【作者注】
窮困是我夢裡的一個常見主題，經常是到了該用錢的時候，我翻遍口袋卻連一個鋼鏰都沒有。
【夢境正文】
2022年10月6日：
母親病了，我去探望她。按理我應該帶上午飯的，但是我什麼都沒有，既沒有東西做飯，也沒有錢去買。在去探望她的路上，我深感窮困潦倒，無路可走。
不知怎的，我來到了桂蓉的住處，那是一棟不高的樓房的二層。她此時並不在家，我只好轉身往回走。然而來時的路卻全都不見了，原本上來的樓梯突然變成了垂直的牆了，根本沒法子下去。
我轉到了後陽台，那裡沒有安裝欄杆，靠牆的地方有一堆凌亂盤在地上的粗麻繩，繩子上還打著結，一頭牢牢地固定在牆上。我想著如果將麻繩理順放下去，就可以順著繩子下樓，出路總是有的，心裡便放下了心，坐在陽台上卻一時間忘了自己原本要幹什麼。
這時已是掌燈時分，街上人煙稀少。一對中年夫婦從右邊走進了我的視野。突然，那個男子倒在了路中央，卻不見那女子上前去扶他，她只是弓著腰、背對著男子在原地等待。再仔細一看，那男子此時已經躺在了一塊大乒乓球拍上。那塊球拍很大，板子是瘦長形的，上面貼著紅色的膠皮。那個女子就這麼弓著背，拖著這塊乒乓拍默默前行。
當他們走到我的左側時，那個男子又從拍子上折騰到了地上。那女子依舊只是弓著腰，在原地默默等待他重新回到乒乓拍上，然後繼續往前拉。那男子似乎完全沉浸在自己的思緒裡。這條路相當艱險，那女子似乎早已習以為常，只是在旁邊默默幫襯、等待。
這時，一陣歌聲從我身後的樓下傳來，那是桂蓉的歌聲。我連忙喊道：「桂蓉，桂蓉！」她來到了我身邊。我們已經好久不見了。我跟她提起自己要去探望母親，卻遇到了沒有食物又迷了路等困境。
我指了指路上的那對夫婦。桂蓉立馬就下樓去幫助他們，我也順著那根粗麻繩下到地面，過去幫忙。此時他們已經開始往回走，桂蓉扶著那個男子，女的跟在後面。我問：「我能做點什麼？」桂蓉回答：「把手錶拿上。」
我彎腰在地上看到了一個鈕扣大小、表面是玻璃的物體，我以為是沒有手錶帶的錶盤。接著發現旁邊還有一隻女士手錶，表面也和那個鈕扣一般大，我便一併撿了起來。天黑看不真切。
我追上那個女子，拿出那個小鈕扣和女士錶，指著那個金屬鈕扣問：「這也是手錶嗎？」只見她用手順勢一划拉，瞬間那個小小的鈕扣就變成了一個臉盆口大小的扁平容器。裡面展現出一個發光的、乾乾淨淨的世界。說是世界，其實裡面既沒有山水、也沒有樓房和人物，倒像是擺放著一些幾何形的透明物體，有球形的，差不多都有巴掌大小，整個是一個沒有其他色彩的黑白空間。這一顯現雖然只是一瞬，但給我的感覺極其精彩，令人振奮。
我又跟她提起自己要去探望母親所遇到的困境。說到桂蓉的歌聲時，她對我說，桂蓉的歌唱其實也是被他們倆激發出來的，原來他們早就認識。我知道桂蓉以前是不怎麼唱歌的，心裡很想聽聽桂蓉是怎麼喜歡上唱歌的。
這時我在地上又看到了一顆鈕扣，撿起來給她看，問：「這也是手錶嗎？」她看了一眼說不是，順手一抹那鈕扣的表面，根本毫無反應，就隨手扔了。
我們隨後來到了一家燈光幽雅的咖啡館門口。我站在門口還有些猶豫，因為我此時身無分文。那女子直接帶著我走了進去。屋子裡兩邊靠牆的地方各有三四張桌子，客人並不多。我們走到最裡面，那裡有一張暗紅色的長皮沙發。當我們走過去時，左手最後一張桌子後面的一位西方老人正好起身離開。我們便坐在了那張長沙發上，靠近那位老人剛剛離開的桌子。
突然我發覺那個女子變成了矮個子。她起身站在了我左側的沙發上，對我說：「對不起。」她即便站直了身體，也只有和我的上身一般高。我笑著說：「哈哈，坐在我的腿上吧。」
我右側沙發上的幾張報紙此時散落在了地上，那是咖啡館裡的報紙，估計是剛才那位離開的老人看過留下的。桂蓉和那個男子隨後也來了，坐在了我的右側，靠近桌子。
我正興奮地等待下文呢，忽然間他們都不在了。只留下了我一個人，孤零零的。我心裡感到好奇怪、好寂寞，正想弄個明白，立馬就醒了。
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The Vertical Escarpment, the Ping-Pong Paddle Couple, and the Monochromatic Geometry of the Button-World
[Author's Note]
Poverty is a recurring theme in my dreams. Frequently, when it is time to pay or use money, I search my pockets only to find I do not possess a single penny.
[The Dream Entry]
My mother was ill, and I went to visit her. By all rights, I should have brought a prepared lunch, but I possessed absolutely nothing—no ingredients to cook with and no money to buy food. On the way to visit her, I felt utterly destitute and stranded, with no path forward.
Somehow, I arrived at Guirong’s residence, situated on the second floor of a low apartment building. She was not home, so I turned to make my way back. However, the path of my arrival had completely vanished; the stairs I had just climbed had suddenly transformed into a sheer, vertical wall, making descent entirely impossible.
I moved to the back balcony, which lacked any guardrails. Coiled loosely on the floor against the wall was a heap of thick hemp rope, heavily knotted, with one end anchored firmly to the structure. I reasoned that if I uncoiled and lowered the rope, I could slide down it to reach the ground—there was always a way out. With my mind at ease, I sat on the balcony, yet in that moment, I completely forgot what I was supposed to be doing.
By then, the streetlamps were being lit, and the roads were nearly deserted. A middle-aged couple walked into my field of vision from the right. Suddenly, the man collapsed onto the road. The woman made no move to assist him; she merely stood there, hunched over, her back turned to him as she waited. Looking closer, I saw that the man was now lying atop an object resembling a table-tennis paddle. The paddle was big, with a elongated blade covered in red rubber sheet. The woman, remaining hunched over, silently dragged this paddle along the perilous path.
When they reached my left side, the man tumbled off the paddle onto the ground once more. The woman, still hunched over, simply waited in silence for him to return to the paddle before continuing to haul him forward. The man seemed entirely immersed in his own thoughts. This road was exceedingly hazardous, yet the woman seemed entirely accustomed to it, quietly supporting and waiting for him.
Just then, a voice drifted up from beneath the building behind me—it was Guirong singing. I called out, "Guirong, Guirong!" She soon joined me upstairs. It had been ages since we last met. I spoke to her about my plight—how I was on my way to visit my mother but had no food and had lost my way.
I pointed toward the couple on the road. Guirong immediately went downstairs to assist them, and I slid down the hemp rope to the ground to join the effort. By then, they were already heading back; Guigrong supported the man, while the woman followed behind. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. Guirong replied, "Pick up the watches."
I bent down and spotted a metallic object the size of a button, its surface made of glass, which I took to be a watch face lacking its straps. Beside it, I discovered a lady's wristwatch with a face of the same miniature size. I picked them both up, though it was difficult to see clearly in the darkness.
I caught up with the woman and produced the small button-like piece and the watch. Pointing to the metal button, I asked, "Is this a watch too?" With a simple stroke of her hand across its surface, the tiny button instantly expanded into a flat vessel the size of a washbasin. Revealed inside was a glowing, perfectly pristine world. To call it a world is inaccurate, for it contained no mountains, rivers, buildings, or figures; instead, it displayed various geometric, translucent objects, some spherical and roughly the size of a palm. It was an entirely monochromatic, black-and-white space devoid of other colors. Though this manifestation lasted only a split second, it felt extraordinarily magnificent and exhilarating to me.
I spoke to her again about my distress over visiting my mother under such hardships. When our conversation turned to Guirong's singing, she told me that Guirong's voice had actually been drawn out by the two of them—it turned out they were old acquaintances. I knew that Guirong rarely sang in the past, and I felt a strong desire to hear how she had come to love singing.
Just then, I spotted another button on the ground. I picked it up to show her, asking, "Is this a watch too?" She looked at it, said it was not, and ran her hand across its surface. When it yielded no reaction, she casually tossed it away.
We soon arrived at the entrance of a softly lit, elegant cafe. I hesitated at the threshold because I was completely penniless. The woman guided me straight inside. Along both walls were three or four tables, with few patrons present. We walked to the very back, where a deep red leather sofa stretched across the space. As we approached, an elderly Western man rose to leave from the last table on the left. We sat down on the long sofa, near the table the gentleman had just vacated.
Suddenly, I noticed that the woman had become quite short in stature. She stood up directly on the sofa to my left, saying, "I am sorry." Even standing fully upright, she only reached the height of my torso. I laughed and said, "Haha, just sit on my lap then."
A few newspapers on the sofa to my right had scattered onto the floor—they belonged to the cafe, likely left behind by the elderly man who had departed. Guirong and the husband arrived next, seating themselves to my right, near the table.
I was waiting with great excitement for what would happen next, when in an instant, they all vanished completely. I was left entirely alone on the long couch, isolated. A profound sense of strangeness and loneliness washed over me. Just as I sought to understand what had happened, I woke up immediately.
特別感謝 Gemini AI 提供充滿活力的翻譯和文本潤色。
Special thanks to Gemini AI for providing the spirited translation and text refinement.
第四百十八篇
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