超温暖中英文童话绘本《寻找》，by”新加坡几米”

绘本“寻找”以空灵的水彩插画及诗意的叙述文字，讲述一段孤独的心灵找寻认同的简单故事。故事主角是一名小男孩，他想知道什么是“不孤独”；热心的企鹅带领他到山里去碰运气，因为山上什么都能找到。

沿途，他们找到了自由、永恒、缓慢、信任、平静……最后也找到了彼此。

有时候，会莫名感到很孤独。然后就会问自己……

For no reason, I feel lonely most of the time. And I would ask myself… …

这世上会不会有一样东西，叫“不孤独”？

Could there be something out there known as “not lonely”?

于是，我孤独上路，期待能找到“不孤独”。

With that question in mind, I embarked alone on a search for “not lonely”.

“我没见过你，你怎么一个人在这里呢？”

在这陌生的地方，你是唯一理睬我的人。

“我想找一样东西，我想找‘不孤独’，但不知道上哪儿寻找。”

“我不知道什么是‘不孤独’，但我知道山上什么都有，也许就在山里。我带你去找吧！”

“I’ve never seen you; why are you here all by yourself?”

I’m a stranger in a strange land; and you’re the only one taking notice of me.

“I’m searching for ‘not lonely’. But I have no idea where to begin.”

“What’s ‘not lonely’? Maybe you’ll find it in the mountain. We can find anything in the mountain! Trust me, I’ll help you!”

“我们要上山啦！来啊！真的可以找到很多东西哦！”

And so, we went up into the mountain.

“Com’on! We’ll find what you’re searching for up there!”

“这是山神庙，你把心愿诚心告诉山神，或许就能找到。”

我听到啄木鸟轻叩老树的声响。但怎么都看不见啄木鸟的身影。

我找到了渺小。

“Here’s our Mountain God Temple. Let’s say a prayer, the Mountain God might fullfill your wish.”

I could hear a woodpecker knocking on an old tree somewhere. I searched around but the woodpecker was nowhere to be found.

I found insignificance.

“这是我最喜欢的大树，它一直都在这里像个老爷爷，我抱着它，它也抱着我。”

我找到了永恒。

“This is my favourite tree, he’s so old yet so strong; like a grandfather to me. I hug him, he hugs me back.”

I found eternity.

走累了，在小溪边休息。蜻蜓在水面上点出一朵又一朵的涟漪。

“你看，水在跳舞！我喜欢看水的圈圈，永远都看不腻。”

我找到了水的圆舞曲。

We took a rest by a stream. The dragonflies were making circles and cirlcles of ripple on the water surface.

‘ Look! The water is dancing!’ You said in fascination.

I found water dancing waltz.

天很蓝，我们躺在蒲公英白色的王国里，找到了自由，也找到了流浪。

How blue the sky.

In the pure white kingdom of dandelion, I found freedom, and wanderlust.

然后起风了，我找到了山的歌声。

In the breeze, I found singings of the mountain.

“要下雨了，得赶紧下山。”

我们找到了和时间赛跑。

“It’s going to rain, we need to get down quick.”

I found what is racing against time.

雨落下来了，我们反而放慢步伐，漫步在烟雨中，一起找到了缓慢。

The rain came, there’s no hurry anymore. Instead, we took a slow walk drenched.

I found slowness.

雨把溪流变得更湍急，我们小心走着，牵着手，找到了信任。

The rain rised the water level. We treaded across the river carefully hand in hand.

I found trust.

“雨会停的，一定会停的。”你说。

我们听着雨点滴滴嗒嗒从屋檐落下，找到了平静。

“All rain will stop. I’m very sure.” You said.

As we listened to the dripping sound of raindrops from the roof, I found peace.

真的，雨停了，乌云散去。

稻田变成了云的舞台，云的影子缓缓流过，流成了时间的河。

For sure, the rain stopped.

Across the golden fields, the drifting shadows of the moving clouds gradually flowed, into a river of time.

我们在时间的河里找到了肩膀。

In the river of time, I found shoulders.

“天快黑了，我得回了。”你说。

“你找到那样东西了吗？”

“没有。”

“对不起，没帮上忙。我走了。”

金黄色的彩霞划过天际，渐渐转红，转紫，最后只剩下一片深深的蓝。

你离去的影子很长，我找到了说不出来的忧伤。

“It’s getting dark, I’ve to go.” You said.

“Have you found what you’re looking for?”

“No.”

“Sorry, I didn’t help much.”

Looking at your long shadow tapering into the distant darkness, I found an unspeakable sense of sadness.

当晚，月亮失眠了。

That night, the moon was wide awake.

和月亮一起失眠的人，有几个？

Could there be someone else losing sleep like the moon? I wondered.

“你怎么又来了？”

“我说过了，来找‘不孤独’的。”

“Why are you back?”

“I’ve told you, I’m in search for “not lonely”.

夜空的星星很亮，我们找到了温暖。

The stars glittered brightly, together we found warmth.

我还是经常感到孤独的，但我学会了如何去面对。

因为有你。

I’m still lonely at times.

But I know how to face it now, with you.

新加坡绘本作家阿果素有“新加坡几米”之称。他本名李高豐，义安理工学院人文科目讲师，新加坡国立大学中文系毕业，之后负笈英国剑桥艺术学校（Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University）攻读童书绘画硕士学位。平时喜欢涂涂写写，创作图文与读者分享美的喜悦。

新绘本《寻找》是去年底在韩国原州土地文化馆居住期间创作完成的。书里的插画灵感都源自土地文化馆周遭的风物。《寻找》及周边限量商品在新加坡草根书室有售。《寻找》绘本也在纪伊國屋及大众书局售卖。

本书由玲子传媒出版，访问阿果豐画室 https://leekowfong.wordpress.com/ 可查看阿果的更多作品。