戴永夏

濟南的春天，腳步何其匆匆！她既不像江南那樣纏綿，也不似塞北那樣遲重。她匆匆地來，又匆匆地去。來時帶一片茸茸新綠，去時留下一片姹紫嫣紅。她明麗，和煦，熱情，總把那無限的溫馨和暖意，送進千家萬戶，溶入每個人的心中……

也許因為春天停留的時間太短，也許是盼春的情結(jié)太濃，濟南人特別珍愛春天，也特別企盼春的到來，十分留意她的行蹤。

濟南的早春何處尋？

去叩問“萬條垂下綠絲絳”的垂柳吧。柳是春的使者，自古人們就把柳和春天連在一起：寫春景曰“萬樹垂楊”，寫春色曰“陌頭楊柳”，有的干脆就把春天稱作“柳條春”。所以著名畫家豐子愷說：“最能象征春的神意的，只有垂楊”。

而濟南自古就以“家家泉水，戶戶垂楊”“四面荷花三面柳，一城山色半城湖”聞名于世。當(dāng)大地寒意未盡，春雪尚未全消，萬木還鎖在嫩夢中的時候，一夜春風(fēng)吹來，泉邊湖畔，路旁園中，在垂柳一骨碌醒來，原本枯瘦的柳絲立即泛起新綠，冒出密密麻麻鵝黃色的柳芽。

轉(zhuǎn)眼間，嫩芽綻出翠葉，柳絲串成珠簾，千樹萬樹枝葉紛披，匯成一片蓊郁的綠云……于是，孩子們折來柳枝，擰成柳哨，吹出悠揚的春聲；大人們采來柳葉，做成菜肴，爭相“吃春”，品嘗春天的味道；詩人們也折柳入詩，用“千條楊柳數(shù)聲鷗，一片玻璃一片舟”“湖邊山亂柳毿毿，是處桃花雨半含”等佳句，來歌頌美麗的春色……

您也可去感受波光瀲滟的大明湖，那里也是春天最早光臨的地方。當(dāng)殘冬驅(qū)趕著飄零的雪花還在逞著余威的時候，暗暗涌動的春潮就已給湖水卸掉堅冰的鎧甲，褪去灰白的沉重。春風(fēng)掠過湖面，“吹皺一池春水”；春雨灑過湖面，湖水澄碧如蘭。湖中鷗鷺嬉戲，舟楫點點；湖邊岸柳依依，雜花生樹。

整個明湖就似一幅巨大的錦緞，展示出春的多彩多姿，春的生意盎然……酷愛山水的濟南人自古就有明湖賞春的習(xí)俗。他們?nèi)逑嘌襞髥居?，披著第一縷春光來到湖上，或駕扁舟，或乘畫舫，歡歌笑語于碧波之上，沐浴陶醉在春光之中，盡覽明湖春色，卻又不期然成了明湖早春勝景的畫中人……“畫船開，紅塵外，人從天上載得春來”（元·張養(yǎng)浩：《大明湖泛舟》）；“鵲橋兩岸近清明，點逗春光翠葉生。古寺樓臺時隱見，畫船簫鼓半陰晴……”（清·劉伍寬：《明湖柳色》）古人的這些詠湖佳句，正是明湖賞春景象的真實寫照。

從濟南的泉水中，您更能尋到一個別致的早春。誠然，濟南的泉水是不分四季的，它“永遠那么純潔，永遠那么活潑，永遠那么鮮明，冒，冒，冒，永不疲乏，永不退縮……”（老舍：《趵突泉的欣賞》）可是，你只要細心訪察，仍可及早地從它那里發(fā)現(xiàn)春天。早春的萬物，似乎都鐘情于泉水。不管泉水出現(xiàn)在哪里，那嫩綠的柳絲總是牽著它，金黃的迎春總是迎著它，傲雪的紅梅總是逗著它，使得碧玉般的綠水，變得五彩斑斕，璀璨似錦了。是啊，你在泉水中找到的，不就是五彩斑斕的春天嗎？

當(dāng)然，尋春可不能忘記南山的杏花。那些土生土長的山杏，一層層，一片片，雜處在蒼松翠柏之間，倔強地生長在山坡上。她們性兒忒急，最耐不住寂寞。每當(dāng)春節(jié)剛過、還是乍暖還寒時節(jié)，不待風(fēng)兒吹凈樹枝間的殘雪，雨兒化淡松柏編織的綠云，萬千的杏樹枝頭便競相吐出密密的嫩紅花苞。還沒等葉芽綻開呢，一夜之間，掛著笑靨的繁花就開遍了枝頭，染紅了山野，“紅得像火，粉得像霞，白得像雪”，把個五彩繽紛的春天搶先牽來人間。許多人把梅花稱作報春英雄，說她“俏也不爭春，只把春來報”。大畫家豐子愷先生卻另有高見：“梅花帶雪開了，說道是泄漏春的消息，但這完全是精神上的春，實際上雨雪霏霏，北風(fēng)獵獵，與嚴冬何異？……”宋代大詩人歐陽修在歌詠杏花的詩中，說得就更明白：“誰道梅花早？殘年豈是春。何如艷風(fēng)日，獨自占芳辰?！憋@然，梅杏相較，杏花才應(yīng)是真正的報春使者。正是南山的杏花這么急火火地一鬧，才把濟南的春天蓬蓬勃勃地攪了起來……

Where is the early spring in Jinan？

The willow is often regarded as a symbol of the transition from winter to spring， with the two concepts being inextricably linked since ancient times. The gradual disappearance of snow from the ground and the emergence of new buds on trees mark the beginning of spring. As the spring winds begin to blow， the weeping willows by the spring， in the garden， wake up from winter slumber. The original withered willow threads are gradually filled with new green， emerging from the densely dotted goose-yellow willow buds.

Daming Lake is also one of the earliest locations to witness the arrival of spring. As the remnants of winter linger， the dark surge of the spring tide makes its way to the lake， gradually removing the layer of ice that has accumulated. The spring wind sweeps across the lake， creating ripples in the water， while the spring rain sprinkles across the lake， giving it a hue reminiscent of orchids. One may observe gulls engaged in aquatic activities on the lake， with their oars pointing towards the shore. The lake shore is adorned with willow trees， flowers， and other trees.

The springs in Jinan are an excellent location for observing the distinctive characteristics of early spring. While Jinans springs are equally impressive throughout the year， careful observation reveals that the springs exhibit some of the characteristics of an early spring. The water appears to have a vibrant hue， reminiscent of the vibrant colours observed in nature during this season.

Concurrently， the apricot blossoms on the southern mountains are indicative of the advent of spring. The native apricots， intermingled with pines and cypresses， flourish on the slopes. Following the conclusion of the Spring Festival and the cold temperatures， thousands of apricot tree branches will be vying to release a profusion of dense， tender red buds. The mountainous region of Jinan is renowned for its apricot blossoms， which are celebrated for their ability to evoke a sense of renewal and vitality.