http://sts.nthu.edu.tw/download_files/ricebomber.mp3
*The Rice Bomber **（**Yang, Ru-Men**）** *
*by Jim Page sent to Taiwan on 2006/1/4*
*白米炸彈客（楊儒門）***
*Yang, Ru-Men was raised on the family farm*
*with the love of the land in the morning and the muscle in his arm*
*out in the China Ocean on the island of Taiwan*
*it’s a story worth the telling and I’ll sing it in a song*
*我要唱一首該唱的歌給妳聽*
*在中國的海洋之外有個台灣島*
*楊儒門在農村長大*
*有著對土地的愛及有力的臂膀*
* *
*the family farm is the rock of humanity’s anchor*
*in the 21^st century world war between the farmer and the banker*
*the great corporate bullies ride on the money train*
*where the farmers stand to lose the corporations stand to gain*
*二十一世紀的世界，在農民與金融家之間拉扯*
*財團土豪馳騁在金錢列車之上*
*財團居於贏家，農民卻處於劣勢*
*從自家農田，長出了楊儒門的人道*
* *
*Yang, Ru-Men saw the danger comin’ from a dark and angry place*
*and he thought of all the farmers whose lives would be displaced*
*he made calls and he wrote letters but what good did it do*
*politicians never read them nor the newspapers too*
*他看到了陰暗憤怒的危難*
*他想到了農民生計的可危*
*他寄信求援*
*有用嗎？*
*政客與媒體不會解讀*
* *
*Yang, Ru-Men went walkin' one night*
*the moon shone like a lantern and the stars were shinin’ bright*
*and there came a voice talkin’ so clear inside his head*
*maybe it was the ancestors, this is what it said*
*走啊走啊*
*像燈籠一樣照耀著的月娘，而星辰正當閃亮*
*世代祖先呼喚著：*
* *
*＊***
*when god closes a door he opens a window*
*when god closes a door he opens a window*
*當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
*當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
*
*Yang, Ru-Men the farmer made a paper box*
*he folded in the corners and he weighted it with rocks*
*with a little black powder and a little bit of rice*
*a warning on the label, words of advice*
*楊儒門摺了一個紙盒放在角落*
*楊儒門放了石塊加上重量*
*加上點黑色火藥、加上點潔白稻米*
*貼上了警告標籤，寫上了警示字語*
* *
* *
*“Danger” said the paper box, the words were bright and bold*
*“do not buy imported rice, our futures can’t be sold*
*support the local farmers, resist the foreign trade”*
*and he left it in the city where his point would sure be made*
*他為了清楚表明自己的訴求*
*紙盒外貼著明顯斗大的「危險」字樣*
*「不要購買進口稻米，我們的未來不能出售*
*支持在地小農、反抗國外貿易」（註：楊儒門十六次的「抗議物」上，書寫著類
似：「這是炸彈，勿動。立刻停止進口稻米，政府要照顧農民與孩童」字樣。*
* *
*and he left one at the bank and outside the railway station
*the little paper boxes with their little explanations*
*at the government offices, the bomb squad on alert *
*but they were only made of paper, no one ever got hurt*
*在銀行、在鐵路局、在政府機構*
*他用著紙盒提醒著*
*爆破小組亦步亦趨*
* *
*they called him the Rice Bomber and they made a great campaign*
*they said he was a terrorist and they vilified his name*
*but in the farming country when these matters were discussed*
*they would tip their hats and smile, and say “he’s one of us”*
*他們說有個白米炸彈客，*
*他們全面迎敵*
*他們說有個恐部份子*
*他們中傷楊儒門*
*但是在鄉間，人們從心底笑著告訴你「他是我們的楊儒門」。*
* *
*(they said) when god closes a door he opens a window*
*when god closes a door he opens a window*
*（他們說）當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
*當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
* *
* *
*seventeen paper rice bombs, seventeen times*
*every one of them a statement though they called them each a crime*
*and though they scoured through the country side they did not have a
clue*
*Yang, Ru-Men decided then just what he had to do*
*十七枚米炸彈，十七次米炸彈*
*每次同樣的農民生存訴求，卻被說成犯罪*
*遍地搜尋農村不得罪犯*
*楊儒門負責地自首*
* *
*he drove to the station to give himself away*
*he said “I am the one you’re looking for, this is your lucky day*
*“my name is Yang, Ru-Men” he said, and he took a little bow*
*he said “I did it for the farmers and I do this for them now”*
*他到警局自首*
*他說：「我就是你們要找的人，今天是你們幸運的日子」（註：後半句是Jim的說 法）*
*他低頭鞠躬：「我是楊儒門，為了農民，我來自首。」（註：這也是Jim的修辭）*
* *
*“if you did it for the farmers, well, that’s just what you say*
*“but we have you in our custody and that’s where you’re going to
stay”*
*and justice was a stone wall, it never shed a tear*
*they tried and convicted and they gave him seven years*
*「你說為了農民，但我們必須將你放入看守所，*
*正義是堵石牆，石牆不會流淚*
*他們給了他七年（半）的監禁*
* *
*seven years for seventeen little boxes of rice*
*what kind of mathematics would arrive at such a price*
*at the crossroads of the humanity the future holds its breath*
*in the orders of uncertainty anything could happen next*
*在未知的命令及人道的十字路口*
*竟連未來都摒息等待*
*十七個小紙盒換七個監禁的年頭*
*妳要怎麼換算？*
* *
*(because) when god closes a door he opens a window*
*when god closes a door he opens a window*
*（因為）當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
*當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
* *
*the family farm is still the rock that holds humanity’s anchor*
*in the 21^st century world war between the farmer and the banker*
*one side has the money and the other has the plow*
*and its anybody’s guess what happens now*
*在二十一世紀農民與金融家的拉扯之間*
*自家農田依然是人道的基石*
*一邊有財寶、一邊有鋤頭*
*到底該怎麼辦？*
* *
*I went to visit Yang, Ru-Men, they had him in Taipei*
*in the detention center, it was on a visiting day*
*I didn’t speak his language and he didn’t speak mine*
*there was Plexiglas between us, we didn’t have much time*
*那天，*
*我去探視幽禁在台北看守所的楊儒門*
*我不懂他的話、他不能說我的語言*
*壓克力阻擋了我們*
*我們的時間不夠（註：台北看守所每次探訪時間為15分鐘，探訪者必須隔著壓克
力的鐵格窗與關在其中的被告使用通話器交談。）*
* *
* *
*he said you have to hold your purpose and you have to hold on tight*
*have faith in your accomplishments and don’t give up the fight*
*and when the time was over, when they led him away*
*he put his fist up in the air and I can still hear him say*
*楊儒門說，我們要堅守目的*
*要有信心、不要放棄*
*探訪的時間結束，他們帶走了楊儒門*
*我依然記得*
*他翹起了大拇指對我說*
* *
*when god closes a door he opens a window*
*when god closes a door he opens a window*
*當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
*當老天關閉了一扇門，祂會開啟另一扇窗*
