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Words written in the Stars,as sending Love to next life,
West Wall,Umayyad Palace,and Cotton Market,Jerusalem,Israel.

 


風塵僕僕一大早趕著從約旦安曼坐車到隔壁以色列去,飯店人員幫叫了計程車,

一會兒就到Abdali Jett Bus 的辦公室,難得一大早就開門,

買了小巴的票,順利往胡笙國王橋去了,同車還有在邊境上班的人一起,

到了邊關,拿了護照和行李就進去辦公室填離境單,繳錢,可能太早,並沒有等很久,

出來後,往另一邊搭另一輛巴士,

因為我是買到耶路薩冷的車費,並不是從關卡才出發的,所以給看車票就不用再付錢。
Not long, before sun rose in the early morning,I took a taxi to the office of Abdali Jett Bus with the assistance of my hotel's staff.

I didn't expect the bus company opened so early.
However,I quickly made a purchase of my ticket.Soon,I got on the mini-van and we took off,

heading to King Hussein Bridge.

Some passengers were working at the customs or border's office.Together,we arrived as planed.

At the border's customs,I got off the mini van,along with my passport and luggages.

Because the bus later I was going to take to Israel wouldn't be the same mini-van,

once I finished my departure procedure.

I entered the office to apply for the departure and pay the check-out tax.

I didn't wait too long,perhaps it's because there weren't too many people due to the time was too early.
It was going smoothly,and I headed for the other bus waitting ahead,after I got out of the customs' office.

The ticket I bought in Amman was directly to Jerusalem,

so I didn't need to pay for the price difference from the customs to Jerusalem,for I didnt' start from the customs.

 

 

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沿途好荒涼,一片黃土,還有防禦工事,過一會才會到以色列的海關,

大概我選的日子太好,不覺得人很多,海關人員一副歡迎光臨的樣子,

笑個屁,一定有詐,通關人員查驗我護照,手就打呀打鍵盤,

然後...開始聊天!!
 "你爸爸是做什麼的?" 
 "什麼?",我因為他不期然的問題被愣住。
 "我爸死很久了耶!"
 "那你是做什麼的?"
我開始覺得他不太正經,根本就是很敷衍的亂問,

到底手在下面是在幹什麼?
會不會在說我的壞話?

過了一會兒,忽然喊了一聲"嘩啦~",

原來在邊打我的入境簽證,邊等印表機印出來,挖咧!

It was so barren along the way from the border to Jerusalem.

Every thing looked so earthy and full of sands or rocks,

occasionally there were defending construction could be spotted.
Now I arrived at the customs at the Israeli side.

I might have picked a good timing,for I didn't see passengers were crowded as people told me.
The workers at the customs were showing hospitality with smile.
"Why? what's to smile at?",I was having a suspicious mind.
The official took over my passport and then started typing something.

His fingers were busy in hitting the keyboard,and at the same time he started to...

chat with me.

"What does your dad do?
"What !!?" I was kind of dumbfounded by the unexpected question.
"He's dead for many years,why?"
"Oh,then what you do?"
I started to feel he wasn't serious.He's simply just making somthing up.
"What exactly is he doing down there?"I was thinking,

"Is he typing something bad about me?"
There's a while,he suddenly "Vola~,there you go."
"I see",he was waitting for his printer to finish my arrival visa.

"What the hell..."

 

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拿了小小入境簽證單,就照指示出關了,

這一個海關根本就沒什麼好逛,感覺有點失望,

外面有餐廳,找了一下,找到巴士,還有換匯的小小地方,

先換了一點點,等到市區再換,終於到達,找了計程車載到飯店,

司機聊天卻說了個重點,這裡物價很貴哪!

我預計停留4-5天,由於耶路薩冷歷史太過悠久,

古城區物價又貴,幾乎是台灣的3倍,我決定捨棄新開發的市區,

專心攻舊城區,讓錢花在刀口上,

所以即使舊城附近的飯店比青年旅館貴很多,為了能步行就到,

我也只好給它開下去,

飯店本身也是古蹟,一下子,通體感覺是在另一個國度。
I followed the instruction and held my visa slip to complete the arrival procedure.
Soon,I was out of the customs.There was not much to see and I felt a little disappointed.
There were few restaurants,a money exchanger,and I found my  bus booth.
I changed some money,I could change more when in town.
When in town,I hailed a taxi and took me to my hotel.The cabby made some chatting with me.

However,he pointed out one thing important,

"The pricing here is expensive."


I was planning to stay for 4 or 5 days.
Jerusalem is a town with a long long history.

Besides,the pricing in Old Town area was expensive,

which was about 3 folds of Taiwan's.
Thus,I made a decision to give up tour around the new developed city areas,but focus on the old town.

I hoped I made my money worth.
In order for me to get into old town on foot at any time,

I couldn't help book a room at a nearby hotel,even it was more expensive than hostels.
My hotel was also a designated historical building,

which made me fall into a complete exotic motif.

 

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舊城區並沒有想像的大,然而一轉角、一巷弄、一土一磚,皆是歷史的遺跡,

這日該是造訪聖殿山的日子,一時還找不到路,

看著Google Map走入棉花市場,

這邊的市場幾乎都是阿拉伯人的雜貨,人擠人的,

舊城區的老舊店面並不便宜,賣這個要幹嘛呢?

但是卻很有舊時味道,一直走到盡頭才被持槍軍人擋住,

要我回到西牆那邊過去,反正我也不喜歡購物。

The Old Town area wasn't as large as I had expected.However,

it was full of nostalgic ruins in every corner,every lane,and even a brick or rock that was causally found.

Today,I should pay a visit to Mount Temple.

It's not that difficult to find the route,but I just couldn't make it.

Thus,I opened and followed my Google Map that led me to the Cotton Market.

The market was full of Arabian stores that sold groceries,crowded.

Actually it's not cheap to have a shop in Jerusalem.

I doubted if groceries could bring any lucrative profit.
However,it added the vintage color.
I kept walking to the end ,

for I thought there's a way that connecting to the Mount Temple till I was stopped by an armed soldier.
He gave me a direction that I needed to go back to West Wall.
Fine,I didn't like shopping either.

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走到西牆後,臨時搭建的通道今天沒開,

因為聖殿山開放時間還得視狀況而定,

如果巴勒斯坦人最近比較緊張,氣氛不好,開放時間就會縮,或是乾脆關起來。

然而今天天氣超好的,

西牆前面一堆人,洗手台有人給了我一頂猶太人帽子-基帕,

男女是分開的。

Here I was at West Wall,but the comtemporary passage was closed today.
Sometimes,the opening time depends on the situation.

If there's a tense in the atmosphere against Palestinians.

It would be closed or the opening time would be shortened,

or even worse it would close completely.

Nonetheless,the weather today was extremely fine.

There were people craming in front of West wall.

When I walked close to the public washing basin,someone gave me a Jewish traditional hat,a Kipa.

Besides all that,the prayers were divided to different areas by the genders.

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古西牆是歷代戰爭後僅存的牆面,因為耶路薩冷在歷史上被屠城了2次,

身歷其境走在城內巷道,想起當時危及情況,都會覺得當時的人慘不忍睹,

有些人是活活餓到把自己小孩吃了

(羅馬士兵攻破城後,找到城內知名的女富豪,

只見女富豪眼神呆滯,手抓著一件物品,

待近一看,原來是一顆小孩的人頭,

後來羅馬士兵在豪宅裡面找到了吃剩的十一、二歲的小孩殘軀...

耶路薩冷三千年)。

West Wall is what has left after Jerusalem had gone through wars many times in history.
Jerusalem was sieged and slaughtered twice in history.
I walked down the dark lanes,

dared not to imagine what the perils would be like in the time of castle siege. 
The time of apocalypse for Jerusalem was brutal.
Some people even ate their own kids.

It says...
When Roman soilders broke in the old castle after months' siege.

A team of army went to a mension,where lived a famous and wealthy woman.

When they found her,they saw her eyes were dull and she was holding something in her hand.

They approached to find out,it was a child's head.
Later ,the Roman soldiers found her kid's corpse,about 11 or 12 years old in her bedroom.
The incomplete corpse was what had left after being eaten by her...
from the book ,"3000 years in Jerusalem." 

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近代2戰猶太人又經歷差點滅族的命運,西牆給了大家一個祈禱緬懷的場所,

我看著當地人站在牆前默禱一會兒,有時還隱隱然聽到嗚咽的聲音,細細絲絲飄散在空中,

我應該是聽錯了吧?
就往左手邊的猶太教祈禱區去,沒有人擋住我,我就不管了,就直直闖進去,

裡面好像沿著西牆建的巨大防空洞,後來改裝成圖書館喔,

在那裡,我遇到了從南非來的Andy。

Jewishes seem not to have enough torment.They had almost got eradicated during WWII,

that made West Wall an iconic monument providing the public a site for commemoration.
Standing in front of it quietly for a while,I seemed to hear of weeping sound floating thin in the air.
No way,I must have heard it wrong.

I turned to the Jewish prayers' district in the left hand side of the wall.

I hadn't been stopped,anyway,I walked directly into the chamber.
It was built along with West Wall.

The whole place looked like a shelter from bombing.It was revamped to be a huge library,

and right there I met Andy from South Africa...

 

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看著許多人自行在各角落或椅上默念經文,有些人前後擺動進入冥想,

這種禪定的功夫,跟土耳其的旋轉舞Sema有異曲同工之妙,

忽然有人叫住我,一個年輕人跑來找我聊天,才開口說了2句,我就知道他想幹什麼,

他來跟我傳教呢,這種我在台灣的摩門教已經領教太多,

我說我已經返依佛教,而且有正式受教,雖然也接受其他教派,

但是不方便換個宗教,他還不死心,那我只好跟他開聊了。

There were people reciting murmurly in every corner in the bomb shefter chamber,

some of them were sitting on a chair and making slight swings to and back.

The Zen like meditation is very similiar to Sema,a swirling dancing in Turkey.
Some one called me from my back.I turned to see a young man make an approach to me.
He wanted to talk to me ,but I had already known where this would lead to ,

judged from his first few sentences during our dialogue.
I told him I was officially attributed to Buddhism.

It was not a convenient transfer to other religion,even though I could accept any.
He just didn't want to give up trying.
So,I guessed this was an intimate chitchatting starting to fire off.

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Andy是準教士,由南非來這裡已經很多年了,有專門的老師教授課程,
我就問了,"南非很遠呢!有家人嗎?"
Andy說父母都在。
"那你是常回去,是嗎?"
"沒有,必需師傅同意才可以,很久以前有回去過一次,還是老樣子,沒甚麼意思。"

So Andy was a going-to-be priest,and had been staying here for many years.

He'd got a designated rabbi for learning theology.
" Isn't it very far from here to South Africa? Got any family there?",I asked.
Andy replied,"Yes,both of my parents are alive there."

"Do you go back frequently,don't you?" I kept on asking,for I didn't want to show him that I was bored.
Andy said,"No,I need to have my mentor's permission to fly back.

I did go back a few times before.They were the same,not particularly bad or good."

這時,我意會出來他的意思了,他已經出家,要回俗世,要師傅同意。
"那他們還好嗎?"
Andy ,"他們年紀都大了,我也很想他們。"
我問:那幹嘛不請假回去看看?
Andy:"要問師父放不放人。"

A persmission was needed?...Now,I'd got what he meant.
He had been prepared to be a monk.

Thus,if he wanted to leave,even for a temporary time,

he also needed his mentor's permission beforehand.
" So, are they all right?"I kept on asking,

for I was deliberately trying not to offend him or made him get back to the preaching stuff to me.
Andy said,"They are old ,but I miss them as well."
"Then,why don't you get back to visit them? You can apply for few days' leave to your mentor,can't you?"
Andy told me,"It depends on my mentor."

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這時我在想要不要多事一下,算了,就直說了吧,我告訴Andy,

"你若有心學習,努力遲早會升等的,

但是人世間有些事無法等,你父母年紀大,只怕等不及,

跟師父請個假吧,相信神也會諒解的。"
Now,I was hesitating to go deeper.But,whatever,I'd go straight.
I then,told Andy," Your efforts in studying would get upgraded sooner or later,

if your persistance in learning theology continues.However,

I am afraid that something  in this world may not be pending for long,like the growing ages of your parents.

Go ask a leave to your mentor and get back to visit your parents before something bad happens.

I believe,even God would forgive."


Andy遲疑了,一時無法回答我,我在想我不會是把人家心志動搖了吧,我還滿危險的。
"怎樣?"我追問著。
Andy最後還是吐出說還是要問師父才行。
我想我都已經做了,就下手到底吧。

Andy showed a sign of contemplation,and held the reply in his mouth.
"No~,haha,could it be that I have wavered his perseverance?"I thought to myself.
"Well? what'd you say?"I kept pressing on.
Andy finally pulled up something like he still needed his mentor's permission

after a while of struggling what to reply to me.
That'd really triggered my monkey business.
I wanted to play on.

 

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我又跟著進了讒言,"Andy,你認為神活得久,還是你父母會活得比較久?"
Andy當然答是神活得比較久,"既然神永遠在,我相信祂不會在乎你不在的短短幾個月時間,若神對你的慈愛在,你再回來不就好了,但是你父母可是無法等很久,神也會這樣說的。"

I kept pressing on,"Do you think God exist longer or your parents,Andy?"
"Of course,it's God that lives longer."Andy replied.
It's a trap question,so I immediately followed,
"Owing to God's perennial existence,

I believe HE wouldn't care much about your absence for just a few months from academic learning here.

God's love is forever,you can always come back for HIM,anytime you want,

but your parents couldn't wait long.I believe God would agree with me."


Andy忽然反問,"你是神嗎?",我說當然不是,雖然很想唬爛一下,但太扯了,

等一下他搞不好對我驅魔,我就GG了,

看來被識破了,被質疑假借神的嘴說話,

反正,Andy說還是要問一下師傅,

我說,那就這樣吧。
Andy asked me out of blue a question,"Are you God?"
"Of course,not", Though I would like to play a little,it just was too outrageously ridiculous.

He might practise exorcism on me later,if I answered with "yes",

then I would be damed,haha.
It seemed that my trick was broken.

He was suspicious of my words by using God's tongue to do the argument.
Anyway,Andy did the same reply to me,

"I need the permission from my mentor."
Well,fine,that's it.

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說完,想說我也休息夠了,是該跟Andy告別了。
出來後,陽光依然耀眼,2千多年的岩塊,反光下顆顆純白,一片白茫茫,如在永晝的世界。
人世間的愛,若不能及時,那只能寄語蒼天,勉強不得的愛,也許只能送愛於來世了,
那麼我能說的,只剩祝福了。

Time to say goodbye to Andy,

I had had enough rest after our conversation.
I walked out of the chamber to bathe in the bright sunlight,

and I relaxed to breathe free air.
At this  moment,

every cut stone refected in the sunlight was more than 2000 years old.
It's like being submerged in pure white light,

a perennial world of white light.

Why couldn't we love as our hearts go?

Why did we let our mind block our ways to freedom?
If love can't be deliver in time,

I guess,perhaps it is best to send by writting in the stars.
If love can't be bent as needed,

perhaps it would be best to meet in the next life.
Thus,what left to say in me was only blessings.

 

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看著另一邊被圍牆隔起來的伍麥亞王宮遺址,

我忽然感到很高興可以離開這面沉重的牆面,

回到入口,繞過去,滿目看似亂石的考古場地,

千年前的王宮花園卻整理得乾淨整齊。
Turned to look at the ruins of the Umayyad Palace,

that was blockaded by makeshift walls,

I suddenly felt so glad to leave West Walls that made me burdenly heavy in mind.
I got back to the entrance and made a deture to the next site,

where the-thousands-of-years-old's palace was.
Now it has turned into an archiaological site.

It's seemingly in a state of chaos,but actually was managed neat and clean.

 

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西牆是一直延伸一百多公尺到這旁邊的牆面,古時候這一條是商業大街呢,

兩旁有各式各樣的商家,抬頭一看有一個像是被封起來的大門,

可是在3、4樓高呢,看著解說標誌,忽然想起來,

是跟在大衛塔博物館看到的希律王所建的二代聖殿山的大門,

古時有石階,可以直通上面的聖殿廣場,

現在樓梯也沒了,只剩一些些,

這就是知名的Robinson's Arch,以第一個確認的美國學者的名字命名。
There were about 100 meters of distance from West Wall to the Palace walls,

where was a business boulevard in ancient time.

There were all kinds of stores and shops on either side of the boulevard.
I raised my head to notice a gate above ,that was sealed tight.

It's about 3 or 4 stories high.I read the description about its background.

Then,It struck me out of blue to understand it's the gate of Robinson's Arch,named after an American archaeologist.

It's the model that I had seen when I visited at David Tower Museum.

It was built in the time of the 2nd stage of Temple Mount by King Herod.
In that time,there was a long stairway attached to the gate.

Now it's only rubbles left.

 

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轉個角進入了伍麥亞王宮花園,王朝是後來第一個阿拉伯王國的前身,

登上遺留的城牆,這裡可以居高看到四周著名景觀,

包含了橄欖山、錫安山等等,

沿著王宮僅剩的牆面散步一周,牆外就是大馬路,

站在高牆遠望壯闊的景色,

此時,眼裡碧藍天空的陽光閃耀著,

卻起風了...

I turned into the garden of the Palace of Umayyad,

which was the dynasty of the beginning kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

I climbed on the castle wall,where I could have a perfect panoramic view around.

Mount Olive ,Mount Sion,etc. could be seen from wherer I stoold.

I rambled on the castle wall.The large roads were just out of the castle walls,

and I saw the flowing traffic moving on.

The sight was magnificent,

 the reflection of the blue sky was glittering in my eyes,

and then,

the wind's blowing...

 

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~ END ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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