英语阅读：Nothing can put such a people down
After the recent earthquake inflicted tremendous sufferings to severalprovinces and shook half of the Chinese mainland, there was an opinion, as
expressed in Internet forums, that "we should learn to stand in awe of nature".
What the opinion means, I guess, is that we should not try to challenge the
might of nature by bringing any change to it.
I will agree to it if the opinion implies that man should not violate the
rules of nature and he may earn for himself nature's vengeance if he tries to
extract too much from it. But I do not think we should become fearful of the
elements and remain submissive in front of a bad-tempered Mother Nature.
In fact, the bravery and the unyielding spirit demonstrated by the Chinese
people during the blizzards at the beginning of the year and the recent
earthquake reflect the most precious traits of the nation that need to be
carried on.
Stories of some common people during the earthquake best illustrate this
spirit.
After the earthquake on May 12, huge rocks from landslides blocked all
roads leading to the quake-struck areas. As most roads were built on mountain
slopes over deep valleys, high-power machines could barely function. Army men
used bare hands and simple tools to clear the way.
While military troops raced against time to rebuild the roads, groups of
civilians appeared on rugged mountain slopes. They were from other places and
heading for the quake-hit towns and villages in the hope to find their relatives
who they had not heard of since the disaster struck. Though the journeys were
mostly dozens of kilometers, they decided to walk there.
Actually, they were not walking but rather climbing, for they had to make
their way on rocky ridges overgrown with brambles and creepers most of the time
while watching every step to avoid falling into the valleys. Yet they still
headed on, carrying food and water for their relatives poised between life and
death.
Liu Hongfen, a country woman, traveled about 40 kilometers from Dujiangyan
to Yingxiu, the epicenter of the earthquake, to look for her missing husband.
She walked non-stop between the two towns three times, each time for two days.
What a devoted wife and a determined person.
Another husband-and-wife story is also just as moving. Yao Bangguo carried
his wounded wife on his back and walked 100 kilometers from Maoxian to their
home in Beichuan. He used two days and two nights to complete the journey,
climbing over six mountains.
Children were as brave as the adults. Zhang Jiwan, an 11-year-old boy from
Beichuan, carried his 3-year-old sister and walked 12 hours to safety. Their
parents had died in the earthquake.
Many netizens said they were moved to tears by the love between the family
members while reading these stories on Internet news portals. I too was. But I
was also deeply touched by their bravery and tenacity.
Such bravery and tenacity seem to be a tradition for the Chinese people. In
the snow-storms that wreaked havoc on southern China in January and February,
many people chose to walk along paralyzed highways to go home for the Spring
Festival or to come to help their relatives stranded in buses on the way.
Walking is the most primitive way of traveling compared with all the modern
convenience of transportation. Yet when adversities struck, our people did not
hesitate to adopt it and other bare means to fight against the difficulties.
This tradition should not be given up, no matter how much of advanced
technologies we master in our drive toward modernization.
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