LOVE / 愛情

我因為妳的快樂而快樂。

I am happy because you are happy.

Departure / 離開

她說：「我老是看著別人離開，有一天我也要出走。」

我說：「我不想當留在原地的人，所以我必須要離開。」

我們都想著有朝能飛出去的可能，不過你搶先了我一步，雖然我們強烈渴望可以離開家，到了能夠遠去的前夕，發現離開更需要的是勇氣。

離開不是逃避，而是要面對自己，然後讓那些阻撓你的心浮氣躁隨風飄去。

She said, “I am always the one that sees others off. One day it will be my turn to go away.”

I said, “I don’t want to stay where I am all the time. That’s why I have to leave.”

We’d dreamed of flying away, but you made it earlier than me. Much as we long for the opportunity to leave, we realize right before departure that courage is indispensable in our moving on.

Going away is not a form of escape. Instead, it’s a journey on which you have to come face to face with yourself. Let the wind and rain wash away your impetuosity, and you’ll eventually see what you are after.

Blissful / 幸福的

五月時對於自己的作品有些不確定，我想來想去，覺得自己需要一雙有經驗、超然的眼睛，我想到鄭明進老師，兩年前的確聽過老師的演講，也記得老師很歡迎大家和交換信件，只可惜我當時沒有留下老師的地址。我在網路上搜尋老師的資料，很幸運地找到他在今年初出版的一本書，叫做「鄭明進與20個插畫家的秘密通訊」，買來之後發現裡面插畫家寄給老師的信件上，便可以找到老師的地址，我對自己說，一定要寫信給老師才行。

I wasn’t so sure about my works back in May, so it occurred to me that maybe I need a pair of experienced and objective eyes. Mr. Cheng Ming Chin’s name popped into my mind. I did attend one speech held by him two years ago, and I remember that he welcomed the audience to exchange mail with him. It is a pity that I didn’t ask for his address then. Thus, I searched for his information online and came across a book he had published earlier this year entitled Mr. Cheng Ming Chin’s Secret Mail with Twenty Illustrators. I was lucky enough to find Mr. Cheng’s address on the mail sent by his illustrator friends to him in the book. It was then that I vowed to write to him as soon as possible.

拖到了七月旅行回來，終於寄出給老師的明信片，但是我心裡想，如果老師沒有回信也是很正常的，這麼一想就到了八月底。星期天傍晚回家時，目光突然被一封躺在管理員桌上、看起來很不尋常的信件吸引，信封底貼著一張小圖，呼籲大家愛用台灣水果，出於好奇心，我把信封翻過來，收件人就是我！

I put off this important task until the end of July after I returned from my summer trip. Though I did send out a hand-drawn postcard, in the meanwhile, I told myself that it would be understandable if I did not hear from Mr. Cheng. Then one month passed. When I came home last Sunday evening, I was attracted by a very special-looking envelope lying randomly on the desk of the concierge. On the back was glued a small picture advocating the consumption of Taiwanese fruits. My curiosity tempted me to turn the envelope, and surprisingly, I was the addressee!

我開心地搭上電梯，到家不自主地大聲嚷嚷起來，老爸老媽也不得不問是怎麼回事，我說了老師的名字，他們倆也附和：鄭老師很有名啊，我們都認識。原來老師在收到明信片的當週就回信了，只是把我們家的樓層數少寫了1，還好我善心的鄰居在一個月後把信丟出來，又讓我在覺得有點落寞的星期天巧遇了這封信，我不禁想，上帝對我挺好的。

I took the elevator with a heart full of glee. I couldn’t help making a lot of noise about the mail when arriving home. Dad and Mom asked me what it was all about. When I uttered Mr. Cheng’s name, they two both exclaimed: Oh he is famous! We have heard his name. (Mr. Cheng is like the father of illustration in Taiwan.) I learned that Mr. Cheng had replied during the same week I sent out the postcard. However, he missed the number 1 when it came to the floor I live on. Fortunately, my kind-hearted neighbor threw out the mail one month later so that I could accidentally find it on a kind-of-sentimental Sunday. Isn’t God pretty nice to me, I thought…

老師快要八十歲了，卻如此充滿熱情，這令我很感動。老師的信件中除了提醒我之前我也想過的問題，還說：我們不拘束地、自由自在地畫畫好嗎？恰巧最近小雪也是這麼和我說的，也許我在無形中就給自己套上框架，幸好有這些很溫暖的人不斷提醒我，讓我可以在喜歡的事情裏用我的步伐前進，我真是幸福的一個人！

Mr. Cheng is almost 80 years old, but he is so full of passion and warmth. That really moves me. In Mr. Cheng’s mail, he reminded me of something I had thought about before. He also said, let’s draw freely without any restrictions, shall we? Eileen happened to have made similar remarks to me last week. I figure that sometimes I lock myself in the box without being aware of it. I am so blessed to have these warm people to constantly lift me up so that I can make progress at my own pace in doing the thing I love the most in the world.

Passion, Spain / 熱情‧西班牙

暑假要接近尾聲了，我的夏日旅行七月就告一段落，身邊的旅者也都從遙遠的國度歸來，Patty卻問我，接下來要去哪裡？因為暫時哪也不去，選擇反而多了起來，剛讀完北歐的書籍，又去了安徒生展，感覺去了一趟北國。跨越空間的限制之後，時間也不再是阻撓，於是我回想去年夏天的西班牙旅行，重新看過旅途中和之後的記錄，彷彿又回到當下。

Summer break is drawing to an end. My summer trip was over a long time ago, and travelers around me have all returned from long journeys to remote countries. Patty asked me, “Where will you go for next trip?” Though I don’t have any plan for the coming year, still, I can travel in more creative forms. For example, I just finished a book on North Europe and came back from an exhibition on Hans Christian Andersen. I wasn’t in that part of the world physically, but “my visit” couldn’t feel more real. After I conquered the spatial boundaries, time no longer posed any obstacle for me. I look back on my trip to Spain last year. When I read the past record, I am immediately transported to those wonderful moments.

儘管有些友人已經看過這一系列的作品，但是我想一定還有想要散心、卻暫時走不開的人，不如現在就放下手邊的工作，進行一趟十分鐘的旅行！

I shared this series with some friends back in April, but there must be those who’d like to get away but can’t afford the luxury for the time being. Why don’t you put aside your work and go on a ten-minute trip?

My travel route: Barcelona to Valencia to Granada to Ronda to Sevilla to Cordoba to Madrid

Insomnia / 睡不著

Insomnia by Elizabeth Bishop

The moon in the bureau mirror
looks out a million miles
(and perhaps with pride, at herself,
but she never, never smiles)
far and away beyond sleep, or
perhaps she’s a daytime sleeper.

By the Universe deserted,
she’d tell it to go to hell,
and she’d find a body of water,
or a mirror, on which to dwell.
So wrap up care in a cobweb
and drop it down the well

into that world inverted
where left is always right
where the shadows are really the body,
where we stay awake all night,
where the heavens are shallow as the sea
is now deep, and you love me.



The reason for insomnia should be the inversion of “you love me.” It’s actually “I love you.”



睡不著 伊莉莎白畢夏普

梳妝台鏡子裡的月亮
望著鏡外一百萬英哩遠之處
(也許充滿自豪地看著自己)
離睡眠好遠，或者
也許她白天睡太多。

被宇宙拋棄，
她叫它下地獄，
然後她找到一攤水，
或一面鏡子，停駐之上。
所以把你的憂慮收好放在蜘蛛網裡，
往井裡一丟

掉進那反過來的世界
那裡左邊變成了右邊
那裡影子才是主體
那裡我們整夜不睡覺
那裡天堂和海一樣深
而你愛我。



所以睡不著的原因要反過來，是因為我愛你。

So mesmerizing is … / ‧‧‧無限好

不知道是不是前一陣子去淡水看了夕陽，或者是夏季的中國之行，最近畢夏普「旅行之問」中的詩句「我們還有空間容納另一個折起來的暖暖的日落嗎？」又浮現腦海。

It might be our short outing to Tamsui in early July. The entrancing sunset has stayed in my mind since then. Or it might be the trip to China soon afterwards. Lately, I’ve been obsessing about Bishop’s verse: And have we room, for one more folded sunset, still quite warm? from the poem Questions of Travel.

二零一零年捌月十二日

Aug. 12, 2010

下過大雨之後，除了空氣降溫之外，傍晚的天空特別澄澈。我們馳騁在高速公路上，我從後座的窗戶向外看，火紅的太陽伴著被渲染的雲彩，看起來簡直就是渾然天成的油畫作。我們並不是夜遊，但我感受到旅行的氛圍，混著隱約的期待和興奮。

After the showers in the sultry afternoon, the sky cleared up with a transparent kind of beauty. We raced on the highway like a small car in a gigantic oil painting of nature in which the sunset beamed with fire-red glow. We weren’t going on any thrilling night adventure, but it was no less than a trip. I felt as much excitement and anticipation about what we were going to see.

到達另一個城市時已經天黑，剛好趕上嬰兒房開放的時間，雖然你只有2100公克，而且有些不安穩地躺在保溫箱裡，看到你小小的身體、大大的鼻子、細長的手指和半透明的腳趾頭，我很感動，看到你努力的媽媽和想到這一路的辛苦，我有點想哭。

It was already dark by the time we reached another city. Fortunately, we made it to the visit hours of the newborn wards. I got to meet you though you weigh only 2100 gram, living in the incubator, breathing kind of unsteadily. Something stirred in me when I saw your tiny body, big nose, slender fingers, and semi-transparent toes. And I kind of felt like crying seeing your fatigued mom and her struggles along the way.

然後我想到了畢夏普的問題，我的口袋裡總是放得下另一個日落，我還要把今天的日落送給你，作為我們的第一個見面禮。無限好的夕陽並不是終點，我們都還有好長一段路要走。

Bishop’s question comes back to me. Yes, I always have room for one more folded sunset. Moreover, I am going to give you the sunset of your birthday as my present of our first encounter. We both have a long way to go, and the sunset is not the end.

Tianjin / 天津