评论
打印
编者按:
但渐渐地，我发现村民们的信念很有道理，我认同他们。我们倾向于把某个特殊的地方看作是世界的中心，在那里我们被他人所了解，并了解其他人，那地方对我们很重要，在那里我们拥有认同感和生活的意义。比如家庭、学校、城镇，还有地方区域，都会成为我们心目中的世界的中心。
The Green Banana
My encounter with the green banana started on a steep mountain road in Brazil. My ancient jeep was zigzagging when the radiator began to leak. I stopped at the next village, where people gathered to look. Three fine streams of hot water spouted from holes in the radiator.
“That’s easy to fix,” a man said. He sent a boy running for some green bananas. We exchanged pleasantries while I mulled over the green banana. Asking questions would seems silly, so I remarked on the beauty of the mountain.
“Do you see that tall one right over there?” asked my benefactor, pointing to a particular tall, slender pinnacle of dark rock. “That rock marks the center of the world.”
I looked to see if he were teasing me, but his face was serious. He in turn inspected me carefully to be sure I grasped the significance of his statement. The occasion demanded some show of recognition on my part. “The center of the world?” I repeated, trying to convey interest if not complete acceptance.
He nodded. “The absolute center.”
At that moment the boy returned with my green bananas. The man sliced one in half and pressed the cut end against the radiator. The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal, plugging the leaks instantly.
Everyone laughed at my astonishment. As a product of American higher education, I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana. Suddenly on that mountain road, its time and my need had converged.
This chance encounter showed me the special genius of those people, and the special potential of the green banana. I had been wondering for some time about what educators like to call “learning moments”, and I now knew I had just experienced two of them at once.
The importance of the rock marking the center of the world took a while to filter through. I had initially doubted their claim, knowing for a fact that the center was located somewhere in New England. After all, my grandfather had come from there. But gradually I realized they had a valid belief, a universal concept, and I agreed with them. We tend to define the center as that special place where we are known, where we know others, where things mean much to us, and where we ourselves have both identity and meaning: family, school, town and local region.
