On one occasion she talked about all the foreigners who'd married aboriginal women, and how the mountains west of Taitung City were teeming with these foreigners, their aboriginal wives, and their half-aboriginal children. "There are SO many," she assured me, "They're everywhere." 有一次她說到外國男子跟原住民女子結婚這件事 。 她說台東市西部的山區有很多外國人和他們的原住民妻子及混血的孩子。 她強調 "非常多 " 、 "到處都有 "。
She was exaggerating of course. But to be fair to her, I have met several foreign men married to aboriginal women in Taitung and Pingtung, and the number of these cross-cultural couples has always seemed unusually high. 當然，她可能說得太誇張了。可是我也認識幾對這樣的夫婦 ， 我也很好奇這些跨文化的家庭的比例。
Not long after my Amis barber closed down her shop and moved back into the mountains, I was sitting in a foreign friend's house in a Paiwan village. We were drinking beer with several other people. Aside from myself, my friend and the two other expats are all married to aboriginal women. Joining us in our drinking were a few villagers, ranging in age from very young to very old. 我的阿美族理髮師搬回去山上不再營業後， 有一次我去朋友家喝酒， 他的房子在排灣族部落裡 ， 除了我們兩個外，還有另外兩個外國人 ， 他們三個都跟排灣族女子結婚 。 在場一起喝酒的還有部落裡不同年齡層的排灣族人 。
The foreign guys, apart from me, all speak Chinese with an aboriginal accent. While we sat there they talked about weekends spent drinking, and barbecues in the mountains. They shared anecdotes from idyllic-sounding lives, and they seemed vert happy with how and where they live. They never seemed uncertain or self-conscious about it. 除了我之外 ，坐在那裏的外國居民都用原住民的口音講中文 。 他們談論周末時在山上烤肉和喝酒，也分享田園生活中的軼事。 他們的生活好像很快樂 ; 他們對居住的地方很滿意 ; 他們從來沒有表現出不滿或疑惑。
As I listened to them talk, I often wondered if the people in that village would all agree with their assessments of village life. I wanted to ask one of the aboriginal people sitting with us what they thought, but I couldn't think of a way to do so without sounding rude. Do they see the lives they lead as being so free and easy? Do they even want to live in that village? Do they feel that their lives are as good as they could be? 當我聽著他們的談話 ， 我常想部落裡的人會不會同意他們形容的部落的生活方式 。 我也想問坐我旁邊的排灣族人的意見 ， 只是我不知道如何不失禮的問這些問題。 他們覺得自己的生活那麼地輕鬆自由嗎 ? 他們都想住在部落裡嗎 ? 他們覺得部落裡的生活方式無可挑剔嗎 ?
I really have no idea. I'm still waiting for the chance to ask. Something always seems to come between me and asking those kinds of questions, regardless of time, location or people present. 我真的不知道 。 我還在等機會問 。 我找不到適合的地點、時機或人來問這些問題。
What I do know is that their lives are very different from those of my family. Their kids run around doing semi-secret kid things, their wives seem proud and somewhat distant, and their men carry on, as men everywhere do. But how are they, really? I haven't a clue. 我知道的是他們的生活方式跟我家人的生活方式差很多 。 他們的孩子跑來跑去 ， 玩只有他們自己知道的遊戲， 他們的妻子似乎驕傲且有距離感， 他們的男人忙著男人的事， 可是他們過得如何 ? 我真不知道 。
I just hope the aboriginal people (and their foreigners) really are happy in the mountains, because sometimes I suspect otherwise. People are always glad to show you the good side of mountain life - especially foreigners who've married into it - but it can't all be singing songs and weekend barbecues. Sometimes you see signs of domestic abuse, sometimes you see signs of alcoholism, and sometimes you see poverty. Of course these things are also present in any Chinese village, but when I sit in an aboriginal village, stranger that I am, I can't help but wonder how deep these problems go. 我希望原住民(還有他們的外國人)在山裡真的快樂 ，因為我有時候覺得他們的生活不是都這樣子的 。 人們都很高興給你看山上生活的好處 ， 特別是山上的外國人 。 可是山上的生活不可能是每天唱歌和每個周末烤肉的 。 有時候在部落裡會看到家庭暴力、酗酒和貧窮的跡象 。 當然漢人的村落也有這些問題 ，但當我坐在部落裡，我不禁猜想這些問題在部落的嚴重性。
"The foreigners in the mountains?" They are indeed there, though they're not as numerous as my Amis barber would have had me believe. They're living their way, I'm living mine, and occasionally our paths cross, to the amusement of both parties. 山上的外國人 ? 他們確實在那裡， 只是沒有我阿美族理髮師講的那麼多而已。 他們有他們的生活方式 ， 我有自己的生活方式 ， 有時候生活中有交集時，彼此分享生活中的樂趣 。
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