Thursday, April 10, 2014

赤柱

很喜歡赤柱,每次去都感覺像回家。知道今年保護海洋藝術節於赤柱舉行後立刻想參加。兩個月以來,帶給大家無限工作以外的工作、時不時有煩惱、有痛苦、有憤怒,直至最後一刻在海旁,仍遇上差點解決不了的技術錯誤。可是看見成果,還是十分感動的!小型瘋人院成員在三米鐵架上花上一天解結載水,邊冒掉進海裹的危機,邊吸足溫柔的春風暖陽,又偷聽過許多途人的古怪評語。這些都是藝術工作最有趣的時刻。中途發現出了大錯,要工人回來把鐵架拆開重新裝嵌,結果要到magic hour 才把整片藍色天幕造好。工人哥哥們都躺在地上拍照,總覺得因為藝術而衍生的對話,都在製作過程中發生,而不是做好之後,所以常希望能讓更多人在過程中參與。
周六是開幕禮,經過長滿老樹和每扇窗下都放滿花草的赤柱市場道便會看見我們那一千四百個掛在天空和海浪之間的回收水瓶,就在酒吧對出。赤柱市場道是一條我十分喜歡的街。關於赤柱的故事,還有一個一直很想分享的:紀錄在一八九零年出的一本香港旅遊書中。根據作者形容,赤柱在英國政府到達香港初期已建立軍事設施,卻很快因為衛生環境惡劣而徹底放棄了整個基地: "The water is brackish, but although there is an unfailing supply of water, they did nothing to bring it in. They never planted a tree is a matter of course, military ground never does grow anything but a crop of ugly stones marked "W.D."
作者一貫文風諷刺地說,只要稍為修整一下赤柱便能成為一處漂亮的旅遊勝地,可是眼下只是一片荒涼。在赤柱村一里多外卻有一個極之有趣的小村落﹣黃麻角,作者認為它會是一個理想的野餐地點,卻因為地形關係沒有人找到它。村莊本來由海盗佔有,並建有軍藥製作基地,它隱密得半世紀以來一直未被殖民地政府發現,所以從來沒有徵稅紀錄。然而這個山中小村卻因為一名漂亮女子而'brought its history to a close in a very tragic manner.' 她的美貎不但傳至附近村落村民口中,連一個駐港艦長都知道了,在離港前一天,決定跟另一軍官倆,吃過晚飯後去拜訪這神秘美人。當晚發生過的事,百多年後的今天仍然是一個謎,但第二天早上,艦長軍官一直未有回來,有人自告憤勇地向艦長僕人引路,卻只找到一個無人廢村和遍地爭鬥痕跡﹣地上血跡一直流至海裹 'and neither of the officers was ever seen again alive. They body of one was recovered under circumstances which read like a page from a sensational novel:' 搜索工作在岩石海岸間進行了一整天,天色漸漸轉暗,警察覺得再找都沒有用,打算收隊之際船鈎卻不小心掉進海裹被海草纏着,警員伸手取回船鈎時被一隻手捉緊,彷彿是要求救的樣子﹣結果那就是其中一名失蹤軍官的屍體,而另一名則一直沒有找回。後來,當時政府不知從那裹捉來一個海盗為此事負責,但這個海盗也於被囚時自殺身亡。
哈,故事說完了。讀香港歴史很少讀到如此有趣的故事,雖然大概只是城市傳聞,但第一次看時還是不斷驚歎。送給今天一起努力的好朋友,和那些像我一樣在赤柱渡過了一些很美好的時光的中學同學們。關於赤柱,還有很多漂亮和有趣的,周六喝咖啡時再說吧?
謝謝你們一起分享這夢想‘it's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting,’ isn't it? 

2 comments:

SL said...

How fascinating! A reprint of the 1937 book, 'Hong Kong 1841-1862 Birth, Adolescence and Coming of Age' recently came into my possession. Here's the excerpt on Stanley: "On the west side of the little southernmost point of 'Tai Tam' bay there is a little cove called 'Chek Chu' the resort of large fleets of fishing-boats, and the site of a considerable town with a population of about 2,000 souls, - having a very good bazaar, an extensive rope-walk, and shops well stocked to supply the wants of Chinese seafaring people. It is at this place the government have determined on erecting a barrack of two or three hundred men Foot note: Now site of St. Stephen's College. (!)]" (itself an excerpt from the Canton Press)

maomao said...

Very fascinating indeed, "an extensive rope-walk" wonder what that is! Thanks very much for your comment! I really enjoy reading G.R. Sayer's books too. Would so love to learn more about Stanley's history.
A picture of Stanley in the 1930s pretty much like how it was described in your excerpt :)