At 3:19am on a cold December morning in 1941, a father was jolted awake by violent shaking, loud crashes and the sound of breaking pottery and tiles. And then, a woman’s terrified scream. He instinctively reached for his wife beside him. She was not there. She must have gone to check on their youngest child in the east wing.
He tried to stand but was thrown back down. The room shook even harder. Walls cracked open and ceiling beams groaned as pieces of the roof began to fall. Cold December air rushed in the room and fanned the fire from the tipped stove. The flames spread quickly, catching on straw mats and bamboo furniture and climbing to the wooden ceiling beams. Flame-filled smoke filled the house as he stumbled through the chaos. He tried calling out. No sound came out of his mouth as he choked on thick smoke. The only sounds were the crackling of fire on dry wood and the desperate cries of neighbors.
The shaking finally stopped as he made his way across the courtyard to the east wing, the sleeping quarters of his children. It was eerily quiet — no voices. He dug through the tiles, bricks and smoldering wood, his hands raw, burnt and bleeding.
Photo: AI I 照片：AI
Suddenly, a flicker of light caught his eye — his wife’s jade bracelet glinting in the flames. He uncovered her still hand, the delicate bracelet somehow unharmed. His lungs caved and stomach plunged. He couldn’t breathe. Wasn’t jade supposed to protect? Why didn’t it save her? And then then a faint whimper. He frantically began to dig. Shielded beneath his wife’s embrace, their youngest child lay alive. As he cradled his son, his teary eyes fell to the jade bracelet and his wife who had given her life to protect him.
1941年12月，凌晨3點19分，一個寒冷清晨，一陣劇烈地搖晃將一位父親從睡夢中驚醒，伴隨著巨大的撞擊聲及瓷器、瓦片破碎的聲音。隨之而來的是婦女淒厲的尖叫聲。他本能地伸手去拉身旁的妻子，卻發現她早已不在原處。她一定是去東廂房查看他們最小的孩子。
他試著起身，卻被再次震倒。房間搖晃地更加劇烈，牆壁崩裂，屋頂的橫樑發出嘎吱聲，屋頂的碎片開始掉落。刺骨的12月冷風灌進房間，助長了傾倒爐子上的火苗。火焰迅速蔓延，點燃了草蓆、竹製家具，並爬上了木質的橫樑。火焰和濃煙充斥著整個房子，他跌跌撞撞地穿過這一片混亂。他試著呼喊，但濃煙嗆得他發不出聲音。唯一能聽到的聲音只有乾木燃燒的劈啪聲和鄰居們絕望的呼喊。
地震終於停止了，他踉蹌著穿過庭院走向東廂房，那是孩子們的寢室。但迎接他的卻是一片死寂，安靜地令人毛骨悚然。他扒開瓦礫、磚塊和悶燒著的木頭，雙手被劃傷、燒傷，鮮血淋漓。
一瞬間，一絲微弱的光芒吸引了他的目光——妻子的玉鐲在火焰中閃閃發光。他拂開她那靜止不動的手，精緻的玉鐲竟毫髮無傷。他感到心如刀割，無法呼吸。玉不是應該要保護人嗎？為什麼她並未受到庇護？此時，他聽到一聲微弱的嗚咽聲。他瘋狂地開始挖掘。在妻子的保護下，他們最小的孩子還活著。當他抱著兒子時，淚眼望向了玉鐲，望向著玉潔冰清的妻子，一位為了保護孩子而犧牲自己的母親。
Epilogue 故事討論
In the early hours of Dec. 17, 1941, Chiayi City, home to approximately 60,000 residents, was abruptly awakened by the powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was under Chungpu just 10km away. Buildings, both residential and commercial, crumbled under the tremors and trapped many. The earthquake destroyed over 4,500 dwellings across the Tainan region, leaving many residents homeless, and resulting in 358 fatalities and 733 injuries.
In Chinese culture, jade is revered as a symbol of purity, protection and virtue. Historically, jade has been cherished as a protective talisman that is believed to safeguard its wearer from harm and misfortune. On this date, jade surely served to protect some, but not others.
1941年12月17日凌晨，嘉義市約60,000名居民被一場強烈地震驚醒。這場芮氏規模7.2的地震震央位於中埔，震源深度僅離中埔地表10公里左右。住宅和商業建築在劇烈地震動中倒塌，許多人被
困在廢墟中。地震摧毀了台南地區超過4,500棟房屋，使許多居民無家可歸，並造成358人死亡、733人受傷。
在中華文化中，玉被尊為純潔、守護和美德的象徵。歷史上，玉被視為護身符，被認為可以保護佩戴者遭受傷害和不幸。然而，在這樣的日子裡，玉雖然保護了一些人，卻無法保護所有人。
Vocabulary 單字片語
1. 7.2 magnitude earthquake
芮氏規模7.2地震
2. tremor 震動
3. misfortune 不幸
4. epicenter 震央
5. fatalities 死亡人數
6. injuries 受傷人數
7. jolt 搖動；顛簸
8. stumbled 踉蹌
9. chaos 混亂
10. frantically 瘋狂地
11. shield 保護
Idioms 相關成語
1. jade-pure and ice-clear (idiom)
玉潔冰清
(yu jie b?ng q?ng)
2. protective talisman
護身符
(hu sh?n fu)
Nigel P. Daly is a writer with a language learning newsletter called Chin-glish bilingual lab (https://ndaly.substack.com).
Cynthia Chen is a translator and writer specializing in blogs, scripts and articles.
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