緣起
Where the Idea Came From

大約二十年前就想為兒子寫本書了，無奈罹患“拖延癥”，直到今日才“大病初愈”，正所謂“心動不如行動”，說干就干，否則一直拖下去的話，永遠也寫不出來。For a good 20 years, I kept telling myself that I should write a book for my son. But I came down with a dreaded lurgy called procrastination. I've only just recovered from it. What's that saying? ‘Better late than never.’ That's true. I could do worse than start now, however late this now may be.

下筆前，我給自己出了道選擇題。I had a choice when I was contemplating what to put in the book that I was going to write. 我可以編一個故事，安排幾個虛構的人物（例如小威、小敏之類的），說說這些人的家長里短。I could make up a story that would feature a number of fictitious characters（by such names as Willie and Minnie）going about their lives in fabricated settings. 我也可以說說我自己的故事。Or I could tell the story of my own life. 我思前想后，躊躇良久，最后決定：還是說自己的故事吧。I turned it over and over in my mind. After much humming and hawing, I came to a decision: to tell my own story. 因此，這本書的內容，純屬雜七雜八的凡人小事，所述故事均本人親身經歷，跟漫提顯要或療傷宣泄的高大上“自傳”扯不上關系，因為我既非名人亦非“牛人”，唯有自知之明。It was to be a compilation of petty anecdotes culled from an average joe's bag of real-life experience. It would not purport to be some high-brow autobiography replete with nonchalant name-dropping or therapeutic catharsis, which requires either sufficient celebrity/notoriety or, in the absence of same, sufficient hubris/vainglory. I have neither. That much I know.

與多數年屆半百的同齡人一樣，我的故事很多，若要塞到一本書里，不說別的，光是裝訂就會成問題，所以必須有所側重。本書主要搜羅我和動物小伙伴們的故事，夾雜跑龍?zhí)椎娜祟惤巧舾伞?，還時不時跑跑題。I have lived through half a century. Most people at my age would have tons of stories to tell about themselves. I am no exception. If I were to fit them all into one book, it would be nothing short of an oversized tome bursting at the seams. For this reason, I think I'm better off focusing on stories of me and a motley crew of animal pals for now, supported by an eclectic lineup of human cameos... drifting inadvertently to unpremeditated tangential topics from time to time. 但無論跑題跑得多遠，有個原則不會改變：書中每一個故事，以及每個故事的每個細節(jié)，都真實不虛，絕無添油加醋之處，記憶力遠在我之上的母親，還對這些細節(jié)一一確認、更正、補充了。Drifting notwithstanding, I am proud to vouch for the veracity of each and every story related in this book, down to minute details, all of which have been double-checked and verified by someone blessed with an eidetic memory, i.e. my mother. 竊以為，真實的故事更有感染力，天花亂墜只是過眼浮云。Personally, I find more charm in a true story faithfully told than in some embellished half-truths rattling with bells and whistles ad nauseam.