"TWO DOWN UNDER"

"TWO DOWN UNDER"

幾天前, 我一位建中老同學 LGL, 在他的 e-mail 裏提到, " The Aussies (澳洲人) celebrate Christmas in summer."

原來, LGL 曾在澳洲首都坎倍拉, 澳洲國立大學敎書, 五十五歲退休後, 再到台灣中央研究院工作。


這也讓我想起一張書箋, 也是一張一九五九年的節日賀卡。

它一直藏在我的一本書, 書名 "TWO DOWN UNDER"。

這是一本三十五年前, 我在我們小城的圖書館 "Book Sale" 的時候購得。

"TWO DOWN UNDER" 是作者 Helen Kingsley McNamara 的旅遊記事。

她與先生, 在一九五八年十月, 到隔年一月, 從美國芝加哥飛到舊金山, 再乘遊輪橫跨太平洋, 來到澳洲, 紐西蘭, 做了一次長途旅遊。 

在旅途中, 陸上, 海上, 空中, 將所見所聞, 記錄下來。她分十個段落 (Letter #1 through #10), 寄給家鄉親友, "circle of friends"。

 First page of Letter #1 (At Sea November 1, 1958) :

In her letter #7, when they were at Fox Glacier, South Island, New Zealand, December 26, 1958, she wrote:

" Never a Christmas morning,
  Never the old years ends,
  But somebody thinks of some one,
  Old days, old times, old friends!

This familiar verse appeared on the printed dinner menu last night here at Fox Glacier Hotel, ........... .

Our observation is that Christmas in New Zealand is not the festive occasion that it is at home; not a time of 'togetherness,' but rather a time of 'awayness,' more like the Fourth of July, Bob sagely observes, for it is summertime, and every one can get away on holiday at that time does so. ........... ."


那原是私人的郵件, 在一九五九年, 她先生特別將這些書信, 凑合成書, 書名就叫 "TWO DOWN UNDER", 也就是說, McNamara 倆旅歷赤道下端的兩塊陸地 (澳洲, 紐西蘭)。

在書的序文中, 她先生非常感謝, 稱讚她。先生 Bob McNamara 這麼說:

" Her undersigned companion, ever a devoted admirer, admittedly shared in the experience, but his sense of observation fell far short of Helen's ability to note and to describe the day-to-day, week-to-week happenings. Even such a comment, be assured, fails to take into account, acknowledge the obligation, or give adequate applause for the hours she laboered at the typewriter while her husband resorted to daydreaming or other less worthy pastimes."

POSTSCRIP

葉子（Yeh Tze)