Tuesday 19 June 2007

「當我老了」 原作者是誰? Looking for the author

大概在一年多前收到朋友email 過來的一篇所謂《網路流傳文章》,題「當我老了」。 很是動人的一篇好文章,道盡了心中遊子的話,讓我邊讀邊流淚了。之後,一直想記下讀後感,對文章作出回應。一年過去了,雖然自己的讀後感從未找到起點,却仍念念沒有忘記當時的感觸。

今天有了自己的 blog,比較積極寫字,便開始進尋這篇好文章的原作者名字,好讓自己的讀後感有個"源頭"。在 Google search 打了'當我老了'四個字,出了一百七十多萬個可能答案! 看了幾十個,大多是轉載或分享這文章的,却沒有一篇提到原作者的名字或原綱址。 更有甚者只簡單地抄貼上文章,連<轉載>或<分享>的字眼也省了,若不留神還以為是文章的作者呢!

令我替原作者不忿的是,花了時間和心情寫成的作品,受到了廣大讀者的喜愛,提供了免費的消閒讀物,還默默地被列為鉄名!

互相分享好文章靚相片原意是好的,但在此謹請各位,在流傳好文章和靚相片之時,別忘了也貼上作者的名字及綱址來源,好讓其他的欣賞者也有機會向原作者說聲"好"來表達心意,也算是對創作人的一種尊重吧。

I guess most email users receive once in a while those transfers of articles/ photos/ jokes circulated among internet worlds... Though not all of them are interesting, this beautiful Chinese essay that I have received from a friend a year's ago has touched me a lot. "When I Get Old" was story of a 'traveller' who had been away from home for works and had not seen his mother since more then 20 years. He expressed his feeling and apologies towards his 75-year-old mother when he finally returned home one day... in his essay, begins with "To all children whom are abroad..."

Since then, I always wanted to write something on this subject, although my notebook is still plain white one year after... I have however not forgotten the emotion when I first read it. As I have my own blog now, I started searching the name of this author more seriously for I would have a 'source' of my writing on this subject one day. Keying the four Chinese characters "When I Get Old" in Google search, more then one million seven hundreds thousands possible answers popped up! I went into thirty or forty of them, most of them 'share' or 'transfer' the same composition in their site or blog, but non of them manage to quote the name of the author neither related website address. There are some even simply copy & paste the essay into their blog/site without mentioning 'share' or 'transfer', making it looks like his/her own writing if we don't pay attention to it!

I am feeling so sorry for this author that he/she has silently become anonymous, after such a success of his essay in the internet world, probably not even being remunerated.

It makes me think that it is perhaps originally kind to share or transfer nice writings or photos that we have found in the internet among friends. However for your receivers, perhaps admirers, being able to say 'thanks' or 'bravo' to the author of the works, please do not forget to insert the names of authors and their website addresses into your transfers, as a basic respect for the creators!

4 comments:

Haricot 微豆 said...

Thanks for sharing - it was a very well-written personal story !!

michelle said...

Haricot, i'm still looking for the author ;)

Anonymous said...

some think it is 张爱玲 or 杨恒. why dont someone check with the publisher? i work in a hospital in singapore. i came to know this elderly bearded gentleman. he was a war veteran and adopted his good friend's intellectually disabled child who was warded in the hospital. he spoke of how he could no longer care for his adopted daughter due to his lack of physical health. he passed me a copy of this poem, saying that he had penned it upon reflection on ageing and caregiving. i found it meaningful and kept it, and today i was very surprised to come across it and realised that it was a very popular poem. i dont think know if he lied and if he didnt, then it wouldnt be right to credit this beautiful piece of writing to any other.

michelle said...

Dear Anonymous, thank you so much for your message ! the world is not that big, isn't it ? that you in Singapore has met such a bearded gentlement whom may or may not be the author and gave you this penned poem... and now you came up appear in my blog telling me this story...

Internet has given so much suprise to our modern world, but this is perhaps also the bad side of it... It is circulating information so fast that sometimes we have no more idea whether they are right or wrong...

ok let me also check if it is 张爱玲 or 杨恒... ;)

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