2. Thiu-khau ê ke-si í-keng sit-thoân chin kú
Thōng goân-thâu thiu-khau ê ke-si í-keng sit-thoân chin kú ah, taⁿ khǹg tī í-thâu téng hit-kha o͘ siuⁿ-á, tī chng nih Marner Lāu-sian chhut-sì chìn-chêng tō í-keng teh iōng ah. Summers Ss tiāⁿ-tiāⁿ kā chhun-bîn thê-khí chò chi̍t-kha sin siuⁿ-á ê tāi-chì, m̄-koh, bô-lâng siūⁿ-boeh thui-hoan o͘ siuⁿ-á só͘ tāi-piáu ê chit-ê thoân-thóng. Thiaⁿ-kóng, chit-má chit-kha siuⁿ-á, ū tàu chi̍t-kóa chìn-chêng hit-kha ê chhâ-phìⁿ, á chìn-chêng hit-kha, sī siōng-chá lâi chia kiàn chhun ê sian-bîn só͘ chè-chō ê. Ta̍k-tang thiu-khau liáu-āu, Summers Ss tō koh thê-chhut chò sin siuⁿ-á ê tāi-chì, m̄-koh ta̍k-tang siáⁿ to bô chò, chit-ê gī-tê tō soah-soah khi ah. O͘ siuⁿ-á chi̍t-nî chi̍t-nî phòa-sàm: kàu taⁿ i í-keng m̄-sī chiâu o͘ ê, ū chi̍t-bīn liah kah khòaⁿ ē-tio̍h goân-pún chhâ ê sek, kî-thaⁿ só͘-chāi m̄-sī thè-sek, tō sī tèng-tiám.
Martin Ss hām in tōa-hāu-seⁿ Baxter kā siuⁿ-á hōaⁿ ân tī í-thâu téng, it-ti̍t kàu Summers Ss kō͘ chhiú kā chóa-khau kiáu chiâu-ûn. In-ūi bē-chió gî-sek í-keng m̄-sī bē-kì-tit tō sī pàng tiāu ah, Summers Ss chiah ē-tit kō͘ chóa-khau lâi thè-ōaⁿ í-keng iōng kúi-ā tāi ê chhâ-khau. Summers Ss ê lūn-tiám jīn-ûi, chng-thâu sè ê sî kō͘ chhâ-khau sī chin hó, m̄-koh taⁿ chng-nih ū saⁿ-pah-gōa lâng koh khó-lêng iáu ē cheng-ka, ū su-iàu sú-iōng khah hó khǹg ji̍p o͘ siuⁿ-á ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ. Thiu-khau chìn-chêng hit-mê, Summers Ss hām Graves Ss chò hó chóa-khau-á, koh kā khǹg ji̍p siuⁿ-á, jiân-āu kā só tī Sammers Ss ê thô͘-thòaⁿ kong-si ê pó-hiám-kūi nih, it-ti̍t kàu tē-jī kang chá-khí Summers chún-pī hó-sè, chiah kā poaⁿ khì tōa-tiâⁿ. Kui-tang tiong-kan ê kî-thaⁿ sî-kan, siuⁿ-á sì-kè khǹg, ū-sî khǹg chia, ū-sî pa̍t-ūi; bat ū chi̍t-nî khǹg tī Graves Ss ê chhek-chhng, koh bat chi̍t-nî khǹg tī iû-kio̍k ê thô͘-kha, á ū-sî i mā bat hông the̍h khì Martin kám-á-tiàm ê hòe-kè téng koh kā lâu tī hia.
Summers Ss soan-pò͘ thiu-khau khai-sí chìn-chêng, ū chin chē ta̍p-ta̍p tih-tih ài chò. Tio̍h chò miâ-chheh -- ka-cho̍k cho̍k-tiúⁿ, koh ka-cho̍k kok-hō͘ ê hō͘-tiúⁿ, kok ka-cho̍k kok-hō͘ ê sêng-oân. Summers Ss tio̍h tī iû-kio̍k kio̍k-tiúⁿ ê chú-chhî hā, chèng-sek soan-sè tam-jīm thiu-khau-koaⁿ. Ū-ê lâng ē-kì-tit, ū sî-chūn thiu-khau-koaⁿ tio̍h liām bó͘-chióng tâi-sû, he put-kò sī ta̍k-nî chiàu liām, chò khoán, m̄-chiâⁿ siaⁿ-tiāu ê gîm-chhiùⁿ. Koh ū chi̍t-kóa lâng siong-sìn, thiu-khau-koaⁿ kòe-khì kan-ta khiā tio̍h liām a̍h chhiùⁿ, mā ū-lâng siong-sìn i tio̍h ná liām ná tī bîn-chiòng tiong-kan kiâⁿ lâi kiâⁿ khì, m̄-koh chē-chē nî chêng, chit pō͘-hūn ê gî-sek í-keng chok-hùi ah. Kòe-khì mā bat ū chi̍t-ê kiâⁿ-lé ê gî-sek, tī múi-lâng lâi kàu siuⁿ-á boeh thiu ê sî, thiu-khau-koaⁿ tō iōng he kap i chio-ho͘. M̄-koh, che mā tòe sî-kan piàn ah, taⁿ ê kám-kak sī, thiu-khau-koaⁿ kan-ta hām kiâⁿ óa ê lâng kóng-ōe tō ē-sái ah. Só͘-ū chiah-ê Summers Ss lóng chiok gâu ê; i chhēng pe̍h siatchuh kap nâ phah-thih-á khò͘, chi̍t-chhiú sûi-ì khǹg tī o͘ siuⁿ-á téng, ná hām Graves Ss kap Martin pē-á-kiáⁿ teh kau-tâm, khòaⁿ tio̍h chiâⁿ sek-ha̍p koh tōa-pān.
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2. 抽 khau ê 家私已經失傳真久
Thōng 源頭抽 khau ê 家私已經失傳真久 ah, 今囥 tī 椅頭頂彼跤烏箱仔, tī 庄 nih Marner 老先出世進前 tō 已經 teh 用 ah. Summers Ss 定定 kā 村民提起做一跤新箱仔 ê 代誌, m̄-koh, 無人想欲推翻烏箱仔所代表 ê 這个傳統. 聽講, chit-má 這跤箱仔, 有鬥一寡進前彼跤 ê 柴片, á 進前彼跤, 是上早來 chia 建村 ê 先民所製造 ê. 逐冬抽 khau 了後, Summers Ss tō koh 提出做新箱仔 ê 代誌, m̄-koh 逐冬啥 to 無做, 這个議題 tō 煞煞去 ah. 烏箱仔一年一年破鬖: 到今伊已經毋是齊烏 ê, 有一面 liah kah 看會著原本柴 ê 色, 其他所在毋是退色, tō 是釘點.
Martin Ss 和 in 大後生 Baxter kā 箱仔扞絚 tī 椅頭頂, 一直到 Summers Ss kō͘ 手 kā 紙 khau 攪齊勻. 因為袂少儀式已經毋是袂記得 tō 是放掉 ah, Summers Ss 才會得 kō͘ 紙 khau 來替換已經用幾 ā 代 ê 柴 khau. Summers Ss ê 論點認為, 庄頭細 ê 時 kō͘ 柴 khau 是真好, m̄-koh 今庄 nih 有三百外人 koh 可能猶會增加, 有需要使用較好囥入烏箱仔 ê 物件. 抽 khau 進前彼暝, Summers Ss 和 Graves Ss 做好紙 khau 仔, koh kā 囥入箱仔, 然後 kā 鎖 tī Sammers Ss ê 塗炭公司 ê 保險櫃 nih, 一直到第二工早起 Summers 準備好勢, 才 kā 搬去大埕. 規冬中間 ê 其他時間, 箱仔四界囥, 有時囥 chia, 有時別位; bat 有一年囥 tī Graves Ss ê 粟倉, koh bat 一年囥 tī 郵局 ê 塗跤, á 有時伊 mā bat hông 提去 Martin kám 仔店 ê 貨架頂 koh kā 留 tī hia.
Summers Ss 宣布抽 khau 開始進前, 有真濟沓沓滴滴愛做. 著做名冊 -- 家族族長, koh 家族各戶 ê 戶長, 各家族各戶 ê 成員. Summers Ss 著 tī 郵局局長 ê 主持下, 正式宣誓擔任抽 khau 官. 有 ê 人會記得, 有時陣抽 khau 官著念某種台詞, 彼不過是逐年照念, 做款, 毋成聲調 ê 吟唱. Koh 有一寡人相信, 抽 khau 官過去干焦徛著念 a̍h 唱, mā 有人相信伊著 ná 念 ná tī 民眾中間行來行去, m̄-koh 濟濟年前, 這部份 ê 儀式已經作廢 ah. 過去 mā bat 有一个行禮 ê 儀式, tī 每人來到箱仔欲抽 ê 時, 抽 khau 官 tō 用 he kap 伊招呼. M̄-koh, 這 mā 綴時間變 ah, 今 ê 感覺是, 抽 khau 官干焦和行倚 ê 人講話 tō 會使 ah. 所有 chiah-ê Summers Ss lóng 足 gâu ê; 伊穿白 siatchuh kap 藍拍鐵仔褲, 一手隨意囥 tī 烏箱仔頂, ná 和 Graves Ss kap Martin 爸仔囝 teh 交談, 看著誠適合 koh 大範.
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2.
The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.
Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, held the black box securely on the stool until Mr. Summers had stirred the papers thoroughly with his hand. Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued, had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into the black box. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers' coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square next morning. The rest of the year, the box was put way, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office, and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there.
There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up--of heads of families, heads of households in each family, members of each household in each family. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time, until now it was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each person approaching. Mr. Summers was very good at all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box, he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins.
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