《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 103 (248):住處
Also you must take into consideration that you're quite probably living on the slopes of a volcano and you might be straddling a fault line, as well. And not just a geological fault line, either. As idyllic as Bali seems, the wise keep in mind that this is, in fact, Indonesia—the largest Islamic nation on earth, unstable at its core, corrupt from the highest ministers of justice all the way down to the guy who pumps gas into your car (and who only pretends to fill it all the way up). Some kind of revolution will always be possible here at any moment, and all your assets may be reclaimed by the victors. Probably at gunpoint.
Negotiating all this dodgy business is not something I have any qualifications whatsoever to be doing. I mean—I went through a divorce proceeding in New York State and everything, but this is another page of Kafka altogether. Meanwhile, $18,000 of money donated by me, my family and my dearest friends is sitting in Wayan's bank account, converted into Indonesia rupiah—a currency that has a history of crashing without notice and turning to vapor. And Wayan is supposed to get evicted from her shop in September, which is around the time I leave the country. Which is in about three weeks.
But it's turning out to be almost impossible for Wayan to find a piece of land she deems appropriate for a home. Setting aside all the practical considerations, she has to examine the taksu—the spirit—of each place. As a healer, Wayan's sense of taksu, even by Balinese standards, is supremely acute. I found one place that I thought was perfect, but Wayan said it was possessed by angry demons. The next piece of land was rejected because it was too close to a river, which, as everyone knows, is where ghosts live. (The night after she saw that place, Wayan says, she dreamt of a beautiful woman in torn clothes, weeping, and that did it—we could not buy this land.) Then we found a lovely little shop near town, with a backyard and everything, but it was located on a corner, and only somebody who wants to go bankrupt and die young would ever live in a house located on a corner. As everyone knows.
"Don't even try talking her out of it," Felipe advised me. "Trust me, darling. Don't get between the Balinese and their taksu."
Then last week Felipe found a place that seemed to fit the criteria exactly—a small, pretty piece of land, close to central Ubud, on a quiet road, next to a rice field, plenty of space for a garden and well within our budget. When I asked Wayan, "Should we buy it?" she replied, "Don't know yet, Liz. Not too fast, for making decisions like this. I need talk to a priest first."
She explained that she would need to consult a priest in order to find an auspicious day upon which to purchase the land, if she does decide to buy it at all. Because nothing significant can be done in Bali before an auspicious day is chosen. But she can't even ask the priests for the auspicious date upon which to buy the land until she decides if she really wants to live there. Which is a commitment she refuses to make until she's had an auspicious dream. Aware of my dwindling days here, I asked Wayan, like a good New Yorker, "How soon can you arrange to have an auspicious dream?"
Wayan replied, like a good Balinese, "Cannot be rushed, this." Although, she mused, it might help if she could go to one of the major temples in Bali with an offering, and pray to the gods to bring her an auspicious dream . . .
"OK," I said. "Tomorrow Felipe can drive you to the major temple and you can make an offering and ask the gods to please send you an auspicious dream."
Wayan would love to, she said. It's a great idea. Only one problem. She's not permitted to enter any temples for this entire week.
Because she is . . . menstruating. Eat, Pray, Love
你還必須考慮自己可能住在火山坡地上，也可能橫跨斷層線，而且不僅是地理上的斷層線。巴厘島或許看似美好，明智的人卻牢記這兒畢竟是印尼，他們骨子裏並不穩定，其腐敗貪污的現象從最高的司法人員，一直到最底下給你的車加油的傢伙（假裝加滿油）都可見到。這裏隨時可能爆發某種革命，你的全部資產可能被勝利者據爲己有，而且也許還是在槍口下。
爲了應付這種種難事，我可還沒有資格。我是說——雖然我在紐約州歷經離婚訴訟累積種種經驗，但這完全是另一碼子事。同時，我和親朋好友們捐贈的一萬八千元正擱在大姐的銀行賬戶中，已兌換成印尼盧比亞——這個貨幣過去曾經在一夕之間垮掉，化爲烏有。而大姐的店約即將在九月到期，就在我離開印尼的時候，也就是三個禮拜之後。
結果發現，想找到大姐認爲適合安居爲家的土地幾乎不可能。除了所有的現實考量外，她必須檢查每個地方的神靈（taksu）。身爲治療師，大姐對神靈的感覺即使就巴厘島的標準而言，也是超級敏銳。我找到一個我認爲很完美的地方，但大姐說它被惡魔控制。接下來有塊地之所以遭她拒絕，是因爲太靠近河流，而大家都知道河流是鬼魂的居所。（大姐說，看過這塊地後，她晚上夢見一名美女穿着破破爛爛的衣服放聲大哭，於是我們買不成這塊地。）而後我們在小鎮附近找到一棟漂亮的小店家，還有後院，卻坐落在街角，只有想破產和英年早逝的人才住街角的房子。這是人人皆知之事。
"千萬別去勸阻她，"斐利貝勸我，"相信我，甜心。別介入巴厘島人和他們的神靈之間。"
然後斐利貝在上個禮拜找到一個地方，似乎符合所有的條件——一小塊美好的土地，接近烏布鎮中心，位於安靜的路上，傍着稻田，有足夠空間蓋花園，在我們的預算之內。我問大姐："我們該不該買？"她回答："還不曉得，小莉，做這樣的決定別太急。我得先找祭司談談。"
她說她必須詢問祭司，才能在決定買的時候選定購地吉日。因爲在巴厘島，所有的大事都必須挑選吉日。但是在她決定是否真要住在那塊土地之前，她甚至不能向祭司詢問購地吉日。她拒絕承諾，除非等到自己做了吉祥的夢。我深知自己在此地所待時日無多，於是我好裏好氣問大姐："你能多快安排做個吉祥的夢？"
大姐也好裏好氣地回答："這件事不能急。"不過，她若有所思地說，倘若帶祭品去巴厘島某大廟，求神帶給她吉祥的夢，也許不無幫助……
"好吧，"我說："明天請斐利貝開車載你去大廟，讓你帶上供品請神託給你一個吉祥的夢。
大姐很願意，她說。這主意很好。只不過有個問題，她這整個禮拜都不許進寺廟去。
因爲，她的……大姨媽來了。
