《這一見的風情》

— 初寫於2020年，英譯於2026年 —

昨日西峰（West Peak）底下，走過帝王花開。今日忽然興起，亟欲橫跨開普山脈，駕車遂向東去，朝「卡魯植物園」（Karoo Botanical Garden）出發。最後一瞥，海濱從後視鏡消失，一個鐘頭的快意馳騁，終於在胡格諾隧道之前，捨捷徑繞遠路，只為開普風光。迂迴向上，山脈橫斷天際，群峰競比峻峭，心無眷戀的藍天，白雲起滅蒼穹；翠綠落下，山坡遍佈莊園，醉飲美酒的大地，金黃翻滾田野。這一見的風情，封城以來，值得等待。

寒冬啊，尚未逝去，花兒卻隨國道一路奔放，親臨彷彿春天。抵達園區，春色更深了，奔放到此的花兒一朵朵，昂首屹立於天地之間。卡魯荒地氣候乾燥，降雨量低日夜溫差大，所以孕育的花兒都是帶勁的花兒。線條大膽而層次鮮明，真實自我而率性創造；昂首向天際，花兒儘管微小，不畏荒漠險惡，力量就是微笑。午後陽光格外溫暖，走在微笑花間，感染奔放活力的是賞花人，孩子這般好奇探視，欣賞其堅韌中柔軟的風姿，讚嘆色彩盛大，美麗獨自體會。

深入園區，不曾見過的植物類別，底下標誌多有「蘆薈」（ALOE）字眼，奇形怪狀且顏色特異，引人遐思。一個出神，立即穿越宇宙洪荒，億萬年這個模樣；一個回神，彈指回歸現代文明，剎那間如此渺茫。

緩緩前行，踏上健行步道，按入口解說，只消三十分，即能登高望遠。荒地亦有野花遍布，不受人工束縛。

這一見的風情，別有風景。奇岩怪石遍滿荊棘，塵世彷彿遠離，今夕不知何夕。武陵人是否？興許是吧，興許是朵荒漠的花，默默綻放靜靜凋零，將美麗歸還天地。

The Charm of This Glimpse

— First written in 2020; translated into English in 2026 —

Yesterday beneath West Peak, I walked past the blooming king proteas. Today, on a sudden whim, eager to cross the Cape mountains, I turned the car east, setting out for the Karoo Botanical Garden. One last glance, and the coastline vanished from the mirror; an hour of swift and pleasurable driving, and just before the Huguenot Tunnel I gave up the short way for the long way round, for the sake of the Cape scenery alone. Winding upward, the range cut across the sky, peak vying with peak in steepness; the blue heaven, its heart free of any lingering attachment, let white cloud rise and fade across its vault; green fell away below, estates covering the hillsides, the earth drunk on fine wine, gold rolling and tumbling through the fields. The charm of this glimpse—since the lockdown, well worth the waiting.

Winter, bitter still, had not yet gone, and yet the flowers ran wild the whole way along the national road, as if spring itself had come in person. Reaching the gardens, spring deepened further, flower after flower breaking forth, heads lifted high between heaven and earth. The Karoo is a land of dry climate, low in rain, its day and night swinging far apart—and so the flowers it nurses are all flowers full of vigour. Bold in line, sharp in layer, true to their own selves and freely becoming themselves; heads lifted to the sky, small as they are, unafraid of the wildernesss danger—and their strength is nothing but their smile. The afternoon sun was unusually warm, and walking among the smiling flowers, it was the visitor who caught their unrestrained vigour—like a child, curious to look closer, admiring the softness within their toughness, marvelling at the grandness of their color, the beauty known only to oneself, alone.

Deeper into the garden, kinds of plant I had never seen before, the labels beneath them often bearing the word ALOE—strange in shape and singular in colour, calling up endless musing. One wandering thought, and I stood in the worlds first beginning—they had worn this form for hundreds of millions of years. One returning thought, and civilization came back in the span of a finger-snap, suddenly small and distant.

Slowly on, I stepped onto the hiking trail; by the sign at the entrance, thirty minutes only would bring me up to where the view opened wide. Even the waste ground was strewn with wildflowers, bound by no human hand.

The charm of this glimpse—a landscape all its own. Strange rocks and grotesque stones lay thick with thorn and bramble; the dusty world seemed to fall far away, and I no longer knew what evening this was. Was I the man of Wuling? Perhaps so—or perhaps I was a flower of the desert, blooming in silence, withering in quiet, giving its beauty back to heaven and earth.