12月8日

冬陽 童年 駱駝隊伍
林海音 ( 1918~2001 )

駱駝隊來了，停在我家的門前。

它們排列成一長串，沉默地站著，等候人們的安
排。天氣又乾又冷，拉駱駝的摘下了他的氊帽，
禿瓢兒上冒著熱氣，是一股白色的煙，融入乾冷
的大氣中。

我站在駱駝的面前，看它們吃草料咀嚼的樣子，
那樣醜的臉，那樣長的牙，那樣安靜的態度。它們
咀嚼的時候，上牙和下牙交錯地磨來磨去，大鼻孔
裡冒著熱氣，白沫子沾滿在鬍鬚上。我看得呆了，
自己的牙齒也動起來。

老師教我，要學駱駝，沉得住氣的動物。看它從
不著急，慢慢地走，慢慢地嚼，總會走到的，總會
吃飽的。

夏天過去，秋天過去，冬天又來了，駱駝隊又來
了，但是童年卻一去不還。冬陽底下學駱駝咀嚼的
傻事，我也不會再做了。

可是，我是多麼想念童年住在北京城南的那些景
色和人物啊！我對自己說，把它們寫下來吧，讓實
際的童年過去，心靈的童年永存下來。我默默地想，
慢慢地寫。看見冬陽下的駱駝隊走過來，聽見緩慢
悅耳的鈴聲，童年重臨於我的心頭。

──選自《城南舊事》等

December 8

Winter Sun, Childhood, and Camel Trains
Lin Haiyin (1918 – 2001)
English translation: Siew-Hsiang Chow

The camel train had arrived and stopped in front
of my doorstep. They were lined up in a long queue,
standing quietly and waiting for arrangement. The
weather was dry and cold. The man that led the camels
took off his felt hat, and the heat above his bald head
evaporates into the dry, cold atmosphere.

I stood in front of the camels, examining the way
they chewed the forage. Such an ugly face, such long
teeth, and such a quiet and peaceful attitude. As they
chewed, their upper and lower teeth ground together
in a crisscross fashion. Steam came out of their big
nostrils and their whiskers were covered with foam.
I became dumbfounded and my teeth started to grind too.

My teacher taught me to learn from a camel, an
animal that kept its composure. It never rushed.
Instead, it walked and chewed slowly, knowing that it
would eventually reach the destination and eventually
be full.

Summer and autumn have passed, winter was here
again. The camel train came again, but my childhood
was gone forever, never to return. And neither would
I again do such stupid thing like learning how a camel
chewed under the winter sun.

But how I really missed the scenery of Old Beijing
and the people who lived there during my childhood!
I told myself to have them written down to let go of
my childhood, yet forever saving its spirit. I pondered
quietly and slowly wrote. I watched the camel train
walk towards me under the winter sun, and listened
to the slow and sweet chiming bells, as my childhood
returned once more on my mind.

── from Chengnan Jiushi (My Memories of Old Beijing) and others