The title of the article calls sparrows strangers. Why?

It doesn't aim too high. It doesn't envy swans, eagles, thrushes and larks. Regardless of people's eyes, it generously treats the ruthless killing of the "four pests". It is close to human beings, but its eyes are always open. It never intrudes into other birds' nests, but lives happily in its own way, leaving the small and warm nest at dawn and singing unpleasant songs to the morning glow with dew and many sleepy eyes. Sparrows who are not lazy and do not pursue nothingness, although not beautiful and indecent, have great personality and integrity. Tao Yuanming and Ji Kang, unwilling to exchange their nature and freedom for people's feeding, should be "five buckets of rice" birds.

Wandering bird

In summer, the day is bright early. At four or five in the morning, it is still sleepy, and the windowsill is full of sparrows. Notes of different lengths squeezed in from the window and played into a noisy song without stopping. Sleep in the morning is very precious. I always want to sleep for a while, especially on weekends, and I don't want to get up early. At this time, I darkened my eyes, reached out and knocked on the window glass through the curtain, interrupting their singing or recitation in a very annoying way and rudely driving these uninvited actors away. However, maybe just lying down again, maybe just returning to the hazy attachment, the window sill is full of the sound of sparrows jumping. After several rounds, I was completely awake until the curtains were opened and the sparrows left the windowsill to let them dance and sing.

The sparrow won. Achieved the purpose of not letting me sleep late. I know it's not for me, and it's not consciously against me. However, every time I see a sparrow suddenly flying or jumping outside the window sill, I think aimlessly with anger, helplessness and appreciation.

Sparrows became my uninvited neighbors, and a pair of sparrows made their home in the hole in my air-conditioned wall. The diameter of the hole in the wall probably can't hold an egg, because the scheme of installing air conditioner has been changed, and the hole in the wall has lost its function. Unexpectedly, the sparrow found it and brought some tiny hay to settle here. Looking around, the idle air conditioning eyes of neighbors in front of and behind the building are also occupied by sparrows in pairs. I watched the sparrows flying around, laughing and joking with them: "Do I have to pay the rent if I live in without saying hello?" . Although I am curious about their life in the cave, I can't explore and peep at them. At night, I often hear the rustling sound in the hole in the wall. The tiny sound in the dead of night is very attractive, but I can't dig out the paper stuck in the hole in the wall. I used to think that the hole is not big, but it is the sparrow's home after all, although it is really a small home. This family is enough for them to shelter from the wind and rain and have children. Maybe they are satisfied with this, so they have never seen them pecking around, just playing in front of my eyes. Soon, I heard the shrill cry of the young birds in the cave.

At ordinary times, we call sparrows domestic finches, which always makes us feel kinder and smoother than sparrows. I don't know why domestic finches are called sparrows. Looking up the dictionary, there is no explanation about why it is called sparrow. Maybe it's the difference between a nickname (birth name) and a scientific name. When I was a child, I was naive to guess whether there were pockmarked sparrows, just like my classmate Qian Xilai. Because there were dozens of pockmarked faces, everyone called him "Qian Pockmarked" behind his back. Based on this curiosity, I once sneaked into the sparrow's nest under the eaves, caught a sparrow and carefully checked its head, body and claws for pockmarks. Of course, the result is that we continue to fall into inexplicable confusion.

The name of domestic sparrow has the feeling of "domestic sparrow", which is very warm. Looking around at the birds who know themselves, except for the swallows who nest in some destined families in spring, there are probably only sparrows living in ordinary families all the year round. Perhaps it is the genetic genes of sparrows from generation to generation that have created an unchangeable habit, so people give the precious word "home" to those sparrows who are ugly and unattractive. Domestic birds, like wandering dogs, cats and chickens, have become partners that people look up but don't look down. The difference is that chickens, dogs and cats all need people to feed them, while domestic birds don't need this kind of care. As long as you don't bother it, don't bother it, don't chase it, don't catch it and don't kill it, it will borrow a tile under the eaves and a hole in the wall to live with you every day and dance tirelessly for you. Live your own life, be close to others and stay away from others.

Sparrow didn't appeal to me at first, because it was wearing the hat of "four pests" and was one of the targets (four pests: mice, sparrows, flies and mosquitoes) that were "destroyed" by people. I often carry a pair of slingshots made of bicycle inner tubes in my schoolbag. When you see sparrows, you quickly show your weapons with your classmates and shoot those round mud balls at sparrows. Also follow the adults' ass, beating gongs and drums to scare them, so as not to let the tired sparrows have a place to rest. In winter, sweep a blank in the snow, set up a sieve, sprinkle some pancake foam or Fu Cha under the sieve, and trap and deceive a small number of sparrows. Although we didn't shoot or catch a sparrow, it added a lot of excitement and happiness to the empty youth and sent away many boring days.

I was shocked by the sparrow's brave hunger strike and dying struggle. I once fed a newly hatched chicken, and my classmates took it out from under his roof to send it to me. Young birds are naked and have no hair (then called "naked monkeys"), and they always bark with their eyes open during the day. Catch a few grasshoppers every day to feed them, or steal some tofu bought by my mother and stuff it into the sparrow's mouth. It's fun to wolf down, which brings us a lot of happiness. Soon, the naked monkey grew feathers, opened his eyes, and gradually became round and bright. However, sparrows with full feathers are not as fond of eating as before. They don't eat tofu, leaves or grasshoppers, and their bellies are always bulging. We think it's sick. Ask the elders, adults say that sparrows have a bad temper and are angry. Everyone is like this. They don't like being fed, and they don't eat it. At first, we didn't believe that thrush, lark, starling and pigeon could all be fed and obeyed. Can't the sparrow be fed? When I got up that morning, I saw that what I fed it was motionless in the cage, and I died quietly in the cage.

I don't understand why sparrows aren't fed. In order to lose the grass that makes them fly, vilen, they worked hard. Or call for a free and unrestrained life and miss the fun of nesting and jumping for food under the eaves? I can't guess. In short, feeding domestic birds is not as fulfilling and fun as feeding other birds. Since then, I have never fed a sparrow that disobeys orders with death.

In the morning, my wife and I watched the sparrow fly in and out, and talked confidently about its life. Many people have seen sparrows hatch, but who knows the secret, way and place of its ending life? Sparrows fly around happily in people's field of vision, but never reveal the weakest secrets or secrets that belong to their own privacy. They may arrange their homes in inaccessible mountains or deep in the sea. In short, they are far away from where they live and from the view that people can overlook or visit. Having said that, we are all more concerned about this despised sparrow.

Sparrows fly out of the hole in the wall and sing in the tree in front of the balcony. I suddenly remembered the Bamboo Bird Map given to me by the professor of Shandong Painting Academy. Bamboo is holy and elegant, and it is one of the "Four Gentlemen" who "would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo". But why do painters always draw the most common sparrow when painting bamboo? Besides, it is not an ornament. Bamboo finches are inseparable from "finches" and occupy an important position in paintings. Sparrows are not beautiful, have no gorgeous feathers, and have no beautiful singing voice. Why didn't the painter choose those beautiful birds? I don't understand Dan Qing, but I don't think it is the painter's free will, nor is it the contrast between beauty and ugliness and elegance and vulgarity. Maybe sparrows in life also like bamboo. Do sparrows and bamboos have the same feelings? Or do distant people crown "home" with its true meaning? My understanding of sparrows seems to be deepening, and I have broken into an interesting new puzzle. The phrase "One swallow knows the swan's ambition" in Historical Records was once a common phrase used by many teachers to teach their disciples. When I was young, I also branded this famous saying deeply in my heart. I told myself to learn from swans and set great ambitions. Later, I told my son this sentence, "The swan flies high, flies a thousand miles, and its wings are already there, crossing the four seas." Sparrows, on the other hand, can't fly over the treetops with their wings and often stop under the eaves. Naturally, many people like me look down on them. Facing the "ordinary people" among natural birds, we are constantly correcting our shallow understanding of sparrows and gradually getting out of our misunderstanding of them. It doesn't aim too high. It doesn't envy swans, eagles, thrushes and larks. Regardless of people's eyes, it generously treats the ruthless killing of the "four pests". It is close to human beings, but its eyes are always open. It never intrudes into other birds' nests, but lives happily in its own way, leaving the small and warm nest at dawn and singing unpleasant songs to the morning glow with dew and many sleepy eyes. I admire sparrows who are not lazy and pursue nothingness at least.

Walking in the botanical garden that morning, many people were watching around a birdcage hanging from a tree. There is a red-billed stork in the cage. The stork's tongue is very tactful, and it makes people very happy to say "hello", "good" and "the ocean is full of gold rivers" for a while. There are many beautiful birds hanging on the trees along the way, such as thrushes, which are pleasing to the eye. Almost all birds can be trained and domesticated by human beings and be at their mercy. Birds exchange their euphemistic voices and freedom for people's joy and feeding. In this small cage, they think they are happy. Even if they fly in the blue sky, they will be "tortured" to their heroic personality. Although the sparrow is not beautiful and its voice is indecent, it has great personality and integrity. Tao Yuanming and Ji Kang, unwilling to exchange their nature and freedom for people's feeding, should be "five buckets of rice" birds. The ancients once said that "it is hidden in the city." Are sparrows "great hermits" hiding around us? Swan has ambition, sparrow has integrity. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the sparrow that chirps in my ear every day is not simple. It completely subverts my inherent thinking about sparrows and makes me sit up and take notice.

I think of Turgenev's Sparrow. In order to save the little sparrow chased by the big dog, the old sparrow rushed to the big dog without hesitation. The dog was moved and shocked by the sparrow's boldness and courage and had to give up chasing this weak little sparrow. The little sparrow finally "escaped" and followed the old sparrow to the lush tree. This is a sparrow that walks around us every day, and it is also the only sparrow that people call home. It is a free bird, but it keeps its freedom when it meets people. It didn't give up its free space and honest integrity in order to eat and drink. The arc of the sparrow's flight seems to convey "go your own way and let others say it." These are enough for us to appreciate, and maybe we can find other secrets that it doesn't tell us.