Syaman Rapongan (Tao): Part II

介紹達悟族作家夏曼•藍波安2014年最新長篇小說：大海浮夢。

How can I translate Syaman Rapongan's (Tao Nation) latest book 大海浮夢 (2014. 09), an autobiography and biography of a pretty man and a pretty people on their continuing journey towards keeping the beauty of native science and native way of life? 

I still don't know, but I know I need more than knowledge of the English language to deliver that. 

Four chapters; four hundred and seventy three pages. I follow Syaman through his childhood, adolescence, self-exile across islands of the South Pacific and pirate-haunted Moluccas Strait; at last we return to the almost empty beach by his village on Pongso no Tao since nowadays, only very few of them care about the tradition of tatala (plank boat) building. 

With the introduction of motor-driven boats comes the decline of interest in traditional Tao canoes. So gradually disappear the native knowledge of trees, fishes and, most of all, the reciprocity between nature and people through labor. 

In Chapter I, I am shocked by the barbarity Syaman's people underwent under Chinese colonial regime. They lost their forests, farm lands to force and pistol. No one bothers to mask exploitation. Why waste the make-up. 

In Chapter II (my favorite), I am drawn to the life of fishermen, although most of them sail for unpretty reasons such as poverty or an unfaithful wife, also  although life on board can be imaginably routine to the point of utter boredom. That sense of adventure and that challenge of a strong mind are still very alluring. 

Chapter III, advertised as the gist of the book, describes Syaman's month-long sea exploration with Yamamoto Yoshiyuki along the equator. Their Vilad or Sandeq Explorer never reaches its destination Los Angeles, but their sea-faring journey brings these two men in the end back to the families. The story of Ang-Haz, one of their Indonesian assistants, especially touches me. Ang-Haz is the eldest in his family. When his father died from an accident at work in the sea, he sailed all alone on a canoe with a single mast and a single outrigger to bring his father home. This journey took Ang-Haz almost one month, and at that time, he was only ten years old! He thus becomes a legend in the village and the most trustworthy sailor on Vilad. 

In Chapter IV, Syaman returns to his village and his ongoing struggle to keep native science alive. Entering the sixtieth year of his life, he refuses to call his people a people of the dusk. He continues to live the way he believes; Island Indigenous Science Studio （島嶼科學工作坊）witnesses his undying efforts.  

There are still many other things to admire in Syaman's latest book. 

One of them is his attention to his wife. Perhaps as a reply to critics who consider him too paternalistic, always writing about men and rarely about women, Syaman adds his wife to a lot of scenes in the book; he describes her reactions, her comments and her relationship with their family farm. Their marriage is not at all easy, but he recognizes her sacrifices while she grows with him in their common love for living like real Tao on Pongso no Tao.

Their story makes my eyes water. What else do you need in a partner but life-long support and understanding. Though my eyes do tend to moisten for other reasons, I will stop here.

Thank you, Syaman, for yet another good book.