Auld Lang Syne

The Anglicized version of 'auld lang syne' means old long-since,
old long-ago, old long past, or times gone by.

The best-known use of the phrase is Robert Burns' poem Auld lang
syne, the words of which are sung in English-speaking countries
around the world each New Year's Eve, to a tune that Burns said he
transcribed from an old man's singing of it. (From The Phrase Finder)

Robert Burns' poem Auld lang syne (1788):

And for auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid willy waught,
For auld lang syne.


Standard English Translation

Old Long Past

And for old long past, my joy (sweetheart),
For old long past,
We will take a cup of kindness yet,
For old long past,

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days of old long past.

And surely you will pay for your pint-vessel!
And surely I will pay for mine!
And we will take a cup of kindness yet,
For old long past.

We two have run about the hillsides
And pulled the wild daisies fine;
But we have wandered many a weary foot
Since old long past.

We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till noon;
But seas between us broad have roared
Since old long past.

And there is a hand, my trusty friend!
And give me a hand of yours!
And we will take a right good-will drink,
For old long past.


Happy New Year !


Yeh Tze

California Central Coast

Many people consider California Central Coast the most scenic drive
in the world. We often drove, as most people did, much of the Pacific
Coast Highway (California Hwy 1) one way as part of a trip between
San Francisco and Los Angeles for the good reason.

During this Christmas Holidays, we made a trip to Piedras Blancas and
San Simeon with our children, and grandchildren who their parents
thought would be amused in watching those big-nose bull Elephant
Seals and their newborn pups. For us, our first tour to Hearst Castle
was more than 30 years ago, and for our children, they had yet to see
this national historic landmark mansion.

While Hearst built the great American show off in San Simeon, a
prehistoric legacy, the elephant seals, once considered extinct, have
made an epic reappearance and claimed the beaches in Piedras
Blancas, making the rookery a rival attraction in the neighborhood.
December to March is the birthing and breeding time for the Elephant
Seals. Beginning in mid-December the pregnant females arrive to give
birth. Researchers estimated the total population for Piedras Blancas
rookery at the turn of the 21st century to be around 8000.

On the way driving down the coast from Monterey Bay, we were lucky
to spot a California condor, the largest flying land bird in North
America, soaring on the Big Sur coastline. According to U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, population of California condors today has grown to
more than 381. Of those, about 125 live in the wild at Big Sur.


Yeh Tze

冬”至”, the “Arrival” of Winter

冬”至”, the “Arrival” of Winter

The shortest day and the longest night of the year, the winter solstice,
or “冬至”, falls on December 21 this year. During my childhood, it was
also the day when everyone tried to get together with their families
"冬至團圓吃湯圓".

Although it has often been marked as First Day of Winter, it is actually
the middle of winter. 冬至 means "winter (冬) extreme (至)", instead of
"the arrival of winter".

My memory of “冬至” during my childhood was that our siblings
would all get together and help our mother make ”圓仔”, the sweet
sticky glutinous rice balls. We often competed among ourselves to
make the most perfect ”圓仔” and our mother would be the judge. She
told us that we would all become one year older after we ate “湯圓”.
It is one of my most memorable childhood experiences. I miss those
sweet old days.

According to 《台灣府志》（一六九六）卷七記載：

冬至，人家作米丸祀眾神及祖先，舉家團圞而食之，謂之『添歲』；
即古所謂『亞歲』也。門扉器物各粘一丸其上，謂之『餉耗』。是日，
長幼祀祖、賀節，略如元旦。

按:

"在台灣冬至的湯圓有紅白兩色，另有較大的湯圓，內包有芝泺、花生、
或鮮肉等內餡。在中國，人們從冬至開始數九，以九天為一九，九九
八十一天，寒冬就會過去，稱為九九數盡。"

The ancient Chinese poets had also noticed the seasonal significance
of this particular 時節:

杜甫, in his poems “至後", said: “冬至至後日初長”, and in "小至",
"冬至陽生春又來".

In the poems about “冬至夜”, 白居易 wrote: “一年冬至夜偏長”, and
“何堪最長夜 俱作獨眠人”。


Yeh Tze

From Nest Building to Empty Nest

Nest building requires team work and is a hard work. In most species,
the female does all or most of the nest construction, arrangement and
decoration, though the male “often” helps. Much of the same holds
true for us.

We had our first nest built in the early 70s in Taipei, but we did not
"lay eggs". We “abandoned” it without completion. We then together
flew to the New World, where we re-built our nest and started to lay
eggs, one and two and three. They hatched, they grew. Then, when
their "羽毛" 已豐, they left the old nest one by one and "各奔前程" ........ .

Although we have been the "empty-nesters" for many years, our
children have continued to come back to visit the old nest with their
young families. As a matter of fact, they are coming back again this
holiday season. The old nest will be "熱鬧一番" and full of joy.


Yeh Tze

A Unique NTUMC Alumnus

A unique NTUMC alumnus.

專訪台大醫院創傷醫學部主任：柯文哲 2012-12-12
[轉載自:壹電視/YouTube]


Yeh Tze

古今多少事 都付笑談中

The other day, my NTUMC68 classmate, Dr. J.N. Lin and his wife
visited their daughter in the Bay Area. We drove to San Francisco
to see them and spent an afternoon together with them in the
arboretum at Golden Gate Park. It was a typical late autumn cold,
misty, murky day. While strolling through this exquisite, serene
garden, we talked and laughed, 古今多少事,都付笑談中.

He often sent me books, his own ("愛的再造") included, by mail from
Taiwan. “李敖回憶錄” and "李敖快意恩仇錄" were two of them, as he
probably knew that “李敖” was one of the writers and historians I
admired during our college years. 李敖 has 深厚學問 and always "引經
據典" when he writes, yet some of his his writings were often “嬉笑
怒罵", "不按牌理出牌". Critics had therefore termed him an intellectual
narcissist, or "文化太保" then.

Although I feel nowadays 李敖 is not the same person I used to know,
I still like to read his books written in the 1960s. “胡適評傳” is one of
the “文星” series he wrote in 1964. As a matter of fact, I still have it
kept on my bookshelf, and once in a while, I would take it down and re
-read it. I admired him for his ability and capacity, at age of 29, to
write such a comprehensive and detailed biography of someone else's
life. No wonder 胡適 once said to him: "李先生,你簡直比我胡適之還了解胡適之."

“胡適評傳” was one of a few of my favorite books I brought with me
when I came to the States in 1972. According to my own note written
on the inner back cover page, I bought it at 重慶南路 "文星書店" in City
of Taipei on April 10, 1968, two months before I graduated from NTUMC.

按:

1948年李家舉家來台，定居在台中。1950年15歲的李敖就讀初中三年級，
和趙天儀等人合辦了《初三上甲組報》。從16歲起，李敖開始參加各類
論文比賽，屢次獲得第一名。1954年李敖高中畢業，考入臺灣大學法律
系，不過，沒有讀滿一年就自動退學，同一年他再度考入台灣大學，就讀
歷史系。

1957年李敖在當時台灣著名的雜誌《自由中國》上發表《從讀〈胡適文
存> 說起》，引起胡適注意。大學畢業服完兵役後，他擔任蒙元史專家
姚從吾先生的助手，並且考入台大歷史研究所。

1961年11月李敖在《文星》雜誌發表《老年人和棒子》，揭開了20世紀
60年代臺灣「中西文化論戰」的序幕。1963年李敖自動從歷史研究所休
學，此後他出任《文星》總主筆，陸續發表《播種者胡適》、《給談中西
文化的人看看》等著名作品。


Yeh Tze

“billions and billions”

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars” from youtube

I used to watch “Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars” youtube videos on
the computer together with my grandchildren sitting on my lap.
When they were watching, they sang as well. To them, the number
of stars in the sky is too many and countless, and to me the number
of stars in the universe is a “天文數字“, “billions and billions”, as
what I have learned.

In his “Cosmos" TV mini-series, Carl Sagan, an American astronomer
and cosmologist, used to say “billions and billions". When he was
imaging the total number of stars in the universe, he rhapsodized
about “billions upon billions”.

A recent new study suggests there are 300 sextillions of them,
three times as many as scientists had previously calculated. That is
a 3 followed by 23 zeros, or 3 trillion times 100 billion. Get it ?
It is 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

It is only a huge “天文數字“ to me anyway. Charlie Conroy, a Harvard
astrophysicist, however found the number to be fun, because it gets
you thinking about these large numbers. He said the number of stars
in the universe “ is equal to all the cells in the humans on Earth”,
noting there are 50 trillion or so cells in an average human body and
there are 6 billion people on Earth. Multiplying 50 trillion by 6
billion, he came up with about 300 sextillions.

No matter how large the number is, it is another “天文數字“ to me.
I however still enjoy watching those "visible" stars twinkling or
glittering in the night sky.

Star (星) was a favorite subject for many of the ancient Chinese poets:

“星垂平野闊 月湧大江流” in “旅夜書懷” by 杜甫 was a notable poetic verse.

李白, in his poem “夜宿山寺”, wrote:

危樓高百尺 手可摘星辰
不敢高聲語 恐驚天上人


Yeh Tze