Tired of trying to get a bit of peace and quiet in one of the world's most densely populated countries, a Bangladeshi man with a head for heights has hit on the perfect solution.
Each day carpenter and aspiring writer Salim Hossen Gaus, aged 25, winches himself 30m in a precarious home-made pulley to a small wooden platform he has built at the top of a palm tree.
"I spend four to five hours minimum in the tree reading and writing, listening to the birds chirping," he said, adding that his favorite authors were Shakespeare and the Nobel laureate, Bengali writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore.
PHOTO: AFP
"The isolation is very pleasing. I don't get any disturbance from people and no one can distract me from my literary works," he said.
Gaus, from the southwestern Jessore district, said he enjoyed the tranquillity of his tree house so much he had even taken to eating meals and sleeping there sometimes.
"I feel a deep affinity with nature when I am in the tree writing poetry in the moonlight or looking at the sun rising or setting," he said.
Other villagers at first dismissed Gaus as insane, but are now clamoring for their own tree-top hideaways.
"They used to call me mad but many people have become enthusiasts. Now they ask me to build the same kind of tree house for them too," he added.
Bangladesh, with a population of 144 million, is one of the world's most crowded nations. It has 834 people per km2 area, according to the 2001 census of the country. (AFP)
厭倦了在世界人口最密集的國度裡找尋
片刻安祥寧靜，一名不畏高的孟加拉男子想到了一個絕佳妙計。
渴望成為作家的二十五歲木匠沙林姆．
胡珊．高斯，每天坐著自己打造的滑車，以絞輪搖搖晃晃地攀高三十公尺，到自己在棕櫚樹頂蓋的小型木製平台。
他說︰「我最少會花四到五個小時在樹
上閱讀、寫作，聽鳥兒啁啾。」他補充表示，自己最喜歡的作家是莎士比亞，和曾獲得諾貝爾獎、以孟加拉文寫作的作家兼詩人泰格爾。
他表示︰「與世隔絕令人非常愉悅，我
不會被人打擾，沒有人能將我抽離文學作品之外。」
來自哲索爾區的高斯表示，他是如此享
受木屋的寧靜，甚至有時會在那裡用餐就寢。
他說︰「當我就著月光在樹上寫詩，或看著日出日落，我覺得自己和大自然深切連結。」
其他村民起初斥高斯為瘋子，現在卻都
吵著要擁有自己的遺世樹屋。
他補充︰「他們以前說我瘋了，但之後
很多人都熱中於此，現在他們也會請我為他們打造一樣的樹屋。」
孟加拉有一億四千四百萬人口，是世界
人口最密集的國家之一，根據二○○一年的人口普查顯示，孟加拉每平方公里有八百三十四名居民。
(法新社/ 翻譯: 鄭湘儀)
A: Hard rock band Guns N’ Roses is touring Taiwan tomorrow. What about pop diva Lady Gaga? B: Unfortunately, Singapore has once again exclusively secured Gaga’s concerts in Asia, just like Taylor Swift’s exclusive Asian shows last year. A: The Singaporean government reportedly paid up to US$2.2 million to secure Swift’s shows. B: And the shows did boost its economy and tourism. A: But I’m angry about this approach, so I’m not going to Gaga’s shows this time. A: 硬式搖滾天團槍與玫瑰明天即將來台，流行天后女神卡卡呢？ B: 真可惜，新加坡再度取得卡卡亞洲巡演的獨家主辦權，就像去年泰勒絲的亞洲獨家演出一樣。 A: 據報導新加坡政府付出高達220萬美元，取得泰勒絲的亞洲獨家主辦權。 B: 而她的秀也的確提振了該國的經濟和旅遊業。 A: 但我對此還是很不爽，所以不去新加坡看卡卡了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
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