經過三天馬不停蹄的會議，在慶祝會議圓滿結束的晚宴上，與會的專家看起來都相當疲累，話題由嚴肅的高科技轉移到八卦新聞，餐桌上有的人專注聆聽，有的人神遊象外。
突然間氣氛亢奮起來，所有的人都興致勃勃的加入討論，話題是82歲的諾貝爾得主與28歲女子的婚姻，這個已經不是新聞的新聞，不知何故又被當作話題來討論。有人說：「這是一個趨勢，年紀大了去娶個年輕美眉…」另一個人接著說：「沒錯，當你老了，你需要人照顧…」第三個人說：「耶，當你老了，你太太也老得照顧不了你…」第四個說：「你只需要有錢，哪怕沒姑娘陪你…」第五個抗議：「但是她們認錢不認人…」第六個反擊：「管它的，我們賺的錢，高興怎麼花就怎麼花…」
大家七嘴八舌，原本昏昏欲睡的也突然清醒過來，加入討論。有的人激動地提高了嗓門，有的人興奮地揮動雙手，彷彿看到自己未來找到年輕美眉共渡餘生。
看著這些德高望重的專家，我的思緒回到幾個禮拜前和一個好朋友的對話，我們討論着照顧年邁父母的問題。好友告訴我她80歲的老母親傷心欲絕，因為90歲的先生抱怨她年紀太大，沒法照顧他，他需要一位年輕的姑娘，因為妻子連避免他跌倒也沒辦法。
做為當晚唯一的女賓客，我沒有插嘴的餘地，事實上也根本不知能說什麼，只是那首耳熟能詳的「白髮吟」不斷湧上心頭：
親愛我已漸年老
白髮如雙銀光耀
可歎人生如朝露
青春少壯幾時好
唯妳永是我愛人
永遠美麗又溫柔
唯妳永是我愛人
永遠美麗又溫柔
晚餐終於結束，一位大老很權威的做了一個結論：「依照科學家的研究，男人老了需要年輕美眉照顧，才能活得長久…」
-----------------------
Men’s Thoughts - 1
It was a big dinner to celebrate a conference successfully conducted for three days. After numerous non-stop meetings, all the participants who were sitting around the table looked tired. The conversation switched from high techs to gossips. Some people listened attentively and some people spaced out in their own world.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became vital and all the guests anxiously joined the conversation. It was about a marriage of a 28-year-old wife and an 82-year-old husband, a Nobel laureate. It was old news, but for some reasons it was brought up again at the dinner. One man said: ‘It is a trend to marry a young woman at old age…..’ the other man continued: ‘Yes, that is right. When you get old, you need someone to look after you…’ The third one added: ‘Yeah, the wife will be too old to take care of you…’ The fourth one joined: ‘What you need is money. You can easily find young woman to spend life with you as long as you want…’ The fifth one protested: ‘but they just want your money…’ The sixth one defended: ‘Who cares? We deserve to spend the money the way we want…’
The conversation went on and on and the guests who looked exhausted all came alive. They raised their voices and swung their hands in the air. It looked like they were picturing themselves getting a young woman to live with at an old age.
Looking at those well-achieved experts, my thoughts drifted to the conversation I had with a good friend a few weeks ago. We were discussing about the health care of our old parents. My friend told me that her 80-year-old mother was heart broken when her 90-year-old father told her that she was too old for him. He needed a young woman to take care of him because she couldn’t even prevent him from falling down.
As the only woman sitting at the table, I couldn’t join the conversation. Actually, I didn’t know what to say. A song, the silver hair, came up to my mind. I hummed it quietly to myself:
Honey, we are getting old,
Our silver hairs glow in the light,
The life is just like morning dews,
We are not young anymore,
But you are my sweetheart,
Beautiful and sweet forever,
You are my sweetheart,
Beautiful and sweet forever.
The dinner was over, and a well-known scholar finally came to the conclusion: ‘According to the scientific studies, old men need young women’s care so they can live longer…’
留言列表
