我十八歲來華學中文。那時的臺灣與現在迥然不同。家父按月匯一百元美金到一家銀行，由他們轉到臺灣的第一銀行；美金受管制，不能碰，但照當時匯率，我每月得四千元新臺幣，夠用。我與幾個美國朋友在新生南路一段157巷租了一間三十坪的公寓，月租三千元，我們平分。在龍泉街吃自助餐，我胃口大，常常一餐要花十塊錢。若有餘錢，我都拿去買書。沒有餘錢，我也買書。

學國語八個月開始讀文言，一觸即癮。十九歲就讀師大國文系，讀論語、韓非子，迷上了先秦，也迷上了中華書局的古籍因為校對謹慎印刷好字型大而且最好的是沒有標點因為我一發現古書原無標點就發現標點是多餘的沒有標點就需要用心看是另一番感覺讀沒有標點的書最好看

大一買了一套中華書局的史記，八冊，大一暑假就花了三四週看完；最讓我遺憾的是，只有八冊。意猶未盡。

大二開學，我二十歲，上說文解字。我學中文，本來就是因為愛上了國字，上說文，如魚得水。

但生活出了問題：銀行說家父的錢沒送到，沒錢入帳。那時別想打越洋電話，我們班上三十七個同學，只有五、六個家裏有電話。打電報很貴，只好寫信告急，希望航空快點。少吃一點，盼望錢早點進戶頭。三兩天跑到中山北路的銀行去問(沒有電話，只好自己跑)。戶頭快見底了，還沒消息，只好跟朋友借五十塊、一百塊。能省的就是少吃一點，所以一天只吃一碗陽春麵。

偏偏在國際學舍的體育館開了書展，可能是臺灣第一個書展。肚子餓，到書展逛逛，轉移肚子的注意力。偏偏中華書局參展。有一套資治通鑑，二十冊，還打折！只有那一套，但我真的沒錢。只好常去看看有福氣的人有沒有買回家。所幸，還擺在那裏。真漂亮。書展只剩幾天就要結束，還沒人買，但我也沒錢。

大概是吃了兩個多星期快三個星期的陽春麵獨餐，一天晚上餓醒，房子旋轉，想吐。但真的太餓，我沒力氣站起來，所以只好慢慢爬進廁所，坐地上抱著馬桶吐，可是肚子空空如也，吐好久，吐不出東西來，喉嚨痛、嘴裏怪味道而已，只好慢慢爬回房間躺下，等屋子不轉。睡了。

早上，室友們看我沒動靜，很體貼敲門問，你昨晚把我們吵醒了，你死了嗎？看我躺著不動但沒死，幫我熬一碗青菜湯。我還站不起來，只好早上翹課。中午比較有體力，上學去了。同學看我早上沒上課，太意外，很體貼說，看你沒上課，以為你死了。差不多。一位好心的同學特地幫我買了一條明星的黑麵包；當年臺灣的麵包都不能吃，只有軟軟的白麵包，唯獨武昌街的明星，老闆是俄國人，懂得做麵包。我坐在英文系外的魚池邊吃了麵包，晚上同學請我吃晚餐，感覺體力好很多。

第二天，郵差送來掛號信，我媽在一封信裏藏了六張十元美鈔；這嚴重犯法，但我不管，拿到錢往衡陽路衝。衡陽路的銀樓有後室，可以偷偷換美金。我立即換了兩千多元，錢拿到手，衝出去上公車直殺信義路國際學舍體育館，緊張萬分去看：資治通鑑還擺在那兒，還沒賣掉！太好！在書展結束之前兩個小時把銀樓給我的鈔票幾乎全部塞給書局的職員，心滿意足抱著我的資治通鑑二十冊回家。書放好，我才想到，我很餓！到龍泉街自助餐花了十元飽吃一頓。

過了幾天，父親送來的錢終于入帳了。又過一段時間才知道，美國幾十年來唯一倒店的銀行就是負責匯款給我的那一家，但是美國政府很快處理，所以後來家父的錢入帳沒有問題。 

 當然迫不及待讀通鑑，讀到漢朝，課業重，沒時間看。十幾年前又從頭讀，但到了魏晉南北朝，實在太亂，搞不清楚，暫時放一邊。現在大陸史學興盛，這幾年讀「華歷血時代」、「五胡錄」等書終于開始理出頭緒。現在南北朝有了概念，我又在讀通鑑。為了方便攜帶，阿超幫我封了一個書套，不怕把書磨壞。
這套書對我多方面意義重大。買資治通鑑的那天是民國六十二年十月三十日，剛好四十年。以此紀念。

I came to Free China when I was 18 to study Chinese. Taiwan was vastly different then. Every month my father sent US$100 to a bank to transfer to my NT account here. Green was strictly controlled, but at the exchange rate then, every month I got NT$4,000, enough to live on. With some American friends, I rented a 3 bedroom apartment on Canal Street (Hsin Sheng South Road) for NT$3,000; we split the rent. I have always had a hearty appetite, so in the cafeterias on Lungchuan Street, I might pay as much as NT$10 a meal. When I had money left over, I bought books. When I didn’t have money left over, I bought books.

When I had studied Mandarin for eight months, I started learning Classical, and was immediately addicted to its beauty and economy. When I was 19, I began studying in the Chinese Lit department at NTNU. I had courses in the Analects and Han Fei Tz, and fell in love with the pre-Chin period. I also fell in love with books published by Chung Hwa publishers, because they were carefully printed with large clear characters and no punctuation Chinese books traditionally were not punctuated once you get used to it reading unpunctuated books is a lot more fun than reading texts all cluttered up with a bunch of periods and commas which are once you think of it really quite unnecessary just think more carefully as you read

In my freshman year, I bought an eight volume set of Records of the Historian, published by Chung Hwa. During the summer vacation, I finished it in three or four weeks. My only regret was that there were only eight volumes. 

When I went back to school, as a sophomore, at the age 20, I had Etymology. I took up the study of Chinese because Chinese characters fascinate me, so Etymology was just what I wanted to study.

But problems came up in my life. The bank said that no money had come from my father. In those days, international phone calls practically belonged to the realm of fantasy, and anyway, of the 37 people in my class, only five or six had phones at home. Sending a telegram was expensive, so I had to content myself with writing an airmail letter for help, and hoping the post office delivery was quick. I cut down on food, and looked forward to money coming into the account, the sooner the better. Every couple of days I would trot up to the bank, on Chungshan N Rd; there weren’t many phones in those days, so you had to go yourself. I was almost out of money, and there was no news, so I had to start borrowing from friends, fifty NT here, a hundred NT there. The only thing I had left to scrimp on was food, so I ate only one bowl of plain noodles a day.

As luck would have it, there was a Book Fair, one of Taiwan’s first, at the International House gym. I was hungry, and looking at the books could keep my mind off food. As luck would have it, Chung Hwa had a stall, and they had a set of Tzu-chih T’ung-chien, twenty volumes, on sale! Just the one set, but I really didn’t have money. All I could do was stop by every day or so to see if some lucky person had taken it home. Fortunately, it was still there. What a beautiful book! There were only a few days left before the Fair ended, and nobody had bought it, but I still had no money.

(Compiled during the Sung dynasty [in the eleventh century], the Tzu-chih T’ung-chien [Comprehensive Mirror to Promote Governing, Zizhi Tongjian] runs to over three million characters, and covers over a thousand years of Chinese history, from 403BC to 959AD.)

After two, almost three weeks on a diet of one bowl of noodles a day, one night I was so hungry I woke up. The room was spinning, and I wanted to throw up, but I was so hungry I couldn’t stand up. I slowly crawled into the bathroom. I sat by the toilet to heave, but my stomach was so empty that nothing would come up. I barfed for a long time, but nothing came up. All I got was a sore throat and an awful taste in my mouth, so I slowly crawled back to my room and lay down on the tatami, waiting for the room to stop spinning. I finally fell asleep.

In the morning, my apartment mates noticed that I wasn’t up and around, so they very thoughtfully knocked on my door and said, “You woke us up last night with your retching, are you dead?” I was out flat but still alive, so they made me some vegetable broth. But I was still too weak to stand, so I cut class that morning. By noon I had regained some strength, so I went to class. My friends said that they were surprised I hadn’t come to class that morning, and very thoughtfully said, “When you didn’t come to class, we thought you must be dead.” Pretty close. One very considerate friend brought me a loaf of black bread from the Astoria. Bread in Taiwan in those days was atrocious: fluffy, white stuff that was inedible. A Russian ran the Astoria on Wuchang Street, so he knew how to make bread. I sat by the English Department’s fish pond and ate my bread. A friend bought me dinner, and I felt much stronger.

The next day, the mailman delivered a registered letter. My mother had stapled six ten dollar US bills inside a letter. This was highly illegal, but I didn’t care, I took the money and ran to Hengyang Street. A jewelry store on Hengyang Street had a backroom in which you could illicitly exchange green. I got two thousand and some. Money in hand, I raced to the bus stop and headed directly for the International House gym. In a tizzy, I raced to the Chung Hwa stand, and the T’ung-chien was still there! It hadn’t been sold! Wonderful! Two hours before the Book Fair ended, I stuffed most of the money the jewelry store gave me into the hands of a Chung Hwa clerk, and triumphantly carried my twenty volume set of T’ung-chien home. Once I got home and put the books on the shelf, I realized, hey, I’m hungry! I went to Lungchuan Street and spent ten NT on a big meal in a cafeteria.

A couple days later, money from my father entered my account. I soon learned that for decades, the one and only US bank to go belly up was the one transferring my father’s money to me. The US government cleaned up the mess quickly, and there were no more problems after that.

I started reading the T’ung-chien, and got to the Han dynasty, when schoolwork intervened and I had to stop. I started again from the beginning about 16 years ago, but the Wei Chin Southern and Northern dynasties were so chaotic that I was stopped because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. In recent years, scholars in mainland China are doing superb work on history, and with recent publications, I have finally gotten a handle on the Southern and Northern dynasties, so I am reading T’ung-chien again, and this time I will finish. I carry the volumes around, so Sabiy has made a case to protect the books. They are already pretty old, after all.

The book is important to me in many respects. The day I bought T’ung-chien was October 30, 1973, forty years ago. This is a good day to commemorate that. 

光復節，已被淡忘，而現在很多人熱中鬼節Halloween，卻誤以為是萬聖節。

了解我們現代社會，這句有沒有甚麼啟發？

按：萬聖節=All Saints’ Day，美國幾乎沒有人聽過。Halloween = Hallowed E’en (evening)萬盛節前夕，鬼節。

I can’t be reading this right. It looks like it says the cop who pepper-sprayed those students last year got US$38,000 in compensation. Is that right?

If it is, I’m going to go out to buy some pepper spray and spray my students. It’s a lot easier to make money that way than by teaching them.

LINK

…. and more fun, too.

教徒今天該慶祝，因為有人依據聖經推算，上帝創造天地是西元前四00四年十月二十三日早上九點半。遇到這種腦筋，我真不知道要怎麼說…

Celebrate, believers, today is the birthday of heaven and earth: October 23, 4004 BC at 9:30 AM. To tell you the truth, I really don’t know what to say about anyone who believes in that sort of thing.

What some fail to understand is that first, “truth” is the realm of religion or scientism, not science. Good science only tells us that to date, we know that this has not yet been disproved. Second, the sciences interlock: physics cannot contradict chemistry cannot contradict astronomy cannot contradict biology cannot contradict medicine. The chemicals in your cough medicine would not work if the same rules did not hold for chemistry and physics. Medicine is based on biology, and as Theodosius Dobzhansky said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” If evolution were not valid, your doctor would have no way to stitch up a gash or perform a CAT scan. They may be several steps removed, but a jet flying through the air, a piston firing in a lawn mower engine, and ¹⁴C all work on the same interlocking principles. In other words, you nitwits, if your computer can go online, that means that, albeit several steps removed, evolution must be considered proven; not a religious truth, but as reliable as gravity or the electric lights overhead. In other words, will you please stop wasting people’s time with creationism? Evolution is for real. Get over it. 

Hello Kitty已經夠糟，現扗全臺灣扗瘋三歲小朋友洗澡玩的黃色小鴨子。大家好，我們可不可以長大？

為甚麼有人情願一直停留扗幼稚、懵懂的狀態？原因當然很多：商家鼓吹「心動不如行動」以便撈取更多錢；政客激起憤怒，以便操控民眾；「愛臺灣」的背後往往是「害怕世界」；等等。但教育也要負很大的責任。其中一環是，以前的教育比較硬：不管小毛頭懂不懂，不管小毛頭有沒有興趣，你現扗念，以後你就懂，你長大以後這些東西夠你用一輩子。所以小小的小孩也念大學、論語、三字經。現扗的教育軟到沒骨沒神：要把課程降低到小毛頭的程度，適應現扗的興趣、了解；很好玩，很容易懂，但保證這些東西對你以後沒有用。所以小朋友長大，無法懂大人如何思維。

Three Boy Scout leaders in Utah intentionally knocked over an ancient rock formation and posted a video online. Now that they are facing charges for destroying a natural masterpiece, they are claiming to be selfless saints whose only concern was the public safety, because these rocks, which have stood firm for 170,000,000 years, might topple over and hurt somebody.

Assuming we believe that, we learn that they are teaching that it is not necessary to report conditions to authorities or people who know more about these things than you do, take it into your own hands. If you see a traffic light that doesn’t work, just climb right up and change the bulb. If someone falls over on the street, don’t call an ambulance, just cut him open and treat him yourself. In other words, Zimmerman was right. If you see someone you suspect might commit a crime, you just get out your gun and shoot him. 

All vandals should be responsible for their acts. I don’t care if they are sanctimonious white men, I say throw the book at them. 

LINK 1

LINK 2

Okay, so two convicted murderers, sentenced to life, walked out of a Florida prison on forged papers. LINK Then they very compliantly registered with local authorities as convicts, and nobody paid any attention except the families of their victims. Now everybody is wondering how such a thing could happen.

Well, it did. Now tell me, how much do you trust the voting machines in this state?

當年我字彙班上，很驚訝發現全班一群大學、研究所高材生中，最強的居然是一位中山女中的小妹妹，就是Thais。我後來請她留下當助教。

出國念大學，不到一年發現有喉癌。好不容易征服了病魔，她還是那樣蹦蹦跳，笑容滿面。過了幾年，癌魔又回來纏她，但被她的笑聲打敗了。從來沒看過她愁眉苦臉。這麼痛苦，一定有的，但她給世界看的永遠就是精神抖擻、健談愛笑。

一段日子沒有她的消息，本不以為意。赫然得知她住臺大醫院十個月，換肺。雖然很虛，但從不抱怨，有鬥志，有勇氣，不怕。

但到最後，還是逃不過，就不再活在痛苦中，不再受苦。Thais解脫了。

好吧，這個軀殼不好用，回去換一個再來，下次留久一點，好嗎？

阿彌陀佛，Thais，妳保重。

今天才知道，原來「參差不齊」的「參差」指的是排蕭(排笛)。

處辭、九歌、湘君：望夫君兮未來，吹參差兮誰思。

一九七八年發掘曾侯乙墓得其實物。原來排蕭是國產的，歷史悠悠，而不是泊來品。

You learn something every day. It turns out that China had pipes of pan back in the fourth century BC. I hadn’t realized that. 

現在雙十節很淡。民國六十年代，很多人吃完晚飯到總統府介壽路、東門拍照；若相機有三腳架、定時快門(上發條)就很拉風。但國慶日早上，好像多數人睡大覺，電視轉播遊行才起床看。七十年代那種愛國愛鄉愛臺灣的氣氛很明顯。東門附近來逛逛的民眾都抬頭挺胸：這是我們大家的成就！所以民國八十年本要閱兵，民進黨出來大力示威，民眾不敢去~~何況總統府附近被圍起來，不得靠近。八十年代，我們住總統府附近的居民都怕民進黨來鬧，很掃興。從那時到現在，二十年來政客的爭權奪利很成功地削除了七十年代的那股團結、自尊、自信。

通常颱風老遠扗關島成形，慢慢靠近臺灣。今年奇怪，很多突然扗附近迸出來。而且，都是週末、假期來的。Typhoons usually form way off near Guam and Yap and build as they come closer. This year they’re just popping up nearby. Weird. And they come on weekends and holidays.

Meanwhile, South Dakota got four feet of snow. 

How the Republicans serve the United States with their shutdown: while President Obama has to cancel his Asia tour, Xi Jinping of China is taking his place. link<<

I’m sure the People’s Republic of China would like to extend their hearty thanks to the Tea Party for providing this great boost for their prestige and international prominence.

If you’re going to fool around in politics, you should have some political sense. Seems reasonable?

The Soviet Union was a world power, but after the breakup, Russia was greatly diminished. They have had hard times, but are getting back on their feet, and eager to show that they still can swing their fists.

They are reasserting their presence in the Arctic, which makes sense strategically. Recently they sent practically their whole Navy up there to reestablish a base that had been closed when the USSR fall apart. The Russian public has apparently followed this with enthusiasm and support.

So Greenpeace picks this time to send a boatload of protestors into this sensitive region, and what a surprise, the Russians were not happy. LINK They arrested the protestors, who are probably feeling very self righteous. LINK
I am deeply committed to environmentalism, but I have never felt the need to protect the environment by making myself unwelcome or by traveling in gas guzzling boats. Perhaps I should be ashamed, but I am not.

I don't know a lot about the issues, but to me, the idea of anybody "shutting down" the government sounds treasonous.
The Constitution defines treason as citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the US, so I know this is legally not treason, but I still think the people responsible should go to the wall for this.

There is something sardonically symbolic, and we hope prophetic, about an NRA spokesman shooting an elephant, the symbol of the G.O.P.
LINK

為甚麼才藝班只給兒童上？上班族非常需要。

為甚麼文學名著只給高中、大學生看？成人非常需要。

我十九歲踏進論語，果真仰之彌高，鑽之彌堅；瞻之在前，忽焉在後。欲罷不能，既竭吾才，如有所立卓爾。下了多年功夫，但時日逝去，我發現要三十歲以後才開始懂孔子教我們的：孔子講真功夫，人生歷練不夠，紙上談兵是無法嚐出滋味來。

可是太多人出了社會，忙著賺錢，忙著立家，忙著創業，忙著茫然，不知道自己怎麼活的，這不打緊：糟糕的是，從來沒想過自己是怎麼活的。

悲。

孔子說，「志於道，據於德，依於仁，游於藝。」為了不辜負自己的人生，我們應該這樣生活。

老師，生日快樂。

People today spend far too much effort on their jobs and careers, and when they have some energy left over, they work so hard at having fun that they have nothing left over. In The Closing of the American Mind, Alan Bloom said people “have lost the habit of reading serious philosophical books or of considering them essential.” A tragic loss. 

It’s worth learning Chinese just to read The Analects, an inexhaustible treasure trove. Today is Confucius’s birthday. Commemorate the day by making sure you are thinking and living. 

我們的功力越來越深。昨天吃晚餐時只是討論今天要不要洗車，不到兩個小時就下雨了。厲害吧！All we did last night over dinner was talk about having the car washed, and within two hours, it started to rain. 

公車司機姓名標于車後，增加路上的樂趣。有的很有意思。那天看到一位叫做

林桂土

怎麼寫？三個木、三個土。想找類似的恐怕很難吧。要在五行內，我想得出來的只有

林棪火

稍做弊，可取名

林梙中

或

林梠口。

好像只有「林」「呂」姓可以這樣玩，而呂不屬五行。但姓呂，更好發揮：

呂啉木

呂啖火

呂哇土

還有呢，

呂品口
呂唂谷 (or:呂唂八八口)

我承認，應該沒有很多人想給孩子取名呂哇土~~而話說回來，桂土，土土土，這樣好嗎？

棪一ㄢˇ 一種像柰的樹，紅色，果可食。

梙 ㄏㄨㄢˋ同槵，無患子當作梙、槵。
梠 ㄌㄩˇ  屋檐；芋頭

天兔颱風雖強度，但不算太猛，而陣風有力。一支巨竹被撕成這個樣子~We had a strong typhoon, but it passed without too much trouble. Parts of Taiwan got up to 780mm, or thirty inches of rain (a bit more than they got in Colorado, where eight inches were called a “biblical downpour” or “unprecedented torrents”). We got only about 100mm, or four inches here. Some of the gusts of wind were pretty strong. How strong? Consider that bamboo has the tensile strength of steel, and see what happened to one of my giant bamboos. 

灼灼西隤日

餘光照我衣

迴風吹四壁

寒鳥相因依

~~阮籍詩

準備過中秋！Friday is the Moon Festival. 

Brightly burning the western sinking sun

Waning light brightens my clothes

Probing wind blows the four walls

Cold birds huddle together.

from a poem by Juan Chi/Ruan Ji (3^rd century)

百三年九月十六日link謎底：

勢在必行

overheard at 素食展

鴨耕米，扗稻田養幾隻鴨子，鴨子吃蟲減少蟲害，可少用殺蟲劑；鴨糞可以代替肥料。這個作法很環保，值得鼓勵。LINK:

我們扗素食展買一包，很好吃。但我付款時，一個阿姨過來問，

「鴨耕米跟鴉片米有甚麼不同？」

攤位小姐不太想理她~~~

overheard in 上海湯包 a restaurant in Taipei Station

老太太：我那個媳婦蠻聰明。

老先生：喔，是嗎？

老太太：是啊，博士論文快寫完了。

老先生：嗯。會煮飯嗎？

老太太：每天三餐。

老先生：嗯。我今天量血壓。

Old lady: That daughter-in-law of mine is smart.

Old man: Oh, really?

Old lady: Yes, she has almost finished writing her doctor’s thesis.

Old man. Oh. Does she cook?

Old lady: Three meals every day.
Old man. Oh. I had my blood pressure checked today. 

九月九、丑時，偶醒，星斗佈天，不得不佇足抬頭久望。由北往南飛來一群白光，乍為流星，再看，是九隻高飛白鷺鷥，從七姊妹與獵人座中南飛。詫異萬分，從未見過白鷺鷥夜飛，還沒回神，須臾回頭往北飛，又片刻看到牠們一行南飛。太稀奇，真是見所未見，決定把超挖起來一起看，但等她從夢鄉歸來，白鷺鷥已經不見了。我們觀星一回，又進去睡。

The stars were so bright that I had to go out for a look. At almost precisely 2AM  I was startled to see a line of white light shooting south between pitu ci Ya’azuonʉ no cou (the Pleiades) and Orion. The line was not a shooting star, as I first thought, but nine egrets, flying high overhead. I was astonished. I had never seen egrets flying at night before. A formation of flying egrets is a sight of haunting beauty. They flew south, out of sight, then came north again and flew out of sight. I stood there with my mouth open. Before long, they came south again, and I decided I had to drag Sabiy out of bed to see this. But the egret show was over for the night, so we stood admiring the stars for a while before we crawled back into bed.

後來，我想到我要怎麼說：天鵝湖兩排舞者想要表現的仙境，應該是如此. Later in the day, I realized what I wanted to say: in Swan Lake, when the two lines of ballerinas dance, they are trying to recreate the magic I saw in those flying egrets. 

We often observe inexplicable behavior in others. Meanwhile…

In Two Years Before the Mast, Dana observed a funeral procession in California in 1835, and says, “the most singular thing of all was that two men walked, one on each side of the coffin, carrying muskets in their hands, which they continually loaded, and fired into the air. Whether this was to keep off the evil spirits or not, I do not know. It was the only interpretation that I could put upon it.”

A hundred pages later, describing a wedding, Dana says, “Our guns were loaded and run out, men appointed to each, cartridges served out, matches lighted, and all the flags ready to be run up….Twenty-three guns followed in regular succession, with an interval of fifteen seconds between each…. This we thought was pretty well – a gun every fifteen seconds – for a merchantman with only four guns and a dozen or twenty men.”

And for what did you fire the guns, Mr Dana? To keep off the evil spirits, perhaps? 

戈喨！掛扗屋簷下的風玲突然響了。但那風玲通常吹不到風，離地三公尺多，是誰把它撞響了？我拿著手電筒小心翼翼把頭伸出去看~~~~原來是你！

Klang! The wind chime by the living room rang out suddenly. But that wind chime is three meters off the ground, and usually the wind doesn’t blow there. Flashlight in hand, I very carefully stuck my head out the window
::

: the culprit! 

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車禍，聽到救護車來，希望聽到救護車走。火災，聽到救護車來，不希望聽到救護車走。

If you hear an ambulance going to a car accident, you hope to hear the ambulance leaving the accident. If you hear an ambulance going to a fire, you hope not to hear the ambulance leaving the fire.

阿彌陀佛，everybody’s safe::link::

For some reason, for the last couple of days the San Marino High football fight song has been playing in my ears. I haven’t heard the song for decades, I have no idea what triggered this, and I didn’t even go to San Marino High School.

Now I sort of know how Kafka’s guy felt when he woke up and found he had turned into a cockroach.

…and we will win tonight!

「鳳梨」，我高興的話，我叫它「苦瓜」，有甚麼不可以呢？誰規定「鳳梨」一定要叫「鳳梨」不能叫「苦瓜」？但我去買果汁，我跟老闆說要一杯苦瓜汁，他給我的是甚麼？我可以要求他了解我說「苦瓜」是指「鳳梨」嗎？

社會大眾對言語字句有共同認識，我們才能溝通；我們都認為那個黃黃有刺的叫做鳳梨，另一個綠綠長皰的叫做苦瓜，我們才好溝通。隨便用語言，一方面與它人的溝通崩潰，另一方面自己思路難通。所以孔子說，「必也正名乎。…名不正，則言不順；言不順，則事不成；事不成，則禮樂不興；禮樂不興，則刑罰不中；刑罰不中，則民無所措手足。故君子名之必可言也，言之必可行也。君子於其言，無所苟而已矣。」道理顯淺易懂。

「我以為」，這句是臺灣目前一個大問題。太多人主觀太強，我以為怎樣就怎樣，錯的再離譜，拼命自圓其說，還理直氣壯。大家「我以為」、懶得求證、思想不嚴謹，臺灣前途堪虞。如前不久臺大、政大到中、南美洲的「青年大使」團亂穿亂跳，卻說是原住民服裝、舞蹈，被糾正還有一大堆解釋。謙虛、認錯、進步應該沒那麼難。我們不要犯同樣的毛病。

北美印地安把一種動物看做是個人或族群的祖先或守護神，他們叫做dodaem。英文沒有這個字，所以就譯音，成為totem。中文沒有這個字，清末翻譯大師嚴復依他閩北方言譯音為「圖騰」，這純粹是譯音而已，跟圖沒有關係，跟騰沒有關係。如果嚴復是北方人，他可能會譯為「投丹」或「兜丹」，也都可以，因為是譯音而已。何星亮著「中國圖騰文化」解釋：「圖騰是血緣親屬；圖騰是祖先；圖騰是保護神。」

近年來，臺灣有人望文生義，看到圖騰的圖字，主觀意識作祟，以為圖騰與圖案有關係，懶得求證、思想不嚴謹，反正講一個比較不懂的片語好像很內行，就把「圖騰」當做是有民族風格的圖案。你說沒有關係嗎？我說大有關係，人與人之間的溝通依賴我們對字句的共同認識。不然，高興的話，說「圖騰」的意思就是「鳳梨汁」，也沒有關係呀！

君子於其言，無所苟而已矣，難道我們不能效法君子嗎？

If the ancients had seen this, they would have told about a monster who lives at the bottom of the swamp who has an unquenchable thirst and eats trees whole.

Of course, once the myths passed down to us, we would sneer and congratulate ourselves on being so much more clever than the ancients. I mean really, whole trees disappearing into the bottom of a swamp? Everybody knows wood floats, it’s obviously impossible.

CLICK<<< If I were the cameraman for these videos, I would be ready to pick up my heels at any moment and sprint for solid ground, preferably in the next state. 

蒼頡篇：倄，下交切，痛聲也。

訓詁曰：倄，火故反，痛而謼也。

Yeow!!

或許我沒那麼愛權。我實扗不懂為甚麼有人想當總統。美國國父George Washington被強迫連任，就職典禮前他說心情好像要去見儈子手。

當年Jimmy Carter花兩年半競選總統，我很懷疑他的權力慾怎麼那麼多大。他雖然笑容可掬，但當總統平平，而糟糕的是，因為他的無能，接下來雷根上臺。

馬英九競選臺北市長時，已經很明顯看得出，他太「好好先生」，不夠狠，不適合從政：搞政治，一定要笑裏藏刀，卡特就是沒有那把刀，馬英九也沒有。臺灣所謂的民主，是亂罵政府、享受憤怒、一切不需要自己負責、一切都是政府的錯，即使他做得再好，也沒用。

蔡英文願意花四年競選，笑容可掬，拼命去打點民眾，大概很想要享受一下權力的滋味吧。那滋味甜嗎？當總統已經夠苦，扗臺灣當總統，苦上加苦吧。我懷疑，到時候她會不會後悔？

現在臺灣有邦交的只有二十三個國家，其中大約二十個想斷交，要跟中共建交，但北京看中華民國的面子，不接受。蔡英文當總統第二天，會有二十個國家斷交，她一定要想個對策。

最近有人喊著「拆政府」，有理：拆了，中共更好接管。

下雨啦~~ 

rain, we got rain. 

Miracles happen: link<<<

五胡亂華，故史書字句或特難解。

太元十五年 (390 AD)

吐谷渾連遣使獻見于金城乾歸乾歸拜視連州牧白蘭王

太元十六年 (391 AD)

金城王乾歸擊越質詰歸詰歸降…夏四月燕蘭汗破賀染干於牛都

太元十七年 (392 AD)
休官權千成據顯親自稱秦州牧

我最愛沒有標點的書~~

今晚在國父紀念館參加一個非常奇特的表演。不是公演，觀眾必受邀請才能入場。每一位上臺表演的人都坐警備車來。主辦單位是矯正署，十個月來在臺灣各個監獄舉行才藝比賽，選出最優秀的團體或個人，八個節目上臺。第一個是彰化監獄的鼓舞團，敲大鼓(中國戰鼓)打出各種節奏，有板有眼，有呼有應，氣勢澎湃。他們本來就由優人神鼓訓練，所以也難怪表演水平那麼高。

接下來就明陽中學的街舞；或許我偏心，但我認為當年我們孝三班的不輸他們。第三個表演也是彰化監獄，演奏印尼竹琴。這團很明顯年紀較長，穿著印尼sarong裙、頭戴羽毛，很認真搖出望春風。看這些大哥兒們，有的看起來不好惹，也會想，如果二十年前有人說，「你將來會穿裙子在國父紀念館上臺表演，頭上還插三根長羽毛，頂尖還有小白羽」，不知道他們會怎麼想…可是每一位很用心、很投入音樂。

我們等待的是第四團，因為我輔導三年的同學在裏面。這團是管弦樂，由臺北、臺中、宜縣監獄、明陽中學組團。看到他緊張、嚴肅、認真的樣子，十分高興。

臺中、屏東監獄的小團演變臉、變裝，瞬間變，像魔術一樣。臺南、臺中、屏東監獄的國樂團演兩個曲子。要想，受型人本來不容易合作、不肯服從別人，而現在不只是要練琴、音準、拍子、曲調，還要與其它人配合、看指揮的指示，很不容易，但演的非常好聽。不輸外面的專業團體。

泰源技能所與臺東監獄聯合跳原住民舞蹈，活潑、有力、變化，有聲有色。其它團大概最羨慕這個團，因為只有這團是男女合舞。

最後是臺中、嘉義監獄的合唱團，唱兩首。其中我很喜歡三百六十五里路>>click<<他們唱的感觸特別深。

總而言之，高牆裏很多人才，希望他們能夠好好把他們的才華用在正途，回社會後過平安、幸福的日子。

Tonight we went to an extraordinary concert, not open to the public. The performers all came in locked buses. The show was hosted by the Agency of Corrections. For the last ten months, competitions have been held in prisons all over Taiwan for the best performers, and the winners took the stage last night. The audience was quite a set, too: mostly family members, a lot of wardens, and some, like us, teachers and counselors. I entered the Sun Yat Sen Memorial on the heels of the Vice President, but he got a better seat. The place was packed.

The first act was a drum troupe, performing on Chinese war drums, very powerful, perfectly coordinated, endless variations. They were followed by street dancers, then a group performing on angklung (a bamboo musical instrument) from Indonesia, dressed appropriately. This group was noticeably older. I wondered what would have happened twenty years ago if someone had told one of these guys, “Some day you’ll be on the stage of the SYS Memorial, dressed in a skirt, with feathers in your hair.” Hmmm. But they threw themselves into their music, and performed excellently.

We were there for the fourth act, a wind and brass ensemble, because a student I have counseled for three years performed, and, if you don’t mind my saying so, shined brightly.

The next act was Sichuan face and costume changes, in which characters dressed in Chinese opera clothes change their faces in a flash, and change whole costumes in less than a second. Very impressive.

Then there was Chinese music, Aborigine dancing, and a chorus whose conductor stole the show.

These men have lived hard lives, bending to no-one, questioning all authority. It is hard for anyone to learn how to play an instrument and get the pitch and meter just right, but it is doubly difficult for them to harmonize with others, follow directions, and work for a common goal. They performed superbly. The drums and Chinese music were as good or better than anything you hear from professionals. They have the talent. Now I hope they can put their talent to good work, to build better lives for themselves and their families. 

吃晚餐，很不幸我的座位剛好對準餐廳的電視。雖然不想看，但難免會看到一些。畫面一變，出現了北韓金正恩，我肅然起敬：電視新聞報導了重要事情！

好景不長。北韓新聞報了約莫十五秒之後，就轉成日本女明星穿泳裝在職棒比賽投一球，報了三、四分鐘。

愚民。臺灣電視新聞只有一個詞可以形容：愚民。

今天熱嗎？我們到中正堂華香素食吃午餐，難得一見:沒有人。

 How hot was it today? 

The CKS Memorial, a favorite gathering spot, was deserted.

39.3C, a record high for Taipei. 

A lot of people in Taiwan live in this dream world where all we have to do is shriek Love Taiwan and everything will be peachy. Taiwan will become an independent nation, countries around the world will rush to recognize us and thrust a cornucopia of benefits into our hands, all our problems will be solved. 

Others may not agree. Taiwan, the ROC, has only a handful of allies, countries that formally recognize the government. The bright side is that you can see some really unusual flags downtown when their Leader comes to visit, flags you probably don't see often elsewhere. The other side is that Mainland China is, without much effort, isolating Taiwan even further simply through its might, as these allies seek to ditch Taiwan and ally themselves with the PRC. What can you say? "It doesn't make any sense any more economically speaking to be affiliated with Taiwan," says Margaret Myers, director of the China and Latin America program at the Interamerican Dialogue. It would be nice if some people could wake up and stop dreaming.
link

昨天早上到臺北，下午才有課，所以先到了一家咖啡店，點了咖啡、點心，就把通鑑第八冊拿出來，看看秦王堅死後，姚萇如何做。真是喪心病狂，等一下挖人家的墓，下一步供起來說神助。

我發現我四周的人，嘴巴裏只有一個話題：$。星期六早上，都穿便服，可是都扗講股票、房地產、公司營業額、這個案子可以賺多少錢、怎樣賺更多錢。天啊，沒有一個談親戚、朋友、愛情，沒有一個講理想，沒有一個談思想問題，更沒有人討論文學、繪畫、音樂，只有錢錢錢，真可憐。生活中沒有一個「美」字，要那麼多錢幹嘛？

我也愛錢，多多益善，但錢要為我服務，我不要為錢活。

素食館有這個好處：週遭聽到的話題，往往是討論佛法、面對人生、講比較營養的事。

來山上之前，我扗杭州南路住了十八年，正值「街頭運動」，要上班要過立法院，所以，甚麼示威我都見過。

民進黨早期的示威，分兩種人參加：一部分充滿忿怒、上街找東西破壞；其它都是鄉村運來的阿公阿媽，領了帽子、參加了遊行，就準備領便當坐遊覽車回家。他們上街，我們有時沒辦法上課，因為打鑼敲鼓、吶喊的聲音太大。很多補習班的學生很怕他們，因為暴力氣氛太濃，而且大學生往往強迫中獎，被拖去聽演講。示威過後，滿目瘡痍，到處都是垃圾、油漆。公園路襄陽路口那棟他們最愛，因為牆壁很平滑，所以每次活動就噴標語，第二天要擦掉。

新黨的活動就很不同，參加的人都笑容滿面。當時準留學生清一色支持新黨。黃大洲、趙少康、陳水扁競選臺北市長，有一位年紀稍大的學生投陳水扁，其餘都投趙少康，沒有人理黃大洲。可是很奇怪，新黨曇花一現，一時熾熱，下次看就不見了。

紅螞蟻上街倒扁也很特別。看起來都是上班族多，三、四十歲的最多，攜家帶眷，到了東門就歡呼嘩啦，比較像開party(and not a 政黨)。

今年春天的保衛東岸、悍衛祖靈，看得出來大家疲憊不堪，因為從臺東走路到臺北。但是大家意志堅強，氛圍和善，活動有條不紊。

今天的活動也十分特別。我沒到總統府前，只在外圍，但看到大家心情沉重，不急不燥，也沒看到布條，只看到一個人拿著牌子(上面是英文字，可是看不懂意思)。給我的感覺，好像每一個人為自己死去的某一位親人、為自己死去的某一位朋友、為自己死去的某一位愛人而來哀弔。

最近忙，沒機會用電腦，但我要很謙虛地宣佈，托旮亙樂團的少多宜團長與周家平師兄的福，我已成為第一個吹鼻笛的西洋人。我們的鼻孔套不上去(悲慘的故事扗link<<<)，但經過周師兄不斷努力，終于製造了一組適合洋鼻的鼻笛！鼻笛要塞進鼻子，音色馬馬虎虎，但有聲音！好感動！無盡感恩！I have been too busy to have much time for the computer, but I would like to modestly announce that, with the assistance of Sawtoy of the Kakeng Ensemble and Mr Chou, I have become the first Westerner to play the ngusut tipolo, or aborigine nose flute. Western nostrils just don’t fit (for an account of my struggles, please click here:::), but after months of relentless endeavor, Mr Chou succeeded in creating a ngusut tipolo that I can actually play! I have to cram the tipolo halfway up my ngusut, but I can produce a sound. My endless appreciation and gratitude! 

戰國學術昌盛，百家爭鳴，但書寫多用竹簡，所以書籍少，教學多依口傳背誦。

宋國書呆子，名子鈍，雖誦書幾百卷，但家貧無書。

子鈍捉襟見肘，親戚憐之，贈雄雌雞四對，以營生養家。子鈍見雞歡喜，感謝親人厚意，退而思誦養雞古訓。

親人再來，只見子鈍忙拿針線油布，親人不解亦不敢問。數日後，下雨，小姑過子鈍宅，發現雞均著雨衣，四處覓食，彷若饑困。小姑難忍，問子鈍，「子餵雞何飼？」子鈍居然回，「不餵食，以免其逃逸。」小姑訝異，進問，「何以著雨衣？」子鈍踧爾曰，「嗚呼，姑不學無術！豈未聞古聖賢之言乎？」小姑曰，「謹問其詳。」子鈍正立曰，「雞不可濕，食不再來。」

承認，這篇犯規，因為典故後出，戰國時未聞：舊五代史·晉書·安重榮傳：仰認睿智，深惟匿瑕，其如天道人心，難以違拒，須知機不可失，時不再來。

甘露元年己丑，吳大司馬呂岱卒，年九十六。始岱親近吳郡徐原，慷慨有才志，岱知其可成，賜巾韝，與共言論，後遂薦拔，官至侍御史。原性忠壯，好直言。岱時有得失，原輒諫爭，又公論之。人或以告岱，岱歎曰：「是我所以貴德淵者也！」及原死，岱哭之甚哀，曰：「徐德淵，呂岱之益友，今不幸，岱復於何聞過！」談者美之。       通鑑七十七
In 256 AD, Minister Lu Dai died at the age of 96. He had a close relative, Hsu Yuan, who was talented and determined to make his mark. Dai knew that Yuan was a talent worth advancing, so Dai gave Yuan scarves and archer’s sleeves, had discussions with him, and found an office for him. Yuan eventually rose to a very high rank; he was honest, brave, and never beat around the bush. Dai made a mistake, and Yuan publicly criticized him. Somebody told Dai. Dai said, “This is why I value him so highly.” When Yuan died, Dai cried mournfully, and said, “Yuan is my true friend. Now this misfortune has befallen me, who is going to point out my mistakes from now on?” 

現代家長為了證明自己的能力，犧牲兒女的能力。
Parents nowadays work so hard to prove their ability that they rob their children of the chance to develop their own ability. 

Great opening from a spam letter offering me untold riches:

Hello,

Forgive my indignation if this message comes to you as a surprise and may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior consent and writing through this channel…..  

I am an American Army my name is Captain Michael Brinkley.

I am overwhelmed to get a letter from an American Army, but wonder why the letter was composed on a Chinese language version of Word? Do you think I should be suspicious of the whole matter? 

改編唐朝故事 an old story retold

遙遠山村扗一處斷崖下。崖，像國畫裏的那種，矗立凸天，崴崴峨峨。崖壁上長一種很特殊的靈果，下品為藥，可治百病，上品入貢為皇上專享。

三個外地青年想撿果致富，到山村來。他們第一眼看到崖壁，儍眼，從沒看過那麼高、那麼陡的山。第一個年輕人把裲襠往旁邊丟，抖抖肩、跺跺腳，說，「嘿，這難不倒我也！」二話不說，衝過去撲上巖壁，沒幾下子爬了四個人高。他往下看，跟同鄉青年說，「好啦，你們愣扗那裏沒關係，我先發財哈哈！」再往上爬，十個人高，他停住，說，「咦？再來怎麼爬？」他手往上伸，就一聲

啊

噫

阿

噫

阿

阿

噫

阿

◎

◎

。

。

‧

‧

咚

摔死了。

第二個青年看，坐下開始計畫怎麼爬，天天很認真想，「我看他們村人如何爬，我也研究他們的路線，可是這個山很高，我沒辦法，我很想發財，我再看他們怎麼爬，哇！很難！我辦不到，我不夠好，我再看他們怎麼爬，呀，真難，我沒辦法！我想，應該會有一些果實掉落，我就可以撿起來，對！一定會有果實掉落，我扗這裏等就好了。」古宋人守株待兔，此青年守崖待果，天天扗那裏等，鬢鬚慢慢白了，牙齒一一鬆了，就是不見靈果掉落。臨終時，他嘆一口氣說，「我很可憐，我就是沒有發財命，別人都發財，只有我沒有。我真可憐。」

第三個青年看，走來走去，換角度看斷崖，扗不同時辰觀察，了解巖石的狀況。他也觀察村人如何攀爬，在崖腳練習動作。村民背著滿滿的籃子下來，他幫他們接，很客氣的幫他們把籃子送回家；不久，大家認識這個青年，也說他人不錯。大家熟了，青年請教攀崖的訣竅，村人都侃侃說明，還帶他到崖腳傳授技藝，也教他怎麼選摘靈果。不到兩個月，第三個年輕人有把握，他跟村民一起爬上那個巨高的崖壁，帶了半籃靈果下來。再過一個月，他堆了很多上好的靈果。他分一半給村民，以示謝意。他們選了一簍上上品的靈果饋贈青年。他牽著五頭驢，馱著靈果到京師，將那簍上上靈果送進皇宮貢獻給皇上，名噪一時。很快，他開了一家藥材店，貨真價實，不到二十五歲已成為京師鼎鼎大名的藥劑大師，娶了宰相的女兒，幸福美滿，活到很老才壽終正寢，阿彌陀佛。

Once upon a time, in mountains far, far away, a village sat at the foot of a huge cliff, the kind of cliff you see in Chinese paintings. On the cliff grew a wondrous fruit. The poorest could be used as medicine to treat all ills, and the finest were fit only for the Emperor.

Three young men traveled to the village, hoping to pluck some fruit and win their fortune. When they saw the size of the cliff, they stopped in their tracks. They had never seen a cliff like that before.

The first young man tossed his pack on the ground, shook his shoulders and stamped his feet, saying, “I can handle this!” He threw himself at the cliff, and in moments was up the cliff to a height of four people. He looked down and said, “What are you waiting for? I’m not going to wait for you, I’m going to get rich!” When he was about the height of ten people, they heard him say, “Uh-oh, this is tricky!” He grabbed with his hand, and fell

down

down

down    

splat.

He died.

The second young man studied the cliff very carefully every day. He said, “I’ll watch how the villagers climb, and study their routes. But this cliff is really big, I can’t do it. I want to get rich. I’ll watch how they do it. Wow, that’s difficult! I can’t do it, I’m not good enough. I know! Some of these fruit must fall, so all I have to do is wait here, and some will fall in my lap.” He waited and waited, but unlike Newton, nothing ever fell down to him. His hair grew white, and one by one, his teeth bade him farewell. On his deathbed, he lamented, “Poor me, I’m so unlucky! Everybody but me gets rich, but not me! Poor me!”

The third young man examined the cliff from different angles, watching as the sunlight showed features of the rock. He studied how the villagers climbed, and tried some of their moves at the bottom of the cliff. At the end of the day, when they came down with baskets laden, he was there to take the baskets for them and deliver the baskets to their homes for them. Before long, everybody knew this young man, and had good words to say about him. When they all got to know each other, the young man asked for advice in climbing. The villagers told him all they knew, and even took him to the rock face to show him the techniques and teach him how to pluck the fruit. After two months, the young man was ready to climb, and he followed the villagers up the gigantic cliff. He came down with only half a basket that first day, but when another month had passed, he had amassed a pile of fruit. He gave half to the villagers as thanks. They selected a basket of their very finest fruit in return. The young man left the village leading five donkeys packed to staggering with fruit, and made his way to the capital. He took the select basket to the palace and presented it as a gift to the emperor, which created a sensation. Soon he opened a medicine store. His fruit was high quality and his prices were reasonable. By the time he was 25, he was already an eminent apothecary. He married the Prime Ministers daughter, had a happy life, and lived to a ripe old age, and then he died in his bed. Amitabha. 

三十年前吧，扗書上看到中亞曾強盛一時的一族，叫做

Hephthalites，也叫做 White Huns白匈奴。聽都沒聽過。歷史往往很殘忍：多少努力，多少血汗，輝煌一時，最後從記憶中泯沒，只留下蛛絲馬跡，風再吹，連這也無。

當時很好奇，再找其它資料，知道這族中文叫做嚈噠，後漢書謂滑。妙的是，雖是遊牧民族，卻母系，這很特別。但當時查資料不易，到此為止。

近日讀通鑑，及慕容鮮卑，或以其來自極北故而膚白，時人謂之白虜。白虜，想起白匈奴，大約扗南北朝，而今日時代不同，上網查，很快找到資料。電腦了不起：ㄧㄝ四聲就有嚈字(很後面)，ㄉㄚ二聲噠，太棒！全世界中文電腦，恐怕沒幾個人打過這兩個字。

感謝wikisource提供魏書：

魏書 西域傳

「 嚈噠國，大月氏之種類也，亦曰高車之別種，其原出於塞北。

其俗兄弟共一妻，夫無兄弟者其妻戴一角帽，若有兄弟者依其多少之數，更加角焉。衣服類加以纓絡。頭皆剪髮。其語與蠕蠕、高車及諸胡不同。眾可十萬。無城邑，依隨水草，以氈為屋，夏遷涼土，冬逐暖處。分其諸妻，各在別所，相去或二百、三百里。

其人兇悍，能鬬戰。」

才知，昔聞嚈噠母系，不實。但更美好的是，中國亞馬遜有書>>link<<，去年才出版。已經托北京的好友幫我訂，嘻~~~~

About thirty years ago, I came across a reference to a people I had never heard of, the Hephthalites, who were also called the White Huns. They were a great power in Central Asia around the 5^th century AD, but what?? who had ever heard of them? Time covers the tracks of even the greatest of conquerors. In those days, there was little more I could learn about them.

Recently I have been reading history of around that time. I found that the Murung Hsienbei (Bayan Siber), perhaps because they came from sunless Siberia, were called the White Barbarians for their very light skin.

This brought to mind the Hephthalites, the White Huns. Times have changed, and within minutes searching on the computer, I had a wealth of data. In Chinese they are the Yeda, and from the Book of Wei:

Yeda… come from north of the borders. Their custom is that brothers share a wife. If a husband has no brothers, his wife wears a hat with one corner; otherwise, she has as many corners on her hat as her husband has brothers…. Their language is not the same as other nearby nations. They are nomads, without cities, living in homes of felt, migrating with the seasons… they are fierce warriors.

Not only that, but on Chinese Amazon I was able to find a book about them published only last year. A friend in Beijing is already buying it for me. 

More wonderfully obscure useless knowledge! Hurray! 

「反核」很容易變成「反風」。

「我是人，我反核」這個口號很醜陋：跟我意見不同的人就不是人嗎？說這句等于說，「只有我最清高，如果你不認同我的看法你就是畜生。」但這很容易變成：「我是人，我反風力生電。」

一樣無理。
>>click<<
What could possibly go wrong with wind power?

我為甚麼今天要上班？今天是達彥的豐年紀。

Lokah kwara, hopaq kwalax ru behuy。下雨了，兩三年沒有風大的颱風，幫我們清理了很多樹枝。The Amis/阿美 word for typhoon is faliyos, which means angry winds. The Soulik/蘇力 typhoon brought rain and wind. I’m not sure if these winds were angry or not, but they were frisky, and as we haven’t had a good windy typhoon for a couple years, Soulik brought down a lot of trees, branches, and bamboo, and knocked over whole rows of motorcycles in the city.

This morning we got about 100 mm (=4") of rain between midnight and 7AM. We didn't even make the Top 100 for rainfall. The place in the white spot on this rainfall map got nearly 500 mm (about two feet). Altogether, some places got nearly a meter of rain in about a day and a half. Wet weather. Frisky winds and overloaded clouds.

Then I got to go out and clear fallen branches, AKA feeding the mosquitoes. 
'a micu na'no mʉchʉ ho poepe ta tan'e, at'inghi uk'a cimo kuzo. 安。
But the typhoon is gone now, so Adios, faliyos. 

早上睡醒，眼睛一開，看到老鷹扗窗外盤旋于山雲間。怎麼有這麼美的事！This morning when I woke up, the first thing to meet my eyes was an eagle towering over the mountains and valleys. What a delightful way to start a day!
也是賴床的好理由。and a delightful excuse to linger abed a while longer. 

我入小學在Illinois鄉下，小學畢業于洛杉磯郊區，難免花很多時間扗車上；尤其週末出去玩、暑假旅遊，一上車少則一兩小時，多則幾個星期。只有玩過頭被父母罵，但一定不會無聊。與姊、哥玩、聽父母說故事講笑話、找外州的牌照、唱歌、認鳥、很多事可以做，當然最重要的是看風景；若不看風景，出門幹麼？不用說，那時沒有導航，有時大人要專心找路，小孩靜靜，也是一種參與、貢獻；大一點，幫忙看地圖，怎會無聊？當代沒有汽車音響，而我回想，父母連汽車收音機幾乎沒開過。

巴掌大的臺灣，上車沒幾下就環島了，而一般人只在市區開車，還說怕小孩子無聊所以要裝汽車電視。怎麼搞的？不想跟子女說話嗎？或害怕內扗空涸，沒有話跟小孩說？

I started elementary school in rural Illinois, and ended in suburban LA. Both entailed a lot of time riding in the car (blue 1959 Ford Fairlane). On weekend outings or summer vacations, a trip might last from an hour or so to a couple weeks. We kids may have gotten bawled out from time to time for rowdiness, but we never got bored. My sister and brother and I listened to our parents tell stories and jokes, we looked for out-of-state license plates (in Illinois, cars from California were rarely seen, but everybody believed Californians drove better than ordinary mortals), see what kind of birds there were, sing songs, there was always a lot to do, but most important of all, we took in the scenery. If you're not going to watch the scenery along the way, why bother to travel? Of course there were no GPSs in those days, so sometimes Mom and Dad demanded silence so they could figure out the route. We could help read maps and look for road signs and landmarks. We participated and contributed. There were also no car stereos in those days, and I can't remember my parents turning on the car radio. Nobody ever got bored riding in our car.

Taiwan is bigger than Massachusetts, and a tenth the size of Montana. You can drive all around the whole island in a couple days, but most cars are used for driving around the city. In these circumstances, some parents claim they are afraid their kids will get bored, so they install televisions in their cars. What kind of sick joke is that? If you don't want to talk with your kids, just say so. Or is it because these people are so vapid that they have nothing to say to their children? 

臺灣的新聞會比較真實地報導，較不會渲染、扭曲的，只有當天的日期。新聞自由不等于放手任君亂搞、恣縱。The only part of the news in Taiwan that is credible and not twisted or distorted is the day’s date. Freedom of the press is taken as license for irresponsibility. 

中華路上一小群老人家帶著旗幟唱老調：臺灣獨立。看他們龍鍾老臉，看不出一絲笑容，也看不出一點歡樂，似乎都帶著很重的嗔。

不免想，您老人家憑啥要求臺灣獨立？您帶著旗幟瞪著路人，世界局勢就有義務為您轉變嗎？看不出他們有甚麼遠大的理想，也看不出甚麼細緻深刻的政治理論；是不是您老人家不能適應現代社會，而遷怒政府？

可憐。

到少輔院舉行三天成長營完畢，回家了。收穫豐碩，改天徐徐道來。非常感謝卓老師，也感謝譚熺賢老師講課，還特別謝謝民宿老闆宗聖先生。We have returned from a three day workshop at the Reformatory. Many thanks to Teacher Chuo, who leads our group of valiant volunteers; to Summer Tan of Narconan Taiwan for all his talks and teachings; and a big thanks to Arthur Chang for generously allowing us to stay at his place.