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Paul Harnden Pork Pie Hat

Will it look good on the turtles?

“Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
– J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

蔦悠喜歡的其中一本繪本,是Jon Klassen的《We Found A Hat》,當中講述兩隻烏龜一起發現一頂帽子,各自試戴起來都十分好看。可惜帽子只有一頂,他們便決定把它留在原地,並且將其忘記。黃昏時分,兩隻烏龜並肩欣賞夕陽,烏龜甲問:「你在想什麼呢?」烏龜乙答:「夕陽。那你又在想什麼呢?」烏龜甲撒謊說沒什麼,心裡卻惦記著帽子。夜幕降臨時,兩隻烏龜要睡覺了。烏龜甲想要悄悄溜走,問烏龜乙是否已經睡著;烏龜乙告訴他正在做夢,看見他倆各也戴著帽子,而且同樣好看。烏龜甲聽畢,靜靜回到烏龜乙旁,闔起雙眼,沉沉睡去。

上星期蔦悠的好友雨霄來訪我們家,玩得興起時,還未滿三歲的蔦悠第一次主動拉起雨霄的手拖著,兩人相視而咯咯笑了。到了吃茶點時間,溫柔的雨霄又把餅乾遞往蔦悠的嘴前,示意要給他吃。坐在這兩位小小男孩身旁,憶起他倆剛相識時在遊樂場上有好一段日子都只懂得遙遙偷看對方的情境,我彷彿是感覺到了有一絲嶄新、無以名狀、溫柔的線在連繫著他們,也不禁想起Klassen筆下那雙可愛的烏龜。

那時那刻,如鈴縈繞耳畔,蔦悠和雨霄的咯咯笑語,是美妙音符,是只屬他倆的回憶,也是詩。


“Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
– J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

One of the picture books which my little son Julian likes, is Jon Klassen’s We Found A Hat. It’s about two turtles who found a hat together. They took turns to try it on, and it looked good on both of them. Unfortunately there was only one hat, so they decided to leave it where it was and forget about it. At dusk, they watched the sunset together. Turtle A asked, “What are you thinking about?” Turtle B answered, “The sunset. What about you?” Turtle A said, “Nothing.” But he lied. He was thinking about the hat. Then the night came; they went to sleep. Turtle A wanted to sneak away, so he asked Turtle B if he was asleep. Turtle B told him he was having a dream about them. They were both wearing hats and looking good. Upon hearing this, Turtle A quietly returned to Turtle B’s side, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. 

Last week, Julian’s good friend Yu Siu visited our home. While playing together, Julian took the initiative to hold hands with Yu Siu for the very first time. And when snack time was ready, Yu Siu gently held a biscuit in front of Julian’s mouth and helped him eat. Sitting right next to them, I remembered how these two would only sneak glances at each other from afar when they first met at the playground. All of a sudden, I felt the existence of an indescribable, soft thread connecting them together, thus reminding me of the two lovely turtles created by Klassen.

That morning, with the most wonderful notes being made, the giggles between these two little sweet boys rang like tiny, gentle bells.

It’s their very own memories. It’s poetry. 

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