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| 2007/03/10 12:24:17瀏覽549｜回應2｜推薦26 | |
96/03/10 晨（原英文版寫於95/10/16） 今天是中秋節，到處都有人在烤肉，看來這似乎是新近發展出來的習俗，然而我今晚卻沒有計畫，不過我也不能抱怨。 昨天我讀了幾本漫畫，內容是關於一個14歲的小女孩騎單車從樓上摔下來之後從此下半身癱瘓的故事；自那次意外以後，她的人生有了180度的大轉變，這些漫畫詳細地描述了身為殘障者所面臨的種種困難。因為我太專心在故事的情節裡，以至於幾乎完全忘了我自己的腳還健在；啊！擁有一個健康的身體實在是太棒了！我該覺得自己是世上非常幸運的人。 我以前一直以為音樂家的生活一定十分精采刺激，他們在舞台上表演時，看起來全都光鮮亮麗，可是事實卻並非如此；他們必須花很長的時間練習樂器，也跟每個人一樣需要辛勤地工作。我記得以前遇到一位幫法國博物館工作的法國鋼琴家，他告訴我很多他在東非做研究時的經歷……哇！實在是太令人吃驚了！在那個東非偏遠的小村子裡，人們需要花上一整天的時間才能走到巴士站，然後還要坐大約兩天的巴士才能到鎮上的雜貨店裡去買咖啡、糖、鹽、電池之類的補給品，所以他們來回總共花了一個禮拜的時間才買到這些生活日用品。哦，順帶一提，錢在那個偏遠的小村子裡是不管用的，因為那裡沒有店面、沒有診所、沒有水、也沒有電，當然也不會有冰箱和冷氣，更不用說那裡絕對不會有網路了。如果這樣聽起來還不夠糟的話，我得再提一下那裡的溫度一年四季都在40度C左右，即使是在冬天，那裡也熱得跟地獄一樣，所以我猜那個地方一定很靠近赤道，而且他們每年雨季過後都要重新蓋一次房子……天啊！世上還有什麼地方比這裡更糟呢？ 今天下午我跟一位法國朋友喝飲料敘敘舊，他是個大提琴家，同時也是音樂學的教授，而且也是個全心致力於音樂的人。我跟他說到這個非洲的故事，「嘿，你的朋友文森告訴我很多關於非洲的故事呢！那裡聽起來簡直像地獄一樣，他必須要走一整天才能到巴士站，而且在40度的高溫下也沒有冷氣……」結果他回答我說：「喔，事情還可能更糟呢！我在喜馬拉雅山做研究的時候，我們必須走一整個星期才能到巴士站，而且我要錄製尼泊爾音樂的時候，還得花兩個月才能從這個村莊走到下一個村莊呢！」這聽起來簡直就是古時候的故事嘛！我實在不敢想像天下還有這種事情。 所以聽到兩位音樂家親身經歷的這幾個故事之後，我想我實在是太幸運了；在台灣的每一件事情都很便利，可是大部分人都忘了身在這麼好的環境裡是多麼幸運的事情；我們應該感激並珍惜我們所擁有的一切，而不是整天抱怨或是動不動就自殺──這個活動現在似乎很流行呢！本地的報章媒體和電視應該多報一些其他窮苦國家的事情和世界各地的國際新聞，因此我們才會有更開闊一點的視野，免得大家都變成一群膚淺且心胸狹窄的人，應該讓思維變得更開明並減低對物質的依賴，這樣一來，我們就比較可能會擁有圓滿快樂的人生。 How lucky we are *Oct. 6th 2006 Moon festival night It is Moon festival today. There are many people having BBQ which seem to be the newly developed custom. However, tonight I have no plan, but I can’t complain. While reading some comic books during the Moon Festival eve, I came across a story about a 14 years old girl, who was paralysed following a fall from a bicycle. Her doctor informed her she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. A series of these stories described the challenges she faced by this dramatic turnabout in her life. So intriguing were these stories that for a moment I forgot my own legs were fine and I realised what a blessing a healthy body is. I used to think musician’s life must be very happy and exciting, they all looked glamorous on the stage while doing their performances, but now I know the truth is very different from the appearance. They have to practice tremendously long hours with their instruments and work very hard. I remember once I met a French pianist who worked for a French museum, he told me many amazing stories of his experiences and research during his stay in East Africa. The little village in East Africa, where he stayed, was very remote, requiring a walk of one day to reach to a bus station and about 2 days bus journey to buy grocery supplies like coffee, sugar, salt, battery, etc. So buying supplies could take up to a week round trip. Oh, by the way, money is not useful in that remote village as they have no store, no clinic, no water, no electricity and of course no refrigerator or air conditioner, not to mention, there’s definitely no internet. If it doesn’t sound bad enough, I have to mention the temperature there is always around 40 degrees Celsius and even in the winter, it still as hot as hell, so I guess that place must be near the equator. They all have to rebuild their house every year after the rainy season; can you imagine a place worse than this? One afternoon, I had a drink with a friend who is a French cellist as well as a professor of musicology and he is a very devoted musician too. I told him about that African story, “Hey, your friend Vincent told me many things about Africa, it sounds like a hell to me. He had to walk one day to get to the bus station, and they have no air conditioner in the 40 degree Celsius temperature…” And he replied, “Well, it could have been worse. When I was doing my research in Himalayas, we have to walk one week to the bus station, and I was walking for two months from one village to another to record the Nepalese music.” That sounds like a story from ancient times; I really cannot imagine anything like this. So, after hearing these stories from the experienced musicians, I think I am really lucky. Everything in Taiwan is so convenient and so easy to get, but most people seem to forget how lucky we are to have such wonderful facilities. We should be very grateful and cherish what we have instead of complaining or committing suicide; that seems all too popular these days. The local press and TV should report more about poorer countries and world news, so that rather than becoming a host of shallow and narrow-minded people, we might gain a broader, more liberal perspective where we would be less concerned with purely material gain but with a better quality life and thus lead to greater happiness.
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