一个人,有时认识一椿事情,需要十分悠长的时间。半个世纪以前,当我还是一个少年的时候,随父母侨居于新加坡。那时,每隔若干年,我们就要搬家一次。有一次搬家,新居恰好面对新加坡河。新加城河,那时密密麻麻靠满了驳船。轮船到达海面,驳船就把货物转载到新加坡河,由苦力把大米、咸杂、瓷器、土产之类的东西搁在肩膀上,搬运上岸,放进岸畔星罗棋布的货栈之中。 One person, sometimes know a thing, need a very long time. Half a century ago, when I was a teenager, I lived in Singapore with my parents. At that time, every few years, we have to move once. Once moved, the new home just facing the Singapore River. The new city, when densely packed with barges. When the ship reached the sea, the barge carried the goods to the Singapore River, where the coolie clutched rice, salty, porcelain, indigenous products and the like onto the shoulders and carried them ashore into the warehouse dotted with banks.