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thighs, head, parson’s nose feet, neck, bones, and blood – “to utilise the whole animal is the highest form of respect for the life that has passed”. “Instead of choosing to be oblivious to everything, I did everything I could to witness, to be involved in the sourcing of the meat for my food.” Facing the bloody truth of the meat she consumes for food directly, the sensitive author engages with the issue on an intellectual level. Before becoming vegetarian, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg declared that he would only eat the meat of animals that he had killed himself. Rather than evading the truth of the matter, Lee's approach confronts the natural cycles of food production and brings her closer to the deep truth of life.
After returning to the fields, Lee found a sharp decline in materialistic wants, “no longer being shackled by consumerism and consumption, and becoming able to explore meaning in life outside of work”. Her philosophy of life is thought-provoking, positioned at the sustainability of the world and of the soul.
Lee Ying-Ying feels: “In this age where people seek instant gratification, we can get anxious or irritable easily, as though the acquiring of some skill or method can immediately solve our problems. But the world changes so quickly, and more and
more information emerges constantly. Perhaps real knowledge cannot be bought, but can only be accumulated through personal experience – observation, contemplation, and correction may be the mostreliablepathtotrueknowledge.”Ifwe simply choose a life in the fields without deeper reflection, we may only be caught up in trivial pursuits. However, the most precious aspect of this book is seeing the author come to terms with her thoughts and emotions, and seeing the land and the water for what they truly are.
深度思考，文字真诚
我在买下此书之前，对其内容一无所 知，纯粹被封面和文案吸引。一读之 下，爱不释手，文字温柔细腻，洒脱睿 智，无论是生活还是用字，皆经过深度 思考，姿态低得无比亲切，最重要的 是真诚，一字一句仿似直接从心间汩汩 而出。
全 书 分 为 四 个 章 节 :“ 小 小 平 房 ” 、 “给鸡情诗”、“河边菜园”和“崭新 生活”。大部分作品是散文，偶有一 些短小笔记与诗，每篇配上Fanyu的趣 味插图，构成一段愉悦的阅读旅程。其 中，尤其喜欢<同名专辑:给鸡情诗> 这首可爱的诗，诗句直白袒露爱鸡心
今
(Translated by Daryl Li )
早拔玫瑰枯叶，定睛一点翠绿
时，吓了一大跳。原来，它竟是 一只极小的蚱蜢。
All images in this article were provided by the book’s author, Lee Ying-Ying
本文照片由《与地共生、给鸡唱歌》作者李盈莹提供
Illustrations by Fanyu, from Living with the Land, Singing to the Chickens 图绘摘自Fanyu为该书所绘的插图
A chick at seven days among the vegetables
小鸡七日龄， 菜圃放风
余惊未定，满脸竟汗，名副其实 的“汗颜”。我果然是个不谙农事的都 市人，尽管尚属“少无适俗韵，性本爱 丘山”(陶渊明<归园田居>)，但要 如何与大自然、动植物相处是需要长 时间磨合的，“生活博士”并非一蹴而 就。因此，我特别佩服《与地共生、给 鸡唱歌》的作者李盈莹，她勇于将自己 从便利的都市生活连根拔起，从台北近 郊的电梯大厦移居至宜兰一座白色小平 房，养着鸡，种着菜，化为“兰阳溪冲 积平原上的一粒沙”，过着归园田居的 小日子。
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