Newsletter No. 479

細味本地遊 （頁10） Enjoy Local Travel ( p. 10 ) 編見 這陣子，全城都陷入一片禍從天降，好事變壞事的憂怔中。 在《生命中不能承受的輕》一書開頭，昆德拉也陷於疑惑： 重重的責任壓塌我們，把我們牢牢釘在地上……相反地，沒有泰山壓頂，人便會身輕如鴻 毛，肆意神遊物外……但我們究竟想要輕還是重？ 對卡爾維諾來說，選擇容易不過。在《給下一個千禧的六封備忘錄》的第一章〈輕靈〉，他重 述《十日談》中一個故事：一群佛羅倫斯的少年惡棍，正殺氣騰騰地衝向詩人卡瓦爾康蒂， 後者向來意不善的人反脣相譏之後便輕輕跳過四周的墓陵揚長而去。卡爾維諾這樣說： 如果要我揀一個代表下一個千禧的映像，我會揀這一幕：詩人輕靈一躍，跳出俗世的羈絆， 以輕巧戰勝地心吸力…… 對本期訪問的數位校友、老師和同學來說，輕與重之間的選擇也不難。陳耐持以暢沐於樂 韻的草書融合中西文化；陳紫茵以其實證研究，多少減輕了唸文科的人生命中或多或少需要 承受的重；至於兩位地理及資源管理學系的同學（右圖），他們提倡的是本土旅遊，放眼的 卻是全球的氣候。 讀者，你的選擇又會是甚麼？ Editorially Speaking Lately, the whole territory has been plunged into premonitions of the lightness of green nature turning into hazards of weight. At the beginning of The Unbearable Lightness of Being , Milan Kundera debates with himself: The heaviest of burden crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground....Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being...What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness? The choice is obvious to Italo Calvino. In the first part of Six Memos for the Next Millennium , entitled ‘Lightness’, he retold a story from the Decameron in which a group of Florentine young knaves were about to pick a quarrel with the poet-philosopher Guido Cavalcanti but the latter deftly leaped over a tomb and made off after a brief rebuke to the advancing mob. Calvino said, Were I to choose an auspicious image for the new millennium, I would choose that one: the sudden agile leap of the poet-philosopher who raises himself above the weight of the world, showing that with all his gravity he has the secret of lightness,... The choice is also obvious to the alumna, teacher and students featured in this issue. Chan Loi-che aspires to uniting East and West with the auspicious image of Chinese cursive brushed in dance tempos. Evelyn Chan’s empirical study helps alleviating the sometimes unbearable lightness of being an English major. ‘Travel Local; Travel Light’ is the advice offered by two young advocates ( right photo ) from the Department of Geography and Resource Management. Dear Reader, what is your choice? 慈山寺提供 Courtesy of Tsz Shan Monastery Guided by Prof. Chan Sui-yin and a venerable practitioner, CUHK students, staff and alumni experience Zen meditation Unloading Troubles Meditation Workshop at Tsz Shan Monastery 陳瑞燕教授與慈山寺法師帶領中大師生、職員及校友禪修 洗慮滌憂 聰明 開心禪 479 • 4.6.2016 1 479 4 • 6 • 2016