第65章 飛上枝頭看飛枝

親愛的小文： 爸爸坐牢前一年（一九七○），太平洋（Pacific Ocean）裡有一個小國獨立了，她只有台灣一半大，名字叫飛枝（Fiji），她原是英國的，所以國旗裡頭有四分之一的地方是英國國旗。 飛枝有兩個大島，八○○個小島。加在一塊兒叫飛枝群島（Fiji Islands）。 飛枝共有五十萬人，裡頭有中國人。 飛枝的國都叫Suva（Capital and Commercial Center of the Fiji Island is Suva. Banks, office, and stores are located in central Suva.）。 飛枝的警察若跑到台灣來，一定被台灣的警察抓起來，罪名是“有傷風化”（harmful to public morals）——因為飛枝的警察穿裙子，這種裙子叫sulu，裙子很瘦，下面是鋸齒（teeth of a saw）狀的，怪裡怪氣，台灣的警察一看一定大生氣特生氣，於是就抓起來了。

所以大概飛枝警察不敢到台灣來。 飛枝的男人也有裙子穿，這種裙子叫tapa skirts，比較短上面有花。他們當然也“有傷風化”，所以也不敢到台灣來。 現代的飛枝人雖然怕台灣警察，膽子很小，但他們以前膽子可不小，他們是吃人肉的（cannibals——A human being that eats human flesh吃人肉的人；by extension, any animal that eats its own kind，廣義來說，吃同類的動物），還是獵頭的（head-hunters. head-hunting, n. The custom, characteristic esp. of heathen Malayan peoples, of decapitating enemies and preserving their heads as trophies. 奉異教的馬來民族所特有的斬敵人頭留作戰勝紀念品的習俗）。

世界上土人有的吃人肉不獵頭，有的獵頭不吃人肉，飛枝的土人兩樣全來，真兇來兮（兮，an adjunct with no independent meaning，roughly equivalent to “Oh”or“Ah” in English．）。 以前台灣的土人，除蘭嶼的雅美族以外，都獵頭，不吃肉。他們獵到一個最有名的頭就是吳鳳的（吳鳳，Wu Feng, an official who, when head hunting was still common among the aborigines of Taiwan, ended the practice at the cost of his own life in 1768.）。

這樣看來，台灣的警察大概也不敢到飛枝去，因為搞不好，飛枝人發起瘋來，野蠻復興，兩樣來一樣，台灣的警察都吃不消（cannot stand or bear；too much to take or endure）。 Fijians once were cannibals and head-hunters, Most of them are now Christians, but they still observe local customs. They make outrigger canoes from hollowed logs. They also manufacture pottery and personal ornaments of shell, bone, and boars tusks. A small clan living near Viti Levu still practices the ancient custom of fire walking. Performers do not walk on fire, but on hot stones. Fijians drink kava（yanggona in Fijian）, a strong but non-in toxicating drink made from the root of a pepper plant. The drink partially numbs the tongue and lips. Fijians use it as part of most ceremonies. They celebrate every occasion with dancing.

Most Fijians grow crops or catch fish for a living, but many work for the Europeans as clerks, carpenters, and police. People of Indian descent grow most of the islands sugarcane, and they also keep dairy cattle. Miners take gold, copper, and iron from the rocks of the lager island. The Fiji Island produce coconuts, sugar, gold, timber, and tobacco. They ship tropical fruits to Australia and New Zealand. Most eastern Fiji Islands are volcanic. They only industry there is making copra（dried coconut meat）.

爸爸 一九七五年九月七日 [後記]這封信中所引有關吳鳳的英文解說，自然是從“神話”立論的。事實上，吳鳳是因背約、罵人、與曹族格鬥下被殺的。詳見連橫《吳鳳列傳》。