土地公的大鱸魚 The Big Bass of the Lord of Land
將近七十年前的事了，當往事在回憶裡漸漸退色消逝時，那天祖父釣魚回來的一幕，猶歷歷如新。
祖父用斷了三節的釣竿，扛著一條大鱸魚回來，一踏進家門就用激動的口吻，比手畫腳的向祖母描述，和這條大魚奮戰的經過。嘴禮一副沒裝牢的假牙，一上一下不停的跳動，當時尚幼小的我聽了半天，也不清楚他講什麼，只記得那條怪物，和我長得一樣高，用雙憤恨不平的大眼睛瞪著我，樣子好可怕。
祖父是道地的釣魚迷，同伴們都叫他土地公，那到不是說他很靈，能釣很多魚，而是嘲笑他整天在同一個地方坐著，一動也不動，卻不見他釣上半條魚。年近古稀的祖父如此看來，倒真有點像土地公。
既然釣不到魚，卻又喜歡釣，為了應付嘮叨的祖母，他老人家常繞道魚市場，買幾條魚回來騙祖母，說是他釣的，不過這次看他這麼興奮，說得口沫橫飛的樣子，至今我還深信不疑，那條大魚確是他釣的。
It's nearly seventy years ago, and the bygone is fading in the memories. But, the day when Grandpa came back from fishing was just like yesterday.
It cost Grandpa's fishing rod, which was broken into three pieces, to bring back the big bass. Arriving home, Grandpa excitedly described to Grandma with frantic gesticulation how he fought the big bass. It was so lively that Grandpa's denture was hanging up and down in his mouth while he was telling the story. I was very young back then and watched Grandpa with his mouth open and closed, mumbling. All I remembered was the monster-like bass,whose length matched my height, staring at me with eyes full of rage.
My grandfather was literally a fishing maniac. His friends called him the Lord of Land.It didn't mean that he could catch so many fish which seemed humanly impossible; instead,he won the title because he could sit still all day long like a stature without catching any fish.With his old age, he indeed looked like the Lord of Land when sitting still.
Since he could barely catch any fish but was so into fishing, he might as well buy some fish from the market on his way home pretending he caught them, so as to avoid Grandma's nagging. But this time, seeing him get so excited, I firmly believe till now that he really caught the big bass himself.
土地公的孫子 Grandson of the Lord of Land
有如此的祖父，必有這樣的孫子。我尚不會握筆寫字，就能扛著竹竿去釣魚了。
早上往往第一個起床，帶著空沙丁魚罐，跑到菜市場磚牆下一條臭水溝邊去挖蚯蚓。一個炎熱的下午，也是六十多年前的事了。
當時田中無論哪一條小溪，都有數不清，今日已罕見的魚。成群好玩的小蝦米，濃妝艷抹的「三斑魚」，一身黑色燕尾服的「土殺」，還有吃相粗野，呆頭呆腦的「姑呆」。
我把一條「活跳跳」的蚯蚓穿到魚鉤上，她就像條光溜溜的鋼管女郎，纏繞著魚鉤搖屁股。好奇的小蝦米們先來圍觀，跟著土殺也挽著三斑小姐過來欣賞。美味當前，三斑想嚐一口，土殺忙制止她，然後搖著兩撇鬍鬚游出水面，等看到石頭上的小孩，又連忙趕下去警告女友。
任性的三斑不聽，和細心的土殺吵了起來，這時洞中午睡的姑呆也被吵醒了，牠揉著眼皮，探頭洞外，光屁股的鋼管女郎，使牠眼睛一亮，搶過來一口吞下，水上的浮標不見了，我忙拉起釣竿，大姑呆尚不知怎麼回事，吊在半空中掙扎。
不久，時間過的真快，太陽公公紅著臉，擦著額頭的汗珠要下山了，這時對岸草叢中的青蛙，才想起牠的任務似的叫了起來。
『天黑啦，該回家啦，再晚媽媽會罵你啦。』
我回到家時，天確已全黑，媽媽看我一臉髒兮兮，心虛的表情，罵不出口來。我乘機雙手捧出哪條大姑呆要她煮，她說聲「這麼小啊」，接著就提起姑呆的尾巴往窗外一丟，窗下祖母養的紅臉番鴨一口接住，伸長脖子嚥下，跟著拍兩下翅膀，聒聒叫了幾聲，左右搖著大屁股，高高興興的走開了。
第二天，我又起個大早去挖蚯蚓，坐在同塊石頭上發呆：『今天我一定要釣一條大魚，好嗆死那可惡的番鴨了，每次我不小心走過牠的老巢，牠就扮關公突然衝出來咬我。』
我想像那紅臉番鴨嚥不下大魚，臉紅得發紫得樣子，覺得好玩又開心。可是左等右等，就是等不到半條魚來光顧。我無聊的哼起兒歌：
天烏烏，要落雨。
鯽仔魚，要娶某（妻）。
田嬰（蜻蜓）夯（舉）旗喝艱苦。
水蛙（青蛙）扛轎大腹肚。
說也奇怪，不等我唱完，天真的「烏烏」了起來，還及時趕來一尾要去迎娶的「鯽仔魚」，經不起鋼管女郎的誘惑，過來親她屁股。
我及時拉起釣竿，釣起這條好色的準新郎。正當我從魚鉤上拆下他時，忽然來了一道閃光，撕破眼前「烏烏」的天空，摔出一聲巨雷，擊中對岸草叢，驚醒的「水蛙」，及時跳出，使勁的鼓起牠的「大腹肚」，狂叫了起來：
『不得了啦！西北雨啦！快逃啊！衣服淋濕，媽媽這次會拿竹子打你啦！』
我飛也似的跑，一路上轟隆、轟隆、發怒的雷公在背後趕我，還不停的往我頭上，倒下傾盆大雨，等我飛進家門時，已是一隻不折不扣的落湯雞了。媽媽看我一副慘兮兮，要哭的樣子，非但打不出手，還拿出乾毛巾，擦乾我的頭和臉。我破涕為笑，得意的捧出我的大魚，她問聲「只有一條啊？」，然後不由分說就拿起大葉刀，把鯽仔魚剁成四塊，一起拋出窗外。
我掩起臉不忍看，只聽那可惡的紅面番鴨在窗下連叫了幾聲，等我從臉上放下手時，剛好目送牠不停的搖著大屁股，又得意洋洋的走開了。
第N天，我又去釣魚了，當然又坐在那塊石頭上。今天我想我要釣條大鱸魚，比阿公的還要大，上次阿公那條大魚，阿嬤煮紅燒魚頭，炸魚排，還有魚骨湯，我們一家人吃了三天三夜也吃不完。
很快天又黑了，對岸草叢中那隻青蛙，這次唱了起來：
小小土地公，
神格不高，
法力有限，
志氣無窮。
天天坐在同一塊石頭上，
要釣海龍王。
我拾起身邊一塊小石子丟牠，牠噗通一聲跳進水裡不見了，就在這時浮標在水面上慢慢滑行，我試著拉一拉釣竿，好重，好像有誰故意躲在水底下拉著不放，我用盡氣力終於拉上來了，一條長長的東西，在空中扭成一團。
『鰻魚！』，我叫了起來。
可是當我把那團東西拉近身邊時，牠卻忽然鬆開，一條胳脖粗，足足兩尺長的大鰻魚，赫然呈現在眼前。我高興的伸手要去捉牠，牠卻笑著頻頻向我吐舌頭。
我把釣竿往水上一丟，回頭就跑，天已全黑，一隻好心的小螢火蟲，提著小燈籠，幫我照亮眼前狹窄的田埂，我每跑兩步，就覺得有條黑影從腳前搶過。一滾進家門，我就大嚷：
『媽媽救命啊！蛇?蛇?蛇公公咬我！』。
Like grandfather, like grandson. When I was still too young to hold a pen to write, I had carried the fishing rod out for fishing. Usually I was the first in the family to wake up in the morning, bringing an empty sardine can as the container for angleworms, which I dogged out from a stinky gully at the corner of a brick wall in the market.
paddies were full of fish, many of which are hard to come by nowadays. There were shrimps playing with each other, paradise fish wearing colorful make-ups, white spotted clarias dressing up in black tuxedo, and silly Chinese snake head (Channa asiatica) devouring food. When I put an angleworm on the hook alive and kicking, it would swing the tail around the hook like a naked pole dancer. Curious shrimps came first gathering around to watch the show, and then the white spotted clarias came to join, taking with him the lady paradise fish.While the paradise fish approached the worm for a bite, the white spotted clarias stopped her and then slowly swam up to the surface with two large whiskers hanging around. As soon as he glimpsed at the boy on the rock, he immediately dived down to warn his girl friend, the lady paradise fish. But, the lady paradise fish didn’t buy it, and so they two got into a fight.The noise awoke the sleeping Chinese snake head. As he saw the angleworm, without second thoughts, he swiftly went for a bite, but was then pulled up by me. The silly Chinese snake head still didn’t know what was going on, struggling up in the air.
Time goes by like flying. The sun turned red as it went down below the horizon. It was then the frog in the bushes began to realize that it was time for him to do his job, gulping "It’s getting dark, and it’s time to go home. Your Mom will scold you."
When I got home, it was all dark. Seeing me with dirt and guilt all over the face, Mom could hardly blame me. At that moment, I took out the big fish with both hands, asking her to cook it, but she just said "It is so tiny." Then she took the fish by its tail and threw it out of the window. Under the window was grandma’s red-faced duck, who caught the fish with his mouth and swallowed it down his long neck. He flipped his wings and shouted a few times,and then went away shaking his butt happily.
On the following day, I got up early again and went for worm digging. Sitting on the same rock, I thought, "I must catch a big one today; so big that it can choke the red-faced duck to death. Every time I walk by his nest by accident, he rushes out to bite me." As I image the red-faced duck choked by the fish, whose red face turned to purple, I felt funny and happy.I waited and waited, but there was no fish coming to eat the worm. Feeling bored, I started to sing the children's ballad:
"The sky is dark, it looks like rain,
and the crucian carp wants to get married.
A dragonfly waves a flag, saying that it was a hard job to do,
and a frog with a big belly carries the sedan chair.........."
Strangely, before I finished the song, the sky was really getting dark, and it did seem torain. At the same time, a crucian carp was in a hurry to go to its wedding but was seduced by the pole dancer. As he came to kiss her butt, I pulled out the rod in time to catch this horny bridegroom. While I got him off the hook, a thunder slit through the sky with a loud noise and hit the bush on the other side of the creek. Waken up, the frog jumped out and blew his big belly, shouting like crazy.
"This is serious; there is a thunder storm out of the blue. You should run away soon,otherwise Mom would punish you with a spank for getting wet."
I ran so fast like flying, and the thunders followed me all the way. Having been poured with heavy rain, I was all soaked when I finally got home. As I was so miserable and almost burst into tears, Mom did not punish me but dried my hair and face with a towel. I smiled and proudly showed her the big fish. "Just one?" she said and then chopped it into four pieces with a big knife. When she threw them out of the window altogether, I covered my eyes and could not bear to watch. All I heard was the duck shouting several times under the window,and when I uncovered my face, I was just in time to watch the duck walk away shaking his big butt happily again.
Many days later, I went for fishing again and sat on the same rock, of course. I would like to catch a large fish that was bigger than the one caught by Grandpa. With that fish,Grandma made deep fried fish head, fish fillets, and fish bone soup. The whole family could not finish the dishes after three days.
The sky got dark soon again, and the frog in the bush on the other side of the creek sang:
"The little Lord of the Land does not have a high status and has limited power.
However, he has endless ambition and sits on the same rock day after day,
wishing to catch the Lord of the Sea."
I picked up a pebble and threw at him. He jumped into the water and disappeared. At this moment, seeing the bobber slowly sliding through the surface, I pulled the rod a little bit.It was heavy and felt like someone under the water was dragging it. I gave it all to pull it out of the water and saw a long thing coiling in the air. "Eel," I shouted.
But, when I pulled it closer, the coil suddenly got loose and became a two-foot eel as large as my arm right in front of me. I was so happy and tried reaching out to catch it, but it grinned at me with a long tongue sticking in and out of its mouth. I threw the rod up in the air immediately and ran for my life. The sky was completely dark, and a kind firefly put up a small lantern to light up the narrow path in the rice paddy. I felt a long shadow passing me every other step I took. On arrival at home, I shouted,
"Mom, help! Snake! Snake! A snake is trying to bite me!"
序文 - 斑比與大莉 Preface - Banbie and Lily
如此這般，我自幼就是傻傻的，笨手笨腳，腦中半個藝術細胞也沒有，不過來自祖父的毅力，倒承繼不少。
你可能在這本影集中，找不到一張作品，能同時符合攝影的三大要件：精確的對焦、動人的光影和巧妙的構圖。但卻有可能發現幾張照片的確不容易拍到，甚至使你懷疑，它們是不是合成的，或且是安排的。
其實，我是個電腦文盲，也從未進過暗房，更沒有能力安排一個場景。
對我來說，拍到什麼，遠比拍好什麼重要得多。何況，我認為意外是攝影的一大樂趣，我寧願花時間等機會，等，本來就是我的專長。
你也可能懷疑，照片先後次序，或且「故事」的進展，好像太巧了，這也是我花了比拍照更多時間，不厭其煩排列又重排的結果。
請不要把這本影集當漫畫書看，每一張照片，可都是機會與耐心的結晶，決不是要什麼，就能畫出什麼。
至於照片下的對話，當然不是長臂猿說的，不過長臂猿和人一樣，是有感情的，而且表情豐富。你假如肯多花一點時間，仔細看照片，必也能從心裡，而不是由耳朵，聽到一樣的話。
最後，我想你一定有興趣知道，我為什麼而且如何拍這一系列作品。
2002年初，那又是四年多前的事了，我剛完成「天鵝湖」影集，連續幾天的綿綿細雨後，天突然放晴，我背著相機，趕到動物園去曬太陽，卻不期然看到長臂猿母女這動人的一幕：媽媽用舌頭細心的從臉到手，舔著生下沒幾天的寶寶，眼中閃著母愛的光芒，使我禁不住想起母親。我當下就許下心願，要好好拍她們。
就這樣我開始了苦難又漫長的四個年頭，我幾乎天天守在長臂猿區，哪怕下雨或大太陽，從不間斷。每當沈重的相機使我手酸，久站使我腳麻，年紀使我頭昏眼花想離開時，總會聽到祖父在我耳際鼓勵我說：『孩子，要有耐心了，大鱸魚就來了。』
2006 年、母親節、於台北。
As it goes, I am slow and clumsy, without any of artistic traits. But, I did bear the perseverance inherited from my grandfather.
In this album, you might not be able to identify one single photo that contains the three main elements of a good work: precise focus, touching contrast of lights and shadows, and brilliant composition. You might, however, find some snapshots that are not easy to catch and make you wonder whether they were doctored or prearranged. Actually, I am computer-illiterate and never have a chance to work in a dark room, not to mention arranging a scene intentionally. As far as I am concerned, what I really catch matters more than how I present it. In addition, chance is part of the fun in photography, and I am willing to wait for a long period of time to catch one. Waiting has been one thing that I am really good at.
You might also wonder sometimes why the order of the photos or the development of the story is something more than a coincidence. What you see is the product of my time put into rearranging the photos again and again, which is more than the time I spent in taking them. So, please don't regard this album as a comic book. Each of the photos is the combination of chance and patience. It is not like making a comic book, when you can draw whatever you want.
As to the dialogue that goes along with the photos, it is of course not real. Nevertheless,gibbons have affections like humans, and they have a lot of expressions. If you could spend more time looking at the pictures, you can also hear what they try to express through your heart, not through your ears.
Finally, I think you might be interested in knowing why and how I took this series of photos. Back in early 2002, which was four years ago, my debut album was just published.With a few days of drizzling, the weather suddenly turned sunny. When I carried my cameras and rushed to the Zoo to get a sun bath, I accidentally caught the touching scene of gibbon's mother-daughter interaction: the mother licking the new-born baby from head to toe with glittering in her eyes. The scene reminded me of my mother, and I made a wish that I shall take pictures of them to keep a record.
So there started my lengthy four-year journey full of bitterness. I stayed mostly in the Gibson Area of the Taipei Zoo, rain or shine. When I felt sore and numb holding the camera, my grandfather's words echoing in my ears: "Kid, be patient! The big bass is coming!"
Mother's Day, 2006, Taipei
