I wasn't even ten years old that year.
During the summer vacation, I went to stay with my aunt. Aunt planted more than ten acres of watermelon, all large and round, like the hot sun, standing on the ground to look at, such as a round full of green pearls evenly spread all over the earth.
During the day, my aunt and I watched the watermelon stand on the street. In the evening, my uncle went to the river to catch frogs. Out of curiosity, I followed him.
The village where my aunt's home is called Wotou Gou, the village is divided into east and west two chambers, the middle of the winding stream, the river is full of leg-high mugwort and wild reed, and a large pot of bright colors of wildflowers. When I stepped onto the bank, the frogs around me welcomed me with their throats. At that time, I did not learn the poem "rice flowers say bumper year, listen to the sound of frogs", but I squatted in the reed, really want to sing two sentences "watermelon sweet on the reed bank, listen to the sound of frogs."
With a tin torch and a basket with a big belly and a small mouth, my uncle caught singing frogs along the river. At that time, the frog was as simple as man, had never seen the world, heard the footsteps of men, did not know how to hide, and still sang loudly in his loud voice, completely unaware that his end was coming. The flashlight is like a small sun, a frog in the night clearly appeared, and was caught in the basket.
Only the next day did I know that my uncle had come to eat the frog. He slaughtered all the frogs and dried them on the roof, and the sun dried them into pink frogs, crystal clear and bright. Big uncle with Laobai dry, cheek a drum, "creak creak" rhythmically chewing frog meat.
Aunt clip two handed me, I hesitated to take over. It was my first time eating frogs, and I was scared and guilt-ridden. In my heart, I didn't think I should eat this green, croaking creature, but watching my uncle munch on it made my mouth water, and eventually the craving prevailed.
I ate a lot of frogs for that meal.
A few days later, I returned home. He began to inexplicably fever, a high fever a low fever, sleep at night is very unstable, a sleep, dream like a snake wrapped up. The people, dogs, pigs and so on in the dream are all frog faces, fangs and claws around me. Waking up in a nightmare, cold sweat, like a shower.
Grandma came to the village "God wife". Madam God solemnly inserted three incense sticks in the windowsill, sat cross-legged on the kang, hung her eyelids, and muttered something in her mouth. For a while, she suddenly opened her eyes and shouted: "Oh, no! This girl is possessed by a frog spirit!"
According to the guidance of "God's wife", Grandma respectfully invited incense, bought yellow paper, Dad drove a donkey cart, pulled me and grandma back to Wotou ditch. That night, with the moonlight like water, Grandma led me quietly to the river. The frog, regardless of the past, still sings with enthusiasm.
The moon that night was as big and round as the watermelon in the melon field, quietly hanging in the deep south sky, bringing a bright silver ash sprinkled over the river bank, according to Grandma's gray hair and devout face.
She pushed aside the reeds and shook a match to light incense, burning the yellow paper one by one, just as a frog with a big belly jumped silently in the moonlight and seemed to be stunned at the sight of the fire. My grandmother, like grasping the straw, immediately clasped her hands and began to pray to the frog with a crying voice, begging for forgiveness, and then added in a whisper: "This child has no mother since she was little, is a miserable girl, you don't blame her ah, don't blame ah..."
That's what she always says when I make a mistake and she humbles and apologizes. After a while, the frog seemed to understand, jumped twice in front of the grandmother, then turned and jumped high, "splash" into the gurgling stream, disappeared, and a frightened wild magpie on the other side of the river disappeared in the dancing shadows of the trees...
After that night, my fever really began to go down, and the terrible frog face did not appear in my dreams again.
-- Many years ago.
Later, with the death of my aunt and the remarriage of my uncle, I rarely went to Wotou Ditch. Now the Wotou ditch high-rise, the river has been filled and built into the main road, a car and a car to the east and west, call, call, call, run very fast, do not know what to do in a hurry.
那年，我不到十岁。
暑假，我去大姑家小住。大姑家种了十多亩西瓜，个个又大又圆，似火骄阳下，站在地头放眼望去，如一颗颗圆润饱满的绿色大珍珠均匀地遍布在大地上。
白天，我和大姑在大街上守着西瓜摊。晚上，大姑父要去河边捉青蛙，出于好奇，我也跟了出去。
大姑家所在的村子叫窝头沟，村子分东西两厢，中间弯弯曲曲流淌着一条小河，河边窝满齐腿高的艾蒿草和野芦苇，还有一蓬蓬颜色艳丽的野花。登上河岸，周围的青蛙都扯着喉咙欢迎我。当时我没学“稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片”这首诗，但我蹲在芦苇荡里，真的想扯着嗓子吟两句“芦苇岸边西瓜甜，听取蛙声一片”。
大姑父拿着铁皮手电，背着大肚儿小口的背篓，沿着河边捕捉唱歌的青蛙。那年头儿，青蛙和人一样纯朴，没见过世面，听见人的脚步声，也不知道躲，依旧鼓着大嗓门儿放声欢唱，全然不知道自己末日将至。手电筒像个小太阳，一只只青蛙在夜色里清晰显现，迷迷瞪瞪就被抓进了背篓。
我是第二天才知道大姑父捉青蛙是来吃的。他把青蛙全部宰杀，晾晒在屋顶上，烈日把它们晒成粉红色的蛙干，晶莹透亮。大姑父就着老白干，腮帮子一鼓一鼓的，“咯吱咯吱”有节奏地嚼着青蛙肉。
大姑夹了两只递给我，我犹豫了一下接了过来。这是我第一次吃青蛙，心里怯怯的，充满负罪感。我打心眼里觉得不应该噬食这种绿油油的会呱呱叫的生灵，但看着大姑父大快朵颐，我嘴巴里口水直冒，最终馋占了上风。
那顿饭，我吃了好多只青蛙。
几天以后，我回到家。便开始莫名其妙发烧，一阵高烧一阵低烧，晚上睡觉极不踏实，一入眠，梦就像蛇一样缠上来。梦中的人啊狗啊猪啊什么的全是一张张青蛙脸，张牙舞爪地围绕在我身边。噩梦中惊醒，满头满身冷汗，人像冲了澡一样。
奶奶找来了村里的“神婆子”。神婆子郑重其事地在窗台插了三炷香，盘腿坐在炕头上，垂着眼睑，嘴里念念有词，半晌，忽一睁眼，大喊：“糟了！这妮子是青蛙精附身了！”
按照“神婆子”的指点，奶奶毕恭毕敬请了香，买了黄纸，爹赶着驴车，拉着我和奶奶又回到了窝头沟。当晚，借着如水的月光，奶奶牵着我，闷声不响地走到小河边。青蛙不计前嫌，依旧兴致勃勃唱着歌。
那夜的月亮像瓜田里的西瓜一样又大又圆，安静地悬挂在幽深的南天上，皎洁的银灰洒满河岸，照着奶奶满头苍苍白发和虔诚的面容。
她拨开芦苇丛，颤巍巍地划火柴点上香，一张张烧着黄纸，恰在此时，一只大肚子青蛙踩着月光悄无声息地跳了过来，看到火光，它似乎愣住了。我的奶奶如抓住救命稻草一般，立即双手合十，带着哭腔对着青蛙开始祷告，乞求宽恕，临了又絮絮地补充说：“这孩子打小没有娘，是个苦命的丫头，你们别怪乎她啊，别怪啊……”
这是当我闯了祸，她低声下气给人赔不是的时候经常说的一段话。半晌，那只青蛙仿佛听懂了一样，往奶奶面前跳了两下，接着又转身高高跃起，“扑通”一声跳进潺潺溪流中，不见了踪迹，河对岸一只受惊的野鹊扑棱棱消失在婆娑的树影间……
那晚以后，我就真的开始渐渐退烧了，可怕的青蛙脸也没再出现在梦里。
———多少年前的事情了。
后来随着大姑去世，大姑父再娶，我已很少再去窝头沟了。如今的窝头沟高楼林立，小河也被填平修成了大马路，一辆又一辆车东来西往，呼，呼，呼，跑得飞快，不知道急着去干什么。
