Tē 5 Chiong
5.1 Góa khah kòa-ì góa bô chi̍t-ê kiáⁿ
Chi̍t ê sió-khóa chhut-ji̍t, tàng-sng ê jī-goeh chá-khí, Clifford hām Connie chhut-khì sàn-pō͘, kiâⁿ-kòe lîm-hn̂g, hiòng chhiū-nâ khì. Clifford chē motor /mò.tà/ í-á chhia, Connie kiâⁿ tī i piⁿ-á.
Léng khong-khì iáu sī ū liû-hông bī, m̄-koh in nn̄g lâng lóng koàn-sì ah. Kīn tē-pêng-sòaⁿ sī chi̍t phiàn pe̍h-pe̍h ê ian-bū, téng-koân ū chi̍t tè sió-sió ê nâ-sek thiⁿ-téng; lâng tō ná ûi tī khian-á lāi-té, chóng-sī tī lāi-té. Sèⁿ-miā chóng-sī ná bîn-bāng, ná khí-siáu, ûi tī khian-á lāi-té.
Mî-iûⁿ tīn tī lîm-hn̂g nih khè ta-khì ê chho͘ chháu, chháu-po͘ lap-o chek ê sng, sek-chúi khòaⁿ khí-lâi phian nâ. Lîm-hn̂g nih ū chi̍t tiâu ná hún-âng si-tòa ê sió-lō͘ thong kàu óng chhiū-nâ ê mn̂g. Clifford chòe-kīn tú hoan-hù lâng kā pho͘ thai-kòe ê thòaⁿ-tiûⁿ piⁿ ê soa-chio̍h. Chiah-ê sio-kòe, bô liû-hông-chit ê soa-chio̍h, ta ê sî sī hún-âng ê hê-á sek, tâm ê sî piàn khah àm, sī mô͘-hē sek. Taⁿ, chit tiāu lō͘ sī chhián-chhián hê-á sek, khàm chi̍t iân phú-pe̍h phian nâ ê sng. Connie chóng-sī chin kah-ì chit tiâu pho͘ soa-chio̍h ê hún-âng sió-lō͘. Sè-kan sū, pháiⁿ-sū hoān-sè mā ū i ê hó-chhù [Bô-lō͘-iōng ê thòaⁿ-tiûⁿ soa-chio̍h mā ū i ê súi].
Clifford sió-sim ùi chhù khiā ê soaⁿ-lūn téng sái lo̍h siâ-pho, Connie kā chhiú hōaⁿ tī i ê í-á chhia. Thâu-chêng tō sī chhiū-nâ lah, siōng kīn ê sī chi̍t chhok chin-bo̍k (hazel), koh kòe sī kiô-á sek ê cha̍t-cha̍t chhiūⁿ-chhiū (oak). Chhiū-nâ piⁿ ū thò-á teh thiàu, teh khè mi̍h-kiāⁿ. Chi̍t tīn o͘-a hiông-hiông poe khí-lâi, poe kòe sió-sió ê thiⁿ-téng.
Connie sak-khui óng chhiū-nâ ê mn̂g, Clifford bān-bān sái kòe, kàu chi̍t tiâu tōa-lō͘, he lō͘ peh siâ-pho, nn̄g pêng sī siu-chián chéng-chê ê chin-bo̍k. Chit ê chhiū-nâ sī í-chêng Robin Hood phah-la̍h tōa chhiū-nâ ê chi̍t pō͘-hūn, iah chit tiâu lō͘ sī chin kú í-chêng keng-kòe chng-kha ê tōa-lō͘. M̄-koh, taⁿ i chí-sī chi̍t tiâu keng-kòe su-jîn chhiū-nâ ê lō͘. Ùi Mansfield lâi ê lō͘ tī chia se̍h tùi pak-pêng khì.
Chhiū-nâ nih bô tōng-cheng, tē-bīn ê lo̍h-hio̍h khàm chi̍t iân po̍h-po̍h ê sng. Chi̍t chiah ka-ka-á (jay) thî chi̍t ê phòa-lē siaⁿ, heh-cháu chē-chē sè-chiah chiáu. M̄-koh chia bô la̍h-bu̍t, mā bô thī-ke. He lóng tī chiàn-cheng sî hông phah liáu, chhiū-nâ mā bô lâng koán-kò͘, kàu taⁿ, Clifford chiah koh chhiàⁿ chi̍t ê la̍h-tiûⁿ khàn-siú.
Clifford chin ài chit ê chhiū-nâ; i kah-ì hiah-ê lāu chhiūⁿ-chhiū. I kám-kak hiah-ê kúi-nā sè-tāi lóng sī i ê. I boeh pó-hō͘ in. I ài chit ê só͘-chāi bô siū kiáu-jiáu, hn̄g-hn̄g kap sè-kài keh-khui.
Í-á chhia bān-bān chiūⁿ siâ-pho, tī kiat-tòng ê thô͘-kak téng iô-hián chìn-chêng. Hut-jiân, tò-pêng chhut-hiān chi̍t tè khang-tē, kan-ta ū chi̍t phiàn kat chò-hóe ê ta koeh-niau, oai-ko chhi̍h-chhoa̍h ê iù-ki chhiū-á, koh ū chi̍t-kóa kì-tn̄g ê chhiū-thâu, khòaⁿ ē-tio̍h in sí-khì ê chiat-bīn kap tèng-thô͘ ê chhiū-kin. Mā ū kúi-ūi o͘-jiah, he sī chhò-chhâ-lâng sio cha̍p-chhâ-á kap pùn-sò só͘ lâu ê hûn-jiah.
Chia sī chiàn-sî Geoffrey Sià chhò chiàn-hô iōng ê chhâ ê chi̍t ê tē-tiám. Phòng-koân tī tōa-lō͘ chiàⁿ-pêng ê thô͘-lūn-á kng-liu-liu, bô pòaⁿ-hāng. Chá-chêng chhāi chhiūⁿ-chhiū ê lûn-á téng chit chūn khang-khang; tī hia lí ē-tàng khòaⁿ kòe soaⁿ-phiâⁿ ê chhiū-á téng, khòaⁿ tio̍h khòng-tiûⁿ ê thih-lō͘, kap Stacks Gate ê sin kang-chhiúⁿ. Connie khiāⁿ tī hia khòaⁿ, chia sī chhiū-nâ ún-ki-tē ê chi̍t ê khang-kháu, ùi chia khòaⁿ ē-tio̍h sè-kài. M̄-koh yi bô kā Clifford kóng.
Chit tè khàng-tē chóng-sī hō͘ Clifford hui-siông hóe tōa. I bat chham-ka chiàn-cheng, chai-iáⁿ he sī án-chóaⁿ. M̄-koh bōe khòaⁿ chit tè tē chìn-chêng, i bē án-chóaⁿ siū-khì. Taⁿ i kiò lâng koh kā chèng chhiū-á. Che hō͘ i chiok chheh Geoffrey Sià.
Clifford bīn chhâ-chhâ chē í-á chhia, bān-bān peh kiā. In lâi kàu siōng tèng-koân ê sî, i tòng-tiām tī hia, bô boeh mō͘-hiám kkiâⁿ-lo̍h khōng-khōng-tian ê siâ-pho. I chē hia khòaⁿ hit tiâu tōa-lō͘ tī koeh-niau kap chhiūⁿ-chhiū tiong-kan sàu chhut chi̍t tiâu chheⁿ-sek ê khang-khiah, kàu soaⁿ-kha oan chi̍t ê oat chiah bô--khì. Chit ê oan lō͘ chin bê-lâng, sī í-chá khî-sū kap kùi-hū khiâ-bé keng-kòe ê hó só͘-chāi.
"Góa jīn-ûi chia sī chin-chiàⁿ England ê tiong-sim," Clifford chē tī bî-bî jī-goe̍h ji̍t-kng ē, án-ne kā Connie kóng.
"Sī oh?" yi án-ne ìn, sin chhēng phòng-se saⁿ, chē tī lō͘-piⁿ chi̍t ê chhâ-thâu téng.
"Tio̍h! Chia sī lāu England, sī i ê tiong-sim; góa boeh kā pó-liû lo̍h-lâi."
"Oh, hó!" Connie kóng. Hit sî yi thiaⁿ-tio̍h Stacks Gate khòng-tiūⁿ thoân-lâi ê cha̍p-it tiám chúi-lê siaⁿ. Clifford bô chù-ì tioh, in-ūi i lóng koàn-sì ah.
"Góa boeh hō͘ chhiū-nâ oân-chéng... bô phò-hoāi. Bô-ài ū lâng chhim-ji̍p," Clifford kóng.
Che ōe nih ū tām-pō kam-siong. Chhiū-nâ nih iáu ū bó͘-chióng hong-iá, lāu England ê sîn-pì; m̄-koh khì hō͘ Geoffrey Sià chiàn-sî ê chhò-chhâ só͘ phò-hoāi. Lí khòaⁿ, chhiū-á lóng tiām-tiām, oan-khiau bû-sò͘ ê chhiū-ki chhun hióng thiⁿ-téng, phú-sek khut-kiông ê chhiū-kut ùi chang-sek koeh-niau tiong-kan khiā-khí! Lí khòaⁿ, chiáu-á tī chia poe, gōa-nī án-choân! Í-chêng bat ū lo̍k-á, ū la̍h-jîn kap kàu-sū khiā lî-á ùi chia kòe. Chia iáu ē-kì-tit, ē-kì-tit.
Clifford chē tī nńg ji̍t ē, ji̍t-kng chiò tī i kng-ku̍t siám kim ê thâu-mo͘, tī i pá-móa âng-gê, kāu sim-su ê bīn.
"Góa nā lâi chia, tō ē pí pêng-sî koh khah kòa-ì góa bô chi̍t-ê kiáⁿ," i kóng.
"M̄-koh, chit ê chhiū-nâ pí lín ka-cho̍k khah lāu," Connie jiû-jiû-á kóng.
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第 5 章
5.1 我較掛意我無一个囝
一个小可出日, 凍霜 ê 二月早起, Clifford 和 Connie 出去散步, 行過林園, 向樹林去. Clifford 坐 motor /mò.tà/ 椅仔車, Connie 行 tī 伊邊仔.
冷空氣猶是有硫磺味, m̄-koh in 兩人攏慣勢 ah. 近地平線是一片白白 ê 煙霧, 頂懸有一塊小小 ê 藍色天頂; 人 tō ná 圍 tī 圈仔內底, 總是 tī 內底. 性命總是 ná 眠夢, ná 起痟, 圍 tī 圈仔內底.
綿羊陣 tī 林園 nih 齧焦去 ê 粗草, 草埔塌窩積 ê 霜, 色水看起來偏藍. 林園 nih 有一條 ná 粉紅絲帶 ê 小路通到往樹林 ê 門. Clifford 最近才吩咐人 kā 鋪篩過 ê 炭場邊 ê 砂石. Chiah-ê 燒過, 無硫磺質 ê 砂石, 焦 ê 時是粉紅 ê 蝦仔色, 澹 ê 時變較暗, 是毛蟹色. 今, 這條路是淺淺蝦仔色, 崁一沿殕白偏藍 ê 霜. Connie 總是真佮意這條鋪砂石 ê 粉紅小路. 世間事, 歹事凡勢 mā 有伊 ê 好處 [無路用 ê 炭場砂石 mā 有伊 ê 媠].
Clifford 小心 ùi 厝徛 ê 山崙頂駛落斜坡, Connie kā 手扞 tī 伊 ê 椅仔車. 頭前 tō 是樹林 lah, 上近 ê 是一簇榛木 (hazel), koh 過是茄仔色 ê cha̍t-cha̍t 橡樹 (oak). 樹林邊有兎仔 teh 跳, teh 齧物件. 一 tīn 烏鴉仔雄雄飛起來, 飛過小小 ê 天頂.
Connie 捒開往樹林 ê 門, Clifford 慢慢駛過, 到一條大路, 彼路 peh 斜坡, 兩爿是修剪整齊 ê 榛木. 這个樹林是以前 Robin Hood 拍獵大樹林 ê 一部份, iah 這條路是真久以前經過庄跤 ê 大路. M̄-koh, 今伊只是一條經過私人樹林 ê 路. Ùi Mansfield 來 ê 路 tī 遮 se̍h 對北爿去.
樹林 nih 無動靜, 地面 ê 落葉崁一沿薄薄 ê 霜. 一隻 ka-ka-á (jay) 啼 phòa-lē 聲, 嚇走濟濟細隻鳥. M̄-koh 遮無獵物, mā 無雉雞. 彼攏 tī 戰爭時 hông 拍了, 樹林 mā 無人管顧, 到今, Clifford 才 koh 倩一个獵場看守.
Clifford 真愛這个樹林; 伊佮意 hiah-ê 老橡樹. 伊感覺 hiah-ê 幾若世代攏是伊 ê. 伊欲保護 in. 伊愛這个所在無受攪擾, 遠遠 kap 世界隔開.
椅仔車慢慢上斜坡, tī 結凍 ê 土角頂搖 hián 進前. 忽然, 倒爿出現一塊空地, 干焦有一片結做伙 ê 焦蕨貓, 歪膏 chhi̍h-chhoa̍h ê 幼枝樹仔, koh 有一寡鋸斷 ê 大樹頭, 看會著 in 死去 ê 切面 kap 釘塗 ê 樹根. Mā 有幾位烏跡, 彼是剉柴人燒雜柴仔 kap pùn-sò 所留 ê 痕跡.
遮是戰時 Geoffrey Sià 剉戰壕用 ê 柴 ê 一个地點. 膨懸 tī 大路正爿 ê 塗崙仔光溜溜, 無半項. 早前 chhāi 橡樹 ê 崙仔頂這陣空空; tī 遐你 ē-tàng 看過山坪 ê 樹仔頂, 看著礦場 ê 鐵路, kap Stacks Gate ê 新工廠. Connie 徛 tī 遐看, 遮是樹林隱居地 ê 一个空口, ùi 遮看會著世界. M̄-koh 她無 kā Clifford 講.
這塊空地總是予 Clifford 非常火大. 伊 bat 參加戰爭, 知影彼是按怎. M̄-koh 未看這塊地進前, 伊袂按怎受氣. 今伊叫人 koh kā 種樹仔. 這予伊足慼 Geoffrey Sià.
Clifford 面柴柴坐椅仔車, 慢慢 peh 崎. In 來到上頂懸 ê 時, 伊擋恬 tī 遐, 無欲冒險行落 khōng-khōng-tian ê 斜坡. 伊坐遐看彼條大路 tī 蕨貓 kap 橡樹中間掃出一條青色 ê 空隙, 到山跤彎一个斡才無去. 這个彎路真迷人, 是以早騎士 kap 貴婦騎馬經過 ê 好所在.
"我認為這是真正 England ê 中心," Clifford 坐 tī 微微二月日光下, án-ne kā Connie 講.
"是 oh?" 她 án-ne 應, 身穿膨紗衫, 坐 tī 路邊一个柴頭頂.
"著! 遮是老 England, 是伊 ê 中心; 我欲 kā 保留落來."
"Oh, 好!" Connie 講. 彼時她聽著 Stacks Gate 礦場傳來 ê 十一點水螺聲. Clifford 無注意著, 因為伊攏慣勢 ah.
"我欲予樹林完整... 無破壞. 無愛有人侵入," Clifford 講.
這話 nih 有淡薄感傷. 樹林 nih 猶有某種荒野, 老 England ê 神秘; m̄-koh 去予 Geoffrey Sià 戰時 ê 剉柴所破壞. 你看, 樹仔攏恬恬, 彎曲無數 ê 樹枝伸向天頂, 殕色倔強 ê 樹骨 ùi 棕色蕨貓中間徛起! 你看, 鳥仔 tī 遮飛, gōa-nī 安全! 以前 bat ū 鹿仔, 有獵人 kap 教士騎驢仔 ùi 遮過. 遮猶會記得, 會記得.
Clifford 坐 tī 軟日下, 日光照 tī 伊光滑閃金 ê 頭毛, tī 伊飽滿紅牙, 厚心思 ê 面.
"我若來遮, tō 會比平時 koh 較掛意我無一个囝," 伊講.
"M̄-koh, 這个樹林比恁家族較老," Connie 柔柔仔講.
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Chapter 5
5.1
On a frosty morning with a little February sun, Clifford and Connie went for a walk across the park to the wood. That is, Clifford chuffed in his motor-chair, and Connie walked beside him.
The hard air was still sulphurous, but they were both used to it. Round the near horizon went the haze, opalescent with frost and smoke, and on the top lay the small blue sky; so that it was like being inside an enclosure, always inside. Life always a dream or a frenzy, inside an enclosure.
The sheep coughed in the rough, sere grass of the park, where frost lay bluish in the sockets of the tufts. Across the park ran a path to the wood-gate, a fine ribbon of pink. Clifford had had it newly gravelled with sifted gravel from the pit-bank. When the rock and refuse of the underworld had burned and given off its sulphur, it turned bright pink, shrimp-coloured on dry days, darker, crab-coloured on wet. Now it was pale shrimp-colour, with a bluish-white hoar of frost. It always pleased Connie, this underfoot of sifted, bright pink. It's an ill wind that brings nobody good.
Clifford steered cautiously down the slope of the knoll from the hall, and Connie kept her hand on the chair. In front lay the wood, the hazel thicket nearest, the purplish density of oaks beyond. From the wood's edge rabbits bobbed and nibbled. Rooks suddenly rose in a black train, and went trailing off over the little sky.
Connie opened the wood-gate, and Clifford puffed slowly through into the broad riding that ran up an incline between the clean-whipped thickets of the hazel. The wood was a remnant of the great forest where Robin Hood hunted, and this riding was an old, old thoroughfare coming across country. But now, of course, it was only a riding through the private wood. The road from Mansfield swerved round to the north.
In the wood everything was motionless, the old leaves on the ground keeping the frost on their underside. A jay called harshly, many little birds fluttered. But there was no game; no pheasants. They had been killed off during the war, and the wood had been left unprotected, till now Clifford had got his game-keeper again.
Clifford loved the wood; he loved the old oak-trees. He felt they were his own through generations. He wanted to protect them. He wanted this place inviolate, shut off from the world.
The chair chuffed slowly up the incline, rocking and jolting on the frozen clods. And suddenly, on the left, came a clearing where there was nothing but a ravel of dead bracken, a thin and spindly sapling leaning here and there, big sawn stumps, showing their tops and their grasping roots, lifeless. And patches of blackness where the woodmen had burned the brushwood and rubbish.
This was one of the places that Sir Geoffrey had cut during the war for trench timber. The whole knoll, which rose softly on the right of the riding, was denuded and strangely forlorn. On the crown of the knoll where the oaks had stood, now was bareness; and from there you could look out over the trees to the colliery railway, and the new works at Stacks Gate. Connie had stood and looked, it was a breach in the pure seclusion of the wood. It let in the world. But she didn't tell Clifford.
This denuded place always made Clifford curiously angry. He had been through the war, had seen what it meant. But he didn't get really angry till he saw this bare hill. He was having it replanted. But it made him hate Sir Geoffrey.
Clifford sat with a fixed face as the chair slowly mounted. When they came to the top of the rise he stopped; he would not risk the long and very jolty down-slope. He sat looking at the greenish sweep of the riding downwards, a clear way through the bracken and oaks. It swerved at the bottom of the hill and disappeared; but it had such a lovely easy curve, of knights riding and ladies on palfreys.
'I consider this is really the heart of England,' said Clifford to Connie, as he sat there in the dim February sunshine.
'Do you?' she said, seating herself in her blue knitted dress, on a stump by the path.
'I do! This is the old England, the heart of it; and I intend to keep it intact.'
'Oh yes!' said Connie. But, as she said it she heard the eleven-o'clock hooters at Stacks Gate colliery. Clifford was too used to the sound to notice.
'I want this wood perfect ... untouched. I want nobody to trespass in it,' said Clifford.
There was a certain pathos. The wood still had some of the mystery of wild, old England; but Sir Geoffrey's cuttings during the war had given it a blow. How still the trees were, with their crinkly, innumerable twigs against the sky, and their grey, obstinate trunks rising from the brown bracken! How safely the birds flitted among them! And once there had been deer, and archers, and monks padding along on asses. The place remembered, still remembered.
Clifford sat in the pale sun, with the light on his smooth, rather blond hair, his reddish full face inscrutable.
'I mind more, not having a son, when I come here, than any other time,' he said.
'But the wood is older than your family,' said Connie gently.
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