[時間與存在:舊貨與永續生活方式] 之四 長椅上的銘牌

這些是無法私有的古董,但它們又存在於私人生活的公共領域。人們匆匆而過,它們安然長存。

一個有趣的習俗,親友過世後可出資修建公共場所的長椅並留下銘牌。生卒年月加寥寥數語,紀念亡故人。慎終追遠,對生命敬重,又充滿幽默感。逝者由此長存於日常生活中,成爲生者的一部分。

年輕時許多人都渴望遠走高飛,但飛翔的目的是否在於尋找一個地方落地開花?飛翔得久了,行走得累了,都需要一個地方坐下休息。“安/生/立/命”這個詞裏,每個字都意義非凡。何以心安?生之為何?如何而立?命若幾何。

24303_10151568652965681_288694896_n

“To the visitors and citizens of Edinburgh that they may rest and enjoy the ever changing scene” (希望愛城的市民與遊客能在這座長椅上稍作休息並盡覽這座城市的變幻多姿)

349_56661545680_7576_n

“To K, from M, who will always sit beside her” (這座椅子紀念K—永遠會坐在她身邊的M)

537065_10151588865935681_410469558_n

“Died overlooking the Botanic… Sit… Appreciate… Enquire… Enjoy” (在觀賞植物園美景時過世[是心臟病突發?] 坐下來,欣賞,求索,歡享)

41268_472908610680_1837853_n

“Died Norway 1990, who when young spent many happy hours in the gardens” (我太太在挪威過世,她年輕時曾在這座花園度過許多美好的時光)

429116_10150701900865681_773910843_n

“There’s nae sorrow there, The Day is aye fair, in the Land o’ Leal” (這裡沒有憂傷,心誠所至,時日所公)

524369_10151791405760681_2073939724_n

對艾滋病死者的紀念,來自Isla Paschal Richardson的詩句:”If I should ever leave you whom I love, To go along the silent way, Grieve not, Nor speak to me with tears, But laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you there”(如果我需離你而去,不要哀悼,以淚相告。且談笑風生,如同我在你身邊)

483818_10151572945380681_87948406_n

“Most near, most dear, most loved…” (至近,至親,至愛)

555767_10151056814265681_1419269767_n

“come sit with me a while”(來,陪我稍坐一下)。

——沒有理由拒絕。

載於游城客書 & 主場新聞

About ting

from SHANGHAI to the WORLD

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: