隨興飆歌 -- Singing on the Spur of the Moment

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Eric Lee visited me unexpectedly on September 9, 2010.

He had just attended a cross-school meeting near where I live --

and now, urged and encouraged by Jean's good friends, he started to sing!

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在「三姊」超高竿的琴技 伴奏下，在座的每個人，輪流飆起歌來 → → →

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→ → → 飆歌，一曲接一曲，飆得大夥兒 pretty happy，

又飆到 你  癡   我    狂！(as though everybody were extremely crazy!)

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Even I, whose voice is nothing special, is now so aroused that I feel like singing something special.

聽我引吭高歌 談何容易！但今天感動之餘，遂硬著頭皮當眾獻唱一曲 . . .！

I Killed a Snake This Morning

#2010-0909

Oh! I killed a snake this morning.

I haven't killed any snakes in the past three decades; therefore, killing the snake that slipped into the front yard of my house made me especially excited. I was very happy indeed; I felt very proud of myself because this was my first time to kill a snake in front of my wife, who had just been so scared that she kept screaming, "Snake! Snake! Oh . . . over there, what a terrible thing! It's under the scooter. Do you see it? . . ."

As soon as I heard my wife screaming, I ran out from my room with a rattan stick. And, within 30 seconds or less, I succeeded in killing that disgusting creature!

You know, on several occasions I've told my wife that when I was a teenager living with my parents in the mountains, I killed quite a few snakes. But, this was the very first time for my wife to see me killing a snake!

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Qiao Dianyun de Zuopin

#2010-0908

Jinzao, dule Robert Joe Cutter suo fanyi de Qiao Dianyun (1931-    ) de zuopin.

Wo bu queding yuan zuozhe de xingming ji zuopin de timu jiujing shi naxiege zi. Zhi zhidao zhe duanpian xiaoshuo de timu yicheng yingwen shi: The Blank Stele. (Stele zhe zi hai bushi yiban xiao cidian suo neng chadao de ne!)

Genju pianmo zhuji, zhe xiaoshuo fabaio yu 1987 nian. Xiaoshuo de changdu wei yiban shu guige de 10 dao11 ye (yi yingwenban lai kan). Xiaoshuo de gushi qingjie [plot] guran ling wo gandong -- rong wo yihou chongdu ji bian zhihou zai fenxi ba --  xiaoshuo de wenzi fengge [style] geng rang wo ganchu-liangduo! A! Na shi yizhong "chongman shanggan de fanfeng" (充滿傷感的反諷). Chengru zuozhe jianjie zhong tidao de:

"The Blank Stele" is a powerful example of the art of castigation executed in melancholic irony and satire: to the very end the country folk have no idea why the government would fuss over a slab of stone.

Ai! Xiaoshuo chang shi xianshi rensheng de xiezhao -- Zai na "tongku de niandai" ziran hui you zheyang ling ren ganshang de zuopin!

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補註：後來我透過網路搜尋，找到有關作家 "喬典運" (1930-1997) 的介紹，可能就是本文裡 Qiao Dianyun 的中文名啊 (?!)。

中心瓏步道

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霧峰的中心瓏【或作壠！】登山步道

我時常漫步【慢步？】的好地方

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路邊的藍櫻（叫「藍櫻」沒錯吧？）可遠觀、可近看，而不可........焉！

Being loved or hated or ignored by people walking by, these roadside

flowers welcome you as long as you are not a flower picker!

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走著，走著，不自覺就會走到「省議會紀念園區」的後山！

Where are you going right from here? Going up? or going down?

Anyway, don't lose your way or climbe into a garbage can.

請牢記：只要還活著，還有一點點用途，

就別自暴自棄，或不小心「爬入」垃圾桶裡！

垃圾筒的定義（取自英文維基百科）： A waste container is a container for temporarily storing waste, and is usually made out of metal or plastic. Common terms are dustbin, rubbish bin, litter bin, garbage can, trash can, trash bin, dumpster, waste basket, waste paper basket, waste receptacle, container bin, bin and kitchen bin. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" are more common in American English usage.

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 樹幹與路燈　筆直地立著　誰可相媲美？

They both stand upright (day and night), though functioning differently!

生活的樂趣 (My Happy Life)

#2010-0903

Sannian qian, cong Toushang tuixiu de shihou, wo wei ziji guihuale suowei "BEST" (zui-meihao) de shenhuo moshi. BEST baohan sige yingwen zimu, hanyi ruxia:

[English paraphrase] Three years ago when I had just retired from my teaching job at Nantou Commercial School (NCS), I made up my mind to have a BEST lifestyle. The acronym BEST is composed of these English letters:

B = books (including The Bible)
E = exercise
S = sharing (esp. short stories)
T = traveling

Wo xiang, tuixiu zhihou jiu you hen duo geren keyi linghuo yunyong de shijian. Yao rang tuixiu shenghuo chongman quwei, chule dudu haoshu (B), xiexie xiaoshuo (S) shenme de, hai dei zhuyi shenti jiankang, duo yundong (E), shenzhi chang chumen luyou (T), dao taxiang-yidi zouzou kankan, xinshang tianran jingzhi ji renwen fengqing, yi da zengguang jianwen, tiaoji shenxin zhi gongxiao.

[English paraphrase] There is no doubt that one will have much more "free time" after retirement. To enrich one's retirement life, he should try his best to read good books (B), to take more exercise (E), to share something with others (S), and to spend time traveling here and there (T). In doing so, a retiree -- a person who has retired from full-time work -- will be able to make his life more enjoyable; that is, he will feel healthy and happy and wise, in his retirement!

Rujin, wo zai Sheng Yage zhengzheng sannian de "teshu shiming" yi gao yige duanluo. Wo zheici shi zhenzhengde tuixiu la. Na sannian qian suo ding de "BEST" jihua, da cong benyue qi, yinggai luoshi zhixing (really put into practice) cai shi. Yuan Zhu Yesu bangzhu wo, rang wo shenhuo you mubiao, you yiyi, bingqie neng you suo gongxian (huo huikui)!

[English paraphrase] Now my "special mission" at St. James' has come to an end. Since my retirement from NCS I have worked here for another three years and, from now on, I will not be working as before. It is high time that I put my BEST plan into practice. Oh, Lord, may you give me guidance and help that I need, so that I can really enjoy my retirement.

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裸體的樹 -- Why Is the Tree Naked?

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哦！樹也會脫 --- 脫光衣服，連「皮」也不想要了！

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Look! This tree is tall . . . so very tall;

and it is a naked tree -- with no clothes at all.

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是不是老了 就比較怕熱？

還是有了年紀 就不在乎別人的眼光？

2010 Nian 9 Yue 1 Ri

#2010-0901

You shi yige zhide jinian de rizi -- 2010 nian 9 yue 1 ri, wode shuyu ziji de Xin Shenghuo kaishi le!

Suyu shuo: "Wan shi qitou nan." Keshi jintian bu yiyang! Wo youdian "wu guan yi shen qing" de ganjue. Meicuo, dang wo zhengshi xuangao bu zai xuren "buxiban zhuren" [補習班主任] ye bu yingpin "yanfa zhuren" [研發主任] zhege jihu wei wo liangshen-dingzuo de xin zhi shi, wode zhengke xin, jiu xiang piaoyou-zizai de yun (飄遊自在的雲), liudong ziru de feng (流動自如的風), turan biande gewaide qingsong.

Laopo ye wei wode chenggong lizhi gaoxing. Erzi ji erxifu ye dou zantong wo ciqu Sheng Yage jianzhi gongzuo de jueding. Tamen shuo, wo xinku henduo nian le; xianzai gai shi kaiqi "yunyou zizai, fengdong ziru" (雲遊自在、風動自如) de shenghuo moshi de shihou le.



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Zaijian la! Shen Yage de zhuwei tongdao, tonggong! . . . Anyway, I'll miss all of you very, very much, wherever I go. May the Lord bless each of you, now and forever!

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Meeting Robert at Dayeh University

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大葉大學 (Dayeh University) 校景很美

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My former roommate Robert Chen, who is from Mazu.

We graduated from the English Department of NTNU in 1985. After that 

we didn't see each other until this morning -- 25 years has/have

passed by just in the twinkling of an eye!

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難得的相聚，讓我們留下「喜相逢」的印記！

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一簇簇 火樣的鳳凰花 (下圖) → (下下圖) 結出成熟、沉穩，有內涵的豆莢