梅花湖座落於好山好水的宜蘭，湖的形狀看似一朵五瓣花，三面環山。在那一池清澈平靜的湖水中，鴨子悠閒地戲水，配上湖岸四周的環湖自行車道，來到這裡，讓人身心不自覺地放鬆下來。
Plum Blossom
Lake is located in the great mountains and waters of Yilan. The lake's shape
looks like a five petal flower, surrounded by mountains on three sides. There,
in the lake's clear calm water, ducks leisurely play. A surrounding bike path
accompanies the lakeshore. Coming here makes people unconsciously relax their body
and mind.
那一天，我們全家人來到這詩情畫意的梅花湖，準備享受一場湖光山色單車遊！我們租借了腳踏車，興奮地要展開單車之旅時，不料天空突然下起雨，我先生和小孩都去湖畔的涼亭躲雨，惟獨我心有不甘，我心想：特別從台北來宜蘭騎單車，我才不要被這場雨給破壞了……我靈機一動，說不定腳踏車出租店的老闆可以借我雨衣！我把這個自認聰明的想法告訴家人，但他們仍要繼續躲雨等雨停，我當時覺得，他們為什麼遇到問題不想辦法解決，難道我來宜蘭就為了躲雨嗎？我就暫時把外套披在頭上遮雨，自己騎去單車出租店借雨衣。
One day, our entire
family went to the poetic Plum Blossom Lake, ready to enjoy a scenic mountain
lake bike tour! We rented bicycles, and when we were excitedly setting out on the
bike tour, the sky unexpectedly began to rain. My husband and children went to
the lakefront pavilion shelter, only I was unwilling, I thought to myself
"We came all the way from Taipei to Yilan to ride bikes, I wasn't going to
let our trip be ruined by rain...and then it hit me: maybe the boss from the bike rental shop could loan me a rain
coat! I considered this idea clever and told my family, but they still wanted
to wait in the shelter for the rain to stop. At that time I thought, why is it
that when they run into a problem, they don't think of a way to solve it? Did I
come to Yilan to just be sheltered? I temporarily draped a coat over my head as
cover from the rain, and went by myself to the bike rental shop to borrow a
raincoat.
果然不出我所料，出租店的老闆願意借雨衣給我，我謝謝老闆的幫忙，內心還無比得意的想著：哈哈~我真的借到雨衣囉！下雨天還是可以享受騎單車的樂趣！我開心地穿上雨衣，望著道路底端的湖畔涼亭，一邊騎車一邊自豪地向家人揮手，想讓他們羨慕一下！但就在此時，我似乎不習慣穿雨衣騎單車，加上天雨路滑，我又邊騎邊揮手，我竟突然摔車，而且因為穿雨衣，手腳變得不太靈活，突如其來的摔車，我左邊肩膀先著地，沒想到前一秒還如此得意，後一秒就摔得如此重，我除了覺得頭暈腦脹、全身好痛，腦海還頓時浮現一句箴言：「驕傲在敗壞以先；狂心在跌倒之前」（箴言十六18）。
Just as I
expected, the rental shop owner was willing to let me borrow a raincoat, I
thanked him for his troubles, my heart still proudly thinking "Haha, I
really did borrow a raincoat! Even on a rainy day you can still enjoy the fun
of riding a bike!" I happily put on the raincoat,
looking at the road at the bottom of the lakefront pavilion,
simultaneously riding and proudly waving to my family, hoping to make them a
little envious! But at this point, I seemed unaccustomed to wearing a raincoat
while riding a bike, coupled with wet and slippery conditions, while I waved
and rode, I suddenly crashed, and because I was wearing a raincoat, it made my
hands and feet not quite as flexible. As I crashed my left shoulder hit the
ground first, I had no idea a second before I had felt so proud, only to crash
so hard a second later. In addition to feeling a dizziness and brain swelling,
my entire body hurt, when a proverb immediately emerged from my mind
"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall"
(Proverbs 16:18).
說也奇怪，我摔車之後，雨很快就停了，彷彿這場雨是特別為我而下的，要給我上一堂課吧！
It's strange to
say, after I crashed the bike, the rain soon stopped, as if this rain was
especially meant to fall on me, just to teach me a lesson!
其實我摔車當時，就已左肩骨折，然而自己卻不自知，仍逞強裝沒事，忍痛騎了好幾圈環湖車道，晚上還去吃羅東夜市，直到回台北的路途中，覺得左上臂愈來愈痛，去醫院急診照X光，才嚇一跳竟然骨折了！接下來，我左手臂懸吊三角巾好幾個月，骨折的恢復是一個漫長的過程，骨折的痛，讓你手臂幾乎完全無法舉起，連穿脫外套，都得靠他人協助。這次的骨折經驗，使我體會到，雖然骨折的疼痛和不便，旁人無法完全體會，但家人朋友的陪伴與關愛，讓我的復原過程更加順利。這也好比我們周遭的人，如果身心遭遇痛苦憂傷，那種痛只有親身經驗才能感受，我們在面對他人的傷痛時，少一些批判和說教，多一些接納和陪伴，因為你真的不知道他有多痛！
Actually, when I
had crashed on the bike, my left shoulder was already fractured, but I myself
did not even know, I still acted brave like nothing happened, riding several
laps around the lake path holding back the pain, and at night I still went to the
Luodong Night Market to eat. It wasn't until the return trip to Taipei, when I
thought the top of my left arm was increasingly painful, that we went to the
emergency room for an X-ray, and were surprised to discover it was fractured
after all! Afterwards, my left arm was suspended in a sling for a few months.
Healing the fracture was a long process, the pain made it so my arm was almost
completely unable to lift itself. Even putting on and taking off a jacket
relied on the help of other people. This experience with a fracture helped me
to understand, although other people had no means to totally understand the
pain and inconvenience of the fracture, the companionship and love from family
and friends made my road to recovery a lot smoother. This is also like the
people we are surrounded by, if they encounter physical or mental pain and
hardship, it's the kind of pain only they themselves can personally feel, and
when we face the pain of others, it should be with less criticism and
preaching, and more acceptance and companionship, because you really don't know
how painful it is!
這場雨還要教導我謙卑的功課。以這次摔車事件來說，它提醒我不要心高氣傲、自以為是。自己的看法不見得是最好的，也要多聆聽他人的想法，尊重他人的選擇。像在這個經歷中，我家人選擇等候，等候最佳時機，等待「雨過天晴」，看來是當天最明智的抉擇！
This rain had
also taught me to make humility my homework. As far as the crash is concerned,
it reminded me to not be proud, arrogant, or self-righteous. My own views are
not necessarily the best, so I should listen more to others' ideas, and respect
their choices. Like in this experience, my family decided to wait, wait for the
best time, wait for "the clear sky after the rain", which apparently
was the wisest decision that day!
若談到如何學習謙卑？聖經中有一段話，總是能幫助我：「各樣美善的恩賜和各樣全備的賞賜，都是從上頭來的，從眾光之父那裏降下來的」（雅各書一17）。既然我們所擁有的一切聰明、才智、恩賜、創意……等所有美善的事物，都是神所賜下的寳貴禮物，都是豐盛的恩典，我們人類究竟有什麼資格驕傲自大呢？在聖經同一卷書中，雅各書四章6節也說到：「神阻擋驕傲的人，賜恩給謙卑的人」。的確，古今中外，因驕傲而失敗的例子，不勝枚舉。然而，謙卑是一輩子的功課！謙卑蒙恩，這是一條鐵的定律！
If we speak of
how to learn humility, the Bible has a passage which is always able to help me
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James
1:17). Since the intelligence, wisdom, talents, and
creativity in our lives...all of the things of Goodness, all these abundant
endowments, are all precious gifts given by God, then what after all makes
humans so eligible to be arrogant for? In the same volume of the Bible, in the
book of James chapter four verse six it also says "God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble". Indeed, from ancient to modern times,
whether foreign or domestic, the instances of failure as a result of pride is
an endless list. However, humility is a lifetime assignment! Humility
begets grace, this is an iron law!
作者:譚亞菁 Dec. 6, 2012
Translated by Parker
Gadbois
