烤紅薯       徐喚民

    孩子在她的布落格裡捕捉到我吃烤紅薯的鏡頭。大連﹐是六十年來﹐我離故鄉最近的一次。抗戰時期在武當山下出生的我﹐雖然勝利後回過東北﹐卻沒回過「老家」。吃烤紅薯的溫暖記憶﹐是屬於第二故鄉基隆的。基隆冬日多雨﹐小學和中學時代﹐放學步行回家﹐最能驅寒的就是一個熱烘烘的烤紅薯。移民美國後﹐帶孩子們回台灣﹐總在暑假﹐那是吃木瓜冰和紅豆冰的季節。在大連旅途﹐和孩子分享了溫暖甜蜜的烤紅薯﹐我嚥下的卻是「何處是故鄉」的輕愁。

Sweet potato

Our last stop in China was Dalian, a northern port in the Dongbei region. It's my mom's ancestral home. We were walking along the street when she stopped and said, "I want one of those." There was a woman selling freshly baked sweet potatoes out of this portable coal-fired oven. We bought a sweet potato and ate it out of a plastic bag.     –Hsiao-ching Chou