「台英雙語童詩集」出版的頭序 李 秀
平常時愛寫小說佮散文，童詩毋捌想過欲寫。佇一个溫和的黃昏，音樂家黃友棣教授，看著我綴兩个小乖乖，佇文化中心的草埕歡喜走相逐，而且嘴裡哼唱一寡外國的童謠，伊沉重按呢講：「你們這些文字工作者，該為下一代寫些童詩，不要老叫他們毫無選擇的接受外來東西。寫出來！我樂意為他們譜曲。」長者諄諄，聽者謹記在心。自按呢，我完全投入毋單是詩、嘛是童心的境界。
「童心是人類內心遙遠的故鄉。」真密貼點出我創作童詩的心路過程。文學創作會當抒發理念佮情懷，尤其寫作兒童文學，愈會當將一个人的童心牽勾出來，親像共失落足久的寶物揣轉來身軀邊仝款。因此，一片一片的雲彩、一蕊一蕊的花草、一點一點的雨滴…化作囡仔時幼柔的目睭所看著的世界。尤其我厝裡彼兩个學琴的後生、查某囝，予我真濟創作的靈感。
兒童是人生發展中一个重要的階段。怹的幻想、好奇、同情、想像… 差不多生活佇家己的天地內面。事實上，兒童本身就是一部真好的文學。譬如，國小低年級的同學，若看會著的、摸會著的，攏真好玄、有趣味，這是一種純真的直接反應，伊袂考慮其他方面的影響。親像風颱來矣，伊袂想著風颱帶來的災害，因為伊毋免上課、爸母毋免上班，閣再講風颱的勢面佮新奇，會當引起伊足大的刺激感。
世界在怹看來，人參萬物攏是一家。伊看幼星袂振動，嘛會使講是一群無聽話的囡仔，予月娘老師罰徛佇天頂面；雷公大概予雷兄弟惹受氣才會發赫大的脾氣；小雨點愛四界跳舞蹉跎，有的佇厝頂耍飛刀、有的跳落河內游泳、有的淋佇土跤佮花蕊姐仔開講…這款參天地萬物合一的情懷，真正是人生上美妙的時段。
高年級的同學，身心有足大的發展，求知慾增加，理智咧發育，獨立的個性慢慢形成。求知欲、正義感、愛冒險，時常佇生活中展現出來。像「今仔日」、「空氣」、「阮咧彈琴」…等等，就是怹的縮影。觀察童心變化，是寫作童詩上大的快樂！這本童詩集起初是用華語創作，其中十二首，黃友棣教授已經譜成曲，予「兒童唱歌得著快樂」是伊上大的向望。
華語版有得著高雄市文藝獎，頒獎時嘛捌佇高雄文化中心予小朋友表演過。評審所講的「這些著作跳出前輩童詩作家的表現手法，具有獨特的創意。」現在經過十幾冬的歲月，我將它翻譯成英文。
續落來，閣予胡長松的「踏入臺文，世界會愈曠闊」觀念影響。起先我有翻英文比翻臺文閣較簡單的感覺，真歹勢! 我是正港的臺灣人矣，呔會使有這款想法。宋澤萊嘛按呢講「佇異鄉寫家已的母語，會當消除思鄉的痛苦」。佇溫哥華每一个寒冷的暗暝，我猶閣投入臺文的兒童世界，發現用臺文書寫真正是貼肉黏骨。用母語寫童詩，是這世人創作過程中上界美好的感動，伊深深挖掘家己生命中存囥的詩意，親像遊子佇他鄉遇著久年失散的親人。
然後我以「台英雙語童詩」系列刊登於北美一个文學組織 “Writer’s Digest Community”，受著英語世界讀者參作家熱烈的反應。有一个寫小說的美國作家Timothy,伊講讀我的童詩，予伊想著19世紀一个真出名的詩人William Blake的詩；閣有另外一个詩人，捌佇咱台灣台北美國學校教過冊，伊講遮的台英童詩是一本會當予臺灣囡仔想欲學英文的好教材…這款的呵咾，對我來講真正是一種額外的鼓勵。
另外我特別愛感謝澤萊兄，因為伊蹛的所在袂當買著適合的字典, 所以叫長松兄佇高雄寄字典來溫哥華予我，我講郵費傷貴矣，等我轉去臺灣才講，長松講「佮作家的作品相比，郵費無要緊啦！」即馬我已經漸漸看著五彩的春光矣，毋單臺文的代誌，閣有友情的感動。
這本台英童詩集有28首，向望會當予小朋友、大朋友帶來一寡驚奇，一寡共嗚，知影宇宙萬物之間，攏有值得逐家來啖糝的趣味。
Foreword--- by Louise Lee Hsiu
I used to only write essays and novels for adults. I never thought about writing children’s poetry. However, that changed when Yu-Di Huang, who is a famous musician, composer and writer from Hong Kong, came to Taiwan to offer his time and expertise to help musical groups. At that time he always encouraged me in both my literary and musical interests as I diligently presided over my telephone company’s choir. One warm evening, he discouraged me from singing foreign nursery rhymes with my two children at the Kaohsiung Cultural Center. He said to me, “You are a writer. You have a responsibility to write children’s poems for our children to sing in our native language. Don’t force them to learn only foreign songs. Write the poems! I will be glad to compose music for them.”
I listened to my honored teacher and made a sincere attempt to write children’s poetry. Then I became not only involved with the creation of children’s poems, but I also discovered my long lost child self and really enjoyed experiencing my innocent side again. When I write that childhood is the remote hometown of the inner human being, I am referring to the process of my children’s poetry writing. Even though adult literature expresses the writer’s ideas and emotions, writing for children can lead the writer back to childlike innocence and treasured memories of childhood. Thus, elements of nature such as clouds, flowers and raindrops are the embodiment of a child’s vision; furthermore, observing my two children learning to play the piano and the violin also gave me a lot of inspiration to write children’s poetry.
A child’s development in the first stage of life is rich in fantasy, curiosity, sympathy and imagination. Children often live in their own world. In fact, every child is a literary masterpiece. For example, there is a strong curiosity about what they can see or touch during early childhood. This kind of attitude is why they do not regard things like typhoons as disasters. When the typhoon is coming, they are just excited that they don’t need to go to school; Father and Mother don’t have to go to work as well. Moreover, experiencing the wild effects of the typhoon stimulates their interest in such a positive way that they dance with joy.
To children, all things under the sun are one. A child looks at the still stars in the sky and has an image of the stars being punished by being forced to stand still by Moon Teacher because they are a group of disobedient children. Children hear the sound of thunder and the thunder is personified as Thunder Father; maybe Thunder Brothers have provoked their father to anger. Looking at small raindrops, children may say that some raindrops play a warrior’s game on the roof as they whip each other with their crystal bead bodies, and some raindrops jump into the river to go swimming, but as they all swim together, they are unable to know who is who. These kinds of naive images arise from this most wonderful period of life.
When children reach adolescence (between the ages of 11 and 13), they experience big changes in their physicality and spirituality, such as an increase in intellectual curiosity, more independence, a sense of justice, etc. The poems, “Today”, “Air”, “Learning the Music of Us” and so on are expressions of these new interests. Observing childhood changes and writing them down is a fantastic experience.
I wrote these children’s poems in Chinese over a decade ago. Among these Chinese poems there are twelve that have music composed for them by Dr. Yu-Di Huang. Getting children to sing merrily is his greatest desire. Actually these melodies were performed by a children’s choir when I was awarded a Children’s Poetry Prize for this book at the Kaohsiung Cultural Center.
On the other hand, even though I am a Taiwanese writer, I never thought about translating the poems into Taiwanese. I always had this idea that translating into English is easier than translating into Taiwanese. Shame on me! I am really a Taiwanese writer. How dare I get this idea!
Recently, I was in touch with Tiong-Siong Oo, a Taiwanese novelist whose articles are written in Taiwanese. He said that if I go to the world of Taiwanese language, I will find a remarkable vision. Of course, I appreciate this wonderful statement and want to be in my mother language world. Additionally, another famous Taiwanese writer, Tik-Lai Song, said to me, “Writing in your mother language is a good way to solve homesickness in a foreign country.” It is true that both writers’ encouragement has brought me back to the marvelous world of Taiwanese language. Now that I have translated these children’s poems from Chinese into Taiwanese, I feel like a joyful breeze is playing upon my heart the musical ripples of my mother tongue.
Translating my poems into English was also a great challenge. However, I finished my English translation of my children’s poems, I posted them on the website of the North American “Writer’s Digest Community”, and I received a lot of positive responses to the poems.
Now I have translated my poems into both Taiwanese and English so that more children can enjoy them. It is my great hope that my poetry in some way reflects the nature of childhood.
