〈Parallel Universes〉 平行時空

Story Synopsis

1. The Time-Space Mailbox
While browsing a flea market beside the Seine, a struggling Taiwanese novelist buys a mysterious bronze mailbox from an old man who claims it can fulfill his dream of becoming a bestselling horhor and film expert revisions from beyond time. His first response bears the signature of JRR Tolkien, despite Tolkien's death decades earlier. Astonished by the transformed story, the novelist submits it to his publisher, unkn publisher, the nounter

《時空郵箱》
一名潦倒的台灣小說家在塞納河畔的跳蚤市場閒逛時，從一名老人手中買下一只神秘的青銅郵箱。老人聲稱，這只郵箱能夠實現他的夢想，讓他成為暢銷小說家，甚至能獲得來自超越時空的電影專業修訂與指導。
他的第一封回信竟然帶有 J. R. R. 托爾金的簽名，儘管托爾金早在數十年前便已去世。小說家對故事經過改造後產生的驚人效果感到震撼，於是將作品提交給出版社。然而，原文此處內容殘缺，因此無法完整還原後續情節。

1. “The Time-Space Mailbox”
While browsing a flea market along the Seine, a stall selling wall clocks caught my interest. The owner was a gray-haired old man. He was reclining in a high-backed armchair, absorbed in reading a thread-bound book. The cover of the book was worn and peeling, and it appeared to be an ancient volume. The old man did not call out to customers. Each item had a tag attached to it, indicating the year it was made and its place of origin.
As I was examining a red-copper wall clock, the old man put down his book and looked at me. In English, he said, “Young man, if I am not mistaken, you are a novelist in your country.”
I was taken aback and asked him, “Sir, how did you know what I do for a living?”
The old man smiled mysteriously. He stood up and tapped his forehead with his index finger. “I saw you a few days ago, busy signing books for readers at a book-signing event.”
I thought to myself, “Could this old man have some kind of clairvoyance?”
“None of these wall clocks are suitable for you.” The old man pointed to a classical bronze mailbox beside him. It was about large enough for one person to wrap their arms around. “This mailbox is destined to be yours. It will help make your wishes come true and fulfill your ambitions.”
“It can fulfill my ambitions?” I repeated the words skeptically.
The old man came closer to me and asked in a low voice, “Ya, don’t you want to become a film director and bring the stories you have written to the screen?”
“Yes... When I first graduated from school, I did think that way. But my novels have sold only so-so. Over the years, my limited royalty income has barely been enough to cover the basic living expenses of a family of five. How could I possibly continue dreaming such unrealistic dreams?”
The old man placed one hand on my shoulder and said, “I know that you have been living a difficult life. But your achievements should not be limited to what you have now. That is why I have decided to show you a way forward.”
I was so moved that my eyes reddened. “Sir, I’ll take your advice.”
“Take this mailbox home and hang it by the window of your study. From now on, whenever you finish writing a story outline for a novel, put it into an envelope and drop it into the mailbox. One week later, a reply will be delivered to the mailbox.”
“You mean there will be some expert who will guide me in my novel writing?”
“Exactly. Before long, you will become famous and become a bestselling author. By then, there will naturally be investors who appreciate your work and will approach you about making movies. You can ask them to let you adapt your own work into a screenplay and direct the film yourself, thereby fulfilling your ambition of becoming a film director.”
“Then, sir, how many euros should I pay you for this mailbox?”
“Just one hundred euros. Once you have achieved your dream and become a famous director, you must bring it back here and return it to me.”
I took my wallet from my shirt pocket and pulled out the only one-hundred-euro bill I had. I respectfully handed it to the old man. He accepted the bill and gave me a ten-euro note in change.
“Keep this for lunch later. I know that is the only one-hundred-euro bill you have.”
The old man gave me a large leather bag. “This cowhide bag will make it easier for you to carry the mailbox to the airport and check it in.”
I slung the large bag over my shoulder. The old man smiled and waved goodbye to me.
When I arrived back at Taoyuan International Airport, my wife drove over to pick me up. When she saw the large cowhide bag on my luggage cart, she pointed at it.
“What’s in there?”
“A bronze mailbox. I bought it at a flea market along the Seine. Originally, I was planning to buy an old wall clock.”
“How much did you spend?”
“Ninety euros, plus sixty euros for shipping.”
“Oh, you! You never seem to feel any pain when you spend money...” My wife began to nag me, and she continued until I had loaded all my luggage into the car.
When we got home, I hung the mailbox by the window of my study.
My wife dug two dresses and a French wool coat out of the suitcase. She must have looked at the prices on the tags, because she went into the kitchen beaming with delight and began preparing dinner.
That evening, I wrote a fantasy film story outline in Chinese about the white-haired old man I had met at the flea market along the Seine and the mailbox I had bought from him. After signing my name, I put the manuscript into an envelope and dropped it into the mailbox hanging by the window.
The next morning, Mr. Cao, the owner of the publishing house, sent me a message on LINE instructing me to write some novels with fantasy or science-fiction themes. I agreed and told him that I would send him the electronic file of the story outline one week later.
One week later, in the evening, a letter written in English appeared in the mailbox, just as the old man had promised.
I opened the letter and found a stack of bound English pages inside. At the end of the manuscript was the signature “J. R. R. Tolkien.”
Tolkien?
I was startled. “Isn’t this the author of The Lord of the Rings, the British fantasy novelist?”
A sudden thought flashed through my mind. I quickly opened my laptop and used Google to search for images of Tolkien.
“Whoa! Did I actually meet the real Tolkien?”
But the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
“According to Wikipedia, Tolkien died in 1973. So how could he have appeared at a flea market along the Seine...?”
After checking the relevant information, I began reading the stack of English pages Tolkien had sent me. I knew that Tolkien had revised my story outline for me, but the plot inside truly left me “astonished and exhilarated.” It was not only filled with suspense, but also with human conflict. One “scene” after another unfolded, each more twisted and extraordinary than the last, yet utterly captivating...
I stayed up all night translating the English story outline into Chinese. I finished the electronic file and sent it to Mr. Cao through LINE. Then I drank a glass of fresh milk. As dawn began to break, I finally felt at ease and went to bed to catch up on some sleep.

1、〈時空郵箱〉

逛塞納河邊跳蚤市場時，有個賣掛鐘的攤位吸引我的興趣。老闆是個頭髮花白的老人，他斜躺在太師椅上，自顧自地閱讀一本線裝書，線裝書封面斑剝，似乎是一本古籍。老闆並不招呼顧客，每件商品上都掛著一只吊牌，註明該產品生產年份和產地。當我正在端詳一只紅銅掛鐘時，老闆放下書本，望著我以英語說：「年輕人，如果我沒說錯，你在你的國家，應該是個小說作家。」
我愣了一下，問他：「大叔，你怎知道我的職業？」
老人家神祕地微笑，起身，食指敲著腦門說：「我看見了幾天前你，在簽名會場上，忙著為讀者簽名。」
我心想：「這大叔莫非有千里眼？」
「這些掛鐘都不適合你。」老人指著身旁的一只約一個人懷抱，古典造型的青銅郵箱說：「這只郵箱跟你有緣，它會助你心想事成，實現你的抱負。」
「它能實現我的抱負？」我懷疑地複誦這句話。
老人靠近我，低聲問：「Ya，你不是想成為電影導演，把你寫的故事拍攝出來？」
「是…，我剛踏出校門時的確是這樣想過，可我的小說銷售情形一般般，這些年來有限的版稅收入，只能勉強維持一家五口基本的生活開銷，哪能還做那些不切實際的夢。」
老人一手搭著我的肩膀說：「你日子過得清苦，這些我都知道。可你的成就不應該只是眼前這樣，所以，我決定要指引一條出路給你。」
我感動得一時間眼眶泛紅：「大叔，我聽你的。」
「你把這只郵箱帶回去，掛在你的書房窗口，往後你寫好的每篇小說故事大綱，就裝入信封，投到郵箱裡，一週後回信就會寄到郵箱。」
「大叔，你的意思是，會有高人指導我的小說創作？」
「沒錯，很快地你就會成名，成為一位暢銷作家，到那時自然有欣賞你的金主，主動找你拍電影，你可以向對方要求，由你來改編劇本並拍攝自己的作品，實現你成為電影導演的抱負。」
「那麼，大叔，這只信箱我該付給你多少歐元？」
「就一百歐元吧。等你實現願望，成為名導演後，你得把它送回來這裡還給我。」
我從襯衫口袋掏出皮夾，拿出唯一的一張百元鈔，恭敬地遞給老人家。老人家收下鈔票，找給我一張10元小鈔：「留給你待會兒吃中餐，我知道你身上就那張百元鈔。」
老人給我一只大背袋：「這只牛皮背袋，方便你揹著它到機場託運。」
揹起大背袋，老人跟我微笑揮揮手。
回到桃園機場，老婆開車來接我，看到我推著的行李車那只牛皮背袋，手指著：「那裡面是什麼東西？」
「青銅的郵箱，在塞納河的跳蚤市場買的，原本我是想買個老掛鐘。」
「你，花了多少錢？」
「90歐元加上運費60歐元。」
「你喔！花錢都不心疼…」老婆開始叨念，直到我把行李都搬上車廂。
回到家裡，這只郵箱就掛在我的書房窗口。
老婆從行李箱裡挖出兩套洋裝和一件法國絨大衣，應該是看了吊牌上的售價吧？她就眉開眼笑地去廚房準備晚餐。
當晚，我把在塞納河跳蚤市場裡，遇到那位白髮老人，買下這只郵箱，以中文寫成一篇奇幻電影故事大綱，署名後套上信封，投入掛在窗口的郵箱。次日上午，出版社曹老闆在Line裡吩咐說，要我寫一些奇幻或科幻題材的小說，我答應他一週後，把故事大綱電子檔掛回給他。
一週後的傍晚，果然，信箱裡出現一封英文回信，我打開那封信，信裡一疊裝訂好的英文稿，稿末的署名「J. R. R. Tolkien」，托爾金？我嚇了一跳：「這人不就是魔戒的作者，英國奇幻小說家嗎？」，我腦海突然閃過一個意念，連忙打開筆電，以谷哥搜尋到Tolkien的影像檔：「哇哩嘞！我竟然遇到Tolkien本尊？」可心裡越想越不對啊：「維基百科上面的資料寫著，Tolkien1973年就過世了，怎會出現在塞納河邊的跳蚤市場……。」
查閱過資料，我開始閱讀Tolkien寄來的那疊英文稿，我知道是Tolkien替我修改了故事大綱，可裡面的故事劇情當真令我「驚訝到雀躍不已」，不只有懸疑，更有人性衝突，一段接著一段的「scene」(場景)，曲折離奇卻精采無比…。我連夜把這篇英文故事大綱翻譯成中文，打好電子檔掛在Line裡給曹老闆，然後喝了杯鮮奶，天色微明，我放心地上床補眠。