假如給我一支畫(huà)筆

［越南 ］ 鄧蓉 中國地質(zhì)大學(xué)（武漢）

假如給我一支畫(huà)筆，讓我描繪中國，5歲的我會(huì )用紅色的畫(huà)筆去畫(huà)中國。自我記事起，只要周?chē)娜艘徽劦街袊揖蜁?huì )想到越南隨處可見(jiàn)的中餐廳和中國商店。這些地方總是到處都張貼著(zhù)紅色的窗花、紅色的對聯(lián)，店牌下還會(huì )掛著(zhù)一對紅色的燈籠。爸爸媽媽跟我說(shuō)，中國人都喜歡紅色，他們覺(jué)得紅色是幸運的顏色。“噢！紅色的中國，我記住了。”

假如給我一支畫(huà)筆，讓我描繪中國，10歲的我會(huì )用黃色的畫(huà)筆去畫(huà)中國。10歲的時(shí)候，我們的學(xué)校開(kāi)設了孔子課堂，我因此有了一個(gè)漂亮的中文老師。她會(huì )教我們拼音和漢字，還會(huì )給我們講中國的歷史故事。從她那里，我知道了中國原來(lái)有那么悠久的歷史，而黃色在中國歷史上可是非常厲害的顏色，中國古代的有些皇帝會(huì )穿黃色的衣服，因為黃色是龍的顏色，代表著(zhù)光明和力量。從她那里，我還認識了一個(gè)叫李隆基的皇帝，他當皇帝時(shí)，可讓中國進(jìn)入了“開(kāi)元盛世”，很多國家都派人來(lái)中國學(xué)習。“噢！黃色的中國，早在千年前就那么厲害了。”

假如給我一支畫(huà)筆，讓我描繪中國，13歲的我會(huì )用藍色的畫(huà)筆去畫(huà)中國。2014年的時(shí)候，我總在網(wǎng)上看到一些關(guān)于中國環(huán)境的報道，一些報道說(shuō)，北京的天是灰色的，他們說(shuō)那灰灰的東西叫“霧霾”，會(huì )導致很多健康問(wèn)題。我真擔心那些住在北京的中國人，特別是我的中文女老師就回到了北京，我不希望她因為霧霾生病，我想她重回越南工作，于是我給她發(fā)了郵件。可她卻讓我別擔心，還告訴我北京的天其實(shí)和越南一樣。我不相信，我覺(jué)得她是不想讓我擔心她。可后來(lái)有一天，我在家里看新聞時(shí)，電視里播放了一條關(guān)于在北京舉辦APEC會(huì )議的視頻，越南記者正站在北京的一個(gè)廣場(chǎng)上報道新聞，身后是藍藍的天，那么藍的天果然和越南海邊的天一樣，藍得純粹，藍得迷人。這下我真的不用為我的中文老師擔心了。“噢，藍色的中國，根本不是其他國家說(shuō)的樣子。”

參觀(guān)黃鶴樓 ／ 鄧蓉提供

假如給我一支畫(huà)筆，讓我描繪中國，18歲的我會(huì )用好多顏色來(lái)畫(huà)中國。這一年，我獲得了獎學(xué)金，來(lái)到了中國武漢進(jìn)行預科學(xué)習。剛進(jìn)學(xué)校我就被大片的綠色包圍，我以為在中國只有大學(xué)里才會(huì )有那么多的樹(shù)；沒(méi)想到當我收拾完宿舍，跟著(zhù)同胞們去逛武漢時(shí)，我才發(fā)現整個(gè)武漢其實(shí)都被編織在綠色里。不管是大路還是小巷，兩邊都種著(zhù)樹(shù)，滿(mǎn)目的綠讓我覺(jué)得武漢是長(cháng)在森林里的一座城市。除了綠色，我還要用灰色來(lái)畫(huà)中國的城市，可不是因為武漢的天灰，武漢的天和五年前新聞里北京的天一樣藍，我用灰色的畫(huà)筆，是因為這兒的灰色高架橋真的太多了，我從來(lái)沒(méi)在越南的哪個(gè)城市見(jiàn)過(guò)這么多車(chē)行駛在馬路上，每一座灰色的高架橋上都是快速奔跑的車(chē)輛，好像飛龍一樣，自由穿行。如果你問(wèn)我要用什么顏色來(lái)畫(huà)中國人，我會(huì )毫不猶豫地告訴你：“我要用橙色的畫(huà)筆。”為什么呢？因為橙色是陽(yáng)光的顏色，讓人覺(jué)得溫暖又親切。剛來(lái)中國的時(shí)候，我的漢語(yǔ)發(fā)音其實(shí)還不太好，雖然我早就學(xué)過(guò)漢語(yǔ)，但我除了上課的時(shí)候說(shuō)漢語(yǔ)，很少在平時(shí)生活里用漢語(yǔ)和大家交流，所以每次在學(xué)校外說(shuō)漢語(yǔ)，我都會(huì )有點(diǎn)兒不好意思。有一次，我在學(xué)校外面買(mǎi)奶茶，那個(gè)人問(wèn)我：“你從哪里來(lái)？我猜你是廣西人，對不對？” 我說(shuō)：“其實(shí)我是越南留學(xué)生，對不起，我的發(fā)音還不太好。”那個(gè)人特別吃驚，他說(shuō)我的漢語(yǔ)好極了，普通話(huà)比很多中國人還標準。從那時(shí)起，我不再因為發(fā)音自卑了，還主動(dòng)參加了學(xué)校的朗誦大賽呢。因為我發(fā)現不管在什么地方和中國人講話(huà)，他們總是表?yè)P我，讓我感到心里暖暖的。“噢！中國人是和陽(yáng)光一樣的顏色。”

中國地質(zhì)大學(xué)（武漢）南望山校區 ／ 鄧蓉提供

今年的我19歲，去年剛以漢語(yǔ)滿(mǎn)分的成績(jì)通過(guò)了預科結業(yè)考試，雖然疫情讓我不得不在網(wǎng)上開(kāi)始我的大學(xué)生活，但我知道我和中國馬上就能見(jiàn)面了，因為武漢早就成了全世界最安全的城市。等我重回武漢的時(shí)候，我要繼續用我的畫(huà)筆向我的家人、我的同胞描繪中國。

中國地質(zhì)大學(xué)（武漢）南望山校區 ／ 鄧蓉提供

If You Give Me a Crayon

［Vietnam］ ??ng Thùy Dung， China University Of Geosciences（Wuhan）

If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a red one when I was 5 years old． As far as I can remember， whenever people around me talked about China， I would think of Chinese restaurants and Chinese shops everywhere in Vietnam． These venues were always pasted with red papercuts on windows and red couplets． A pair of red lanterns were hung under the shop sign． My parents told me all Chinese people like red color as they think it symbolizes good luck． “Oh， red China！ I do remember．”

If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a yellow one when I was 10． At the age of 10， our school had a Confucius class and we got a pretty Chinese teacher． She taught us Pinyin， Chinese characters and told us historical stories of China． From her I learned that China has such a long history with yellow as a very powerful color． Some emperors of ancient China were dressed in yellow， because it is the color of dragon that represents light and power． From her， I knew an emperor named Li Longji， who brought China into the “Great Reign of Kaiyuan．” During his reign， many countries sent people to China to study． “Oh！ Yellow China！ It was already so powerful thousands of years ago．”

If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a blue one when I was 13． In 2014， I always read some online reports about China’s environment． Some of them said that the sky in Beijing was gray， which they claimed to be smog and lead to many health problems．  I was really worried about Chinese people living in Beijing， especially my Chinese teacher who had been back to Beijing． I don’t want her to get sick because of smog and wished she could come back to Vietnam． I emailed her but was told my concern was no necessary as the sky in Beijing is the same as in Vietnam． I didn’t believe it until I watched a video about APEC meeting broadcasted on TV． A reporter of Vietnam was reporting news in a square of Beijing and behind him the sky was crystal blue． The pure and enchanting blue is the same as what you can view at the seaside of Vietnam． I need not worry about my Chinese teacher anymore． “Oh， blue China！ It is not like what other countries described．”

If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would need more than one when I was 18． I won scholarship and came to Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province for preparatory study． As soon as I entered school， I was surrounded by a large stretch of green． I thought so many trees could only be seen in universities of China； Unexpectedly， when I settled down in my dormitory and strolled around Wuhan with my compatriots， I found that the whole city was woven with green． Both roads and alleys are planted with trees． The green everywhere makes me feel that Wuhan is a city in the forest． Besides green， I would also select gray color to paint cities in China． It is not because the sky in Wuhan is gray． Instead， the sky here is as blue as Beijing showed on TV five years ago． I use gray because there are too many gray overhead bridges． I’ve never seen so many cars on the road in any city of Vietnam， which are like dragons flying freely． If you ask me what color is proper for painting Chinese people， I will say without hesitation， “Give me an orange crayon please．” Why？ Orange is the color of the sunshine， which makes you feel warm and kind． When I just arrived in China， my pronunciation of Chinese was not good enough． Though I learned Chinese for a long time， I seldom communicated with others in Chinese in my daily life except I had to in class． I felt a little embarrassed every time I spoke Chinese outside school． I bought milk tea outside and was asked by the vendor， “Where are you from？ I guess you are from Guangxi， aren’t you？” I replied， “In fact I am an overseas student from Vietnam． I am sorry that my pronunciation isn’t good．” The vendor was very surprised and expressed my Chinese was fluent． He even said my putonghua is better than many Chinese people． From then on， I no longer felt inferior for my pronunciation and even took the initiative to participate in the school reading contest． I found no matter where I speak with Chinese， they always warm my heart with praise． “Oh， Chinese people are of the color of the sunshine．”

I am 19 years old this year． Last year I passed the preparatory examination with a full score in Chinese． Though I had to kick off my university life online due to the COVID－19 pandemic， I do know I will see China very soon as Wuhan is now the safest city in the world． When I return to Wuhan， I will carry on painting China with crayons for my family and country fellows．