一對父子的對話

"My Father's Jack London," published in the anthology Travelers' Tales San Francisco,
edited by James O'Reilly, Larry Habegger & Sean O'Reilly, Travelers' Tales Inc.

一對父子的對話

在這篇 "My Father's Jack London" 裏, 作者 Fred Setterberg 開始這麼寫:

"You sure you don't have to work today?" asked my father. "I don't want to take you away from work."

"Really," I assured him, "I can take the day off."

"Well, work all you can," he lectured me, far from the first time,

"Work long and hard, because 'Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave ----' "

"I know, 'the grave is not its goal', is it?"

"Longfellow." he pointed out.

"Right."

這是作者的父親，在一九六零年代的某一天，要帶他(作者)從舊金山，特別選乘渡輪去奧克蘭，Jack London，美國20世纪著名現實主義作家，成長的地方。

一九三十年代以前，作者的父親，"a working-class man",  一個鐡匠工人，每天搭渡輪從舊金山到奧克蘭工作，前後三十七年。

這次，作者父親，重温舊夢，尋著昔日的足跡，也帶著兒子(作者)一起去，有其特殊意義。

原來，他父親從小就是個 Jack London 迷。

作者描述他的父親，"a high school graduate—but from there on largely self-educated"， 包括文學之類的知識。

Jack London  一生寫了五十本書，本文作者的父親都讀過。他對 Jack London 的生平， 身世，背景，瞭若指掌，更讚賞他的勤奮務實。

在作者的成長中，他父親無時無刻，都會跟他講些 Jack London 的事蹟。

還有，作者説，

"I recall one Saturday morning when Dad escorted me to the public library and filled my arms with volumes of Jack London, which were, in a sense, my patrimony."

在渡輪上，他父親説,

"He (Jack London) didn't take the day off whenever felt like it."

作者説，

"You have told me, Dad."

他問父親,

"Did you ever take a day off?"

父親説,

"Labor Day and Christmas."

一路上，作者跟他父親的對話，充滿親情，智慧，又深富文學的素養。

上了奧克蘭碼頭後，他父親説，

"This is where Jack London really started out."

作者説，

"I know."

父親，

"Jack London worked right here, you realize."

兒子，

"Sure, Dad." .......


葉子 (Yeh Tze)