A Reunion
Xu Dishan文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
“Brother Weiming, weren’t you twenty when you went to sea?” She counted the years on her fingers and then looked up at her childhood friend with eyes that had been dulled by years of earthly experience. “Ah, forty-five years have slipped by, as quickly as I count them now.”文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
The old man stroked his beard and replied approvingly, “Yeah, how time flies! I still remember when I went to say goodbye to you, you were feeding your pet deer in the garden. I came up to you and stood under a blooming loquat tree, where the fragrance of the flowers mixed with the scent of your hair oil drifted into my nose. At that moment, I was so overwhelmed with the sadness of parting that I didn’t know what to say. And you seemed wholly concentrated on your pet, you lowered your head and your hand stroked the little animal. You must have felt it so hard to open your heart to me then, but you nonetheless managed to blurt out, ‘How long will it be before we can meet again?’ And I only replied softly, ‘It won’t be long anyway.’ Back then, you…”文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
The old woman cut him short, saying, “That moment is also fresh in my memory. Didn’t I respond by saying, ‘We won’t meet again until black ink can be washed white’? Haha, now just look how sea water has bleached your hair, once so black and shiny!”文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
The old man stroked the top of his head, saying, “Right! Seems that came true after all! But it’s such a pity I can’t see Brother Fang again. When did he pass away?”文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14187.html
“Oh, long ago. Now you see I have four grandchildren.” She looked outside the window, where a few children were playing under a gourd trellis. Pointing at the tallest one, she said, “That’s Ding’er, he’s already twelve. His grandpa died a month after he was born.”
Just at that moment, the housemaid brought in a plate of oyster pancakes. The old woman gestured for him to try one, “Brother Weiming, I know these are your old favorite, we made them especially for you.”
“When we were young, I remember, your mother once treated us with such pancakes. You took one, wolfed it down, and then complained it had less oysters and other ingredients than mine. You even tried to snatch the one from my hands. Your mother stopped you and said some words that have been etched in my mind ever since: ‘Leave it alone, there’s a good boy. The ingredients were all mixed evenly in the batter, but when it’s poured out into the pan, how can anyone make sure each pancake contains exactly the same amount? No, some must have more than others. As long as they taste good, nothing else matters. The cake you eat might not have been prepared especially for you, but now that you’ve eaten it, you can’t ask for another.’ Brother Weiming, you don’t know how impressed I was with that last sentence! The same can be said about opportunities in life. We are often faced with more than one opportunity, and we are allowed to make our choice. Some make the right choice, some don’t. But once you’ve picked one, you can’t then choose another.”
The old man took up a pancake and, taking a bite, said, “Right! You see, I’ve spent all these years on the sea, living simply, unlike the complicated life you’ve experienced. Yet just like how I felt after eating the pancake back then, I am full and contented all the same.”
“I feel like fate has favored me all the time. Yet even though my ‘pancake of opportunity’ has more ingredients, and may be more delicious, I have the same feeling of contentment as you do.”
How they enjoyed going over these past events! It seemed as if they would trace back over everything they’d experienced together in their childhood. In the meantime, however, the children outside seemed to have started a quarrel of some kind or another and the old woman had to go to act as the judge. Left here alone inside the room was the hefty old sailor, sitting quietly, savoring his pancake.
（李运兴 译）
