德士父女 / The Cabby with his Daughter

德士父女 金雨田	The Cabby with his Daughter Jin Yu Tian
在丹戎巴葛替張賢亮截一輛德士，前座有名小孩，司機說是我女兒，沒關係吧。這位中國大作家當然認爲沒關係，他或許還以爲這是我們這兒的常象呢。	I HAILED a taxi at Tanjong Pagar for Zhang Xianliang, my writer friend from China. We saw a little girl in the front passenger seat. “It’s my daughter,” explained the driver. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?” Of course not, said the celebrated author. Indeed, he might even think that was common in Singapore.
最近搭德士，又巧遇司機，又說我女兒，不介意吧？我也當然不介意。	Recently, flagging down a taxi, I chanced upon the same driver with his daughter, who again asked if I would mind. Of course I wouldn’t, either.
我問司機，你就帶着女兒兜客嗎？司機苦笑，學校假期，太太又上班，女兒獨自在家，看她孤獨，就帶着她，陪陪她，也讓她陪爸爸啦！	I wondered if he always brought along his child while working. “She’s lonely at home when there is no school and my wife has gone to work,” said the cabby, giving a wry smile. “So I bring her along to keep her company, and let her keep Daddy company, too.”
一般的搭客態度如何？	“But how do your passengers feel about it, generally?” I was curious.
還好還好，有些搭客還會跟我女兒搭訕呢。	“Well, that’s okay,” said he. “Some even get into conversation with my girl.”
碰上公司人員怎麽辦？	“What if your taxi company’s people happen to find this?”
他愣了一下。不要緊吧，我載的是我女兒。答案多單純多直接。	For an instant he fell speechless. “No problem, I guess. I’m just giving a lift to my daughter.” How simple and direct the explanation was!
司機說學校假期他就偶爾帶孩子兜兜風，一個兩個小時都好。“你知道啦，我們天天路上跑，哪有時間陪孩子。”好一幅父女圖。	Occasionally during school holidays, he said, he would take his daughter for a ride in his taxi, even just for an hour or two. “We cabbies are on the road all day long, you know,” he added, “and have little time with our children.” What a loving father for his dear girl!
我在報館門口下車，候車的同事忙着喊正走開的我，以爲我“丟”了女兒。我笑笑。	I got out at my newspaper office. Walking in, I heard some colleagues waiting there for taxis call out to me – they thought I had left my daughter behind. I just smiled back.
她們在車門前吱吱喳喳，當然，四個人，得再等下一輛德士了。	But the ladies started a twitter of discussion beside the car. Obviously, the vehicle minus one seat couldn’t accommodate the four of them. They had to wait for the next taxi. (Translated by Allen Zhuang)
[原載新加坡《聯合早報》(2000)；收入《不着地族 / A Lift-Off People》(潘正鐳著、Allen Zhuang 英譯；Singapore: All Publishing House, 2002)]