Qin Wa’s grandmother lives near the Xi’an Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. There is a big pomegranate garden beside the yard of grandma’s house.
During the day, grandma took Qin Wa to visit the Terracotta Warriors. He saw so many clay figurines standing neatly one by one, and asked curiously: “Grandma, are these clay figurines standing for punishment?”
Qin Wa dislikes penalty stops most. When he was in class, he talked to Nini next to him for a while, and the teacher told him to stand in front of the classroom. After a class, Qin Wa’s legs were numb.
Qin Wa saw the terracotta warriors and horses standing there, motionless, so uncomfortable. Why not let them come out and play?
At night, dimly, Qin Wa came to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum again.
In the moonlight, the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus wafted in the museum park. Suddenly, a rabbit fell from the sky and almost hit Qin Wa in the head.
A bunch of moon rabbits hang upside down on the sweet-scented osmanthus tree in the moon. The moon rabbits held each other’s legs and hung upside down, from the moon all the way to the museum park.
Moon Rabbit, will you come to see the Terracotta Warriors?
Yes, Sister Chang’e said, they have been standing for too long and they want to move a little bit.
Qin Wa opened the door and shouted: “Terracotta Warriors and Horses, come out and play!”
But none of the terracotta warriors moved. The moon rabbits tickled the terracotta warriors and swept their faces with their little tails. The terracotta warriors could not help sneezing (tì).
Qin Wa shouted: “The penalty stop is over! You are free!”
All the terracotta warriors and horses were resurrected immediately! They cheered, laughed (xī), shouted, freedom!
The persimmon trees in the park are full of fiery red persimmons. A persimmon tree is like a flaming torch. The young soldier rushed over, climbed up the persimmon tree, and ate while picking it. The soldier under the tree shouted cheerfully: “Throw it down! Throw it down!”
A group of cavalry saw the jujube tree and shouted, riding on the branch to pick the jujube.
A mustache military officer brought a group of warriors to the pomegranate garden of grandmother’s house. The pomegranate tree is full of large pomegranates. They asked in amazement: “Is this tree a stone?”
The grandmother who was picking the pomegranate smiled and said, “It’s not a stone, it’s a pomegranate!”
The mustache officer peeled a pomegranate, tasted it, and exclaimed in surprise: “It’s so sweet!”
The terracotta warriors don’t even know pomegranate. Qin Wa asked her grandpa.
Grandpa told him that during the Qin Dynasty, the pomegranate hadn’t spread to China. The origin of pomegranate is ancient Persia. During the Han Dynasty, a man named Zhang Qian (qiān) visited the Western Regions (yù) and brought back grapes, carrots, and walnuts from the Western Regions.
Qin Wa understood. The terracotta warriors had never eaten pomegranates and grapes, so surely Qin Shihuang hadn’t eaten them either?
Grandpa smiled and said, “He has only eaten mutton steamed buns (mó).”
Qin Wa sighed. Alas, I haven’t eaten so many delicious ones!
In the pomegranate garden, soldiers happily picked pomegranates. Grandma was busy squeezing fresh pomegranate juice and gave them to drink. The moon rabbit fell upside down from the moon’s osmanthus tree again. They smell the scent of pomegranate too!
－－－－－－Reading thinking－－－－－－
1. Why would the terracotta warriors and horses not recognize pomegranate?
2. In addition to the plants mentioned in the article, do you know which plants were introduced into our country from abroad?
