JIMENEZ, Francisco. The Circuit. (972 bytes) 
Posted by: 立委 
Date: June 17, 2008 04:38PM 


刚读完一本中学生课外读物的小书 JIMENEZ, Francisco. The Circuit. 134 p. University of New Mexico Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8263-1797-9 $10.95. 非常感人，自传体，通过儿童的眼睛，写的是墨西哥非法移民的生活。他们胸怀美国梦，千辛万苦来到语言不通的美国加州打工。居无定所，全家人随着季节的变换，在各农场间漂流，面朝黄土背朝天，采完棉花摘葡萄，吃的是粗茶淡饭，住的是帐篷和废弃的仓库。最后一章写他和哥哥梦想找到一份常年工作，结束流浪的生活。孩子在学校给老师背诵着美国独立宣言，人人生而平等，具有追求幸福的天赋人权。正在这时候，作者最害怕的一幕上演了，校长陪同穿绿色制服的移民官过来，指着他说，that is him, .然后被送上了车，去搜查他的哥哥。他觉得一切梦想顿时破灭。看得让人落泪。作者如今是大学教授，写的是40年代开始的故事。 

平时对老墨也颇有好感，他们刻苦坚韧，诚实善良，干的是美国人不愿意做的又脏又累的活。美国政府不定期特赦这些移民，给他们合法身份的做法，以前不大以为然，读了此书以后，我是投赞成票了。 

想起中国上亿的农民工。 

[www.cedu.niu.edu] 

老墨和中国民工有本质的区别。 (198 bytes) 
Posted by: 吴礼 
Date: June 18, 2008 08:33AM 


“人人平等”是对国内公民而言的。在独立宣言的时候，甚至不包括黑人。后来内战死那么多人，再加上一百年的努力，黑人才得到“人人平等”（至少在法律上）的待遇。老墨想要和美国人平等，光靠煽情的读物是不够的。 

你说的是现实。还有世界大同人类理想的一面。 (2911 bytes) 
Posted by: 立委 
Date: June 18, 2008 11:24AM 


"煽情"用词至少对于本书不妥。作者把自己的经历和感受真切地表达出来，所以才打动很多人。 

This is the last chapter of the book with a very surprising ending. It describes their hope, pursuit, ups and downs despite all the hardships they went through. A very touching story. 

The story started with Panchito's Papa's serious back pain after many years of hard work. Papa was in a very bad mood because he thought he could not work to feed the family. Their savings were not enough to keep their big family warm and fed through the winter before the next season when they could find farm jobs. 

Panchito's elder brother Roberto became the main laborer in the family and in the weekends when there was no school, Panchito and other brothers also worked to help. The whole family was tired of moving around from season to season. After numerous years of migrant workers' life, they desperately wanted to settle down in a place. Their favorite place is Santa Maria where they spent most winters. The only hope for the family to settle down there was to find a year-around job, instead of the seasonal jobs on different farms. Papa could not go out to work any more. Mama had to take care of little kids and cook for the family. Panchito and younger brothers still had school. The only hope was Roberto. 

Fortunately, the principal of the school Panchito was attending offered to help them. When Roberta got the job to work as a janitor in school, you can imagine how excited the whole family was. A full-time year-around job. With this job, the family could finally settle in this town. Even Papa was happy now and told the family the education helped Roberto to get the job. Papa and Mama did not get a chance to go to school, but they knew the importance of education for the kids, so no matter how difficult the life was, they insisted on sending the children to school. If Roberto could not speak English and had no education, there would be no chance he could find a year-around job. 

Encouraged by this good news, Panchito was determined to perform well in school. His teacher requested every student to recite the famous paragraph from the Declaration of Independence. Panchito made a great effort to memorize the paragraph so he felt confident that he could recite every word clearly before the teacher. A terrible thing happened just as he was reciting "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". An immigration officer in green uniform came. They traced Panchito as an illegal immigrant and took him to the Border Patrol car, The officer took him to search for their next target, his brother Roberto. The story ends with a broken dream. Panchito felt the end of the world arrived. 

I was deeply moved.