四12 不吐不快（第1页）

终于，轮到居于末位的王美瑛老师发言。

她老娘早就想趁「新官上任三把火」──代理校长刚上任，还没把事搞砸、尚存威严之时──不吐不快：

「asyouknow，i’mlilyli’shomeroomteacher，aswellasarielliu’slanguagetutor。iknowclearlymyresponsibilitiesandobligations。ihavealreadymanifested，notjustonce，iamfullyawareofbeingobligatedtodowhatihavetodo，andreadytotakeanypracticalmeasures—andevenassistintakinglegalactions，providedmypresenceisnecessary。thiscommittee，nevertheless，kepthinderingmefromfulfillingmyduty。andnow，president，yourhonor，ishere。iwouldliketoreiteratemydisappointmentstoallofyou—」

「说中文，美瑛老师──体谅我们有些老师不讲英文。」

「getyourselvesaninterpreter，then—idon’tcare—whatihavetosayisayitoutloudandclear。andthosewhogotmypointgotmypoint—whicheverlanguageispeakin，老师。onlyifyouchoosetolisten，nottoonceagainhushmebyshoutingandhissing──ah-uh，herewegoagain—nowplease，letmecontinue。。。」

「很失礼耶王老师──」「尊重一下好不好？」「权宜问题、权宜问题！」「主席，立刻将王美瑛赶出去！」

见主席的神情比雕塑的表情更加肃穆，叫嚣的人员只好乖乖闭嘴。

「thewholeincidentjustremindsmeofj。d。salinger’sfamousnovel，thecatcherintherye。oneparticularpassageiwanttosharewithallofyou—andiassureyou:itdeservesyourattention。now，bearwithme—itgoeslikethis:

「‘ikeeppicturingallthelittlekidsplayingsomegameinthisbigfieldofrye。thousandsoflittlekids。nobody'saround-nobodybig，exceptme。andi'mstandingontheedgeofsomecrazycliff。whatcouldihavetodo，ihavetocatcheverylittlekidiftheystarttoruntowardthecliff—ifthey'rerunningandtheydon'tlookwherethey'regoing，ihavetocomeoutandcatchthem。that'sallidoallday。i'djustbethecatcherintherye。iknowthatsoundscrazy，butthat'stheonlythingiwillhavetobe。’」

「letmetellyou，mypeerandrespectfulseniormembers，howregretfuliam，rightnow，righthere，tohavetoattendthispointlessmeeting;notbecauseihavetoplaythelittlegamewithyouweaklings，orbecauseihavetositinthismeetingroom，discussingsomeinsignificantissuesover‘theschool’sprestige’ortheso-called‘measurestothecurrentprcrises’andwastemytime—oh-oh—

「somepeopleinthisroomwhoactuallyspeakenglishfeltseriouslywrongedandstarted—youdogetmypoint—thisisexactlywhyicallthemembersinthiscommitteeweaklings—

「allofyousawthe‘elephantintheroom’butchosetoignoreitcompletely。ifthereisapinkelephant，letuspointitoutwithourfingers—ifthereisabigwolfhidinginthewood，lurkingtoharmourkids—let’sgetit，then!why—isn’tit‘aperfectdayforthewolf?’idon’tseenopointsthatwestillsithereandwaitforamessiah-likefiguretosavetheday，toremovethethreatforus，whilewearestillfarfrombeinglatetotakeaction。

「iregrettedit，ideeplyregrettedthatifailedtobethat‘catcherintherye’whentherewasakid，anabsolutelylovelysweetheart，whojustranstraighttowardthe‘crazycliff，’whilestillwithinarm’sreach—icouldhavecaughtherinmyarms[acatchinherthroat]。iregrettedthatwejustletithappen，asshejustfelloverthenest，withouttheslightestchancetogrowupandlearntoflutterherlittlebutbravewings—」

「够了喔，王老师。今天不是来听你发洩情绪──是来解决问题──」

「那前面开好几次会怎么都没看你们解决问题！」

美瑛的反驳令在座的人员，除主席之外，全都愣住了。

没等被震慑的人回过神，美瑛继续质问：

「前面开那么多会，你们哪个有要解决问题──」

「嘘──」「嘘──」「嘘──」

台下开始发出嘘声，随后则是更多附和者加入行列。

「oh，oh，somepeoplearesweepingawaythepersontheydisagreewith—finebyme，iknowiamneverwelcomehere。themomentisteppedintothisschool，i’dalreadyknownyouallhatedmetothebone。youallseemeasanoutsider，ifnotapariah—whichisfine。iknowthehonestoutsideralwaysgetsexpelledfromthecitystatejustbecauseshespeaksthetruth。」

美瑛已经起身，气冲冲奔向门口，用力扭开门把。

「sincethismeetinggetsusnowhere，now，pleaseallowmetotakemyleave。」

对着主席说完最后一句话，她愤怒地甩门离去。（）;