不着地族／A Lift-Off People

 

不着地族 金雨田	A Lift-Off People Jin Yu Tian
友人家住布萊德嶺地鐵站旁，雨蓋連接，下樓即走入地道，辦公室在華聯中心，出了地道即可搭電梯上樓，再也沒有這麼方便的上班族了。其實也有很多人跟他差不多，家住高樓，駕車上班，上了電梯以後，再也不見天日了，下了班也是同樣的返家公式。	GOING to work couldn’t be more convenient for an office worker like my friend.  Leaving his flat in a block next to Braddell MRT station, he goes downstairs, walks through a roofed passage, and is right underground for the train; then he gets off at another station, takes a lift up the OUB Centre close by, and arrives in his office. In fact, there are many others like him, who live in a high-rise building, drive to work, take a lift to get to the office, and then go home by reversing the route, without staying in the open air.
雖說頂不着天立不着地的形容有點過火，但我常喜歡自嘲為“不着地族”。	While “levitating” would be too hyperbolic a description, I take delight in dubbing my folks “a lift-off people”.
一位台灣朋友批評新加坡人鄉土觀念薄弱，因為都住不着地，我從都不以為然，人來人往，本就是都市的特質，不管是不是歷史的意外，五星伴月，紅白飄揚，這就是一個都市國家，何必生造那土地鄉愁，自我煽情。	A friend from Taiwan often comments that Singaporeans lack a sense of attachment to their homeland because they all live off the ground.  I don’t think he is right.  To me, moving around is simply natural for an urban population and, by accident or by design, ours has evolved into a city-state over history under the flying red-and-white flag of moon and stars.  Why create a land-linked nostalgia out of nowhere and wax sentimental over it?
自從組屋底層不建居間後，“不着地族”的人口更是迅速膨脹，有百分之九十了吧。	Since the ground floor of flat-blocks became the “void deck”, our lift-off residents have increased rapidly, now accounting for maybe 90% of the population, I guess.
居於空中，漂浮若夢，打開窗，萬家燈火照人眼，不也是一番景致。	For those who live in lofty flats that seem to float mid-air in a dreamland, the window view of myriads of brightly-lit homes under the night sky does make a real spectacle.
不着地族何懼之有，要擔心的倒是骨質鬆脫症呢！   注： 雨盖：可遮阳遮雨的有盖走廊。 五星伴月，红白飘扬：指新加坡国旗，颜色上红下白，图案为一弯新月加五颗星星。 组屋底层：新加坡公共住宅的底层一楼，不建居室，用作公众的活动空间。	There is nothing our lift-off folks should be wary of –– except osteoporosis, a bone weakness from lack of exercise. (Tr. Allen Zhuang)
原載新加坡《聯合早報》(2000)；後收入《不著地族 / A L O P》(潘正鐳著，Allen Zhuang 英譯；Singapore: All Publishing House, 2002)；曾貼於譯者早前的網誌 坡港英華 / SingaKong Chinese & English (2008-11-23)，今重貼於此。 【允許轉貼；請注明取自本網頁，並保留源文作者及譯者姓名。】

 

 

看天 / Sky-Gazing

 

看天 金雨田	Sky-Gazing By Jin Yu Tian
老師要孩子們去看看天，說說天空，描述天空，孩子們好興奮。	THE CHILDREN were excited when the teacher told them to go and take a good look at the sky and then describe it in their own words.
天，不是天天在看嗎？但大夥兒躺在草地上，天空這塊大銀幕，天藍藍、雲飄飄，原來還有綿羊、公雞、小狗、床單、花、山……小孩們都樂了。	The sky –– hadn’t they seen it every day before?  Yes, but the kids were nonetheless exhilarated when, lying on the grass and gazing up, they found an enormous azure screen, on which floating clouds were being transfigured into sheep, roosters, puppy dogs, and then bed-sheets, flowers, mountains...
不屬於靠天吃飯的一代，大都喜歡低頭往地上尋寶，忽略了抬頭的廣闊遼遠，放眼的無拘無束。	The joy of looking up into the far and vast and gazing away with infinite freedom has been neglected by people nowadays.  No longer at the mercy of Heaven for their livelihood, the younger generations tend to keep their eyes on earthly gains alone.
小時候，望天，是無所事事的習慣。童年裏，樹是最親密的夥伴，在樹蔭下，乘涼就望天，如羅大佑唱的“望着天空發呆”。	Sky-gazing was my hobby in those idle days along with the trees, my best childhood companions.  Enjoying the coolness under their foliage, I would gaze up into the sky –– “Lost in a trance, staring heavenwards”, as a popular singer crooned.
發呆，哎，紅塵滾滾，自問已多久沒有享受發呆的神馳之趣了。	Alas, long lost is the pleasure of staying in a trance, now that I’m deep in the hustle and bustle of the world!
有一回，一個人到幸福島去，一個下午就獨自的在海邊看天，突然間一股清明的情緒襲來，海浪一來一往的在腳尖，仿佛大自然在撫慰，什麼都想到什麼都不想時，生命裏諸多的歡欣和流淚的事，靜止不動；恐懼與欣喜，心頭一掠而過。	The solitary afternoon I spent on Fortune Island surfaced from memory.  Gazing at the sky, all alone on the beach, I felt something cool and bright surge over my heart.  With the waves rushing up and down close at my toes, Nature herself seemed to be caressing my soul.  My mind was taken up by everything –– and nothing –– with the many joys and sorrows in life standing still, but fears and ecstasies flitting past.
聽孩子們說看天的事，心在一刻之間，又如雲出岫，從這冷氣冷冷的辦公室裏出走。	Hearing the children talk about sky-gazing, for a moment I felt my inner self, like a wisp of cloud flowing out of a hillside cave, escape from me to flee this chilly air-conditioned office. (Tr. Allen Zhuang)
原刊新加坡《聯合早報》(2000)；收入《不著地族 / A Lift-Off People》(潘正鐳著，Allen Zhuang 英譯；Singapore: All Publishing House, 2002)；曾貼於譯者早前的坡港英華 / SingaKong Chinese & English 網誌(2009-03-30)，今重貼於此。 【允許轉貼；請注明取自本網頁，並保留源文作者及譯者姓名。】