2006 0531

               A Call Of My Hometown

Saturday, October 5, 2002

    It was the D-Day for me to put my words into practice that I had promised three of my colleagues to make a tour of my poetic and idyllic hometown in the romantic season when picturesque scenes are far and wide.  In the mid-fall season, it was cool and pleasant when we set off our trip in the morning.  White clouds were silhouetted against the blue skies and mild sunshine seemed to escort us on the freeway, which sure enough contributed to catalyzing our high moods in the car.    
    Naturally, we had a happy chat until we reached the time-frozen township—Chishan, where the Victorian-style train station and old baroque stores drew us back to several decades ago.  In addition, the mud-brick-built archways along both sides of the street near the train station did catch Kitty’s eye so she, one of my and colleges, took some pictures as her unforgettable recollections.  Then we went to the popsicle shop in Chishan Sugar Company where we took a rest and enjoyed its famous ice cream and something.                     
    Thanks to its location in the midway to Liu-kuei and other famous scenic spots, tour buses and cars pull into the parking lot and visitors swarmed into the popsicle shop, affiliated to the state-run sugar company, to quench their thirst and took a rest in the park skirted by tall and big trees.  Before visiting Meinung Folk Village, a private-run visiting spot full of items, foods and handicrafts peculiar to Hakkas, I drove them to the foothills of Chiweishan(Chiwei hills).  To our great surprise and excitement, a wild Taiwan monkey sat by the road with a boy looking at it at a very short distance.  We got off the car to see it, but unexpectedly, we all were so stunned and excited to see more than fifty monkeys old, middle-aged, or young, jumping downward to the roadside on which, a middle-aged couple put enough bananas for them to eat to their heart’s content.  We four, surprisingly, dropped our jaws to look at the monkeys grabbing the food and eating it with rapid and funny action.  As a local, I had never seen them or heard about the group of monkeys.However, the local government put up a sign to dissuade the visitors from feeding them in order to keep their innate instinct in seeking food for surviving in the natural surroundings but they did not seem to go by it.  What’s more, to overfeed will result in the mass reproduction of the female mature monkeys, which may ruin the balance of the ecosystem.  I was doubtful about the latter saying, but the former seemed reasonable.  That was why I asked the female food provider about what the monkeys will do if she and her husband go on a holiday for a long time.  I got no response when she was going on throwing bananas to them.                 
    On the riverside were reed-like plants with white flowers in full bloom on their top, which looked like a layer of snowflakes covering on a waving green blanket.  It was, indeed, the good reason to tell my colleagues that during the season, my hometown was always poetic and picturesque.  As to many old memories called nostalgia, it belonged here to me who was sentimental enough to be summoned deep in my mind, day and night, even rain or shine.  My hometown is my dream with its permanent or lost things in it.  Suddenly, I found nothing was eternal and I was silly enough to seek my lost childhood in the old and ragged train station or the same riverbank, but in vain—all was gone with the wind in the wilderness.  Like in a dream, I am not the same child in the station to wait for the train or the one in the river to swim in.  So far, who can share the same homesickness with me?

    In the early evening, we had a big meal to enjoy in Kaohsiung in the 85-story skyscraper located on Sun-do Road.  The buffet supper could be available at the Jing-ding restaurant on the 39th floor, which commanded a pretty view of night landscapes of the seaport on one side and the streets on the other.  Golden and splendid sunbeams reflected in the waters to be against the shipments with different sizes and shapes.  Gradually, twilight merged into dark and we chattered over delicious foods in the nocturnal and romantic atmosphere.  The neon-lit streets and tall buildings made us high-spirited.  Wow! The beautiful nightscape was too good to be true.  I wanted to freeze the time forever….

                        故鄉的呼喚

對我而言，這是一個實現諾言的「行動日」。我曾經答應三位同事，要在一個浪漫、風景如畫的季節，到我那充滿詩意及田園風情的家鄉一遊。而在這中秋時節，早晨我們啟程時天氣是涼爽宜人，白色的雲朵映著藍天，溫煦的陽光好似在護送著我們上路，也確實讓我們的心情更加興奮。

自然而然，我們愉快地聊著天直到我們來到時光凍結的小鎮－－旗山，它那維多利亞式風格的車站以及老舊的巴洛克建築商店牽引我們回到幾十年前。此外，車站附近街道兩旁泥磚製的拱廊吸引了凱蒂（她是我的同事之一）的目光，她拍了一些照片作為難忘的回憶。然後我們去旗山糖廠的冰店，在那裡小憩片刻享受那馳名的冰淇淋以及其他產品。

由於（受益於）位在往六龜及其他著名景點的中途站，遊覽車和汽車停泊在停車場。遊客們蜂擁至由國營糖廠經營的冰店解一解渴，並在有著又高又大的樹木環繞的公園中休息。在參觀美濃民俗村（那是一個私人經營的旅遊點，滿是獨具客家風味的物品、食物及手工藝品）之前，我開車帶他們去旗尾山麓，令我們既驚訝又興奮的是，一隻野生台灣獼猴坐在路旁，有個男孩近距離注視著牠。我們下車查看時，出人意料外的，我們看到超過五十隻年老、壯年、年輕（老老少少）的猴群跳下來路邊，在那裡一對中年夫婦放置了足量的香蕉讓他們吃得過癮。我們四個看著牠們攫住食物，動作迅速且滑稽地吃著，驚訝得下巴都掉了。身為一個本地人，我從未看過或聽說過這群猴子。

然而，地方政府設置了一個告示牌勸阻遊客餵食，為的是讓猴群保有覓食本能以便能在自然環境中生存，但遊客們似乎並不遵循。再者，過度餵食會導致成熟母猴大量繁殖而破壞了生態平衡。我懷疑後者的說法，但前者的說法似乎頗合理。這就是為什麼我問那個餵食者，如果她和她先生去度假好一段時間猴群會怎麼做，我沒有得到任何回答，她繼續拋擲香蕉給猴群。

河岸邊，狀似蘆葦的植物上頭盛開著白色的花朵，看起來像是一層雪花覆蓋在波浪形的綠色地毯上。這也正是為什麼我會跟我的同事說我的故鄉在這季節總是詩情畫意的好理由。至於許多舊時的回憶，不論白天或黑夜，甚至晴或雨，總喚起多愁善感的我內心深處的鄉愁。我的故鄉是我的一場夢，夢中有著故鄉永久的或逝去的事物。突然間，我發覺沒有任何事物是永恆的。而我也真夠傻，竟想從那破舊車站或同一個河畔去尋覓逝去的童年，這一切都是枉然，它已隨風消逝在荒野中。就像在夢中一樣，我已不是那個在車站等車或在溪中游泳的小孩。到目前為止，誰和我一樣有這份鄉愁呢？

傍晚，我們在高雄三多路旁的八十五層的摩天大樓裡享受大餐。位在三十九樓的金鼎餐廳有供應歐式自助晚餐，從那裡可以俯瞰美麗的夜景，一邊是港灣，一邊是市街。一束束金黃色燦爛的陽光在水中反照出許多不同大小形狀的船貨。逐漸地，昏暗的薄暮化為黑夜，我們在這樣的夜間的浪漫氛圍中聊著天配著美食。亮著霓虹的街道和高聳的大樓令我們心情很愉快。哇！美麗的夜景美妙得有點不真實。我真想把時間永遠凍結…….