假如給我一支畫筆
〔越南 〕 鄧蓉 中國地質大學（武漢）
假如給我一支畫筆，讓我描繪中國，5歲的我會用紅色的畫筆去畫中國。自我記事起，只要周圍的人一談到中國，我就會想到越南隨處可見的中餐廳和中國商店。這些地方總是到處都張貼著紅色的窗花、紅色的對聯，店牌下還會挂著一對紅色的燈籠。爸爸媽媽跟我説，中國人都喜歡紅色，他們覺得紅色是幸運的顏色。“噢！紅色的中國，我記住了。”
假如給我一支畫筆，讓我描繪中國，10歲的我會用黃色的畫筆去畫中國。10歲的時候，我們的學校開設了孔子課堂，我因此有了一個漂亮的中文老師。她會教我們拼音和漢字，還會給我們講中國的歷史故事。從她那裏，我知道了中國原來有那麼悠久的歷史，而黃色在中國歷史上可是非常厲害的顏色，中國古代的有些皇帝會穿黃色的衣服，因為黃色是龍的顏色，代表著光明和力量。從她那裏，我還認識了一個叫李隆基的皇帝，他當皇帝時，可讓中國進入了“開元盛世”，很多國家都派人來中國學習。“噢！黃色的中國，早在千年前就那麼厲害了。”
假如給我一支畫筆，讓我描繪中國，13歲的我會用藍色的畫筆去畫中國。2014年的時候，我總在網上看到一些關於中國環境的報道，一些報道説，北京的天是灰色的，他們説那灰灰的東西叫“霧霾”，會導致很多健康問題。我真擔心那些住在北京的中國人，特別是我的中文女老師就回到了北京，我不希望她因為霧霾生病，我想她重回越南工作，於是我給她發了郵件。可她卻讓我別擔心，還告訴我北京的天其實和越南一樣。我不相信，我覺得她是不想讓我擔心她。可後來有一天，我在家裏看新聞時，電視裏播放了一條關於在北京舉辦APEC會議的視頻，越南記者正站在北京的一個廣場上報道新聞，身後是藍藍的天，那麼藍的天果然和越南海邊的天一樣，藍得純粹，藍得迷人。這下我真的不用為我的中文老師擔心了。“噢，藍色的中國，根本不是其他國家説的樣子。”
參觀黃鶴樓 ／ 鄧蓉提供
假如給我一支畫筆，讓我描繪中國，18歲的我會用好多顏色來畫中國。這一年，我獲得了獎學金，來到了中國武漢進行預科學習。剛進學校我就被大片的綠色包圍，我以為在中國只有大學裏才會有那麼多的樹；沒想到當我收拾完宿舍，跟著同胞們去逛武漢時，我才發現整個武漢其實都被編織在綠色裏。不管是大路還是小巷，兩邊都種著樹，滿目的綠讓我覺得武漢是長在森林裏的一座城市。除了綠色，我還要用灰色來畫中國的城市，可不是因為武漢的天灰，武漢的天和五年前新聞裏北京的天一樣藍，我用灰色的畫筆，是因為這兒的灰色高架橋真的太多了，我從來沒在越南的哪個城市見過這麼多車行駛在馬路上，每一座灰色的高架橋上都是快速奔跑的車輛，好像飛龍一樣，自由穿行。如果你問我要用什麼顏色來畫中國人，我會毫不猶豫地告訴你：“我要用橙色的畫筆。”為什麼呢？因為橙色是陽光的顏色，讓人覺得溫暖又親切。剛來中國的時候，我的漢語發音其實還不太好，雖然我早就學過漢語，但我除了上課的時候説漢語，很少在平時生活裏用漢語和大家交流，所以每次在學校外説漢語，我都會有點兒不好意思。有一次，我在學校外面買奶茶，那個人問我：“你從哪來？我猜你是廣西人，對不對？” 我説：“其實我是越南留學生，對不起，我的發音還不太好。”那個人特別吃驚，他説我的漢語好極了，普通話比很多中國人還標準。從那時起，我不再因為發音自卑了，還主動參加了學校的朗誦大賽呢。因為我發現不管在什麼地方和中國人講話，他們總是表揚我，讓我感到心裏暖暖的。“噢！中國人是和陽光一樣的顏色。”
中國地質大學（武漢）南望山校區 ／ 鄧蓉提供
今年的我19歲，去年剛以漢語滿分的成績通過了預科結業考試，雖然疫情讓我不得不在網上開始我的大學生活，但我知道我和中國馬上就能見面了，因為武漢早就成了全世界最安全的城市。等我重回武漢的時候，我要繼續用我的畫筆向我的家人、我的同胞描繪中國。
中國地質大學（武漢）南望山校區 ／ 鄧蓉提供
If You Give Me a Crayon
〔Vietnam〕 Đặng Thùy Dung， China University Of Geosciences（Wuhan）
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a red one when I was 5 years old． As far as I can remember， whenever people around me talked about China， I would think of Chinese restaurants and Chinese shops everywhere in Vietnam． These venues were always pasted with red papercuts on windows and red couplets． A pair of red lanterns were hung under the shop sign． My parents told me all Chinese people like red color as they think it symbolizes good luck． “Oh， red China！ I do remember．”
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a yellow one when I was 10． At the age of 10， our school had a Confucius class and we got a pretty Chinese teacher． She taught us Pinyin， Chinese characters and told us historical stories of China． From her I learned that China has such a long history with yellow as a very powerful color． Some emperors of ancient China were dressed in yellow， because it is the color of dragon that represents light and power． From her， I knew an emperor named Li Longji， who brought China into the “Great Reign of Kaiyuan．” During his reign， many countries sent people to China to study． “Oh！ Yellow China！ It was already so powerful thousands of years ago．”
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a blue one when I was 13． In 2014， I always read some online reports about China’s environment． Some of them said that the sky in Beijing was gray， which they claimed to be smog and lead to many health problems． I was really worried about Chinese people living in Beijing， especially my Chinese teacher who had been back to Beijing． I don’t want her to get sick because of smog and wished she could come back to Vietnam． I emailed her but was told my concern was no necessary as the sky in Beijing is the same as in Vietnam． I didn’t believe it until I watched a video about APEC meeting broadcasted on TV． A reporter of Vietnam was reporting news in a square of Beijing and behind him the sky was crystal blue． The pure and enchanting blue is the same as what you can view at the seaside of Vietnam． I need not worry about my Chinese teacher anymore． “Oh， blue China！ It is not like what other countries described．”
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would need more than one when I was 18． I won scholarship and came to Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province for preparatory study． As soon as I entered school， I was surrounded by a large stretch of green． I thought so many trees could only be seen in universities of China； Unexpectedly， when I settled down in my dormitory and strolled around Wuhan with my compatriots， I found that the whole city was woven with green． Both roads and alleys are planted with trees． The green everywhere makes me feel that Wuhan is a city in the forest． Besides green， I would also select gray color to paint cities in China． It is not because the sky in Wuhan is gray． Instead， the sky here is as blue as Beijing showed on TV five years ago． I use gray because there are too many gray overhead bridges． I’ve never seen so many cars on the road in any city of Vietnam， which are like dragons flying freely． If you ask me what color is proper for painting Chinese people， I will say without hesitation， “Give me an orange crayon please．” Why？ Orange is the color of the sunshine， which makes you feel warm and kind． When I just arrived in China， my pronunciation of Chinese was not good enough． Though I learned Chinese for a long time， I seldom communicated with others in Chinese in my daily life except I had to in class． I felt a little embarrassed every time I spoke Chinese outside school． I bought milk tea outside and was asked by the vendor， “Where are you from？ I guess you are from Guangxi， aren’t you？” I replied， “In fact I am an overseas student from Vietnam． I am sorry that my pronunciation isn’t good．” The vendor was very surprised and expressed my Chinese was fluent． He even said my putonghua is better than many Chinese people． From then on， I no longer felt inferior for my pronunciation and even took the initiative to participate in the school reading contest． I found no matter where I speak with Chinese， they always warm my heart with praise． “Oh， Chinese people are of the color of the sunshine．”
I am 19 years old this year． Last year I passed the preparatory examination with a full score in Chinese． Though I had to kick off my university life online due to the COVID－19 pandemic， I do know I will see China very soon as Wuhan is now the safest city in the world． When I return to Wuhan， I will carry on painting China with crayons for my family and country fellows．
