In all my years in Taiwan, I can't remember a New Year's holiday as cold and wet as the one that just passed. The temperature dipped to 9°C in Taipei. For my daughter's first New Year, we had originally planned to take the high speed rail down to Tainan. We wanted to visit Anping Castle again, check out Meinong Township in Hakka country, and stop at the Mangrove Conservation Area. Our plans fell through when our hostess, my wife's aunt, decided to go to Hualien. She called to apologize and even sent us a new TV, but really there was nothing to apologize for. Looking out at the bleak weather, my wife and I agreed that staying in our cozy apartment was preferable to going anywhere. We wrapped ourselves in blankets and sat in front of our trusty heater, only venturing out to rent DVDs and pick up pizza orders.
在我來台灣這麼多年以來，今年剛渡過的春節假期是我記憶中最溼最冷的。台北的氣溫降到攝氏九度。為了幫我的小女兒慶祝第一次農曆新年，我們原本打算搭高鐵到台南去。我們想再度參觀安平古堡，到美濃鎮的客家庄走走，再到紅樹林保育區休息一下。不過我們的計畫報銷了，因為我們的東道主（我太太的阿姨）決定到花蓮去玩。她打電話來道歉，甚至送我們一台新電視，不過其實也沒什麼需要道歉的。看看外面陰冷的天氣，我和我太太一致同意待在我們舒適的公寓裡會比到任何地方去都還要好。我們裹在毯子裡，坐在我們可靠的小暖爐前，只偶爾冒險出去租DVD和拿外送的披薩。
As mundane as our holiday may sound, something remarkable did occur. On New Year's Day, my daughter began to speak. She opened her tiny mouth and said, "Ba-ba, ba-ba."
這樣的假期聽起來也許很平淡無奇，但還是發生了某件不同凡響的事。在初一那天，我的小女兒開始說話了。她張開小嘴說：「爸-爸，爸-爸。」
My in-laws were visiting, so my mother-in-law excitedly prompted her to say "ma-ma," but my daughter answered, "Ba-ba, ba-ba."
我的姻親們正好來拜訪，所以我岳母很高興地想哄她說：「媽-媽。」不過我女兒的回答是：「爸-爸，爸-爸。」
"Do you know what this means?" asked my father-in-law.
我岳父問我說：「你知道這代表著什麼嗎？」
"That Ahleena isn't a mute?" I answered, perplexed.
我不知所措地回答說：「證明雅莉娜不是個啞巴嗎？」
"No. It means that your next child will be a boy," he laughed. "That's what we believe in Taiwan. If she had said 'ma-ma,' then your next child would have been another girl!"
他笑著說：「不是啦。這表示你的下一個孩子會是個男的。這是我們台灣人相信的說法。如果她說的是『媽-媽』，那你就會再多添一個女兒囉！」
My wife didn't have to say anything. We could tell what she was thinking by the expression on her face: "Who said anything about another child? One's enough!" I think maybe she's right. It's a new year, though, and while I doubt there are more children on the horizon, I'm sure the Year of the Rat will be full of surprises.
我太太什麼話都不用說。我們從她臉上的表情就看得出來她在想什麼：「誰說要再生一個啊？一個就夠多了！」我覺得也許她是對的。不過又是新的一年了，而且雖然我很懷疑將來會有更多的小孩到來，但我相信鼠年會充滿驚喜。 |
