Although it might have happened anywhere, my encounter with the green banana started on a steep
mountain road in the central area of Brazil. I was driving up through beautiful countryside when the radiator
(水箱) began to leak. I stopped at the next village, which consisted of a small store and a few houses. People
came over to look. "That's easy to fix," a man said. He sent a boy running for some green bananas. He patted
me on the shoulder, assuring me that everything would work out. "Green bananas," he smiled. Everyone agreed. 
     We chatted casually while all the time I was wondering what they could possibly do to my radiator with
their green bananas. I did not ask them, though, as that would show my ignorance, so I talked about the beauty
of the land that lay before our eyes. Huge rock formations, like Sugar Loaf in Rio,rose up all around us. "Do
you see that tall one right over there?" asked the man, pointing to a particularly tall, slender pinnacle (尖端) of
dark rock. "That rock marks the center of the world."
     I looked to see if he was teasing me, but his face was serious. He, in turn, inspected me carefully, as if to
make sure I grasped the significance of his statement. The occasion called for some show of recognition on
my part. "The center of the World?" I repeated, trying to show interest. He nodded, "The absolute center.
Everyone around here knows it."
     At that moment the boy returned with an armful of green bananas. The man cut one in half and pressed
the cut end against the radiator jacket. The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal, stopping the leaks
instantly. I was so astonished at this that I mush have looked rather foolish and everyone laughed. They then
refilled my radiator and gave me extra bananas to take along. An hour later, after using the green banana once
more, my radiator and I reached our destination.
     It took me a little longer to fully grasp the importance of the rock which the villagers believed marked the
center of the world. I had at first doubted their claim, as I knew for a fact that the center was located
somewhere else in New England. After all, my grandfather had come from there. But gradually I realized the
village people had a very reasonable belief and I agreed with them. We all tend to regard as the center that
special place where we are known, where we know others, where things mean much to us, and where we
ourselves have both identity and meaning: family, school, town and local region could all be our center of the
world.
     The lesson which gradually dawned on me was actually very simple. Every place has special meanings for
the people in it, and in a certain sense every place represents the center of the world. The world has numerous
 such centers, and no one student or traveler can experience all of them. But once a conscious breakthrough
to a second center is made, a life-long perspective and collection can begin.
     The cultures of the world are full of unexpected green bananas with special value and meaning. They have
been there for ages, ripening slowly, perhaps waiting patiently for people to come along to encounter them. In
fact, a green banana is waiting for all of us if we would leave our own centers of the world in order to
experience other places.