漩风

"...Those who once thought that my mind shone with extraordinary brilliance, like some aureole of youth; those who forgot me as soon as misfortune came upon me; those who in recalling me at times may dwell on my failure and ask why I was not what I might have been -let such know that an implacable destiny seized me from success that was just being tasted, and cast me into the pampas, to wander vagabond as the winds, to vanish as they, leaving behind nothing but noise and desolation..." ( Jose Eustasio Rivera, Prologue, "The Vortex")

公司里有个同事是哥伦比亚人，工作中很接近。某次闲聊时，说起少年时我最喜爱的一本小说《草原林莽恶旋风》（译自英文版《The Vortex》），已经翻烂了还像宝贝一样收藏着。想读英文原著，去了各大书店却找不到。接下来他的回应令我大吃一惊。他说那本书的作者正是他的祖爷爷。又说他会告诉哥伦比亚家里人帮我搞一本。没隔多久，他来到我的办公室，在桌上搁下了一本哥伦比亚出版的《The Vortex》。我当时那个高兴就甭提了。兴奋之余，想着世界果然不大，竟让我碰上了Jose Eustasio Rivera 的亲曾孙子。（ what were the odds of that? ）