The Story of My Father（19-20) 我的父親（19-20）
19
Getting rid of presbyopia was just one of the wonderful things that happened to my father after he practiced Falun Gong. For example, his blood pressure had been very high for years, with the systolic pressure often higher than 200. He had been relying on hypotensor to maintain his blood pressure, but dangerous things still often happened.
老花眼好了只是修煉後父親身體變化的一個方面，其他的變化還很多，比如他的血壓，以前一直很高，高壓經常是200多，常年靠降壓藥維持，但還是經常出現險情。有一次他與母親一起騎自行車出去，母親在他後邊，眼見他騎著騎著一頭就栽倒在地——原來是血壓太高引起的昏迷。當時把母親嚇壞了，從此再也不許他騎自行車。
Once both he and my mother went out on bicycles. While my mother was riding behind my father, she suddenly saw him fall off his bicycle and drop onto the ground. My mother was scared to death. My father had passed out while riding because his blood pressure was too high. Since then, my mother never allowed him to ride a bicycle again.
However, my father’s blood pressure soon returned to normal after he practiced Falun Gong, and he no longer needed any hypotensor. Many other diseases including chronic pharyngitis and nasosinusitis all disappeared as well.
修煉後，他的血壓很快恢復正常，再也不用吃降壓藥。慢性咽炎、鼻竇炎等許多毛病也都好了。
In the summer of 1998, I traveled from Beijing to Sichuan with my daughter to visit my parents. I was extremely surprised when I set sight on my father who was waiting for us at the platform of the train station, as he looked at least 10 years younger!
98年夏，我帶女兒從北京回四川探親。見到父親時，我大吃一驚：他看起來至少年輕了十歲！
In my memory, my father had always been skin and bones; and had never put on any weight. As a result, his wrinkles were very deep. He also started going bald as early as in his thirties, and children started calling him “grandpa” when he was less than 40 years old. He always mocked himself about this.
在我記憶中，父親從來沒胖過，永遠是骨瘦如柴的模樣，臉上的皺紋因此很深。他謝頂也早，三十多歲頭頂就開始禿，不到四十歲，就有小孩叫他「爺爺」，他一直以此自嘲。
After practicing Falun Gong, he had put on at least 10 kilograms (about 22 pounds). As a result, his wrinkles became much less obvious. That’s why he looked 10 years younger when I saw him.
煉功後，他體重增加了十多斤，臉上的皺紋自然被「長平」許多，所以乍一看，就覺得他年輕了不止十歲。
After staying with my parents for two days, I noticed another very important change that had happened to my father, which was the way he walked. There was a scene in Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” which impressed me very much.
再過兩天，我發現還有另一個很重要的變化，那就是他走路時的體態。哈代的名著《德伯家的苔絲》中有一個情節一直讓我記憶猶新。書中的「壞蛋」，也就是奸污了女主人公苔絲的亞雷‧德伯在與苔絲分手近四年後，變身為一名牧師。有一次他正在布道，苔絲突然看見他，並十分驚訝於他的變化，而他顯然還沒有認出外貌和衣著已大改的她。她不想讓他認出自己，想轉身悄悄走開。
The “bad guy” in the book, Alec d’Urberville, who raped Tess years ago, later became a priest. Once while he was preaching, Tess, who was among the congregation, suddenly saw and recognized him. At that time they had not seen each other for about 4 years. It was obvious that Alec didn’t recognize Tess yet, with her appearance and outfit having changed. She wanted to walk away quietly. “But the moment that she moved again he recognized her.”
可是，她不走動還好，她一走路，他立刻從她的走路姿態中認了出來：這是苔絲！
From this scene we learned that the way one walks carries more of a person’s characteristics than his/her appearance and outfit. Therefore, that’s why I was so surprised when I saw the way my father walked after he practiced Falun Gong for just one year. His steps were completely different. They were no longer heavy, slow or sloppy, like an old man’s. Instead, they became swift and as light as a swallow.
從這個細節中，可以看出，一個人走路的姿態是非常特別的，甚至比他的外貌和衣著打扮更能代表他。
I could see that even he, himself had not realized this change. Only his family members who were very familiar with everything of his could notice this change at first sight. And this kind of change could only happen when great changes had occurred at very deep levels, levels more microscopic than the level of his body’s physical cells.
所以，當我看到修煉一年多後的父親的走路姿態時，心中的訝異不亞於聽他說自己的老花眼好了。他的步伐完全變了，不再像以前那樣拖泥帶水，暮氣沉沉，而完全可以用「身輕如燕、步伐矯捷」來形容。
我能看出來，這種改變，是他自己都沒意識到的。唯有特別熟悉他的親人，才能一眼看出來。而這種變化，又只有在生命很深的層次、深入到細胞以下的層次發生了質的改變時，才會發生。
20
I also observed two photos underneath the glass on my father’s desk. One was taken before he practiced Falun Gong, in which he looked very old and as thin as a skeleton. The other one was taken after he practiced Falun Gong, in which he was meditating with very straight back, and with fair, radiant, and full cheeks.
我還看見父親在家中書桌的玻璃板下，壓著兩張照片，一張是他修煉前骨瘦如柴、老態龍鐘的樣子，一張是修煉後腰板筆直、面龐豐滿的打坐的樣子。兩張照片旁，還有他手書的一首小詩，我記得最後一句是「再苦再難永向前」，表明他修煉的決心。他說，只要一有客人來，他必定讓客人看這兩張照片，說這是弘揚法輪大法的最佳材料。
Besides these two photos was a poem he had written. I remember the last line was, “Forever charging forward despite all the odds and hardships.” He wrote that poem to show his determination to cultivate until the very end. He said whenever there were visitors in the home, he would definitely show them the two photos as the best evidence to show Falun Dafa’s benefits.
我從未看見父親那樣開心過、驕傲過、話多過。在那一個夏天，父親跟我說過的話，比他這一輩子中都要多。
I had never seen a happier, prouder, and more talkative father. During that summer, father had talked far more than in his entire life before.
（To be continued 待續 ）
This photo taken in 1989 was the last one of me with both my parents. The hanging bridge in the background leads to my high school, Mianyang Nanshan High School. 這也許是我最後一次與父母一起合影，攝於1989年初。背後的那座吊橋是通往綿陽南山中學的，我上中學時曾參加過這座橋的建設。我91年參加工作，92年生小孩後身體全垮，回四川探親的次數就非常少了。
