on the way 4 / 夢想實現中 4

08/02, 08/03

後生可畏

The new tides keep rising...

八月的溫度似乎有節節攀升的趨勢，再加上這個周末的身體狀況不是很好，有些意興闌珊。距離壁畫完成的期限只剩一個月不到，所以我身邊神秘的鄰居紛紛出現。雖然我原先預想的是熱鬧的夏日派對，不過大家都很專注，想盡快把作品完成，所以空氣中反而有股很緊張的氣氛。

The temperature keeps soaring in August. Besides, I was not in very good shape last weekend, so I didn't appear to be as cheery as the past month. There is less than one month away from the deadline, so I got to see all my mysterious neighbors. I had expected a merry summer party, but everyone so intended to finish their work. I sniffed some nervous air and was influenced by it.

四月投稿之前，我只有滿腔的熱情，雖然活了將近三十二年，敝人完全沒有畫大型壁畫的經驗，所以便天馬行空地把底圖的上部塞滿了美麗的花朵。等到實地作業之際才明瞭，聰明人是不會這麼做的。因此，我有一半以上的時間都在鷹架上生活，反觀隔壁的美少女團體，居然在一天內就完成了作品，而且圖的重心就放在中心點，這時要捶胸頓足真是來不及了。

Before I submitted the picture in April, I had nothing but passion. I am going to turn 32 soon, but I didn't have any experience of painting on such a large scale before this summer. I just followed my whim and stuffed the top of my picture with beautiful flowers. It was not until last month that I realized that a wise artist wouldn't do that. So this explained why I have to spend more than half of the time up there on the scaffolods. My neighbors, a group of young juicy gals, took only one day to finish their work. The focus of their picture is right in the middle. Sigh, it was late for me to moan and groan...

接著對面的年輕姐妹花也出現了，她們也面臨了爬鷹架的命運，妹妹不過是即將升高二的小妞，居然在五分鐘之內就克服恐懼，爬到最高層，而且似乎沒有甚麼害怕的感覺，原本敝人還想提供一些精神上的協助，卻發現我的好意真是多餘，我只能在對面，很汗顏地想著，我還花了一兩個小時呢！真不曉得我多活的十五年是幹甚麼用的。

Then the sisters who are responsible for the space across from mine appeared. They were confronted by the fate of climbing the scaffolds as well. The younger sister is about 16 to 17 years old, but she conquered her fear within 5 minutes and got to the top. I couldn't sense any fear in her. Well, I had even wanted to offer her some mental help! My good will wasn't necessary after all. I could only sit on my bench and recall it had taken me one to two hours, and even some invisible tears. I wondered what my extra fifteen years of living on earth were for.

到了第二天，體能有些不堪負荷，我的筆觸就更狂野了，因為始終無法走精工路線，本來我已印象派自居，但是後來我覺得應該比較偏向野獸派。薛吉一直很感人地安慰我，加了小白人之後，畫面開始生氣勃勃，我居然很掃興地回答，其實我已經記不得當初自己到底要畫甚麼，我只想趕快畫完，把東西收收，回家過安全的人生。

The second day, the heat and my fatigue really beat me. It was all shown in my wild brushstroke. I am no good at creating fine lines, so I prided myself on my Impressionist style. Later I found "Fauvism" would be a better definition. Shaggy never stopped encouraging me. She even said, "The little white figures give life to the whole picture!" I gave her a cold look and replied, "I don't remember what they are doing exactly. For the moment, I wish I could wrap up the whole thing right away, pack my stuff, and go home to lead a safe life."

唉，有這麼多可畏的後生，我怎麼可能還輕鬆地躺在家裡呢？就是因為這樣，只好更努力啦！

Alas, with so many young talented people, how am I going to relax at home without any worry? Just because there are so many new tides pushing from the back, I have no choice but to work harder...