Holly's Secret Garden

The instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for the truth and have begun striving for ourselves.  -----Buddha's teaching        

With the upcoming Presidential election in Taiwan on January 14, many overenthusiastic voters suffer from insomnia, anxiety, or illusion, collectively called “election syndrome.”Caught specifically during the election season, this disease causes obsessive voters physical and mental disorder. According to psychiatrists, it is hard to dissuade such people from getting too caught up in the election. Tranquilizers may help if the election fever disrupts their normal daily routine to an excessive degree.

Brothers (窒愛) is a movie about post-war trauma and sibling rivalry. Released in 2009, it tells a powerful story of two opposite brothers, Captain Sam Cahill (starring Tobey Maguire) and his younger brother, Tommy Cahill (starring Jake Gyllenhaal). Sam marries his high school sweetheart, Grace (starring Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters. In the eyes of his family and colleagues, he is a respectable hero, dutifully serving his family and country, In contrast, Tommy is a drifter on parole, found guilty of robbing a bank. In a military mission in Afghanistan, Sam’s plane crashes and he is supposed dead although his body is missing. The black-sheep brother then takes on the duty to care for his family. As Grace has a deeper contact with Tommy, she becomes sympathetic with him, for she finds that lying under his degraded behavior is the sense of inferiority. Later, Sam miraculously returns from the battlefield, but he is totally changed. He is irascible and aloof, always finding fault with his family and suspecting the adultery between his wife and brother. After a fierce conflict with them, he is sent to a mental hospital. The hope of reconciliation emerges after he confesses to his wife that he has killed his comrade in Afghanistan to come back to her.

李安於1995年執導的電影「理性與感性」，改編自19世紀珍奧斯丁的原著小說，當年榮獲最佳改編劇本獎，由女主角艾瑪湯普遜(Emma Thompson)撰寫。電影中的對白精確掌握小說的精髓，以雋永的語言，深刻剖析世事人情，溫和敦厚中不乏一針見血的批判。影評家總認為改拍自經典小說的電影，吃力不討好，因為影像無法詮釋文字的無盡意蘊。但「理性與感性」這部電影，卻獲得一致的讚賞，咸認為它不減損原作的精彩，珍奧斯丁地下有知，也會感到滿意。本文列舉電影中代表理性與感性的對話並詮釋其意涵，一窺經典小說的迷人殿堂。

希臘詩人荷馬的兩大史詩之一「奧德賽」(The Odyssey)，描述希臘英雄奧迪修斯以木馬之計攻陷特洛伊城後，又歷經十年才得以返家的故事。詩人開宗明義寫道: 「謬斯女神啊，請賜予我靈感，讓我寫出這位足智多謀的人，在攻陷神聖的特洛伊城後，如何屢屢被迫駛離航道」(Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy) 所謂被迫，指的是無法抗拒的的外在環境，讓英雄耽擱了行程，無法順利回家，並不是遭綁架或被威脅的意思。英雄的返鄉，和人的回歸生命起始點意義相同，指涉一段曲折的人生旅程所必須面對的危機及誘惑。把「奧德賽」視為一則人生的寓言毫不為過；稱它為文學的經典，更是理所當然。本文分析奧迪修斯返鄉行中遇到的四種誘惑，闡明它們在實際的人生中所展現的相貌。這四項分別是1. 蓮花島(Lotus Island)，代表的是出離人世的誘惑。 2. 賽喜女妖(Circe)，代表佳餚。 3. 賽倫女妖(Sirens)，代表權力。 4. 克利普索女神(Calypso)，代表安逸。 以下逐一分析其內涵。

Recently, there was a sensational news about the romance between Taichung City Deputy Mayor, Hsiao Chia-chi's (蕭家淇) 18-year-old son and his 40-year-old female cram school teacher. According to the report, this romantic liaison began after Hsiao’s son entered college this summer, and was prohibited shortly after Hsiao knew this affair. Hsiao revealed how shocked he was initially by the fact that such an affair befell his son, only to admit later that perhaps falling for one's teacher is a rite of passage for his son’s mental growth. Interestingly enough, before such an enlightenment dawned on him, he fiercely accused the teacher of seducing his innocent son, who had the misfortune to fall prey to her female erotic power! (「課業輔導到床上去這像話嗎？」「她怎麼會對一個剛上大學、沒談過戀愛的小男生下手！」Now, the cram school teacher has fled to China, and Hsiao's son publicly lamented on his Facebook profile how adults’ interference caused him to lose everything.

The Reader, as some critics claim, is a film about eroticism, Holocaust trauma, morality, and reconciliation. While it touches these issues, I’m most intrigued by the subtlety of the couple’s relationship. How can a middle-aged woman leave a permanent scar in a teenager’s life? In a certain sense, his whole life is haunted by the woman. Is it because the first love is always the most unforgettable? In my view, she is unforgettable not just because she is his first love but because she assumes the complicated role of a femme fatale, who torments the heart of a sensitive man.

學生在英文寫作中，最常遇見的瓶頸是詞彙不夠精準，時常用一堆淺顯的字來表達一個概念。許多程度不錯的學生會覺得自己寫到某個程度就難以再進步，全篇看來沒有文法或用字的錯誤，但讀起來平淡而無味。犀利或高人一等的見解，須要個人長期的閱讀思考，外加一點資質及慧根才有可能，但是對字義的掌控，下苦功絕對是可以手到擒來的。

以下試舉字義浮泛和精準的例子作為比較。通常我們會用甚麼詞語來形容他人的說話方式呢? 負面的字有沉默寡言(say few words) / taciturn; 結結巴巴(say incoherently) / inarticulate; 聒噪不休(say without stopping) / vociferous; 老生常談( say something commonplace / banal)等；正面的有言簡意賅(say briefly / laconic); 雄辯滔滔(say convincingly / cogent)，口若懸河(say eloquently / voluble)等。當學生想表達這些概念時，經常用動詞”say”，然後再加上其它的名詞或副詞來描述，雖說表達無誤，但字義的掌握總嫌不足。”say”和它後面一串的字加起來，其實可以只用一個確切的形容詞來替換，如紅字所標示。

年輕的時候讀「金鎖記」，看見的曹七巧不過是個豪門怨婦，讓積壓過久的怨懟與瞋恨給扭曲變了形的一個瘋子。年長的時候再審視她，看見的就不只於此。怨婦的背後有著嚴肅的婚姻、親子、及階級議題。

「金鎖記」讓我們看見古今中外，構成幸福婚姻的必要條件是尊敬。你必須對伴侶心存敬意，沒有尊敬為基礎的婚姻，必不圓滿。曹七巧視她軟骨病的丈夫如一團爛肉，面對一個須要被照顧、終日與床為伍，軟趴趴沒有生氣的肉體，她只有鄙視與憎恨，敬意無從生起。儘管他家有的是金山銀山，還是無法改變爛肉的事實。現今社會中的豪門婚姻，成功的例子不多，癥結在哪裡? 缺乏對伴侶的尊敬。豪門婚姻的型態多半是坐擁金銀財寶、身分地位的男方，迎娶略遜一籌的美嬌娘。美女對金錢的尊敬，往往多於對男人的品格與學識的崇拜。男人對女人身體的膜拜，又往往多於對她靈魂的渴求。所以豪門的婚姻如同名人的婚姻無法持久，因為兩方對彼此的靈魂都沒有充足的敬意。珍˙奧斯丁名作「傲慢與偏見」也點出此真理。作者以全知全能的觀點，解析女主角的父親和母親這段同床異夢的婚姻關係。Mr.Bennet喜歡閱讀，是典型的鄉下仕紳；Mrs. Bennet 喜歡串門子嚼舌根，十足的三姑六婆。到底年輕時是個充滿活力的美人，讓Mr. Bentley一時意亂情迷而娶了她，日後卻因深刻的了解而鄙視輕忽她的存在，不時以譏諷的言詞，取笑她那冥頑不靈且無文化涵養的枯槁心靈。這樣的婚姻橋段大家都該心領神會吧? 幸福婚姻無它，尊敬而已!

如果你可以永生不死，你要嗎?這是Tuck Everlasting(改拍電影名為「真愛無盡」)所探討的主題。這本由 Natalie Babbitt在1975年所撰寫的小說，一般被歸類為奇幻兒童文學。它描述一道神祕的泉水，如何讓Tuck全家人得永生，卻也讓他們受盡折磨。世人都想長生不死，大家都害怕死亡。它似乎是人的大敵，摧毀生命，像強風吹熄蠟燭般，讓人無法抵禦，萬般無奈卻也只能忿忿不平的就範。但作者卻提出深刻動人的見解，娓娓道來為何永生是一種詛咒而非幸福。她讓父親Tuck，向得知泉水秘密的小女孩Winnie解釋生命的意義在於變化與成長。永生就像卡在河灣的小船，動彈不得，無法參與世間的循環變化。身體永遠停駐在某個年齡，就不能經歷不同年齡的感知，生命也就無法成長蛻變，雖生猶死可說是Tuck家人的寫照。

作者認為生命像個輪子，不停的轉動著。人從出生、成長、到死亡都是輪轉的一部份，不能隨意去除。少掉了任何一部份，生命就不完整。 生命也像流水，永遠不會停駐在某處。孔子也說過，「逝者如斯，不捨晝夜。」從出生的那一刻開始，生命就不停的流動，如一彎河水，流經地表，最後回歸大海。海水經太陽照射後，蒸發凝聚成雲，雲變成雨，雨下到地面又變成河水。大自然如此循環不息，人也應該像大自然，生生滅滅，不停的蛻變。死亡的另一面就是新生。海水蒸發成雲，不代表生命的結束，代表的是生命的昇華與轉化。死亡讓生命發揮最大的潛能，沒有死亡就沒有光采的生命。

美國南方的小說，自福克納(William Faulkner)以來，一直充斥著畸零人的孤寂感。”Novel of grotesque” 自成一種文類，不下於希臘的古典悲劇，讀完後令人不勝唏噓，悲憫(pity)及畏懼(fear)之情油然生起。悲憫的是主角性格上的乖戾偏執，是因成長環境所造成，非自己能作主。畏懼的是人的力量如此渺小，在大環境的箝制下，無可脫逃。20、30年代美國南方的保守社會，禁錮了無數孤獨疏離的人。Carson McCullers所寫的短篇小說，The Ballad of the Sad Café，(1975年中文版譯成小酒館的悲歌)探討的主題是畸零人的愛，這樣的愛如此蒼涼，深夜展讀，痛徹心扉。沒有經歷失去摯愛之人，無法體會故事主角Miss Amelia的孤寂。以下列舉小說中之經典句，以闡釋作者對愛/被愛，及生命的看法: