【原】下河捉魚

1.大概七八點時就下起了雨，氣溫也就降得特別快，這不冷不熱的天氣，實在太適合睡覺了。而且這樣的天氣，休息起來，效率特別高，就像昨晚我追小說，一下子就追到了10點多，但是一覺睡到4點多就醒了，而且特別精神。到五點多時又下去了雨，我感覺真是天賜良機，畢竟這么多天，一大早上就要去修剪桃樹，我特別想休息一下，但看著秋天一步步走來，還有那么多桃樹沒有修剪，總有一種時不我待的感覺，簡單來說就是想休息，卻又不敢休息。同樣的，除了早上那會兒功夫能干會兒活，其他時間天太熱，還真沒法干活。今天下雨了，老天給了個休息的機會，那就好好休息吧。結果那些令人討厭的大鵝居然圍著我那小屋，在那兒一邊跑一邊叫，吵得我根本沒法繼續睡覺。或許是因為這天氣舒爽，連它們也高興吧，于是不由得在那撒歡。想到這些，我也就原諒了它們，畢竟跟這些畜牲有啥可生氣的呢。

2. 昨天跟明兒和熊他們約好了，今天要到我這邊來釣魚玩，于是早上老爸就到街上去買了些菜，準備中午做些菜接待他們。我們更是在七八點時就在那地鍋里斗起火來燉了一鍋雞肉。果然到了九點多時，明兒兩口，熊和他家叔叔都一起來了。老友們好久不見，又是分外親切，一說起釣魚來，更是興趣十足，幾乎是還沒在屋里多坐一會兒，我們就又開上車子去了北河邊，去看看哪里適合釣魚，哪里適合下網粘魚。說句玩笑話，我們還真有點兒像是去提前踩點兒呢。老實說，我也好久沒有到這河邊兒來玩了，更沒有以一個釣魚佬的角度來觀察我家附近的這段河流。今天在叔叔的指點下我發現有很多地方或許還真的有不少的魚。還別說，我們越說越開心，越說越興奮，恨不得能立刻就拿起魚竿釣上一會兒，或者拿上漁網，直接下進河里，趕緊粘上些魚來。于是我們趕緊回了家，準備早點吃完午飯，下午就來弄魚。

3. 中午老爸調了倆涼菜，又炒了幾個菜，還叫來了三伯，中午算是熱熱鬧鬧吃了一頓飯，不得不說，有明兒在的地方，歡樂就是多好多，畢竟他那開朗的笑聲太有感染力了。

4. 吃完午飯后，我簡單收拾一下，并去了桃園一趟，給小狗送了點飯菜，隨后就和老爸他們一起收拾上漁具到河里去弄魚去了。老爸陪著明兒他們拿著魚竿釣魚去了。而我則跟著熊和他家叔叔一起下網粘魚。我們首先去了河上游那段看起來水沒那么深的地方，準備下上一條網，因為上午我們來觀察時，發現這里有好大一群白條魚。結果等叔叔真的下了河里，才發現有那么一段兒河水特別深，后來真的等網子全都下下去之后，又發現那段水流有點急，我們下的兩條網，根本沒有粘到幾條魚，即便粘到的那幾條小白條也有點太小了，大概只有一根拇指長短，看起來實在有點寒磣人。或許是水流太急了，上午看到的那一群白條根本就沒有觸到網子，所以就沒法粘到。

5. 后來我們又去了下游，下了幾條網，果然這里的水流沒那么湍急，很快就沾到了些稍微肥美一些的白條。后來叔叔更是給我們露了一手，徒手在那水草下面抓魚的本領。開始時，我看到叔叔抓了一條小鯽魚，我就感覺挺牛的了，沒想到后來他順著河邊兒一路摸來，居然時不時的就摸上來一條鯽魚。看到他露了這么一手，實在讓我驚嘆不已。不難想象，如果有那么一天能和叔叔一起野外求生絕對不缺魚吃了。就那么大約個把小時的時間，我跟著叔叔沿著河岸看著他時不時的摸上來一條鯽魚，并扔給我，讓我把那鯽魚收好，這種一起收獲的感覺真好。老實說，好久沒有這樣，一群人一起開心地玩耍了。

6. 時間就在我們抓魚和收魚以及時不時的歡笑聲中很快度過。快5點時，老爸和明兒他們那邊兒收了魚竿兒，我們這邊也收了漁網，把那魚兒放到一起，才發現，今天下午的收獲還真挺不錯的。后來等回到家時，把那所有的魚倒進盆子里，才發現不知不覺，下午我們居然弄了一大盆的魚。想要保持魚兒的鮮美，這些魚兒就得及時處理，于是我們就趕緊坐下來擇魚。老實說，抓魚時特別快樂，但看到這么大一盆魚，需要擇時，還真是有點兒讓人頭大。好在人多力量大，尤其是有叔叔這個處理魚的老手，熊和我處理魚的速度也不慢，明兒一開始不太適應，后來熟練了處理魚的速度也上來了，尤其是熊，明和我三人組成了處理魚的流水線，他倆負責去除魚鱗，而我則負責剖開魚肚，去除內臟……在我們幾個人的合力之下，大概半個小時也就處理完了，那一大盆的魚。

7. 之后我趕緊熱了點剩菜，順便又炒了倆菜，等菜炒的差不多時，老爸正好調涼菜也回來了。于是晚上我們又簡簡單單，但又熱熱鬧鬧吃了一頓飯。參加工作后，很多時候，朋友之間都沒時間相聚，能有今天這樣一段美好的相聚時光，還真的挺讓人懷念的。轉眼吃完飯，我們又要匆匆一別了。還真應了那句話，美好時光真是太短暫……所以還是且行且珍惜吧。

英文版：

1.

It started raining around 7 or 8 o'clock, and the temperature dropped really fast. This neither-too-hot-nor-too-cold weather is perfect for sleeping. Moreover, resting in such weather is super efficient. For example, last night I was reading a novel and got so engrossed that it was already past 10 o'clock, but I slept until over 4 o'clock in the morning and woke up feeling extremely refreshed. Then it rained again around 5 o'clock, and I thought it was a godsend. After all, I've had to go trim the peach trees early every morning for days, and I really wanted to take a break. But as autumn creeps in and there are still so many peach trees left to trim, I always have this sense that time is pressing—simply put, I want to rest, but I dare not. Similarly, besides the morning when it's cool enough to work, the rest of the day is too hot to get any work done. Today it rained, giving me a chance to rest from the heavens, so I should make the most of it. However, those annoying geese gathered around my small house, running and quacking nonstop, making it impossible for me to go back to sleep. Maybe they were also happy because of the pleasant weather, so they couldn't help but frolic around. Thinking about this, I forgave them. After all, why get angry with these animals?

2.

Yesterday, I made an appointment with Ming'er and Xiong to come over to my place for fishing today. So in the morning, my dad went to the street to buy some vegetables to prepare a meal for them at noon. We even lit a fire in the earthen stove around 7 or 8 o'clock to stew a pot of chicken. Sure enough, around 9 o'clock, Ming'er and his wife, Xiong, and Xiong's uncle all came together. It had been a long time since we met, so we felt especially close. When we talked about fishing, we became even more enthusiastic. We barely sat in the house for a while before driving to the North River to check where it was suitable for fishing and where to cast the net to catch fish. Joking aside, we really felt like we were doing a reconnaissance in advance. To be honest, it's been a long time since I came to this river to hang out, let alone observe this section of the river near my home from an angler's perspective. Today, under my uncle's guidance, I found that there might be quite a lot of fish in many places. Unexpectedly, the more we talked, the happier and more excited we got. We couldn't wait to pick up the fishing rods and start fishing immediately, or take the fishing nets and cast them into the river to catch some fish quickly. So we hurried back home, planning to finish lunch early and come back to catch fish in the afternoon.

3.

At noon, my dad made two cold dishes and stir-fried a few more dishes. He also invited my third uncle over, so we had a lively lunch together. I have to say, wherever Ming'er is, there's always a lot more joy—after all, his cheerful laughter is so infectious.

4.

After lunch, I cleaned up briefly, went to the peach orchard to bring some food to the puppy, and then went to the river with my dad and the others, carrying the fishing gear to catch fish. My dad accompanied Ming'er and the others to fish with rods, while I went with Xiong and his uncle to cast nets. First, we went to the upper reaches of the river where the water didn't seem that deep to cast a net, because when we came to check in the morning, we saw a large school of silver minnows there. But when my uncle actually went into the river, he found a section where the water was surprisingly deep. Later, after we cast all the nets, we realized that the current there was a bit fast. The two nets we cast barely caught any fish, and even the few small silver minnows we did catch were too tiny—only about the length of a thumb, which looked really shabby. Maybe the current was too fast, so the school of silver minnows we saw in the morning didn't swim into the nets at all, hence we couldn't catch them.

5.

Later, we went to the lower reaches and cast a few more nets. As expected, the current here was not as fast, and we soon caught some plumper silver minnows. Later, my uncle even showed off his skill of catching fish with his bare hands under the water plants. At first, when I saw him catch a small crucian carp, I thought that was impressive enough. But to my surprise, he kept groping along the riverbank and caught a crucian carp every now and then. Watching him show off this skill, I was really amazed. It's easy to imagine that if there was ever a day when I had to go wilderness survival with my uncle, we would never run out of fish to eat. For about an hour, I followed my uncle along the riverbank, watching him catch a crucian carp from time to time and throw it to me to keep. The feeling of harvesting together like this was really great. To be honest, it's been a long time since I had such a good time playing with a group of people.

6.

Time passed quickly as we caught fish, collected the fish, and laughed from time to time. Around 5 o'clock, my dad and Ming'er packed up their fishing rods, and we also collected our fishing nets. When we put all the fish together, we realized we had a pretty good harvest that afternoon. Later, when we got home and poured all the fish into a basin, we were surprised to find that we had caught a whole big basin of fish without even realizing it. To keep the fish fresh, we needed to process them immediately, so we sat down to clean the fish right away. Honestly, catching fish was a lot of fun, but seeing such a big basin of fish waiting to be cleaned was really daunting. Fortunately, many hands make light work. Especially with my uncle, an experienced fish processor, Xiong and I also cleaned the fish quickly. Ming'er was not used to it at first, but later he got the hang of it and speeded up too. In particular, Xiong, Ming'er, and I formed an assembly line for cleaning fish: they were in charge of scaling the fish, while I was responsible for gutting them by cutting open the bellies and removing the intestines... With our joint efforts, we finished cleaning that big basin of fish in about half an hour.

7.

After that, I quickly reheated some leftover dishes and stir-fried two more dishes. When the dishes were almost ready, my dad just came back from making cold dishes. So we had another simple but lively dinner that night. After starting work, my friends and I rarely have time to meet up. Having such a wonderful time together today is really memorable. In the blink of an eye, after dinner, we had to say goodbye in a hurry. It really lives up to the saying—good times are always too short... So we should cherish every moment while we can.