曾经在溪里自在地游泳、打水漂儿
曾经在水沟里戽鱼、捉虾
曾经冬天时跟在父亲犁田的后面捡泥鳅、鳝鱼、青蛙
曾经跪在水田里搓草
曾经在烈日下汗流浃背地割稻
曾经在夏秋的夜晚追着提灯的萤火虫奔跑、呼叫
曾经在家屋前埕听大人讲古、和童伴玩各种游戏
曾经住在草房里品尝“冬冷夏热”的滋味
曾经打赤脚健步在碎石子路上
曾经爬上芒果树摇落黄熟的果实
曾经在牧场和童伴玩摔角、斗蟋蟀和各种游戏
曾经爬到树上掏鸟窝
……那些曾经的曾经哪里去了？

唉，它们都哪里去了？

有人悄悄告诉我说
是被污染偷走了
是被农药、除草剂偷走了
是被钢筋水泥的现代建筑偷走了
是被现代交通工具偷走了
我给归结起来
原来都是被所谓现代文明偷走了

这样的结果好吗？
为什么那么五彩缤纷的日子都不见了？
为什么那么美好的宝藏都不见了？
它们都哪里去了？
我好无奈
我好不甘
我好不平

Once and Where?　　Hsu ChiCheng

Once swimming in the river and playing ducks and drakes
Once catching fishes and shrimps in the creek
Once picking loaches and eels and frogs behind Father’s plough
Once kneading grass while kneeling down in the paddy field
Once cutting rice crops and sweating in the scorching sun
Once chasing fireflies with lanterns in nights of summer and autumn
Once listening to stories told by adults and playing games with other playmates
Once tasting the tastes of hot summer and cold winter in a thatched house
Once walking briskly on the road of gravels barefooted
Once shaking down ripe yellow fruits by climbing up to the mango tree
Once wrestling and cricket fighting and playing various games on the pasture
Once climbing up to the tree to get the birds’ nest
… Where has the once been?

Alas, where has the once been?

Somebody tells me quietly
It is stolen away by the pollution
It is stolen away by agricultural chemicals and weed-killers
It is stolen away by modern buildings of reinforced concrete
It is stolen away by modern forms of transportation
To sum it up
It is stolen away by the so-called modern civilization

Is such a thing ideal?
Why the colorful days are no more?
Why the treasures are not seen any longer?
Where are they now?
I feel helpless
I don’t feel not reconciled to it
I don’t feel pacified
(tr. Zhang Zhizhong)

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