100. Khòaⁿ tio̍h cha-bó͘ ê sin-iáⁿ lak lo̍h-lâi | 看著查某 ê 身影 lak 落來

100. Khòaⁿ tio̍h cha-bó͘ ê sin-iáⁿ lak lo̍h-lâi

Chia sī óa niû-á-pâng ê chhân-hûiⁿ. Hām Shimamura in tâng-chê kòe lâi ê chng-lāi ê lâng, tōa-pō͘-hūn lóng lâi tī chia.

Khòaⁿ-khoán hóe sī ùi khǹg tiān-iáⁿ-ki ê ji̍p-kháu to̍h khí-lâi ê. Niû-á-pâng chi̍t-pòaⁿ ê chhù-téng hām piah lóng sio khì ah, thiāu-á hām êⁿ-á ê kut-kè iáu tih puh-ian. Chhù lāi-té kan-ta chhù-téng-pang, piah-pang hām tē-pán, lāi-té khang-khang, mā bô sáⁿ-mih ian. Chhù-téng koàn chin chē chúi, khòaⁿ-khoán sī to̍h bē khí-lâi ah. M̄-koh, hóe-íⁿ it-ti̍t sóa-ūi, ùi siūⁿ-bē-kàu ê ūi hut-leh to̍h khí-lâi. Saⁿ-tâi phòng-phù tō kín-kín chōaⁿ-chúi kòe, he hóe-chheⁿ tō phùn khí-lâi, koh chhèng o͘-ian.

He hóe-chheⁿ phùn sòaⁿ kàu thian-hô khì, Shimamura ká-ná koh hō͘ thian-hô khiú khì. O͘-ian chhèng hiàng thian-hô, thian-hô tian-tò hiàng lâu lo̍h-lâi. Chōaⁿ tùi chhù-téng í-gōa ê chúi iô-tāng, piàn chò pe̍h-sek ê chúi-bū, ká-ná sī thian-hô ê kuiⁿ só͘ chiò ê.

M̄-chai tang-sî lâi kàu sin-piⁿ, Komako teⁿ tio̍h Shimamura ê chhiú. Shimamura oa̍t-thâu khòaⁿ chi̍t-ē, bô kóng-ōe. Komako iáu-sī ǹg hóe khòaⁿ, hóe-kuiⁿ tī yi he téng-chin, sió-khóa âng-âng ê bīn téng, ná chhoán-khùi án-ne iô-tāng. Shimamura kám-kak sim-lāi ū chi̍t-chūn kek-tōng. Komako ê thâu-chang-kòe sang khì, ām-kún chhun tn̂g-tn̂g. I he hiám-á chhun khì kā bong ê chhiú chéng-thâu-á tih chùn. Shimamura ê chhiú sio-sio, Komako ê koh-khah sio. M̄-chai án-nóa, Shimamura kám-kak lī-pia̍t í-keng pek-kīn.

Ji̍p-kháu hia m̄-chai sī thiāu-á a̍h sáⁿ koh to̍h-hóe sio khí-lâi ah, phòng-phù koh chōaⁿ chi̍t-káng chúi kòe-lâi, thiāu-á hām êⁿ-á sûi chhut pe̍h-ian koh chhi-chhi kiò, sòa loeh tō tó lo̍h-khì.

Chiòng-lâng lóng suh chi̍t-kháu léng-khùi, kan-ta khòaⁿ tio̍h chi̍t-ê cha-bó͘ ê sin-iáⁿ lak lo̍h-lâi.

In-ūi niû-á-pâng kiam chò hì-pêⁿ, só͘-í ū chò chi̍t-ê hêng-sek-siāng ê jī-lâu khòaⁿ-tâi. Sui-jiân kiò jī-lâu, kî-si̍t bô koân. Ùi chit-ê jī-lâu lak lo̍h-lâi, kàu tē-bīn ê sî-kan chin té, m̄-koh lak lo̍h ê chu-sè, ba̍k-chiu iáu sī ū-kàu sî-kan khòaⁿ chheng-chhó. Tāi-khài in-ūi lak lo̍h ê chu-sè kî-koài, ná-chhiūⁿ sī pò͘-ang-á án-ne, chi̍t-khòaⁿ tō chai he sī í-keng m̄-chai-lâng ê chōng-thài. Lak kàu thô͘-kha mā bô siaⁿ. Sì-kè chiâu sī chúi, só͘-í mā bô giâ thô͘-hún. Lak lo̍h ê só͘-chāi sī tī tú-tú to̍h khí-lâi ê sin hóe hām koh to̍h khí-lâi ê kū hóe tiong-kan.

--

100. 看著查某 ê 身影 lak 落來

遮是倚娘仔房 ê 田 hûiⁿ. 和 Shimamura in 同齊過來 ê 庄內 ê 人, 大部份攏來 tī 遮.

看款火是 ùi 囥電影機 ê 入口 to̍h 起來 ê. 娘仔房一半 ê 厝頂和壁攏燒去 ah, 柱仔和楹仔 ê 骨架猶 tih puh 煙. 厝內底干焦厝頂枋, 壁枋和地板, 內底空空, mā 無啥物煙. 厝頂灌真濟水, 看款是 to̍h 袂起來 ah. 毋過, 火 íⁿ 一直徙位, ùi 想袂到 ê 位忽 leh to̍h 起來. 三台 phòng-phù tō 緊緊濺水過, he 火星 tō 噴起來, koh 衝烏煙.

彼火星噴散到天河去, Shimamura ká-ná koh 予天河搝去. 烏煙衝向天河, 天河顛倒向流落來. 濺對厝頂以外 ê 水搖動, 變做白色 ê 水霧, ká-ná 是天河 ê kuiⁿ 所照 ê.

毋知當時來到身邊, Komako 捏著 Shimamura ê 手. Shimamura 越頭看一下, 無講話. Komako 猶是 ǹg 火看, 火 kuiⁿ tī 她 he 頂真, 小可紅紅 ê 面頂, ná 喘氣 án-ne 搖動. Shimamura 感覺心內有一陣激動. Komako ê 頭鬃髻鬆去, 頷頸伸長長. 伊 he 險仔伸去 kā 摸 ê 手指頭仔 tih 顫. Shimamura ê 手燒燒, Komako ê 閣較燒. 毋知 án-nóa, Shimamura 感覺離別已經迫近.

入口遐毋知是柱仔 a̍h 啥 koh to̍h 火燒起來 ah, phòng-phù koh 濺一港水過來, 柱仔和楹仔隨出白煙 koh chhi-chhi 叫, 紲 loeh tō 倒落去.

眾人攏欶一口冷 khùi, 干焦看著一个查某 ê 身影 lak 落來.

因為娘仔房兼做戲棚, 所以有做一个形式上 ê 二樓看台. 雖然叫二樓, 其實無懸. Ùi 這个二樓 lak 落來, 到地面 ê 時間真短, 毋過 lak 落 ê 姿勢, 目睭猶是有夠時間看清楚. 大概因為 lak 落 ê 姿勢奇怪, ná 像是布尪仔 án-ne, 一看 tō 知彼是已經毋知人 ê 狀態. Lak 到塗跤 mā 無聲. 四界 chiâu 是水, 所以 mā 無夯塗粉. Lak 落 ê 所在是 tī 拄拄 to̍h 起來 ê 新火和 koh to̍h 起來 ê 舊火中間.

--

100.

They were standing in the field beside the cocoon-warehouse. Most of the crowd on the main street had poured into that same open space.

The fire had apparently started near the entrance, and the walls and roof of half the building had burned away. The pillars and beams were still smoldering. It was a wide barn of a building, only shingles and boarded walls and floors, and the inside was fairly free of smoke. Though the roof, soaked from the pumps, did not seem to be burning, the fire continued to spread. A tongue would shoot up from a quite unexpected spot, the three pumps would rum hastily towards it, and a shower of sparks would fly up in a cloud of black smoke.

The sparks spread off into the Milky Way, and Shimamura was pulled up with them. As the smoke drifted away, the Milky Way seemed to dip and flow in the opposite direction. Occasionally a pump missed the roof, and the end of its line of water wavered and rumed to a faint white mist, as though lighted by the Milky Way.

Komako had come up to him, he did not know when. She took his hand. He looked around at her, b u t said n othing. She gazed at the fire, the pulse of the fire beating on her intent, slightly flushed face. Shimamura felt a violent rising in his chest. Komako's hair was coming undone, and her throat was bare and arched. His fingers trembled from the urge to touch it. His hand was warm, but Komako's was still warmer. He did not know why he should feel that a separation was forcing itself upon them.

Flames shot up again from the pillars and beams at the entrance. A line of water was turned on them. Hissing clouds of steam arose as the framework began to give way.

The crowd gasped as one person. A woman's body had fallen through the flames.

The cocoon-warehouse had a balcony that was little more than a perfunctory recognition of its duties as an auditorium. Since it fell from the balcony, low for a second floor, the body could have taken but a fraction of a second to reach the ground; but the eye had somehow been able to trace its passage in detail. Perhaps the strange, puppetlike deadness of the fall was what made that fraction of a second seem so long. One knew immediately that the figure was unconscious. It made no noise as it struck the ground between the fire that had newly blazed up and the fire that still smoldered beyond. Water had collected inside the building, and no dust arose from the fall.

--