2. Góa ū chi̍t-tīn áu-chóa tōng-bu̍t
Sūn góa ê iau-kiû, Ma mā iōng pau-chong chóa chò chi̍t-chiah iûⁿ-á, chi̍t-chiah lo̍k-á, kap chi̍t-chiah chúi-gû. In tī kheh-thiaⁿ nih cháu lâi cháu khì, Laohu ná háu ná jiok tī in āu-piah. I nā lia̍h tio̍h in, i tō kā in teh tó, it-ti̍t kàu khong-khì lāu khang, in koh piàn-chò áu píⁿ-píⁿ ê chóa. Góa tio̍h koh kā in pûn-hong, pûn phòng-phòng, án-ne in chiah ū hoat-tō͘ koh cháu tāng.
Ū sî-chūn, tōng-bu̍t tú tio̍h mâ-hoân. Ū chi̍t-kái, chúi-gû thiàu ji̍p-khì toh-téng chia̍h-pn̄g ê tāu-iû ti̍h-á nih. (I siūⁿ boeh chhin-chhiūⁿ chin chúi-gû án-ne cháu-chông.) Góa kín kā lia̍h khí-lâi, m̄-koh mô͘-sè-kńg chok-iōng í-keng kā chhim-sek ê e̍k-thé koân-koân suh kàu i ê tōa-thúi. Hō͘ tāu-iû kō nńg ê kha-thúi bô-hoat-tō͘ hō͘ i khiā thêng, i un tī toh-téng. Góa kō͘ ji̍t-thâu kā pha̍k ta, m̄-koh i ê kha-thúi khiû-khiû, cháu ê sî pái-pái. Ma lo̍h-bóe kō͘ hô-tái pau i ê kha-thúi, án-ne i tō ē-tàng tī ka-tī ê sim-nih cháu-chông (m̄-koh bē-sái tī tāu-iû nih).
Iáu ū, hām góa tī āu-bóe sńg ê sî, Laohu kah-ì hop chhek chiáu-á. M̄-koh, ū chi̍t-kái, chi̍t-chiah cháu bô-lō͘ ê chhek chiáu-á piàⁿ-miā hoán-khòng, liah-phòa i ê hīⁿ-á. Góa phō i, Ma kō͘ ka-pò͘ kô͘ i ê hīⁿ-á ê sî, i iⁿ-iⁿ ūⁿ-ūⁿ khàu. Í-āu i tō bē tak chiáu-á.
Āu-lâi, ū chi̍t-kang, góa khòaⁿ iú-koan soa-hî ê tiān-sī kì-lo̍k phìⁿ, tō iau-kiû Ma chò chi̍t-bóe hō͘ góa. Yi chò chi̍t-bóe soa-hî, m̄-koh i tī toh-téng phia̍t-lâi phia̍t-khì, bô hoaⁿ-hí. Góa kā chúi-chô pàng móa chúi, kā i khǹg lo̍h-khì. I tī lāi-bīn siû lâi siû khì chin hoaⁿ-hí. M̄-koh, kòe chi̍t-khùn, i piàn-chò tâm kô͘-kô͘, pòaⁿ thàu-bêng, bān-bān tîm kàu chúi-té, áu-choa̍h lóng khui khì. Góa chhun-chhiú lo̍h-khì kiù i, kiat-kó góa ko͘ tio̍h ê kan-ta sī chi̍t-tiuⁿ tâm-tâm ê chóa.
Laohu ê nn̄g-ki chêng kha-jiáu ha̍p-óa tī chúi-chô piⁿ, kā thâu khòe tī téng-bīn. Hīⁿ-á sûi-sûi, nâ-âu hoat chhut kē-im ê hm̄ siaⁿ, hō͘ góa kám-kak chin tùi-put-chū.
Ma koh chò chi̍t-bóe soa-hî hō͘ góa, chit-kái sī iōng siah-chóa chò ê. Soa-hî hoaⁿ-hoaⁿ hí-hí seng-oa̍h tī chi̍t-ê tōa kim-hî àng nih. Laohu hām góa chin kah-ì chò-hóe chē tī àng-á piⁿ, khòaⁿ siah-chóa soa-hî jiok kim-hî, Laohu kā bīn tah tī àng-á ê hit-pêng, án-ne góa ē-tàng khòaⁿ tio̍h i ê ba̍k-chiu, hòng-tōa kah ná chhiūⁿ kapi poe hiah tōa, ùi àng-á hit-pêng kim-kim teh khòaⁿ góa.
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Góa 10 hòe ê sî, goán poaⁿ kàu tìn tùi-kak-sì ê sin chhù. Nn̄g-ê chhù-piⁿ cha-bó͘ lâi hoan-gêng goán. Pa chhiáⁿ yin lim ím-liāu, koh hōe sit-lé kóng, i tio̍h khì kong-iōng sū-gia̍p kong-si, khì chhú-lí chêng chhù-chú ê siàu-toaⁿ. "Lín bián sè-jī. Goán bó͘ bē-hiáu kóng Eng-gí, yi bô kap lín khai-káng, lín m̄-thang lia̍h-chò sī yi bô lé-māu."
Góa tī chhan-thiaⁿ tha̍k-chheh, Ma tī chàu-kha chéng-lí hêng-lí. Chhù-piⁿ tī kheh-thiaⁿ khai-káng, bô te̍k-pia̍t kóng khah sè-siaⁿ.
"I khòaⁿ khí-lâi sī chi̍t-ê chèng-siông ê lâng. I ná ē án-ne chò?"
"Hūn-ha̍p ê mi̍h chóng-sī khòaⁿ tio̍h koài-koài. Hit-ê gín-á khòaⁿ sī bô oân-chéng. Ba̍k-chiu siâ, bīn-bah pe̍h. Chi̍t-ê sió koài-bu̍t."
"Lí khòaⁿ i ē-hiáu kóng Eng-gí bô?"
Cha-bó͘ lâng tiām khì ah. Kòe chi̍t-khùn, yin ji̍p-lâi chhan-thiaⁿ.
"Hái, lí hó! Lí kiò siáⁿ miâ?"
"Jack," góa kóng.
"Thiaⁿ khí-lâi bô sêng China-miâ."
Hit-sî Ma ji̍p-lâi chhan-thiaⁿ. Yi tùi hiah-ê cha-bó͘ lâng bî-chhiò. Yin saⁿ-lâng kō͘ chi̍t-ê saⁿ-kak hêng khiā tī góa chiu-ûi, hō͘-siong bî-chhiò, tìm-thâu, bô-ōe thang kóng, it-ti̍t kàu Pa tńg-lâi.
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2. 我有一陣拗紙動物
順我 ê 要求, Ma mā 用包裝紙做一隻羊仔, 一隻鹿仔, kap 一隻水牛. In tī 客廳 nih 走來走去, Laohu ná 吼 ná 逐 tī in 後壁. 伊若掠著 in, 伊 tō kā in 硩倒, 一直到空氣漏空, in koh 變做拗扁扁 ê 紙. 我著 koh kā in 歕風, 歕膨膨, án-ne in 才有法度 koh 走動.
有時陣, 動物拄著麻煩. 有一改, 水牛跳入去桌頂食飯 ê 豆油碟仔 nih. (伊想欲親像真水牛 án-ne 走傱.) 我緊 kā 掠起來, 毋過毛細管作用已經 kā 深色 ê 液體懸懸欶到伊 ê 大腿. 予豆油滒軟 ê 跤腿無法度予伊徛騰, 伊 un tī 桌頂. 我 kō͘ 日頭 kā 曝焦, 毋過伊 ê 跤腿虯虯, 走 ê 時跛跛. Ma 落尾 kō͘ hô-tái 包伊 ê 跤腿, án-ne 伊 tō 會當 tī 家治 ê 心 nih 走傱 (毋過袂使 tī 豆油 nih).
猶有, 和我 tī 後尾耍 ê 時, Laohu 佮意 hop 粟鳥仔. 毋過, 有一改, 一隻走無路 ê 粟鳥仔拚命反抗, 裂破伊 ê 耳仔. 我抱伊, Ma kō͘ 膠布糊伊 ê 耳仔 ê 時, 伊 iⁿ-iⁿ uⁿ-uⁿ 哭. 以後伊 tō 袂觸鳥仔.
後來, 有一工, 我看有關鯊魚 ê 電視紀錄片, tō 要求 Ma 做一尾予我. 她做一尾鯊魚, 毋過伊 tī 桌頂 phia̍t 來 phia̍t 去, 無歡喜. 我 kā 水槽放滿水, kā 伊囥落去. 伊 tī 內面泅來泅去真歡喜. 毋過, 過一睏, 伊變做澹糊糊, 半透明, 慢慢沉到水底, 拗縒攏開去. 我伸手落去救伊, 結果我 ko͘ 著 ê 干焦是一張澹澹 ê 紙.
Laohu ê 兩支前跤爪合倚 tī 水槽邊, kā 頭 khòe tī 頂面. 耳仔垂垂, 嚨喉發出低音 ê hm̄ 聲, 予我感覺真對不住.
Ma koh 做一尾鯊魚予我, 這改是用錫紙做 ê. 鯊魚歡歡喜喜生活 tī 一个大金魚甕 nih. Laohu 和我真佮意做伙坐 tī 甕仔邊, 看錫紙鯊魚逐金魚, Laohu kā 面貼 tī 甕仔 ê 彼爿, án-ne 我會當看著伊 ê 目睭, 放大 kah ná 像 kapi 杯 hiah 大, ùi 甕仔彼爿金金 teh 看我.
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我 10 歲 ê 時, 阮搬到鎮對角勢 ê 新厝. 兩个厝邊查某來歡迎阮. Pa 請姻啉飲料, koh 會失禮講, 伊著去公用事業公司, 去處理前厝主 ê 數單. "恁免細膩. 阮某袂曉講英語, 她無 kap 恁開講, 恁毋通掠做是她無禮貌."
我 tī 餐廳讀冊, Ma tī 灶跤整理行李. 厝邊 tī 客廳開講, 無特別講較細聲.
"伊看起來是一个正常 ê 人. 伊那會 án-ne 做?"
"混合 ê 物總是看著怪怪. 彼个囡仔看是無完整. 目睭斜, 面肉白. 一个小怪物."
"你看伊會曉講英語無?"
查某人恬去 ah. 過一睏, 姻入來餐廳.
"Hái, 你好! 你叫啥名?"
"Jack," 我講.
"聽起來無成 China 名."
彼時 Ma 入來餐廳. 她對 hiah-ê 查某人微笑. 姻三人 kō͘ 一个三角形徛 tī 我周圍, 互相微笑, 頕頭, 無話通講, 一直到 Pa 轉來.
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2.
At my request, Mom also made a goat, a deer, and a water buffalo out of wrapping paper. They would run around the living room while Laohu chased after them, growling. When he caught them he would press down until the air went out of them and they became just flat, folded-up pieces of paper. I would then have to blow into them to re-inflate them so they could run around some more.
Sometimes, the animals got into trouble. Once, the water buffalo jumped into a dish of soy sauce on the table at dinner. (He wanted to wallow, like a real water buffalo.) I picked him out quickly but the capillary action had already pulled the dark liquid high up into his legs. The sauce-softened legs would not hold him up, and he collapsed onto the table. I dried him out in the sun, but his legs became crooked after that, and he ran around with a limp. Mom eventually wrapped his legs in saran wrap so that he could wallow to his heart's content (just not in soy sauce).
Also, Laohu liked to pounce at sparrows when he and I played in the backyard. But one time, a cornered bird struck back in desperation and tore his ear. He whimpered and winced as I held him and Mom patched his ear together with tape. He avoided birds after that.
And then one day, I saw a TV documentary about sharks and asked Mom for one of my own. She made the shark, but he flapped about on the table unhappily. I filled the sink with water, and put him in. He swam around and around happily. However, after a while he became soggy and translucent, and slowly sank to the bottom, the folds coming undone. I reached in to rescue him, and all I ended up with was a wet piece of paper.
Laohu put his front paws together at the edge of the sink and rested his head on them. Ears drooping, he made a low growl in his throat that made me feel guilty.
Mom made a new shark for me, this time out of tin foil. The shark lived happily in a large goldfish bowl. Laohu and I liked to sit next to the bowl to watch the tin foil shark chasing the goldfish, Laohu sticking his face up against the bowl on the other side so that I saw his eyes, magnified to the size of coffee cups, staring at me from across the bowl.
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When I was ten, we moved to a new house across town. Two of the women neighbors came by to welcome us. Dad served them drinks and then apologized for having to run off to the utility company to straighten out the prior owner's bills. "Make yourselves at home. My wife doesn't speak much English, so don't think she's being rude for not talking to you."
While I read in the dining room, Mom unpacked in the kitchen. The neighbors conversed in the living room, not trying to be particularly quiet.
"He seems like a normal enough man. Why did he do that?"
"Something about the mixing never seems right. The child looks unfinished. Slanty eyes, white face. A little monster."
"Do you think he can speak English?"
The women hushed. After a while they came into the dining room.
"Hello there! What's your name?"
"Jack," I said.
"That doesn't sound very Chinesey."
Mom came into the dining room then. She smiled at the women. The three of them stood in a triangle around me, smiling and nodding at each other, with nothing to say, until Dad came back.
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