The Green Banana-神奇的青香蕉

The Green Banana

青香蕉

1

My encounter with the green banana started on a steep mountain road in Brazil.

我與青香蕉的邂逅源於巴西腹地一條險峻的山路上。

My ancient jeep was zigzagging when the radiator began to leak.

當我那輛老式吉普車正吃力地前行時，水箱漏水了，

I stopped at the next village, where people gathered to look.

在臨近的村莊，我把車停了下來，村民都圍過來看發生了什麼事，

Three fine streams of hot water spouted from holes in the radiator.

有三股細細的熱水柱正從水箱外殼上的小孔噴出來。

「That』s easy to fix,」a man said.

「這容易解決。」一個人說道，

He sent a boy running for some green bananas.

他讓一個小男孩跑去拿些青香蕉來，

We exchanged pleasantries while I mulled over the green banana.

我和他們閑聊起來，心裡卻一直在想他們用青香蕉怎麼能修補好水箱。

Asking questions would seems silly,

提問會暴露我的無知，

so I remarked on the beauty of the mountain.

因此我開始讚歎眼前美麗的山景。

2

「Do you see that tall one right over there?」

「看見那邊那塊高高的岩石了嗎？」

asked my benefactor, pointing to a particular tall, slender pinnacle of dark rock.

幫助我的那個人指著一塊特別高而且細長的黑色岩石問道，

「That rock marks the center of the world.」

「那塊岩石標誌著世界的中心。」。

I looked to see if he were teasing me,

我看著他，想知道他是否在和我開玩笑，

but his face was serious.

但他卻表情嚴肅，

He in turn inspected me carefully to be sure I grasped the significance of his statement.

反過來認真地審視著我，想確認我是否領會了他那句話的含義。

The occasion demanded some show of recognition on my part.

這種情況要求我必須表現出認同。

「The center of the world?」I repeated,

「世界的中心？」我重複道，

trying to convey interest if not complete acceptance.

雖然我並不真正贊同，但仍儘力表現出對此的興趣，

He nodded. 「The absolute center.」

他點頭說：「絕對是世界的中心。

3

At that moment the boy returned with my green bananas.

這時，小男孩拿著青香蕉回來了。

The man sliced one in half and pressed the cut end against the radiator.

那個男子把其中一根切成兩半，將其斷口處按在水箱的外殼上。

The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal,

香蕉遇到炙熱的金屬融成了膠，

plugging the leaks instantly.

立刻就堵住了漏洞，

Everyone laughed at my astonishment.

所有的人看到我滿臉的驚訝，都笑了起來。

As a product of American higher education,

作為一個美國高等教育的產品，

I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana.

我從來就沒注意過青香蕉，

Suddenly on that mountain road, its time and my need had converged.

但突然在那條山路上，當我需要時，它出現了。

This chance encounter showed me the special genius of those people, and the special potential of the green banana.

這次事件，讓我知道了村民們的特殊天賦以及青香蕉的特殊潛能。

I had been wondering for some time about what educators like to call「learning moments」,

曾有一段時間，我一直困惑於教育家們所謂的「頓悟」，

and I now knew I had just experienced two of them at once.

而現在我知道自己剛剛同時經歷了兩個這樣的時刻。

4

The importance of the rock marking the center of the world took a while to filter through.

又過了一段時間，我才真正明白了村民們認為標誌著世界中心的那塊岩石的重要性，

I had initially doubted their claim,

開始時我懷疑他們的說法，

knowing for a fact that the center was located somewhere in New England.

因為我知道實際上世界的中心是位於新英格蘭的某個地方，

After all, my grandfather had come from there.

畢竟，我的祖父就是那兒的人。

But gradually I realized they had a valid belief, a universal concept, and I agreed with them.

但我逐漸意識到他們的想法是很有道理的，這是個很普遍的概念，我贊同他們的看法。

We tend to define the center as that special place where we are known,

我們都傾向於把一個特殊的地方理解為「中心」，在那兒，我們為人所知，

where we know others, where things mean much to us,

在那兒，我們也認識很多人，那兒的事物對我們來說都別有意義；

and where we ourselves have both identity and meaning:

那兒我們有身份的認同，那兒我們有存在的意義：

family, school, town and local region.

這些地方就是：家庭、學校、我們生活的城鎮以及我們所在的「本地」。

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