等不到飛魚 no flying fish

等待飛魚衝網

那天達卡安要出海捕飛魚，問我要不要一同去，我當然是開心地答應。跳上他那綠色小機動船，一駛出開元港，就看到船邊有數條尖嘴魚游動著，心想今晚應該是豐收的一次出航。


船往南緩緩開動，天是深灰色，海是墨藍色，我們拿著手電筒不斷地往四周照去，尋找飛魚的蹤跡。突然間，一條銀白的身影自墨藍裡躍出，在深灰中畫過一道弧形，彷彿是在舞台上翩然現身的主角，而手電筒的燈則成了他的聚光燈。雖然只有一瞬間，但我卻覺得時間變慢了。

有別於我的少見多怪，達卡安只是輕描淡寫的說:「那就是飛魚了。」。他說，當飛魚多的時候，他有時還要低頭彎腰才能避免被飛魚撞到，也會有飛魚直接跳上船上(就跟少年pi內的情景一樣)。說畢，他突然問我有沒有衛生紙，原來是他想突然想大便。我沒有衛生紙，他也就找了一個麻布手套，褲子一拉，就坐在船舷上，一邊跟我聊天一邊大便。我不好意思看他大便，將視線移往海裡，這時注意到海面上偶爾有點點亮光。起初還以為是達卡安的漂浮大便造成的反光，後來才知道那藻類的磷光，隨著波浪一閃一閃地。這晚天上沒有星星，海面上到是有不少。

雖然一直沒見到什麼魚群，但達卡安還是下了網，每次與他合力收網時，那200公尺長的網都讓我有收不完的感覺。下了三次網，只網到兩條飛魚，而這兩條飛魚都被我們拿來當餌釣魚。幸好他還有釣到一條牛港，不然今晚就真的完全槓龜了。

回到港口，得知今天除了我們，其他船的收穫都不錯時，
我心裡默默地想，今晚應該不是我帶賽的緣故，而是他在海上棒賽的關係吧....

That day, Da-ka-an asked me if I would like to join him for fishing, and of course I said yes with much joy. Jumping in his small green motor-driven boat, we sailed out from Kai-yuan Harbor. Meanwhile, lots of pipefish joined our trip. I think this trip would be filled with great harvest.

We sailed slowly toward the south; the sky was in deep grey, and the ocean in bark blue. We used torches to trace the fish. Suddenly, a silver line jumped out from the dark blue, which was just like a silver curved line painted on a dark blue canvas. The silver line became the protagonist on a stage, and the torch light became its spotlight. Although its appearance was just in seconds, to me, the time became real slow.

Different from my astonishment, Da-ka-an just mentioned casually that “it’s the flying fish”. He told me that when there are lots of flying fish, we need to bend over in order to avoid being hit; the fish would fly over the boat (just like a scene in “Life of Pi”). Right after this conversation, he asked me if I got any tissue paper…he wanted to take a dump. I got no tissue paper, so he found a sackcloth glove, pulled down his pants, sat by the boat edge, chatted with me, and took his dump. I couldn’t stare in his eyes because of the awkwardness, so I took my eyes to the ocean. I noticed some light on occasion. At first I thought it was Da-ka-an’s stuff, but after a while I found it’s the phosphorous light from the algae, lighting with the rhythm of ocean. There were no stars in the sky, but many in the sea.

Although there weren’t many groups of fish, Da-ka-an still casted the net. Every time we pulled it back, the 200-meter long net made me feel it is endless. We casted the net for three times, we only got two flying fish, which were used as baits afterwards. Eventually, he got a Giant trevally. Otherwise, our fishing number would be zero tonight.

Returning from the ocean, I learned that the fishing of the other boats were great except for us. I thought quietly to myself: I am not the one who carries the shit to cause misfortune; instead, it’s his “real dumping” to cause misfortune I guess…