The World Part I
1The willows along the streets and riverbanks had, without knowing it, begun to sprout green shoots, and the peach and apricot trees were already adorned with rosy flower buds. If you pay close attention, you'll see that on the sunny hillside, amidst the withered grass, some young shoots of green grass have emerged. Simultaneously, some other trees' branches have begun to exhibit bright, vibrant colors, budding with youthful vigor, like a young girl just beginning to develop.
2Honestly, Old Han Yu was always proud of his children, and one by one, they were sensible and well-behaved, growing strong and healthy.
This is the entirety of his life's meaning. This is the total value of his existence.
He stooped in his tall frame, staring blankly at the dark Temple Peak Mountain across the Erhai River. The mountain remained as it had when he was young—not an inch higher, not an inch lower. But he had aged, and his inadequacy had deepened…
3Yes, life is like this. When we were all children, there were differences in family circumstances between individuals, but the differences between children themselves weren't significant. However, as we grow older, the differences in our life paths can be immense—sometimes, dramatically so—some are even worlds apart.
4Above the city, wisps of light blue smoke drifted lazily. The air was moist, filled with the scent of thawing rivers and land. The sunlight wasn't glaring, but warmly shone on the still-bare earth…
5As time passes, everyone is changing.
6Human beings live for the importance of family affection, even if life is full of hardships and difficulties, as long as this affection exists, one will feel a warm comfort. If this affection didn't exist, how sad our lives would be!
7The distant mountains, crisscrossing valleys and streams, and ravines, were gradually becoming darker green. Corn, sorghum, wheat, and sunflowers had grown halfway. Bean crops were blooming everywhere: white yellow peas, golden runner beans, and pink kidney beans, all blooming in the green foliage…
8Think back to when we were seventeen or eighteen – we may have all had similar experiences. This is a period of intense emotional activity for a person; like molten lava, surging and flowing, prone to smoke and bursts of emotion in every crack of feeling!
9Ordinary does not equal vulgar. He may simply be an ordinary person for his entire life, but he should be an extraordinary individual. In so many commonplace situations, he should exhibit unconventional thoughts and actions.
10A person's greatness can be displayed in the most ordinary things.
11A person lives a life of storms, winds, rain, lightning, and frost – sometimes, all will fall on one's head at the same moment.
12The book was read until it rotted in the belly.
13He spent countless sweat years on this land. No matter how tired he was, once he entered this small world, his strength returned. Sometimes, it wasn't even labor, but rather, a pouring out of passion. Indeed, every harvest here belonged entirely to him. As long as he could truly reap the rewards, the laborers would experience a passionate, artistic creative drive on the land…
14People! Sometimes, they're even more admirable than animals – free and unconstrained in the sky and earth…
15He should stand and stride confidently onto the life's carriage, seated at the reins, tensing his muscles and nerves, urging and shouting, continuing forward. If he faltered, he might be thrown from the horse, and everything would be lost…
16How merciless the scissors of life are – it cuts people's fates according to its own arrangement!
17For an ordinary person, all one can do is obey the judgments of life. This is not destiny, but rather, limitations beyond one's reach. In this world, not everything reasonable and beautiful can exist or be realized according to one's own wishes.
18Even the strongest of rational powers cannot lock the wings of emotion like a lock on a door.
