Wednesday, October 15, 2008

梦见蝴蝶 I Dreamed of A Butterfly

清晨,我在南丫岛的一片葱绿间行走。明明在岛上,却是一个从未到过的地方,并没有明显的路径,我却很明确方向似地在草丛中前行。最后到了一处灰色的废墟,原本象是一个方正的西式石亭。忽然一只巨大的黑色蝴蝶从身后飞来,先是恍惚的影子,然后就清晰的看见它翅膀上鲜艳的橙色斑点。这蝴蝶落在我的右臂上,安安静静地不走了,我看到它的眼睛望着我。我开始移动脚步离开这个废墟,它仍停在我的右臂上。这时不知从哪里冒一个又黑又瘦的小老头儿,问我:“这是哪一种花精啊?”我开始感到恐惧,用力把蝴蝶甩到地上,它落在草上,却也不飞走…

这时醒了,外面正下着大雨,醒的那一瞬间想着也许这只蝴蝶受了伤, 飞不动了,我为什么没有带它回家,喂它直到好了可以再飞?蝴蝶是吃什么的?…

梦究竟是什么呢? 有些梦会走出黑夜的暗影, 比某些发生过的事还真实,让你在清晰的光线中, 带着一丝困惑,不停回味。

In the first light of the morning, I walked in the green spring landscape on Lamma. This was an area on the island unfamiliar to me. Even without an obvious trail to follow, I seemed to know very well my destination and strode my way through the verdant bushes. In the end, I reached some grey ruins of what looked like a western-style stone pavilion originally. All of a sudden, a giant black butterfly came from behind. First just a faint shadow, then bright orange spots on its wings were sharply in front of my eyes. It landed quietly on my right arm and stayed, no fluttering. I caught sight of its eyes, which were currently gazing at me. I started to move out of the ruins, and the butterfly still clutched on my right arm and wouldn’t leave. At this moment emerged from nowhere a little dark-skinned old man. He approached and asked me: “This is the spirit of what flower?” A chill struck me and I swung my arm very hard, hoping to get rid of the butterfly. It fell onto the grass, still quietly, and didn’t fly away…

By now I was awake. The rain was pouring outside. For an instant, I worried that the butterfly got injured and could not fly any more. Why didn’t I bring it home, take care of it until it flies again? What does a butterfly feed on? …

What on earth is a dream? Some dreams break out of the darkness of night, appear more real than anything that has truly taken place, and push you into a bewilderment that lingers into the broad daylight and refuses to clear up.