文字遊戲

老子第一句，道可道、非常道、名可名、非常名，湖北郭店楚墓竹簡做：道可道，非恆道、名可名、非恆名。竹簡老子抄寫成書，大約戰國中期。後世避西漢文帝諱，將「恆」改為「常」。例如，春秋齊簡公時田恆，史記寫田常。

廣寒宮的「嫦娥」，漢文帝之前叫做「姮娥」，就是這個道理。淮南子、覽冥：「羿請不死之藥於西王母，姮娥竊以奔月。」張衡著靈憲曰：「羿請不死藥於西王母，羿妻姮娥竊以奔月，托身於月，是為蟾蜍。」

可見最早叫做「姮娥」，甚至「女」字旁應該是後來加上去的，本名也許是「亙我」。秦始皇統一天下文書之前，往往同樣的詞彙有多種不同的寫法。

「亙」字的結構，眾說紛紜，或為弓櫽栝，但于周籀，明顯為二岸中之月；一岸(極)為冬至，一岸(極)為夏至，月恆不出二極，故為亙、為恆。(說文：恆，常也。)

有人說「姮娥、嫦娥」本來就是「常儀」；我們現在的「義」，古人當作現在的「儀」字：說文、義：己之威儀也、从羊我。」从「羊」字，多有「好」義，如善、祥、羑等；「我」亦聲符(義、宜寄切、*ngia、古音在十七部：我，五可切、*nga、十七部)；而今天的仁義道德，用「宜」方是。長話短說，商周娥、儀音相同，所以說姮娥本來是常儀，有理。

常儀又是誰呢？三皇五帝的帝嚳的第四妃。等一下，先說，三皇五帝是哪幾皇、哪幾帝，因為傳說不同，說法也不同。古代交通不便、沒有文書、各地有各地的傳說，常有出入，沒關係，不要放在心上。

帝嚳又是誰？大戴禮記、五帝德：宰我曰：「請問帝嚳。」孔子曰：「… 取地之財而節用之，撫教萬民而利誨之，歷日月而迎送之，明鬼神而敬事之。」禮記、祭法：「帝嚳能序星辰以著眾。」簡而言之，帝嚳在天文有很多發現、貢獻、建樹。

「嚳」字上面是「學、斅」；學，覺悟也；斅，于說文為「學」字篆文。「增韻」：傳業曰學。斅，「玉篇」，教也。尚書、說命：惟斅學半。我們現在分學與教，古人往往通用。「告」，論語、八佾：「子貢欲去告朔之餼羊，子曰，賜也，爾愛其羊，我愛其禮。」告者，每月初一。所以看樣子，帝嚳的名字本身就表示他「序星辰以著眾。」

白虎通、號：「謂之帝嚳者何也？嚳者，極也。」這很有意思。說文，「極，棟也」就是棟樑，屋之極高，故段玉裁注：「凡至高至遠皆謂之極。」古文「天」、「大」、往往混用，「天」往往變成「太」；長話短說，古人將蒼天看為屋，天柱有四(冬至、春分、夏至、秋分)，天柱之上有天極，乃大極，後世加一點謂之太極。如是，帝嚳之名離不開星辰天文。

而帝嚳有四個老婆，老四是娵訾氏之女，就是我們現在講的常儀。傳說中，常儀協助帝嚳占月之晦、告、朏、朔、弦、望。

常儀，另一種寫法是「常宜」，這也沒關係，也有人說是帝俊的皇后，但先不管它。為甚麼不管帝俊呢？因為傳說帝嚳手下有一位忠臣是射箭高手，後來為帝堯射下多出來的太陽，就是鼎鼎大名的后羿。

常儀為帝嚳第四妃，年齡可能差很多；古人尚未受到宋理的束縛，帝嚳駕崩，好好一個女的放著不管可惜，改嫁帝嚳忠臣后羿，很合理。

漢朝有人說常宜(姮娥)是月母，生育月亮的人，或許因為她輔佐帝嚳確認天柱天極。姮娥/亙我為月母，曦和為日神。當然也有人說女媧是月神，伏羲是日神。古代各地傳說不同，不需要太在乎。

各位中秋賞月時，可以跟親朋好友討論嫦娥、姮娥、亙我、常儀、常宜，我敢保證大家很快就墮入夢鄉。到了廣寒宮，看到女主人，幫我問一下芳名。

“When children aren’t given the space to struggle through things on their own, they don’t learn to problem solve very well. They don’t learn to be confident in their own abilities, and it can affect their self-esteem. The other problem with never having to struggle is that you never experience failure and can develop an overwhelming fear of failure and of disappointing others. Both the low self-confidence and the fear of failure can lead to depression or anxiety.”

LINK

A door isn’t a door if you don’t close it properly.

Why not?

Because then it’s a jar. 

新店一家牙醫診所徵助理，限女性；應徵電話，他們第一句問，年齡超過二十五歲嗎？如果答案是「超過」，立即甩電話。牙醫助理上班穿短裙、高跟鞋，病人來看診，牙醫送許多贈品，如牙膏、牙刷等等。

其來有自：沒有德也要有術，可是看過一次的人很少去第二次，因為牙醫技術很差。連最簡單的洗牙，好像在刮肉。加上，看牙醫的人難免有點緊張，小姐穿高跟鞋走來走去，聲音很刺耳。

道德仁義，非禮不成。

~~~禮記曲禮上

這句多麼妙、多麼豐富！

Is it true that D J Trump has donated millions to NAMBLA, an organization promoting pedophilia and pederasty? Could be, could not be, we have no way of knowing until he releases his tax returns. What's taking so long?

“ the more advanced the athlete, the less of a role practice plays….  within an Olympic team tiny differences in performance are unlikely to be the result of training: these athletes train together, with the same coach, day in and day out. Those milliseconds come from somewhere else. "

I never tell my students “practice makes perfect.” Nobody’s perfect, nobody speaks their own language perfectly, and if you think you have to be perfect, you can never open your mouth. I used to tell my students, “practice makes progress,” but I’ve learned better now. If practice made progress, this lady I know would be an opera goddess, but no matter how much she sings, she always sounds like a mental patient receiving dental care without anesthesia.

LINK

Google translation

Chinese

今年元夜時，月與燈依舊。

ENGLISH

Night yuan this year, with the lights still.

Chinese

你那邊幾點？

ENGLISH
Why is the time in your place?

中正堂魚池岸，兩三歲男童狂哭。

母親說，「那是給魚吃的，不是給你吃的。」

父親說，「你又不是魚，你吃魚飼料幹嘛？來來來，吃糖果，不要吃魚吃的東西。」

By the fishpond at CKS Memorial, a toddler crying wildly.

Mother: That’s food for the fish, it’s not for you.

Father: You’re not a fish, why would you eat fish food? Never mind, have some candy, don’t eat fish food. 

蔡英文要作秀，向原住民道歉：當然，意思是摸黑國民黨。

但是聽說族人不高興，因為參加典禮時，禮刀不准帶進去。自古，「群臣侍殿上者不得持尺寸之兵」，有安全考量。但是進去見總統的代表都是精挑細選的，應該沒有問題，似乎可以想個權變之法，例如刀鞘用布條封住，殿上不許拔刀。男子盛裝不帶刀，真的有點怪怪的。

LINK

看到新聞了嗎？

開往桃園機場的遊覽車撞欄失火，造成廿六人死亡，結果發現司機酒駕。

臺南一位仁兄喝了六瓶啤酒，開車撞死了一位保全、撞壞了消防栓、還撞到停路邊的好幾台轎車，還渾然不知。

漢人好可愛，都很喜歡喝酒。

。

每次聽人說，「原住民很可愛」，我的毛豎起來，因為我知道接下來要開始講原住民喝酒的故事。是嗎？原住民只有喝酒嗎？臺灣只有原住民喝酒嗎？

說「原住民很可愛」，是讓自己站在甚麼位置？高高在上。

有的漢人非常關心原住民、深入了解原住民文化，我從來沒聽過這種人說「原住民很可愛」。(說實話，從平起平坐的地位深入了解原住民文化的漢人，鳳毛鱗爪；許多研究員研究時，站在很高的位置，如同研究細菌一樣。)

現今臺灣把原住民當政治資本。如果看倌認為臺灣沒有種族歧視、漢原平等，我保證看倌是漢人。

我不否認部落酗酒問題嚴重。但須問，為甚麼部落有酗酒問題？光復前，日本人給漢人槍，漢人把原住民當獵物。光復後，經濟現代化，幾千年培養出來的體魄、傳統生活技能沒有「經濟效益」；傳教士進部落，告訴族人，所有傳統信仰都是魔鬼的騙局、若穿傳統服裝就要下地獄、若唱傳統歌謠就要下地獄；好心的山服社進部落，告訴族人，所有外面世界的東西你們都必須學習，所有你們世界裏的東西我們都不想學習除了那個小米酒以外可不可以再來一杯？

原住民變成主流社會的玩偶，你們好可愛，唱一首「阿里山的姑娘」娛樂我們、跳一支舞娛樂我們、把姊妹女兒賣來娛樂我們、講講笑話娛樂我們、我們來寫劇本扭曲你們的文化來娛樂我們。原住民能不酗酒嗎？

。

看倌，我剛寫那句：「漢人好可愛，都很喜歡喝酒，」你的感受是甚麼？

Pretty interesting: names that are going extinct.

LINK

Here’s a story I collected from the Web, written by someone named Gunny.

The coach had put together the perfect team for the Chicago Bears. The only thing that was missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl win. 

Then one night while watching CNN he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan. In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan Muslim soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a 15th story window 100 yards away. KABOOM! 

He threw another hand-grenade 75 yards away, right into a chimney. KA-BLOOEY! 

Then he threw another at a passing car going 90 mph. BULLS-EYE! 

"I've got to get this guy!" Coach said to himself. "He has the perfect arm!" 

So, he brings him to the States and teaches him the great game of football. And the Bears go on to win the Super Bowl. 

The young Afghan is hailed as the great hero of football, and when the coach asks him what he wants, all the young man wants is to call his mother. 

"Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!" 

"I don't want to talk to you," the old Muslim woman says. "You are not my son!" 

"I don't think you understand, Mother," the young man pleads. "I've won the greatest sporting event in the world. I'm here among thousands of my adoring fans." 
"No! Let me tell you!" his mother retorts. "At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get raped!" The old lady pauses, and then tearfully says, 

"I will never forgive you for making us move to Chicago !! 

Q: How do you get a Serb to set a world record doing push-ups?
A: Tell him, Do ten slowly and then stop.

LINK

This is so prophetic, it’s spooky. For everybody’s sake, let’s hope it doesn’t come true:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts’ desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” 

– H L Mencken (1880 – 1956)

It never fails. Give a homeless person some money, and he’ll head straight to the nearest liquor store. Watch what happens when the donor follows.

布施很難。拿錢給街遊，掉頭就往酒品店跑，滿載而歸。布施的人追蹤，如影片所示…

結果發現街遊把錢拿去買吃的，送給其它街遊。窮人比較了解布施的重要，也比較能真布施。

至于為甚麼這位先生會淪落為街遊，是因為父母生病，孝子細心照顧，不料雙親相繼往生，孝子儲蓄也沒了，因為請假照顧父母所以工作也沒了。
LINK

無言~~

The only sport played on the moon is golf. On February 6, 1971, Alan Shepard hit a golf ball. 

If we keep building golf courses on earth, eventually our planet will look like the moon.

很合理吧

謝謝大家！我們「論語洋解，古思今想來翻傳」新課發表很順利，希望參加的人都有收穫。也希望大家不要忘記報名，九月十六日開課！星期二晚上七點到九點四十分，共十八周的課程。本週報名有優惠！

Tuesday night was a big step in a new direction for me. Instead of teaching English, I hope to teach Confucianism in community colleges. Last night I held a demonstration class. It went very well.

司機吃到飽，每月只要一千五，

但是想知道地址電話，要另外計費

。

夫：我清理磁碟。

婦：啊？？喔，我以為你說，「我請妳吃鱉。」

Any article with this riveting title is surely worth reading:
ONLY GOD CAN STOP PUBLIC URINATION
certainly a great step forward from Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.

LINK 

In 1956, Samuel J. Seymour told of witnessing the assassination of President Lincoln. He was the last living witness. He incorrectly gave his age as 95, and died two months after the show was filmed. He may have been helped on his way by the host’s gift. 

LINK

二十幾年前，我們補習班課多、學生多。學生上課到一半離開教室，非常少見，一、兩年才遇到一次，通常是重大事件，可能要送醫院。

大約十五年前就開始懷疑，是不是年輕人膀胱不好，因為離教室的次數頻繁。但這會打擾教學、打斷同學專心，所以不鼓勵。

現在若有一堂課沒有人離開教室就很特別。要喝水、教室收訊不好、要上廁所，反正同學本來就不太專心，隨便。

I found this piece I copied from the web: Strange Cosmos: in 2013. I’d just like to add one person, the Republican candidate for President now in 2016.

BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs. No chicken will be required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.  JOHN McCAIN: My friends, the chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.  SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!  HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make why the chicken crossed the road? DONALD BUSH: We’re going to build, it’s unbelievable, you know I know how to build, so we’re going to build this wall, and it’ll be the greatest wall you’ve ever seen, because I know how to build walls, believe me, and we’re going to make sure no more of these chickens cross the road, because you don’t know, you just don’t know, they may be rapists, they may be terrorists, these chickens, why hasn’t Hillary vetted them? Why hasn’t Obama vetted them? Because they want the terrorists to win, and we’re going to, now listen, we’re going to make America white again, and it’s just too bad, now, ISIS, they boil chickens in cages, we’re going to win so much, and I think that chicken is a hen, let me get some tic tacs, you know how if you’re famous you can just grope any chick, we’re going to, it’s clear now, I’m really very rich, so that’s why, when they want, I’m very intelligent, so I, oh, it IS a hen, where are my tic tacs? GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no middle ground here.  DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?  COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.  BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.  AL GORE: I invented the chicken.  JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.  AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?  DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he is acting by not taking on his current problems before adding any new problems.  OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross the road so badly. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.  ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.  NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.  PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.  MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way the chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.  DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.  ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone. GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.  BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.  ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road. ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?  COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?  JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together ---- in peace.  BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2013, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2013. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

So you think smoking makes you look cool?

能力很強的朋友自嘲說他靠臉吃飯。哈哈哈

笑完，我想，廢話！嘴巴長在臉上，每一個人都靠臉吃飯，不然呢？靠膝蓋吃？靠背？靠腰？

Seen on a T shirt:

SYMBOLIC JEWS

說這些，也許有點無聊‧‧‧

我剛來臺灣那幾年，當然喜歡到處走走、看看，盡量搭便車。一則我沒錢買那麼多車票，一則我不喜歡被班次、路線綁死，一則上車可以跟司機聊天，學到很多。我在臺灣沒看過其它人在路邊倒著走伸出大拇指，可是很多司機看懂，所以我可以到處跑。(很多司機說，看到我是外國人，他們才停下來：外國人好認，如果需要報警，比較能抓到人。)我甚麼車都坐，只要司機肯停下來，從名貴轎車(只有那麼一次)到牛車，我都坐過。甚至不一定要停下來，軍車、貨車，至少慢下來，讓我助跑幾步跳上去，我也開心。

今天寫這段，是因為想起我剛來華不到兩個月，跟來自日本的澳洲室友Phillip環島旅行。我們往日月潭，一台聯合國的車停下來載我們：白色廂型車，有聯合國的標誌、「外」字車牌，司機一位四十幾歲的華人，英文尚可，人很和氣；當時中華民國從聯合國退出來才幾天，很多人不知何去何從，尤其在華的辦事員。正好順路，司機看到我們就停下，送我們一程。(日月潭到了，濃霧，只能隱隱約約看到路邊的房子、樹。大白天，商店、住家裏都開燈，跟我們說絕對看不到湖。我們走到湖邊，果然看不到，算了，回臺中。)

好玩的是，過了三年，我在花蓮又遇到同一台車、同一位司機。我跟他說我三年前坐過他的車，他有點惆悵，說聯合國的事已經辦完了，辦事處要結束了，車要賣了，他要失業了。他認為開聯合國的車是一件很有意義的差事，可是時事如此，他無能為力。我到了目的地，下了車，彼此講幾句勉勵的話，揮手，我知道我再也見不到他。

但三年搭到同一台便車，僅此一例。

A memory sprang up. This may seem a bit pointless, but it’s a story to be told.

When I first came to Free China (as it was called then), I traveled all over the island, mostly by hitchhiking. Actually, I was the only hitchhiker I ever saw, but when drivers saw a kid walking backwards down the highway, thumb out, enough of them figured it out, that I got around quite readily, if not always comfortably. I preferred hitchhiking partly because I didn’t have money for tickets, partly because I didn’t want to be tied down by schedules and routes, and mostly because this way I could chat with drivers, and learn a lot. I wasn’t picky. I rode on any vehicle that would stop, or even slow down enough for me to jump on.

What brought all this on was this story: shortly after I arrived, my friend Phil (an Aussie my age who grew up in Japan) and I went on a trip around the island. When we were hitching to Sun Moon Lake, we got picked up by a United Nations van: a white van with the UN logo, diplomatic plates, driven by a nice middle aged man who could speak some English. The Republic of China had just removed itself from the UN a few days before. A lot of people were in shock, and didn’t know what the future held in store.

We had a very pleasant ride, but Sun Moon Lake was so socked in by fog we were lucky to be able to see the road.

Three years later, I was hitching my way through Hualien, on the east coast, when the very same van stopped and picked me up again! Same driver. He was a bit melancholy, because all the loose ends had been tidied up, the office was closing, and the van would be sold in a few days. He would lose his job, but he felt that driving for the UN was a job that meant something, and he would miss it. I arrived where I was going, we said some good words to each other, and waved goodbye. I knew I would never see him again.

That is the only car that ever picked me up twice. 

耆老唱lmuhuw，即泰雅族史；現代能唱者，鳳毛鱗爪。Tayal history, lmuhuw, sung by Watan Tanga (b 1930) of Taoyuan. Very few know how to sing this way anymore.

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人的自欺能力很強。聽到四十幾歲的阿姨跟朋友說，「我都有運動，我打麻將，麻將是很好的運動。」

我確定沒聽錯，因為講時，手擺出「桌游」樣，接下來都在討論麻將的輸贏。

民意代表代表民意嗎？為民謀福嗎？或者享受權力？講政績，不講德政，浪費公帑，空有建設，不處理重要問題。

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有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎！二十年的筆友，終于見了面。楊愛國先生是濟南山東石刻藝術博物館的副館長，我們一直通訊，交換研究心得、話家常，但是都沒有機會見面。他這幾天第一次來臺，在台北101卅二樓的「中國藝術館」展覽漢魏碑拓，我們當然趁機會去！ Yang Aiguo has been my pen-pal for about twenty years, but we have never met. He researches stone carvings, mostly from the Han dynasty (about 200BC to 200AD). The other day he wrote and said he was coming to Taiwan for the first time, to set up an exhibit, so of course we went and got together. We had a wonderful time.

展品不多，但是全是精品，從鼎鼎大名的「乙瑛碑」到近年出土的「任城王黃腸石題記」；有興趣，不妨去看看。

Have you ever wondered why Russians drink so much? Here’s your answer, a sampling of Russian playgrounds.

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I admire that so many are obviously handmade by the locals, and not just plastic pumped out by an anonymous factory, but some of these are still really spooky. 

禮記‧郊特牲：「郊特牲，而社稷大牢。天子適諸侯，諸侯膳用犢；諸侯適天子，天子賜之禮大牢；貴誠之義也。故天子牲孕弗食也，祭帝弗用也。」

案：郊特牲用犢，似乎牝牡均可，因為「牲孕弗食也」，可見牝亦可。特者，一也。

好幾年前寫的，忘了鋪。

小狗想偷吃蜂蜜，蜜蜂不肯給。A puppy tried to steal honey, but the bees weren’t having any of that. 

There are various versions of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on YouTube, but I like this one best, because when I was a little boy in Ottawa, Illinois, this is what the old people sounded like. Then I realized that Lincoln was from Illinois, too: the first Lincoln Douglas debate was held in Ottawa.

新書發表

英派語錄

解讀蔡英文的

5種態度

與66堂說話課

這樣好嗎？

*

Since when is the accused allowed a say in the selection of his judge? Trump must have a lot to hide, judging from the effort he is putting into avoiding his day in court.

*

If Muslim judges cannot judge cases impartially, how can Christian judges?

*

The coward threatens when he is safe.- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Our champion has fought his last fight. 

I remember cheering him when he was called Cassius Clay. 

男人為甚麼要結婚？
福建這位仁兄想自己洗衣服，頭被洗衣機夾住，消防隊花了四十分鐘才救出來了。
下次太座要你洗衣服，跟她說，只有女性操作洗衣機才安全！君子自重！
It is a proven fact that washing machines prefer that women do the washing. Look at this hapless fellow in Fujian who attempted to operate a washing machine and it tried to swallow his head. It took the fire fighters forty minutes to free him. Men, for safety's sake, let the ladies do the washing!

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端午節快到了，朋友順便利用桃園國際港口練舟。A heavy rain this morning turned Taoyuan International Airport into Taoyuan International Harbor. A friend and his team took advantage of the opportunity to practice for the upcoming Dragon Boat races.

厲害！昨天中午手機呱呱叫，傳地震訊息。看完，正想哪有地震，房子 就開始搖。謝謝氣象局。At noon yesterday my phone squawked several times alerting me to an announcement about an earthquake. There's no earthquake, I thought. And then the building started shaking. Thumbs up and hats off!

今天崇光社大舉行了「生活論語一路通」新課發表 ，非常感謝來捧場的幾位朋友。一位阿姨以為今天星期三，要上串珠課，發現來錯日期，留下來吹吹冷氣也不錯。一位被導航騙到直潭(十公里外的山區)，回來不好意思進來。這樣要算四個人或五個人？但是我自己對今天的課還算滿意。

意料之外的是社大職員的態度：主任說崇光社大要發奮圖強，但是職員的態度是，這門課要開，我無所謂，不開，我無所謂。幹嘛幫你宣傳？

好吧！萬事起頭難！再接再勵！

古寫法律于三尺竹簡，故稱成文法為三尺法。

史記酷吏列傳，杜周「所論殺甚重」，『「客有讓周曰：「君為天子決平，不循三尺法，專以人主意指為獄。獄者固如是乎？」周曰：「三尺安出哉？前主所是著為律，後主所是疏為令，當時為是，何古之法乎！」』

依我的了解，民主的基礎是法制，「依法不依人」。如若不遵循法律程序，大官依個人或黨的意趣來藐視法制，是往回走向帝王的專制，而不是進步上民主之路。

Fireflies. A year or two ago, somewhere I came across the name ‘lightning bugs.’ I had forgotten that this is what we called them when I was a boy in Illinois. I hadn’t heard the name for so long that I had totally forgotten it, but now, it seems a better name for them.

吾友公冶長說，螢火蟲很三八，最常聊的話題只有一個：誰最亮麗。但是牠們很虔誠，因為牠們看到天上至大無外的螢火蟲，一閃就震天動地，還會吼呢！牠們拜這個巨螢為神，說天地萬物就是祂一閃、一吼創造的。

公冶長解釋，牠們的神，是我們所謂的「雷電」。

他還說，螢火蟲很濫情。檳榔攤七彩八色的燈，常常吸引很多螢火蟲，默默地在一邊觀賞。附近路燈壞了，一閃一閃，一群螢火蟲迷戀，天天寫詩撰情書。路燈修好了，一群螢火蟲失戀，有蟲在燈下朗誦詩：

「我的驕傲的愛蟲，

妳變了，

妳活潑、喜笑的蟲格，

從此呆了，

單調了，

叫我何去何從？」

詩雖然寫的不好，但是沒有比捷運裏臺北文學獎的詩差到哪裏。

We have another inexplicable tragedy: an Egyptian passenger flight has gone down with all hands. It is inexplicable at least until they find the black box and maybe not even then.

There are some basic recordings from the cockpit, but they still have to find the black box in the deep, dark sea. Which raises the question: in this day and age, when the photos I take on my phone are automatically transferred to Flickr, why can’t they have all the necessary recordings automatically transmitted back to the airline as the plane flies? With today’s technology, this shouldn’t be too difficult, and it would speed investigations up considerably.

Aha! I smell a conspiracy! The news agencies conspire with the airlines so they can build the suspense as everybody waits for the black box to be found! That is certainly it!

人類欺騙自己的意願無止境。剛聽到一個太太說，「打麻將也是一種運動。手指頭可以運動。」

There is a big fuss about who can go into which bathroom. Transgender toilets is obviously not an issue that most directly concerns my generation, so I think we should leave it to the young people to solve. It’s their problem, let them deal with it as they will. There will be some rough spots, but eventually they will come up with a solution.

Anybody who has flown knows that on airplanes, both sexes use the same toilet, and I’ve never heard of any trouble on aircraft, just so long as nobody tries to smoke in there.

For that matter, who decreed that bathrooms have to be segregated by sex? I don’t prance about public toilets naked, so as long as I have a clean, private place to relieve myself, I don’t really care who else uses this public place. When you come right down to it, if the next stall is occupied by a man, a woman, something else, a porcupine, whatever, it doesn’t really concern me, just so I can do my business. This really shouldn’t be too difficult to solve. 
If anything, I’d worry that with unisex toilets, all the long lines into the women’s room would take over the men’s room. 

民國六十年代，我的腳印遍佈臺灣。我最代表的回憶，也是最美好的回憶，就是一個小小的動作：一個玻璃杯，裝一口燙水，轉一轉，把水灑在地上。

我想，經過那個年代的人都記得這個動作。當時，電熱水瓶還沒發明，家家戶戶都有一個保溫瓶，早上一起床就煮開水，裝一瓶水。這個瓶子很重要，所以通常有畫七彩繽紛的花，美觀又實用；放客廳，一個盤子幾個玻璃杯。尤其在農村，口渴的話，隨便到哪一家要水，根本不認識也沒關係，他們一定很樂以拿出熱水瓶、玻璃杯，先用熱水燙杯，怕冷玻璃灌熱水就裂，但更重要的是給客人表示，我們要給你乾淨的杯子喝水。轉一轉，玻璃熱了，把水灑在地上，再倒一杯水請客人吃。

其實，往往不用主動開口要水，農村人看到不認識的人，很好奇，就會請你喝水，趁機會聊一聊。

在那個近似喚之可出、遙在難尋絲跡的年代，大家都知道喝冰水對身體不好。很少人喝溫水，沒有人喝冰水；我本來不太喝冰，可是剛來華也不習慣喝那麼燙。到現在的臺灣，飲用的水溫降了，感覺上，很多人情也降溫了。

今晚去看了台北愛樂演鄒族神話音樂劇「雲海中的仲夏夜：天祭Hohcʉbʉ」。本來以為可以看一齣有聲有色的鄒人文化寫照。我很欣賞鄒文化，也會講些許鄒語，而我特愛Hohcʉbʉ塔山，聽過族人說很多這座山的故事，所以抱著很大的希望前往。

本來要買節目單，但是發現歌詞全是中文，不唱鄒語。

劇一開始我有點驚訝，因為飾演神的幾位歌手，音準很特別，可以說各自獨創一格。尤其一位戴頭燈的紅衣女神，唱了幾句以後，她每次出現我都提心吊膽。也許首演緊張，所以第一大合唱也走音(後來飾演人間的角色都唱的很好)。仔細聽歌詞，也聽不太出鄒的文化特色。例如，從頭到尾，沒有一句提到kuba(男子聚會所)，而依我對鄒的認識，kuba是男人生活的中心。

劇情是，酋長的女兒Inguyu喜歡戰士Pasuya，但是因為布農入侵時，鄒人捍衛土地，而神木裂開，所以神告訴Inguyu的父親要唾棄戰爭，崇尚和平，所以酋長決定將Inguyu許配布農酋長的兒子Biyung(雖然Biyung後來喜歡Baicʉ)。Inguyu不肯嫁，酋長不爽，殺了Pasuya與Biyung，所以Inguyu自殺。酋長難過，一直問，我錯了嗎？但是很堅持要和平。

這個故事不太有鄒的特色：把故事放在俄羅斯、阿根廷、馬爾地夫，都可以，只要換一下人名、衣服，就成了。鄒有他們獨特的文化、習俗、理念，我在劇中沒有看見。光是穿著那身衣服，不足代表一個文化。

劇中因為神木裂開，所以酋長渴望和平，為了和平甚至可以犧牲自己的愛女。這方面也讓我打問號：一再強調和平共處，我很好奇這觀念的由來，因為Mayasvi 戰祭是鄒人極為重要的祭典；戰神降臨，由神木下凡，故祭典前，戰士將神樹的樹枝砍掉，只留三枝，這樣才能維護部落生命，所以意義重大。劇中的酋長掛心神木的破損，味道不大一樣；而在鄒部落中，連國小女生都津津樂道祖先yofngu no hangʉ出草的事，和平的概念不大一樣吧。

劇情平平，臺詞平平。如果劇情探索酋長的內心，還可以，但是沒有那種深度。甚至有些地方令人哭笑不得。兩頭「熊」的造型，讓我懷疑，設計服裝的人知道熊的頭不是圓圈嗎？戲中最好看的是兩族的戰爭，但最好笑的是戰爭中戰神(女性扮演)居高臨下，向遠處射三箭，最遠的飛了三公尺，好不威風！(這也牽涉到其它問題：鄒的情形我沒那麼了解，但是以泰雅為例，有的武具，女人連看都是犯忌，遑論手拿；鄒有女人操弓參戰嗎？這方面我不了解。而我看到她的弓是小孩子的弓，不是戰士手上的弓；她用地中海式射箭，不是鄒的掐弦；也許是小細節，但是我們能不能期盼有細緻的演出？)順便一提，戰士都帶特大號的刀，卻都不用鞘！

總而言之，演出比較像高中戲劇社的作品程度，冠上「臺北愛樂」的大名，我難免想，只不過如此而已嗎？

好的音樂劇，應該有很多歌曲讓觀眾喜愛；據說，離場時如果觀眾哼著劇裏的歌謠，音樂劇成功了。可是聽完，我真的想不起任何一個旋律，反而只記得神、大合唱的走音，而很納悶，為何不唱鄒歌？我個人認為臺灣十六族中，鄒的祭典歌最好聽。為甚麼不唱它兩句呢？有些「黑又海亞」的歌詞，比較像阿美，不像鄒。看戲時，我一直擔心他們會唱「阿里山的姑娘」。還好沒有，但是打鼓很像。臺灣原住民沒有皮鼓，如果打竹、木，比較有原味。

我沒有那麼了解舞蹈，但我沒有看到鄒人最代表的肅穆、莊嚴的舞步，反而很多比較像泰雅舞或賽德克舞。

當然對很多觀眾來說，穿著原住民的衣服就對了，管它哪一族，不是都一樣嗎？可是觀眾錯過一個認識鄒的機會，實在可惜。

整齣戲，我最喜歡燈光效果，但也不了解，既然劇目是Hohcʉbʉ，為甚麼不把Hohcʉbʉ很特殊的山形表現出來？依我的了解，Hohcʉbʉ在鄒人心中的地位很重要，而他們很喜歡講這座山的故事(例如yone Hohcʉbʉ ci piepiya 陰魂之事)；或許我太遲鈍，但我從劇中沒有得到這方面的訊息。這麼好的題材，放著不用，錯失表現鄒文化的良機。

鄭捷伏法。只可惜沒辦法早幾年發現他的狀況，好好輔導、療癒。即使沒辦法根治，也可以救了五條人命。

但是大眾似乎不肯把資源用在預防，寧可讓事情惡化，然後亡羊補牢。

有人說很奇怪，判刑到行刑不到三周；新總統大概不想碰這個燙手山芋，因為反死、為了形象，或許催他們趕緊在五二0前處理。

阿彌陀佛。

My old buddy Roger speculated that Kiss may have been a communist sleeper. But what's not to like? This great anti-communist warrior gave the communists the victory our troops had won in Viet Nam, opened the way for communists to take over Cambodia, and dumped Free China for the chance to let Chairman Mao slobber over his lapels. Okay, so he was responsible for a couple million deaths, but he said, Power is the greatest aphrodisiac, so he needed to call his power into play to keep the babes coming in. Certainly a little collateral damage can't compare with getting your picture in the papers with a pretty lady.

And there’s the further point that war criminals are Germans or Japanese or from Africa, not American politicians. 

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今天，我們跟大海討生活；

明天，大海向我們要公道～

~~馬力梵

Today, we take our living from the sea;

Tomorrow, the sea will demand justice from us.

~~Malivan

SIS has reduced the Iraqi city of Ramadi to rubble. All ISIS can do is destroy, so that's not particularly surprising. What is intriguing is this photo of two Iraqi policemen riding a motorcycle through the debris after ISIS had been defeated. Look carefully at the motorcycle. On the front you see a line of Chinese that reads 彰化縣警察局巡邏機車 Patrol Vehicle [property of] Changhua County Police Department.

Changhua is a county in central Taiwan. Apparently the motorcycle was retired from the Police force and sold to the highest bidder, who then exported it to Iraq by Somewhere along the line, somebody forgot to erase the Chinese; if anybody in Ramadi can read Chinese, they probably have other things on their mind and don’t worry about it. Although I am half expecting some Iraqi to pop up with a tattoo that proclaims him a patrol vehicle of the Changhua police department.

This raises another question: why are Iraqi police riding second hand motorcycles? With the trainloads of money the US has sent to Iraq, you’d expect them to be tooling around in gold plated Lamborghinis, at least. 

LINK 
LINK (The Changhua police say the motorcycle doesn't handle well. )

Wow, you learn something every day. $147 was quite a good sum in those days, especially for a people not entirely entrenched in a monetary economy. I would like to quote a comment by Luke Callihan: “Ireland and the Choctaw Nation have had a long lasting relationship. Choctaw leaders participated in the first annual Famine walk at Doolough in Mayo. Irish commemorative leaders have taken part in the 500 mile trek from Oklahoma to Mississippi. Ireland President Mary Robinson and Irish activist Don Mullan were both named honorary chiefs by the Choctaw. Even more important, both groups became determined to help famine sufferers, mostly in Africa and the Third World, and have continued to do so since the early 90's. The Choctaw Nations compassion has never been forgotten. There is a plaque on Dublin's Mansion House that Honors their contribution that reads, "Their humanity calls us to remember the millions of human beings throughout our world today who die of hunger and hunger-related illness in the world of plenty." This monument isn't an "Oh yeah, Thanks.", it is another symbol of a long lasting friendship between two nations."

”

長約兩公尺的過山刀出來覓食。後來他吃掉了青蛙。A big eyed rat snake, ptyas dhumnades, out looking for a snack. The snake is about two meters long. It ate a frog moments after the second video. 蛇不會攻擊人。看到蛇，靜靜觀賞，不要怕。有蛇在，表示生態健康，可喜可賀。Snakes do not attack people. If you see a snake, that means the environment is healthy. Just admire it.

LINK

找到兩張非常珍貴的照片。第一張是在臺灣博物館看到的，陳耿彬(1921 ~ 1967)拍的。

第二張在網路上找到的(LINK)，林權助(1922 ~ 1977)民國四十三年在南投廬山拍的。

仔細看，角度不太一樣。我猜想，兩位年齡相仿，都是臺中人；當年在臺灣從事攝影的人不多，應該是朋友吧。一起到霧社(有人說春陽部落)，並肩拍照，兩個三角架排在一起，前後拍照吧。

兩位文面獵人，兩隻獵狗，斗幹中有小朋友，年齡跟我差不多！兩張照片很多細節，很難得的紀錄：謝謝這兩位攝影師，也謝謝兩位賽德克。

I stumbled across two marvelous photographs, taken in 1954 in the mountains in central Taiwan, of hunters from the Sediq tribe. There is a wealth of detail in the photos, from the facial tattoos to the woven clothing. The first was taken by Chen Kengpin (1921 ~ 1967), the second by Lin Chuanchu (1922 ~ 1977), photographers from Taichung. I haven’t found records, but I suspect they were friends, and took these photos together.

昨晚回家時，下垂小樹枝擋路，枝上棲一隻小小的領角鴞，非常可愛！伸手可及，一直看著我們，一點也不怕生，還很有耐心等我們拍照。阿彌陀佛，小朋友，常回來看我們！Coming home last night, I was blocked by a thin branch hanging oddly across the path. I was quite surprised to find myself looking at an adorable little scops owl, perched on the branch, easily within reach. It patiently posed for photo after photo. Amitabha, little friend, come back to see us again!