To Tell A Story With Embroidery

Mrs. Ant

我們能為這世界帶來甚麼嗎?
我們可以為孩子留下甚麼嗎?
我們的家在哪?

這年頭,我們有許多許多原因不能回家,「家」究竟應該長成甚麼樣子?在每人心中一定有不同的想像。尋找「家」,會不會也代表尋找「愛」呢?今天由Mrs. Ant以五幅親手做的刺繡為大家說一個關於「家」的故事,故事到了中段小熊遇上大象後,怎樣發展好呢?創作被卡住,於是Mrs. Ant問兒子如何是好⋯⋯對於尋找一個家,小孩的答案就是如此單純,世界其實沒那麼複雜,只要我們心存純真。

What can we bring to this world?
What can we leave our children with?
Where are our homes?

Throughout this year, there have been many many reasons why we were unable to return home. What should a “home” look like? Everyone must have a different imagination in mind. Would the search for “home” also symbolise the search for “love”? Today, Mrs. Ant will tell us a story about “home” through five embroideries she made by hand. Halfway through the story, after the little bear met the big elephant, how should the story go on? With the creation stuck in a rut, Mrs. Ant asked her son for help… When it comes to searching for home, children’s responses are just so simple. The world is actually not that complicated when we are pure at heart.

1

在森林裡,有一隻小熊正在尋找牠的家,牠貼著泥巴,看到螞蟻正在搬運樹葉、種子,他們正準備爬進地底,小熊貼在土地上,舉起枯葉向螞蟻們問道: 「螞蟻們,請問你們知道我家在哪兒嗎?」

螞蟻回答: 「我們一直住在地底裡面,我們怎會知道,你家在哪?你應該去問小鳥,牠們常常在空中飛來飛去,飛得高高的,看到的都比我們更多更遠。」

In the forest, a little bear was searching for its home. It pressed itself against the soil and saw ants moving leaves and seeds. They were getting ready to climb down to the underground. The little bear stayed close to the ground, lifted a wilted leaf and asked the ants, “Ants, may I ask if you know where my home is?”

The ants answered, “We have been living underground all along, how would we know where your home is? You should ask the little birds, they are always darting about in the sky and flying high, they see far more than us and further than us.”

2

於是,小熊繼續前行,牠停在小鳥的家下面,舉頭問小鳥們:「請問你們知道我家在哪裡嗎?」

小鳥們思考了一下,努力地在腦海中找尋看過的風景,後來說: 「我的家小小的,你這麼大,應該要問大一點的動物吧!我們怎會知道你家在哪?」小鳥後來建議白熊去找跟他一樣體型魁梧的動物問問看。

So the little bear moved on. It stopped underneath the little birds’ homes and looked up to ask them, “May I ask if you know where my home is?”

The little birds thought for a while, tried hard to rummage their minds for scenery they had seen, and later said, “Our homes are small and you are big, you probably need to ask larger animals! How would we know where your home is?” The little birds later suggested the white bear ask around animals as bulky in build as it was.

3

「找體型跟我差不多的動物啊?」小熊邊走邊想,直到牠遇到好大好大的大象。

「大象,請問你知道我家在哪嗎?」小熊非常誠懇地問。

「小熊呀,我有一對大耳朵,一個很長的鼻子,我跟你一點都不像,我怎會知道你家在哪呢?」大象溫柔地回應。

「哪誰才知道我家在哪?」小熊有點失望、也有點不開心。

「你應該去找跟你差不多的動物問問看,牠們可能會知道你家在哪。」大象肯定地給了小熊建議,讓牠擁抱著希望繼續找下去。

“To find animals with a similar build to me?” The little bear mused as he went along until he met a very very big elephant.

“Big elephant, may I ask if you know where my home is?” The little bear asked very sincerely.

“Little bear, I have a big pair of ears and a very long nose, you and I are barely alike, how would I know where your home is?” The big elephant replied gently.

“Then who would know where my home is?” The little bear was a bit disappointed, and a bit upset too.

“You should ask around animals that are similar to you, they might know where your home is.” The big elephant gave the little bear his suggestion reassuringly so that it would embrace hope as it carried on searching.

4

小熊最後在森林遇上了棕熊,棕熊除了毛色之外,都跟自己長得好像,小熊有點膽怯、小心地問棕熊: 「請問你知道我家在哪嗎?」

棕熊看一看白熊: 「對不起小熊,我不知道你家在哪裡,但我可以邀請你到我家,我可以分享我家給你,就在能看到大象、飛鳥、白雲、花草,和地底住了螞蟻的山坡上。」

The little bear lastly met a brown bear in the forest. Other than the colour of the fur, the brown bear looked very much like itself. The little bear, slightly nervous and cautious, asked the brown bear, “May I ask if you know where my home is?”

The brown bear took a look at the white bear, “Sorry little bear, I don’t know where your home is, but I can invite you to my home, and I can share my home with you. It is right on the hillside where you can see the big elephant, flying birds, white clouds, flowers and grass, and where the ants live underground.”

5

最後小熊找到自己喜歡的人,有朋友陪伴,開開心心的生活在這座山裡。

「給孩子的祝福,希望在未來人生道路上如果迷了路,能夠用心觀察,最後順利找到屬於自己的家!」—— Mrs. Ant

In the end, the little bear found the person he loved, and with the company of friends, happily lived on this hill.

“A blessing for children, in the hope that if they get lost in their future paths, they could see with their hearts and in the end find homes of their own successfully!” – Mrs. Ant

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