給你一個瓦楞紙箱，你會看見什麼？用來儲物的箱子？給露宿者擋風遮雨的屏障？還是你會像我的兒子蔦悠一樣，看見各種奇妙場景：把整個人擠進箱內，便可以是一間小木屋；找媽媽推著紙箱往前進，嘴巴發出「嗚～嗚～」的叫聲，便成一架趕往救火的消防車；拿樹枝用力划，箱子又立即變了小船在大海飄浮著。假以時日，我相信蔦悠一定可以像美國連環漫畫《Calvin and Hobbes》中的卡爾文一樣，把紙箱化作各種神乎奇技的超級機器，讓自己隨時穿越時空，把各種物件複製或轉換成為另一些東西，甚至協助腦袋變得更加聰明起來。這樣細數下去，瓦楞紙箱看上去便不再平凡了，甚至可以說是最其貌不揚卻又最萬能百變的東西。
曾經在一篇談論布偶的文章提及，河合隼雄認為小孩子因爲目光特別清澈，所以能夠在日常中看見各種「不可思議」的現象。他又曾經說過，小孩子們都擁有柔軟的心。我是很努力保護蔦悠的那一顆心，讓它繼續柔軟下去。有一天，也許我也會跟他分享最近很喜歡的這一首詩，由美國詩人Lydia Davis撰寫，題為〈Head, Heart〉，裡頭也藏著一顆很寶貴的、柔軟的心：
Heart weeps.
Head tries to help heart.
Head tells heart how it is, again:
You will lose the ones you love. They will all go.
But even the earth will go, someday.
Heart feels better, then.
But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart.
Heart is so new to this.
I want them back, says heart.
Head is all heart has.
Help, head. Help, heart.
If I give you a cardboard box, what would you see? A simple box for storage? A sheltering tool for the homeless against wind and rain? Or, like my son Julian, you would also see all kinds of wonderful scenes: Once you squeeze yourself into the box, it would become a small cabin; and if mama help you push the box while making some siren noise, it would immediately turn into a fire truck; take a branch and pretend to row, you are then sailing a boat. In time, I believe Julian would be just like the little boy Calvin in the American comic series, Calvin and Hobbes, who can turn a cardboard box into various super machine, in which he could not only travel through time and space, but also duplicate or change various objects, and even enhance his brain. Come to think of it, this cardboard box no longer looks plain. One can even say it is the most fascinating and versatile object.
I once mentioned in a previous article that the Japanese psychologist Hayao Kawai believed children can look at the world and see it as full of “incredible” phenomena. He had also claimed that all children have very soft hearts. Right now, I’m working very hard to protect Julian’s heart, so that it can always remain as soft as possible. Someday, I may introduce to him this poem titled Head, Heart, which I like very much recently. It was written by an American poet, Lydia Davis. In it, there also lies a very delicate and precious heart:
Heart weeps.
Head tries to help heart.
Head tells heart how it is, again:
You will lose the ones you love. They will all go.
But even the earth will go, someday.
Heart feels better, then.
But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart.
Heart is so new to this.
I want them back, says heart.
Head is all heart has.
Help, head. Help, heart.
