Another wonderful year in the herbarium / 植標館‧美好的又一年

Four-year-old An says / 四歲的安安說

Dad's love / 爸爸的愛

冷冷的冬日早晨，我會先讀書暖身之後再去上班，這週讀了翻成法文的日式俳句，是我的年末寫照： 

冬日越來越深沉

如同

爸爸刻骨的愛

飯田竜太

On cold winter mornings, I will warm up by reading before heading for work. This week, I encountered a haiku translated into French, which perfectly summarizes my end of the year. 

Winter deepens, 

like 

the affection of a father 

Iida Ryuta 

We are all the same / 我們都一樣

表面亮晶晶，

內心很擔心。

Shiny on the outside, 

uneasy on the inside. 

Chubby Auntie / 胖阿姨

胖阿姨早上在萬芳醫院捷運站發報紙好幾年，每天她會給我好明亮的微笑，我的心情總是因此一振。前一陣子胖阿姨再也沒有出現，我想了幾個星期，幻想她或許生病了、或許遠遊。

Chubby Auntie had been handing out free newspapers in the Wanfang Hospital MRT station for several years. Every day her bright smile would light up my day. However, a while ago, Chubby Auntie  vanished without a trace. I wondered if she fell ill or if she went on a long journey. 

        那一陣子聽了繪本作家馬尼尼爲的演講，對於海的旅館有非常嚮往的心情，那是可以獨處的空間。

     I happened to attend a talk given by the illustrator Maniniwe then. I long to spend some time in her "Sea Hotel," where I will have all the time and space to myself. 

        也許胖阿姨去了海的旅館。

        想不到有一天居然在家裡的捷運站遇見胖阿姨，原來派報社不再雇用胖阿姨了。

        我居然如此想念一個近似陌生人的胖阿姨‧‧‧‧‧‧

     Maybe Chubby Auntie went to the Sea Hotel. 

     One day I encountered Chubby Auntie coincidentally in the MRT station near home. She explained to me that she is no longer employed by the newspaper. 

     Strangely, I miss such a stranger so much that my heart aches... 

Ghostly monster and elixir spring fairy / 鬼怪與長壽湯的仙女

三年半前去韓國玩，買了一堆繪本，雖然看不懂，但是看到圖就很開心。最近因為心醉電視劇「鬼怪」，不禁想起我最愛的繪本，強烈地懷疑這本書應該在講韓國民俗中流傳的鬼怪，我終於有衝動請身邊的韓文老師翻譯，果然是在說一堆饑餓的鬼怪的故事，不過他們有點笨，雖然會變出金子，卻無法得到他們想要的年糕，和帥氣的孔劉差真多。

I went on a picture-book shopping spree when traveling to Korea three and half years ago. Though I hardly understood the text, I did take much delight in merely looking at the images. Lately, the super hit drama "Ghostly monster" has reminded me that maybe one of the books I own is about the folklore character, the ghostly monster. I was finally motivated to ask a Korean teacher to roughly translate the story for me. As I had guessed, the book is about a bunch of starving ghostly monsters. Though they could conjure up gold nuggets, they couldn't get the deuk bog gi (rice cake) they crave for. Well, what a contrast with the handsome lead role in the drama. 

        我真心覺得韓國人很厲害，民間傳說也可入繪本和流行文化，哪天我也要來做個年獸的故事。

     I admire Koreans for their talent and marketing strategies from the bottom of my heart. It's amazing to see folklore used in picture books and pop culture. Some day I am doing to write a story based on Nien, a fierce beast in Chinese folk stories. 

        很巧地，昨天又在dpi雜誌裡讀到當時買的另一本繪本簡介，這本叫「長壽湯的仙女」，作者白熙娜的作品都很吸引我，主題是以韓國人習以為常的澡堂生活為背景，敘述一名和媽媽去泡澡的小女孩，在玩水的時候遇見老阿媽般的仙女，兩人短暫地玩一陣子，卻發展出情誼。

     Coincidentally, I read the summary of another book I had bought back then in dpi illustration magazine yesterday. The book is titled The Elixir Spring Fairy. The books of the author, Bae Hee Na are all my favorites. The story takes place in a public bathhouse. A little girl meets a granny-like fairy as she is playing in the pool. Their short but sweet friendship becomes a wonderful memory for the little girl. 

        很偶然地在三年半後才發現自己買的書究竟在說什麼，這真是最棒的聖誕禮物！

     I hadn't expected to learn anything about the books I  purchased a long time ago, but right because of that, this surprise turned out to be the best Christmas gift!

Shimen Reservoir / 石門水庫

Greek moon / 希臘的月亮

入秋以來，陸續和好久不見的孩子見面，聊聊生活、工作，漸漸地這對我有很療癒的效果，讓我可以跳脫自己小小的世界，徜徉在人生各種可能性裡。

Since this past fall, I've been catching up with some girls that graduated a few years ago. Through sharing the past few years together, I feel greatly soothed. This enables me to jump outside my small box and swim in many possibilities of life. 

        那天從希臘左巴走出來時，冬夜的氣溫有點涼又有點暖，子榕指著又胖又黃的月亮，下面還掛了幾顆星星，一起走到車站的路上，我碎碎唸著那些有的沒有的擔心，分手的時候子榕笑笑地說：「不要想那麼遠啦。」

     As we walk out of the Greek restaurant on a Saturday evening, the cool and fresh winter air greets us. Zi-rong points at the fat and yellow moon, under which hang some twinkling stars. On our way to the bus station, I go on with my murmur of unimportant worries. When it's time to say goodbye, Zi-rong reminds me with a smile, "You should live in the present."  

        雖然還沒有親眼見證過希臘的月亮，但透過和孩子們的言談，大概就是如此黃黃藍藍、涼涼暖暖吧！ 

     Though I have not got to witness the Greek moon in person, I can imagine that it's blue and yellow, cool and warm like what the girls tell me! 

Headache / 頭痛

頭痛是我今年的關鍵字，雖然醫生說是生理原因，但鼓隊打起來的時候還是忍不住想是不是也有心理因素。

"Headache" is my word of the year. Though the doctor confirmed that it should be attributed to the hereditary factor, I sometimes can't help wondering if I have imposed too much pressure on myself. 

        要送走2016年之前又發了一場頭痛，腦裡的鼓隊打的節拍越來越密集，他們說：不要再鑽牛角尖那些無謂的小細節，數我們的節奏！！！ 

     Before seeing 2016 off, I suffered from another headache. The beats of the drummer intensified with time passing. The thunderous music screamed, "Forget all about your obsessions with the insignificant trifles. Focus on us!" 

        軍隊離開的隔一天，我全身上下變得很柔和，為自己還舒服地活著這件事感到喜悅，沒有精力想不重要的瑣事，到辦公室做的第一件事是塗鴉。

     The next day after the drummers left, I softened from head to toe, feeling acutely the joy of living without physical pain. I couldn't afford to give thought to what had been bothering me anymore. And surprisingly, the first thing I did when arriving at the office was doodling. 

        真好，這一年結束之前，我突然明白頭痛的意義了。

     How nice that I have finally figured out the meaning of a headache before the year ends. 

How do you say "I love you" / 怎麼說「我愛你」

我們喜歡和八歲的楷維亂聊一通，常常聊著聊著就會得到重要訊息。某天他說到了喜歡的女生，很有自信地和我們說小女生也愛他，我和媽媽不得不接下去問：「你怎麼知道？」他竊竊自喜地回答：「她兩本作業本一打開就寫著『我愛方楷維！』」

We love to chat with the eight-year-old Kai. Often we will discover his big secrets as we ramble. One day he mentions his little girlfriend. He tells us with such confidence that the girl loves her too. Mom and I just can't help asking, "How do you know?" He replies with self-important pleasure, "She wrote on the first page of her two notebooks, 'I love Kai!'" 

        不同於那些曖昧不明的關係，孩子們直率、不害羞的示愛方式多麼動人，於是我也在我的筆記本上留下同樣的字眼，記住愛人與被愛的美好。

      Far different from the play-hard-to-get love games, the ways children say I love you are so straightforward and brave. Thus, I have the same words written down in my journal to remember the beauty of loving people and being loved.