Sammie H.

TRANSCRIPTS

我們小時候，回想起來特別快樂，因為台灣人口還不超過1000萬，自然環境特別好，處處都是魚蝦、飛鳥。我覺得最快樂的就是到自然界去遊玩，尤其當時的經濟環境不像現在那麼寬裕。
我們很多東西都到河溝、海邊去找，小時候看到河裡面有魚蝦等等，大概就是想盡辦法把它抓起來，有一種特別快樂的成就感。尤其以前的田埂裡面全部都布滿著小蝦、大肚魚，我們只要割完稻，那一根竹竿去趕，一下子、沒有半個小時，就拿了一大簍的大肚魚回家，回家之後就拿到鍋子裡去炒，但這還不是最快樂的。

我們小時候，沒有冷氣、沒有電風扇，我在唸小學時，國小門口有一個專門賣冰淇淋的店，那時候的冰淇淋很簡單，其實就是一個竹子，然後放著一個冰棒，是不是開水做的，我們還不曉得，有加糖，吃起來又涼又冰，好舒服！以前大多數家庭的孩子多，收入又少，很少會有家長會給予孩子多餘的零用錢去買這些東西。
我住的地方三芝鄉北新莊，都是橘子園，夏天的時候很多蟬，也就是現在的夏蟬、秋蟬，這些蟬會從地下爬上來，它們爬到橘子樹和橘子葉上面，它會停在那邊，慢慢的背部裂開、拖殼，蟬會爬出他的殼，那個蟬殼拿來做中藥材最好。我們只要去撿7個蟬殼，就可以去換一支冰棒，那個冰棒很好吃。我們很多同學放學以後，以前沒有補習、升學競爭，大家都到橘子園的樹林裡面去找蟬殼。隔天，用一個竿子把它串成一串，有時候去冰店，我們撿了四五十個蟬殼，換了五六支冰棒，現在回想起來，在熱天裡，沒有冷氣享受、沒有風扇吹拂，吃起冰，心裡面感到好爽喔！

我們這些同學有事沒事，就會用竹筍上面的一種特別漂亮的蟲，鼻子很長，長的很像台灣的金龜子，但不是同一種蟲，我們都去撿這種蟲，用一根繩子把蟲子綁在繩子上，一晃，它就會飛，看起來很漂亮。
我們以前也會抓蜻蜓來玩，我們是怎麼抓到它們的呢？就是拿蜻蜓身體的一部份，綁在鐵絲或繩子上，一甩，其他的蜻蜓看見了就來吃，黏著那隻蜻蜓不放，這樣子就會抓到好多隻蜻蜓，抓起來用一個籠子裝起來，非常好玩。

When we were young, we were very happy in retrospect. Taiwan's population still hadn’t passed up 10 million and the environment was doing really well. There were fish and shrimp, birds everywhere. I think the happiest thing is going into nature, especially since back then the economy wasn’t doing as well as it is now.
We’d go in search of things in the brooks and at the seaside. As a kid, I could see fish, shrimp, and such in the water and tried my best to catch them.There was a particular sense of accomplishment that came out of it. Especially back then, the field gullies were full of small shrimp and mosquitofish. We’d finish cutting and reaping the paddy rice then we’d go at the fish with a bamboo pole. Within half an hour, we’d have a big basketful of mosquitofish to take straight home and stir-fry. But this wasn’t even the happiest part.
When we were young, there weren’t air conditioners or electric fans. When I was in elementary school, there was an ice cream shop at the entrance of the school. At that time, ice cream was very simple, a popsicle frozen inside of bamboo. Who knows if it was made from boiled water but it had sugar added to it and tasted cool and icy, so refreshing.
In the past, most families had many children and little income. You didn’t really see parents giving children extra pocket money to buy their own things. Where I lived in northern Xinzhuang, Sanzhi Township, it was all orange orchards. In the summer there were a lot of cicadas, what we still call the summer cicadas and autumn cicadas. These cicadas climb out of the ground then up onto the orange trees and their leaves, where they stop to slowly molt, splitting from the back of their shell then at last climbing out. That cicada shell made for some of the best traditional Chinese medicine. All we had to do was find seven cicada shells, in order to exchange them for a popsicle. Those popsicles were delicious. We had a lot of classmates who, when school let out – there weren’t cram schools or competition for further education back then - would all go into the orchard grove in search of cicada husks. The next day, we’d skewer them together on a pole. Sometimes we’d show up to the ice shop with 40 to 50 cicada shells and exchange them for five or six popsicles. Looking back now on those hot days without air-conditioning to enjoy or fans blowing, but with popsicles to eat, I feel so refreshed inside.
When these same classmates had nothing to do, there was a particularly beautiful kind of bug we could find on the bamboo shoots. It had a long nose, so long it almost looked like a Taiwanese scarab. It was a different insect though. We’d take the bug and tie it to a string and as soon as we wiggled the string, the bug would take to the air. It was beautiful.
We also used to catch dragonflies to play with. And how did we catch them? We would tie a piece of dragonfly to a string or cord. When we wiggled the cord, other dragonflies would see it and come to eat it. You could catch a lot of dragonflies this way, collecting them in a cage. So, we could catch many dragonflies by using this way. It was so much fun.

ARTIST STATEMENT
這幅畫是描述我外公小時候在梯田中玩耍的回憶，40年代的台灣樣貌與現在截然不同，放眼望去，處處可見自然環境與稀奇的生物。外公住的地方三芝鄉北新莊，很多橘子園。他最享受在夕陽餘暉時，與同學在綠意盎然的田埂中，拿著竹戳去抓魚蝦貝類，對於現在的我們來說，這好似一場夢，是多麼不可思議的景象！只見一層層粉紫色的天空映照在清澈的踢天上，朦朧的天空中浮現金黃的太陽，綠油油的橘子園襯托著大地，是一個由大自然主導的王國。我希望大家在欣賞這幅畫時，能有種身歷其境的感受，體會由自然界覆蓋的世界。我也希望外公看到這幅畫時，會心一笑，彷彿他的童年時光又再次映入眼簾。

Taiwan is very different now than it was in the 1940s; the population hadn’t reached 10 million and the economy wasn’t doing as well as it is now. Everything was natural and unpolluted. In the picture, we can see layers of pinkish-purple sky reflecting off the clear water. The gold sun emerges from the hazy sky. And the greens made the picture more vivid and lively. To us, everything is unbelievable, it’s like a daydream! I hope you will feel like you experienced this world covered by nature when you look at this painting. I hope that my grandfather will feel touched and warm when he sees this painting. As if his amazing childhood memories are once again reflected in his mind.