重歲已屆心尚哀
拜告吾師意蹉跎
母校精英折幾許(1)
有知當嘆共噓唏
一年親炙景遙遠(2)
十載提筆尚依依(3)
數訪多城溫顏晤
銘記敦厚苦毅殷
世事風雲轉厲色
瘟疫人禍虐齊施
鄉關日遠冬關叩
鐵塔凌雲仍繫思(4)
半途而廢驚天變
此時彼地此模樣
自檢平生唯避席
長記青春竹馬遊
八年無猜相敬樂(5)
難抵時窮各東西
此日思君倍感慨
返尋五內証初衷
神父師長深教誨
讀書明理共扶持
華仁公義名早播
巍巍聖殿五洲崇(6)
注:
(1)2020年, 我認識的兩位校友劉漢傑兄(‘62), 湯維強兄 (‘65)
分別於九月、十月辭世。何師亦認識他倆。余理謙神父亦於當年四月辭世。
(2)何師1956/57 年教我班F. 1D數學。
(3) 2009年開始投稿 WYKAAO
(4) 許冠傑思鄉歌曲「鐵塔凌雲」
(5) 八年-- 1955-1963
(6) 聖殿, 九華聖依納爵教堂
2020年11月6日
英譯 English Translation
A Prayer to My Teacher -- written on the second anniversary of Mr. Anthony Ho’s passing
Yu Fong-ying (‘61)
My heart aches -- another anniversary.
With mournful sloth, I come to pray before my teacher.
How many eminent Wahyanites were lost last year?
He would surely grieve with us if alive. (1)
Distant were the days he taught our class math;(2)
Clear and dear to me was his editorship, a decade long.(3)
Engraved, the lessons of his gentleness and uncomplained sufferings,
Driven home to me visit after visit.
The world has been plunged into grim turbulence;
Pandemic and tyranny grip the land.
My homeland is far away while winter land is in sight.
Echoing in the mind is “Where tower soars to the sky”.(4)
The sky’s change of colour half-way shocked:
It’s gone that way, that place, in this time.
My life has been one of evasion;
Yet fondly I hold onto the company of boyish days.
Eight years of openness and respectful joy;(5)
The test of time brings about division.
On this day, I remember my teacher with a heavy heart,
And seek to verify the first lessons deep inside me:
Fathers and teachers conferred on us profound moral precepts;
To be educated is to act according to reason, to be supportive of each other.
Of promoting social justice, Wah Yan has a reputation far and wide;
No matter where, we pay homage to the holy shrine of St. Ignatius standing nobly
on the hill. (6)
Notes:
(1) Among my school friends, Mr. Raymond Lau (‘62) and Mr. James Tong (’65) passed away in 2020, in September and October respectively, both known to Mr. Ho. Fr. James Hurley passed away in April 2020.
(2) Mr. Ho taught our class F.1D math in 1956/57.
(3) I started contributing to WYKAAO in 2009.
(4) Sam Hui’s song “Where tower soars to the sky” tells of his homesickness.
(5) Eight years – 1955-1963
(5)The Church of St. Ignatius stands at the entrance to Wah Yan College Kowloon.
November 6, 2020