豹的步伐與雅枝竹的芳容
修道院的中午，正在吃午飯，愛絲在對面坐下來，碟子裡只有幾枚雅枝竹，真是吃得清爽。她把葉子一片一剝下來放進嘴裡，吃得津津有味。我不禁想到聶魯達（Pablo Neruda）的《給雅枝竹的公?詩》：
不過然後馬莉亞來了/帶着她的籃子/她選一枚雅枝竹/她不害怕它/她檢驗它/觀察它……
喜愛意大利和法國文學的編輯愛絲說她不知道這首詩。但愛絲懂得雅枝竹，又喜歡吃它，反而好像幫助我更進一步去了解聶魯達的詩。
這使我想起，幾天前臨離開巴黎，與女兒遊河上岸，無意中踏進植物公園，看見籠子裡的豹，想起不正是里爾克（R.M. Rilke）寫過的豹嗎？現實的事物驟眼看來跟詩中寫的完全兩樣，只不過，耐心留駐、留神細看，又會看出一些端倪！
怎麼樣？
里爾克有名的〈豹〉（Der Panther）詩，正寫於他初抵巴黎，學習觀察世界的階段。他從羅丹學會觀看，塞尚™七年在巴黎秋季的紀念展覽給他留下不可磨滅的影響。他入迷地吸收法國文化精妙之處，又從現實細看巴黎的美與醜。他從日常細微事物入手，參觀植物園，寫出有名的〈豹〉。我們年輕的時候，耳熟能詳的是這樣的句子：
牠的眼前劃過一道道鐵柵眼光疲倦再也看不見甚麼看出去好似有成千的鐵柵成千的鐵柵以外沒有天地
到
年紀大了，自己嘲諷自己：不要老談詩，人家會不耐煩的。到出差講學、與女兒旅行，更不想老是執著自己喜歡的詩，不一定要流連書店，不必要用詩行中的經驗來
代替生活的經驗，也就沒有特別尋訪文學家的足跡了。坐船遊河，上岸稍歇，中步入植物園，女兒喜歡白犁牛，麋鹿和駱駝，信步走來，竟也走到豹的籠前了。我也
是第一次來到。看著豹在那兒踏步，突然想到未想強記的詩人、忘懷了的詩句……只不過，籠裡是比較寬敞的空地，有樹葉和枝枝，豹也有可以走動的空間、可以隱身的岩石和樹叢。我忍不住想：自己過去從詩中體會的想像：是豹囚在狹窄的鐵柵囚籠裡，來回踏著沉重的步伐，而詩人通過細緻的觀察，寫出這生物沉重的肉體感受。
現在，看著眼前的豹，我不禁想：我和許多解詩人也許都錯了，我們局限在詩句的囚籠中。書本只是書本吧了。我們未必真能捕捉到現實的生態。
要
離開了。忽然又轉出一頭白色的豹，踏著「那柔韌而穩健的步伐」，向我們走來，卻又突然一個急轉圈，向那邊走過去，走了幾步，又突然一個急轉圈，拐回來。我
愕然了，空間的確是比我想像中寬敞，但這豹，在這寬敞的空間中，卻只是「兜著最狹小的圓圈踏轉」！我知道不是所有的豹都是這樣，這頭也肯定不是詩人所見那
頭豹，我和二十世紀初的詩人之間，隔了無數的豹。但我終於謙卑地對那詩的觀察有了現實的體會，令我想重讀他最早的作品。
愛
絲在吃雅枝竹，令我注意起這過去沒有特別留意的。我記得最先知道它︳還是來自讀聶魯達的詩。聶魯達除了寫美洲的歷史和地理、馬曹比曹的廢墟，也寫過蕃茄和
雅枝竹這些日常蔬果。那時香港還不常見。聶魯達寫得可愛，我想去譯它，查了一下：唔，是希臘羅馬己有的，神話裡宙斯愛上的女子，要把她變成天神，她卻懷戀
人間，宙斯一怒之下，便把她變成一株植物。盛產於南歐一帶，屬向日葵科，一年四季都有。Artichoke據說來自北意articiocco一字，有松子之意，又說來自阿拉伯文al' qarshuf，因為摩爾人也從歐洲傳入。後來法籍移民把它帶到美洲，加州也大量培植了。長大後香港買到了，有一個名字叫朝鮮薊，是不是從韓國轉傳過來？西餐桌上也吃到了。把葉子細吮，沒吃出太多的味道。還是記住了聶詩，詩更有味道！***
我
把詩告訴愛絲，她慷慨地讓給我一枚，把雅枝竹與我的詩交換。我們吃的是修道院裡種的，園丁湯姆咋天放進廚房來，還有馬鈴薯、小洋葱和杏子。我愛杏子的鮮
美，原忽略了全副武狀的雅芝竹。幸好有個悠閒的中午，一片一片葉子吃來，最後吃到清新鮮嫰的心，才終於體會到詩中末句：「剝開那美味，細啖平和柔軟青綠的
心」。
清晨醒來，看見愛絲已在山邊花園幫忙澆水。田裡的雅枝竹剛收割了，樣子看來有點頹唐。回到早餐桌上，花瓶裡盛放的紫蕊是甚麼？正是雅枝竹的花朵——它的燦爛一下子都到眼前來了！
這觸動了我，早年寫的未夠深入感受的雅枝竹斷句終於藉著生活的機緣水到渠成而成篇。愛絲說如果我把聶魯達和我的詩寄給她，她會試把它們編成一本美麗的詩畫集，以記這詩與生活的因緣。
***
Artichoke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artichoke
The globe artichoke
(Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) is a variety of a species of thistle
cultivated as a food. The edible portion of the plant consists of the ...
How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke | Simply Recipes
www.simplyrecipes.com/.../how_to_cook_and_eat_an_artic...
40 mins
Apr 16, 2007 - I can imagine, that if you didn't grow up eating artichokes and if you were encountering them for the first time, they might seem a little ...How to Eat an Artichoke - YouTube
Ode To The Artichoke, a poem by Pablo Neruda. poets love Poem at ...
allpoetry.com/poem/8496979-Ode_To_The_Artichoke-by-Pablo_Neruda
Comments and analysis of 'Ode To The Artichoke',Full text of "Letters Of Rainer Maria Rilke 1892 1910" - Internet Archive
archive.org/stream/.../lettersofrainerm030932mbp_djvu.txt
Rilke made it clear in his will that since a part of his creative energy had gone ... to a quiet stream, and he had made his discovery of Cezanne and his paintings.Ode To The Artichoke
The artichoke
With a tender heart
Dressed up like a warrior,
Standing at attention, it built
A small helmet
Under its scales
It remained
Unshakeable,
By its side
The crazy vegetables
Uncurled
Their tendrills and leaf-crowns,
Throbbing bulbs,
In the sub-soil
The carrot
With its red mustaches
Was sleeping,
The grapevine
Hung out to dry its branches
Through which the wine will rise,
The cabbage
Dedicated itself
To trying on skirts,
The oregano
To perfuming the world,
And the sweet
Artichoke
There in the garden,
Dressed like a warrior,
Burnished
Like a proud
Pomegrante.
And one day
Side by side
In big wicker baskets
Walking through the market
To realize their dream
The artichoke army
In formation.
Never was it so military
Like on parade.
The men
In their white shirts
Among the vegetables
Were
The Marshals
Of the artichokes
Lines in close order
Command voices,
And the bang
Of a falling box.
But
Then
Maria
Comes
With her basket
She chooses
An artichoke,
She's not afraid of it.
She examines it, she observes it
Up against the light like it was an egg,
She buys it,
She mixes it up
In her handbag
With a pair of shoes
With a cabbage head and a
Bottle
Of vinegar
Until
She enters the kitchen
And submerges it in a pot.
Thus ends
In peace
This career
Of the armed vegetable
Which is called an artichoke,
Then
Scale by scale,
We strip off
The delicacy
And eat
The peaceful mush
Of its green heart.
With a tender heart
Dressed up like a warrior,
Standing at attention, it built
A small helmet
Under its scales
It remained
Unshakeable,
By its side
The crazy vegetables
Uncurled
Their tendrills and leaf-crowns,
Throbbing bulbs,
In the sub-soil
The carrot
With its red mustaches
Was sleeping,
The grapevine
Hung out to dry its branches
Through which the wine will rise,
The cabbage
Dedicated itself
To trying on skirts,
The oregano
To perfuming the world,
And the sweet
Artichoke
There in the garden,
Dressed like a warrior,
Burnished
Like a proud
Pomegrante.
And one day
Side by side
In big wicker baskets
Walking through the market
To realize their dream
The artichoke army
In formation.
Never was it so military
Like on parade.
The men
In their white shirts
Among the vegetables
Were
The Marshals
Of the artichokes
Lines in close order
Command voices,
And the bang
Of a falling box.
But
Then
Maria
Comes
With her basket
She chooses
An artichoke,
She's not afraid of it.
She examines it, she observes it
Up against the light like it was an egg,
She buys it,
She mixes it up
In her handbag
With a pair of shoes
With a cabbage head and a
Bottle
Of vinegar
Until
She enters the kitchen
And submerges it in a pot.
Thus ends
In peace
This career
Of the armed vegetable
Which is called an artichoke,
Then
Scale by scale,
We strip off
The delicacy
And eat
The peaceful mush
Of its green heart.
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