16.4 伊講著稅厝 ê 安排

16.4 I kóng tio̍h sòe-chhù ê an-pâi

Lán-lâng chóng-sī kā ài-chêng hām chng-kha sio liân-kiat, che sī ū tō-lí ê. Bô chi̍t ê só͘-chāi ē-tàng hō͘ lí só͘ ài ê cha-bó͘ chò pōe-kéng, kan-ta sī tī iá-gōa a̍h chhiū-nâ nih ê nâ-thiⁿ, phang-bī, hoe-lúi, bî-hong, kap chheng-iu. M̄-koán lí gōa ài chi̍t ê cha-bó͘, tùi i gōa ū sìn-sim, i ê kòe-khì gōa-nī pó-chèng chiong-lâi ê tiong-si̍t, lán chóng-sī ē sió-khóa chia̍h-chhò͘. Lí nā chin-sim teh ài, lí it-tēng ē kám-kak ū su-iàu kā lí boeh to̍k-chiàm ê lâng keh-khui chit ê sè-kài. M̄-koán hit ê cha-bó͘ tùi chiu-ûi ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ piáu-hiān kah gōa léng-tām, m̄-koh i nā bak-tio̍h pa̍t ê cha-po͘ a̍h mi̍h-kiāⁿ, tō ná i ê phang-bī a̍h chéng-thé tō ē siau-si̍h khì. Tùi góa lâi kóng, góa pí pa̍t-lâng lóng khah ū hit-chióng keng-giām. Góa ê ài-chêng m̄-sī phó͘-thong ê ài-chêng; sui-jiân góa chhiūⁿ it-poaⁿ lâng kāng-khoán teh loân-ài, m̄-koh góa ài ê sī Marguerite; iā tō sī kóng, tī Paris, góa múi kiâⁿ chi̍t pō͘ lō͘, lóng ū khó-lêng tú-tio̍h i kòe-khì ê chêng-jîn a̍h-sī bī-lâi ê chêng-jîn, nā tī chng-kha, hia ê lâng goán m̄-bat, in mā bô teh chhap goán, kan-ta goán ka-tī tī chhun-thiⁿ sî ê tōa chū-jiân nih, chi̍t nî chi̍t pái ê tōa khai-sià, hn̄g-hn̄g lī-khui chhá-nāu ê siâⁿ-chhī, góa ē-tàng siu-chông góa ê ài, ē-tàng ài kah bián kiàn-siàu, bián kiaⁿ-hiâⁿ.

Ian-hoa-lú ê hêng-siōng tī chia chiām-chiām siau-khì. Góa ê sin-piⁿ sī chi̍t ê siàu-liân súi cha-bó͘, góa ài i, i mā ài góa, i kiò Marguerite; kòe-khì í-keng kòe khì, bī-lâi sī chi̍t phiàn kong-bêng. Ji̍t-thâu tō ná teh chiò siōng sûn-kiat ê sin-niû kāng-khoán, chiò tio̍h góa ê chêng-hū. Goán chò-hóe sàn-pō͘ tī hiah-ê bê-lâng ê tē-tiám, ná chhiūⁿ ū-lâng thiau-kang kā hia chhòng-kah hō͘ lâng siūⁿ tio̍h Lamartine ê si-kù a̍h-sī Scudo ê koa-khek. Marguerite chhēng pe̍h-sek ê iûⁿ-chong, khò tī góa ê chhiú-kó͘-thâu, tī tiám-tiám thiⁿ-chheⁿ ē-bīn, i koh chi̍t-pái kă kóng chêng-kang kóng kòe ê ōe. Hn̄g-hn̄g ê só͘-chāi, sè-kài kè-sio̍k ūn-hêng, i ê iáⁿ-jiah kin-pún bē éng-hióng goán chheng-chhun kap ài-chêng ê chhàn-lān kéng-siōng.

Che tō sī hit kang ê ji̍t-thâu thàu kòe chhiū-hio̍h-á chah hō͘ góa ê bāng. Goán thêng chûn tī chi̍t ê sió tó, góa tó tī chháu-po͘, pàng-khui sok-pa̍k ê jîn-kan koan-hē, kì-chāi góa ê su-sióng phiau-liû, chū-iû su-khó múi hāng bí-lē ê hi-bāng.

Tī góa thêng-khùn hia, ē-tàng khòaⁿ tio̍h ô͘-hōaⁿ ū chi̍t-tòng chin khó-ài, ū saⁿ-chàn-lâu ê chhù, iōng pòaⁿ-îⁿ-hrn̂g ê lân-kan ûi tio̍h; lân-kan lāi-té kàu chhù-chêng ū chi̍t phìⁿ ná thian-gô-jiông ê chheⁿ-sek chháu-po͘, chhù āu-piah ū chi̍t chō chhiong-móa kok-chióng sîn-pì só͘-chāi ê sió chhiū-nâ, tī hia ta̍k chá-khí chheⁿ-thî it-tēng koh seⁿ tī chêng-ji̍t hông ta̍h-kòe ê sió-lō͘. Tîn-á hoe pê-móa chit keng bô lâng tòa ê chhù ê mn̂g-lō͘, kiông boeh peh kàu jī-lâu.

Góa tiām-tiām khòaⁿ chit keng chhù, khai-sí siūⁿ kóng che chhù sī góa ê, tú-hó ē-tàng si̍t-hiān góa teh bāng ê bāng-sióng; góa khòaⁿ tio̍h Marguerite kap góa tī hia, ji̍t-sî goán khì soaⁿ-pho téng ê chhiū-nâ nih, hông-hun sî goán chē tī chhau-po͘, góa mn̄g ka-tī, sè-kài siōng kám ū lâng pí goán koh-khah hēng-hok ah?

"Chiâⁿ súi ê chhù!" Marguerite kă kóng, i tòe tio̍h góa khòaⁿ ê hong-hiòng, khó-lêng mā chai-iáⁿ góa teh siūⁿ siáⁿ.

"Tī tó?" Prudence mn̄g.

"Hit pêng," Marguerite kí i teh mn̄g ê hit keng chhù.

"Ah, chiâⁿ súi!" Prudence kóng. "Lí ū kah-ì hit keng chhù bô?"

"Chiâⁿ kah-ì."

"Nā án-ne, kiò kong-chiok kā sòe--lo̍h-lâi; góa siong-sìn i ē bé. Lí nā tông-ì, góa lâi kā kóng."

Marguerite lia̍h góa khòaⁿ leh, ná teh mn̄g góa án-chóaⁿ siūⁿ. Góa ê bāng-sióng í-keng tòe Prudence tú kóng hiah-ê ōe siau khì ah, tōa-tōa siak-lo̍h hiān-si̍t, siak-kah thâu-hîn ba̍k-àm.

"Tio̍h, tio̍h, chin hó ê siūⁿ-hoat," góa thun-thun thò͘-thò͘, m̄-chai góa teh kóng siáⁿ.

"Nā án-ne, góa lâi an-pâi," Marguerite kóng, ná pàng khui góa ê chhiú, iōng i ê ì-sù kái-soeh góa kóng ê ōe. "Lán kín khì khòaⁿ i sī-m̄-sī ū boeh chhut-cho͘."

Chhù khang-khang, cho͘-kim sī nn̄g-chheng franc.

"Lí ē hoaⁿ-hí lâi chia bô?" i mn̄g góa.

"Góa kám ē-sái lâi chia?"

"Nā m̄-sī ūi tio̍h lí, góa cháu lâi chia sī ūi siáⁿ lâng ah?"

"Hm, nā án-ne, Marguerite, chhù góa lâi sòe."

"Lí khí-siáu; m̄-nā bô su-iàu, mā chin gûi-hiám. Lí oân-choân bêng-pe̍k, góa kan-ta ē-tàng chiap-siū chi̍t ê lâng ê an-pâi. Hō͘ góa chhú-lí, koai gín-á, lí bián kóng siáⁿ."

"Nā án-ne," Prudence kóng, "ū êng, góa mā ē lâi kap lín tòa nn̄g--kang ah."

Goán lī-khui hit keng chhù, chiūⁿ-lō͘ hôe Paris, iân-lō͘ ná teh kóng chit ê sin ê kè-ōe. Góa kā Marguerite lám leh, kàu lo̍h bé-chhia ê sî, góa tùi i boeh sòe-chhù ê an-pâi, í-keng bē koh kám-kak hiah-nī gāi-gio̍h ah.

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16.4 伊講著稅厝 ê 安排

咱人總是 kā 愛情和庄跤相連結, 這是有道理 ê. 無一个所在會當予你所愛 ê 查某做背景, 干焦是 tī 野外抑樹林 nih ê 藍天, 芳味, 花蕊, 微風, kap 清幽. 毋管你偌愛一个查某, 對伊偌有信心, 伊 ê 過去偌 nī 保證將來 ê 忠實, 咱總是會小可食醋. 你 nā 真心 teh 愛, 你一定會感覺有需要 kā 你欲獨佔 ê 人隔開這个世界. 毋管彼个查某對周圍 ê 物件表現甲偌冷淡, 毋過伊 nā 沐著別个查埔抑物件, tō ná 伊 ê 芳味抑整體 tō 會消蝕去. 對我來講, 我比別人攏較有彼種經驗. 我 ê 愛情毋是普通 ê 愛情; 雖然我像一般人仝款 teh 戀愛, 毋過我愛 ê 是 Marguerite; 也 tō 是講, tī Paris, 我每行一步路, 攏有可能拄著伊過去 ê 情人抑是未來 ê 情人, nā tī 庄跤, 遐 ê 人阮毋捌, in mā 無 teh chhap 阮, 干焦阮家己 tī 春天時 ê 大自然 nih, 一年一擺 ê 大開赦, 遠遠離開吵鬧 ê 城市, 我會當收藏我 ê 愛, 會當愛甲免見笑, 免驚惶.

煙花女 ê 形象 tī 遮漸漸消去. 我 ê 身邊是一个少年媠查某, 我愛伊, 伊 mā 愛我, 伊叫 Marguerite; 過去已經過去, 未來是一遍光明. 日頭 tō ná teh 照上純潔 ê 新娘仝款, 照著我 ê 情婦. 阮做伙散步 tī hiah-ê 迷人 ê 地點, 若像有人刁工 kā 遐創甲予人想著 Lamartine ê 詩句抑是 Scudo ê 歌曲. Marguerite 穿白色 ê 洋裝, 靠 tī 我 ê 手股頭, tī 點點天星下面, 伊 koh 一擺 kă 講前工講過 ê 話. 遠遠 ê 所在, 世界繼續運行, 伊 ê 影跡根本袂影響阮青春 kap 愛情 ê 燦爛景象.

這 tō 是彼工 ê 日頭透過樹葉仔扎予我 ê 夢. 阮停船 tī 一个小島, 我倒 tī 草埔, 放開束縛 ê 人間關係, 據在我 ê 思想漂流, 自由思考每項美麗 ê 希望.

Tī 我停睏遐, 會當看著湖岸有一棟真可愛, 有三層樓 ê 厝, 用半圓形 ê 欄杆圍著; 欄杆內底到厝前有一片 ná 天鵝絨 ê 青色草埔, 厝後壁有一座充滿各種神祕所在 ê 小樹林, tī 遐逐早起青苔一定 koh 生 tī 前日 hông 踏過 ê 小路. 藤仔花爬滿這間無人蹛 ê 厝 ê 門路, 強欲 peh 到二樓.

我恬恬看這間厝, 開始想講這厝是我 ê, 拄好會當實現我 teh 夢 ê 夢想; 我看著 Marguerite kap 我 tī 遐, 日時阮去山坡頂 ê 樹林 nih, 黃昏時阮坐 tī 草埔, 我問家己, 世界上敢有人比阮閣較幸福 ah?

"誠媠 ê 厝!" Marguerite kă 講, 伊綴著我看 ê 方向, 可能 mā 知影我 teh 想啥.

"Tī 佗?" Prudence 問.

"彼爿," Marguerite 指伊 teh 問 ê 彼間厝.

"Ah, 誠媠!" Prudence 講. "你有佮意彼間厝無?"

"誠佮意."

"Nā án-ne, 叫公爵 kā 稅落來; 我相信伊會買. 你 nā 同意, 我來 kā 講."

Marguerite 掠我看 leh, ná teh 問我按怎想. 我 ê 夢想已經綴 Prudence 拄講 hiah-ê 話消去 ah, 大大摔落現實, 摔甲頭眩目暗.

"著, 著, 真好 ê 想法," 我吞吞吐吐, 毋知我 teh 講啥.

"Nā án-ne, 我來安排," Marguerite 講, ná 放開我 ê 手, 用伊 ê 意思解說我講 ê 話. "咱緊去看伊是毋是有欲出租."

厝空空, 租金是兩千 franc.

"你會歡喜來遮無?" 伊問我.

"我敢會使來遮?"

"Nā 毋是為著你, 我走來遮是為啥人 ah?"

"Hm, nā án-ne, Marguerite, 厝我來稅."

"你起痟; 毋但無需要, mā 真危險. 你完全明白, 我干焦會當接受一个人 ê 安排. 予我處理, 乖囡仔, 你免講啥."

"Nā án-ne," Prudence 講, "有閒, 我 mā 會來 kap 恁蹛兩工 ah."

阮離開彼間厝, 上路回 Paris, 沿路 ná teh 講這个新 ê 計畫. 我 kā Marguerite 攬 leh, 到落馬車 ê 時, 我對伊欲稅厝 ê 安排, 已經袂 koh 感覺 hiah-nī 礙虐 ah.

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16.4

People have always associated the country with love, and they have done well; nothing affords so fine a frame for the woman whom one loves as the blue sky, the odours, the flowers, the breeze, the shining solitude of fields, or woods. However much one loves a woman, whatever confidence one may have in her, whatever certainty her past may offer us as to her future, one is always more or less jealous. If you have been in love, you must have felt the need of isolating from this world the being in whom you would live wholly. It seems as if, however indifferent she may be to her surroundings, the woman whom one loves loses something of her perfume and of her unity at the contact of men and things. As for me, I experienced that more than most. Mine was not an ordinary love; I was as much in love as an ordinary creature could be, but with Marguerite Gautier; that is to say, that at Paris, at every step, I might elbow the man who had already been her lover or who was about to, while in the country, surrounded by people whom we had never seen and who had no concern with us, alone with nature in the spring-time of the year, that annual pardon, and shut off from the noise of the city, I could hide my love, and love without shame or fear. 

The courtesan disappeared little by little. I had by me a young and beautiful woman, whom I loved, and who loved me, and who was called Marguerite; the past had no more reality and the future no more clouds. The sun shone upon my mistress as it might have shone upon the purest bride. We walked together in those charming spots which seemed to have been made on purpose to recall the verses of Lamartine or to sing the melodies of Scudo. Marguerite was dressed in white, she leaned on my arm, saying over to me again under the starry sky the words she had said to me the day before, and far off the world went on its way, without darkening with its shadow the radiant picture of our youth and love. 

That was the dream that the hot sun brought to me that day through the leaves of the trees, as, lying on the grass of the island on which we had landed, I let my thought wander, free from the human links that had bound it, gathering to itself every hope that came in its way. 

Add to this that from the place where I was I could see on the shore a charming little house of two stories, with a semicircular railing; through the railing, in front of the house, a green lawn, smooth as velvet, and behind the house a little wood full of mysterious retreats, where the moss must efface each morning the pathway that had been made the day before. Climbing flowers clung about the doorway of this uninhabited house, mounting as high as the first story. 

I looked at the house so long that I began by thinking of it as mine, so perfectly did it embody the dream that I was dreaming; I saw Marguerite and myself there, by day in the little wood that covered the hillside, in the evening seated on the grass, and I asked myself if earthly creatures had ever been so happy as we should be. 

"What a pretty house!" Marguerite said to me, as she followed the direction of my gaze and perhaps of my thought. 

"Where?" asked Prudence. 

"Yonder," and Marguerite pointed to the house in question. 

"Ah, delicious!" replied Prudence. "Do you like it?" 

"Very much." 

"Well, tell the duke to take it for you; he would do so, I am sure. I'll see about it if you like." 

Marguerite looked at me, as if to ask me what I thought. My dream vanished at the last words of Prudence, and brought me back to reality so brutally that I was still stunned with the fall. 

"Yes, yes, an excellent idea," I stammered, not knowing what I was saying. 

"Well, I will arrange that," said Marguerite, freeing my hand, and interpreting my words according to her own desire. "Let us go and see if it is to let." 

The house was empty, and to let for two thousand francs. 

"Would you be happy here?" she said to me.

"Am I sure of coming here?"

"And for whom else should I bury myself here, if not for you?" 

"Well, then, Marguerite, let me take it myself." 

"You are mad; not only is it unnecessary, but it would be dangerous. You know perfectly well that I have no right to accept it save from one man. Let me alone, big baby, and say nothing." 

"That means," said Prudence, "that when I have two days free I will come and spend them with you." 

We left the house, and started on our return to Paris, talking over the new plan. I held Marguerite in my arms, and as I got down from the carriage, I had already begun to look upon her arrangement with less critical eyes. 

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