老撾:迴歸簡單的閒適生活 (下)
Here and there is the occasional temple, most memorably the tiny Wat Paa Huak, which has orange walls covered with stunning murals depictingexotica such as white tigers. Looking down on the other temples is Wat Chom Si, which perches on a rocky outcrop next to the main street. Outside it, women sell birds in tiny pink-dyed bamboo birdcages; release a bird and your wish will come true. A couple of hours upriver are two more unusual temples, hidden in caves carved out of the cliffs by the Mekong millennia ago. In each are hundreds of gilded Buddhas of all different sizes, left by worshippers. Some are intricate, immaculately carved, big and grand. Others arelopsided, as small as a chess piece, or a thimble, and squiffy-eyed, as if they have availed themselves of too much of the local rice whisky. The higher of the two caves, a steep climb up 200 steps, is dark and at first seems empty. But with a torch, suddenly the Buddhas transmogrify en masse, a magical entity dazzling out of the darkness.
這裏隨處可見寺廟，最令人印象深刻的是那座小小的帕華可寺，那裏橙色的牆上有各色懾人的壁畫，描繪着白虎這類珍禽異獸。接着來看另一所寺廟——宗西寺，它坐落在主街旁那片石崖上。廟門外有婦女售賣裝在粉紅色小竹籠裏的小鳥，放生一隻小鳥你的願望就會實現。沿着河流乘船逆行兩個小時，就可以來到另外兩座非同一般的寺廟，它們建在湄公河邊巖壁上鑿出的巖洞裏，已經有千年歷史了。每座寺廟裏都有幾百尊不同尺寸的鍍金佛像，這些都是香客捐塑的。有些佛像雕刻精美，尺寸巨大。有些則傾斜着，像一枚棋子或頂針那樣細小，醉眼朦朧的，彷彿它們喝了太多 本地米酒。到較高的那個巖洞去要爬上200級陡峭的臺階，洞裏光線很暗，初看像是空空如也。但是用電筒一照，佛像突然齊齊顯現了，在黑暗中神奇地發出耀眼的光芒。
Back in Luang Prabang, at dawn the spiritually inclined—along with the more dedicated visitors—kneel along the length of the main street with offerings of rice for the crocodiles of passing orange-clad monks. To each you must offer a handful from your tip khao—the traditional woven bamboo pot. Next on the morning to-do list for locals is the market, which snakes along a narrow street in the centre of town. There are plenty of peculiar things for sale—squirrels, assorted rodents, crickets—but the main focus is fish and shellfish, particularly the small pinky-orange Mekong crabs, which are strung on large hoops of bamboo as if on some mermaid-gaoler's key ring. And then there are the vegetables: neat, abundant piles of morning glory and watercress, and so-called river weeds (a Mekong speciality). Everywhere you look there are mini-mountains of chillies and limes, both key ingredients in the national dish of laap, a spicy minced meat or fish salad.
回到琅勃拉邦。清晨時分，沿着大街跪滿了虔誠而專注的香客們，他們向一隊隊穿着橙色袈裟的和尚們施捨大米。你必須從傳統的編織竹簍裏拿出米來分給那些和尚，每人一把。當地人接下來要在早上做的第二件事情就是去市場。市場位於市中心一條狹窄的街道上。有很多特別的東西在那裏售賣——松鼠，各種鼠類，蟋蟀等，但最多的還是魚和貝類。特別是淡紅色的湄公河小蟹，用竹環紮起來，好像美人魚看守人的鑰匙環。還有那些蔬菜：堆得整整齊齊的圓葉牽牛花、豆瓣菜以及所謂的“河籽”（湄公河的一種特產）。到處都可以看見堆成小山般的辣椒和酸橙，這兩樣都是老撾人做主菜“臘普”（一種用肉糜或魚做成的香辣色拉）的主要食材。
The eating houses of Luang Prabang are the best in the country. Here is the place to try out a cuisine that is much-loved in neighbouring Thailand—but difficult to find elsewhere in the world. Plus, its stylish, tourist-targeted shops bear dangerous testimony to the country's French past; as well as pretty antiques there are tasteful modern 43)reworkings of old textiles and 44)objet trouvé (particularly 45)covetable are the silver tip khao).
琅勃拉邦的餐館是全國最好的。在這裏一定要試試備受鄰國泰國人喜愛的老撾菜，因爲在世界上其他地方不容易嚐到。此外，琅勃拉邦那些頗有品位，專做遊客生意的店鋪，還有那些高雅的古董店裏陳列着的精美的古董複製品（特別吸引人的是那些銀質的竹簍）都印證着這個國家曾爲法國殖民地的過去。
But, this being Laos, you only need to cross the river to forget about shops and restaurants, about modernity itself. Hire a bicycle in town and 46)hitch a ride with a local boatman for a couple of dollars, and you can cycle out into the paddy fields and villages. Stop occasionally to watch the locals playing their version of 47)boules, or marvel at a tiny child atop a bicycle built for someone three times their size, or another child skillfully 48)cleaving a chicken in the yard. Glimpse a mother rocking her baby in a cradle strung between the stilts under the house, or watch a farmer and his family constantly bent, it seems, in the rice paddies. And then when you cycle back to the river bank, the boatman is waiting for you. And he is, of course, smiling.
但是，這就是老撾，你只要過了河就可以把那些商鋪、餐館拋諸腦後，把現代社會的一切忘得乾乾淨淨。花幾美元在鎮上租一輛自行車，接着攜車免費搭乘當地船伕的小船渡一程後，你就能到鄉村和稻田間去騎遊。隨走隨停，看當地人玩本地版的法國式滾木球遊戲，或驚奇地發現小孩子騎着比他們身體大三倍的自行車，或是觀看另一個小孩在院子裏熟練地殺雞，或瞥見一位母親搖着那吊在屋子柱子之間的搖籃，或看到一位農民和他的家人在稻田裏持續地彎着腰勞作。然後，當你騎車回到河岸的時候，你會發現，船伕正在等你，當然，他面帶微笑。
