溪頭之旅

There was one older man, an excellent fisher and skilled in all kinds of woodcraft, who was pleased to look upon my house as a building erected for
the convenience of fishermen; and I was equally pleased when he sat in my doorway to arrange his lines.

Once in a while we sat together on the pond, he at one end of the boat, and I at the other; but not many words passed between us, for he had grown deaf
in his later years, but he occasionally hummed a psalm, which harmonized well enough with my philosophy.

Our intercourse was thus altogether one of unbroken harmony, far more pleasing to remember than if it had been carried on by speech. When, as was commonly
the case, I had none to commune with, I used to raise the echoes by striking with a paddle on the side of my boat, filling the surrounding woods with
circling and dilating sound, stirring them up as the keeper of a menagerie his wild beasts, until I elicited a growl from every wooded vale and hillside.

有一善釣魚的老者，精於各種木工，樂於將我的小屋當作釣客休憩之所；而我亦欣然見到他來坐在我門前小逕整理釣線。一日，我與他在池上，各坐在舟的一端；因其年老耳朵漸聾，我們交談不多，然其偶爾哼唱之詩歌，與我的哲學頗相合。我們之間的交流乃成了一段沒有間斷的旋律，較之言語的溝通更值懷念。當我無話可說之時，也嘗用漿擊船舷，鏗鏗鏘鏘，聲振林木，好似馴獸師的鞭子拍在地上，激得每個林壑山坡發出回應之吼。

-- 譯自湖濱散記, 於溪頭大學池旁

此段《湖濱散記》是我有一次去有「台灣的康乃爾」之稱的溪頭時所譯。那時我的朋友帥憲正在康乃爾求學，所以想去體會他在異鄉生活的景況。

這大概是我生平第二次來到這裡。十多年前，當我們都還是理著平頭的高中生時，也曾來到這個地方參加救國團的自強活動。只是我人到了溪頭，卻似從未來過一般。此時方知，『凡走過必留下痕跡』這句話，應該是某個無聊的人憑空想像的蠢話。

第二天上午，洗過澡，練了一套八段錦，到大學池旁的咖啡廳，也許看過書，寫過東西以後，便從銀杏林道出發，往不知名的方向走去。這一天，是絕對自由的。

即使在平常的夜晚，森林裡都比一般人所料想的更黑。人之所以群居，之所以貪財好富，皆是由於恐懼；恐懼黑暗，恐懼孤獨，恐懼貧窮。