闲散的一天 A Lazy Day

拖了一年的项目昨天终于做完了，高兴，给自己放假，在岛上懒一天。

昨天潮潮的，今天春天忽然来了，鸟活泼地叫，蝴蝶好象一夜间从花丛草丛里全涌出来。从书房的窗户向外望，有一只懒猫，春眠不觉晓似的。好久没去大坪村和我们的晨径，就往那个方向走，惊诧的看到一处花园鲜花盛开，粉蝶飞舞。花园后面是菜园，有人拉开竹门请我进去，一问才知他叫Michael，巴基斯坦人，在香港二十多年了。Michael给我从地里掐了好多新鲜的生菜和菠菜尖儿，还有小蕃茄，中午我有了一顿美味的蔬菜色拉。从Michael的菜园出来走了几步，前面蓦然矗立着一大棵紫荆树，粉红色的花朵象瀑布一样飞泻而下，好看极了。

回到自己的小院，院门处闻到香气，是绿叶间小簇小簇的白花。回到家把窗全打开，春天的海风吹进来，窗纱轻摆，我的心里是静静的喜悦。从忙碌的日子里走出来，不紧不慢的享受自己的岛自己的家，品味周围一切平日里和我匆匆擦肩而过的美丽，便再也不想回到那忙碌中去了。

The deal was finally closed last night after dragging on and on for a year. This morning I decided to have a lazy day on the island.

Spring is suddenly here after a very humid night. Birds are chirping cheerfully and hundreds of butterflies burst out from the bushes without any warning. Outside our study window was a sleepy cat, still not willing to open his eyes in the warm sunlight.

It’s been a while since I last went up to Tai Ping Village and the morning trail, so I set out toward that direction. At the end of Taiping was a stunningly beautiful garden, with all kinds of colorful flowers, over which white butterflies were fluttering. There were vegetables too. Somebody opened the bamboo fence and invited me in. This was Michael, originally from Pakistan, but has been in Hong Kong for over 20 years. Michael pinched lots of leaves from the lettuce and spinach rows and gave them to me with some small tomatoes. A fresh salad for lunch. A short walk away from Michael’s garden, I was stopped by a big Bauhinia tree, thousands of pink flowers flowing down like a waterfall.

When I was back at the gate to our courtyard, I was touched by some pleasant aroma. It was from the little white flowers currently in full blossom among the green leaves. I got into the house, opened all the windows and let in the spring breeze from the ocean. The light curtains started to flutter, and a quiet happiness filled my heart.

It was so nice to have such a lazy time to enjoy home, to enjoy the island and to be touched by the beauty which I hastily pass by day in and day out. I never wish to return to those hectic days again.

《莲花》"Lotus"

安妮宝贝的《莲花》，是春节回北京时好友送的。以前听说过这个作者的名字，心想一个给自己起了这么个笔名的人能写出什么好作品，但好友是有品位的人，拜她推荐就翻开了《莲花》，不料昨夜一口气读完，窗外的鸟已经开始叫了。

安妮的文字清洁冷静，带着很强的力量，讲述的是离普通生活很远的几个人的故事，让我们从世界的边缘看人生的真实与虚幻，却又可以时时被提醒着自己人生的梦想、足迹、痛苦和温暖。也许我们每一个人在某个时刻都希望成为一个远离世界远离人群远离喧嚣的安静自由的流浪者，即便我们活在不完美的布满种种约束的却又不忍或不敢抛弃的现实中。

书中的两个主人公在13岁的时候一起在雨后的森林深处看到上万只黄色的蝴蝶，在迁徙的途中，沐光而舞，寂寥无人却华丽神秘。两个人从这一天后走了不同的道路：女孩儿向着这蝴蝶的方向走了进去，去寻找真实生命的证明，我特别感动于她说的一句话：“我的一生从未做到过在俗世的幸福面前可以理所当然”；男孩儿退了回来，象每个人一样努力，做了成功的男人，可内心却与这个世界充满疏远和隔膜，无限寂寥，生活该往哪里去呢？

像莲花一样吧，摆脱淤泥与黑暗，向着光明，在这光明中去看真实的自己，去找这个自己想走的路。其他的也许都不重要。

"Lotus", a novel written by Annie Baby, was among a big pile of books given to me by a good friend when I was in Beijing during the Chinese New Year. I had heard of this writer but didn’t give her any serious look, hindered by her garish pen name. The book took me by surprise. I opened it late last night and didn’t close it until the last line was done. Birds started then the first chirps before the dawn broke.

Annie’s language is clean, calm and powerful, telling stories of people who seem to dwell at the remotest corner of the world but forcefully remind me of the desires, dreams, pains and tenderness in my own life and of my own illusions and reality. Perhaps every one of us has, at some moment, wished to be a drifter, free and peaceful, away from this world’s chaos, noise and constraints, even though in the end, most of us are reluctant or too afraid to entirely desert the imperfect lives that we are used to.

At the age of 13, the two protagonists of "Lotus" descended into the depth of a forest and were encountered by an unbelievable scene – thousand of yellow butterflies dancing in columns of sunlight, lonely but magnificent. From this day, the two departed onto different routes. The girl followed straight the direction of the butterflies to look for a true proof of life; while the boy turned back to make a success in the world but felt always estranged from it. Where should one go to find ones destiny?

Be like a lotus, out from sludge and darkness, toward the light above. In this light I may see my true self and in this light I may find a way that truly belongs to me. The rest, possibly, are not at all that important.