四、12. 不吐不快

  终于，轮到居于末位的王美瑛老师发言。
  她老娘早就想趁「新官上任三把火」──代理校长刚上任，还没把事搞砸、尚存威严之时──不吐不快：
  「As  you  know,  I’m  Lily  Li’s  homeroom  teacher,  as  well  as  Ariel  Liu’s  language  tutor.  I  know  clearly  my  responsibilities  and  obligations.  I  have  already  manifested,  not  just  once,  I  am  fully  aware  of  being  obligated  to  do  what  I  have  to  do,  and  ready  to  take  any  practical  measures—and  even  assist  in  taking  legal  actions,  provided  my  presence  is  necessary.  This  committee,  nevertheless,  kept  hindering  me  from  fulfilling  my  duty.  And  now,  President,  Your  Honor,  is  here.  I  would  like  to  reiterate  my  disappointments  to  all  of  you—」
  「说中文，美瑛老师──体谅我们有些老师不讲英文。」
  「Get  yourselves  an  interpreter,  then—I  don’t  care—What  I  have  to  say  I  say  it  out  loud  and  clear.  And  those  who  got  my  point  got  my  point—whichever  language  I  speak  in,  老师。Only  if  you  choose  to  listen,  not  to  once  again  hush  me  by  shouting  and  hissing──ah-uh,  here  we  go  again—now  please,  let  me  continue  .  .  .」
  「很失礼耶王老师──」「尊重一下好不好？」「权宜问题、权宜问题！」「主席，立刻将王美瑛赶出去！」
  见主席的神情比雕塑的表情更加肃穆，叫嚣的人员只好乖乖闭嘴。
  「The  whole  incident  just  reminds  me  of  J.  D.  Salinger’s  famous  novel,  The  Catcher  in  the  Rye.  One  particular  passage  I  want  to  share  with  all  of  you—And  I  assure  you:  it  deserves  your  attention.  Now,  bear  with  me—it  goes  like  this:
  「‘I  keep  picturing  all  the  little  kids  playing  some  game  in  this  big  field  of  rye.  Thousands  of  little  kids.  Nobody's  around  -  nobody  big,  except  me.  And  I'm  standing  on  the  edge  of  some  crazy  cliff.  What  could  I  have  to  do,  I  have  to  catch  every  little  kid  if  they  start  to  run  toward  the  cliff—if  they're  running  and  they  don't  look  where  they're  going,  I  have  to  come  out  and  catch  them.  That's  all  I  do  all  day.  I'd  just  be  the  catcher  in  the  rye.  I  know  that  sounds  crazy,  but  that's  the  only  thing  I  will  have  to  be.’」
  「Let  me  tell  you,  my  peer  and  respectful  senior  members,  how  regretful  I  am,  right  now,  right  here,  to  have  to  attend  this  pointless  meeting;  not  because  I  have  to  play  the  little  game  with  you  weaklings,  or  because  I  have  to  sit  in  this  meeting  room,  discussing  some  insignificant  issues  over  ‘the  school’s  prestige’  or  the  so-called  ‘measures  to  the  current  PR  crises’  and  WASTE  MY  TIME—Oh-oh—
  「Some  people  in  this  room  who  actually  speak  English  felt  seriously  wronged  and  started—You  DO  get  my  point—This  is  exactly  why  I  call  the  members  in  this  committee  weaklings—
  「All  of  you  saw  the  ‘elephant  in  the  room’  but  chose  to  ignore  it  completely.  If  there  is  a  pink  elephant,  let  us  point  it  out  with  our  fingers—If  there  is  a  Big  Wolf  hiding  in  the  wood,  lurking  to  harm  our  kids—Let’s  get  it,  then!  Why—isn’t  it  ‘A  Perfect  Day  for  the  Wolf?’  I  don’t  see  no  points  that  we  still  sit  here  and  wait  for  a  messiah-like  figure  to  save  the  day,  to  remove  the  threat  for  us,  while  we  are  still  far  from  being  late  to  TAKE  ACTION.
  「I  regretted  it,  I  deeply  regretted  that  I  failed  to  be  that  ‘Catcher  in  the  Rye’  when  there  was  a  kid,  an  absolutely  lovely  sweetheart,  who  just  ran  straight  toward  the  ‘crazy  cliff,’  while  still  within  arm’s  reach—I  could  have  caught  her  in  my  arms  [a  catch  in  her  throat].  I  regretted  that  we  just  let  it  happen,  as  she  just  fell  over  the  nest,  without  the  slightest  chance  to  grow  up  and  learn  to  flutter  her  little  but  brave  wings—」
  「够了喔，王老师。今天不是来听你发洩情绪──是来解决问题──」
  「那前面开好几次会怎么都没看你们解决问题！」
  美瑛的反驳令在座的人员，除主席之外，全都愣住了。
  没等被震慑的人回过神，美瑛继续质问：
  「前面开那么多会，你们哪个有要解决问题──」
  「嘘──」「嘘──」「嘘──」
  台下开始发出嘘声，随后则是更多附和者加入行列。
  「Oh,  oh,  some  people  are  sweeping  away  the  person  they  disagree  with—Fine  by  me,  I  know  I  am  never  welcome  here.  The  moment  I  stepped  into  this  school,  I’d  already  known  you  all  HATED  me  to  the  bone.  You  all  see  me  as  an  outsider,  if  not  a  pariah—which  is  fine.  I  know  the  honest  outsider  always  gets  expelled  from  the  city  state  just  because  she  speaks  the  truth.」
  美瑛已经起身，气冲冲奔向门口，用力扭开门把。
  「Since  this  meeting  gets  us  nowhere,  now,  please  allow  me  to  take  my  leave.」
  对着主席说完最后一句话，她愤怒地甩门离去。