Every April and May, there is a kind of fish called black pomfret, which swims from the lower reaches of Lancang River to Liusha River until it reaches the end point-Peacock Lake to lay eggs. It wagged its tail desperately in the pool, swam into the waterfall, and one stood upright and jumped on the first stone step. Then, it lay flat on the stone surface, flapping its mouth and cheeks under the waterfall and panting.

I have never seen such a big black pomfret. It is one and a half meters long, thicker than a boa constrictor, and at least it is gold. The whole body is dark and the belly is bulging like extra-large bubble gum. There is no doubt that it contains fish eggs. The average black pomfret has no beard on its lips, but there is an inch-long tentacle on each side of its lips. You can see at a glance that this is a very qualified big fish and can be called a fish mother. Fish mother, heroine and champion.

Two or three feet high slopes were washed out by waterfalls with seven or eight stone ridges, like terraces; I stood on the highest stone ridge, waiting for the arrival of mother fish.

Mother fish gasped for a moment, then the other one stopped, jumped on a higher stone and climbed up like a staircase. At the beginning, it lay on the slate for two or three minutes every time it jumped, and then jumped on a stone ridge after accumulating strength; After jumping to the fourth stone ridge, I was obviously exhausted and the interval was getting longer and longer. It usually takes five or six minutes to slow down.

I know, I'm so tired. Swimming here from the remote lower reaches of Lancang River, I seldom eat, never rest, ride the wind and waves, travel day and night, and go upstream; We should not only guard against wild boar, bears and other land beasts, but also avoid the barb of fishing nets and hooks. All the way is difficult and dangerous, and the fish has long been exhausted and exhausted. If it is in deep water, it can easily jump by virtue of the elasticity of water and the thrust of tides and waves. Now I'm lying on a slate with only a thin waterfall on it. For a fish, jumping is as difficult as jumping in a swamp. You can jump as hard as a grasshopper, and you can jump up to half of your usual performance. Moreover, the mother fish is bulging and carrying heavy loads to climb the mountain.

Finally, mother fish jumped onto the stone ridge where I was standing. I rushed to it with a stick, and the waterfall was covering it, splashing a lot. It looked at me with cold eyes, as if it had been soaked in ice and snow. I gritted my teeth, swung the stick, aimed it at the back of the head, and hit it with a stick in a golf posture. This female fish is really a sly fish. At the moment I hit the stick, the fish's head and tail tilted upward, bent into a crescent shape, and suddenly fell from beginning to end, supporting the floor like a crutch, and the bucket-shaped body arched like a saddle, and the whole fish was ejected at an extremely fast speed. I hit an empty air, bang! When the stick hit the stone, I felt numb. The stick in my hand broke in two, and one of them tripped and almost fell off the stone ridge.

If mother fish breathes for a few more minutes, I think she may successfully jump into Peacock Lake with this jump; From the stone ridge where I stand to the lake, it is only one meter high, and it can jump on it. If it jumps into Peacock Lake and goes deep into the water, I can't help it. Fortunately, it didn't get enough breathing time. It just jumped up from the lower stone ridge and was in a semi-collapsed state. Although it dodged my stick, it didn't jump high enough, only rose about half a meter and fell down. It bounced like a ball on the slate in front of me, washed away by the swift waterfall, and washed down with the current, just like a person walking up the stairs, accidentally stepping on the top floor and rolling down. I saw the mother fish fall from the stone ridge level by level, and it was dark and dizzy, and rolled into the big pool at the foot of the mountain. It sank to the bottom of the water, and after a while, it floated up again, its abdomen turned white and whirled in the whirlpool like a black goose feather. After a while, its tail began to swing like a tuxedo, its white body turned around slowly, its dorsal fin tilted on the water and struggled to swim out of the whirlpool. I think it will swim away soon. It escaped by luck. It witnessed me holding a stick and knew that death was waiting for it on the hill. Of course, it would escape.

I'm bored, alas, just like dropping my wallet.

Just then, something happened that made me dumbfounded. Mother fish swam to the waterfall, wagged her tail and began to jump up the mountain again. It is extremely difficult to jump, and it is often necessary to jump on a stone ridge several times. Every time she couldn't jump up, she fell heavily on the slate and let out a muffled sound. Peacock Lake seems to be a powerful magnetic field, which attracts it tightly. I think that's probably how the little carp jumped in the Longmen; But the legendary little carp jumped to the door of happiness. Once you leap into the dragon gate, you will be worth a hundred times and become a mighty dragon. But now the mother fish jumped to the door of hell, going to death, going to hell and going to destruction! It is amazing that it is still jumping so hard, so persistent and so tenacious.

I don't know how long it took, but it finally jumped onto the stone ridge where I was standing. I saw that its tail was smashed, its long dorsal fin was broken, and the scales on its back were torn by rough stones, revealing wrinkled fish skin. It lay in front of me, with blood oozing from its tail, back, bones, mouth, cheeks and eyes, and almost all its body was red with blood. It is no longer a black pomfret, but a red fish. To my surprise, other parts of the mother fish's body were scarred, but her plump belly was intact, and even her skin was not scratched. It seems that she pays great attention to protecting her little belly that is brewing life. Its mouth moved slowly and heavily, and its slightly protruding eyes looked straight at me. I always feel that there are some hints and expectations in those bloodshot eyes.

I hit it on the skull with a heavy stick, and a deep hole was made in the back of its head. It's like hitting a dead fish. It doesn't move, but its mouth doesn't move. I'm a little puzzled. I think the performance of mother fish is not normal; He jumped up from the stone sill below a few seconds ago. Even if his strength is exhausted, he can't do more tricks, but after being fatally hit, he should struggle a few times, right? I can't imagine such a big fish mother that the fire of life will be blown out like a candle in one breath. If it hadn't broken its skull, I really doubt that it is playing dead. I untied the rope from my waist, stuffed it into the fish's mouth, passed through my cheeks, tied a knot and held it in my hand. There is a very strange local custom. Anyone who catches big-bellied black pomfret during spawning will be carried to Peacock Lake after being killed, and the fish tail will be soaked in the water, saying that it is to satisfy the wishes of these big fish and let them lay eggs in the lake. More than one fellow villager told me that without this ceremony, these big fish from the lower reaches of Lancang River would not die with their eyes closed. Even if you cut the fish into pieces and fry it in the oil pan, it will jump into the oil pan and knock it over.

I don't believe such a thing. I like to eat fish eggs since I was a child. It's delicious when fried, honey is fresh, and I don't have to worry that fishbone will get stuck in my throat. It's really the first food. Mother fish's belly is so big that she can dig out at least two bowls of fish eggs, so I won't be stupid enough to throw my fish eggs into Peacock Lake!

I dragged the mother fish over the stone ridge and walked along the wide lake embankment with great difficulty. At the fork in the road, I'm going to turn around and leave Peacock Lake and go back to the stockade. Suddenly I found that the rattan in my hand was heavier, and Shen couldn't drag it any longer. I looked back, oh, it was a branch by the lake that entangled the fish head. I just turned to pull the branch apart, but I just bent down and found that it was the mother fish's mouth that bit the branch! I don't think it's possible. I knocked out mother fish's brains and lay flat on the ground. It's obviously a dead fish. Can she still bite? This branch must have been accidentally inserted into the fish's mouth. I gave it a hard pull. Strangely, I couldn't pull it out of the closed fish mouth.

I stood on the lake embankment, scratching my scalp, wondering what was going on.

At that moment, something happened that I will never forget. I only felt that the rattan in my hand trembled violently, and it was dark in front of me, and the lake exploded with a splash. What happened before I realized it? This female fish has jumped into the lake from the lake embankment. It moves as fast as lightning, and I have no time to see how a dead fish jumps up like a corpse; Its mouth is still tightly biting the branches of the lake, its head is leaning against the shore, and its body is soaked in water. In the reproductive cavity of its tail, a golden fish egg is ejected, and a long yellow ribbon floats in the clear water. No, it's more like a golden rainbow, with death at one end and rebirth at the other. Bright fish eggs are constantly sprayed out and slowly sink into green water plants. ...

It won the last glory on the road of life.

Finally, mother fish's bulging stomach collapsed, the golden rainbow at the tail disappeared, and the branches inserted in her mouth slowly retreated. Then I dragged it back to the stockade, scraped the fish scales, gut it, cut its gills and intestines, cut it into fish pieces, steamed it and fried it, but it didn't move.