制水 嘅 故事 The story of water production Berättelser om vattenproduktion

制水 嘅 故事 Stories of Water Production

俗語 話 「 年廿八 ， 洗 邋遢 」 ， 為 嘅 就 係 令 屋企 乾淨 企理 ， 開開心心 迎 新年 。 As the saying goes, "On the 28th day of the Lunar New Year, clean up the mess", which is to make your house clean and to welcome the New Year with a happy heart. 今日 成 家 人 都 留 喺 屋企 執屋 ， 就 喺 每 個 人 都 忙 住 分工 做 家務 嘅 時候 ， 阿妹 喺 廚房 窗台 揾到 一 個 細細 嘅 生鏽 鐵桶 ， 就 問 媽媽 係 咩 嚟 ， 使 唔使 抌 。 Today, with the whole family in the house, and with everyone busy doing their own chores, Sis found a rusty bucket on the kitchen windowsill, and asked her mom what it was and whether she could use it.

阿妹 問 媽媽 ︰ 「 呢個 係 咩 嚟 㗎 ？ 仲 有冇 用 㗎 ？ 」

媽媽 答 ︰ 「 哦 ， 呢個 係 水桶 嚟 ， 我 好 細個 嗰陣 攞 過嚟 裝 水 ， 不過 而家 已經 冇用 喇 。 」 Mom replied, "Oh, it's a bucket, I got it over there to fill it up, but it's no longer needed. I've got a bucket for that, but we don't need it anymore."

「 點解 要 裝 水 嘅 ？ 」 "Why do I need to install water? "

「 當時 香港 仲未 有 而家 咁 成熟 可靠 嘅 供水 系統 ， 家家戶戶 就算 有 水喉 ， 一 到 制水 就 冇 水 出 ， 要 派 人 落 樓下 攞 水 ， 所以 要 用 鐵桶 。 」 "At that time, Hong Kong did not have such a mature and reliable water supply system as ours. Even if there was a water pipe in every house, when it was time to make water, there was no water coming out, so we had to send someone downstairs to get some water, so we had to use iron buckets. The "Water Bucket" system is a very reliable water supply system in Hong Kong.

「 個 桶 咁 細 ， 裝 到 水 咩 ？ 」 "The bucket is so small, what can it hold?

「 裝 到 ， 嗰時 你 公公 屋企 窮 ， 大 嘅 水桶 又 太 搶手 ， 結果 我哋 見到 有 咩 桶 就 買 咩 桶 ， 包括 而家 呢個 。 」

「 咁 少 水 可以 攞嚟 做乜 啊 ？ 」

「 唔好 睇小 個 桶 咁 細 啊 ， 佢 夠 我哋 煲 幾 日 嘅 水 㗎 啦 ！ "Don't look at the small size of the bucket, it's enough water for us to boil for a few days! 起碼 唔使 頸渴 冇 水 飲 ！ 」

「 老師 話 一 個 人 一 日 要 飲 八 杯 水 ， 你哋 咁 多 人 ， 咪 唔 夠 飲 囉 ？ "Teacher says a person has to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but you are so many people, don't you have enough to drink?

「 唯有 就住 就住 啦 ， 當時 我哋 唔到 頸渴 都 唔飲水 ， 怕 嘥 水 。 "We used to use a lot of water when we were not thirsty. 不過 好彩 ， 我哋 每 次 水車 嚟 都 攞 到 水 ， 而且 就算 頸渴 都 可以 食 生果 ， 靠 入面 嘅 果汁 頂 住 先 。 」 But luckily, we get water every time the water tanker comes, and even if we are thirsty, we can eat fruits and rely on the fruit juices that come in. The "Fruit of the Loom".

「 好 聰明 呀 ， 我 都 諗唔到 。 」

「 傻女 嚟 嘅 ， 當時 我哋 生活 艱難 ， 要 生活 就 要 諗 計仔 。 "Foolish girl, we had a hard life, we had to think about it. 我哋 嗰個 年代 ， 唔 諗 計仔 就 咩 都 蝕底 過 人 㗎 喇 。 」 In our time, if we don't want to take advantage of a calculator, we won't be able to do anything. This is the only way.

「 例如 呢 ？ 」 阿妹 好 想 知 答案 。

「 例如 當時 制水 ， 有時 兩 日 供 一 次 水 ， 有時 四 日 供 一 次 水 ， 但 中間 啲 人 都 可能 唔夠 水 用 ， 就 唯有 諗 辦法 揾 多 啲 水 ， 譬如 去 附近 山澗 睇 下 有冇 水 ， 或者 喺 天台 撐 起 帆布 嚟 收集 雨水 。 」 "For example, in those days, when water was supplied once every two days or once every four days, some people might not have enough water, so they had to think of ways to get more water, such as going to the nearby streams to see if there was any water, or putting up canvases on the rooftops to collect rainwater. The "water" is

「 好 犀利 啊 。 」

「 逆境 求生 就 係 噉 㗎 啦 ， 媽媽 成長 嗰個 年代 人人 都 係 噉 ， 冇 話 叻 唔叻 ， 你 都 可以 好似 媽媽 噉 咁 叻 。 」 "Survival against all odds is just like that, mom grew up in that era, no matter how smart you are, you can be as smart as mom. This is a good idea.

「 好 ， 我 要 好似 媽媽 咁叻 。 」

「 嗱 ， 呢個 桶 呢 ， 而家 就 唔會 再 攞嚟 裝 食水 㗎 喇 ， 不過 你 可以 用 佢 裝 半 桶 水喉水 ， 落 少少 清潔劑 ， 然後 抹 下 廚房 啲 牆 啦 。 」 "Nuh-uh, we won't need that bucket for water, but you can use it to fill up half a bucket with water, put some detergent on it and wipe down the kitchen walls. This is a good idea.

「 好 ！ 」

我 一路 執屋 ， 一路 靜靜 地 聽 媽媽 同 阿妹 嘅 對話 。 I went all the way to the house, listening quietly to the conversation between my mother and my sister. 唔 聽 都 唔 知 原來 媽媽 細個 嘅 生活 條件 咁 差 ， 亦 開始 明白 媽媽 點解 成日 同 我哋 講 「 你哋 係 唔 會 明白 媽媽 嗰個 年代 嘅 生活 苦況 」 ， 真係 好 慶幸 自己 出生 喺 一 個 比較 好 嘅 年代 。 Without listening to her, I did not realize how bad my mother's living conditions were. I began to understand why my mother kept telling us that "you do not understand the difficulties of life in that era of my mother's", and that I was lucky to have been born in a better era. 唔 知 如果 自己 出生 喺 媽媽 個 年代 ， 我 又 會 唔 會 適應 到 同 生存 到 呢 ？ I wonder if I had been born in my mother's time, would I have adapted and survived?