Fragments of Xu Zhimo's Essay Collection Fallen Leaves
Fallen Leaves I once again saw the drifting leaves. It was not unusual to see fallen leaves, but this was spring, the spring of April! The most common things to see in spring should be the flowers in full bloom and the willows in the spring breeze, not the fallen leaves that danced in the air like butterflies. I looked at the fallen leaves on the ground. There were three different colors: emerald green, gold yellow, and fire red. It could be said that there were many colors. This year seemed to be different from previous years. There were a lot of fallen leaves in spring. Almost every tree had fallen leaves lying quietly beside it, waiting for the cleaners to clean them up. Some places had more leaves. In a park near my house, piles of fallen leaves were scattered on the stone road. No one came to clean up the place. Once, when I came here after school, I stepped on the fallen leaves that had no moisture left. It made a rustling sound as if the leaves were broken. However, if one looked carefully, they would notice that not a single leaf had shattered. There were many kinds of fallen leaves. According to the season, they could be divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. According to the tree, they could be divided into pear leaves, peach leaves, Camphor leaves, and other leaves of different shapes. According to the color, they could be divided into red, green, and yellow. Everyone knew that fallen leaves were the messengers of autumn. In autumn, there would be many fallen leaves falling like fairies, but in spring, there would also be many fallen leaves. In fact, there would be fallen leaves in every season, including in the cold winter. The evergreen Camphor tree would also have fallen leaves.
