嗅覺、文字與情緒

這學期去上通識課的時候，我特別請學生在嗅吸每個香氣的時候，仔細嗅聞並記錄下「香氣印象」，為了讓孩子們體會一下以文字記錄香氣的難度。同學們 email 來的作業，也如實反映了課堂上我提到的，人類描述香氣的語言文字是如此匱乏，但香氣卻是如此的與我們的情緒緊緊相扣。

剛剛一邊料理晚餐一邊聽著廣播，聽的是為Prince寫傳記的作家 Dan Piepenbring 的專訪，他說到Prince死後他還是不知道當初Prince 為何找他寫傳記，但可能跟他的遣詞用字能力有關（diction/words，”you know a lot more words then I do.”）。專訪繼續往下，講到他跟Prince一起工作，對 Prince 的印象，是他身上永遠帶著香氣，而那些香氣，詞藻文筆豐富如他，無法以文字描述（and I struggle to describe his scent），在Prince死後，當他再度在 Prince 的衣櫃裡聞到那一股熟習的香氣，無可遏止的悲傷襲上 －－

"...and he would certainly exude a fragrance. He was always a very perfumed man, and I struggle to describe his scent, but after he died, when I saw his wardrobe again, it still exuded that scent, but, of course, without that extra dimension that comes from it being on the skin as well. And I remember being just bowled over with sadness to smell him on his clothing still.

所以同學們不用太難過，形容不出馬鞭草酮迷迭香的氣味是正常的（笑）

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