湘南石資源豐富，石文化氛圍濃郁。湘南常寧白沙鎮(zhèn)的藏石大戶沈華生邀請我們?nèi)フ沂^，于是便成行，到湘南去訪石頭。

“大璞不雕”的美麗

古城衡州是清康熙時“三番之亂”吳三桂的帝都，衡陽玩石藏石之風(fēng)頗盛，有規(guī)模的奇石藏家有數(shù)十家之多。過衡陽，沈華生帶著我直奔耒陽古城。在湘南大地行走，看到聽到的都是石頭的傳奇。置身于奇山奇水奇石之中，體味大自然的神奇，感受石文化的氛圍，我們終于懂得什么叫“大璞不雕”的美麗。

三江口有房子般大的兩塊巨石，石頂平坦如禾場，可以曬幾擔(dān)谷子。兩石相距不過五步，當(dāng)?shù)匕傩斩挤Q此石為“神仙石”；紫巾峰下有一洞，洞口有大石狀如銅錢，人稱“銅錢石”；有個村子名字叫“屙米石”，據(jù)說這個村的一些石頭的石縫中曾經(jīng)屙出過米來；這里有座山名“石留仙”，石上出現(xiàn)文字“人不留仙石留仙”，這算是最神奇的文字石了。此外，這里還有山名“石牛壁”，村名“四十八撇”。

唐代詩圣杜甫有詩：“巨璞禹鑿余，異狀君獨(dú)見?！痹娙丝磥?，大地上這些奇形怪狀的石頭都是大禹治水時留下的，只有眼光獨(dú)具的賞石人，才能看見它們的美麗。最近有人在奇石美學(xué)范疇中提出，賞“石景”能觀照愛石人的理性思維，面對湘南大地上的奇石世界，我們對此論似有所悟。

我們伴石而眠

被稱為“荊楚名區(qū)”的耒陽市，是中華大地上最早設(shè)立縣治的古城之一。城中有杜甫墓、蔡倫墓。蔡子池相傳為蔡倫故居，就是在這幾間木頭房子里，這位大發(fā)明家用樹枝、麻頭和魚網(wǎng)，造出了世界第一張紙，人類文明由此邁出了一大步。

古城多古跡，多文化底蘊(yùn)，也多奇石。奇石來自耒水，耒水發(fā)源于湘贛交界的萬洋山，它流經(jīng)桂東、汝城、資興、郴縣、永興之后，從耒陽市東南入境，再流經(jīng)衡陽耒河口入湘江。耒水兩岸地質(zhì)結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜，水流落差大，因而帶來了歷經(jīng)千磨萬擊后的各類奇石。早在宋代，奇石專著《云林石譜》對“耒陽石”就有記載：“衡州耒陽縣土中出石，磊塊嵯巖，大小不等，質(zhì)稍堅，一種色青黑，一種灰白，一種黃而斑，四面奇巧，扣之無聲，可置幾案間，小有可觀?！?/p>

這次沈華生帶著我們下榻在老朱家中，老朱是書法家，兩口子退休后玩起了石頭，耒水石藏了一屋子，還加上樓下滿滿一倉庫?？蛷d門口有只腳盆大的“烏龜”縮頭縮腦，怡然自得地蹲在木座上，守護(hù)著這個家庭。王姐給我們夫婦安排的睡房，也擺滿了形態(tài)各異的奇石。這一夜，我們頭頂奇石，腳踩奇石，真正與大自然零距離接觸，可謂伴石而眠。

小沈睡在裝有榻榻米的房間。這間房是過往石友的“招待所”，老兩口熱情好客，對遠(yuǎn)道而來的石友包吃包住，石友們相見恨晚，賓至如歸。這里稱得上是個溫馨的“石友之家”。

在耒陽，像這樣藏石頗豐的家庭有許多家。呂紹奇的家也是一個琳瑯滿目的奇石世界?？蛷d中一座名為“盤古”的奇石，似出自抽象派大師之手的雕塑，那身子姿勢，活脫脫的一位盤古老人巍巍從太古走來，呂家這個石頭世界，樓上樓下都是石頭，連兒子備作新房的套間里也擺滿石頭。我原以為耒水石不外是灰黑青黃，色彩較為單調(diào)。但在呂家石館中見到的石頭，卻紅的鮮紅，綠的碧綠，五彩紛呈，斑駁奪目。

白沙鎮(zhèn)瀏覽奇石

從耒陽出發(fā)，乘中巴行40公里，來到河面寬闊的湯湯河邊，華生說這是舂陵水。

舂陵水，俗稱茭河，發(fā)源于九疑山區(qū)，經(jīng)流嘉禾、桂陽，因為它九曲回環(huán)，給湘南大地帶來無窮財富，帶來價值不菲的彩硅石、黃蠟石、彩卵石……

江河往往與奇石密切勾聯(lián)。白沙鎮(zhèn)近年來因舂陵水帶來的奇石而名聲漸揚(yáng)。廣西人、山東人、廣州人以及本省的長沙、郴州人，不時穿梭于街巷店鋪之中，他們當(dāng)然用不著到這僻遠(yuǎn)之地購百貨，唯一目的是看奇石。小鎮(zhèn)上成規(guī)模的奇石館有十?dāng)?shù)家，規(guī)模最大的首推“華生奇石館”。

十多年前，華生與父親偶爾接觸奇石，從此父子成癡，集石藏石，一發(fā)而不可收。華生年過花甲的父親，每天早飯過后便一根扁擔(dān)兩只麻袋，步行四公里到牛角灣采石，中午就在農(nóng)家吃點(diǎn)烤紅薯蒸芋頭，黃昏時挑七八十斤擔(dān)子回家，天天如此。幾年下來他們的房子里塞滿了各色石頭，而老人家聲稱：“石頭留著耍，一個也不賣?！?/p>

中專畢業(yè)的沈華生則更具眼光，將開書店攢下的十來萬元全部投資奇石。白沙鎮(zhèn)過去大店鋪多，現(xiàn)在空房子多?！叭A生奇石館”就占了一棟大房子，高高石架上都擺滿奇石，門前的空地也是滿滿一坪。我問華生到底藏了多少石頭?他說，根據(jù)車拖人抬的次數(shù)，大略估計有120多噸，坐在石館廳中，清茶一杯，清風(fēng)徐來，手摸那只重200公斤的黃蠟“蒼鷹”，耳聽門外舂陵水鑼鼓灣有如鳴鑼擊鼓的灘聲，眼觀屋中多姿多彩的奇石，享受大地江河的慷慨賜與，悠悠然心與自然融合，真不知幾生修得!

其余幾家石館我們也匆忙瀏覽一遍。有一家方桌上擺了一尊觀音，那玉立的身姿，那動人的曲線，那飄然流暢的衣帶，惟妙惟肖得使我目瞪口呆。如果不是實(shí)地看到，誰相信這是天工獨(dú)造?有人出2000元求購，主家笑而不答。問到底要價多少，他漫不經(jīng)心伸出四個指頭。我因囊中羞澀，只好依依而別。

第二天，華生當(dāng)向?qū)覀冏饽Φ娜ヅ＝菫硨な?/p>

我們在河灘上尋了一陣，只撿到三坨不起眼的小石，有些令人失望。華生說，這段十里河灘，不久前滿河滿灘的人手持鎬頭挖地三尺尋石，以后又不斷有外地人來，好一些的石頭都被撿盡了。

灘邊樟樹下，見農(nóng)民老楊的農(nóng)舍前、禾場上攤滿了石頭，我們一邊吃著楊嫂端出的紅薯、芋頭、花生，一邊選購他家的石頭：一般的十元八元，凡搬進(jìn)屋藏在床下的，就得幾十元幾百元不等。楊嫂笑道：“紅薯芋頭賣不出去，好石頭卻俏得很。這些舂陵石運(yùn)到郴州柳州，被說成彩陶石、九龍壁……”。

上堡覓石樂陶陶

我們又坐車去上堡鎮(zhèn)。只見路邊漢白玉堆疊如雪山，大卡車拖著數(shù)十噸一坨的漢白玉原石送向加工場地。這里用名貴石材奢侈得很，就是農(nóng)舍豬圈廁所也都用漢白玉砌成，十分搶眼。車行50公里后，舍車登舟進(jìn)入大河灘。

霧氣中遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)看見有船停在水中央，那是挖沙船在作業(yè)。我們的小船靠上去，老朱高聲喊：“有石頭嗎?”船上的人大聲答：“有哇，快來呀。”

大家跳上大船。原來，那機(jī)器如摩天輪似的轉(zhuǎn)動，又如老式筒車一斗一斗將沙舀起，同時也將河底的石頭帶出來。值班的工人眼盯著鐵斗，如果舀起的是美石、怪石，就趕快撿起，于是他的采沙船板上便堆滿了五顏六色的石頭，供覓石者選購。

這些石頭從河底舀起，應(yīng)屬于河卵石一類。河卵石如長江石、黃河石等，大都因水的沖刷滾動而呈圓形或圓柱形，而上堡耒水石卻多是扁平的塊狀，每塊上有結(jié)晶體石脈，構(gòu)成各種圖案，很是奇特。這些石頭石質(zhì)好，花色豐富，是上好的觀賞石。我們哪里見過這樣的場面，呵!大家就像牛進(jìn)了菜園，這塊好，那塊也不錯，大家比眼力，比手快，也比運(yùn)氣。

又有一斗石頭從河底舀上來了。工人將一塊十多斤重的彩硅石放在船板上，那青綠色石面上，縱橫金色石脈，勾勒出了一只向前奔跑的梅花鹿。那大眼睛，那長角，竟是如此清晰生動。我搶先喊出聲：“我先看到!”這一喊引得全船人哈哈大笑……

這一天，我選購了40多塊美石，老朱又幫著討價還價，以每塊8元敲定，加上牛角灣舂陵石，共裝了18袋運(yùn)回家。

耒水兩岸流傳一首民歌：河灘對河坳，金銀十八窖；摸到一小窖，買得湖南到。

我們這些石癡，千里迢迢行走江湖，不惜錢財，不辭辛勞，終于如愿以償，撿到了“金牛屎”，摸到了“金窖”。我們無心買湖南，有意藏美石，讓大自然的美麗，在石館中熠熠閃光。

A Journey to Stones in Southern Hunan

By Li Yucun， Yi Xianzhuang

Hunan province is well known， among other things， for its rich resources of exotic stones. The stone culture is popular there. At the invitation of Mr. Shen Huasheng， a stone connoisseur with a large collection based in White Sand Town in Changning， a riverside town in southern Hunan， we took a trip there to see the world of treasure stones.

We stopped over at Leiyang. It is one of the earliest counties in Chinese history. Du Fu (712-770A.D.)， a great poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-960)， was buried there. Cai Lun (ca.63-121 A.D.)， the paper inventor， was born and buried there. He made the world’s first batch of paper using fish nets， tree twigs and rags. Their tombs are still in the ancient county capital. It is said that Cai Lun’s former residence still stand in the city today.

Steeped in history and cultural heritage， Leiyang has acquired its stone fame from the Leiyang River. The river originates in the Wanyang Mountain wedged between Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces， and passes Leiyang before finally joining the Xiang River. Along the way， the river drops into steep valleys which present complex geological structures. For this reason， the river exhibits a great variety of stones polished by nature. A special book was written in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) on treasure stones for connoisseurs and collectors. The book mentioned Leiyang as a place full of strange-shaped stones in black， gray and pied yellow. A knock on such a stone produces no sound.

In Leiyang， We stayed at Mr. Zhu’s house. Zhu used to be a calligrapher. Retired now， Zhu and his wife enthused about stones. Their house was full of treasure stones culled from the Lei River. At the door of the sitting room a turtle served as a sentinel， its head half under the shell. Of course， it was a stone that resembled a turtle. Odd-looking stones were everywhere in the guest room. We spent our night there with the treasure.

Shen Huasheng slept on the tatami in another guest room， which also somehow served as a stone storage. Most of Mr. Zhu and his wife’s visitors were stone aficionados. The hospitable couple provided visitors with free accommodations and meals.

There are many such families in Leiyang. We visited another collector’s house during our stay there. The house was like a museum.We had believed Leiyang stones were in dark colors， but to our surprise， we saw bright red and green stones from the Lei River.

Leaving Leiyang， we took a 40-km journey by bus to the Tangtang River. In ancient times， it was called the Chunling River. We took a boat trip to White Sand Town， Shen Huasheng’s hometown. The town hugged the river tightly. The 2.5-km-long main street was narrow with shops in traditional businesses. There were blacksmith’s shops in the street. Pedestrians could hear the hammering from afar. In this part of Hunan Province， rivers mean stones. The reputation of White Sand Town has grown in recently years because of the beautiful stones found along the river. The town now boasts of dozens of stone collectors?houses.

Shen Huasheng’s passion for stones went back to more than 10 years ago. By accident， his father and he tumbled on stones and became fascinated. Since then they have been hooked. The father in his 60s now goes every day to a place called the Ox Horn Bay in search of stones and carries about 40 kg stones back home every evening. Now their big collection has grown to an aggregate of 120 tons by weight.

Shen Huasheng has put more 100，000 yuan into the collection. The capital came from his bookstore business. In the past， there were many big shops in the town. Nowadays， there are many houses where stones are collected and displayed. Sitting at Shen’s house， we enjoyed appreciating his arrays of stones stored orderly on display racks and in the front courtyard. We could hear noisy sounds of the river surging past the Gong and Drum Bay.

We visited some stone collectors?houses in the town. In one house， we saw a statue of Kwan-yin Buddha. Of course it was a natural stone， but we were amazed at how nature produced such a wonder that looked exactly like a statue made by a sculptor.

The next day， we went to the Ox Horn Bay in search of stones. It was a large bend of the Chunling River. The river beach was shallow and looked like an ox horn. We learned that stones on the beach came with floods from upper reaches. Colorful silicon stones are washed down in rushing waters. The beach here is 10 km long. But we were disappointed to find no good stones were left.

We went by bus to Upper Fortress Town. The road to the town was flanked by high heaps of white marbles. Lorries rumbled past， carrying huge pieces of white marbles to processing mills. Excellent marbles here were cheap. We saw pigsties made with white marbles. After a 50-km journey by bus， we continued our trip by taking a boat upstream. At the end of our