From a stack of old textbooks, I dug out
Introduction to Literature.
On a cool autumn morning, in a classroom in the newly-built Yifulou, the professor was reading Shakespeare with his royal British accent:
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?Thou are more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And Summer's lease hath all too short a date…A final exam paper was lying in between the pages. The last question was to analyze a poem by Robert Frost:
The Road Not Taken… Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.The poem was like a prophecy that foretold the choices I was going to face after graduation.
It’s been five years. I can barely remember the meanings of the poetry terms, but my understanding of the poem has become much deeper.
The other day I came to 中国书店 (Cathay bookshop) by chance. It sells and recycles second-hand books, most of which were older than me. It reminded me of our school library, and the encyclopedia which would raise a cloud of dust with a turn of the page.
It’s hard to find a decent library outside the university. All around are glittering shopping malls and fancy star hotels. But I’m glad to see my bookshelf getting full and pleased to say I’ve read each book.
