久未爬山，久未親炙山林，這雙腿有些使不上勁。氣喘吁吁，終究不負苦心人，一步一步還是爬上來了。登高望遠，大西洋被開普半島從中切開兩邊，好望角就在山脈延伸最西南處緩緩入海。站在查普曼峰(Chapman’s Peak)之巔，向西是浩瀚無盡的大西洋，向東是千門萬戶的開普平原；向南有以馳名的長灘(Long Beach)，白沙綿延的沙灘嬉戲著浪潮；向北有十二使徒峰矗立眼前，山脈最後驟降為丘陵平原，留下一道斷開空間，豪特灣(Hout Bay)如馬蹄形將大西洋擁入懷中。濱海地勢突然拔起，從此山脈繼續往南，濱海公路查普曼大道(Chapman’s Peak Drive)沿著峭壁穿梭山海，一轉一驚一彎一絕，查普曼峰三角頂入蒼天。人在岩石上登高望遠，自無亭臺樓閣可述，更無高臺多悲風的觸動，時序盛夏而日正當中，一顆燙熱的心飛揚俯衝，開普天地正遨遊。
It has been a long time since I last hiked, since I last immersed myself in the embrace of the mountains. These legs, long unused, struggle to summon their strength. Panting heavily, yet undeterred, I press on step by step and finally make it to the top. From this vantage point on Chapman’s Peak, the Atlantic Ocean is cleaved in two by the Cape Peninsula, its southwestern tip gently reaching into the sea at the Cape of Good Hope. To the south, the famed Long Beach stretches its white sands endlessly, playfully caressed by the waves. To the north, the Twelve Apostles rise dramatically, the mountains abruptly descending into rolling hills and plains, leaving an open expanse where Hout Bay cradles the Atlantic in its horseshoe embrace.
The coastal cliffs rise sharply, and the mountains continue southward from here. Chapman’s Peak Drive winds its way along the jagged edges of the cliffs, each curve a thrill, each turn a breathtaking wonder. The triangular summit of Chapman’s Peak rises boldly into the heavens, a striking sentinel between the mountain and the sea. Perched atop the rocks, taking in the sweeping views, there are no lofty pavilions to speak of, no sorrowful winds to lament. It is midsummer, the sun directly overhead, and my heart, burning with exhilaration, soars and dives as it roams freely across the vastness of the Cape’s sky and earth.
快意美景的當下，登樓賦請勿道來。「情眷眷而懷歸兮，孰懮思之可任？」「悲舊鄉之壅隔兮，涕橫墜而弗禁。」網際網絡的現代，電訊系統無遠弗屆，一通電話隨時視訊，哪裡會有鄉愁？開普敦華人餐館不少，去餐館吃上一口饞嘴的家鄉菜，哪裡會有鄉愁？沒有鄉愁！我的鄉愁，早已埋葬在故鄉。對一個不知鄉愁的遊子提及登樓賦，無異對牛彈琴。若仍有一絲鄉愁，提及登樓賦，會不會太狠心？
In the midst of this joyful scene, to recite On Ascending the Tower would seem out of place: “My heart clings to thoughts of home; how can I bear this endless longing? Tears fall unchecked as I grieve for the barriers that separate me from my homeland.” In this age of global connectivity, where video calls can bridge any distance, where is there homesickness? Cape Town is filled with Chinese restaurants where one can savour familiar dishes—where is there homesickness? Homesickness has long been buried in my homeland. To speak of On Ascending the Tower to a wanderer without homesickness is like playing music to a cow. And if even a thread of homesickness lingered, invoking On Ascending the Tower might seem needlessly cruel.
感情已經麻木，變得麻木不仁。思念已經平淡，變得平淡無痕。沒有歸屬的空殼，沒有情感的靈魂，遊遊蕩蕩在查普曼峰，肆意捕捉著開普美景，興起自詡開普子民，驕傲的南非人！
My emotions have grown numb, so desensitised they can no longer feel. My longing has become so faint it leaves no trace. A hollow shell without a sense of belonging, a soul devoid of feeling, I wander aimlessly atop Chapman’s Peak, drinking in the beauty of the Cape, indulging in a moment of self-flattery as I proclaim myself a Capetonian—a proudly South African.
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