袋鼠通訊的部落格

有點小糗，很久沒喝醉了，結果在英國第一次酒醉竟是在上課時...
由於是耶誕節期間吧，老師帶了紅酒和點心來請大家。結果也許是空腹喝酒的關係，竟然兩杯下肚就茫了...全身好像都被灌了鉛一樣，沉沉的重。想動動腳，卻發現腳也不太聽使喚，連想換邊翹腳都有點困難。更糟的是，當老師問起我作品的內容時，我竟然還得看看自己寫的東西才記得我到底寫了什麼...還好老師似乎沒發現，不然應該會變成笑話吧...學生在上課時喝醉酒（如果能看到我現在的字，就更能了解我有多茫了）。等下要怎麼回家啊，心中不禁有點擔心起來。希望到外面吹吹冷風之後會好一點。別走一走醉倒在路邊啊！

晚上出門去倒垃圾的同時，發現在微微的月色及路燈照射下，平常黯淡無光的柏油小徑上，竟閃著點點亮光。好奇地湊近點看，發現那竟然是層薄薄的冰。原來外面天氣已經冷到把地上的水氣都凝結成冰的程度了。在室內因為有暖氣的緣故，所以還沒什麼感覺，但一看到這個之後，就真的有股寒意湧上心頭了。
其實真的說到冷，是從前幾天開始就有點跡象了。兩天前的傍晚，出門準備買菜時，一出門口就發現外面是一整片白色的霧氣。整個中庭都是白茫茫的一片，與其說是霧氣，倒不如說是直接從地上升起的雲來得恰當。天空顯得很低，雖然才四點而已，卻也已經暗了下來，和那層霧氣好像整個連成一片了。走到市場去，腳底的感覺和平常也很不一樣。踩在被霧氣所潤濕的石板地上，覺得腳步都因為濕氣而被拖沉了一點。四周行人來來去去的，比平常時間看起來還熱鬧許多，也許是大家都在忙著做最後的Christmas shopping的緣故吧。在新堡早暗的天空下，竟也帶著點如台灣夜市般的氛圍。

Act 3
Hank and Gina finally made enough money to pay the rent, as they went back to the flat, they found out that the landlord had already clean out all their belongings, and rent the flat to someone else. Gina wanted to buy the house back, but the flat was redecorated and Hank thought it wasn’t Bohemian style anymore so he refused to move back in. Just when they were arguing, their friends from the reading group came and give them a good suggestion.

Act 2
Hank and Gina went to the club of the boss’s wife, their plan was to let Hank seduce her, then they can killed her when she’s unprepared. But what they didn’t know is actually the boss’s wife prefer women than men, and she found Gina her taste. So she tried to take Gina as her playmate, and Hank couldn’t take it anymore so he told her the truth. As soon as she knew that the boss wanted to get rid of her, she decided to revenge and asked Hank to do so. She took Gina as hostage but promised she’ll release Gina and reward Hank handsomely once the boss was dead.

Act 1
Hank and Gina were staying in their room, preparing for the work for the reading coming next week. But then the landlord came and asked them to pay the rent or they’ll have to move out in a week. The couples begged him to let them stay, but the landlord said his wife wouldn’t let him, so although he wanted to help, but still he could do nothing. So Hank and Gina were left to collect the money. They thought of many ways but none of them seemed to be work, then Hank came up an idea to go cheated in a casino, so they can make money in a very short time. But unfortunately they got caught and were brought to the boss of the casino, who is also a boss of local mafia. The boss were about to killed them but then the second-in-charged guy suggested that the boss can force them to go murder the boss’s cheated wife. So Hank and Gina were then asked to do so in order to be set free.

對西方人來說，耶誕節真的是一個很重要的節日。大概從過完萬聖節之後，商店就已經開始準備販賣起耶誕節的各式應景物品。小從各式裝飾品，大到耶誕樹都可以看到了。在這種時候，到底大家都怎麼過節的呢？我試著問一問周遭的朋友。
「和家人一起過吧。」這是我問到現在所有西方人的回答。連班上同學中戴耳環、唇環，剪個類貝克漢頭，打扮最酷樣的Paul都這樣講。儘管現在很多節日的氣氛都已經慢慢消逝、連人情也逐漸淡薄，但還是有些日子的精神是不管怎樣都會被記得的吧。

Waltz, a slow smooth dance involving two people holding each other in close position for all time. Not as passionate as Chacha, not as mysterious as Tango, elegance is all it gets.

 

會寫這篇故事有兩個動機：第一，要交監禁文學的作業；第二，這篇故事原來的版本很不得我心。
怎麼說呢。其實這篇故事的主角是真有其人。他是個黑奴，在18世紀初和他的白人主人來到英國一個港口。這是傳說中唯一清楚的部份，接下來的版本就眾說紛紜。不過簡單說起來，就是這黑奴死了。有人說是因為他主人離開他，他自以為被拋棄了，於是就悲傷地絕食而死。還有別的版本是說他因思鄉病而死。總之對我來說都很蠢，也不知道為什麼英國有些人覺得這樣很浪漫，還替他寫詩。

Knowing this, Sambo stormed out of the building in order to flee from the city. The landscape melted together in his tear covered eyes, but still he ran all the way down the street even though he didn’t know the way. He knew no directions, he cared nothing about how he was going to survive after leaving; he was so overwhelmed by his fear that he had to run, but still the vision was in his mind and it was clearer than ever. Finally, Sambo fell on his knees again. He found himself in a dark alley, just behind an alehouse. Sambo knew that he couldn’t go anywhere else in such a condition, so he sat there, tried to relax, and for the very first time since his own exile, looked into the vision to see if there was a way for him to escape his fatal destiny. But nothing was there other than the lonely grave. Sambo let out a sigh and stood up. He was going to steal something from the back door, so he could continue his journey out of the city. Then he suddenly saw some figures in the darkness. He half closed his eyes so he could get a better view of them, then he drew in a deep breath: there were some slaves chained together on a big pole outside, waiting to be sold at the auction. They were people of the same skin color as him. Sambo felt a rush of blood to his face, and he couldn’t help thinking of freeing the people. He walked up to them in order to have a better look at them. He saw that they were chained around the ankles. They all looked so weary and skinny that even though the chain wasn’t heavily fastened, none of them seemed to have enough strength to break free. At the end of the row was a little boy, no more than five years old. He looked up at Sambo, his once big and innocent eyes now clouded with fear and helplessness. Sambo looked back at him, and all of a sudden the boy was like a son that he could now lose. The boy was trapped, in an alien land that he was doomed to die in, and no future or hopes awaited him. Looking deep into the boy’s eyes, Sambo made up his mind. He picked up a piece of stone, went towards the slaves and started to hit the gyve with it. All the slaves watched him in surprise, but no one made a sound or moved, as if there were an enchantment cast upon them. None of them could do anything but look at Sambo. Sambo kept hitting the gyve until the iron was bent and their feet could break free of it; his hands cut, the stone shattered, he just went to pick another stone, then continued with his work again. His actions seemed crazy, but his face was calm and determined.
Sambo freed all of the slaves. One by one they gathered around Sambo, who could now hardly stand on his feet at all. His hand was badly wounded, blood splashed all over his face and clothes, but Sambo couldn’t care less. He had almost lost all his strength. He gathered the energy he had left, and told them to leave the city and never came back. Shivering from the cold and starvation, the slaves still managed to turn and leave. One of them asked Sambo worriedly:”How about you? Aren’t you coming with us? ” Sambo knew that he didn’t have enough strength to walk, so he lied to them: “You go first, I’ll catch up with you later.” So one after the other, they held each other’s arms and turned to leave. The young boy looked at Sambo as he left, smiling. Sambo waved goodbye to him, knowing that it would be the last time he saw him, but also that he would now have a better life awaiting him in the future.