The wild elm tree bears fragrant, dense yellow fruit. Seen from afar, the elm fruit resembles shimmering yellow petals mixed with the bright green of the leaves. Birds fly back, hover, and compete to sing on the elm bushes.
Following the birds, we approached, one tiptoed to pick each ripe, deep yellow fruit and put it in his mouth; another climbed up the tree trunk and reached out to pick each fruit, eating it while putting it in his pocket, or dropping handfuls into the bamboo basket that his friend standing on the ground was holding out to catch it. The duoi fruit had a sweet and sour taste, the light aroma lingering in the mouth.
There were days when we invited each other to the riverbank, then climbed precariously on a mulberry branch or a myrtle branch leaning over the river to enjoy the coolness from the shade of the tree and the water blending together. Watching our reflections in the tree shadows on the water surface, the sunlight sparkling through the leaves and branches, caressed many emotions.
It is not difficult, just lift the leaves to pick a bunch of ripe yellow mulberries or a bunch of ripe dark purple plums. The sour and sweet taste of the mulberries; the astringent and sweet taste of the plums that turn the lips purple... until now have become the lingering flavors of childhood.
Not only ripe fruit, following the grassy banks of the river, we also found nests of late-laying duck eggs. In the summer, when the Con River dries up and the rice fields turn green, it is also the time when the duck owners stop collecting eggs. However, there are still a few ducks “laying eggs” secretly in caves, bushes, and reeds that the owners do not discover.
And those eggs became gifts for us kids. Just like that, we all picked up firewood, wrapped the eggs in mud, and buried them in the fire mixed with charcoal and ashes. When the outer layer of mud burned and broke, the eggs were cooked. With this method of preparation, duck eggs are still extremely delicious.
I still remember the summer days with my friends herding buffalo, immersing ourselves in the vastness of the sky and earth. When we reached the mound, we assigned a few of us to look after the buffalo herd, while the rest went out to find fruit. There were wild grapes (fruit of the five-color flower), birds, guava, and sparrows...
If we couldn’t climb to pick them, we used sticks, not leaving any fruit behind. The climbers covered the bushes with wild plants, mostly the giang leaves. The harsh summer sun made them grow more and more sour, chewing the first few fresh leaves made us shiver. We picked them, ate them all, and saved some to bring home for our mother to cook sour soup with fish.
Exercising a lot, in the middle of the afternoon, our stomachs were aching. At that time, we ate the fruit of the Thu Nhon tree to fight hunger. This fresh seed, eaten a lot when hungry, is also considered a very effective medicine to expel roundworms. There are many other gifts, growing wild everywhere, creating a unique flavor of our homeland that no matter when we grow up, do anything or go anywhere, we will never forget.
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/nhung-mon-qua-thien-nhien-post329605.html
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