阿里山说实话也就这样，一早漫天的云层遮住了远处玉山的朝阳，山间偶尔露出的耶稣光给人一种天堂的幻觉。虽说这里以云海著名，但那天云还是太高太厚，反倒扫了一些兴致。
To be honest, Alishan is just common. Early in the morning, the sky is full of clouds covering the sunrise from the distant Jade Mountain. The crepuscular rays from the gap of overlapped mountains give people an illusion of paradise. Although this place is famous for its cloud sea, but that day the clouds are still too high and too thick, in turn, spoiled some of the fun.
山里整片都是绿的，没有什么秃岩。进山的时候附近有一群同时大陆来的游客，常常拿着手机或是画质更糟的Pad占着几个风景还算可以的地方拍照，就彻底把我最后一点儿兴致也浇没了。尤其是走到某处，导游大声地讲这棵树像是猪八戒什么的，然后那群人就哇哇地乱叫乱吼，各种挡道。不禁想起前年去云南石林里见到的那些奇形怪状的石头，自然界的鬼斧神工如此，人若去强行加以诠释，似乎有些做作与渺小了。
The whole mountain is green and there are no bald rocks. When I entered, there was a group of tourists from mainland China at the same time. They occupied the few places with a decent view and were using cell phones or iPads to take low quality photos, completely ruined my last bit of interest. Especially when under an ugly tree, the guild said loudly that the tree looked like a pig, which excited the group of people, screaming, yelling, and blocking my way. I can’t help but think of my previous similar experience to the stone forest in Yunnan, in where stands stones with all strange shapes. It is the nature’s magic to create these. If human beings are trying to interpret, it seems a little pretentious and meagre.
然而这片森林最终还是给了我一些震撼的。山顶高耸入云的神木，用14mm的广角大致能够容下。这样高耸入云的树木，我还算是第一次见到。来之前就听说这株树木有着3000年的树龄，直至亲眼看见才能够体会到三千年的高度与繁茂。三千年前，中华大地大约还处在西周，这里还是一片苍莽。遥想当年，在这座山头生活着的，肯定不只有这一棵树。但是经历三千年的世事浮沉，它身边的树木一颗又一颗地倒下，因为天灾，因为人祸。这棵树就这么静静地站着，看着它伙伴死去，又看着它伙伴的子孙拔地而起，看着山民将一颗颗树龄百年的树木斩断，又看着这些残存的树桩上重新冒出新芽。
However, this forest eventually gave me some shock. The gorgeous sacred tree on the top of the mountain needs a 14mm wide angle lens to roughly accommodate. It was the first time I had seen such a towering tree. Before the visit, I heard that the tree was 3,000 years old, but it was not until I saw it with my own eyes that I could understand the height and trace of 3,000 years. Three thousand years ago, when China was in the bronze period, this place kept still a wild place and no civilization. Back then, this tree was certainly not the only one living on the top. But after three thousand years of history, the trees around it fell one after another, because of natural disasters or human behaviors. The tree just stood quietly, watching its partner die, and watching its partner’s children and grandchildren rising up. It watched mountain residents cut off numerous hundred-year-old trees, and new shoots sprout from the remaining stumps.
固知一死生为虚诞，齐彭殇为妄作，虽说这颗树木活了三千年，但和这座山的年龄相比，却又显得渺小。近世的造山运动使得阿里山形成，到现在千万年间，却又不知道有多少这样长寿的树，只是我无缘见到罢了。人间五十年，与天相比，不过渺小一物。在这个时空下，这个节点下，我看到这颗树木，不过是一种偶然。放大些讲，我能够活在今天这个世界，交到身边的朋友，一壶浊酒喜相逢，更加是一种难得的不期而遇。
It is ridiculous to mix the birth and death and try to live forever. Although this tree has lived here for three thousand years, but compared with the age of this mountain, it still seems young. The recent orogeny in Miocene formed Alishan hundreds of million years from now. There must be many such long-lived trees during such a long history, just I do not have the opportunity to see them. The short lifetime of a person compared to the long stand world is trivial. Seeing this tree in this moment was just a coincidence. It is an unexpected crosslink of the tree, the mountain, and my life. Generally speaking, the fact that I live in this world today and make friends around me is a rare and valuable encounter.
所以当你老了，自诩惯看秋月春风，笑谈古今多少事时，请看看这些颗老树，请看看你脚下的土地与远山。自然的沉默才是对过往的最佳诠释，才是一种对沧海桑田世事无常的最佳理解。这种对自然的尊重是一种看破红尘的微笑与恬淡。
So when you are old, boasting that you are accustomed to see the years and things changing, please look at these old trees, the land and the mountains. The silence of nature is the best interpretation of the past and the best understanding of the vicissitudes of the world. The respect for the nature is the calmness and smile after seeing the world through.
除了茂密的，古老的森林，阿里山最值得一看的，大约是山上的铁路。多云间晴的天，新鲜的空气，原始的树木，却偏偏配上铁路这一乍看突兀的工业革命产物，反倒给了我一种别样的味道。火车的外形也相对古老，还是上个世纪五六十年代的样子。当红色的小火车从茂密的森林中缓缓穿出，驶向站台时，我恍然以为自己处在了刚刚完成工业革命的那会儿。那个时候，城市里还没有那种成片的压抑的钢筋水泥，市区外还没有对环境的大规模污染与破坏。那个时候，工业化产品还没有完全走上流水线，尚且带着一份人格的典雅与温馨，那个时候，火车的速度并不快，慢吞吞地连接着几个不远的车站，自然是没有高铁也没有动车。人们还活在一种介于农业社会和工业社会之间的状态里，悠闲地生产生活。
In addition to the dense, ancient forests, the worthiest part to see in Alishan is the railroad. The combination of the cloudy day, fresh air, wild trees with the railroad, a product of the industrial revolution, in turn gave me a different taste. The trains were relatively old, probably from the 1950s and 1960s. When the red train slowly emerged from the dense forest and headed to the platform, I thought I was in the time when the industrialization was just happened.
At that time, the city did not yet have that kind of depressing steel and concrete, and there was no large-range pollution around the city; at that time, industrialized products have not yet completely on the assembly line, still with a personality of elegance and warmth; at that time, the speed of the train is not fast, slowly connected to a few stations not far away; at that time, there is no high-speed trains that just designed for commuting. People still live between agricultural society and industrial society with a leisure life style.
大家都喜欢这种古典式工业社会，所以身处忙碌的压抑的现代社会里，我们都会向往那些世外桃源，向往海岛与阳光，向往农庄与牧场，更加向往这种原始森林。可是人们终究是被我们的现代科技圈养惯了。真正让我们脱离科技的感觉，徒步在深山老林中，又会觉得缺少了什么。于是这种带着一点儿现代感的原始森林，最为受人欢迎。
We all like this classical industrial society. So in the busy depressing modern society, we will yearn for those out of the world, for the island and sunshine, for the farm and ranch, and more for this endless wild forest. However, people are ultimately used to our modern technology. If let us get away from these technology and hike in the deep forest, we will feel something was lost. So this forest with a little bit of modernity is the most popular for city people.
不禁想到了这些年热门的穿越剧，无论是甄嬛，还是寻秦记，多多少少都加入了许多现代人的幻想。我不觉得我会愿意穿越到秦朝这种全然重农抑商，同时完全没有自由的朝代，也不会愿意穿越到清朝这种写八股文才是唯一出路，同时汉文化被严重压迫曲解的朝代。你就想想古人吃不到如今这么多可口多样的食物，想想古人没有廉价易得的洗涤用品，连上完厕所都没有柔软的卫生纸，早些还得用厕筹甚至是手，你就基本会告别你穿越的幻想。
I can’t help but think of the popular dramas that the characters went back to the ancient times with the fantasy of modern people. I don’t think I would want to travel to the Qin dynasty, in which the whole society was about agriculture and war, while there was no freedom at all; nor would I want to travel to the Qing dynasty, in which the only way to be a person is to pass years of stupid exams, while the traditional culture was severely oppressed and misinterpreted.
Think about the ancients cannot eat the delicious and diverse food today; think about the ancients did not have no cheap and easy-to-use detergents nor soft toilet paper (earlier they still have to use hard wooden chips or even hand), you will basically say goodbye to unrealistic fantasies of becoming an ancient prince or princess.
所以我们还是回到我们的现实，这个高楼林立的世界，虽然给了我们很多的压力，却也给了我们很多前人所享受不到的便捷。不过话说回来，偶尔来偏远的山里或是无污染的海边，躲避一下烦人的都市，也挺好。
So let’s get back to our reality, a world of tall buildings that gives us a lot of stress but also gives us a lot of convenience that our predecessors couldn’t enjoy. But then again, it’s nice to occasionally come to the remote mountains or unpolluted seaside and escape the annoying city.
如果说阿里山古老的森林象征着古代，铁路对应了工业社会早期，那么离阿里山有些远的奋起湖就是一个近代小镇的缩影。这座小镇毕竟还是坐落深山，最终还是不能发展为一个较大的城市。在台湾，湖并不是真的湖，而是盆地的意思。这个三面围山的，形如簸箕的地儿，因为是阿里山铁路向外的一个关口，便自然聚起来了一座小城。随着铁路的兴废，这个小镇的命运也随之起伏。今日的奋起湖，早已失去了他作为铁路中转站的功能，已经完完全全退化为了一个旅游景区。铁路依然穿过这个小镇，但车站已经搬离。曾经盛极一时的站区使得这座小镇里到处都有叫卖便当的店儿。从店老板的吆喝声与门口夸张的招牌中，我依稀能够想见当年人们在这里赶火车通勤的盛况。
If the wild forests in Alishan symbolize ancient times, and the railroad corresponds to the early days of industrial society, then Fenqi Lake, some distance away from Alishan, is the epitome of an early modern town. The town is still located deeply in the mountains and has not developed into a larger city. In Taiwan, the word ‘lake’ is not only refer to a real lake, but also can be a basin. This basin is surrounded by the mountains and shaped like a dustpan. Because of a station of Alishan Railway that connect the mountain areas to the outside, it turned to a small town.
With the rise and fall of the railroad, the fate of this town also went up and down. Today’s Fenqi Lake, has long lost his function as a railroad transit station, but completely degraded to a tourist attraction. The railroad still runs through the town, but the station has moved away. The once thriving station area has made the town full of stores selling bento. From the shouting of the shopkeepers and the exaggerated signs at the entrance, I can vaguely imagine how people used to catch the train here to commute to work.
奋起湖的主街叫做老街，这条街上的建筑大约有了一些年的历史，就像杭州当年没整修过的那条南宋御街差不多。一些还不错的老建筑和一些相对新些的建筑混在一起，整体显得有些破旧。街两边全都是叫卖的商铺，东西的品质倒也和建筑一样，有好有坏。原本以为我们会在这条街上逛很久，但只是转了几个弯，老街便到了尽头。最里面的那条街的前边是一个下坡，坡下边看起来就是一个残败的农村，间杂着几座精致的建筑，与大陆的乡下别无二致。
The main street of Fenqi Lake is called Old Street, and the buildings on this street are full of history and not renovated. Some good old buildings and some relatively new buildings mixed together and looked a little shabby. Both sides of the street are full of stores, and the quality of the goods are also mixed, with something looking good and others looking bad. I thought we would be in this street for a long time, but after just a few turns, the old street came to an end. The front of the innermost street is a downhill slope, and the bottom of the slope looks like a depressed countryside, interspersed with a few fine buildings. The village is just similar to the countryside in mainland China.
老街口指向坡下边的百年老老街的牌子引起了我们的兴趣，但当我们真正走下去，却终究没有见到我们希望见到的那一份古朴。坡底下除了一个奋起湖文史陈列馆以外，再没有什么值得一看的建筑。反倒是岔路上的一条步道，曲曲弯弯，通向了一片茂密的肖楠林。这些高大的肖楠树虽然没有阿里山上的大树那么粗壮，但显然也经历了一些年月。微风吹过，林叶轻轻晃动，打碎了地上安谧的成片的阳光，打乱了我们在木栈道上留下的身影。这片树林种植于阿里山森林铁路通车的前一年，也就是1911年，到现在已然过了一百年。它伴随着这座小镇而生，和小镇同步迎来铁路，茁壮成长。但当小镇衰落之际，这片树林依然不管不顾，年复一年地抽出新芽。
The sign at the entrance of the Old Street pointing down to the “hundred-year-old ‘Old Street’” aroused our interest. However, when we actually walked down, we didn’t see the quaintness that we hoped to see after all. Under the slope, apart from a Fenqi Lake Cultural and Historical Exhibition, there are no special man-made building worth a looking.
A walkway on the side of the main road, winding and curving, leading to a dense phoebe forest. These tall phoebe trees, although not as thick as the big trees on Alishan, but obviously also experienced some years. The breeze blew and the forest leaves gently swayed, disrupting the quiet spots of sunlight and our shadows on the wooden walkway. This forest was planted in 1911, the year before the opening of the Alishan Forest Railway, and it has been a hundred years since then. It was born with the town, and the town at the same time ushered in the railroad, thriving. But when the town declined, this grove of trees still grows new shoots year after year, ignoring the miserable fate of the area.
后来，我才知道这片老街在民国九十二年发生了一场严重的火灾，二十多间木制房屋被彻底烧毁。在那一刻，百年老街最后的荣光也随之消逝，留下的只有残破的瓦砾与新修的楼屋。当岁月逐渐流逝，新街变成了老街，老街变成了老老街，直到最后什么也不留下，只有无情的草木依然生长，侵蚀着一片又一片人类自大所造就的废墟。
Later, I learned that this old street had a serious fire in 1992 and more than 20 wooden houses were completely burned down. At that moment, the last glory of the century-old street also died, leaving only the broken rubble and newly repaired buildings. As the years passed, the new street became the old street, and the old street became the old “old street”, until finally nothing was left but the relentless grass and trees still growing, eroding one ruin after another created by human arrogance.
离开时，我们路过老老街一户正在制作铁蛋的人家。院里一个老爷爷用锤子将边上整整一筐的卤蛋打实脱水，然后放到另一个堆得半满的框子里。看起来这种食物在工厂中生产应该相当容易，成本也会非常之低，但这种手打的铁蛋依然在这里存在着，并没有随着台湾整体的发展而消亡。老老街经历过工业化以后，却在最近的岁月里落伍，逐渐又恢复了它原来的模样。因为得天独厚的区位优势，因为森林铁路的建设，它曾经兴起过，也同样因为它身处深山之中，它终究没有能够跟上台湾整体前进的步伐。一旦这个站台变得不那么重要，这里只能成为一个旅游景点，供大家参观。
As we were leaving, we passed by a house on the old Main Street that was making “iron eggs”. An old grandfather in the courtyard used a hammer to beat and dehydrate a whole basket of halved eggs on the side and put them into another half-filled frame. It seems that this kind of food should be quite easy to produce in a factory with a low cost, but this kind of hand-battered iron egg still exists here and has not died out with the development of Taiwan. The old “old street” has undergone industrialization but has fallen out of fashion in recent years, gradually reverting to its original form. Because of its unique location and the construction of the forest railroad, it once flourished; however, because it was located deep in the mountains, it was not able to keep up with the pace of Taiwan’s overall advancement after all. Once this station became less important, it could only become a tourist attraction.
世界上有太多这样的小镇，每一个或许都有每一个自己的故事，但毫无疑问，它们都是人类发展的牺牲品与见证物。不仅仅是小镇，太多的城市与地区也是如此，美国的底特律旧城，中国的东北老工业区，德国曾经繁华发达的鲁尔区，或因经济或因政治，如今已然衰落不堪。
There are too many such small towns in the world, each of them may have its own story, but there is no doubt that they are all victims and witnesses of social development. Not only small towns, but also too many cities and regions, such as the old Detroit downtown in the United States, the old industrial region in northeast China, and the once prosperous and developed Ruhr area in Germany, which is now in decline, either because of the economy or because of politics.
现代化无情的洪流，裹挟着一丝改造自然的狂妄，强迫着历史加速前行，不容许人们回顾那些逝去的风景。
The relentless flood of modernization, wrapped in a touch of hubris to change nature, has forced history to speed up, not allowing people to look back on the passing landscapes.
一旦有所疏忽，我们便再也跟不上时代的步伐。
If we are negligent, we will no longer be able to keep up with the eras.
2016.2.6 杭州
Written in Hangzhou
