2. Kâu-san ūi góa lù kha-chiah-phiaⁿ
"Boeh ài góa kā lí lù kha-chiah-phiaⁿ bô?" kâu-san mn̄g, i ê siaⁿ iáu-sī kē. I ê siaⁿ chheng-chhó koh bê-lâng, ká-ná doo-wop /tu-op/ ga̍k-thoân ê lâm-tiong-im. Che hō͘ lâng siūⁿ bē-kàu. M̄-koh, i ê siaⁿ pēng bē kî-koài: lí nā ba̍k-chiu kheh-kheh thiaⁿ, lí ē siūⁿ-kóng he sī it-poaⁿ-lâng teh kóng-ōe.
"Hó oh, to-siā," góa ìn. Góa pún-chiâⁿ it-ti̍t chē tī hia, pēng m̄-sī hi-bāng ū lâng lâi kă lù kha-chiah-phiaⁿ, m̄-koh, jû-kó góa kā kī-choa̍t, khióng-kiaⁿ i ē siūⁿ-kóng góa hoán-tùi hō͘ kâu-san lù. Góa siūⁿ, che sī i ê hó-ì, iá góa tiāⁿ-tio̍h mā bô-ài siong-hāi i ê chū-chun. Chū án-ne, góa bān-bān ùi e̍k-tî khí-lâi, phak-lo̍h chi̍t-ê sió chhâ-tâi téng-bīn, kha-chiah-phiaⁿ ǹg kâu-san.
Kâu-san bô chhēng-saⁿ. Tong-jiân, kâu pún-lâi tō-sī án-ne, só͘-í góa bē kám-kak kî-koài. I khòaⁿ khí-lâi ká-ná chin lāu ah; kâu-mo͘ bē chió sī pe̍h ê. I the̍h chi̍t-tiâu mô͘-kin kòe-lâi, téng-bīn kā boah sap-bûn, kō͘ se̍k-liān ê chhiú kā góa lù kha-chiah-phiaⁿ.
"Chit kúi-kang chin léng, kám m̄-sī?" kâu kóng.
"Bô m̄-tio̍h."
"Bô gōa-kú, chia tō ē khàm seh ah. Án-ne in tio̍h thuh chhù-téng seh, he chiâⁿ chia̍h-la̍t neh."
Ū chi̍t-ē-á tiām-chēng, góa tō kín chhap-chhùi. "Sī lah, lí ē-hiáu kóng lâng-ōe?"
"Góa khak-si̍t ē neh," kâu-san khin-khoài ìn. I hoān-sè tiāⁿ-tiāⁿ hông án-ne mn̄g. "Góa sè-hàn sī jîn-lūi chhī tōa ê, tī góa chai chìn-chêng góa tō ē-hiáu kóng-ōe ah. Góa tī Tokyo (東京) ê Shinagawa (品川) tòa bē té ê sî-kan."
"Shinagawa ê tó-ūi?"
"Gotenyama (御殿山) hit tah."
"Hia sī hó só͘-chāi."
"Bô m̄-tio̍h, lí chai lah, hia sī khiā-ke ê hó só͘-chāi. Hū-kīn ū Gotenyama Garden (hoe-hn̂g), góa kah-ì hit só͘-chāi ê chū-jiân kéng-tì."
Goán ê kau-tâm kàu chia thêng lo̍h-lâi. Kau-san kè-sio̍k kiat-kiat si̍t-si̍t lù góa ê kha-chiah-phiaⁿ (án-ne kám-kak chiâⁿ hó), hit-sî góa it-ti̍t chhì boeh lí-kái tāi-chì. Tī Shinagawa chhī-tōa ê kâu-san? Gotenyama Garden? Chiah gâu kóng-ōe? Che ná ū khó-lêng ah? Thiⁿ ah, che sī chi̍t-chiah kâu neh. Chi̍t-chiah kâu, m̄-sī pa̍t-mi̍h.
"Góa tòa tī Minato-ku (káng-khu)," góa kóng, ki-pún-siōng che sī bô ì-gī ê ōe.
"Nā án-ne, lán chha-put-to sī chhù-piⁿ neh," kâu-san kō͘ chhin-chhiat ê kháu-khì kóng.
"Siáⁿ-khoán lâng tī Shinagawa chhī lí tōa?" góa mn̄g.
"Goán chú-lâng sī chi̍t-ê tāi-ha̍k kàu-siū. I ê choan-tióng sī bu̍t-lí-ha̍k, tī Tokyo Gakugei (学芸) Tāi-ha̍k kà-chheh."
"Sī chi̍t-ê tì-sek hūn-chú neh."
"He tong-jiân loh. I siōng kah-ì im-ga̍k, iû-kî sī Bruckner kap Richard Strauss ê im-ga̍k. In-ūi án-ne, góa ka-tī mā tùi hit-ê im-ga̍k sán-seng chhù-bī. Góa it-ti̍t thiaⁿ he. Put-ti-put-kak mā tit-tio̍h iú-koan ê tì-sek."
"Lí kah-ì Bruckner?"
"Tio̍h. I ê Tē-chhit Kau-hióng-khek. Góa chóng-sī kám-kak tē-saⁿ ga̍k-chiong te̍k-pia̍t thê-sîn."
"Góa chhiâng-chāi thiaⁿ i ê Tē-káu Kau-hióng-khek," góa chhap-ōe kóng. Iū sī chi̍t-kù chin bô ì-gī ê ōe.
"Tio̍h, he khak-si̍t sī chin súi ê im-ga̍k," kâu-san kóng.
"Só͘-í, hit-ê kàu-siū kà lí kóng-ōe?"
"Sī i, bô m̄-tio̍h. I bô gín-á, kā góa tòng-chò in kiáⁿ, kìⁿ-nā ū êng, i tō jīn-chin khan-kà góa. I chin ū nāi-sim, sī chi̍t-ê chù-tiōng sūn-sī kap kui-lu̍t ê lâng. I mā sī chi̍t-ê giâm-siok ê lâng, siōng-ài kóng chi̍t-kù ōe: tiông-ho̍k chún-khak ê sū-si̍t, sī kiâⁿ óng tì-hūi ê chin-chiàⁿ tō-lō͘. In bó͘ tiām-chēng, un-jiû, chóng-sī tùi góa chhin-chhiat. In ang-bó͘ kám-chêng bē-bái, góa m̄-chai kám thang kā gōa-lâng kóng, m̄-koh lí tio̍h siong-sìn, in ê iā-seng-oa̍h chin tiⁿ-bi̍t."
"Sī án-ne oh," góa kóng.
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2. 𤠣山為我鑢尻脊骿
"欲愛我 kā 你鑢尻脊骿無?" 猴山問, 伊 ê 聲猶是低. 伊 ê 聲清楚 koh 迷人, 敢若 doo-wop /tu-op/ 樂團 ê 男中音. 這予人想袂到. 毋過, 伊 ê 聲並袂奇怪: 你若目睭瞌瞌聽, 你會想講彼是一般人 teh 講話.
"好 oh, 多謝," 我應. 我本成一直坐 tī 遐, 並毋是希望有人來 kă 鑢尻脊骿, 毋過, 如果我 kā 拒絕, 恐驚伊會想講我反對予猴山鑢. 我想, 這是伊 ê 好意, 也我定著 mā 無愛傷害伊 ê 自尊. 自 án-ne, 我慢慢 ùi 浴池起來, 仆落一个小柴台頂面, 尻脊骿 ǹg 猴山.
猴山無穿衫. 當然, 猴本來就是 án-ne, 所以我袂感覺奇怪. 伊看起來敢若真老 ah; 猴毛袂少是白 ê. 伊提一條毛巾過來, 頂面 kā 抹雪文, kō͘ 熟練 ê 手 kā 我鑢尻脊骿.
"這幾工真冷, 敢毋是?" 猴講.
"無毋著."
"無偌久, 遮就會崁雪 ah. Án-ne in 著 thuh 厝頂雪, 彼誠食力 neh."
有一下仔恬靜, 我 tō 緊插喙. "是 lah, 你會曉講人話?"
"我確實會 neh," 猴山輕快應. 伊凡勢定定 hông án-ne 問. "我細漢是人類飼大 ê, tī 我知進前我 tō 會曉講話 ah. 我 tī Tokyo (東京) ê Shinagawa (品川) 蹛袂短 ê 時間."
"Shinagawa ê 佗位?"
"Gotenyama (御殿山) 彼搭."
"遐是好所在."
"無毋著, 你知 lah, 遐是徛家 ê 好所在. 附近有 Gotenyama Garden (花園), 我佮意彼所在 ê 自然景致."
阮 ê 交談到遮停落來. 猴山繼續結結實實鑢我 ê 尻脊骿 (án-ne 感覺誠好), 彼時我一直試欲理解代誌. Tī Shinagawa 飼大 ê 猴山? Gotenyama Garden? Chiah gâu 講話? 這那有可能 ah? 天 ah, 這是一隻猴 neh. 一隻猴, 毋是別物.
"我蹛 tī Minato-ku (港區)," 我講, 基本上這是無意義 ê 話.
"若 án-ne, 咱差不多是厝邊 neh," 猴山 kō͘ 親切 ê 口氣講.
"啥款人 tī Shinagawa 飼你大?" 我問.
"阮主人是一个大學教授. 伊 ê 專長是物理學, tī Tokyo Gakugei (学芸) 大學教冊."
"是一个智識份子 neh."
"彼當然 loh. 伊上佮意音樂, 尤其是 Bruckner kap Richard Strauss ê 音樂. 因為 án-ne, 我家己 mā 對彼个音樂產生趣味. 我一直聽彼. 不知不覺 mā 得著有關 ê 智識."
"你佮意 Bruckner?"
"著. 伊 ê 第七交響曲. 我總是感覺第三樂章特別提神."
"我常在聽伊 ê 第九交響曲," 我插話講. 又是一句真無意義 ê 話.
"著, 彼確實是真媠 ê 音樂," 猴山講.
"所以, 彼个教授教你講話?"
"是伊, 無毋著. 伊無囡仔, kā 我當做 in 囝, 見若有閒, 伊 tō 認真牽教我. 伊真有耐心, 是一个注重順序 kap 規律 ê 人. 伊 mā 是一个嚴肅 ê 人, 上愛講一句話: 重複準確 ê 事實, 是行往智慧 ê 真正道路. In 某恬靜, 溫柔, 總是對我親切. In 翁某感情袂䆀, 我毋知敢通 kā 外人講, 毋過你著相信, in ê 夜生活真甜蜜."
"是 án-ne oh," 我講.
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2.
“Shall I scrub your back for you?” the monkey asked, his voice still low. He had the clear, alluring voice of a baritone in a doo-wop group. Not at all what you would expect. But nothing was odd about his voice: if you closed your eyes and listened, you’d think it was an ordinary person speaking.
“Yes, thanks,” I replied. It wasn’t as if I’d been sitting there hoping that someone would come and scrub my back, but if I turned him down I was afraid he might think I was opposed to having a monkey do it. I figured it was a kind offer on his part, and I certainly didn’t want to hurt his feelings. So I slowly got up out of the tub and plunked myself down on a little wooden platform, with my back to the monkey.
The monkey didn’t have any clothes on. Which, of course, is usually the case for a monkey, so it didn’t strike me as odd. He seemed to be fairly old; he had a lot of white in his hair. He brought over a small towel, rubbed soap on it, and with a practiced hand gave my back a good scrubbing.
“It’s got very cold these days, hasn’t it?” the monkey remarked.
“That it has.”
“Before long this place will be covered in snow. And then they’ll have to shovel snow from the roofs, which is no easy task, believe me.”
There was a brief pause, and I jumped in. “So you can speak human language?”
“I can indeed,” the monkey replied briskly. He was probably asked that a lot. “I was raised by humans from an early age, and before I knew it I was able to speak. I lived for quite a long time in Tokyo, in Shinagawa.”
“What part of Shinagawa?”
“Around Gotenyama.”
“That’s a nice area.”
“Yes, as you know, it’s a very pleasant place to live. Nearby is the Gotenyama Garden, and I enjoyed the natural scenery there.”
Our conversation paused at this point. The monkey continued firmly scrubbing my back (which felt great), and all the while I tried to puzzle things out rationally. A monkey raised in Shinagawa? The Gotenyama Garden? And such a fluent speaker? How was that possible? This was a monkey, for goodness’ sake. A monkey, and nothing else.
“I live in Minato-ku,” I said, a basically meaningless statement.
“We were almost neighbors, then,” the monkey said in a friendly tone.
“What kind of person raised you in Shinagawa?” I asked.
“My master was a college professor. He specialized in physics, and held a chair at Tokyo Gakugei University.”
“Quite an intellectual, then.”
“He certainly was. He loved music more than anything, particularly the music of Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Thanks to which, I developed a fondness for that music myself. I heard it all the time. Picked up a knowledge of it without even realizing it, you could say.”
“You enjoy Bruckner?”
“Yes. His Seventh Symphony. I always find the third movement particularly uplifting.”
“I often listen to his Ninth Symphony,” I chimed in. Another pretty meaningless statement.
“Yes, that’s truly lovely music,” the monkey said.
“So that professor taught you language?”
“He did. He didn’t have any children, and, perhaps to compensate for that, he trained me fairly strictly whenever he had time. He was very patient, a person who valued order and regularity above all. He was a serious person whose favorite saying was that the repetition of accurate facts was the true road to wisdom. His wife was a quiet, sweet person, always kind to me. They got along well, and I hesitate to mention this to an outsider, but, believe me, their nighttime activities could be quite intense.”
“Really,” I said.
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