家是一所大房子，房子后边有块空地，尽是些肥沃的土壤，却偏偏遇着我们这一家，不喜欢什么花花草草，种上些小葱大蒜的，倒也实在。
Home is a big house. There is a vacant lot behind the house. It is full of fertile soil, but it happens to meet our family. I don't like flowers and plants. It's true that I planted some shallots and garlic.
黑的土壤里有块小地方，特别显眼，那儿的土不是黑的，中间一小块是黄色，右边是青色，左边是白色，下边是红色。
There is a small place in the black soil, which is very conspicuous. The soil there is not black. The middle one is yellow, the right one is cyan, the left one is white, and the bottom one is red.
父亲告诉我，这叫五色土，传说女娲补天的时候，用的就是它，女娲也用它创造了人，所以我们有黑色的头发，黄色的皮肤，蓝色的眉毛，红色的血液和白色的……
My father told me that this is called five colored earth. It's said that when Nuwa mends the sky, she uses it. Nuwa also uses it to create people. So we have black hair, yellow skin, blue eyebrows, red blood and white
“白色的什么呀？”我问。
"What's the white one?" I asked.
“自己想。”
"I think so."
“那你的眉毛不是蓝色的啊？”
"Then your eyebrows are not blue?"
“这只是个神话。”
"It's just a myth."
后来我知道，五色土象征着一个泱泱大中华，东边是海，西边是白色的沙，南边是块红土地，北边是黑土的故乡，而中间，就是黄土高原。
Later I knew that the five colors of soil symbolized a great China, with the sea in the East, white sand in the west, a piece of red soil in the south, the hometown of black soil in the north, and the Loess Plateau in the middle.
我常常对着家里的五色土发愣，“海是蓝色的，为什么水又变成黑色了？”我问。
I often look at the five colors of the earth at home, "the sea is blue, why does the water turn black again?" I asked.
“自己想。”
"I think so."
终于有一天，有个人送给父亲一个瓷器，
One day, a man gave his father a piece of porcelain,
“景德镇的，好东西呢。”
"Jingdezhen, good stuff."
“什么土烧的？”
"What kind of earth is it?"
“五色土。”
"Five colors of earth."
“五色土？”我被这三个字深深吸引。瓷器上除去花纹，不过是一个普通的、中国人的颜色罢了，没有青、红、黄、黑、白。
"Five colors of earth?" I am deeply attracted by these three words. Except for the pattern on the porcelain, it's just a common Chinese color. It's not green, red, yellow, black or white.
是的，中国人是由这五色土造出来的，没有更多余的色彩，只有最质朴的和谐，当五种颜色混合在一起的时候，才显出这种色彩的魅力，那是一种朴素的、纯净的美。
Yes, the Chinese people are made of these five colors. There are no more colors, only the most simple harmony. When the five colors are mixed together, the charm of this color will appear. It is a simple and pure beauty.
我开始了解为什么眉毛不是蓝色的，为什么海是青色的，只有摇篮有了五色土混合颜色的人，才是中国人，只有东西南北中所有的地域结合起来，才是我们的祖国。
I began to understand why eyebrows are not blue, why the sea is blue, only the cradle with a mixture of five colors of earth, is Chinese, only the East, West, North and South in all regions together, is our motherland.
五色土，融合着一片大地，融合了一个民族，从我真正了解的那一刻，家中的那块五色土就成为一个圣地。
Five color land, a land, a nation, from the moment I really know, the five color land in my family will become a holy land.
父亲长笑着摸摸我的头，“孩子，想清楚了吗？”“嗯。”我点点头，不再说话。
Father long smile touch my head, "child, think clear?" "Um." I nodded and stopped talking.
