wall and partly
with steel bars, not to mention the deep ditch just outside the bank. 
On the narrow bank are some of my favorite trees such as lemon, banana, 
and plum trees. There are, of course, some shorter bushes and some very 
tall weeds. 

Neither these plants nor the fences keep me from seeing the beautifully
designed and constructed pavilion on the island in the middle of the 
pond. 

The small island, with such an eye-catching pavilion standing on it, is
surrounded by greenish blue water in the pond. I like this pond very 
much. There are no fierce billows here, but glistening ripples on the 
surface of water. 

In the water there must be lots and lots of fish, as the signs "No
fishing!" imply. (Both fish and fishing are significant symbols for 
many people, aren't they?) 

Another two signs read: "Water deep & dangerous!" I am unable to swim.
But every time I pass by the pond, I am attracted to those graceful 
swimming birds -- a pair of geese and about a dozen ducks. 

At this pond, most of the ducks (called Green Heads) are dark in color;
only two of them are as bright as the two geese, which are snow-white. 
They all swim in a leisurely and lovely way! There seems every reason 
to believe that this pond is their Garden of Eden. 

In addition to the ducks and geese, I sometimes see a particular bird
flying out of the woods behind the pond. 

That kind of bird (also pure white, rather thin, with long legs and a
long beak; called Bai Lusi in Chinese) used to be the best of my 
natural friends when I was a teenager helping graze a cow in the 
country. Unfortunately, due to environmental changes, the population of 
Bai Lusi has been greatly reduced these years. 

So the bird, supposedly dwelling somewhere in the woods, doesn't come
out very often. I miss it very much in some particular seasons. 

Oh, my! I'm missing quite a few beautiful things: Although I go to the
nearby school for a jog every morning, I seldom pay a true visit to the 
pond; although I am interested in meditating (or daydreaming), in no 
way do I feel really free to stay in such a picturesque scene all 
afternoon. 

Like many others tied up in this busy earthly world, I seem to have lost
my paradise. But I still have strong feelings toward the pond. I feel 
it practical to regain my own "secret garden" by visiting the pond more 
often. 

*  *  *  *  * 

In fact, there is a bridge (named Rainbow and shaped like one) which
leads to the small island in the middle of the pond. Before crossing 
the bridge, I need to walk across the front yard of a destroyed 
building. 

According to educated seniors in this village, the building lying in


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