I Believe

My daughter, Xiao-Wei, is doing her final year at RGS. If I'm not wrong, literature reading is an important element in her adolescent life. Although she hasn’t attempted any serious writing earnestly, like many other young girls in her school, she has already read hundreds of novels. At sixteen, she may still be searching for her own path, but I do think that one day she’ll find writing a part of her life.

Below is an article that she wrote in her blog.

I Believe – by Xiao Wei

[Adopted from Neil Gaiman, one of the most fantastic authors ever, from the book American Gods, also another fantastic book which I highly recommend]

It's a spur of the moment thing and Shiing looked through it (Whee thanks!)

I believe in magic and that one day I will receive my letter to Hogwarts and I believe that what JK Rowling said is true. I believe in gods that are just there to help me whenever I have exams and that gods have a written book that says what will happen will happen. I believe in fate and luck and four leaf clovers and that success is absolutely reliant on hard work. I believe in miracles, that some things happen for a reason and that we control our own destiny. I believe that toys have feelings and I believe manufacturers are controlling the world. I believe that the world will end and humans will die out and I believe that we will one day save the world. I believe that books are really written by the Great Automatic Grammatizator and that the pen is mightier than the sword even though it is both unrealistic and true. I believe that giants, elves and fairies exist, that mice rule the world and that human beings are the most advanced beings on this planet. I believe in natural selection and GM food and I believe that organic farming is the way to go and that it can save the world. I believe we can live our lives happily if we choose to and that we are doomed to be miserable. I believe that success is relative, that success is measurable and that success is what happens when you decide it will. I believe in equality between genders, in feminism and that homosexuality is right and wrong and that no one can really answer that question. I believe that human lives are valuable and that the growing population is killing the earth. I believe that the government knows more about us than we know about ourselves and that the right to privacy is an illusion. I believe in aliens and extraterrestrial life and that there really is a sentient being named Jane. I believe humans can go to space and that we are stupid for not doing so and I believe nothing will happen before we die out. I believe that cynicism is wrong and apathy should be punished and that human emotions cannot be helped. I believe in love at first sight and the institution of marriage and that no one is biologically capable of staying faithful. I believe in praying, that faith will save us one day and that religion is a waste of time even though everyone should have one. I believe that I have the power to change the world, that tertiary institutions are a person’s ultimate goal and that my education is useless anyway. I believe that the world is insane and that it makes a different sense to different people. I believe that we are really colour-blind and that dogs are the ones that see the real colours. I believe that life is all a show, that life is what happens, that life is a gift and a curse, and that life is what goes on anyway.

床前明月光

2001年初冬。美国宾州，靠近匹兹堡一个叫Greensburg的小镇。

约摸十一月底，落叶已尽，尚未下雪，温度近零。天色沉得很，才下午四点，大地一片昏暗，寒风萧瑟，心情寂寥。

放工后接了女儿，一同在外用餐，然后便急急回到住所。只因天色太暗，没了在外溜达的心情。

一样的生活情节：做点家务事，给女儿复习功课，给儿子打电话，十点钟看电视，十一点开始上床睡觉。

我的住所在一座小丘上，背着一片树林，晚上非常寂静。

记得刚到宾州时，问了人事部一个专接待外派到宾州职员的日本女同事：“须要买把枪自卫吗？”那位移民到美国已数十年，快要到退休年龄的日本同事听了失笑，说：“有枪更不安全。”

是啊，万一真的来了劫匪，一番挣扎之后，枪开了，劫匪没死，自己先中弹身亡，这情形不难想象。我于是放弃了念头，找来一根棍子放在床头，当安心药用。日本同事又补上一句：“放心，这里治安很好，安全得很。”

我还是不放心让女儿独睡一个房间，太没安全感了，故买了一张双人大床，和八岁大的女儿共睡。美国的床都高高的，女儿当年要踮着脚才爬得上去。房间在二楼，因为床高，躺着也能透着窗看到屋外的地面。

女儿先睡，我关了门、熄了灯才上床。我侧躺了一会，正要合上双眼，猛然间，看到窗外的油泊路湿湿的发着亮光，像铺上了一层霜雪，我心中一撼：“下雪了么？”我坐起身来，想看个究竟，才发原来只是月光反射在被露水铺湿了的路上，不是雪。

我下意识地抬头一望，只见一轮明月照窗前，心中一惊：“这难道不是李白《静思夜》的翻版么？”

那动作顺序是一模一样的，而且是那么的自然：先是“床前明月光”，朦胧中惊鸿一瞥，便会“疑是地上霜”，接下来自然而然的就“举头望明月”，如此情景，当然要“低头思故乡”了。

从此，我对这首诗有了新的诠释。

李诗仙终究是李诗仙，简简单单二十字便传诵千古。若非亲身经历，不能深切体会诗中真谛，我有幸了。