中国节美国节

林贝卡 (2007-07-04 08:02:45) 评论 (23)



乡愁

作者 席慕蓉

故乡的歌
是一支清远的笛
总在有月亮的晚上
响起故乡的面貌
却是一种模糊的怅惘
仿佛雾里的挥手别离
离别后
乡愁是一棵没有年轮的树
永不老去

今天是美国的国庆节,可我有一种很奇怪的感觉,从来没有把美国的节日当作自己的节日。美国的节日对我来说,无非是平常的一天。可孩子们就不一样,他们兴奋地等着过节,看烟火,BBQ and have fun, 毕竟他们是在美国出生的,这是他们成长的土地,他们生活的乐园。成长的岁月,将给他们留下美好的记忆。

虽然我来美国有14年了,和先生结婚有12年了,为人妻做人母,潜移默化地接受了西方的思想和文化,加入了美国籍,可是我骨子里毕竟是中国人,美国对我来说永远是异乡,而故乡对我来说也是一个模糊的怅惘,也许边缘人就是这种感觉吧。

如果要我再回到中国去生活,也许我也不习惯了。然而在美国,我也不过中国的节日了,一切只是在记忆里。我们这个小城镇,中国人少的可怜,每当中国节日来临的时候,根本就没有过节的气氛。我也没有和人说中文的机会,就一家中国人,他们是开中餐馆的,每天忙的不行,很少有时间社交。还得感谢文学城,使我能有机会和网友用中文交流,感受中国文化。

那份乡愁,是雾里的别离,挥之不去。很遗憾,我教孩子们的中文也算是失败了, 孩子们只会拼音,认得几个中文字,我教孩子们的中文也是“三天打鱼,两天晒网。”兴致来了,就教他们读唐诗,要他们背唐诗,给他们翻译成英语,给他们讲解,孩子们竟然能背下来,虽然半懂不懂的。不过,我要孩子们根据唐诗作画,他们画的还挺不错的。我哥哥的孩子前年来美国时,给孩子们带来了许多的学中文的书籍字典和CD等。古人云:贵在坚持。我对孩子们的中文就是没有好好地坚持下来,虽然不时地还是在教他们学中文,成效不大。

说起唐诗,我就免不了想起我的父亲。我父亲最喜欢唐诗宋词了,他也不时地喜欢写诗词。只可惜,父亲的诗词和给我的信件已经都遗失了。我想我死了以后,我会要我的孩子们,把我一半的骨灰,撒在我小时候常和父亲一起去的双清公园的小河边,梦回故里,叶落归根。China is my root, yet America is my sky.

孩子们催我带他们去看parade了,不能再写了。Happy July 4th to you all。



摄影 文学城 erdong

U.S. National Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner
Composer: Francis Scott Key

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

生活在两种文化之间给了我们思考,观察与体验的机会.也时时让我们感到那种飘浮与游离的痛.带孩子回去看看,让他们认识了自己母亲的故乡,会使他们产生了解那个文化与语言的好奇心与动力.
你的博站做得太专业,太漂亮了. (幽幽鹿评论于2007-07-09 09:06:51)