《再見黑塔》

解剖著時間。詢問愛情的花瓣俯下嘴唇

如同無限時空中、滴答的鐘聲。我們別無選擇

只能滑入宇宙那不詳的顫抖，如同滑下一道黃昏的斜坡

就這樣，群星依舊在頭頂賞樂，沿途將是它們優雅的倦容。

洛奇•馬丁內斯

近日，筆者注意到《礦工每周報》存在打官腔、不說人話等令人擔憂的現象，恐是收了克里珀堡的冬城盾。

從我記事起，第七街區從街頭到巷尾都是萊姆士汀的財產，因此我從小都在與孤獨這頭最可怕的猛獸進行著光榮的搏鬥。

說來奇怪，我只記得當初和他一言不合，決定今生今世不再搭理對方。就在不夜侯里，偶然間聽到舊友招呼的聲音，我便將那些舊時不悅拋之腦後了…

在混沌未分的荒原上，一位母親問她的孩子：「是不是你弄壞了你爸的弓箭？」那孩子回答：「不是的，肯定是別人弄壞的。」
母親生氣地說：「我們的山洞裡根本就沒來過別人。如果不是你弄壞的，就只能是我了。」孩子繼續回答：「是小魔怪干的。我親眼看到它弄壞了爸爸的弓箭，但只有小孩子才看得到小魔怪，所以媽媽沒看見。」
母親被氣笑了：「那你倒是說說看，這小魔怪為什麼要弄壞你爸的弓箭？」孩子坦然地說：「父親踩壞了它的巢穴吧。你們大人看不見小魔怪，很容易弄壞他們的巢穴。」
這段對話很可能發生過，但也可能從未發生過。但不管怎麼說，它所指涉的真理確鑿無疑——最初的故事誕生於孩童的幻想。
此後億萬年間，這些幻想將會持續不斷地改變這個世界。

「有了故事，我們得以從現實逃脫。」

Whimsy Wax

In the primal wilds, a mother asked her child, "Did you break your father's bow?" The child answered, "No, it must have been someone else."
"No one else has ever stepped foot in this cave," the mother said. "If it wasn't you, then it must have been me." The child continued, "A gremlin did it. I saw it with my own eyes, but only kids can see them, so that's why you didn't."
The mother laughed. "Fine then, why would a gremlin break your father's bow?" The child said calmly, "Father probably stepped on its nest. You adults can't see gremlins, so you're always breaking their homes."
Whether this talk actually happened is irrelevant. The truth it holds is undeniable — the first stories were born from the imagination of a child.
For billions of years since, those same fantasies have continued to change the world.

"With stories, we are able to escape from reality."

還記得那個歷史掌故嗎？軍官指著揭露暴行的畫作質問道：「這是你畫的嗎？」
畫家笑著回答：「不，這是你們畫的。」
一切試圖表現現實的藝術，都不能臨摹現實。因為現實粗淺的表象無法涵蓋其非物質的深刻意涵。
就像一位死去的戰士，如果你只去臨摹遺容，那便只是世間無數死者中平凡的另一個。但你若在現實之上探索，找到那些肉眼不可見的崇高、勇氣、憤怒、不甘，那才算是真正貼近了屬於這位戰士的現實。
唯有那樣，人們才會知道，這位戰士並不只是世間無數死者中平凡的另一個，此人曾使有山、有水、有房屋的地方，也能有人煙。

「有了故事，我們得以與邪惡對抗。」

Remember the old story? An officer pointed at a painting that exposed his atrocities and asked, "Did you paint this?"
The artist smiled and replied, "No, you did."
Art that tries to represent reality cannot simply copy it. The shallow surface of reality can never capture its profound, intangible essence.
Consider a fallen soldier. If you only paint their likeness, they are just one more face among the nameless dead. But if you look past the surface to find the invisible honor, courage, rage, and regret, that is when you truly reach their reality.
Only then will people know that this soldier was not just another statistic. This was someone who once brought the pulse of life to the mountains, the waters, and the homes they left behind.

"With stories, we are able to fight back against evil."

所有值得被嚴肅對待的故事，都共享同一個主題：「人如何渡過只此一次的人生。」
生命是如此短暫，縱是聖者賢人也免不了被突兀地拋擲在人世間，毫無準備地經歷一段人生。也因此，人們總也無法很好地渡過一生，難免有遺憾、難免有虛度。
但好在我們有故事。在故事中，創作者與閱讀者得以共享另一段人生；在故事中，人的生命得以被持續地延長；在故事中，我們在有限的囚籠中抵達不朽。

「有了故事，我們得以活上千次萬次。」

Lucid Awl

Every story worth taking seriously shares the same theme: "How to live the one life we're given."
Life is so short that even the greatest sages are suddenly tossed into this world, forced to experience a lifetime without any preparation. That is why no one ever lives a perfect life. There are always regrets, always moments wasted.
But luckily, we have stories. In stories, creators and readers share a different life. In stories, the human experience is continuously extended. And in stories, we can reach immortality from within our finite cages.

"With stories, we are able to live a thousand lifetimes."