https://genius.com/Julia-alvarez-snow-annotated
Seh | 雪
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Tòa New York tē-it nî, goán cho͘ chi̍t-keng sió kong-gū, hū-kīn ū chi̍t-keng Katholik ha̍k-hāu, kà-chheh ê sī Chû-siān Siu-lú, pûi-pûi ê cha-bó͘ chhēng o͘-sek tn̂g-phâu, tì bō-á, khòaⁿ khí-lâi chin te̍k-pia̍t, ná chhiūⁿ sī chhēng song-ho̍k ê pò͘-ang-á. Góa chin kah-ì yin, iû-kî sī goán sì-nî-á pan hit-ê ná amá ê lāu-su Zoe Siu-lú. Yi kóng, góa ū chi̍t-ê khó-ài ê miâ, yi kiò góa kà choân-pan án-chóaⁿ hoat-im. Yo-lan-da. Choân-pan ûi-it ê î-bîn, góa hông an-pâi chē tē-it pâi te̍k-pia̍t ê chē-ūi, óa thang-á piⁿ, hām kî-thaⁿ ê gín-á keh-khui, án-ne Zoe Siu-lú khah hó tan-to̍k hú-tō góa, bián-tit kan-jiáu pa̍t-lâng. Yi bān-bān liām chhut góa tio̍h tòe-liām ê sin jī-sû: laundromat [chū-chō͘ sé-saⁿ tiàm], cornflakes [hoan-be̍h phìⁿ], subway [tē-hā thih-lō͘], snow [seh].
Chin kín, góa o̍h ū-kàu chē ê Eng-gí, liáu-kái tōa tô͘-sat ê khì-hun. Zoe Siu-lú tùi ba̍k-chiu tián tōa-tōa ê pan-kip kái-soeh Cuba tng-teh hoat-seng ê tāi-chì. Rusia ê hóe-chìⁿ tng-teh an-chng, thiaⁿ-kóng sī iōng New York Chhī chò bo̍k-phiau. Kennedy Chóng-thóng, khòaⁿ khí-lâi mā chin hoân-ló, chhut-hiān tī ka-têng tiān-sī-ki, kái-soeh kóng, lán khó-lêng tio̍h hām Kiōng-sán-tóng sio-chiàn. Tī ha̍k-hāu, goán ū hông-khong ián-si̍p: hiong-tiāu ê liang-á siaⁿ hoat-chok, goán tio̍h pâi-tūi ji̍p tōa-thiaⁿ, phak-lo̍h tē-pán, kō͘ gōa-thò am ka-tī ê thâu, ná teh àm-siūⁿ, goán ê thâu-chang lak-lo̍h, goán ê chhiú-kut iûⁿ khì. Tī goán tau, Mami, goán achí hām góa liām mûi-kùi keng (rosary) kî-kiû sè-kài hô-pêng. Góa thiaⁿ tio̍h sin ê jī-sû: he̍k-chú tôaⁿ, hòng-siā-sèng eng-ia, hông-khong tōng. Zoe Siu-lú kái-soeh he sī án-chóaⁿ hoat-seng. Yi tī o͘-pang ōe chi̍t-lúi hiuⁿ-ko͘, koh tiám chē-chē ê hún-pit tiám-á piáu-sī lak-lo̍h ê eng-ia, he ē thâi-sí goán só͘-ū ê lâng.
Chi̍t kò goe̍h chi̍t kò goe̍h teh piàn kôaⁿ, 11 goe̍h, 12 goe̍h. Chá-sî góa khí-chhn̂g ê sî, thiⁿ iáu o͘-o͘, góa tòe ka-tī ê chhùi-ian khì ha̍k-hāu ê sî léng sng-sng. Chi̍t-kang chá-khí, góa chē tī chheh-toh, khòaⁿ thang-gōa chò pe̍h-ji̍t bāng, tú khai-sí, góa khòaⁿ tio̍h pe̍h tiám tī khong-khì tiong, ná chhiūⁿ Zoe Siu-lú bat sûi-ki ōe kòe, koh lú lâi lú chē. Góa tōa-siaⁿ kiò, "Chà-tôaⁿ! Chà-tôaⁿ!" Zoe Siu-lú oa̍t-sin tiô khí-lâi, kín-sok chông hiòng góa ê sî yi ê o͘ tn̂g-kûn giâ kah phòng sai-sai. Ū-ê cha-bó͘ gín-á khai-sí khàu.
Jiân-āu, Zoe Siu-lú ê tio̍h-kiaⁿ piáu-chêng siau-khì. "Ai-ah, Yolanda koai gín-á, he sī seh lah!" Yi chhiò chhut-lâi. "Seh."
"Seh," góa tòe leh kóng. Góa kiaⁿ-kiaⁿ khòaⁿ thang-á gōa-kháu. Kòe-khì góa kui sì-lâng kan-ta thiaⁿ kóng, Bí-kok thiⁿ-téng tī kôaⁿ-thiⁿ ē lo̍h pe̍h chúi-chiⁿ. Ùi góa ê chheh-toh, góa khòaⁿ he iù-iù ê hún, sám tī ē-bīn ê jîn-hêng-tō hām thêng-tiām ê chhia. Múi chi̍t-ê sió-phìⁿ lóng bô sio-kāng, Zoe Siu-lú bat kóng, ná-chhiūⁿ lán-lâng, bô-tè thè-ōaⁿ koh súi.
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蹛 New York 第一年, 阮租一間小公寓, 附近有一間 Katholik 學校, 教冊 ê 是慈善修女, 肥肥 ê 查某穿烏色長袍, 戴帽仔, 看起來真特別, ná 像是穿喪服 ê 布尪仔. 我真佮意姻, 尤其是阮四年仔班彼个 ná 阿媽 ê 老師 Zoe 修女. 她講, 我有一个可愛 ê 名, 她叫我教全班按怎發音. Yo-lan-da. 全班唯一 ê 移民, 我 hông 安排坐第一排特別 ê 坐位, 倚窗仔邊, 和其他 ê 囡仔隔開, án-ne Zoe 修女較好單獨輔導我, 免得干擾別人. 她慢慢念出我著綴念 ê 新字詞: laundromat [自助洗衫店], cornflakes [番麥片], subway [地下鐵路], snow [雪].
真緊, 我學有夠濟 ê 英語, 了解大屠殺 ê 氣氛. Zoe 修女對目睭展大大 ê 班級解說 Cuba tng-teh 發生 ê 代誌. Rusia ê 火箭 tng-teh 安裝, 聽講是用 New York 市做目標. Kennedy 總統, 看起來 mā 真煩惱, 出現 tī 家庭電視機, 解說講, 咱可能著和共產黨相戰. Tī 學校, 阮有防空演習: 凶兆 ê 喨仔聲發作, 阮著排隊入大廳, 仆落地板, kō͘ 外套掩家己 ê 頭, ná teh 暗想, 阮 ê 頭鬃 lak 落, 阮 ê 手骨熔去. Tī 阮兜, Mami, 阮阿姊和我念玫瑰經 (rosary) 祈求世界和平. 我聽著新 ê 字詞: 核子彈, 放射性坱埃, 防空洞. Zoe 修女解說彼是按怎發生. 她 tī 烏枋畫一蕊香菇, koh 點濟濟 ê 粉筆點仔表示 lak 落 ê 坱埃, 彼會刣死阮所有 ê 人.
一個月一個月 teh 變寒, 11 月, 12 月. 早時我起床 ê 時, 天猶烏烏, 我綴家己 ê 喙煙去學校 ê 時冷霜霜. 一工早起, 我坐 tī 冊桌, 看窗外做白日夢, 拄開始, 我看著白點 tī 空氣中, ná 像 Zoe 修女 bat 隨機畫過, koh lú 來 lú 濟. 我大聲叫, "炸彈! 炸彈!" Zoe 修女越身趒起來, 緊速傱向我 ê 時她 ê 烏長裙夯 kah 膨 sai-sai. 有 ê 查某囡仔開始哭.
然後, Zoe 修女 ê 著驚表情消去. "Ai-ah, Yolanda 乖囡仔, 彼是雪 lah!" 她笑出來. "雪."
"雪," 我綴 leh 講. 我驚驚看窗仔外口. 過去我規世人干焦聽講, 美國天頂 tī 寒天會落白水晶. Ùi 我 ê 冊桌, 我看 he 幼幼 ê 粉, 糝 tī 下面 ê 人行道和停恬 ê 車. 每一个小片 lóng 無相仝, Zoe 修女 bat 講, ná 像咱人, 無地替換 koh 媠.
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Our first year in New York we rented a small apartment with a Catholic school nearby, taught by the Sisters of Charity, hefty women in long black gowns and bonnets that made them look peculiar, like dolls in mourning. I liked them a lot, especially my grandmotherly fourth grade teacher, Sister Zoe. I had a lovely name, she said, and she had me teach the whole class how to pronounce it. Yo-lan-da. As the only immigrant in my class, I was put in a special seat in the first row by the window, apart from the other children so that Sister Zoe could tutor me without disturbing them. Slowly, she enunciated the new words I was to repeat: laundromat, cornflakes, subway, snow.
Soon I picked up enough English to understand holocaust was in the air. Sister Zoe explained to a wide eyed classroom what was happening in Cuba. Russian missiles were being assembled, trained supposedly on New York City. President Kennedy, looking worried too, was on the television at home, explaining we might have to go to war against the Communists. At school, we had air raid drills: an ominous bell would go off and we'd file into the hall, fall to the floor, cover our heads with our coats, and imagine our hair falling out, the bones in our arms going soft. At home, Mami and my sisters and I said a rosary for world peace. I heard new vocabulary: nuclear bomb, radioactive fallout, bomb shelter. Sister Zoe explained how it would happen. She drew a picture of a mushroom on the blackboard and dotted a flurry of chalk marks for the dusty fallout that would kill us all.
The months grew cold, November, December. It was dark when I got up in the morning, frosty when I followed my breath to school. One morning as I sat at my desk daydreaming out the window, I saw dots in the air like the ones Sister Zoe had drawn random at first, then lots and lots. I shrieked, "Bomb! Bomb!" Sister Zoe jerked around, her full black skirt ballooning as she hurried to my side. A few girls began to cry.
But then Sister Zoe's shocked look faded. "Why, Yolanda dear, that's snow!" She laughed. "Snow."
"Snow," I repeated. I looked out the window warily. All my life I had heard about the white crystals that fell out of American skies in the winter. From my desk I watched the fine powder dust the sidewalk and parked cars below. Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful.
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// 2022-8-10
Julia Álvarez was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the United States when she was ten years old. In this short excerpt from her acclaimed novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991), she captures perfectly the fear and the wonder of a young immigrant girl from the Dominican Republic who has never seen snow before.
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