新學期－志言智語

今天是開學第三天，不過因為聖誕假期前的周五期末考因路面節冰而休假，故開學前兩天，我們仍使用上學期課表，並完成期末考。所以昨天是上學期的課程結束，物理老師與大家擁抱「記得回來看我唷！」

我的新課表除了首堂的合唱不變，剩下三節是：網頁設計、美國史、心理學。美國史老師很風趣，雖然今天只是講解課堂規則，但同學仍笑聲不斷，相信他是很有待動氣氛能力的老師，也許歷史在他手中將變得生動有趣！他還在課堂近尾聲的二十分鐘以對答方式與我一同介紹台灣，我說了「十二生肖」、「McCreary Couny與台灣之不同」和回答大家對於台灣的疑惑（之前有人問過台灣有沒有狗，今天有人問台灣有沒有動物，這......），老師則向同學解釋大陸與台灣之間和美國三方的特殊政治關係，雖然他把美國說得是個「保護台灣的勇者」：若中國武力犯台，美國將替台灣抵抗，但......勇者仍就把自己的利益放前頭，所謂的「美國將替台灣抵抗」已概括了太大範圍，至於背後動機他可沒提到的囉！但這都是政治問題，我無須多說什麼，因為，今天又有人問：你討厭中國人嗎？

心理學的老師很瘋狂，他的課堂，笑聲比歷史課還大，但他的美式幽默我比較不能體會，至於他今天上課的內容，記憶最深的是他說：Your parents are liars.(你的父母都是說謊者)，似乎就是要說「不要輕易相信別人」。這讓我想起以前聽過一個故事：不知是哪一國父母為教導子女「人心是險惡的，不要輕易相信別人」說完就把孩子抱上餐桌，要他跳下來，並告訴他說：「跳下來！我會接住你！」但當孩子跳下的剎那，卻立刻縮手，讓他摔個鼻青臉腫，但毫不同情的又說：「不是告訴過你了？『不要輕易相信別人』」

心理學還有一項作業，回家讀課本第一部分，我讀到一半，看到這段非要分享不可：

....A long time ago, three very wise, but blind, men were out on the journey when they come across a sleeping elephant. Because they could not see the elephant, they did not know what was blocking their way, so they set about to discover what they could about the obstacle.

As it happened, each man put his hands on a different section of the elephant, examining it in great detail and with much thought. The fist man, having felt the elephant's trunk, described a creature that was long, wormlike, and quite flexible. "No, no! You must be mistaken," said the second man who was seated astride the elephant. "This creature is wide, very round, and does not move very much." The man who was holding one of the elephant's tusks added his description of a small, hard, pointed creature......

相信你也看出來了！這正是「瞎子摸象」，課本藉此故事來說「人類的複雜行為是必須要一些相關的方式才能了解的，不能偏頗，已偏概全。」上學期英文課上到一位作家Edger Allen Poe，他有一篇作品（詩）是Anabel lee（見下）附上，我便興奮的告訴老師：台灣的英文課本有這首詩唷（龍騰版）！現在也可以很高興的與大家分享，美國的心理學課本引用「瞎子摸象」呢！

Edgar Allan Poe: Annabel Lee (1849)

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!–that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling–my darling–my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.