我的根
Familial Context

父親季之源是崇明人。崇明位于長江口，是一個由長江上游帶來的泥沙堆積而成的小島（故名沖積島），離上海近，歸上海管。My father, JI Zhiyuan, was born and bred in Chongming. Chongming is an ‘a(chǎn)lluvial’ island（i.e. one formed by water-borne sediments from upstream）in the estuary of the Yangtze. It is very close to Shanghai and is considered part of Greater Shanghai.

跟別人提起我的籍貫，我通常這么說：就是那個島，背靠上海灘，坐守長江口，遠看像一條綠色的緞帶，是中國第三大島。When I try to explain to people where my father was born, Most of the time I would say, “You know, that island near Shanghai, in the river mouth of the Yangtze. From a distance, it looks like a green sash. It's China's third largest island.”

聽我對中國島嶼的概況如數(shù)家珍，聽者往往若有所思，然后問我：中國的第一大島和第二大島又是哪兩個呢？Since I've mentioned the size ranking of Chinese islands, many would stop and think, then ask: ‘Which two islands are bigger than Chongming then?’

答案是：臺灣島和海南島，老大、老二。I would say, ‘Taiwan and Hainan, in that order.’

臺灣同胞聽了，可能先愣一下，因為他們對臺灣“只是”中國第一大島這樣的概念不太習慣，但這畢竟是不爭的事實，所以惱也不是，怒也不是，只能客氣而勉強地笑笑，“嗯嗯”兩聲敷衍過去。If the person I am talking to is from Taiwan and the idea that Taiwan is just an island of China（and the biggest island, no less - oh wow!）is a little alien to them, they might freeze for a split second and then, slightly flustered or majorly peeved, put on a polite or forced smile while making some non-committal noises roughly equivalent to ‘uh-huh’.

內地同胞（如果他們上地理課時腦子開小差，但依稀仿佛有點印象的話）聽了，也許靈光一現(xiàn)：“哦，對哦！”A mainlander（if he or she slept through their geography lessons at school, but has read about it in some obscure social media post）would suddenly see the light: ‘Oh, yeah.’

對中國地理和政治一竅不通的老外聽了，往往會作恍然大悟狀：“啊，原來如此。真有意思！”A foreigner who doesn't know the first thing about China's geopolitical complexity would say, ‘Hmm, I see. Fascinating.’

但倘若這位外國友人對中國的情況一知半解，他很可能會咧著嘴，意味深長地沖我笑笑，說：“哈哈，沒錯！”甚至還會拍拍我的肩。If, however, this lao wai has some knowledge of China, chances are he or she would break into a knowing grin and say, ‘Ha-ha, yes, of course’, accompanied, possibly, by a pat on my shoulder.

我只在崇明島生活過兩年，當時我很小，但那兩年里發(fā)生的事情，至今記憶猶新。I spent two years on that island in my early childhood, but I still remember to this day many of the things that happened in that period.

母親欽萍是宜興人。My mother, QIN Ping, was born in Yixing. 介紹宜興，簡單多了。如果對方問起宜興在哪里，或者他們的表情顯示他們正在腦海里搜索宜興在中國版圖上的位置，我就會給他們一個提示：“紫砂茶壺……”對方十有八九就會接茬：“哦，那個宜興?！盰ixing is much easier to explain. If I am asked where Yixing is, or when my interlocutor appears to be searching their mental map to ‘geotag’ the place by that name, I would drop a hint, like a virtual pin on the ‘map’: ‘Purple clay teapots... ring a bell?’ Nine times out of ten, ding... a light would flash on in their head: ‘Oh, that Yixing.’如果對方是老外，那就再補充一點細節(jié)吧：“那個用泥巴做傳統(tǒng)茶壺的城市，離上海不遠。”If they are foreigners, a little more detail wouldn't hurt: ‘The town where the classic clay tea sets are made, not too far from Shanghai.’這點信息，想必足矣，因為如果他們連泥巴燒制的茶壺都不知道，那么再費口舌恐怕也是徒勞無功。That would be sufficient information for them. If they have never seen or even heard of the ‘classic clay tea sets’from China, what good would any extra trivia do? 說實話，宜興我沒去過，挺慚愧的。Truth be known, I have never been to Yixing, I am embarrassed to admit. 不過我已經(jīng)承諾自己了：有生之年肯定會去，絕不抱憾終身。But all is not lost: Visiting Yixing is definitely on my bucket list.

認識我的人多半以為我是南京“桿子”。I'm known to many of my friends as the ‘chap from Nanjing’. 但那僅僅因為我生在南京，多年后又在那里上了大學。But that's only because I was born in Nanjing and, many years later, went to university in that city. 我在南京的經(jīng)歷，按下不表，至少本書暫且略過。I'll leave the me-and-Nanjing stories till later. In fact, I don't think I'll cover them in this book.

現(xiàn)在說說我長大的地方——江蘇興化。Moving on to where I grew up... it's a place called Xinghua. 所謂我“長大”的地方，就是我童年生活最久的地方。光陰荏苒十二載。By ‘where I grew up’, I mean the place where I spent the better part of my childhood. I lived there for 12 years in total.

興化三部曲，分別是三歲前、五歲至十歲、十歲至十四歲。這三個階段的軌跡，可比作鐘擺，來回振蕩：縣城、鄉(xiāng)下、縣城。My life in Xing-hua can be divided into three phases: up to age three; five to 10; and 10 to 14. A dotted line that connects these phases would describe the trajectory of a pendulum swing: three years in the county town, five years in a village and four years back in the county town. 有心人或許會納悶：“三歲至五歲呢？人間蒸發(fā)了？難不成被外星人拐走了？”An observant reader might be wondering: What happened to you age three to five? Where did you disappear to? Were you a victim of alien abduction? 當然不是，據(jù)說外星人綁架只是一種幻覺。那兩年，我呆在父親的老家崇明，上文提過的吧？No, I wasn't.（Apparently, alien abduction is just a figment of imagination.）I was in Chongming, my father's hometown. I have already mentioned it, haven't I?

與父母合影。（攝影：欽群）With my parents.（photo by Qin Qun）