4. 轉來 ê 時, kă 講野球

4. Tńg-lâi ê sî, kă kóng iá-kiû

In khì chûn hia the̍h ke-si. Lāu lâng iōng keng-thâu giâ ûi-koaiⁿ, gín-á the̍h chhâ siuⁿ-á kap cha̍t-chiⁿ ê chang-sek soh-á khún, hî-kau, hām kòa pèⁿ ê hî-chhiuⁿ. Khǹg hî-jī ê siuⁿ-á tī chûn-bóe, hia koh ū chi̍t ki kùn-á, sī iōng lâi hám thoa tī chûn piⁿ ê tōa-bóe hî. Bô lâng ē thau lāu lâng ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ, m̄-koh phâng kap chho͘-soh, siōng hó chah tńg chhù, khah bē tàng-lò͘-chúi kín pháiⁿ. Sui-jiân khak-tēng chāi-tē lâng bē kā thau, lāu lâng siūⁿ kóng, hî-kau kap hî-chhiuⁿ bô su-iàu khǹg tī chûn nih khì siâⁿ--lâng.

In tâng-chê peh chiūⁿ-kiā, lâi kàu lāu lâng ê chhù-liâu, ti̍t-chiap kiâⁿ ji̍p khui-khui ê mn̂g.

Lāu lâng kā kńg chûn-phâng ê ûi-koaiⁿ khòe tī piah, gín-á kā siuⁿ-á kap kî-thaⁿ ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ khǹg tī i ê piⁿ-á. Ûi-koaiⁿ chha-put-to kap chit keng tan pâng ê liâu-á pêⁿ koân. Chit keng liâu-á sī iōng kiò-chò guano ê tāi-ông iâ-chí-chhiū ê ha̍h-á khàm ê, lāi-té ū chi̍t téng bîn-chhn̂g, chi̍t tè toh-á, chi̍t chiah í-á, kap chi̍t ê tī thô͘-kha hiâⁿ chhâ-thòaⁿ chú-chia̍h ê só͘-chāi. Guano ê chhiam-ûi chin lūn, iōng i ê hio̍h-á sio-thia̍p liáu ah-pêⁿ ê chang sek piah téng, ū chi̍t tiuⁿ Iâ-so͘ Sèng-sim ê chhái-sek tô͘, kap chi̍t tiuⁿ Cobre /ko.bre/ Sèng-bó tô͘. Che sī in bó͘ lâu lo̍h-lâi ê. Chá-chêng iáu ū chi̍t tiuⁿ in bó͘ ê thè-sek ê siòng-phìⁿ, m̄-koh āu-lâi i kā the̍h lo̍h-lâi, in-ūi khòaⁿ tio̍h he, i ē kám-kak ko͘-toaⁿ, taⁿ kā khǹg tī piah-kak kè-á téng chheng-khì ê siatchuh ē-bīn.

"Lí ū siáⁿ thang chia̍h?" gín-á mn̄g.

"Chi̍t oe n̂g-bí pn̄g phòe hî-á. Lí boeh chia̍h--kóa bô?"

"Bián. Góa tńg-chhù chia̍h. Ài thè lí hiâⁿ-hóe bô?"

"Bián. Tán leh góa ka-tī lâi. Góa mā ē-sái chia̍h léng pn̄g."

"Góa ē-sái the̍h pha-bāng bô"

"Tong-jiân."

Kin-pún bô pha-bāng, gín-á chai he tang-sî bē-khì ah. M̄-koh in ta̍k-kang lóng án-ne khang-siūⁿ chò-sńg. Mā bô n̂g-bí pn̄g kap hî-á, che gín-á mā lóng chai.

"Peh-cha̍p gō͘ sī kiat-lī ê sò͘-jī," lāu lâng kóng. "Lí boeh khòaⁿ góa lia̍h chi̍t bóe thâi-liáu iáu chhiau-kòe chi̍t-chheng pōng ê bô?"

"Góa khì the̍h pha-bāng, thang lia̍h un-á. Lí ē-sái chē tī mn̂g-kháu pha̍k ji̍t-thâu."

"Hó. Góa ū cha-hng ê sin-bûn, góa boeh khòaⁿ iá-kiû."

Gín-á m̄-chai cha-hng ê sin-bûn sī chin a̍h-sī ké. M̄-koh lāu lâng ùi bîn-chhn̂g té liú chhut-lâi.

"Perico/pe.ri.ko/ tī kám-á tiàm hō͘ góa-ê," i kái-soeh kóng.

"Lia̍h tio̍h un-á hî góa tō tńg-lâi. Góa ē kā lí ê kap góa ê lóng khǹg tī peng téng-bīn, bîn-á chá-khí chiah pun. Góa tńg-lâi ê sî, lí kă kóng iá-kiû ê tāi-chì."

"Yankees /iang.kis/ bē-sái su."

"M̄-koh góa kiaⁿ Cleveland /kliv.land/ ê Indians."

--

4. 轉來 ê 時, kă 講野球

In 去船遐提家私. 老人用肩頭夯桅杆, 囡仔提柴箱仔 kap cha̍t-chiⁿ ê 棕色索仔捆, 魚鉤, 和掛柄 ê 魚槍. 囥魚餌 ê 箱仔 tī 船尾, 遐 koh 有一支棍仔, 是用來撼拖 tī 船邊 ê 大尾魚. 無人會偷老人 ê 物件, 毋過帆 kap 粗索, 上好 chah 轉厝, 較袂凍露水緊歹. 雖然確定在地人袂 kā 偷, 老人想講, 魚鉤 kap 魚槍無需要囥 tī 船 nih 去唌人.

In 同齊 peh 上崎, 來到老人 ê 厝寮, 直接行入開開 ê 門.

老人 kā 捲船帆 ê 桅杆 khòe tī 壁, 囡仔 kā 箱仔 kap 其他 ê 物件囥 tī 伊 ê 邊仔. 桅杆差不多 kap 這間單房 ê 寮仔平懸. 這間寮仔是用叫做 guano ê 大王椰子樹 ê 箬仔 khàm ê, 內底有一頂眠床, 一塊桌仔, 一隻椅仔, kap 一个 tī 塗跤燃柴炭煮食 ê 所在. Guano ê 纖維真韌, 用伊 ê 葉仔相疊了壓平 ê 棕色壁頂, 有一張耶穌聖心 ê 彩色圖, kap 一張 Cobre /ko.bre/ 聖母圖. 這是 in 某留落來 ê. 早前猶有一張 in 某 ê 退色 ê 相片, 毋過後來伊 kā 提落來, 因為看著彼, 伊會感覺孤單, 今 kā 囥 tī 壁角架仔頂清氣 ê siatchuh 下面.

"你有啥通食?" 囡仔問.

"一鍋黃米飯配魚仔. 你欲食寡無?"

"免. 我轉厝食. 愛替你燃火無?"

"免. 等 leh 我 ka-tī 來. 我 mā 會使食冷飯."

"我會使提拋網無?"

"當然."

根本無拋網, 囡仔知 he 當時賣去 ah. 毋過 in 逐工攏 án-ne 空想做耍. Mā 無黃米飯 kap 魚仔, che 囡仔 mā 攏知.

"八十五是吉利 ê 數字," 老人講. "你欲看我掠一尾刣了猶超過一千磅 ê 無?"

"我去提拋網, 通掠鰮仔. 你會使坐 tī 門口曝日頭."

"好. 我有昨昏 ê 新聞, 我欲看野球."

囡仔毋知昨昏 ê 新聞是真抑是假. 毋過老人 ùi 眠床底扭出來.

"Perico /pe.ri.ko/ tī kám 仔店予我 ê," 伊解說講.

"掠著鰮仔魚我 tō 轉來. 我會 kā 你 ê kap 我 ê 攏囥 tī 冰頂面, 明仔早起才 pun. 我轉來 ê 時, 你 kă 講野球 ê 代誌."

"Yankees /iang.kis/ 袂使輸."

"毋過我驚 Cleveland /kliv.land/ ê Indians."

--

4.

They picked up the gear from the boat. The old man carried the mast on his shoulder and the boy carried the wooden boat with the coiled, hard-braided brown lines, the gaff and the harpoon with its shaft. The box with the baits was under the stern of the skiff along with the club that was used to subdue the big fish when they were brought alongside. No one would steal from the old man but it was better to take the sail and the heavy lines home as the dew was bad for them and, though he was quite sure no local people would steal from him, the old man thought that a gaff and a harpoon were needless temptations to leave in a boat.

They walked up the road together to the old man’s shack and went in through its open door.

The old man leaned the mast with its wrapped sail against the wall and the boy put the box and the other gear beside it. The mast was nearly as long as the one room of the shack. The shack was made of the tough budshields of the royal palm which are called guano and in it there was a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal. On the brown walls of the flattened, overlapping leaves of the sturdy fibered guano there was a picture in color of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of the Virgin of Cobre. These were relics of his wife. Once there had been a tinted photograph of his wife on the wall but he had taken it down because it made him too lonely to see it and it was on the shelf in the corner under his clean shirt.

“What do you have to eat?” the boy asked.

“A pot of yellow rice with fish. Do you want some?”

“No. I will eat at home. Do you want me to make the fire?”

“No. I will make it later on. Or I may eat the rice cold.”

“May I take the cast net?”

“Of course.”

There was no cast net and the boy remembered when they had sold it. But they went through this fiction every day. There was no pot of yellow rice and fish and the boy knew this too.

“Eighty-five is a lucky number,” the old man said. “How would you like to see me bring one in that dressed out over a thousand pounds?”

“I’ll get the cast net and go for sardines. Will you sit in the sun in the doorway?”

“Yes. I have yesterday’s paper and I will read the baseball.”

The boy did not know whether yesterday’s paper was a fiction too. But the old man brought it out from under the bed.

“Perico gave it to me at the bodega,” he explained.

“I’ll be back when I have the sardines. I’ll keep yours and mine together on ice and we can share them in the morning. When I come back you can tell me about the baseball.”

“The Yankees cannot lose.”

“But I fear the Indians of Cleveland.”

--