蓝花楹的故事 A Jacaranda Story

初到墨尔本的那一年，我租住在格兰维沃里（Glen Waverley）区。一开始我每天都赶乘公共汽车上下班。后来买了汽车，也买了自行车。天气好的时候，我会选择骑自行车去上班，大约四五十分钟的路程。既锻炼了身体，又可以领略沿途的风景，何乐而不为？在一个夏日的早晨，我照例骑车去上班，沿着清泉谷（Springvale）大道由北向南，在路边一户人家的院子前面，我看见一棵很特别，开满了鲜花的树。清晨的微风轻轻掠过，地上洒满了紫色的花。很浪漫的样子。

For the first year after arriving in Melbourne, I rented a house in Glen Waverley. At first I took Ventura buses to commute to work. Later, I bought a car and also a bicycle. When the weather was good enough, I would choose to cycle to work. It took me about forty to fifty minutes. I could exercise and get fit, in the meantime, I could also do a bit of sightseeing along the way, wouldn’t it be a joyful ride? One morning in one of those Summer days, I rode to work as usual along Springvale road from the north down to the south. When I was passing a front yard of a house, I saw a very unique tree. It was full of flowers. With the morning breeze brushing through, there were purple flowers covering the ground. Looking and feeling romantic.

 

我知道，这种树有一个很奇妙的名字，叫Jacaranda。它是一种落叶乔木，中文名字也很特别，叫蓝花楹。

I know that this tree has a magic name, and it’s called Jacaranda. It’s a deciduous tree, and its Chinese name is also special, it’s called ‘Lanhuaying’.

很多年以前，在北京，由于工作的关系，我要去意大利和南非去出差。从北京乘坐国航到罗马，完成了几日短暂的访问之后，再经法国巴黎，转乘法航南下到南非进行下一站的访问。在南非的行政首都普勒托利亚的街道上行走，我看见大街两旁开满了紫色鲜花的大树，美丽而壮观，如临梦境一般。当地人告诉我，这种树叫Jacaranda。第一次听说这种树的名字，我就觉得很好玩，也很神奇。当地人还风趣地跟我说，如果我站在Jacaranda树下，如果有Jacaranda花碰巧飘落在我头上的话，那么幸运就会降临在我身上，进而幸福一辈子，而且在我的生命里无论有多少大大小小的“考试”，我都能顺顺利利地通过。听这么一说，我更加觉得这种树神奇可爱，于是就不由自主地走到眼前那棵很大很大的Jacaranda树下，傻傻地笑着，站在那里，等呀等呀，等着蓝花楹那轻盈剔透的紫色鲜花散落在我的头上。那种期待、盼望和笃信本身就已经与幸福相随。微风徐徐，空中不断有Jacaranda花飘落。我时不时地抬头望望，用手摸摸头，看有不有Jacaranda花落在头上。就这样等着等着，没过多久就真地有一枚Jacaranda花在我不知不觉之间缓缓地落在了我的头上。原来幸福也可以这样等，也可以这样悄然而至。那位陪同我们的南非本地朋友看我兴奋的样子，便友好地给我拍了张相，留作纪念。后来，我一直保留着那张相，幸福的自己就这样被定格在那棵大大的、开满紫色鲜花的Jacaranda树下。

Many years ago, when I was in Beijing, I was invited to go on a business trip to Italy and South Africa. I took Air China from Beijing to Rome, visited there for a couple of days. I then flew via Paris down south to South Arica. When I had a walk in one of the streets in Pretoria, one of the administrative capitals of South Africa, I saw huge trees lining on two sides of the street, full of purple flowers, beautiful and magnificent, like a dream. One of the local guides told me, they were called Jacaranda. The first time I ever heard of the name of the tree, I felt it was fun and magical. The local guide also told me wittingly that if I stood underneath a Jacaranda tree, and if a flower fell onto my head, then good luck and fortune would also fall on me. I would be happy for a lifetime, and I could pass all the tests and exams of various kinds and scales in my whole life. Upon hearing this, I felt the tree was even more magical and lovely, so I couldn’t help but walking underneath one of the gigantic Jacaranda trees, with a smile on my face, somewhat like a fool, and I waited and waited, waiting for a cute crystal purple flower to fall on my head. That sort of waiting, wishing, and faith itself has already been accompanied by good luck and happiness. With breezes brushing by, Jacaranda flowers kept floating down. I raised my head and looked up a couple of times, and I touched my head with my hand, checking whether there was a flower on it. I waited and waited, and it was soon enough there was indeed a Jacaranda flower falling slowly and sweetly on my head. It was such an epiphany moment that happiness could indeed be waited for, and it could reach me without much of my awareness. The local guide saw how excited I was, so he offered to take a photo of me for commemoration of such an experience. Later, I have always kept the photo, with me captured in it, standing underneath that gigantic Jacaranda tree, full of purple flowers.

简单，有时可以不期而遇。幸福也可能很艰难，即便穷尽一生的努力和追求，也会与之擦肩而过。这次与Jacaranda的邂逅，令我对幸福这个概念有了更多的思考。我知道不同的人对幸福的感知与认识是不同的。从哲学的角度看，幸福观主要有两种，即理性主义幸福观和感性主义幸福观。苏格拉底、柏拉图和亚里士多德等都是比较推崇理性主义幸福观的哲人。他们认为只有不断理性地去追求道德的完善，才能获得精神上的幸福。亚里士多德主张“至善就是幸福”，即心灵合于完全德行的现实活动。理智与道德是幸福的基础，而要达到幸福的境界还需要德行的指引，在内在和外在条件适当的情况下，不断地去理性实践。由此看来，在蓝花楹树下的瞬间定格，只能是幸福的表象，而内在精神的幸福则要修行很久，上善若水，止于至善。这多多少少与朱熹在《大学章句集注》所诠释的“至善”有些不谋而合，所谓“止者，必至于是而不迁之意。至善，则事理当然之极也。言明明德、新民，皆当止于至善之地而不迁，盖必其有以尽夫天理之极而无一毫人欲之私也。”由此看来，追求幸福要固执不变，坚守不移，而且要顺应自然，做到于理已无所不穷，于事已无所不尽，万物各得其所，千古不易其道。

Simplicity can be encountered sometimes unexpectedly. Happiness sometimes can be hard to run after, and even with a lot of effort throughout one’s lifetime, one may still miss it. Upon seeing Jacaranda, I seem to have some more subtle interpretations of ‘happiness’. I know that different people have different impressions, experiences and cognitions of ‘happiness’. From a philosophical perspective, there are two orientations of happiness, one is rational happiness and the other is sensational happiness. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are philosophers of rationalism of happiness. They hold the opinion that spiritual happiness can be achieved by ongoing rational pursuit of morality. Aristotle argues that ‘happiness is good’, that is to say, the goodness of one’s heart and soul matches one’s moral behaviour in realistic activities. Rationality and morality are the foundation of happiness. Happiness is directed by morality, and it can only be rationally achieved under appropriate internal and external circumstances. Therefore, me standing underneath the Jacaranda for the moment may only be the surface or symbol of happiness, whereas my internal spiritual happiness needs ongoing persistent moral behaviour. The uppermost kindness is like water, stopping at the perfect goodness. This is somewhat related to how Zhu Xi has interpreted ‘the perfect goodness’ in his “Commentaries on the chapters and sentences of the Great Learning”.  “Stopping, or to rest means that one must move toward it without leaving it then. The highest excellence is therefore the extreme status of how the patterns (of order) ought to be. This means that someone illustrating illustrious virtue and renovating others ought to move towards the position of highest excellence and not leave it. Then it might be sure that (this position) has something by which the highest excellence of the Heavenly patterns (of order) is accomplished and there is not the slightest selfishness of human desires.” Therefore, the pursuit of happiness needs to be persistence without indecisiveness, and it also needs to follow the principles of nature, so that great effort and rationality are executed for all things without deviation throughout the passage of time. 

当然对幸福除了理性的追求，人们对幸福的体验也有很大的感性主义色彩。就好像Jacaranda花飘落在我头上的那一瞬间，我是幸福的，我感受到幸福的来临和存在。从这一角度来看，幸福有些时候也可以是一种感觉，一种感官和在心理支配下的某种快乐体验。在西方，感性主义幸福观的代表人物有德谟克利特、卢克莱修，和杰里米·边沁等。在边沁看来，幸福、善与快乐都是同义词，幸福即行善，而行善即快乐。给人感官上和精神上带来快乐的东西，往往是善意的，才会传递幸福。边沁还认为，人类行为的目的就是求乐避苦，个人的利益和幸福得到满足，社会的利益和幸福也才有了基础。

Of course apart from the rational pursuit of happiness, people’s experience of happiness can also be of sensational orientation. It’s like the moment when a Jacaranda flower falls on my head and I could feel the existence of happiness when it arrives. From this perspective, happiness can also be a feeling, a sensation, or some pleasurable experience as a result of bodily senses and the state of mind. In the Western world, Democritus, Lucretius, and Jeremy Bentham are representatives of sensationalism happiness. According to Bentham, happiness, kindness and pleasure are synonyms. Happiness is kindness. Being kind is happiness. Things that bring pleasure to the senses and minds of people are always things with kind intentions, so they convey happiness. Bentham also holds that the goal of human behaviour is to seek pleasure and avoid suffering. Only when individual benefit and happiness are achieved, the social benefit and happiness can have a solid foundation.

那次南非旅行之后，我又回到了北京。日复一日，年复一年，追求幸福依旧。自从心里有了Jacaranda的故事，我会觉得生活里总会充满盼望，感觉幸福就在不远处等着我们。这种对幸福的信、望与爱，本身也有了不少幸福的元素。

After the trip to South Africa, I returned to Beijing. Day in day out, and year after year, I have been pursuing happiness. Since my Jacaranda story, I have always felt that life is full of hope, and happiness is just around the corner. The faith, hope and love of happiness themselves are actually essential elements of happiness.

再后来，我从北京去澳大利亚西部省会珀斯攻读语言与文化教育学博士。在那里，我又看到过Jacaranda树，仍然觉得这是一种很幸福和浪漫的树。在珀斯的一个艺术沙龙，我结识了一位本地的女画家。说来也巧，在我们相互介绍以后，我发现女画家的姓氏与我所教过中文班的一个洋学生的相同。我便好奇地问了一下，无巧不成书，这位画家原来是那位学生的母亲。于是，我们聊了很多。我还把我在南非的故事讲给她听，后来也把我在Jacaranda树下的照片拿给她看。这位画家就特地為我画了一幅画，上面有紫色的Jacaranda树，也有树下的我，静静地等候幸福的降临。

Later, I left Beijing for Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, to pursue my doctoral studies in language and intercultural education. I saw Jacaranda trees again there, still feeling that they are trees of happiness and romance. At an arts saloon in Perth, I got to know a local female artist. It was quite a coincidence, because after we introduced each other, I found out that her surname was the same as one of my ‘foreigner’ students from a Chinese class I was teaching back then. I asked out of my curiosity, and the artist said she was indeed the mother of that ‘student’. What a coincidence! So, we had a good chat. I also shared with her my stories in South Africa. I also showed to her the photo of me standing underneath the Jacaranda tree. The artist later painted a picture of it, with the Jacaranda tree, and me underneath it, waiting quietly for happiness to fall upon me.

 

也许是有了南非Jacaranda的故事，抑或是珀斯这幅Jacaranda的画，结果，在西澳珀斯，我经历了三年的刻苦攻读，所完成的洋洋洒洒近十万字的博士论文就顺利地通过了。两位国际级知名的学者评委给我的论文都给出A级的最高分数，并给予高度的评价。兴奋之余，我在想，这也许跟Jacaranda这个蓝花楹树的名字里有许多A这个字母多多少少有些关系。当然，我内心知道，这些都只不过是浪漫的故事而已。对幸福的追求，既有理性的坚持，止于至善，又要有感性的浪漫，富于联想。不管怎们说，从那以后，我对Jacaranda兰花楹树更加情有独钟。

It’s perhaps because of the Jacaranda story in South Africa, of the picture of Jacaranda in Perth, as a result, after three years of hard work in Perth, Western Australia, I managed to complete my doctoral thesis of approximately 100,000 words, and I passed the milestone of a doctoral journey smoothly. Two world leading scholars examined my thesis, and both of them gave the thesis a highest A grade, with very positive and encouraging comments. After all the excitement, it occurred to me, perhaps it was somewhat linked to the name of Jacaranda, and it contains so many A letters in it. Of course, deep in my heart, I knew that it was nothing but a romantic fantasy. The pursuit of happiness is not only based on rational persistence, stopping at the highest goodness, but also on sensational romance and associated fantasy. No matter what’s behind happiness, since then, I have been having a unique and special preference for Jacaranda.

博士毕业以后，我转战香港。在那里教英文，培训中小学老师，继续我的语言与文化研究工作。日子过得忙碌，但丰富而充实。虽然我很少再见到Jacaranda树，不过，我把那幅站在Jacaranda树下的画放在我的办公室里。工作之余，我就抬头看一看那幅画，喝一杯清茶，感受片刻的浪漫与幸福，然后闭上眼睛，仿佛沉浸在Jacaranda树下，尽心体会那清溢香远的灵境世界。

After my doctoral studies, I moved to Hong Kong. I worked in an institute of education there, training pre- and in-service teachers of English for primary and secondary education, while in the meantime, researching on language and culture. Days were full of busyness but I felt enriched and empowered. Although I could rarely see Jacaranda, I placed that picture of Jacaranda in my office. During tea breaks or after work, I would raise my head and have a look at that picture, while drinking some green tea, enjoying moments of romance and happiness. I would close my eyes for a moment, immersing myself as if I was underneath the Jacaranda tree, in a distant and fragrant world of tranquillity and spirituality.

时光飞逝，星移斗转。也许是命运的安排，在香港五年之后，我又南下，在墨尔本开始了新的工作与生活。在这座全新的城市里，我一切都要从头开始，重新面对大大小小的挑战。最初的日子，我还感觉兴奋，对什么都很好奇。过了几个星期之后，我便在忙碌之中感到疲倦，孤独、迷茫，有时甚至缺乏动力，前路漫漫，看不到希望。我曾怀疑自己，能否承受这一次横越南北半球的变迁与考验。

Time flies and space shifts. It was probably fate that brought be Southwards after five years in Hong Kong to Melbourne for a brand new life and work. In this new city, I would need to start all over again, facing challenging of various scales. For the first few days, I was excited with full of curiosity for things around me. However, after a few weeks, I started feeling exhausted, lonely and disoriented, sometimes even lack of motivation. The road ahead was so uncertain, and I could not see hope. I once doubted myself, questioning whether I could cope with the shift and challenge of migrating from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere.

就这样，凄凄惨惨戚戚地适应着充满挑战的生活。驀然间，在这样一个清晨，在路边，在这座新的城市里，我看到了这棵Jacaranda树，还有那满地紫色的鲜花，宛如异象。

I was a bit down and out, coping with life of challenges as such. Then all of a sudden, in such a fresh morning, at the roadside, in this new city, I spotted a Jacaranda tree, and the many Jacaranda flowers lying on the ground underneath it, a vision of revelation.

也许生命的旅途，本来就布满了沟沟坎坎。走过低谷，再重拾希望；风雨过后，才能见到最美的彩虹。

Perhaps the life journey is supposed to be filled with ups and downs. Hope can be revived after the lowest lows during the journey. It’s always after the thunderstorms that the most beautiful rainbows appear.

于是，我停下单车，远距离地站在那里。这一次，我没有再傻傻地走到树下等着Jacaranda花落在我的头上，而是静静地欣赏这树木这花朵的美妙与神奇 。然后拿出随身携带的小相机，拍下这棵Jacaranda树和那满地的鲜花，捕捉这神奇的瞬间与画面。

So, I stopped my bike and stood there from a distance. I didn’t walk underneath the Jacaranda tree though, like what I did many years ago, instead, I simply stood there still, and couldn’t help appreciating the beauty, wonder and magic of the flowers and the tree. Afterwards, I took out my handy camera, and captured the Jacaranda tree and its flowers covering the ground. What I really wanted to capture was the magic moment and the scene.

在这之后的每一个早晨，我骑自行车上下班，都会经过这里。而我每一次看到这棵Jacaranda树，都会下意识地会心一笑，然后继续前行，脚下的自行车，也如同自己的心情一样，轻快了许多。

Since then, almost every morning, I would ride my bike to go to work, to pass by the Jacaranda tree. Every time I saw the tree, I could knowingly smile to myself subconsciously, and then ride on. I could feel much ease and energy pedalling forward, and I was in a much uplifting mood.

   

多年以后，当我再回想起在墨尔本的这段日子的时候，也许仍然会记起那棵神奇的Jacaranda树，对幸福的联想，和那满地的紫色鲜花。很浪漫的样子。

Many years later, when I recall the days of Melbourne, perhaps I would still remember that magic Jacaranda tree, and its associated fantasies of happiness. I would remember those purple flowers like a blanket on the ground. Full of romance.