Lucky Hong Kong Birds 幸福的“港鸟”

Hong Kong’s suffocating pollution, human density and hyperactivity are well known. Less known are its pockets of natural beauty which only exist to those who look. These pictures were recently taken by Richard Kok at Yuen Long.After the pictures is a little story about Lucky HK Birds.

香港混浊的空气，稠密的人烟和过敏的社会神经是人所共知。鲜为人知的是香港还有很多优美漂亮的大自然。这几张照片是我的老友曲卫东最近在元朗拍到的。在美丽的照片之后，我有个关于“幸福小鸟” 的闪灵小故事。

F l a s h  F i c t i o n :  Lucky Hong Kong Birds

A mere forty-minute drive away, in busy  Central, sparrows and pigeons were having a sophisticated meal next to an affluent garbage bin, twittering. They momentarily scattered when a sweaty man in three-piece suit walked hurriedly by. He threw a colourful paper bag at the bin and missed. A pigeon expertly unwrapped it. “Look! More than half a burger!” A few of his friends fluttered in to join.

“Humans often don’t  finish their lunches on muggy days like this.” An old pigeon commented insightfully. “When they sweat, they lose appetite.”

“We should be thankful for these ready meals you know,” a chubby one said, pecking leisurely at a piece of fish burger a scrawny lady on high-heels had deposited. “Little egrets up north have to hunt their own fish. Sometimes they fly and fight all morning without catching even a minnow.”

“And when they do, they eat it raw, without ketchup,” said a little sparrow with a chunk of buffalo fries between beak. “Can you imagine swallowing a live fish, feeling it wriggling all the way down your throat?”

“Yuk! That’s barbaric. Disgusting. I wish some animal-right activist would do something.”

The old pigeon hopped on top of the garbage bin with a full stomach, gazing northward with compassionate eyes. “The humans are building more cities up there. Let’s hope the poor egrets would be able to eat like us civilised birds one day soon.”

闪灵短篇：幸福的港鸟

离开元朗不过40分钟车程，在繁荣热闹的中环，有几只麻雀和白鸽在富裕的垃圾箱旁共进午餐，吱吱喳喳地谈天说地。一个身穿“三件头”西服，打着领带，满头大汗的男人匆匆而过，打断了它们的话柄。那男人顺手把一个纸袋扔向垃圾箱，但并未命中。一头鸽子熟手地把纸包弄开：“看！大半个汉堡包！” 它的几只朋友连忙半跳半飞过来分享。

一只阅历丰富的老鸽说道：“今天天气闷热，有体面的人胃口都会较差。”

“大家应该感恩我们每天三餐无忧哦，”一只胖得差不多飞不起的白鸽一边说，一边吃着刚才一位拉直了脚踝穿高跟鞋的女士扔的鱼柳包：“北方的小白鹭还要自己觅食。飞一个早上，又打又叫，弄得一身湿透，有时候连鱼毛也抓不到一条。”

“就算抓到也要生吞呢！” 一只叼着薯条的麻雀尖叫道。“酱汁也没有。你可以想像吞食一条活生生在喉咙里拼命挣扎的鲜鱼吗？”

“哎唷！别说了！太恐怖太野蛮了！简直是虐禽！为什么没有维护动物权益的人出来说句话，做点事情呢？”

那老鸽刚吃够了，一跃跳上垃圾箱顶向北凝望，眼中充满感慨和同情。“听闻他们会加快北部城镇化。但愿那些可怜的白鹭很快便可以像我们一样幸福，有文化有尊严地吃饱肚子吧！”

过度 22.01.2013