每一只蝴蝶都是从前一朵花的魂，回来寻找它自己。-- 张爱玲
(picture from network)
从不相信前世今生，可是蝴蝶们真的会一代一代追寻同样的轨迹，回来寻找前世的痕迹。
每年秋天，阿拉斯加，落基山脉西部的玛瑙蝶都会从北向南移居。到了深秋，成千上万的玛瑙蝶就积聚在气候温暖的加州 Monterey Bay 过冬，寻找到生生世世“古老的情人”- 蝴蝶树。它们就一个又一个地挂满松枝，心满意足地，安安静静地梦回前世。每年都把同样的一株，一群松树变成五光十色的蝴蝶树，直到第二年春暖花开时才翩翩向墨西哥飞去。三月中旬，它们又开始北移， 回到它们先辈飞来的地方。
三千多迈的迢遥路，一年的南飞北移，那些美丽的玛瑙蝶要用三到五代才可以完成!!! 玛瑙蝶就这样生生世世地移居，一代一代地相随。
那些不可思议的小精灵，每年每年，它们究竟在顽强地追寻什么呢?
去年的冬天， 第一次见到蝴蝶树，看到阳光下的蝶舞，便在心中对自己约定: 每年，只要我在加州，我就会来看望它们，就象它们年年来探望蝴蝶树。而今冬再访蝴蝶树时，一年的时光匆匆，此景已恍如隔世。而我也曾经离开加州三千迈之遥，以为故地重游只会在N年以后。不料，万水千山，我还是回来了。我是用车轮跑完这三千迈的，而玛瑙蝶，它们是用小小的，纤细的翅膀飞过来。离去时是美丽的蝴蝶，回来时还是美丽的蝴蝶，可是已经不是你凝望过的那一群，不是你默语过的那一只了。年年岁岁树相似，岁岁年年蝶不同!
总是，忍不住为蝴蝶树感动。
至少，世上还有一些东西让你相信永久， 相信约定，比如蝴蝶树。
如果，你也待在加州，那么我问你，今年，你去看过蝴蝶树了吗?
02/2004
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ChatGPT translation version:
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Have you visited the butterfly Trees this year?
Every butterfly is a soul of a flower from the past, returning to seek itself. -- Eileen Chang
I never believed in past lives, but Monarch butterflies truly follow the same trajectory generation after generation, returning to seek traces of their past lives.
Every autumn, in Alaska, the Monarch butterflies migrate from north to south. By late autumn, thousands and thousands of Monarch butterflies gather in the warm climate of Monterey Bay, California, to spend their winter time, searching for their ancient lover - the Butterfly Trees. They cluster on the tall tree branches one by one, contentedly dreaming of their past lives. Every year, they turn the exactly same tree, the same group of eucalyptus trees, into the colorful Butterfly Trees until they gracefully fly to Mexico when spring arrives of the following year. By mid-March, they start moving north again, returning to the place their ancestors flew from.
Over three thousand miles of distant travel, a year of migration from south to north, those beautiful Monarch butterflies take three to five generations to complete the remarkable journey!!! They migrate from generation to next generation, following each other.
These incredible little fairies, year after year, what are they tirelessly seeking?
Last winter, when I first saw the Butterfly Trees and witnessed the butterflies dancing under the sunlight, I made a promise to myself: every year, as long as I am in California, I will come to visit them, just as they come to visit the Butterfly Trees every year. Returning to the Butterfly Trees this winter, one year has passed just like in the blink of an eye, and the scene feels like a lifetime ago for me. So many things happend this year, I once left California three thousand miles away, thinking that revisiting the old place would only happen after many years. Unexpectedly, after traversing mountains and rivers, I came back to Bay Area. I traveled myself the three thousand miles by car, while these butterflies flew over with their tiny, delicate wings. When they left, they were beautiful butterflies, and when they returned, they were still beautiful butterflies, but they were no longer the same group you once gazed upon, not the same one you once whispered to. Trees are similar year after year, but butterflies are different year after year!
I always find myself being deeply moved by these beautiful butterfly Trees.
At least, there are still some things in this world that make you believe in eternity, believe in promises, like these Butterfly Trees.
If you are also in California, then I ask you, have you visited the Butterfly Trees this year?
02/2004
(Translated 02/2024)
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PS：
02/2024 -
两周前，我又去看望了我的老朋友蝴蝶树，一年又一年，时光如白驹过隙，居然20年就这么一晃就过去了。。。
噢，在过去的好时光，我也曾经如此地年轻过。20年后，在同样的一群树下，我依然能感觉到我的灵魂，和阳光下的蝴蝶们，在一起翩翩地起舞。。。是的，岁月可以苍老我们的脸庞。我们的身体，它却不能同样苍老我们的灵魂，如果我们愿意努力去维持一颗孩子一般的，简单的心。
Two weeks ago, I went to visit my old friends, the Butterfly Trees. Again and again, year after year, twenty years have passed just like a white steed passing through a crevice.
Oooh, in the good old days, I was once so young. After 20 years, under the same group of trees, I could still feel my soul was dancing gracefully with the butterflies under the sunlight...
Yes, time can age our faces. and our bodies, however, it cannot age our souls in the same way, if we are willing to strive to maintain a childlike, simple heart.
Form my IPhone :)
