Kids grow up and eventually leave the house. When we did, my parents decided to box our stuff up and chuck them... well... here and there. Prime areas are the now unused study room ('cos who studies anymore?), and the little space under the stairs I like to call the dungeon.
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| 'The Dungeon' |
The Study
My dad has always wanted to clear out the stuff, but my mom and grandma has erm... hoarding tendencies? Several hours into the dig, I find a whole load of junk - two boxes of tiles which don't even match any of the tiles in the rest of the house, a entire box of bags, toys from when I was two, and these treasures that I had quite forgotten about:
Waaay back when my dad was a wee young lad of 20, he was close friends with this couple in Kuantan. Eventually, he left the town and they migrated. Little did he know that when the old man passed away, his wife would drop by with an entire briefcase of first day covers which the old man collected.
Story has it, he loved them more than he did his family - spending what little money they had on these stamps instead of feeding his family.
Speaking of stamps, I'm sure I recall my dad having stamps from the communist China days. They must be lying around somewhere...
Deep in the recesses of the Dungeon, I found a scroll. Pretty cool, seeing how scrolls and dungeons usually go together. I think it must have been a gift from my uncle in Singapore. Rather tasteful Chinese calligraphy of a poem by renown Tang poet, Li Bai. Next step is to find a bit of wall worthy to hang it on.
《望庐山瀑布》
日照香炉生紫烟
遥看瀑布挂前川
飞流直下三千尺
疑是银河落九天
Viewing the Waterfall at Mt Lu
Sunlight streaming on the censer kindles a violet smoke
Far off I watch the waterfall plunge into the long river
Flying waters descending straight thirty thousand feet
Like the Milky Way plunging from the ninth height of heaven.
Ah... my old treasure trove. The childhood equivalent of oil deposits - everybody wanted that unique piece, and if you didn't have it, you'd do anything to get it, including a fist fight. God knows how many fights I've gotten into with my brother and sister over these little tiny pieces of leg godt.
By the way, ever stepped on one in the dark before? Haha...
Of all the treasure I've dug out so far, I think these are the best by far. A possible 1957 edition of Alexander Dumas' Three Musketeers, and 100 Nursery Rhymes which has now gone out of print. A quick search on the Great Internet reveals that there's only one copy of the nursery rhyme book available for sale. Whoa... pity my copy's wrecked beyond redemption.
Here's a picture of my favourite rhyme of all time.
I guess I can look forward to my final long break before I graduate to go treasure hunting again. I'm quite sure I'll be able to churn out more treasure.
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