茅台酒瓶里的珠子:张培基散文英译(二）..

白 发

郭沫若

许久储蓄在心里的诗料(1)，今晨在理发店里又浮上了心来了。——

你年青的，年青的，远隔河山的(2)姑娘哟，你的名姓我不曾知道，你恕我只能这

样叫你了。

那回是春天的晚上吧？你替我剪了发，替我刮了面，替我盥洗了(3)，又替我涂了

香膏。

你最后替我分头的时候，我在镜中看见你替我拔去了一根白发(4)。

啊，你年青的，年青的远隔河山的姑娘哟，漂泊者自从那回离开你后又漂泊了三

年，但是你的慧心(5)替我把青春留住了。

The White Hair

Guo Moruo

My long pent-up poetic emotion emerged again this morning at a hairdresser’s

O young lady, you young lady of the distant land! Excuse me for addressing you as

“young lady”, for your name is still unknown to me.

It was probably on a spring evening. You cut my hair, shaved my face, gave me a

shampoo and applied some vanishing cream.

Finally, in the mirror I saw you plucking out a white hair from my head while parting

my hair.

O young lady, you young lady of the distant land, I have been leading a wandering

life for another three years since I saw you last, but it is your feeling heart that has been the

cause of my sustained youth.

注释：

《白发》是郭沫若的早期小品，热情奔放，玲珑而富有诗意，是一首优美的散文诗。

(1)“许久储蓄在心里的诗料”译为My long pent-up poetic emotion。“储蓄在心里”意即“被

抑制的”，故译为pent-up。“诗料”即“诗情”，故译为poetic emotion。

(2)“远隔河山的”不必按字面直译，现按“遥远的”意思译为of the distant (或remote) land。 (3)“替我盥洗了”在此指“替我洗了头”，故译为gave me a shampoo。

(4)“拔去了一根白发”译为plucking out a white hair from my head，其中hair作可数名词用。

(5)“慧心”在这里可按“温柔体贴”、“富有同情的心”等含义译为feeling heart或tender heart。

水墨画(1)

郭沫若

天空一片灰暗，没有丝毫的日光。

海水的蓝色浓得惊人(2)，舐岸的微波吐出群鱼喋噏的声韵。

这是暴风雨欲来时的先兆(3)。海中的岛屿和乌木的雕刻一样静凝着了。我携着中

食的饭匣向沙岸上走来，在一只泊系着的渔舟里面坐着。

一种淡白而无味的凄凉的情趣——我把饭匣打开，又闭上了(4)。

回头望见松原里的一座孤寂的火葬场(5)。红砖砌成的高耸的烟囱口上，冒出了一

笔灰白色的飘忽的轻烟……

An Inkwash Painting

Guo Moruo

The sky was a sheet of murky grey, completely devoid of sunlight.

The sea was a ghastly dark blue. The gentle waves licking at the shore gave forth a

humming sound like that of fish in shoals.

All that foreboded a storm.

Some isles in the sea stood quiet and still like ebony sculptures.

I walked towards the sandy beach carrying my lunch-box and then sat inside a fishing

boat moored at the seashore.

What an insipid and dreary scene! I opened the lunch-box only to have it covered up

again.

Looking back, I caught sight of a lonely crematorium looming out of a pine wood. Its

towering red-brick chimney was giving off wisps of grayish smoke.

注释：

(1)“水墨画”除译An Inkwash Painting外，也可译为An Ink-and-Wash Painting。

(2)“海水的蓝色浓得惊人”译为The sea was a ghastly dark blue，其中ghastly的意思是“可

怕的”，但兼有“不正常”的含义。

(3)“这是暴风雨欲来时的先兆”译为All that foreboded a storm。“先兆”也可译为foretold，

但不如foreboded确切，因后者一般都针对不好的事物。

(4)“又闭上了”译为only to have it covered up again，其中only（用在不定式前）往往作“结

果却”或“却又”解。

(5)“望见松原里的一座孤寂的火葬场”译为caught sight of a lonely crematorium looming out of

a pine wood，其中用looming代替standing等能较好地表达“赫然耸现”的含义。

(6)“冒出了……轻烟”译为giving off…smoke，其中to give off是成语，意同to send out, to emit

等。

墓

郭沫若

昨朝我一个人在松林里徘徊，在一株老松树下戏筑了一座砂丘(1)。

我说，这便是我自己的坟墓了(2)。

我便拣了一块白石来写上了我自己的名字，把来做了墓碑。

我在墓的两旁还移种了两株稚松(3)把它伴守。

我今朝回想起来，又一人走来凭吊(4)。

但我已经走遍了这莽莽的松原，我的坟墓究竟往那儿去了呢？

啊，死了的我昨日的尸骸哟(5)，哭墓的是你自己的灵魂，我的坟墓究竟往那儿去

了呢？

The Grave

Guo Moruo

Yesterday morning, while wandering about alone in a pine forest, I amused myself by

piling up a small sand-hill under an old pine tree.

“Let this be my own grave,” said I.

Picking up a piece of white stone, I scribbled my name on it and said, “Let this be my

own gravestone.”

On either side of the grave, I transplanted a pine sapling to keep it company..

This morning, recalling the grave, I went to pay a visit to it.

But the grave was nowhere to be found though I searched every nook and corner of

the dense forest. Where was it gone to?

O ye remains of my yesterday’s dead self, it was your own soul that had come to

mourn at the grave! Where was my grave gone to?

注释：

(1)“戏筑了一座砂丘”的意思是“堆起一座砂丘以自娱”，现译为I amused myself by piling

up a small sand-hill，也可译为I piled up for fun a small sandhill。“筑”在这里作“堆积”解，故译为piling up，不宜按字面译为building或constructing等。译文中的small是添加成分，原文虽无其词而有其意。

(2)“这便是我自己的坟墓了”含有说话者的意图，故译文用祈使句表达：Let this be my own

grave，和This shall be my own grave同义。

(3)“稚松”即“松树苗”，故译为pine sapling。

(4)“凭吊”在此作“探望”解，译to pay a visit to即可，不必译为to pay homage to或to pay

respects to等。

(5)“啊，死了的我昨日的尸骸哟”译为O ye remains of my yesterday’s dead self，其中ye作“你”解，属古语，在此用以烘托散文诗的格调。

想北平

老舍

设若让我写一本小说，以北平作背景，我不至于害怕，因为我可以拣着我知道的

写，而躲开我所不知道的。让我单摆浮搁的讲一套北平，我没办法。北平的地方那么

大，事情那么多，我知道的真觉太少了，虽然我生在那里，地直到廿七岁才离开。以

名胜说，我没到过陶然亭(1)，这多可笑！以此类推，我所知道的那点只是“我的北平”，

而我的北平大概等于牛的一毛。

可是，我真爱北平。这个爱几乎是要说而说不出的。我爱我的母亲。怎样爱？我

说不出。在我想作一件事讨她老人家喜欢的时候，我独自微微的笑着；在我想到她的

健康而不放心的时候，我欲落泪。言语是不够表现我的心情的，只有独自微笑或落泪

才足以把内心揭露在外面一些来。我之爱北平也近乎这个。夸奖这个古城的某一点是

容易的，可是那就把北平看得太小了。我所爱的北平不是枝枝节节的一些什么，而是

整个儿与我的心灵相粘合的一段历史，一大块地方，多少风景名胜，从雨后什刹海的

蜻蜓一直到我梦里的玉泉山的塔影(2)，都积凑到一块，每一小的事件中有个我，我的

每一思念中有个北平，这只有说不出而已。

真愿成为诗人，把一切好听好看的字都浸在自己的心血里，像杜鹃(3)似的啼出北

平的俊伟。啊！我不是诗人！我将永远道不出我的爱，一种像由音乐与图画所引起的

爱。这不但是辜负了北平，也对不住我自己，因为我是最初的知识与印象都得自北平，

它是在我的血里，我的性格与脾气里有许多地方是这古城所赐给的。我不能爱上海与

天津，因为我心中有个北平。可是我说不出来！

伦敦，巴黎，罗马与堪司坦丁堡，曾被称为欧洲的四大“历史的都城”。我知道

一些伦敦的情形；巴黎与罗马只是到过而已；堪司坦丁堡根本没有去过。就伦敦，巴

黎，罗马来说，巴黎更近似北平——虽然“近似”两字都拉扯得很远——不过，假使

让我“家住巴黎”，我一定会和没有家一样的感到寂苦。巴黎，据我看，还太热闹。

自然，那里也有空旷静寂的地方，可是又未免太旷(4)；不像北平那样复杂而又有个边

际(5)，使我能摸着——那长着红酸枣的老城墙！面向着积水滩，背后是城墙，坐在石

上看水中的小蝌蚪或苇叶上嫩蜻蜓，我可以快乐的坐一天，心中完全安适，无所求也

无可怕，像小儿安睡在摇篮里。是的，北平也有热闹的地方，但是它和太极拳相似，

动中有静。巴黎有许多地方使人疲乏，所以咖啡与酒是必要的，以便刺激；在北平，

有温和的香片茶就够了。

论说巴黎的布置已比伦敦罗马匀调的多了，可是比上北平还差点事儿。北平在人

为之中显出自然，几乎是什么地方即不挤得慌，又不太僻静；最小的胡同里的房子也

有院子与树；最空旷的地方也离买卖街与住宅区不远。这种配法可以算——在我的经

验中——天下第一了。北平的好处不在处处设备得完全，而在它处处有空儿，可以使

我自由的喘气；不在有好些美丽的建筑，而在建筑的四周都有空闲的地方，使它们成

为美景。每一城楼，每一牌楼，都可以从老远就看见。况且在街上还可以看见北山与

西山呢！

好学的，爱古物的，人们自然喜欢北平，因为这里书多古物多。我不好学，也没

钱买古物。对于物质上，我却喜欢北平的花多菜多果子多。花草是种费钱的玩艺，可

是此地的“草花儿”很便宜，而且家家有院子，可以花不多的钱而种一院子花，即使

算不了什么，可是到底可爱呀。墙上的牵牛，墙根的靠山竹与草茉莉，是多么省钱省

事而足以招来蝴蝶呀！至于青菜，白菜，扁豆，毛豆角，黄瓜，菠菜等等，大多数是

直接由城外担来而送到家门口的。雨后，韭菜叶上还往往带着雨时溅起的泥点，青菜

摊子上的红红绿绿几乎有诗似的美丽。果子有不少是由西山与北山来的，西山的沙果，

海棠，北山的黑枣，柿子，进了城还带着一层白霜儿呀！哼，美国的橘子包着纸，遇

到北平的带着霜儿的玉李，还不愧杀！

是的，北平是个都城，而能有好多自己产生的花，菜，水果，这就使人更接近了

自然。从它里面说，它没有像伦敦的那些成天冒烟的工厂；从外面说，它紧连着园林、

菜圃与农村。采菊东篱下(6)，在这里，确是可以悠然见南山的；大概把“南”字变个

“西”或“北”，也没有多少了不得吧(7)。像我这样的一个贫寒的人，或者只有在北

平能享受一点清福了(8)。

好，不再说了吧；要落泪了，真想念北平呀！

Fond Memories of Peiping

Lao She

I have no misgivings about writing a novel with Peiping as its background because I

can choose to write about what I am most familiar with while shying away from what is

less known to me. But I shall be at a complete loss if I should be called upon to write

exclusively about Peiping. Peiping is so big and multifaceted that very little of it, I believe,

is known to me though I was born and brought up there and never went away until I was

27. Just fancy that I have neglected to visit even Tao Tan Ting, a local scenic attraction! It

follows that, in contrast with Peiping in its entirety, what little I know about it is probably a

mere drop in the ocean.

I do cherish, however, a genuine love for Peiping—a love that is almost as

inexpressible as my love for mother. I smile by myself when I think of something I can do

to please mother; I feel like crying when I worry about mother’s health. Words fail me

where silent smiles and tears well express my innermost feelings. The same is true of my

love for Peiping. I shall fail to do justice to this vast ancient city if I should do no more

than extol just one certain aspect of it. The Peiping I love is not something in bits and

pieces, but a phase of history and a vast tract of land completely bound up with my heart.

Numerous scenic spots and historical sites from Shi Sha Hai Lake with its dragonflies after

a rain to the Yu Quan Shan Mountain with the dream pagoda on top—all merge into a

single whole. I associate myself with everything in Peiping no matter how trivial it is;

Peiping is always in my mind. I can’t tell why.

If only I were a poet so that, with all the sweet and beautiful words at my command, I

would sing of the grandeur of Peiping in as longing a note as that of a cuckoo! Alas, I am

no poet! I shall never be able to express my love—the kind of love as inspired by music or

painting. That is quite a letdown to both Peiping and myself, for it is to this ancient city

that I owe what I have within me, including my early knowledge and impressions as well

as much of my character and temperament. With Peiping possessing my heart, I can never

become attached to either Shanghai or Tianjin. I can’t tell why.

London, Paris, Rome and Constantinople are known as the four major “historic

capitals” of Europe. I know something about London; I have been to Paris and Rome only

briefly; I have never visited Constantinople at all. Of all these cities, Paris has the closest

affinity with Peiping (The word “affinity” may perhaps sound a bit farfetched).

Nevertheless, if should make my home in Paris, I would feel very lonely as if I had no

home at all. As far as I know, Paris is too much of a bustling town. It does have quiet open

spaces, but they smack of mere expanses of vacancy. Peiping is complicated and yet

tangible. I can feel it by touch. I can feel the red wild jujubes growing on its ancient city

wall! I can spend a whole day enjoying myself sitting on a rock to observe tiny tadpoles in

the water or tender dragonflies on reeds while facing me lies Ji Shui Tan Pond and right

behind me rises the high city wall. I can thus enjoy a perfect inner clam, free from any

desire or fear, like a child sleeping peacefully in the cradle. There are also bustling places

in Peiping, to be sure, but like the traditional Chinese shadow boxing Tai Ji Quan, the city

retains its stillness in the midst of motion. While Parisians have to turn to coffee or wine

for the relief of boredom caused by so many wearisome places in their city, the mild

beverage of jasmine tea will be more than adequate for dwellers of Peiping.

Though Paris has a better layout than London or Rome, it nevertheless cannot

compare with Peiping, one always finds the natural in the midst of the artificial. The city as

a whole is neither too crowded nor too secluded. Even houses tucked away in very small

lanes have their own courtyards and trees. Even the most secluded places are situated

within a stone’s throw of business or residential districts. Such a layout is, to my mind,

without equal all over the world. However, what distinguishes Peiping is not the perfect

layout, but the open spaces here and there where people can breathe freely; not the many

beautiful buildings, but the open grounds around each building which add to its

architectural beauty. Each gate tower of the city wall and each pailou (decorated archway)

can been seen from afar. And the Northern and Western hills are visible to people in the

open streets.

Those who are fond of studying or collecting curios will naturally be drawn to Peiping,

which is remarkable for its rich store of books and curios. Personally I am not given to

studying, nor do I have spare money to buy curios. But I am keen on the flowers,

vegetables and fruit which grow in rich abundance in Peiping. Gardening is something

very expensive. But since flowers of herbaceous plants in Peiping are very cheap and each

house has a courtyard of its own, it does not cost very much to plant a whole courtyard to

such flowers which, though humble, are nevertheless lovely to look at, such as morning

glories on the wall, china pinks at the foot of wall and marvels-of-Peru. Yes, cheap as they

are, they attract butterflies! Green vegetables, cabbages, hyacinth beans, young soya beans,

cucumbers, spinach, etc. are often carried straight form the suburbs to your residential

quarters for marketing. Often, leeks from rural farms after a rain still have specks of mud

on their leaves. The vegetables stalls are so colorful that they present a scene of poetic

charm. Fruits come mainly from the western and northern suburbs, such as crab apples and

cherry apples from the Western Hills, and jujubes and persimmons from the Northern Hills.

Look, how they are still covered with frostlike bloom when they are put on the market!

Indeed, America’s paper-wrapped oranges will pale beside Peiping’s plums bearing a thin

coating of frostlike bloom!

The city of Peiping brings its residents into closer contact with nature by growing

flowers, vegetables and fruit in large quantities. The city proper is not plagued by factory

chimneys such as you find in London giving off volumes of smoke all day long. On the

outskirts of the city lie numerous flower gardens, vegetables farms and villages. An ancient

Chinese poet by the name of Tao Yuanming says aptly in one of his famous poems,

“Plucking chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, I calmly view the southern hills.” To

adapt it to life in Peiping, I might as well substitute the word “western” or “northern” for

the word “southern” in the line. Peiping is probably the only place for a man of limited

means like me to live an easy and carefree life in.

Now, let me leave off writing, for I am on the point of shedding tears. How I miss

Peiping.

注释：

北京于1930年改称北平，1949年新中国成立时恢复旧名。《想北平》是老舍名篇，写于1936

年。约六十年前的古都风貌和生活情调，时至今日，已发生巨大变化。当时老舍在山东大学任教，正值日寇入侵，国难当头。文章热情颂扬北平，字里行间洋溢着强烈的爱国主义和民族自豪感。

(1)“我没到过陶然亭”译为I have neglected to visit even Tao Ran Ting, a local scenic attraction，

其中a local scenic attraction是添加成分，俾国外读者理解“陶然亭”及古都一大名胜。又译文中neglected一词也可用failed来表达。

(2)“梦里的玉泉山的塔影”译为the Yu Quan Shan Mountain with the dream pagoda on top，其

中dream属于定语形容词，作“梦一般完美的”解。

(3)“杜鹃”是一种益鸟，也称“杜宇”、“布谷”或“子规”，英语为cuckoo。古代诗人认

为杜鹃鸣声凄厉，旅人闻之，不禁产生思家的心情，故常用“啼血”形容其鸣声。“啼血”不宜直译，可结合上下文意译为its longing note。

(4)“可是又未免太旷”译为but they smack of mere expanses of vacancy，其中smack of作“有

些像……”解，用以表达原文“未免”的含义；又“太旷”作“大而空”解，故译为expanses of vacancy。

(5)“有个边际”意即“可触摸的”或“有实质的”，故译为tangible或vacancy。

(6)“采菊东篱下”出自东晋文学家陶渊明《论酒》诗。本是“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”，

两句相联。现有解释性翻译法，把诗人姓名、时代，以及上下诗句，交代清楚，否则国外读者无法理解。

(7)“大概把‘南’字变个‘西’或‘北’，也没有多少了不得的吧。”这句紧接上面的诗句，

英译时也须灵活处理，交代其内涵：To adapt it to life in Peiping, I might as well substitute the word “western” or “northern” for the word “southern” in the line。

(8)“清福”可译为an easy and carefree life或a life free worries and cares。

养 花

老舍

我爱花，所以也爱养花(1)。我可还没成为养花专家，因为没有工夫去作研究与试

验。我只把养花当作生活中的一种乐趣，花开的大小好坏都不计较，只要开花我就高

兴。在我的小院中，到夏天，满是花草，小猫儿们只好上房去玩耍(2)，地上没有它们

的运动场。

花虽多，但无奇花异草。珍贵的花草不易养活，看着一棵好花生病欲死是件难过

的事。我不愿时时落泪。北京的气候，对养花来说，不算很好。冬天冷，春天多风，

夏天不是干旱就是大雨倾盆；秋天最好，可是忽然会闹霜冻。在这种气候里，想把南

方的好花养活，我还没有那么大的本事。因此，我只养些好种易活、自己会奋斗的花

草(3)。

不过，尽管花草自己会奋斗(4)，我若置之不理，任其自生自灭(5)，它们多数还是

会死了的。我得天天照管它们，像好朋友似的关切他们。一来二去(6)，我摸着一些门

道：有的喜阴，就别放在太阳地里，有的喜干，就别多浇水。这是个乐趣，摸住门道，

花草养活了，而且三年五载(7)老活着、开花，多么有意思呀！不是乱吹，这就是知识

呀！多得些知识，一定不是坏事。

我不是有腿病吗，不但不利于行，也不利于久坐。我不知道花草们受我的照顾，

感谢我不感谢；我可得感谢它们。在我工作的时候，我总是写了几十个字，就到院中

去看看，浇浇这棵，搬搬那盆，然后回到屋中再写一点，然后再出去，如此循环(8)，

把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起，有益身心(9)，胜于吃药。要是赶上狂风暴雨或天

气突变哪，就得全家动员(10)，抢救花草，十分紧张(11)。几百盆花，都要很快地抢到

屋里去，使人腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。第二天，天气好转，又得把花儿都搬出去，就又

一次腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。可是，这多么有意思！不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活，这难

道不是真理么？

送牛奶的同志，进门就夸“好香”！这使我们全家都感到骄傲。赶到昙花开放的

时候，约几位朋友来看看，更有秉烛夜游的神气(12)——昙花总在夜里放蕊。花儿分

根了，一棵分为数棵，就赠给朋友们一些；看着友人拿走自己的劳动果实，心里自然

特别喜欢。

当然，也有伤心的时候，今年夏天这有这么一回。三百株菊秧还在地上（没有移

入盆中的时候），下了暴雨。邻家的墙倒了下来，菊秧被砸死者约三十多种，一百多

棵！全家都几天没有笑容！

有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色，既须劳动，又长见识，这就是养花

的乐趣。

On Growing Flowers

Lao She

I love flowers and hence have taken to growing them. But, short of time to do

research and experiment in flower cultivation, I am no gardener at all. I merely take flower

cultivation as a pleasure of life. I really don’t care whether or not my flowers will put forth

plump and nice-looking blossom. I’ll be delighted as long as they can blossom. In summer,

flowers and plants growing in luxuriance in my small courtyard will leave little open space

as a playground for the little cats, so they have to sport about in our rooms instead.

I grow many flowers, but none of them are exotic or rare ones. It is difficult to grow a

precious flower species. And I feel bad to see a good flower dying of illness. I don’t want

often to shed tears over that. But Beijing’s climate is more or less unfit for the growing of

flowers. Freezing in winter, windy in spring, and either too dry or too often visited by

rainstorms in summer. While autumn is the best of all, it is often plagued by a sudden frost.

In a climate like this, it is far beyond my capacity to grow precious flowers of southern

breed. Therefore, I only grow flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival

rate.

Although such flowers are able to weather through by themselves, I, however never

ignore them or abandon them to their own fate, for otherwise most of them will probably

end up dead. I have to care for them every day as if they were my close friends. Thus, in

the course of time, I’ve somehow got the hang of flower cultivation some flowers which

are accustomed to growing in the shade should not be too much exposed to the sun. Those

which prefer dryness should not be watered too often. It gives me much pleasure to know

the right way of handling them. How interesting it is to be able to keep my flowers and

plants alive and watch them thrive and bloom year in year out! It is no exaggeration to say

that there is much knowledge involved in this! And the more knowledge one acquires, the

better it is of course.

As I have some trouble with my leg, I can’t more around easily, nor can I sit too long.

I don’t know if the flowers under my care are grateful to me or not. However, I wish for

my part to acknowledge my thanks to them. I often leave off sedentary work after writing a

few dozen words and go to the courtyard to take a look at the flowers, watering them and

moving about the potted ones. Then I’ll return to my room to write a bit more. I’ll go

through the same back-and-forth process again and again, thus combining mental with

manual labour. This is a better way to keep me fit in mind and body than taking medicine.

In case of a violent storm or a sudden change of weather, however, the whole family will

have to turn out to salvage the flowers and plants. Everybody will then feel keyed up. By

the time when we have managed to move the several hundred potted flowers to the rooms

in a hurry, we will be dog-tired and wet with perspiration. The next day, when the weather

is fine, we will have another round of being dog-tired and wet with perspiration in taking

all the flowers out to the courtyard again. How interesting it is! Isn’t it true that without

doing manual labour, we couldn’t even keep a single flower alive?

It filled the whole family with pride whenever the milkman exclaims on entering our

gate, “What a sweet smell!” When the night-blooming cereuses are about to be in flower,

we will invite some friends to visit us in the evening to feast their eyes on them—in an

atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights. When the cereuses

have branched out, we will pick some of the flowers and give them as a present to our

friends. We are of course especially happy to see them take away our fruits of labour.

Of course, there is a time to feel sad too. Last summer, a rainstorm hit us when 300

chrysanthemum seedlings in the courtyard were about to be transplanted to pots. Suddenly,

the wall of our neighbour collapsed and crushed more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties.

The whole family were sad-faced for quiet a few days!

Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, flowers and fruit, fragrance and colour, manual

labour and increased knowledge—all these make up the joy of flower cultivation.

注释：

老舍的《养花》于1956年10月21日发表在《文汇报》上。老舍爱花，写出了养花的乐趣，

视花儿为自己生命的一部分，人花合一。文章短小简练，朴素隽永。

(1)“所以也爱养花“译为hence have taken to growing them，其中动词短语to take to的意思

是“开始喜欢”。此句也可译为are therefore fond of growing flowers。

(2)“只好上房去玩耍”译为they have to sport about in our rooms instead，其中动词短语to sport

about的意思是“嬉戏”（to play and jump about happily）。

(3)“我只养些好种易活、自己会奋斗的花草”译时稍作灵活处理：I only grow flowers and plants

that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate，其中用enjoy a high survival rate（成活率高）表达“好种易活”；用hardy（耐寒、耐劳、能吃苦）表达“会奋斗的”。

(4)“自己会奋斗”译为able to weather through by themselves，其中动词短语to weather through

的意思是“对付困难”、“渡过风暴”等。此句也可译为able to carry on the struggle for existence by themselves，但用字太大、太多。

(5)“任其自生自灭”不宜按字面直译，现意译为abandon them to their own fate。

(6)“一来二去”的意思是“经过一定的时间”，故译为in the course of time。

(7)“三年五载”以灵活的办法译为year in year out。

(8)“然后再出去，如此循环”不宜按字面直译，现译为I’ll go through the same back-and-forth

process again and again，其中定语back-and-forth作“来来往往”解；go through the same process

作“重复同一过程”解。

(9)“有益身心”可有两种译法：to keep me fit in mind and body或to keep me mentally and

physically fit。

(10)“就得全家动员”译为the whole family will have to turn out，其中动词短语to turn out的

意思是“出动”或“出来参加”。

(11)“十分紧张”译为feel keyed up，其中动词短语to key up的意思是“使紧张”，因此keyed

up和excited、tense等同义。

(12)“更有秉烛夜游的神气”中的“秉灯夜游”是成语，比喻“及时行乐”，今结合上下文

按“夜间秉烛作乐”的意思译为nocturnal merry-making under candle lights。又“更有……神气”意即“带有……的味道”，故全句译为in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights.

白杨礼赞

茅盾

白杨树实在是不平凡的，我赞美白杨树！

当汽车在望不到边际的高原上奔驰，扑入你的视野的，是黄绿错综的一条大毡子

(1)；黄的，那是土，未开垦的处女土，几十万年前由伟大的自然力所堆积成功的黄土

高原的外壳；绿的呢，是人类战胜自然的结果，是麦田，和风吹送，翻起了一轮一轮

的绿波——这时你会真心佩服昔人所造的两个字“麦浪”，若不是妙手偶得，便确是

经过锤炼的语言的精华；黄与绿主宰着，无边无垠，坦荡如砥(2)，这时如果不是宛若

并肩的远山的连峰提醒了你（这些山峰凭你的肉眼来判断，就知道是在你脚底下的），

你会忘记了汽车是在高原上行驶。这时你涌起来的感想也许是“雄壮”，也许是“伟

大”，诸如此类的形容词；然而同时你的眼睛也许觉得有点倦怠，你对当前的“雄壮”

或“伟大”闭了眼(3)，而另一种味儿在你的心头潜滋暗长(4)了——“单调”！可不是，

单调，有一点儿吧？

然而刹那间，要是你猛抬眼看见了前面远远地有一排，——不，或者甚至只是三

五株，一二株，傲然地耸立，像哨兵似的树木的话，那你的恹恹欲睡(5)的情绪又将如

何？我那时是惊奇地叫了一声的！

那就是白杨树，西北极普通的一种树，然而实在不是平凡的一种树！

那是一种力争上游的一种树，笔直的干，笔直的枝。它的干呢，通常是丈把高，

像是加过人工似的，一丈以内，绝无旁枝；它所有的丫枝呢，一律向上，而且紧紧靠

拢，也像是加过人工似的，成为一束，绝无横斜逸出(6)；它的宽大的叶子也是片片向

上，几乎没有斜生的，更不用说倒垂了；它的皮，光滑而有银色的晕圈，微微泛出淡

青色。这是虽在北方的风雪的压迫下却保持着倔强挺立的一种树！哪怕只有碗来精细

罢，它却努力向上发展，高到丈许，二丈，参天耸立，不折不挠，对抗着西北风。

这就是白杨树，西北极普通的一种树，然而决不是平凡的树！它没有婆娑的姿态，

没有屈曲盘旋(7)的虬枝，也许你要说它不美丽，——如果美是专指“婆娑”或“横斜

逸出”之类而言，那么白杨树算不得树中的好女子；但是它却是伟岸(8)，正直，朴质，

严肃，也不缺乏温和，更不用提它的坚强不屈与挺拔，它是树中伟丈夫！当你在积雪

初融的高原上走过，看见平坦的大地上傲然挺立这么一株或一排白杨树，难道你觉得

树只是树？难道你就想不它的朴质，严肃，坚强不屈，至少也象征了北方的农民；难

道你竟一点也不联想到，在敌后的广大土地上，到处有坚强不屈，就像这白杨树一样

傲然挺立的守卫他们家乡的哨兵(9)，难道你又不更远一点想到这样枝枝叶叶靠紧团

结，力求上进的白杨树，宛然象征了今天在华北平原纵横激荡(10)，用血写出新中国

历史的那种精神和意志。

白杨不是平凡的树。它是西北极普遍，不被人重视，就跟北方农民相似；它有极

强的生命力(11)，磨折不了，压迫不倒，也跟北方的农民相似。我赞美白杨树，就因

为它不但象征了北方的农民，尤其象征了今天我们民族解放斗争中所不可缺的(12)朴

质，坚强，以及力求上进的精神。

让那些看不起民众，贱视民众，顽固的倒退的人们去赞美那贵族化的楠木(13)（那

也是直干秀颀(14)的），去鄙视这极常见，极易生长的白杨罢，但是我要高声赞美白

杨树！

Tribute to the White Poplar

Mao Dun

The white poplar is no ordinary tree. Let me sing its praises.

When you travel by car through Northwest China’s boundless plateau, all you see

before you is something like a huge yellow-and-green felt blanket. Yellow is the soil—the

uncultivated virgin soil. It is the outer covering of the loess plateau accumulated by Mother

Nature several hundred thousand years ago. Green are the wheat fields signifying man’s

triumph over nature. They become a sea of rolling green waves whenever there is a soft

breeze. One is here reminded of Chinese expression mai lang meaning “rippling wheat”

and cannot help admiring our forefathers’ ingenuity in coining such a happy phrase. It

must have been either the brainwave of a clever scholar, or a linguistic gem sanctioned by

long usage. The boundless highland, with dominant yellow and green, is flat like a

whetstone. Were it not for distant mountain peaks standing side by side (which, as your

naked eyes tell you, are bellow where you stand), you would probably forget that you are

on the highland. The sight of the scene will probably call up inside you a string of epithets

like “spectacular” or “grand”. Meanwhile, however, your eyes may become weary of

watching the same panorama, so much so that you are oblivious of its being spectacular or

grand. And you may feel monotony coming on. Yes, it is somewhat monotonous, isn’t it?

Now what will become of your weariness if you suddenly raise your eyes only to

catch sight of distant row of trees (or just a couple of them) standing there proudly like

sentries. For my part, I cannot keep from uttering an exclamation of surprise!

They are white poplars. Though very common in Northwest China, they are no

ordinary trees!

With straight trunks and branches, white poplars aim high. Their trunks are usually

over ten feet tall and, as if wrought by human effort, utterly bare of branches below ten feet.

Their twigs, also like things artificially shaped, all reach out towards the sky and grow

close together in a cluster without any sideway growth. Their leaves are broad and point

upwards with very few slanting sideways, much less upside down. Their glossy barks are a

faint light green with hazy silver spots. They stand erect and unbending in face of North

China’s violent wind and snow. Though they may be only as big as the mouth of bowl,

they strive to grow upwards until they reach the towering height of some twenty feet and

stand indomitable against the northwest wind.

They are white poplar. Though very common in Northwest China, they are no

ordinary tree! You may call them unattractive because they have neither the graceful

carriage of a dancer, nor such branches as can twine and climb. But nevertheless they are

big and tall, honest and upright, simple and plain, earnest and unyielding—and not without

gentleness and warmth though. They are giants among trees! When you trudge through the

melting snow of the highland and see one or a row of white poplars standing proudly on

the vast plains, how could you look upon them as nothing but mere trees? How could you

forget that with all their simplicity, earnestness and unyieldingness, they are symbolic of

our peasants in the North? How could you fail to associate them with our dauntless soldiers

guarding our homeland all over the vast rear? How could you fail to see that these trees,

ever striving to put out their closely knit branches and leaves in an upward direction, are

symbolic of the spirit and will of our men who, fighting heroically all over the northern

plains, are writing the history of New China with their own blood?

White poplars are no ordinary trees. But these common trees in Northwest China are

as much ignored as our peasants in the North. However, like our peasants in the North,

they are bursting with vitality and capable of surviving any hardship or oppression. I pay

tribute to them because they symbolize our peasants in the North and, in particular, the

spirit of honesty, tenacity and forging ahead—a spirit central to our struggle for national

liberation.

The reactionary diehards, who despise and snub the common people, can do whatever

they like to eulogize the elite nanmu (which is also tall, straight and good-looking) and

look down upon the common, fast-growing white poplar. I, for my part, will be loud in

my praise of the latter!

注释：

《白杨礼赞》是茅盾在抗日战争期间1941年3月写的一篇著名散文。

(1)“是黄绿错综的一条大毡子”译为something like a huge yellow-and-green felt blanket，其中something like是为适应英语上下文而增添的成分，变隐喻为明喻，使译文读来更顺当。又yellow-and-green（或yellow and green）和yellow green不同，前者为黄绿杂处，构成一种花色，后者为黄绿混合，即绿中带黄。

(2)“坦荡如砥”意即平坦得像一块磨刀石，现直译为flat like a whetstone，保留原文的比喻。

(3)“你对当前的‘雄壮’或‘伟大’闭了眼”意即你对眼前的景色不再感到“雄壮”或“伟

大”，现译为you are oblivious of its being spectacular or grand，其中oblivious of作“忘却”或“不觉得”解。

(4)“潜滋暗长”意即“逐渐开始”，现译为coming on。英语短语to come on作to begin by degree

解。

(5)“恹恹欲睡”作“困倦”解，故译为weariness。

(6)“横斜逸出”指树枝从树干的旁边斜伸出来，现译为sideway growth。

(7)“屈曲盘旋”意即弯弯曲曲地向上爬，现译为twine and climb。

(8)“伟岸”意即“高大”，现译为big and tall。

(9)“守卫他们的家乡的哨兵”中的“哨兵”实际上指“士兵”或“战士”，不宜译为sentries。

全部短语应译为soldiers guarding our homeland。

(10)“纵横激荡”意即到处同敌人英勇战斗，现译为fighting heroically。

(11)“有极强的生命力”译为are bursting with vitality，其中burst with意同full of。

(12)“我们民族解放斗争中所不可缺的……”译为…central to our struggle for national

liberation，其中central to意同essential to。

(13)“楠木”是一种常绿乔木，质地坚硬，为贵重木材，现译为namu。

(14)“秀颀”意即美丽而高大。现译为good-looking and tall。

故都的秋

郁达夫

秋天，无论在什么地方的秋天，总是好的(1)；可是啊，北国的秋，却特别地来得

清，来得静，来得悲凉。我的不远千里(2)，要从杭州赶上青岛，更要从青岛赶上北平

来的理由，也不过想饱尝一尝这“秋”，这故都的秋味。

江南，秋当然也是有的，但草木凋得慢，空气来得润，天的颜色显得淡，并且又

时常多雨而少风；一个人夹在苏州上海杭州，或厦门香港广州的市民中间，浑浑沌沌

地过去，只能感到一点点清凉，秋的味，秋的色，秋的意境与姿态，总看不饱，尝不

透，赏玩不到十足(3)。秋并不是名花，也并不是美酒，那一种半开，半醉的状态，在

领略秋的过程上，是不合适的。

不逢北国之秋，已将近十余年了。在南方每年到了秋天，总要想陶然亭的芦花，

钓鱼台的柳影，西山的虫唱，玉泉的夜月，潭柘寺的钟声(4)。在北平即使不出门去罢，

就是在皇城人海之中，租人家一椽破屋来住着，早晨起来，泡一碗浓茶，向院子一坐，

你也能看到很高很高的碧绿的天色，听得到青天下驯鸽的飞声。从槐树叶底，朝东细

数着一丝一丝漏下来的日光，或在破壁腰中，静对着像喇叭似的牵牛花（朝荣）的蓝

朵，自然而然地也能感觉到十分的秋意。说到牵牛花，我以为以蓝色或白色者为佳，

紫黑色次之，淡红色最下。最好，还要在牵牛花底教长着几根疏疏落落的尖细且长的

秋草，使作陪衬。

北国的槐树，也是一种能使人联想起秋来的点缀。像花而又不是花的那一种落蕊，

早晨起来，会铺得满地。脚踏上去，声音也没有，气味也没有，只能感出一点点极微

细极柔软的触觉。扫街在树影下一阵扫后，灰土上留下来的一条条扫帚的丝纹，看起

来既觉得细腻，又觉得清闲(5)，潜意识下并且还觉得有点儿落寞，古人所说的梧桐一

叶而天下知秋的遥想，大约也就在这些深沉的地方。

秋蝉的衰弱的残声，更是北国的特产；因为北平处处全长着树，屋子又低，所以

无论在什么地方，都听得见它们的啼唱。在南方是非要上郊外或山上去才听得到的。

这秋蝉的嘶叫，在北平可和蟋蟀耗子一样，简直像是家家户户都养在家里的家虫(6)。

还有秋雨哩，北方的秋雨，也似乎比南方的下得奇，下得有味，下得更像样(7)。

在灰沉沉的天底下，忽而来一阵凉风，便息列索落地下起雨来了。一层雨过，云

渐渐地卷向了西去，天又青了，太阳又露出脸来了；著着很厚的青布单衣或夹袄的都

市闲人，咬着烟管，在雨后的斜桥影里，上桥头树底下去一立，遇见熟人，便会用了

缓慢悠闲的声调，微叹(8)着互答着说：

“唉，天可真凉了——”

“可不是么？一层秋雨一层凉了！”

北方的果树，到秋来，也是一种奇景。第一是枣子树；屋角，墙头，茅房边上，

灶房门口，它都会一株株地长大起来。像橄榄又像鸽蛋似的这枣子颗儿，在小椭圆形

的细叶中间，显出淡绿微黄的颜色的时候，正是秋的全盛时期；等枣树叶落，枣子红

完，西北风就要起来了(9)，北方便是尘沙灰土的世界，只有这枣子、柿子、葡萄，成

熟到八九分的七八月之交，是北国的清秋的佳日，是一年之中最好也没有的golden

days。

有些批评家说，中国的文人学士，尤其是诗人，都带着很浓厚的颓废色彩，所以

中国的诗文里，颂赞秋的文字特别的多。但外国的诗人，又何尝不然？我虽则外国诗

文念得不多，也不想开账来，做一篇秋的诗歌散文钞，但你若去一翻英德法意等诗人

的集子，或各国的诗文的anthology来，总能够看到许多关于秋的歌颂与悲啼。各著名

的大诗人的长篇田园诗或四季诗里，也总以关于秋的部分，写得最出色而最有味。足

见有感觉的动物，有情趣的人类，对于秋，总是一样的能特别引起深沉，幽远，严厉，

萧索的感触来的。不单是诗人，就是被关闭在牢狱里的囚犯，到了秋天，我想也一定

会感到一种不能自已的深情(10)；秋之于人，何尝有国别，更何尝有人种阶级的区别

呢？不过在中国，文字里有一个“秋士(11)”的成语，读本里又有着很普遍的欧阳子

的秋声(12)与苏东坡的《赤壁赋》(13)等，就觉得中国的文人，与秋的关系特别深了。

可是这秋的深味，非要在北方，才感受得到底。

南国之秋，当然是也有它的特异的地方的，比如廿四桥的明月，钱塘江的秋潮，

普陀山的凉雾，荔枝湾的残荷等等，可是色彩不浓，回味不永。比起北国的秋来，正

像是黄酒之于白干，稀饭之于馍馍，鲈鱼之于大蟹，黄犬之于骆驼。

秋天，这北国的秋天，若留得往的话，我愿把寿命的三分之二折去，换得一个三

分之一的零头。

Autumn in Peiping

Yu Dafu

Autumn, wherever it is, always has something to recommend itself. In North China,

however, it is particularly limpid, serene and melancholy. To enjoy its atmosphere to the

full in the onetime capital, I have, therefore, made light of travelling a long distance from

Hanghou to Qingdao, and thence to Peiping.

There is of course autumn in the South too, but over there plants wither slowly, the air

is moist, the sky pallid, and it is more often rainy than windy. While muddling along all by

myself among the urban dwellers of Suzhou, Shanghai, Xianmen, Hong Kong or

Guangzhou, I feel nothing but a little chill in the air, without ever relishing to my heart’s

content the flavour, colour, mood and style of the season. Unlike famous flowers which are

most attractive when half opening, good wine which is most tempting when one is half

drunk, autumn, however, is best appreciated in its entirety.

It is more than a decade since I last saw autumn in North. When I am in the South, the

arrival of each autumn will put me in mind of Peiping’s Tao Ran Ting with its reed catkins,

Diao Yu Tai with its shady willow trees, Western Hills with their chirping insects, Yu

Quan Shan Mountain on a moonlight evening and Tan Zhe Si with its reverbrating bell.

Suppose you put up in a humble rented house inside the bustling imperial city, you can, on

getting up at dawn, sit in your courtyard sipping a cup of strong tea, leisurely watch the

high azure skies and listen to pigeons circling overhead. Saunter eastward under locust

trees to closely observe streaks of sunlight filtering through their foliage, or quietly watch

the trumpet-shaped blue flowers of morning glories climbing half way up a dilapidated

wall, and an intense feeling of autumn will of itself well up inside you. As to morning

glories, I like their blue or white flowers best, dark purple ones second best, and pink ones

third best. It will be most desirable to have them set off by some tall thin grass planted

underneath here and there. Locust trees in the North, as a decorative embellishment of

nature, also associate us with autumn. On getting up early in the morning, you will find the

ground strewn all over with flower-like pistils fallen from locust trees. Quiet and smellless,

they feel tiny and soft underfoot. After a street cleaner has done the sweeping under the

shade of the trees, you will discover countless lines left by his broom in the dust, which

look so fine and quiet that somehow a feeling of forlornness will begin to creep up on you.

The same depth of implication is found in the ancient saying that a single fallen leaf from

the wutong tree is more than enough to inform the world of autumn’s presence.

The sporadic feeble chirping of cicadas is especially characteristic of autumn in the

North. Due to the abundance of trees and the low altitude of dwellings in Peiping, cicadas

are audible in every nook and cranny of the city. In the South, however, one cannot hear

them unless in suburbs or hills. Because of their ubiquitous shrill noise, these insects in

Peiping seem to be living off every household like crickets or mice.

As for autumn rains in the North, they also seem to differ from those in the South,

being more appealing, more temperate.

A sudden gust of cool wind under the slaty sky, and raindrops will start

pitter-pattering. Soon when the rain is over, the clouds begin gradually to roll towards the

west and the sun comes out in the blue sky. Some idle townsfolk, wearing lined or unlined

clothing made of thick cloth, will come out pipe in mouth and, loitering under a tree by the

end of a bridge, exchange leisurely conversation with acquaintances with a slight touch of

regret at the passing of time:

“Oh, real nice and cool—“

“Sure! Getting cooler with each autumn shower!”

Fruit trees in the North also make a wonderful sight in autumn. Take jujube tree for

example. They grow everywhere—around the corner of a house, at the foot of a wall, by

the side of a latrine or outside a kitchen door. It is at the height of autumn that jujubes,

shaped like dates or pigeon eggs, make their appearance in a light yellowish-green amongst

tiny elliptic leaves. By the time when they have turned ruddy and the leaves fallen, the

north-westerly wind will begin to reign supreme and make a dusty world of the North.

Only at the turn of July and August when jujubes, persimmons, grapes are 80-90 percent

ripe will the North have the best of autumn—the golden days in a year.

Some literary critics say that Chinese literati, especially poets, are mostly disposed to

be decadent, which accounts for predominance of Chinese works singing the praises of

autumn. Well, the same is true of foreign poets, isn’t it? I haven’t read much of foreign

poetry and prose, nor do I want to enumerate autumn-related poems and essays in foreign

literature. But, if you browse through collected works of English, German, French or

Italian poets, or various countries’ anthologies of poetry or prose, you can always comes

across a great many literary pieces eulogizing or lamenting autumn. Long pastoral poems

or songs about the four seasons by renowned poets are mostly distinguished by beautiful

moving lines on autumn. All that goes to show that all live creatures and sensitive humans

alike are prone to the feeling of depth, remoteness, severity and bleakness. Not only poets,

even convicts in prison, I suppose, have deep sentiments in autumn in spite of themselves.

Autumn treats all humans alike, regardless of nationality, race or class. However, judging

from Chinese idiom qiushi (autumn scholar, meaning and aged scholar grieving over

frustrations in his life) and frequent selection in textbooks of Ouyang Xiu’s On the Autumn

Sough and Su Dongpo’s On the Red Cliff, Chinese men of letters seem to be particularly

autumn-minded. But, to know the real flavour of autumn, especially China’s autumn, one

has to visit the North.

Autumn in the South also has its unique features, such as the moonlit Ershisi Bridge

in Yangzhou, the flowing sea tide at the Qiantangjiang River, the mist-shrouded Putuo

Mountain and lotuses at the Lizhiwan Bay. But they all lack strong colour and lingering

flavour. Southern autumn is to Northern autumn what yellow rice wine is to kaoliang wine,

congee to steamed buns, perches to crabs, yellow dogs to camels.

Autumn, I mean Northern autumn, if only it could be made to last forever! I would be

more than willing to keep but one-third of my life-span and have two-thirds of it bartered

for the prolonged stay of the season!

注释

《故都的秋》是郁达夫（1896-1945）的名篇，1934年8月写于北平。文章通过对北国特有

风物的细腻描绘，抒发作者对故都之秋的无比眷恋之情。

(1)“总是好的”不宜按字面直译。现译为always has something to recommend itself，其中to

have…to recommend…作“有……可取之处”解。

(2)“不远千里，要从杭州赶上青岛……”译为have made light of travelling a long distance from

Hangzhou to Qingdao…，其中to make light of是成语，作“对……不在乎”解。

(3)“总看不饱，尝不透，赏玩不到十足”不宜逐字直译。译文without ever relishing to my heart’s content…中用relishing to my heart’s content概括原文中的“看……饱”、“尝……透”、“赏玩……”等。

(4)“每年到了秋天，总要想起陶然亭的芦花……”译为the arrival of each autumn will put me in mind of Peiping’s Tao Ran Ting with its reed catkins…，其中to put one in mind of…是成语，作“使人想起……”解。译文中的Peiping’s是添加成分，以便国外读者理解句中所列各景点的所在地是北平。

(5)“既觉得细腻，又觉得清闲”中的“清闲”意同“幽静”，故译为quiet。

(6)“可和蟋蟀耗子一样，简直像是家家户户都养在家里的家虫”译为seem to be living off every

household like crickets or mice，其中to live off (= to live on)中成语，作“靠……生活”解，用以表达“养在……的家虫”。

(7)“更像样”意即“更有节制”，故译为more temperate 。

(8)根据上下文，“微叹“是为”感怀时光的消逝“，故以释义法译为with a slight touch of reget

at the passing of time。

(9)“西北风就要起来了”译为the northwesterly wind will begin to reign supreme，其中to reign

supreme强调“占优势”之意。

(10)“感到不能自已的深情”译为have deep sentiments…in spite of themselves，其中in spite of

oneself是成语，作“不由自主地”解。

(11)“秋士”是古汉语，指“士之暮年不遇者”，现译为qiushi (autumn scholar, meaning an aged

scholar grieving over frustrations in his life)。

(12)“欧阳子的秋声”即“欧阳修所作的《秋声赋》”，现译为Ouyang Xiu’s On the Autumn

Sough。

(13)〈赤壁赋〉为苏东坡所作，借秋游赤壁，抒发自己的人生感慨。可译为On the Red Cliff

或Fu on the Red Cliff。

谈结婚

郁达夫

前些日子，林语堂先生似乎曾说过(1)女子的唯一事业，是在结婚，现在一位法国

大文豪来沪，对去访问他的新闻记者的谈话之中，又似乎说，男子欲成事业，应该不

要结婚。

华盛顿·欧文(2)是一个独身的男子，但《见闻短记》里的一篇歌颂妻子的文章(3)，

却写的那么优美可爱。同样查而斯·兰姆(4)也是独身的男子，而爱丽亚的《独身者的

不平》(5)一篇，又冷嘲热讽，将结婚的男女和婚后必然的果子——小孩们——等，俏

皮到了那一步田地。

究竟是结婚的好呢，还是不结婚的好？这问题似乎同先有鸡还是先有鸡蛋一样

(6)，常常有人提起，而也常常没有人解决过的问题(7)。照大体看来，想租房子的时候，

是无眷莫问的，想做官的时候，又是朝里无裙(8)莫做官的，想写文章的时候，是独身

者(9)不能写我的妻的，凡此种种似乎都是结婚的好。可是要想结婚，第一要有钱，第

二要有闲，第三要有职，这潘驴(10)……的五个条件，却也不容易办到(11)。更何况结

婚之后，“儿子自己要来(12)”，在这世界人口过剩，经济恐慌，教育破产，世风不

古的时候，万一不慎，同兰姆所说的一样，儿子们去上了断头台(13)，那真是连祖宗

三代的楣都要倒尽，那里还有什么“官人请！娘子请！”的唱随之乐(14)可说呢？

左思右想，总觉得结婚也不好的，不结婚也是不好的。

A Chat about Marriage

Yu Dafu

The other day, Mr. Lin Yutang said something to the effect that women’s only career

lies in matrimony. Now, an eminent French writer declared at a press interview after

arriving in Shanghai that men should stay bachelors if they want to achieve success in life.

Washington Irving was a confirmed bachelor, but in his Sketch Book there is an article

extolling the wife as a graceful and lovely life-long partner. Charles Lamb, also a single

man, in A Bachelor’s Complaint of the Behaviour of Married People, one of his essays

signed “Elia”, speaks mockingly of married people with their inevitable postnuptial

fruits—the children.

Marriage or no marriage, which is more desirable? That sounds like the chicken-and-

egg question, which, though often discussed, remains a perpetual puzzle. Generally

speaking, one who has no family dependants is not supposed to rent a house, one who has

no petticoat influence in the government should refrain from becoming an official, an

unmarried male writer is in no position to writer about “my wife”. All these seem to hint at

the advantage of marriage. But, to get married, you need to have five perquisites, namely,

money, leisure, employment, good looks and potentness, of which all are not always

available. What is more, after your marriage, your offspring will come to this world of

themselves. And in a world with overpopulation, economic crisis, educational bankruptcy

and deteriorating public morals, they may, just as Charles Lamb says, through their own

acts of indiscretion, be sent to the gallows. With such a terrible misfortune befalling your

family, how could you still have wedded bliss to speak of?

Thinking the matter over and over again, I cannot but come to the conclusion that

neither matrimony nor bachelorship has anything to recommend itself.

注释：

郁达夫，一生短暂，在恋爱与婚姻上有很多坎坷经历。小品文《谈结婚》寥寥数语，看似游

戏笔墨，但庄谐并出，寓理于趣，感叹人生多苦难，对现实百态深表不满。

(1)“似乎曾说过……”意即“说过一些话，大意是……”，译为said something to the effect that…，其中to the effect that…作“大意是……”解。

(2)“华盛顿·欧文”是美国作家Washington Irving (1783-1859)。《见闻短记》（Sketch

Book）为其著名代表作。

(3)“一篇歌颂妻子的文章”的篇名为The Wife。

(4)“查而斯·兰姆”是英国散文家Charles Lamb (1775-1834)。笔名爱丽亚（alia），

著有《爱丽亚散文集》（Essays of Alia）。

(5)“《独身者的不平》”指《爱丽亚散文集》中的一篇。

(6)“这个问题似乎同先有鸡呢还是先有鸡蛋一样”译为That sounds like the chicken-and-egg

question，其中chicken-and-egg（或chicken and egg ）是成语，作“鸡与蛋孰先难定”或“因果难定”解。

(7)“常常没有人解决过的问题”可译为has never been resolved，现译为remains a perpetual

puzzle，变反说为正说。

(8)“裙”指“裙带关系”意即“藉以相互依靠的姻亲关系”，现译为petticoat influence。

(9)“独身者”指“独身男作家”，故译为an unmarried male writer。

(10)“潘驴”源自《金瓶梅》第三回，指“潘安的貌”和“驴大行货”，在文中分别指第四、

第五两个条件。现分别译为gook looks和potentness。

(11)“却也很不易办到”意即“却也不易都具备”，译为of which all are not always available，

等于of which not all are always available。

(12)“儿子自己要来”译为your offspring will come to this world of themselves，其中短语of

themselves和automatically同义。

(13)“走上了断头台”，本可译为be sent to the guillotine，但因兰姆文中说的绞刑架，故译为

be sent to the gallows。

(14)“‘官人请！娘子请！’的唱随之乐”不宜逐字直译，现意译为wedded bliss（闺房之乐），

简单明了。

永远的憧憬(1)和追求

萧红

一九一一年，在一个小县城里边，我生在一个小地主的家里。那县城差不多就是

中国的最东最北部——黑龙江省——(2)所以一年之中，倒有四个月飘着白雪。

父亲常常为着贪婪而失掉了人性。他对待仆人，对待自己的儿女，以及对待我的

祖父都是同样的吝啬而疏远，甚至于无情(3)。

有一次，为着房屋租金的事情，父亲把房客的全套的马车赶了过来。房客的家属

们哭着诉说着(4)，向我的祖父跪了下来，于是祖父把两匹棕色的马(5)从车上解下来还

了回去。

为着这匹马，父亲向祖父起着终夜的争吵(6)。“两匹马，咱们是算不了什么的，

穷人，这匹马就是命根。(7)”祖父这样说着，而父亲还是争吵。九岁时，母亲死去。

父亲也就更变了样(8)，偶然打碎了一只杯子，他就要骂到使人发抖的程度。后来就连

父亲的眼睛也转了弯，每从他的身边经过，我就像自己的身上生了针剌一样(9)；他斜

视着你，他那高傲的眼光从鼻梁经过嘴角而后往下流着(10)。

所以每每在大雪中的黄昏里(11)，围着暖炉，围着祖父，听着祖父读着诗篇，看

着祖父读着诗篇时微红的嘴唇(12)。

父亲打了我的时候，我就在祖父的房里，一直面向着窗子，从黄昏到深夜——窗

外的白雪，好像白棉花一样飘着；而暖炉上水壶的盖子，则像伴奏的乐器似的振动着

(13)。

祖父时时把多纹的两手放在我的肩上，而后又放在我头上，我的耳边便响着这样

的声音：

“快快长吧！长大就好了。”

二十岁那年，我就逃出了父亲的家庭。直到现在还是过着流浪的生活。

“长大”是“长大了”，而没有“好”。

可是从祖父那里，知道了人生除掉了冰冷和憎恶而外，还有温暖和爱。

所以我就向这“温暖”和“爱”的方面，怀着永久的憧憬和追求。

My Everlasting Dream and Pursuit

Xiao Hong

In 1911, I was born into a petty Landlord family in a remote county town in

Heilongjiang Province—a town situated virtually at the northeastern tip of China. We had

snow there for as long as one third of a year.

Father, driven by avarice, often became very unfeeling. He would treat his servants,

his own children and even my grandpa alike with meanness and indifference, not to say

with ruthlessness.

Once, due to a dispute over house rent, he took away by force a tenant’s horse-drawn

cart and drove it home. The tenant’s family came to see grandpa and, dropping to their

knees, tearfully related their troubles. Grandpa unharnessed the two chestnut horses and

retuned them to tenant.

That touched off a night-long quarrel between father and grandpa. “The two horses

mean nothing to us, but everything to the poor,” argued grandpa. Father, however, refused

to listen. Mother died when I was nine. From then on father went from bad to worse. Even

a mere cup accidentally broken by someone would send him into such a violent rage that

we all shivered with fear. Later, whenever I happened to walk past him, he would even

have his eyes directed sideways, which made me feel like being pricked all over on thorns.

When he looked askance at me, superciliousness gushed from his eyes down the bridge of

his nose and then off the corners of his mouth.

Often of a snowy evening, we children would hang about grandpa by a heating stove,

listening to him reading poems aloud and meanwhile watching his busy ruddy lips.

Whenever father had given me a beating, I would seek solace in grandpa’s room

where I would stay gazing out of the window from dusk till late into the night while

snowflakes were flying like cotton and the lid of the kettle over the heating stove rattling

like a musical instrument playing an accompaniment.

Grandpa would place his wrinkled hand on my shoulder and then on my head, saying,

“Grow up quick, poor child! You’ll be all right after you’ve grown up.”

I fled from home at twenty. And so far I still live the life of a vagrant.

True, I’ve “grown up”, but I’m not yet “all right”.

Nevertheless, from grandpa I’ve learned that apart from coldness and hatred, there is

also warmth and love in life. Hence my everlasting dream and pursuit of this “warmth” and

“love”.

注释：

萧红（1911-1942），黑龙江省呼兰县人，官僚地主家庭出身，是才华横溢的女作家。本文是

她应美国友人斯诺之给而写的小传。文章诉说她如何在祖父在关怀和抚育下度过寂寞的幼女时代。

(1)“憧憬“译为dream，和aspiration, longing, yearning等同义。

(2)“那县城差不多就是中国的最东最北部——黑龙江省——”意即“那县城在黑龙江省，差不多位于中国的东北角”。现译为in a remote town in Heilongjiang Province—a town situated

virtually at the northeastern tip of china，其中以remote（偏僻的、边远的）表达“小”，便于烘托原文的气氛；at the northeastern tip of China比in China’s northeastern part灵活顺口。

(3)“甚至于无情”译为not to say with ruthlessness，其中not to say是英语成语，意即and almost

或and perhaps even。

(4)“哭着诉说着”译为tearfully related their troubles，其中related意told。

(5)“棕色的马”译为chestnut horses。英语常用chestnut指马的棕色，或棕色的马.

(6)译文touched off是成语，作“激起”、“引起”解。

(7)“穷人，这匹马就是命根”译为they mean everything to the poor，其中everything和前面

的nothing相互应。

(8)“父亲也就更变了样”译为From then on father went from bad to worse，其中from then on

是连接上句的添加成分。又went from bad to worse是成语，作“越来越坏”、“每况俞下”解。

(9)“就像自己的身上生了针剌一样”译为feel like being pricked all over on thorns，其中feel like

是短语动词，作“如同”解，又介词on常用来指人体受到伤害的原因，

(10)译文superciliousness gushed from his eyes…是隐喻。

(11)译文Often of a snowy evening中的of 等于on，但有“经常”的含义。

(12)“围着暖炉，围着祖父，听着祖父读着诗篇，看着祖父读着诗篇时微红的嘴唇”译为would

hang about grandpa by a heating stove, listening to him ready poems aloud and meanwhile watching his

busy ruddy lips，其中hang about或hang around为动词短语，作“待在……身边”解，通常有亲

密、友好的含义。又busy一词描述祖父的嘴唇不断张合，以代替“读着诗篇时”。

(13)“暖炉上水壶的盖子，则像伴奏乐器似的振动着”译为and the lid of the kettle over the

heating stove rattling like a musical instrument playing an accompaniment, 其中rattling表达“振动”，

而不用vibrating等，因to rattle不仅指“振动”，而且指格格作响声，与“伴奏乐器”的比喻相

互应。

当 铺

萧红

“你去当吧！你去当吧，我不去！”

“好，我去，我就愿意进当铺(1)，进当铺我一点也不怕，理直气壮。”

新做起来的我的棉袍，一次还没有穿，就跟着我进当铺去了！在当铺门口稍微徘

徊了一下，想起出门时郎华要的价目(2)——非两元不当。

包袱送到柜台上，我是仰着脸，伸着腰，用脚尖站起来送上去的，真不晓得当铺

为什么摆起这么高的柜台(3)！

那戴帽头的人翻着衣裳看，还不等他问，我就说了：

“两块钱。”

他一定觉得我太不合理，不然怎么连看我一眼也没看，就把东西卷起来，他把包

袱仿佛要丢在我的头上，他十分不耐烦的样子(4)。

“两块钱不行，那么，多少钱呢？”

“多少钱不要。”他摇摇像长西瓜形的脑袋，小帽头顶尖的红帽球，也跟着摇了

摇。

我伸手去接包袱，我一点也不怕，我理直气壮，我明明知道他故意作难(5)，正想

把包袱接过来就走。猜得对对的，他并不把包袱真给我(6)。

“五毛钱！这件衣服袖子太瘦，卖不出钱来……”

“不当。”我说。

“那么一块钱，……再可不能多了，就是这个数目。”他把腰微微向后弯一点，

柜台太高，看不出他突出的肚囊……一只大手指，就比在和他太阳穴一般高低的地方。

带着一元票子和一张当票，我怏怏地走，走起路来感到很爽快，默认自己是很有

钱的人。菜市，米店我都去过，臂上抱了很多东西，感到非常愿意抱这些东西，手冻

得很痛，觉得这是应该，对于手一点也不感到可惜，本来手就应该给我服务，好像冻

掉了也不可惜。路旁遇见一个老叫花子，又停下来给他一个大铜板，我想我有饭吃，

他也是应该吃啊！然而没有多给，只给一个大铜板，那些我自己还要用呢(7)！又摸一

摸当票也没有丢，这才重新走，手痛得什么心思也没有了，快到家吧！快到家吧。但

是，背上流了汗，腿觉得很软，眼睛有些剌痛(8)，走到大门口，才想起来从搬家还没

有出过一次街，走路腿也无力，太阳光也怕起来。

又摸一摸当票才走进院子去。郎华仍躺在床上，和我出来的时候一样，他还不习

惯于进当铺。他是在想什么。拿包子给他看，他跳起来了：

“我都饿啦，等你也不回来。”

十个包子吃去一大半，他才细问：“当多少钱？当铺没欺负你？”

把当票给他，他瞧着那样少的数目：

“才一元，太少。”

虽然说当得的钱少，可是又愿意吃包子，那么结果很满足(9)。他在吃包子的嘴(10)，

看起来比包子还大，一个跟着一个，包子消失尽了。

The Pawnshop

Xiao Hong

“You go and do the pawning! You go, but not me!”

“Ok, I go. I wouldn’t mind. I’m not afraid at all. I don’t see anything wrong about it.”

Thus, my newly-made cotton-padded gown, which had not been worn even once,

accompanied me to the pawnshop. At the door of the pawnshop I hesitated for a while,

recalling the asking price suggested by Lang Hua when I left home—“Nothing less than

two Yuan.”

I stood on tiptoe, face upward and back straightened, to hand the cloth-wrapped

bundle onto the counter. How strange the pawnbroker should have put up a counter so

forbiddingly high!

A man in a skullcap turned the gown over and over to examine it. Before he could

open his mouth, I said,

“Two Yuan.”

He must have thought me too unreasonable, for he rolled up the gown without even

taking a look at me. Impatience was written all over his face as if he were about to throw

the bundle onto my head.

“If two yuan won’t do, then how much?”

“We won’t take it for anything,” said he, shaking his longish watermelon-shaped head,

the decorative red bead on top of his skullcap swaying.

I was aware that he was out to make things difficult for me. Therefore, bold and

confident, I reached out my hand for the bundle. But, just as I had been doubly sure, he

simply wouldn’t let go of it.

“Fifty cents! The sleeves are too tight. The gown won’t fetch much…”

“I won’t pawn it,” said I.

“Well, how about one yuan?...Can’t give you any more. That’s final.” He leaned back

a little bit, his bulging paunch concealed behind the high counter…Meanwhile, to signal

“one yuan”, he gestured with a finger raised as high as his temples.

Armed with a one-dollar note and a pawn ticket, I, unhappy as I was, walked with a

light step and felt like one of the rich. I visited the food market and the grain shop. I did not

tire of carrying an armful of purchases. My hands ached with cold, but this was as it should

be. I felt no pity for them. It was their bounden duty to wait on me—even at the cost of

suffering frostbite. I also bought ten steamed stuffed buns at a pastry shop. I was proud of

my shopping. Again and again I felt so thrilled that I completely forgot all the pain in my

frostbitten hands. When I saw an old beggar by the roadside, I stopped to give him a

copper coin. Why, if I had food to eat, he certainly had no reason to go hungry! But I

couldn’t afford to give him more, for I needed the rest of the money for keeping my own

body and soul together! Before I walked on again, I put my hand on the pawn ticket in my

pocket to make sure that it was still there. By then, the pain in my hands had become the

only thing I was conscious of. So I was anxious to be home again. My back sweated, my

legs felt like jelly, my eyes stung. At the gate of my home, it suddenly occurred to me that

this was the first time I had ever been out to town since I moved here and that accounted

for my legs feeling so weak and my eyes being so shy of light.

On entering the courtyard, I touched the pawn ticket again. Lang Hua was still lying

on the bed with the same aversion to a pawnshop. I wonder what was now in his mind. The

moment I produced the buns, he jumped up from his bed,

“I’m so hungry. I’ve been long waiting for you to come back.”

It was not until he had gulped down more than half of the buns that he began to

question me closely, “How much did you pawn it for? Did they cheat you?”

I showed him the pawn ticket and he eyed the pitifully small sum scratched on it.

“Only one Yuan? Too little!”

True, the money was too little, but the buns were good to eat, so that all’s well that

ended well. One after another vanished the buns into his cavernous mouths—a mouth that

looked even bigger than a bun.

注释：

《当铺》反映了1932到1934年她与萧军在哈尔滨生活的艰苦的日子。

(1)“我就愿意进当铺”译为I wouldn’t mind，所采用的是正反表达法，把原文从正面表达的句子，在译文中从反面来表达，以便提高译文的效果。

(2)“要的价目”译为the asking price，为英语常用语，是从to ask a price转过来的。

(3)“这么高的柜台”译为a counter so forbiddingly high，其中forbiddingly作“令人生畏”或

“难以接近”（unfriendly或unapproachable）解，原文虽无其词但有其意。

(4)“十分不耐烦的样子”译为Impatience was written all over his face，其中to be written all over

(或on)作“显露”解。为英语惯用表达法。

(5)“他故意作难”译为he was out to make difficult for me，其中to be out to do（或for）something

作“企图”（to intend或want）解，是英语惯用表达法。

(6)“他亲不把包袱真给我”译为he simply wouldn’t let go of it，其中let go of是英语习语，

作“放手”（to stop holding）解。

(7)“然而没有多给……那些我自己的还要用呢！”译为But I couldn’t afford to give him more,

for I needed the rest of the money to keep my own body and soul together!，其中to keep my own body

and soul together作“勉强维持生活”（just to make both ends meet）解，是译文中的添加成分，原文虽无其词而有其意。

(8)“背上流了汗，腿觉得很软，眼睛有些刺痛”译为My back sweated, my legs felt like jelly, my eyes stung，三句并列，都用不及物动词，并采用连词省略法（asyndeton），有助于提高译文的表达效果。

(9)“那么结果很满足”译为so that all’s well that ended well，其中all’s well that ends well是英语谚语，作“有了好结果就行了”（It is the end that matters）解。

(10)“嘴”译为cavernous mouth，其中cavernous是为衬托原意而添加的成分，作“大而深”

（very large and deep）解。

野 草

夏衍

有这样一个故事。

有人问：世界上什么东西的气力最大(1)？回答纷纭的很，有的说“象”，有的说

“狮”，有人开玩笑似的说：是“金刚”，金刚(2)有多少气力，当然大家全不知道。

结果，这一切答案完全不对(3)，世界上气力最大的，是植物的种子。一粒种子所

可以显现出来的力，简直是超越一切，这儿又是一个故事。

人的头盖骨，结合得非常致密与坚固，生理学家和解剖学者用尽了一切的方法，

要把它完整在分出来(4)，都没有这种力气，后来忽然有人发明了一个方法，就是把植

物的种子放在要解剖的头盖骨里，给它以温度与湿度，使它发芽(5)，一发芽，这些种

子便以可怕的力量，将一切机械力所不能分开的骨骼，完整地分开了。植物种子力量

之大，如此如此。

这，也许特殊了一点，常人不容易理解，那么，你看见笋的成长吗？你看见被压

在瓦砾和石块下面的一颗小草的生成吗？它为着向往阳光，为着达成它的生之意志

(6)，不管上面的石块如何重，石块与石块之间如何狭，它必定要曲曲折折地，但是顽

强不屈在透到地面上来，它的根往土壤里钻，它的芽往地面挺，这是一种不可抗拒的

力，阻止它的石块，结果也被它掀翻，一粒种子的力量的大，如此如此。

没有一个人将小草叫做“大力士” (7)，但是它的力量之大，的确是世界无比，这

种力，是一般人看不见的生命力，只要生命存在，这种力就要显现，上面的石块，丝

毫不足以阻挡，因为它是一种“长期抗战”的力，有弹性，能屈能伸的力，有韧性，

不达目的不止的力(8)。

种子不落在肥土而落在瓦砾中，有生命力的种子决不会悲观和叹气，因为有阻力

才有磨炼。生命开始的一瞬间就带了斗争来的草，才是坚韧的草，也只有这种草，才

可以傲然地对那些玻璃棚中养育着的盆花哄笑。

Wild Grass

Xia Yan

There is a story which goes like this:

Someone asked, “What has the greatest strength on earth?” The answers varied. Some

said, “The elephant.” Some said, “The lion.” Some said jokingly, “The fierce-browed

guardian gods to Buddha.” But nobody of course could tell how strong the guardian gods

were supposed to be.

All the answers turned out to be wide of the mark. The mightiest thing on earth is the

seed of a plant. The great strength which a seed is capable of is simply matchless. Here

goes another story:

The bones forming a human skull are so tightly and perfectly fit together that all

physiologists or anatomists, hard as they try, are powerless to take them apart without

damaging them. It so happened that, at the suggestion of someone, some seeds of plant

were placed inside a human skull awaiting dissection before heat and moisture were

applied to cause them to grow. Once they started to grow, they let loose a terrific force to

separate all the skull bones, leaving each of them intact. This would have been impossible

with any mechanical power under the sun. See, how powerful the seeds of a plant can be!

This story may be somewhat too unusual for you to understand. Well, have you ever

seen the growth of a bamboo shoot? Or the growth of tender grass from under a heap of

rubble or rocks? Seeking sunlight and survival, the young plant will labour tenaciously

through twists and turns to bring itself to the surface of the ground no matter how heavy

the rocks overhead may be or how narrow the opening between them. While striking its

roots deep into the soil, the young plant pushes its new shoots above-ground. The

irresistible strength it can muster is such as to overturn any rock in its way. See, how

powerful a seed can be!

Though nobody describes the little grass as a “husky”, yet its herculean strength is

unrivalled. It is the force of life invisible to the naked eye. It will display itself so long as

there is life. The rock is utterly helpless before this force—a force that will forever remain

militant, a force that is resilient and can take temporary setbacks calmly, a force that is

tenacity itself and will never give up until the goal is reached.

When a seed falls under debris instead of on fertile soil, it never sighs in despair

because to meet with obstruction means to temper itself. Indomitable is the grass that

begins its very life with a tough struggle. It is only fit and proper that the proud grass

should be jeering at the potted flowers in a glass house.

注释： 《野草》是夏衍（1900-1995）于抗战期间写的一篇散文，赞颂小草的那种为常人看不见的顽强生命力，以象征手法鼓舞国人坚定抗战胜利的信心。

(1)“世界上什么东西的气力最大”译为What has the greatest strength on earth，其中on earth

和in the world同义，但此句用on earth较为合适，因它通常用于疑问词或最高级词后加强语气。

(2)“金刚”是“金刚力士”之略，指守护佛法的天神，常怒目作勇猛之相，现把它意译为the fierce-browed guardian gods to Buddha，其中fierce-browed的意思是“怒目横眉”。

(3)“结果，这一切答案完全不对”译为All the answers turned out to be wide of the mark，其中wide of the mark或far from the mark为成语，意即“离谱”、“不正确”。

(4)“把它完整地分出来”即“把它完好无损地分开”，故译为to take them apart without damaging

them。

(5)“使它发芽”的译文为to cause them grow。也可译为to cause them to put out fresh shoots。

(6)“为着向往阳光，为着达成它的生之意志”实际上的意思是“为了争取阳光和生存”，故

译为Seeking sunlight and survival即可。

(7)“没有一个人将小草叫做‘大力士’”译为Though nobody describes the little grass as a

“husky”，其中describe…as的意思是“把……说成”、“把……称为”；husky的意思是“高大强壮的人”。

(8)“有韧性，不达目的不止的力”译为a force that is tenacity itself and will never give up until the goal is reached，其中itself一词用来加强前面的抽象名词tenacity，属习惯用法。

恋爱不是游戏

庐隐

没有在浮沉的人海中(1)，翻过筋斗的和尚，不能算善知识(2)；

没有受过恋爱洗礼的人生，不能算真人生。

和尚最大的努力，是否认现世而求未来的涅槃(3)，但他若不曾了解现世，他又怎

能勘破现世(4)，而跳出三界(5)外呢？

而恋爱是人类生活的中心，孟子说：“食色性也。”所谓恋爱正是天赋之本能；

如一生不了解恋爱的人，他又何能了解整个人生？

所以凡事都从学习而知而能，只有恋爱用不着学习，只要到了相当的年龄，碰到

合式（适）的机会，他和她便会莫名其妙地恋爱起来。

恋爱人人都会(6)，可是不见得人人都懂(7)，世俗大半以性欲伪充恋爱，以游戏的

态度处置恋爱，于是我们时刻可看到因恋爱而不幸的记载。

实在的恋爱绝不是游戏，也绝不是堕落的人生所能体验出其价值的，它具有引人

向上的鞭策力，它也具有伟大无私的至上情操，它更是美丽的象征。

在一双男女正纯洁热爱着的时候，他和她内心充实着惊人的力量；他们的灵魂是

从万有的束缚中，得到了自由，不怕威胁，不为利诱，他们是超越了现实，而创造他

们理想的乐园。

不幸物欲充塞的现世界，这种恋爱的光辉，有如萤火之微弱，而且“恋爱”有时

适成为无知男女堕落之阶，使维纳斯不禁深深地叹息：“自从世界人群趋向灭亡之途，

恋爱变成了游戏，哀哉！”

Love is Not a Game

Lu Yin

A Buddhist monk without having experienced ups and downs in the sea of mortals

will have no claim to true wisdom.

Likewise, one who has never gone through the baptism of romantic love will have

little genuine knowledge of life.

Buddhist monks exert every effort to renounce this life in favour of future nirvana.

But, without a full knowledge of this life, how could they see through the vanity of human

society and make a clean break with this mortal world?

Romantic love is the core of human life. Mencius says, “The desire for food and sex is

nature.” In other words, love is innate. If one remains a lifelong stranger to love, how can

he thoroughly understand life?

Man becomes capable through learning. But love is an exception. Boy and girl, when

they are of age and meet at an opportune moment, will become mysteriously attached to

each other.

Though people love by instinct, yet all cannot understand it correctly. More often than

not, love is but carnal desire in disguise and is treated as a mere game. That is why we so

often hear tragic stories of love.

True love is not a game. Nor can its true value be appreciated by the morally

degenerate. True love spurs one on to higher attainment. It embodies the supreme quality

of selflessness, and is, above all, symbolic of beauty.

When a man and woman are deeply immersed in true love, they are full of amazing

inner strength. Their souls are freed from all bondage. They are unyielding before threats

and incorruptible before any promise of material gain. They transcend the reality to create

an ideal paradise of their own.

Unfortunately, in this present world overflowing with material desires, this kind of

true love is as rare as the feeble light of fireflies. What is more, “love” sometimes even

leads to moral degeneration on the part of ignorant men and women. Over this, Venus

cannot help lamenting with a deep sigh, “Love has become a mere game ever since

humanity set out on its way to extinction. O what a sad story!”

注释:

女作家庐隐（1898-1934），福建闽侯人，早期与冰心齐名。她的杂文短小精悍，直爽坦率，

笔锋锐利。

(1)“浮沉的人海中”译为ups and downs in the sea of mortals，其中ups and downs意同

vicissitudes（兴败、盛衰）；the sea of mortals意同the sea of the living。

(2)“不能算善知识”意即“没有过资格称为智者”，现译为will have no claim to true wisdom，

其中have no claim to本作“对……没有提出要求的权利”解，现作“没有资格称为……”解。此句也可译为will have no true wisdom to speak of，但与原意稍有出入。

(3)“涅槃”指信佛教者经过长期“修道”所达到的最高境界。后世也称僧人逝世为“涅槃”

（又称“入灭”或“圆寂”）。英语称之为virvana，源于梵文。

(4)“勘破现世”意同“看破红尘”现译为see through the vanity of human society。

(5)“跳出三界”中的“三界”也是佛教用语，指“众生所住的世界”。现按“与现世一刀两

断”的意思把“跳出三界”译为make a clean break with this mortal world。

(6)“恋爱人人都会”意即“恋爱出于本能”，故译为People love by instinct。

(7)“可是不见的人人都懂”译为yet all cannot understand it correctly，等于yet not all can

understand I correctly。

我若为王

聂绀弩

在电影刊物上看见一个影片的名字：《我若为王》(1)。从这影片的名字，我想到

和影片毫无关系的另外的事(2)。我想，自己如果作了王，这世界会成为一种怎样的光

景呢？这自然是一种完全可笑的幻想，我根本不想作王(3)，也根本看不起王，王是什

么东西呢？难道我脑中还有如此封建的残物么？而且真想作王的人，他将用他的手去

打天下，决不会放在口里说的。但是假定又假定，我若为王，这个世界会成为一种怎

样的光景？

我若为王，自然我的妻就是王后了。我的妻的德性，我不怀疑，为王后只会有余

的。但纵然没有任何德性，纵然不过是个娼妓，那时候，她也仍旧是王后。一个王后

是如何地尊贵呀，会如何地被人们像捧着天上的星星一样捧来捧去呀，假如我能够想

像，那一定是一件有趣的事情。

我若为王，我的儿子，假如我有儿子，就是太子或王子了。我并不以为我的儿子

会是一无所知，一无所能的白痴(4)，但纵然是一无所知一无所能的白痴，也仍旧是太

子或王子。一个太子或王子中如何地尊贵呀，会如何被人们像捧天上的星星一样地捧

来捧去呀。假如我能想像，倒是件不是没有趣味的事。

我若为王，我的女儿就是公主，我的亲眷都是皇亲国戚。无论他们怎样丑陋，怎

样顽劣，怎样……(5)也会被人们像捧天上的星星一样地捧来捧去，因为她们是贵人。

我若为王，我的姓名就会改作：“万岁”，我的每一句话都成为：“圣旨”。我

的意欲，我的贪念，乃至每一个幻想，都可竭尽全体臣民的力量去实现，即使是无法

实现的。我将没有任何过失，因为没有人敢说它是过失；我将没有任何罪行，因为没

有人敢说它是罪行。没有人敢呵斥我，指摘我，除非把我从王位上赶下来。但是赶下

来，就是我不为王了。我将看见所有的人们在我面前低头，鞠躬，匍匐(6)，连同我的

尊长，我的师友，和从前曾在我面前昂头阔步耀武扬威的人们。我将看不见一个人的

脸，所看见的只是他们的头顶或帽盔。或者所能看见的脸都是谄媚的，乞求的，快乐

的时候不敢笑，不快乐的时候不敢不笑，悲戚的时候不敢哭，不悲戚的时候不敢不哭

脸。我将听不见人们的真正的声音，所能听见的都是低微的，柔婉的，畏葸(7)的和娇

痴的，唱小旦的声音：“万岁，万岁！万万岁！”这是他们的全部语言。“有道明君！

伟大的主上啊！”这就是那语言的全部内容。没有在我之上的人了，没有和我同等的

人了，我甚至会感到单调，寂寞和孤独。

为什么人们要这样呢？为什么要捧我的妻，捧我的儿女和亲眷呢？因为我是王，

中他们的主子，我将恍然大悟：我生活在这些奴才们中间，连我所敬畏的尊长和师友

也无一不是奴才，而我自己不过是一个奴才的首领。 我是民国的国民，民国国民的思想和生活习惯使我深深地憎恶一切奴才或奴才相

(8)，连同敬畏的尊长和师友们。请科学家们不要见笑，我以为世界之所以还有待于改

进者(9)，全因为有这些奴才的缘故。生活在奴才们中间，作奴才们的首领，我将引为

生平的最大耻辱，最大的悲哀。我将变成一个暴君，或者反而是明君；我将把我的臣

民一齐杀死，连同尊长和师友，不准一奴种留在人间。我将没有一个臣民，我将不再

是奴才们的君主。

我若为王，将终于不能为王(10)，却也真地为古今中外最大的王了。“万岁，万

岁，万万岁！”我将和全世界的真的人们一同三呼。

If I Were King

Nie Gannu

Recently in a movie magazine I came across the title of a film: If I Were King. It has

put me in mine of something entirely foreign to film in question. I wonder what would

become of this world if I myself were king. This is of course a ridiculous fancy, for being a

king is the last thing I aspire to and also a thing I utterly despise. What the hell is a king?

How can I still be so feudalistic in my mind? Moreover, if one is really bent on being a

king, he will try to carry out his design by deeds instead of by words. But, to put it

hypothetically, suppose I were king, what would this world look like?

If I were king, my wife would of course be queen. With all her moral excellence, of

which I make no doubt, she would be more than qualified for being a queen. But even if

she had no virtue to speak of, or were just a whore, she would be queen all the same.

Imagine how noble and dignified a queen would be and how people would keep lauding

her to the skies like mad! It is indeed great fun for me to visualize all of this.

If I were king, my son, if any, would be crown prince or prince. I don’t think my son

will be ignorant or worthless in every way like an idiot. But, even if that were not the case,

he would still be crown prince or prince. Imagine how noble and dignified a crown prince

or prince would be and how people would keep lauding him to the skies like mad! It is

indeed great fun for me to visualize all of this.

If I were the king, my daughters would be princess, and my relatives by marriage

would all become members of the royal family. No matter how ugly or perverse or whatnot

they were, people would keep lauding them to the skies like mad just the same because

they were dignitaries.

If I were king, I would be addressed as “Your Majesty” and every word of mine

would become a “royal edict”. All my subjects would leave no stone unturned to carry

out every will, every avaricious desire and even every whim of mine, even though they

were all beyond the possible. I would do no wrong simply because no one dared to call it a

wrong. I would commit no crime simply because no one dared to call it a crime. No one

would dare to berate or find fault with me unless I was removed from the throne, which

meant that I was no longer the king. I would see all people hang their heads, bow low or

prostrate themselves at my feet, including my respected elders, teachers, friends and even

those who had used to swagger arrogantly in front of me. I could see none of their faces;

all I could see were the tops of their heads or hats or helmets on their heads. The only faces

I could see would be ingratiating or supplicating – faces that dared not smile to express joy;

faces that dared not refrain from a forced smile when there was no joy at all to justify a

smile; faces that dared not cry to express sorrow; faced that dared not refrain from a

feigned cry when there was no sorrow to justify a cry. I could hear no true voices of my

people. All I could hear would be the feeble, soft, timid and affected voice, like that of a

female Peking opera singer, chanting, “Long live the King!” that would be their language

in toto. “Great is the King, our enlightened lord!” That would be the sole content of their

language. There would be no one above me or on an equal footing with me. I would even

feel bored, lonely and isolated.

Why would people behave like that? Why would they flatter my wife, my children

and my relatives? Because I was king, their master. It would suddenly dawn on me that

living among these flunkeys, including my esteemed elders, teachers and friends, I myself,

too, was nothing but a mere head flunkey.

I am the citizen of the Republic. Being accustomed to the mode of thinking and living

of a republican citizen, I would deeply abhor all servility and flunkeys, including my

esteemed elders, teachers and friends. Dear scientists, please don’t laugh at me. Methinks

the world is very much in need of reform simply because of the presence of these flunkeys,

I would regard it as the deepest disgrace and sorrow of my life to live among the flunkeys

and become their chief. I would rather become a tyrant or an enlightened king so that I

could kill off all my subjects, among them my respected elders, teachers and friends, and

have the flunkey species exterminated once for all. Then, with all my subjects gone, I

would no longer be the king of flunkeys.

If I were king and ultimately ended up becoming no king at all, I would indeed be the

greatest king that had ever breathed since time immemorial. I would join true people all

the world over in giving three cheers for myself.

注释：

《我若为王》是中国现代杰出杂文家聂绀弩（1903－1986）写于1941年的一篇杂文，文字通俗易懂，内容讽刺辛辣，流露了对专制统治者和奴才的蔑视。

(1)“我若为王”译为If I Were King，其中King的前面省略了冠词a 。在职位、头衔、等级等的名词前面大多不用冠词a 或an。

(2)“和影片毫无关系的另外的事”译为something entirely foreign to the film in question ，其中foreign to为成语，作having no relation to 或unconnected with解。又in question 是添加成分，作being talked about（正在讨论的）解。

(3)“我根本不想为王”译为being a king is the last thing I aspire to，其中last 一词作least likely 或most unlikely（最不可能的）解。

(4)“一无所知，一无所能的白痴”译为ignorant or worthless in every way like an idiot，其中in every way作“完全”或“彻头彻尾”解。

(5)“无论他们怎样丑陋，怎样顽劣，怎样……”中的最后一个“怎样”意即“诸如此类的事”或“等等”，现译为or whatnot。英语whatnot作other such things解，为what may not say? 的省略。

(6)“匍匐”在此指俯伏或拜倒动作（表示顺从），现译为prostrate。

(7)“畏葸”做“胆怯”解，现译为timid。

(8)“奴才相”译为servility。英语servility意即slavishness或slave-like deference。

(9)“我以为世界之所以还有待于改进者”译为Methinks the world is very much in need of reform，其中Methinks等于I think或It seems to be，为无人称动词，本为古体词，现常作诙谐打趣用语。

(10)“我若为王，将终于不能为王”译为If I were king and ultimately ended up becoming no king at all，其中ended up是成语，作“告终”解。例如：He never dreamed that he would end up owning such a big fortune.

清 贫

方志敏

我从事革命斗争，已经十余年了。在长期的奋斗中，我一向是过着朴素的生活，

从没有奢侈过。经手的款项，总在数百万元；但为革命而筹集的金钱，是一点一滴地

用之于革命事业。这在国民党的伟人们(1)看来，颇似奇迹，或认为夸张；而矜持不苟，

舍己为公，却是每个共产党员具备的美德。所以，如果有人问身边有没有一些积蓄，

那我可以告诉你一桩趣事(2)：

就在我被俘的那一天——一个最不幸的日子，有两个国民党的兵士，在树林中发

现了我，而且猜到我是什么人的时候，他们满肚子热望在我身上搜出一千或八百大洋

(3)，或者搜出一些金镯金戒指一类的东西，发个意外之财(4)。那知道从我上身摸到下

身，从袄领捏到袜底，除了一只时表和一枝自来水笔之外，一个铜板都没有搜出。他

们于是激怒起来了，猜疑我是把钱藏在那里，不肯拿出来。他们之中有一个左手拿着

一个木柄榴弹，右手拉出榴弹中的引线(5)，双脚拉开一步，作出要抛掷的姿势，用凶

恶的眼光钉住我，威吓地吼道：

“赶快将钱拿出来，不然就是一炸弹，把你炸死去！(6)”

“哼！不要作出那难看的样子来吧！我确实一个铜板都没有存；想从我这里发洋

财，是想错了(7)。”我微笑着淡淡地说。

“你骗谁！(8)像你当大官的人会没有钱！(9)”拿榴弹的兵士坚不相信。

“决不会没有钱的(10)，一定是藏在那里，我是老出门的(11)，骗不得我。”另一

个兵士一面说，一面弓着背重来一次将我的衣角裤裆过细的捏，总企望着有新的发现。

“你们要相信我的话，不要瞎忙吧(12)！我不比你们国民党当官的，个个都有钱，

我今天确实是一个铜板也没有，我们革命不是为着发财啦！”我再向他们解释。

等他们确知在我身上搜不出什么的时候，也就停手不搜了；又在我藏躲地方的周

围，低头注目搜寻了一番，也毫无所得，他们是多么地失望呵！那个持弹欲放地兵士，

也将拉着的引线，仍旧塞进榴弹的木柄里，转过来抢夺我的表和水笔。后彼此说定表

和笔卖出钱来平分，才算无话。他们用怀疑而又惊异的目光，对我自上而下地望了几

遍，就同声命令地说：“走吧！”

是不是还要问问我家里有没有一些财产？请等一下，让我想一想，啊，记起来了，

有的有的，但不算多。去年暑天我穿的几套旧的汗褂裤，与几双缝上底的线袜，已交

给我的妻放在深山坞里保藏着——怕国民党军进攻时，被人抢了去，准备今年暑天拿

出来再穿；那些就算是我唯一的财产了。但我说出那几件“传世宝”来，岂不要叫那

些富翁们齿冷三天？(13)！

清贫，洁白朴素的生活，正是人们革命者能够战胜许多困难的地方！

Honest Poverty

Fang Zhimin

I have been engaged in the revolutionary struggle for more than a decade. During

these long militant years, I have lived a plain life with no luxuries to speak of. Millions of

dollars passed through my hands, but I always saw to it that every singly cent of the money

raised for the revolution was spent for no other purposes. This may sound like a miracle or

an exaggeration to Kuomintang VIPs. Self-discipline and self-sacrifice, however, are the

virtue characteristic of a communist. Therefore, should anyone inquire of me about my

personal savings, let him read the following amusing episode:

On the day of my capture—a most inauspicious day it was—two Kuomintang soldiers

discovered me in a wood. Sizing me up, they thought they had come upon a windfall and

started making a frantic body search, hopefully to find on me hundred of silvers dollars or

some jewellery like gold bracelets or rings. They frisked me from top to toe and passed

their hands over everything on me from the collar of my jacket to the soles of my socks,

but, contrary to their expectation, they found nothing at all, not even a single copper,

except a watch and a fountain pen. They were exasperated, suspecting that I had my money

hidden somewhere and refused to give it up. One of the two men had in his left hand a

wooden-handled grenade. He pulled out the cord from inside the wooden handled and

moved his legs one step apart as if he was about to throw the grenade. Glowering at me

ferociously, he threatened loudly,

“Out with your money quick, or you die!”

“Hey!” I said drily with a faint smile. “Don’t you put on such nasty airs! True I

haven’t got a single copper with me. You’re barking up wrong tree to seek a fortune from

me.”

“Shit! Nobody can ever believe a big shot like you ain’t got no money!” the soldier

with the grenade remained wholly incredulous.

“No money?” the other soldier joined in. “Impossible! It must be hidden somewhere.

No fooling an old hand like me.” Meanwhile, he bent low to pass his hand again

meticulously over every nook and corner of my clothes and the crotch of my trousers, still

holding out high hopes of making a new discovery.

“You should believe me and stop messing around!” I explained again. “Unlike your

Kuomintang officials who’re rolling in money, I’m really penniless. We join the revolution

not for personal gain.”

Finally, when they knew for certain that there was no money on me, they gave up the

body search. Nevertheless, they lowered their heads to scan here and there the place where

I had hidden myself, but again in vain. How frustrated they must have felt! The soldier

holding grenade pushed the cord back into its wooden handle, and turned round to

scramble for my watch and fountain pen. The two men, however, settled their dispute by

agreeing to divide the money equally between them after selling the spoils. They eyed me

up and down with suspicion and amazement before barking out in chorus,” come along!”

Dear readers, maybe you wish to know if I have any private property at home. Just a

minute! Let me see… Ah, here it is, but nothing much though. I have left with my wife

for safekeeping a few changes of used underwear and a few pairs of socks with mended

soles, all of which I used to wear last summer. She has now put them away in a remote

mountain valley to prevent them from being stolen in case of Kuomintang attack, so that I

may wear them again this summer. These are all the property I have to my name. But

wouldn’t the declaration of my “family treasures” make myself an object of lively ridicule

to the rich?

To remain honest though poor, to live a clean and simple life—that is what we

revolutionaries count on to overcome innumerable difficulties!

注释：

《清贫》是方志敏烈士1935年英勇就义前在江西国民党监狱中写下的不朽散文。

(1)“国民党伟人们”指“国民党要人们”，故译为Kuomintang VIPs。

(2)“一桩趣事”可译为amusing event, occurrence、episode等，但以episode 较为合适，因为它指一系列事件中的一件。

(3)“一千或八百大洋”中“大洋”指“银元”故译为silver dollars。

(4)“发个意外之财”译为had come upon a windfall，其中windfall本指a piece of fruit blown off

a tree by the wind，现指a piece of unexpected fortune。

(5)“拉出榴弹中的引线”中的“引线”不是“引信”（fuse），故译为cord。

(6)“不然就是一炸弹，把你炸死去”本可按字面直译为or the bomb finishes you off，现译为

or you die，简洁明白，较口语化。又动词die用作现在不定式，不用将来式will die，是为了表达一种必然将发生的事（a certainty）。

(7)“想从我这里发财，是想错了”译为You’re barking up the wrong tree to seek a fortune from

me，其中to bark up the wrong tree是常见于口语的习语，意即“找错地方”或“找错人”。

(8)“你骗谁”是粗话，相当于“胡说”，不宜直译，现译为Shit。

(9)“像你当大官的人会没有钱”译为A big shot like you ain’t got no money?，其中ain’t等于hasn’t，常见于口语。又译句中用两个否定（double negative）表达一个否定，为文化低的人所用的不规范英语。

(10)“决不会没有钱的”是恶狠狠的话，不宜直译，现根据人物对话情景译为No money?

Impossible，取其神似。

(11)“老出门的”意即“老手”，故译为an old hand。

(12)“不要瞎忙吧”意即“别胡闹”，可译为don’t act or speak stupidly，但欠口语化，现译

为stop messing around或stop mucking around。

(13)“叫那些富翁们齿冷三天”意即“被那些有钱人尽情嘲笑”，现译为make myself an object

of lively ridicule to the rich。

离 别(1)

郑振铎

别了，我爱的中国，我全心爱着的中国，当我倚在高高的船栏上，见着船渐渐的

离岸了(2)，船与岸间的水面渐渐的阔了(3)，见着了许多亲友挥着白巾，挥着帽子，挥

着手，说着Adieu, adieu！听着鞭炮劈劈拍拍的响着，水兵们高呼着向岸上的同伴告

别时，我的眼眶是润湿了，我自知我的泪点已经滴在眼镜面了，镜面是模糊了，我有

一种说不出的感动！

船慢慢的向前驶着，沿途见了停着的好几只灰色的白色的军舰。不，那不是悬着

我们国旗的，它们的旗帜是“红日(4)”，是“蓝白红(5)”，是“红蓝条交叉着”的联

合旗(6)，是有“星点红条”的旗(7)！

两岸是黄土和青草，再过去是两条的青痕，再过去是地平线上的几座小岛山，海

水满盈盈的照在夕阳之下，浪涛如顽皮的小童似的踊跃不定。水面上现出一片的金光。

别了，我爱的中国，我全心爱着的中国！

我不忍离了中国而去(8)，更不忍在这大时代中放弃每人应做的工作而去(9)，抛弃

了许多亲爱的勇士在后面，他们是正用他们的血建造着新的中国，正在以纯挚的热诚，

争斗着，奋击着。我这样不负责任的离开了中国，我真是一个罪人！

然而我终将在这大时代中工作着的，我终将为中国而努力，而呈献了我的身，我

的心；我别了中国，为的是求更好的经验，求更好的奋斗工具。暂别了，暂别了(10)，

在各方面争斗着的勇士们，我不久即将以更勇猛的力量加入你们当中了。

当我归来时，我希望这些悬着“红日”的，“蓝白红”的，有“星点红条”的，

“红蓝条交叉着”的一切旗帜的白色灰色的军舰都已不见了(11)，代替它们的是我们

的可喜爱的悬着我们的旗帜的伟大的舰队。

如果它们那时还没有退去中国海(12)，还没有为我们所消灭，那末，来，勇士们，

我将加入你们的队中，以更勇猛的力量，去压迫它们，去毁灭它们！

这是我的誓言！

别了，我爱的中国，我全心爱着的中国！

Parting Sorrows

Zheng Zhenduo

Farewell, China, my beloved homeland! Leaning over the high railing, I watched the

ship tearing itself away slowly from the shore, leaving a widening expanse of water in

between. Many relatives and friends of mine were waving their hats and white

handkerchiefs amidst shouts of “Adieu,adieu!” firecrackers were crackling and apluttering,

and sailors shouting goodbye to their buddies on the shore. I was seized with violent

emotion, tears welling up in my eyes and blurring my eyeglasses.

While the ship was steering ahead slowly, I saw on the way many warships in gray or

white lying at anchor and fly flags other than our national ones. They were flying the red

sun, the tricolour, the union jack or the stars and stripes.

The banks with their yellowish soil and green grass receded into two greenish strips

until they became some mere islets on the horizon. The waters of the sea glistened under

the setting sun and kept leaping like romping urchins. The water surface was a vast

expanse of gold.

Farwell, China, my beloved homeland!

I cannot find it in my heart to leave China, much less during these stormy times when

I have to abandon my bounden duty and leave behind so many dear brave fighters—men

who are building a new China with their own blood and struggling and battling in all

earnest. To quit China at this moment means to dodge my responsibility, and that makes

me feel very guilty indeed!

Nevertheless, I shall eventually answer the call of the times and devote myself heart

and soul to my motherland. I am parting from China acquire more experience and search

for better ways of struggle. Dear brave fighters of every field, I shall be separated from you

only for the present and will soon return to join your ranks with redoubled strength.

On my return, I hope, I shall see no more gray or white warships plying our territorial

waters with flags of the red sun, the tricolour, the union jack or the stars and stripes. I hope

I shall see instead our lovely great fleet flying our national colours.

Dear brave fighters, if the foreign warships by that time still hang on their presence in

our territorial waters, I will join you to do my bit in getting rid of them.

That is my pledge!

Farewell, China, my beloved homeland!

注释：

郑振铎（1898－1958）是我国现代作家，学者。他于1927年8月乘船远离祖国，前往法国

巴黎和英国伦敦游学，1929年10月归国。《离别》一文写于这一时期，内分三部分，其中第一部分抒发即将去国的志士情怀。

(1)题目《离别》译为Parting Sorrows，不仅表示告别，且同时把离愁别绪也作了交代。如译

为Parting from homeland或Farewell to China似缺乏内涵。

(2)“见着船渐渐的离岸了”译为I watched the ship tearing itself away slowly from the shore，

其中tear itself away也可用moving away表达，但缺乏惜别的感情色彩。

(3)“船与岸间的水面渐渐的阔了”译为leaving a widening expanse of water in between，其中

in between 指between the ship and the shore。

(4)“红日”指日本国旗，译为the red sun，后面未加flag，是为了配合造句。否则也可译为

the sun flag或the rising-sun flag 。

(5)“蓝白红”指法国国旗，英语中常以the tricolour来表达。

(6)“‘红蓝条交叉着’的联合旗”指英国国旗，英语中以the union jack或the union flag表

达。

(7)“‘星点红条’的旗“即美国国旗，英语中称之为the stars and stripes。

(8)“我不忍离了中国而去”译为I cannot find it in my heart to leave Chins，其中to find it in one’s heart to do…是成语，作“忍心做……”、“意欲……”解。此句也可译为I cannot bear to leave China。

(9)“更不忍在这大时代中放弃每人应做的工作而去”译为much less during these stormy times

when I have to abandon my bounden duty，其中much less是成语，常跟在否定句后面，作“更不用说”（and certainly not）解。又，“这大时代”按内涵译为these stormy times，未按字面直译为the great times。

(10)“暂别了”译为I shall be separated from you only for the present，其中for the present和for

the time being同义，都作“暂时”、“眼下”解。

(11)“白色灰色的军舰都已不见了”译为I shall see no more gray or white warships plying our

territorial waters，其中plying our territorial waters（往返于我国领海）是添加成分，原文虽无其字，但有其意。

(12)“如果它们那时还没有退去中国海”译为if the foreign warships by that time still hang on to

their presence in our territorial waters，其中hang on 是成语，作“坚持”、“不肯放弃”解。又presence一词常用来指（军政）“势力”、“存在”。

时间即生命

梁实秋

最令人怵目惊心的一件事，是看着钟表上的秒针一下一下的移动，每移动一下就

是表示我们的寿命已经缩短了一部分。再看看墙上挂着的可以一张张撕下的日历，每

天撕下一张就是表示我们寿命又缩短了一天，因为时间即生命，没有人不爱惜他的生

命，但很少人珍视他时间。如果想在有生之年做一点什么事，学一点什么学问，充实

自己，帮助别人，使生命成为有意义，不虚此生，那么就不可浪费光阴。这道理人人

都懂(1)，可是很少人真能积极不懈的善为利用他的时间。

我自己就是浪费了很多时间的一个人(2)。我不打麻将，我不经常的听戏看电影，

几年中难得一次，我不长时间看电视，通常只看半个小时，我也不串门子闲聊天。有

人问我：“那么你大部分时间都做了些什么呢？”我痛自反省，我发现，除了职务上

的必须及人情上所不能免的活动外，我的时间大部分都浪费了。我应该集中精力，读

我所未读过的书，我应该利用所有时间，写我所要写的东西。但是我没能这样做。我

的好多时间都糊里糊涂的混过去了，“少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。”

例如我翻译莎士比亚，本来计划于课余之暇每年翻译两部，二十年即可完成，但

是我用了三十年，主要的原因是懒。翻译之所以完成，主要的是因为活得相当长久，

十分惊险(3)。翻译完成之后，虽然仍有工作计划，但体力渐衰，有力不从心之感(4)。

假使年轻的时候鞭策自己，如今当有较好或较多的表现。然而悔之晚矣。

再例如，作为一个中国人，经书不可不读。我年三十才知道读书自修的重要(5)。

我披阅，我圈点。但是恒心不足，时作时辍。五十以学易，可以无大过矣(6)，我如今

年过八十，还没有接触过《易经》，说来惭愧。史书也很重要。我出国留学的时候，

我父亲买了一套同文石印的前四史(7)，塞满了我的行箧的一半空间，我在外国混了几

年之后又把前四史原封带回来了。直到四十年后才鼓起勇气读了《通鉴》(8)一遍。现

在我要读的书太多，深感时间有限。

无论做什么事，健康的身体是基本条件。我在学校读书的时候，有所谓“强迫运

动”，我踢破过几双球鞋，打断过几只球拍。因此侥幸维持下来最低限度的体力。老

来打过几年太极拳，目前则以散步活动筋骨而已。寄语年轻朋友，千万要持之以恒的

从事运动，这不是嬉戏，不是浪费时间。健康的身体是作人做事的真正的本钱(9)。

Time Is Life

Liang Shiqiu

It is most startling to hear a watch or clock clicking away the seconds, each click

indicating the shortening of one’s life by a little bit. Likewise, with each page torn off the

wall calendar, one’s life is shortened by another day. Time, therefore, is life. Nevertheless,

few people treasure their time as much as their life. Time must not be wasted if you want

to do your bit in your remaining years or acquire some useful knowledge to improve

yourself and help others, so that your life may turn out to be significant and fruitful. All tht

is foolproof, yet few people really strive to make the best use of their time.

Personally, I am also a fritterer. I don’t play mahjong. I seldom go to the theatre or

cinema—I go there maybe only once every few years. I seldom spend long hours watching

TV—usually I watch TV for no more than 30 minutes at a sitting. Nor do I go visiting and

gossiping from door to door. Some people asked me, “Then what do you do with most of

your time?” Introspecting with remorse, I found that apart from the time earmarked for my

job and unavoidable social activities, most of my time had been wasted. I should have

concentrated my energies on reading whatever books I have not yet read. I should have

utilized all my time in writing anything I want to write. But I’ve failed to do so. Very much

of my times has been frittered away aimlessly. As the saying goes, “One who does not

work hard in youth will grieve in vain in old age.”

Take the translation of Shakespeare for example. I had initially planned to spend 20

years of my spare time in doing the translation, finishing two plays a year. But I spent 30

years instead, due primarily to my slothfulness. The whole project would probably have

fallen through had it not been for my fairly long life. After that I had other plans for work,

but, because of my approaching senility, somehow I failed to do what I had wished to. Had

I spurred myself on in my youth, I would have done more and better work. Alas, it is too

late to repent.

Another example. The reading of Chinese classics is a must for all Chinese. But it was

not until I was over 30 that I came to realize the importance of self-study in the matter of

classics. I did read carefully though, marking words and phrases for special attention with

small circles and dots. But my efforts at self-study were off and on. Confucius says, “I

shall be free of great faults if I can live long enough to begin the study of Yi at the age of

50.” I feel ashamed to admit that I haven’t even touched Yi though I’m now over 80.

Chinese history book are equally important. When I was leaving China to study abroad,

father bought a set of the Tong Wen lithographic edition of the First Four Books of History,

and crammed them into my travelling box, taking up half of its space. Several years later,

however, after drifting along abroad, I returned home carrying with me the same books all

unread. It was not until 40 years later that I plucked up enough courage to read through

Dong Jian. So many books still remain to be read, and I much regret not having enough

time to do it.

Whatever you do, you need a sound body first of all. In my school days, in response

to the so-called “compulsory physical exercises”, I went in for many sports at the expense

of many pairs of sneakers and rackets, thus luckily building up a minimum of good

physique. When I was approaching old age, I did Tai ji quan (shadow boxing) for several

years. Now I only do some walking exercises. Dear young friends, my advice to you is: Do

physical exercises perseveringly. That has nothing to do with merry-making or time-

wasting. Good health is the wherewithal for a successful life and career.

注释：

梁实秋（1902-1987）是我国著名现代作家、翻译家、教育家，一生致力于英国文学研究。本文选自他的散文集《雅舍小品》。

(1)“这道理人人都懂”译为All that is foolproof，其中foolproof作very simple to understand

解，意同“不言而喻”或“简单明了”。此句也可译为All that is self-evident。

(2)“我自己就是浪费了很多时间的一个人”译为personally, I am also a fritterer，其中fritterer

一词在用法上既可泛指“时间、金钱等等的浪费者”，又可专指“不爱惜时间的人”（a person who wastes time）。

(3)“翻译之所以完成，主要的是因为活得相当长久，十分惊险”的意思是“幸亏自己命长，

否则可能完成不了莎士比亚的翻译”。其中“十分惊险”的意思是“险些完成不了”。现全句译为The whole project would probably have fallen through had it not been for my fairly long life。

(4)“但体力渐衰，有力不从心之感”译为because of my approaching senility, somehow I failed

to do what I had wished to，其中senility指因年迈而导致身心两个方面的衰退．

(5)“才知道读书自修的重要”中的“读书”，根据上下文应指“读经书”，故此句译为came

to realize the importance of self-study in the matter of classics，其中in the matter of作in relation to或in regard to（就……而论）解。

(6)“五十心学易，可以无大过矣”出自《论语·述而》中的“子曰，加我数年，五十以学易，可以无大过矣。”其意为“让我再多活几年，到五十岁时去学习《易经》，就可以没有多大的过错了。”现按此意用加字法译为Confucius says, “I shall be free of great faults if I can live long enough to begin the study of Yi at the age of 50.”

(7)“前四史”指《史记》、《汉书》、《后汉书》以及《三国志》。

(8)“《通鉴》”即《资治通鉴》，详见译文脚注。

(9)“健康的身体是作人做事的真正的本钱”译为Good health is the wherewithal for a successful

life and career，其中the wherewithal意同the necessary means（必要的资金、手段等）。又“作人做事”指“生活”与“事业”两方面，故参照上下文译为a successful life and career。

学问与趣味

梁实秋

前辈的学者常以学问的趣味启迪后生，因为他们自己实在是得到了学问的趣味，

故不惜现身说法，诱导后学(1)，使他们也在愉快的心情之下走进学问的大门(2)。例如，

瘐任公先生就说过(3)：“我是个主张趣味主义(4)的人，倘若用化学化分‘梁启超’这

件东西(5)，把里头所含一种原素名叫‘趣味’的抽出来，只怕所剩下的仅有个零了。”

任公先生注重趣味，学问甚是渊博，而并不存有任何外在的动机，只是“无所为而为”

(6)，故能有他那样的成就。一个人在学问上果能感觉到趣味，有时真会像是着了魔一

般(7)，真能废寝忘食，真能不知老之将至，苦苦钻研，锲而不舍，在学问上焉能不有

收获？不过我尝想，以任公先生而论，他后期的著述如历史研究法，先秦政治思想史，

以及有关墨子佛学陶渊明的作品，都可说是他的一点“趣味”在驱使着他，可是在他

在年青的时候，从师受业，诵读典籍(8)，那时节也全然是趣味么？作八股文，作试帖

诗(9)，莫非也是趣味么？我想未必。大概趣味云云，是指年长之后自动作学问之时(10)

而言，在年青时候为学问打根底之际恐怕不能过分重视趣味。学问没有根底，趣味也

很难滋生。任公先生的学问之所以那样的博大精深，涉笔成趣，左右逢源，不能不说

的一大部分得力于他的学问根底之打得坚固。

我尝见许多年青的朋友，聪明用功，成绩优异，而语文程度不足以达意，甚至写

一封信亦难得通顺，问其故则曰其兴趣不在语文方面。又有一些位，执笔为文，斐然

可诵，而视数理科如仇讐，勉强才能及格，问其故则亦曰其兴趣不在数理方面，而且

他们觉得某些科目没有趣味，便撇在一旁视如敝屣(11)，怡然自得，振振有词，略无

愧色，好像这就是发扬趣味主义。殊不知天下没有没有趣味的学问(12)，端视吾人如

何发掘其趣味，如果在良师指导之下按部就班的循序而进，一步一步的发现新天地，

当然乐在其中，如果浅尝辄止，甚至躐等躁进，当然味同嚼蜡，自讨没趣。一个有中

上天资的人，对于普通的基本的文理科目，都同样的有学习的能力，绝不会本能的长

于此而拙于彼。只有懒惰与任性，才能使一个人自甘暴弃的在“趣味”的掩护之下败

退(13)。

由小学到中学，所修习的无非是一些普通的基本知识。就是大学四年，所授课业

也还是相当粗浅的学识。世人常称大学为“最高学府”，这名称易滋误解，好像过此

以上即无学问可言。大学的研究所才是初步研究学问的所在，在这里作学问也只能算

是粗涉藩篱，注重的是研究学问的方法与实习。学无止境，一生的时间都嫌太短(14)，

所以古人皓首穷经，头发白了还是在继续研究，不过在这样的研究中确是有浓厚的趣

味。

在初学的阶段，由小学至大学，我们与其倡言趣味，不如偏重纪律。一个合理编

列的课程表，犹如一个营养均衡的食谱，里面各个项目都是有益而必需的，不可偏废，

不可再有选择。所谓选修科目，也只是在某一项目范围内略有拣选余地而已。一个受

过良好教育的人，犹如一个科班出身的戏剧演员，在坐科的时候他是要服从严格纪律

的，唱工作工武把子都要认真学习，各种脚色的戏都要完全谙通，学成之后才能各按

其趣味而单独发展其所长。学问要有根底，根底要打平正坚实，以后永远受用。初学

阶段的科目之最重要的莫过于语文与数学。语文是阅读达意的工具，国文不能便很难

表达自己，外国文不能便很难吸取外来的新知。数学是思想条理之最好的训练。其他

科目也各有各的用处，其重要性很难强分轩轾，例如体育，从另一方面看也是重要得

无以复加。总之，我们在求学时代，应该暂且把趣味放在一旁，耐着性子接受教育的

纪律，把自己锻炼成为坚实的材料。学问的趣味，留在将来慢慢享受一点也不迟。

Learning and Personal Inclination

Liang Shiqiu

Scholars of the older generation often urge young people to develop interest in

learning because they themselves have been enjoying the real pleasure of academic studies.

And they are ever ready to cite their own example by way of advice, in hopes of enabling

young people to gain access to scholarship in an enjoyable way. For example, the

distinguished scholar Liang Qichao once said wittily, “I always stand for interest-ism. If

you broke down Liang Qichao’s stuff into its component parts, there would be nothing left

except an element named ‘interest’.” Mr. Liang was a man of profound learning who

attached much importance to interest. He attained great academic success because he

pursued scholarly study solely for its own sake, without any ulterior motive. A man who is

really interested in learning sometimes does act like one possessed. He forgets his

approaching old age and works hard even to the neglect of his meals and sleep. Isn’t it but

natural for a man of such devotion to have great scholarly achievements? But, though Mr.

Liang’s later works, such as those on method of historical studies, political and ideological

history of the pre-Qin days, as well as those on Mohism, Buddhism and Tao Yuanming,

were motivated by his personal inclination, can the same be said of his younger days when

he was a pupil chanting ancient Chinese books under a private tutor? Was he motivated by

his personal inclination while learning to write stereotyped essays and poems prescribed

for the imperials civil service examinations? No, I think not. Generally speaking, the

so-called interest begins to exist only when one is mature enough to engage in independent

studies. It is improper, I am afraid, for young people to overstress the importance of

interest while they are still in the period of learning the basics of knowledge. Interest will

never develop where no solid foundation has been laid for learning. There is no denying

the fact that Mr. Liang owed his wide erudition and unusual literary talent, for the most

part, to his good grasp of foundation knowledge.

I have come across a great many bright and diligent young friends who have done

exceedingly well in their studies, but are rather weak in Chinese. They cannot even write a

letter in correct Chinese. When I asked them why, they said they were not interested in the

Chinese language. Some, though they can write beautifully, detest the study of

mathematics and physics, and barely managed to pass the examinations in them. When I

asked them why, they said they were not interested in them. They cast away whatever

subjects they dislike like something utterly worthless. They are so smug and thick-skinned

that they speak volubly in defence of their own attitude like champions of interest-ism.

They hardly realize that there is no learning but is capable of engendering interest and that

all depends on how to search for it. You will develop a liking for learning if, under the

guidance of a good teacher, you study to discover new horizons opening up before you one

after another by following the proper order and advancing step by step. On the other hand,

you will find learning as dry as sawdust and feel frustrated if you refuse to go into a subject

in depth or even make impetuous advances without following the proper order. People with

an average natural gift are equally capable of mastering the basics of liberal arts and

natural science. They are never predetermined by nature to be good in one subject and poor

in another. It is laziness and waywardness, however, that causes one to give himself up as

hopeless and back down on the pretext of “no interest”.

Primary and secondary school will impart to you only some rudiments of knowledge.

Even what you learn during the four years of university will be something quite superficial

too. A university has often been misleadingly referred to as “the highest seat of learning”,

which sounds as if there were no more learning to speak of beyond it. The research

institute of a university, however, is the place for preliminary scholarship. But even there

you get only the first taste of learning and the emphasis is on research methodology and

practice. Art is long, life is short. That is why some of our ancients continued to study even

when they were hoaryheaded. They were, of course, motivated by an enormous interest in

their studies.

During the preliminary stage of learning, from primary school to college, it is better to

advocate discipline than interest. A properly arranged school curriculum, like a cookbook

on nutritionally well-balanced food, must include all useful and indispensable courses —

courses which are equally important and obligatory. The so-called electives mean only

some little option within the scope of a certain item. A well-educated person is like a

professionally trained Peking opera singer. While undergoing the training, he must observe

a most exact discipline. He must pay equal attention to singing, acting and acrobatic skills,

and learn to play different roles. It is not until he has finished the all-round training that he

begins to develop his own speciality according to his personal disposition. Laying a solid

foundation for learning will be of great lifelong benefit to you. Of all the school subjects

during the preliminary stage of learning, languages and mathematics are the most

important. Languages serve as a tool for reading and communication. Without a good

knowledge of Chinese, you will find it difficult to express yourself. Without a good

knowledge of a foreign language, you will find it difficult to absorb new knowledge from

abroad. Mathematics makes for logical thinking. Other subjects also have their respective

uses. It is hard to say which is more important. Physical education, for example, is also

extremely important from another point of view. In short, while in school, we should

temporarily put aside our personal liking and patiently observe school discipline so that we

may temper ourselves and become solid stuff. Don’t hurry – there will be a time for you to

find relish in learning in the days to come.

注释

(1)“不惜现身说法，诱导后学”译为And they are ever ready to cite their own example by way of advice。“不惜”原意“舍得”，在此可作“乐于”解，故译为ever ready，等于always prepared。

“诱导后学”译为by way of advice即可，其中by way of是成语，作“为了”解，等于for the purpose of。

(2)“走进学问的大门”也可直译为to enter the gate of learning。现译为to gain access to

scholarship，其中to gain access to是惯用搭配，作“进入”、“到达”解。

(3)“梁任公先生就说过”译为the distinguished scholar Liang Qichao once said wittily，梁启超

号“任公”，现译梁的全名为Liang Qichao，并在前面加distinguished scholar，便于外国读者理解梁为何许人。译文还针对上下文添加wittily（风趣地）一词。

(4)“趣味主义”译为interest-ism，其中ism乃表达“主义”而采用的英语后缀／

(5)“倘若用化学化分‘梁启超’这件东西”译为If you broke down Liang Qichao’s stuff into its component parts，其中短语动词broke down意即“分解”（to decompose），例如Water can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen。

(6)“只是‘无所为而为’”意即“只是为研究学问而研究学问”，故译为solely for its own sake，

等于solely for the sake of scholarly study。

(7)“像是着了魔一般”译为like one possessed，其中possessed（为过去分词）作“着迷”、

“鬼迷心窍”解。

(8)“从师受业，诵读典籍”译为he was a pupil chanting ancient Chinese books under a private

tutor，其中a pupil… under a private tutor表示“从师受业”。“师”指“塾师”，译为private tutor。

又chanting ancient Chinese books表示“诵读典籍”。

(9)“试帖诗”为科举考试所采用的诗体，其格式限制比一般诗严格，现和“八股文”一并以释义法译为stereotyped (或rigid-style) essays and poems prescribed for the imperial civil service examination。

(10)“年长之后自动作学问之时”中的“自动作学问”实际上指“独立作学问”，故译为

independent studies，不宜按字面直译为engage in voluntary studies等。又“年长之后”不仅指“成年”，还包含智力成熟之意，故译为when one is mature enough。

(11)“便撇在一旁视如敝屣”也可直译为cast away… like a pair of worn-out shoes，保持原文的形象比喻。现意译为cast away… like something utterly worthless，似较明白易懂。

(12)“没有没有趣味的学问”译为there is no learning but is capable of engendering interest，其

中but是关系代词，常用于否定词后，相当于that not。

(13)“在‘趣味’的掩护之下败退”的意思是“借口‘缺乏趣味’而放弃不干”，故译为back

down on the pretext of “no interest”，其中back down是成语，意同beat a retreat。

(14)“学无止境，一生的时间都嫌太短”译为Art is long, life is short，其中Art 为古词，作“学问”、“知识”解，和learning, scholarship同义。Art is long一句见于美国十九世纪诗人Longfellow名著A Psalm of Life，今借用之。“学无止境”也可译为There is no limit to learning。

枣 核

萧乾

动身访美之前，一位旧时同窗写来航空信，再三托付我为他带几棵生枣核(1)。东

西倒不占分量，可是用途却很蹊跷。

从费城出发前，我们就通了电话。一下车，他已经在站上等了。掐指一算，分手

快半个世纪了，现在都已是风烛残年。

拥抱之后，他就殷切地问我：“带来了吗？”我赶快从手提包里掏出那几棵枣核

(2)。他托在掌心(3)，像比珍珠玛瑙还贵重。

他当年那股调皮劲显然还没改。我问起枣核的用途，他一面往衣兜里揣，一面故

弄玄虚地说(4)：“等会儿你就明白了。”

那真是座美丽的山城，汽车开去，一路坡上坡下满是一片嫣红。倘若在中国，这

里一定会有枫城之称。过了几个山坳，他朝枫树丛中一座三层小楼指了指说：“喏，

到了。”汽车拐进草坪，离车库还有三四米，车库就像认识主人似的自动掀起。

朋友有点不好意思地解释说，买这座大房子时，孩子们还上着学，如今都成家立

业了。学生生物生物化学的老伴儿在一家研究所里做营养试验。

他把我安顿在二楼临湖的一个房间后，就领我去踏访他的后花园(5)。地方不大，

布置得却精致匀称(6)。我们在靠篱笆的一张白色长凳上坐下，他劈头就问我：“觉不

觉得这花园有点家乡味道？”经他指点，我留意到台阶两旁是他手栽的两株垂杨柳，

草坪中央有个睡莲池。他感慨良深地对我说：“栽垂柳的时候，我那个小子才五岁，

如今在一条核潜艇上当总机械长了。姑娘在哈佛教书。家庭和事业都如意，各种新式

设备也都有了。可是我心上总像是缺点什么。也许是没出息(7)，怎么年纪越大，思乡

越切。我现在可充分体会出游子的心境了。我想厂甸，想隆福寺。这里一过圣诞，我

就想旧历年。近来，我老是想总布胡同院里那棵枣树。所以才托你带几棵种籽，试种

一下。” 接着，他又指着花园一角堆起的一座假山假山石说(8)：“你相信吗(9)？那是我开

车到几十里以外，一块块亲手挑选，论公斤买下(10)，然后用汽车拉回来的。那是我

们家的‘北海’。”

说到这里，我们两人都不约而同地站了起来。沿着草坪旁用卵石铺成的小径，走

到“北海”跟前(11)。真是个细心人呢，他在上面还嵌了一所泥制的小凉亭，一座红

庙，顶上还有尊白塔。朋友解释说，都从旧金山唐人街买来的。

他告诉我，时常在月夜，他同老伴儿并肩坐在这长凳上，追忆起当年在北海泛舟

的日子。睡莲的清香迎风扑来，眼前仿佛就闪出一片荷塘佳色。

改了国籍，不等于就改了民族感情，而且没有一个民族像我们这么依恋故土的。

Date Stones

Xiao Qian

Before I set out for the US, a former schoolmate of mine wrote me by airmail, asking

me in all earnest to bring him some raw date stones. They were not heavy in weight, yet I

was curious about their use.

At Philadelphia, shortly before staring out for my friend’s place, I called him up. So

when I got off the train at the destination, I found him already waiting for me at the station.

It was about half a century since we last met, and we were now both in our declining years.

After hugging each other, he asked me eagerly, “have you brought them with you?” I

immediately fished out the date stones from my handbag. He fondled them in his palm as if

they were something more valuable than pearls or agates.

Obviously he was just as childlike as before, when I asked about the use of the date

stones, he put them into his pocket and replied by way of fooling me deliberately, “You’ll

understand soon.”

It was really a beautiful mountain city. As we drove on, an expanse of rich crimson up

and down the slope came into sight. In China a place like this would have been described

as a maple city. After passing through several cols, my friend said pointing to a three-

storied house amidst the maple trees, “here we are.” The car turned into a lawn and when it

was three or four meters away form the garage, its door automatically opened as if it

recognized its own master.

My friend looked somewhat ill at ease when he told me this: At the time he bought

this big house, his children had all been at school. Now they had their own homes and jobs.

His wife, a biochemist, was a dietician at a research institute.

After assigning me a room on the second floor facing a lake, he showed me around

his back garden, which, though not too big, was exquisite and nicely arranged. The

moment we sat down on a white bench close to a hedge, he asked me, “Don’t you find

something here smacking of our native place in China?” at this, I noticed a weeping willow,

planted by himself, on either side of a flight of steps as well as a water-lily pond in the

middle of the garden. He said with deep feeling, “When I planted the willows, my son was

only five. Now he serves as head of chief mechanics in a nuclear submarine. My daughter

teaches at Harvard University. I’m happy with my family and my career. I own all modern

household facilities I need. But I still feel something lacking. Maybe I’m a bit too foolish.

How come the older I become, the more I think of my homeland. Now I fully understand

the frame of mind of one residing in a place far away from home. I always think of

Changdian and Longfusi. Every time Christmas is celebrated here in America, I think of

lunar New year back in China. I can never forget the date tree in the courtyard of the house

on Zongbu Hutong. That’s why I’ve asked you to bring me some date stones. I’ll try to

plant them here.

Then he said pointing to a jumble of rockery standing in a corner of the garden,

“Believe it or not, the rocks, hand-picked by me, were bought by the kilogram. I drove

dozens of kilometers away to haul them back in my car. Look, that’s Beihai in our home.”

Thereupon, we rose to our feet simultaneously and walked along a cobbled footpath

beside the lawn towards the miniature Beihai. What a careful man my friend was! He had

had the artificial hill inlaid with a clay pavilion and a red temple, with a white pagoda on

top. He said he had bought the decorative objects from China Town in San Francisco.

He also told me that on a moonlit night he and his wife would sit side by side on the

bench recalling how they had used to go boating on the Beihai Lake. Meanwhile, as I

smelled the faint scent of the water-lilies carried to us by the breeze, I felt as if the

beautiful scene of a Chinese lotus pond were flashing past my eyes.

The change of nationality doesn’t mean the change of national feeling. No other

nation has such a strong attachment for the native land as we Chinese.

注释

萧乾（1910-1999），作家，文学翻译家，曾任《大公报》记者，以散文、特写著称。

(1)“再三托付我为他带几棵生枣核”中的“再三”作“恳切”解，不能按字面理解为“一次又一次”或“重复”。因此全句译为asking me in all earnest to bring him some raw date stones，其中in all earnest是成语，作“认真地”或“恳切地”解。

(2)“我赶快从手提包里掏出那几棵枣核”中的“掏出”译为fished out比took out 贴切，因

前者有“搜寻”的含义。

(3)“他托在掌心”译为He fondled them in his palm，比He held them in his palm贴切，因to fondle表达了原文的内涵“爱抚”。

(4)“故弄玄虚地说”中的“故弄玄虚”作“故意把……搞得神秘化”解，通常可译为deliberatedly

to make a mystery of……。现全句按“故意开玩笑地说”的意思译为replied by way of fooling me deliberately，其中by way of 是成语，其意思是“为了”或“意在”（with the intention of）。

(5)“领我去踏访他的后花园”译为he showed me around his back garden，其中to show around

是短语动词，作“带领某人参观某地”解。

(6)“布置得却精致匀称”译为was exquisite and nicely arranged，其中nicely的意思是“恰当

好处”或“恰恰合适”。

(7)“也许是没出息”不宜按字面直译，现按“也许是自己有些傻”译为Maybe I’m a bit too

foolish。

(8)“堆起的一座假山石”译为a jumble of rockery，其中jumble的意思是“杂乱的一堆”。

(9)“你相信吗？”本可译为Don’t you believe it？现译为Believe it or not，为具有同样意思的常用口头语。

(10)“论公斤买下”即“按公斤计算买下”，译为bought by the kilogram。注意这里介词by

和后面的定冠词the属习惯搭配。

(11)“走到‘北海’跟前”译为Walked……towards the miniature Beihai，其中miniature（微

型的）是译者添加的成分，用以表达原文中加引号的北海。

黎明前的北京(1)

季羡林

前后加起来，我在北京已经住了四十多年，算是一个老北京了(2)。北京的名胜古

迹，北京的妙处(3)，我应该说是了解的；其他老北京当然也了解。但是有一点，我相

信绝大多数老北京并不了解(4)，这就是黎明时分以前的北京。

多少年来，我养成了一个习惯：每天早晨四点在黎明以前起床工作。我不出去跑

步或散步，而是一下床就干活儿。因此我对黎明前的北京的了解是在屋子里感觉到的。

我从前在什么报上读过一篇文章(5)，讲黎明时分天安门广场上的清洁工人。那情景必

然是非常动人的，可惜我从未能见到，只是心向往之而已。

四十年前，我住在城里在明朝曾经是特务机关的东厂里面。几座深深的大院子，

在最里面三个院子里只住着人一个人。朋友们都说这地方阴森可怕，晚上很少有人敢

来找我，我则怡然自得(6)。每当夏夜，我起床以后，立刻就闻到院子里那些高大的马

缨花树散发出来的阵阵幽香，这些香气破窗而入，我于此时神清气爽，乐不可支，连

手中那一枝笨拙的笔也仿佛生了花。

几年以后，我搬到西郊来住，照例四点起床，坐在窗前工作。白天透过窗子能够

看到北京展览馆那金光闪闪的高塔的尖顶，此时当然看不到了(7)。但是，我知道，即

使我看不见它，它仍然在那里挺然耸入天空，仿佛想带给人以希望，以上进的劲头。

我仍然是乐不可支，心也仿佛飞上了高空。

过了十年，我又搬了家。这新居既没有马缨花，也看不到金色的塔顶。但是门前

却有一片清碧的荷塘。刚搬来的几年，池塘里还有荷花。夏天早晨四点已经算是黎明

时分。在薄暗中透过窗子可以看到接天莲叶，而荷花的香气也幽然袭来(8)，我顾而乐

之，大有超出马缨花和金色塔顶之上的意味了。

难道我欣赏黎明前的北京仅仅由于上述的原因吗？不是的。三十几年以来，我成

了一个“开会迷” (9)。说老实话，积三十年之经验，我真有点怕开会了。在白天，一

整天说不定什么时候就会接到开会的通知。说一句过火的话，我简直是提心吊胆，心

里不得安宁。即使不开会，这种惴惴不安的心情总摆脱不掉。只有在黎明以前，根据

我的经验，没有哪里会来找你开会的(10)。因此，我起床往桌子旁边一坐，仿佛有什

么近似条件反射的东西立刻就起了作用，我心里安安静静，一下子进入角色，拿起笔

来，“文思” (11)（如果也算是文思的话）如泉水喷涌，记忆力也像刚磨过的刀子，

锐不可当。当时，我真乐不可支，如果给我机会的话，我简直想手舞足蹈了。

因此，我爱北京，特别爱黎明前的北京。

Predawn Beijing

Ji Xianlin

I’ve been in Beijing altogether for over 40 years. So I can well call myself a

long-timer of Beijing. Like all other long-timers of the city, I’m supposed to be very

familiar with its scenic spots and historical sites, nay, its superb attractions. But I believe

there is one thing lying unknown to most of the long-time residents –the predawn hours of

Beijing.

For many years, I have been in the habit of getting up before daybreak to start work at

four. Instead of going out for a jog or walk, I’ll set about my work as soon as I’m out of

bed. As a result, it is from inside my study that I’ve got the feel of predawn Beijing. Years

ago, I hit upon a newspaper article about street cleaner in Tian’anmen Square at daybreak.

It must have been a very moving scene, but what a pity I haven’t seen it with my own eyes.

I can only picture it in my mind longingly.

Forty years ago, I lived downtown in Dongchang, a compound which had housed the

secret service of the Ming dynasty. There were inside it several deep spacious courtyard

one leading into another. I was the sole dweller of the three innermost courtyards. My

friends, calling this place too ghastly, seldom dared to come to see me in the evening

whereas I myself found it quite agreeable. In summer, the moment I got out of bed before

daybreak, I would smell the delicate fragrance of the giant silk trees coming from outside

my window. Thereupon, I would feel refreshed and joyful, and the clumsy pen in my hand

would seem to have become as agile as it could.

Several years later when I moved to the western suburbs, I kept my habit of rising at

four to begin work at the window. The glittering spire atop the tower of the daytime

through my window, would no longer be visible now in the early morning haze.

Nevertheless I knew that, tough invisible, it remained there intact, towering to the skies to

inspire people with hope and the urge for moving ahead. At this, I would be beside myself

with joy and feel as if my heart were also flying high up into the skies.

Ten years after, I moved again. In the new home of mine, I had no silk trees, nor

could I get sight of the glittering spire from afar. There was, however, a lotus pond of

limpid blue in front of my door. In the first few years after I moved there, lotus flowers

continued to blossom on the surface of the pond. In the summertime, when day broke early

at four, a vast stretch of lotus leaves looking skywards outside my window came dimly into

sight while the quiet fragrance of the lotus flowers assailed my nose. All that delighted me

even more than the silk trees and the glittering spire.

Is it exclusively due to the above-mentioned that I’ve developed a liking for predawn

Beijing? No. for 30 years, I’ve been bogged down in the mire of meetings. To tell you the

truth, with the experience accumulated over the 30 years, I’m now scared of meetings. In

the daytime, there is no telling when I may be served a notice for attending a meeting. To

exaggerate it a bit, that keeps me in constant suspense and makes me fidgety. Even when

no meeting is to take place, I feel restless all the same. However, my experience tells that it

is only during the predawn hours that I can be truly havened from any involvement in

meetings. As soon as I sit at my desk before dawn, something similar to the conditioned

reflex will begin to function within me: Instantly I’ll pick up my pen to play my proper

part with perfect peace of mind. Then inspiration comes gushing to my mind and my

memory becomes as quick as a newly-sharpened knife. I’ll feel overjoyed, almost to the

point of waving my arms and stamping my feet.

In short, I love Beijing, especially predawn Beijing.

注释

季羡林（1911- ），教育家、梵文翻译家，散文家。本文是季羡林于1985年2月11日写的

一篇小品文。

(1)“黎明前的北京”除译为predawn Beijing外，也可译为Beijing Before Dawn或Beijing Before

Daybreak。

(2)“算是一个老北京了”除译为I can well call myself a long-timer of Beijing外，也可译为I‘m eligible for being called a long-timer of Beijing。又long-timer也可用old-timer代替。

(3)“北京的妙处”是上句“北京的名胜古迹“的补充，故译为nay, its superb attractions，其

中nay是副词，作“不仅如此”解，是译文中添加的成分。

(4)“有一点……老北京并不了解”译为there is one thing lying unknown to… long-time

residents，其中lying和remaining同义。

(5)“在什么报上读过一篇文章”译为I hit upon a newspaper article，其中to hit upon是成语，

作“偶然发现”解，和to come across、to find by chance等同义。

(6)“我则怡然自得”意即“我却觉得很惬意”，故译为whereas I myself find it quite agreeable。

(7)“此时当然看不到了”译为would no longer be visible now in the morning haze，

(8)“香气幽然袭来”意即“香气悄悄地扑鼻而来”，故译为the quiet fragrance…assailed my nose

(或nostrils)。

(9)“开会迷”在文中并不指“对开会着迷”或“特别爱好开会”。它的真正意思却是“陷入

繁多的的会议之中”或者“疲于应付各种会议”，因此可译为I’ve been bogged down in the more of meetings或I’ve been bogged down in meetings。

(10)“只有在黎明以前……没有哪里会找你开会的”译为it is only during the predawn hours that

I can be havened from any involvement in meetings，灵活处理，其中havened是由名词haven（避难所）转化为动词的。因此be havened from的意思是“免受……之忧”。

(11)“‘文思’如泉水喷涌”中的“文思”实际上指“灵感”，现将全句译为Then inspiration

comes gushing to my mind。

文学批评无用论

季羡林

读最近一期的《文学评论》，里面有几篇关于“红学” (1)的文章，引起了我的注

意。有的作者既反省(2)，又批判。有的作者从困境中找出路。有的作者慨叹，“红学”

出危机。如此等等，煞是热闹。文章的论点都非常精彩，很有启发。但是，我却忽然

想到了一个怪问题：这样的“红学”有用处吗？对红学家本身，对在大学里和研究所

里从事文学理论研究的人，当然有用。但是对广大的《红楼梦》的读者(3)呢？我看(4)是

没有用处。

《红楼梦》问世二百年以来(5)，通过汉文原文和各种译文读过本书的人，无虑多

少个亿。这样多的读者哪一个是先看批评家的文章，然后再让批评家牵着鼻子走，按

图索骥地去读原作呢(6)？我看是绝无仅有(7)。一切文学作品，特别是像《红楼梦》这

样伟大的作品(8)，内容异常地丰富，涉及到的社会层面异常地多，简直像是一个宝山，

一座迷宫。而读者群就更为复杂，不同的家庭背景，不同的社会经历，不同的民族，

不同的国家，不同的文化传统，不同的心理素质，不同的年龄，不同的性别，不同的

职业，不同的爱好——还可以这样“不同”下去，就此打住——，他们来读《红楼梦》，

会各就自己的特点，欣赏《红楼梦》中的某一个方面，受到鼓舞，受到启发，引起了

喜爱；也可能受到打击(9)，引起了憎恶，总之是千差万别。对这此读者来说，“红学

家”就好像是住在“太虚幻境” (10)里的圣人、贤人，与自己无关。他们不管“红学

家”究竟议论些什么，只是读下去，读下去。

因此我说，文学批评家无用。

不但对读者无用，对作者也无用。查一查各国文学史，我敢说，没有哪一个伟大

作家是根据文学批评家的理论来进行创作的。

那么，文学批评家的研究不就是毫无意义了吗？也不是的。他们根据自己的文学

欣赏的才能，根据不同时代潮流，对文学作品提出自己的看法，互相争论，互相学习，

互相启发，互相提高，这也是一种创作活动，对文学理论的建设会有很大的好处。只

是不要幻想，自己的理论会对读者和作者有多大影响。这样一来，就可以各安其业，

天下太平了。

上面这些话其实只有幼儿园的水平(11)，可是还没有见有什么人这样坦率地说出

来。就让我当一个“始作俑者”吧！

On the Futility of Literary Criticism

Ji Xianlin

In the latest issue of the Literary Review, several articles on Redology have attracted

my attention. Some of the authors are introspective as well as critical; some try to find a

way out of their academic predicament; some sigh with regret that Redology is faced with

a crisis; and so on and so forth. The discussion is quite animated. The arguments set forth

in articles are very interesting and enlightening. Nevertheless, a strange question has

occurred to me: Is this kind of Redology of any use at all? It is of course useful to the

Redologists themselves as well as to those engaged in the study of literary theory at

universities and research institutes. But, to my mind, it is of little use to readers of A

Dream of Red Mansions at large.

Ever since the publication of this novel some 200 years ago, hundreds of millions of

people have read its Chinese original or its translations in various languages. Of these

innumerable people, how many have read the novel by starting with a perusal of critics’

articles and allowing themselves to be led by the nose by the critics as to how to read the

novel? Next to none. All literary works, especially a monumental one like A Dream of Red

Mansions, are extremely rich in content and involve diverse social strata – to such an

extent that they virtually resemble a mountain of treasure or a labyrinth. And the readers

are even more complicated, differing from each other in family background, social

experience, nationality, country, cultural tradition, psychological condition, age, sex,

profession, hobby, etc., etc. The list could go on endlessly, so I wouldn’t mind stopping

here. They will each appreciate a certain aspect of the novel according to their own

individuality. They may feel inspired and enlightened, and hence love it, or they may feel

hurt, and hence loathe it. In short, the reactions vary. To them, the Redologists seem to be

sages and men of virtue residing in the “Illusory Land of Great Void” and having nothing

whatsoever to do with them. They just read on and on, caring not what the Redologists

may say.

Therefore, I reiterate, literary criticism is useless.

It is useless not only to the readers, but also to writers. Looking up the literary history

of each and every country, I dare say that none of the world’s great literary figures ever did

their writing in line with the theory of literary critics.

On the other hand, however, does it follow that the research done by literary critics is

totally meaningless? No, that is not true either. In accordance with their own capacity for

literary appreciation and the different historical trends, the views they put forward for

mutual discussion, study, inspiration and improvement are also something creative and

conducive to the development of literary theory. Only they shoul be under no illusion

about their theories exerting powerful influence on the readership or writers. That is the

way for each to have a role of his own to play and for peace to reign under heaven.

What I’ve said above is only skin-deep, of kindergarten level. But so far none else

have ventured to be equally candid. Therefore, let me be reconciled to being saddled with

the epithet of “originator of a bad practice”.

注释

本文是季羡林写于1989年1月26日的一篇小品文。

(1)“红学”指研究古典文学《红楼梦》的学问，可译为Hongloumeng scholarship，但不如

Redology简洁。Redology是由Red加词尾-ology（学）构成。

(2)“反省”译为introspective，和self-examining同义。

(3)“广大的……读者”译为readers of …at large，其中at large是成语，和as a whole或in general

同义。

(4)“我看”意即“我认为”，现用成语to my mind表达。

(5)“问世二百年以来”实际上是“问世约二百年以来”，故译为Ever since the publication of…

some 200years ago，其中some是添加成分，作“大约”解。

(6)“哪一个是先看批评家的文章，然后再让批评家牵着鼻子走，按图索骥地去读原作呢？”

译为how many have read the novel by starting with a perusal of the critics’ articles and allowing

themselves to be led by the nose by the critics as to how to read the novel？“按图索骥“在这里指”按批评家的指点去读原作“，其意思已包括在上面译文中，故略而不译。

(7)“绝无仅有”作“极其少有”解，译为Next to none，和Almost none同义。

(8)“特别是像《红楼梦》这样伟大的作品”译为especially a monumental one like A Dream of Red Mansions，其中monumental比great更有力，更不朽（immortal）的意思。

(9)“也可能受到打击”中的“打击”作“刺痛”或“感情受到创伤”等解，不宜按字面直译为feel attacked。现全句译为or they may feel hurt。

(10)“太虚幻境”引自《红楼梦》第五回，曾被译为Great Void Illusion Land和Illusory Land

of great void等。

(11)“上面的这些话其实只有幼儿园的水平”译为what I’ve said above is only skin-deep, of

kindergarten level，其中skin-deep（肤浅的）是添加成分，用以衬托of kindergarten level。

(12)“就让我当一个‘始作俑者’吧！”语气幽默，意即“姑且接受‘始作俑者’的称号吧！”

现按此意译为Therefore, let me be reconciled to being saddled with the epithet of “originator of a bad practice“。

父亲

鲁彦

“父亲已经上了六十岁了，还想作一点事业，积一点钱，给我造起屋子来(1)。”

一个朋友从北方来，告诉了我这样的话。

他的话使我想起了我的父亲(2)。我的父亲正是和他的父亲完全一样的。

我的父亲曾经为我苦了一生，把我养大，送我进学校，为我造了屋子，买了几亩

田地。六十岁那一年，还到汉口去做生意，怕人家嫌他年老，只说自己五十几岁(3)。

大家都劝他不要再出门，他偏背着包裹走了。

“让我再帮儿子几年(4)！”他只是这样说。

后来屋子被火烧掉了，他还想再做生意，把屋子重造起来。我安慰他说，三年以

后我自己就可积起钱造屋了(5)，还是等一等吧。他答应了。他给我留下了许多造屋的

材料，告诉我这样可以做什么那样可以做什么。他死的以前不久，还对我说：

“早一点造起来吧，我可以给你监工(6)。”

但是他终于没有看见屋子重造起来就死了。他弥留的时候对我说，一切都满足了。

但是我知道他倘能再活几年，我把屋子造起来，是他所最心愿的。我听他弥留时的呻

吟和叹息。我知道他还想再活几年，帮我造起屋子来。

现在我自己已是几个孩子的父亲了。我爱孩子，但我没有像前一辈父亲的想法，

帮孩子一直帮到老，帮到死还不足。我赞美前一辈父亲的美德，而自己却不跟着他们

的步伐走去。

我觉得我的孩子累我，使我受到极大的束缚。我没有对他们永久的计划，甚至连

短促的也没有。

“倘使有人要，我愿意把他们送给人家！”我常常这样说，当我厌恶孩子的时候。

唉，和前一辈做父亲的一比，我觉得我们这一辈生命力薄弱得可怜，我们二三十

岁的前辈，他们虽然老的老死的死了，但是他们才是真正活着到现在到将来。

而我们呢，虽然活着，却是早已死了。

Father

Lu Yan

“Father is now over sixty, but he still wants to work to save up for a house to be built

for me,” a friend of mine from North China told me.

That put me in mind of my father. My father was very much like his.

Father went through untold hardships for me all his life. He brought me up, sent me to

school, had a house built for me and bought me a few mu of land. He went to Hankou to

engage in trade the year when he was already sixty. And he tried to make out that he was

still in his fifties lest people should consider him too old to be of much use. We had all

tried to dissuade him from going out to Hankou, but he simply wouldn’t listen and left

home carrying the luggage on his back.

“Let me toil a few more years for my son’s sake!” That was what he said.

It happened afterwards that the house was burned down. And he wanted to go back to

his business in order to have the house rebuilt. I tried to console him, saying that there was

no need for him to do it because in three years’ time I myself would have laid by enough

money for a new house. He agreed. Then he gave me a lot of building materials and told

me what to do with them. Shortly before his death, he urged me,

“You’d better get started right away so that I can watch to see that everything is done

properly.”

Unfortunately he didn’t live long enough to see the new house. He told me on his

deathbed that had nothing to feel sorry about. But I knew he would be much happier if he

could live a few more years just to see the new house put up. When I heard his dying

groans and sighs, I believed they were caused not by physical pain, but by regret for not

being able to live a few more years to help me with the new house.

Now I myself am a father of several children. Though I love my kids, I do not share

the idea of father and people of his time that one can never do too much in his lifetime to

help his children. Much as I admire father and people of his time for their moral excellence,

I can never follow in their footsteps.

I think of my children as an encumbrance to me I haven’t worked out a long-term plan

for them, nay, not even a short-term one.

“I’d like to give away my kids to anyone who’s willing to take them!” That’s what I

say whenever I am fed up with them.

Alas, compared with father and people of his time, the present generation, I think,

have pitifully low vitality. We in our twenties or thirties cannot compare with our elders in

their sixties or seventies. Today they may be advanced in years or even no more, but they

will, nevertheless, live forever and ever.

As for us, though still alive, we have long been dead.

注释

《父亲》是我国近代优秀作家鲁彦（1901-1944）写的一篇散文。文章追述父亲为儿子劳碌一生，是对父爱的赞颂。原文风格朴素，英译时文字也应力求通俗。

(1)“积一点钱，给我造起屋子来”译为to save up for a house to be built for me，其中to save up

for是成语，作“为……而把钱存起来”解。

(2)“他的话使我想起了我的父亲”译为that put me in mind of my father等于That reminded me

of my father。To put one in mind of,,,是成语。

(3)“只说五十几岁”译为tried to make out that he was still in his fifties，其中to make out是成

语，作“声称”或“假装”等解。

(4)“让我再帮儿子几年！”译为：Let me toil a few more years for my son’s sake！如把原文中的“帮”字直译为help，则欠达意。

(5)“就可积起钱造屋了”译为would have laid by enough money for a new house，其中laid by

是成语，作“积蓄”解。

(6)“早一点造起来吧，我可以给你监工。”如逐字硬译为Let the construction of the house get

started as soon as possible so that I can oversee the work for you则欠口语化。现用意译法灵活处理为You’d better get started right away so that I can watch to see that everything is done properly。

母亲的回忆

朱德

得到母亲去世的消息，我很悲痛。我爱我母亲，特别是她勤劳一生，很多事情是

值得我永远回忆的。

我家是佃农，祖籍广东韶关籍人，在“湖广填四川” (1)时迁移四川仪陇县马鞍场。

世代为地主耕种，家境是贫苦的(2)，和我们来往的朋友也都是老老实实的贫苦农民。

母亲一共生了十三个儿女，因为家境贫穷，无法全部养活，只留下八个，以后再

生下的被迫溺死了。这在母亲心里是多么悲痛、悲哀和无可奈何的事啊！母亲把八个

孩子一手养大成人。可是她的时间大半给家务和耕种占去了，没法多照顾孩子，只好

让孩子们在地里爬着。

母亲是个“好劳动” (3)。从我能记忆时起，总是天不亮就起床。全家二十口人，

妇女轮班煮饭，轮到就煮一年。母亲把饭煮了，还要种田种菜，喂猪养蚕，纺棉花。

因为她身材高大结实，还能挑水挑粪。

母亲这样地整日劳碌着，我们到四五岁时就很自然地在旁边帮她的忙，到八九岁

时就不单能挑能背，还会种地了。记得那时我从学堂回家，母亲总在灶上汗流满面地

烧饭，我就悄悄把书本一放，挑水或放牛去了。有的季节里，我上午读书下午种地，

一到农忙便整月停在地里跟着母亲劳动。这个时期母亲教给我许多生产知识。

佃农家庭的生活自然是很苦的。可是由于母亲的聪明能干，却很舒服。我们把桐

子榨油来点灯。吃的是豌豆饭，菜花，红薯饭，杂粮饭，把菜籽榨出的油放在饭里做

调料，这种地主富人家看也不看的饭食，母亲却能做得使一家吃起来有滋味。赶上丰

年，才能缝上一些新衣服，衣服也是自己生产出来的。母亲亲手纺出线，请人织成布，

染了颜色，我们叫做“家织布”，有铜钱那样厚，一套衣服老大穿过了，老二老三接

下来穿还穿不烂(4)。

劳动的家庭是有规律有组织的。我的祖父是一个中国标本式的农民，到了八九十

岁还非耕田不可，不耕田就会害病，直到临死前不久还在地里劳动。祖母是家庭的组

织者，一切生产事务由她管理分派。每年除夕，分派好一年的工作以后，天还没亮，

母亲就第一个起床烧火做饭去了，接着听见祖父起来的声音，接着大家都离开床铺，

喂猪的喂养猪，砍柴的砍柴，挑水的挑水。母亲在家庭里极能够任劳任怨，她和蔼的

性格使她从来没有打骂过我们上次，而且也没有和任何人炒过架(5)。因此,虽在这样的

大家庭里，长幼叔伯妯娌相处都很和睦。母亲同情贫苦的人——这是她朴素的阶级意

识——虽然自己不富裕，还周济和照顾比自己更穷的亲戚(6)。她自己是很节省的。父

亲有时吸点大烟，喝点酒，母亲管束着我们，不允许我们沾染上一点。母亲那种劳动

简朴的习惯，母亲那种宽厚仁慈的态度，至今还在我心中留有深刻的印象。

但是灾难不因为中国农民的和平就不能降临到他们的身上。庚子（一九○○）后

前后，四川连年旱灾，很多农民饥饿破产。农民不得不成群结队去“吃大户”。我亲

眼见到六七百著得破破烂烂的农民和他们的妻子儿女，被所谓“官兵”一阵凶杀毒打，

血溅四五十里，哭声动天。在这样的年月里，我家也遭受更多的困难，仅仅吃些小菜

叶，高粱，通年没有吃过白米。特别是甲辰（一九○四）那一年，地主欺压佃户，要

在租种地上加租子，因为办不到，就趁大年除夕，威胁着我家要退佃，逼着我们搬家。

在悲惨的情况下，我们一家人都哭泣着连夜分散。从此我家被迫分两处住下，人手少

了，又遭天灾，庄稼没有收成，这是我家最悲惨的一次遭遇。母亲没有灰心，她对穷

苦农民的同情，和对为富不仁者的反感却更加强烈了。母亲沉痛的三言两语的诉说，

以及我亲眼看见到的许多不平事实，启发了我幼年时期反抗压迫追求光明的思想，使

我决心寻找新的生活。

我不久就离开母亲，因为我读了书。我是一佃农家庭的子弟，本来是没钱读书的。

那时乡间豪绅地主的欺压，衙门差役的横蛮，逼得母亲和父亲决心要节衣缩食培养出

一个读书人来“支撑门户” (7)。我念过私塾，光绪三十一年（一九○五）考了科举，

以后又到更远的顺庆和成都去读书。这个时期的学费，都是东挪西借来的，总共用了

二百多块钱，直到我后来在护国军旅长时才还清。

光绪三十四年（一九○八），我从成都回来，在仪陇县办高等小学，一年回家二

三次去看母亲。那时新旧思想冲突很厉害，我们抱了科学民主的思想想在家乡做点事

情，守旧的豪绅们便出来反对我们。我下决心瞒着慈爱的母亲脱离家乡，远走云南参

加了新军和同盟会。我到云南后，从家信中知道(8)，我母亲对我这一举动不但不反对，

还给我许多慰勉。

从宣统元年（一九〇九）到现在，我再没有回过家一次，只在民国十年（一九二

一），我曾经把父亲和母亲接出去产，但是他俩劳动惯了，离开土地就不舒服(9)，所

以还是回了家，父亲就在回家途中死了，母亲回家继续劳动一直到最后(10)。

中国革命继续向前发展，我的思想也继续的向前进步。当我发现中国革命的正确

道路时，我便加入了中国共产党。大革命失败了，我和家庭完全隔绝了。母亲就靠那

三十亩地独立支持一家人生活。抗战以后，我才能和家里通信。母亲知道我们所做事

业，她期望着中国民族解放的成功。她知道我们党的困难，依然在家里过着劳苦的农

妇生活。七年中间，我曾寄回几百元钱和几张自己的照片给母亲。母亲年老了，但她

永远想念着我，如同我永远想念着她一样。去年收到侄儿的来信说：“祖母今年已八

十有五，精神不如咋年之健康，饮食起居亦不如前，甚望见你一面，聊叙别后情

景。……”但我献身于民族抗战事业，竟未能报答母亲的希望。

母亲最大的特点，是一生不曾脱离过劳动。母亲生我前一分钟还在灶上煮饭。虽

到老年，仍然热爱生产。去年另一封外甥的家信中说：“外祖母大人因年老关系，近

年不比往年健康，但仍不缀劳作，尤喜纺棉。……”

我应该感谢母亲，她教给我与困难作斗争的经验，我在家庭生活中已经饱尝艰苦，

这使我在三十多年的军事生活和革命生活中，再没有感到困难和被困难吓倒。母亲又

给我一个强健的身体和一个劳动的习惯，使我从来没有感到过劳累。

我应该感谢母亲，她教给我生产的知识和革命的意志，鼓励我走上以后的革命道

路，在这条路上我一天比一天更加认识了：只有这种知识，这种意志，才是世界上最

可宝贵的财产。

母亲现在离我而去了，我将永不能再见她一面了，这个悲哀是无法补救的。母亲

是一个“平凡”的人，她只是中国千百万劳动人民中的一员，但是正是这千百万人创

造了和创造着中国的历史。我用什么方法来报答母亲的深恩呢？我将继续尽忠于我们

的民族和人民，尽忠于我们的民族和人民的希望——中国共产党，使和母亲同样生活

着的人能够过一个快乐的生活，这就是我所能做的和我一定做的。

愿母亲在地下安息！

Loving Memories of Mother

Zhu De

I was deeply grieved to learn of mother’s death. I love my mother. Of her

hardworking life, in particular, a great many things will forever be cherished in my

memory.

I come from a tenant farmer’s family. My original family home was Shao Guan,

Guangdong Province, into which my ancestors had moved from another province as

settlers. During the mass migration of peasants from Huguang to Sichuan Province, my

ancestors moved to Ma An Chang, Yi Long County, Sichuan. From generation to

generation, they tilled land for landlord only to eke out a bare subsistence. People who

associated with them as friends were likewise honest impoverished peasants.

Mother gave birth to thirteen children in all. But only the first eight of them survived

while the next five were drowned at birth by my parents against their will because they

were too poor to raise them all. How anguished, sad and helpless mother must have felt!

She did manage, however, to have the eight children brought up all by herself. But she was

too busily occupied with household chores and farming to look after the kids so that they

were left alone crawling about in the fields.

Mother was a hardworking woman. As far as I can remember, she would always get

up before daybreak. In our household of more than twenty members, all women would take

turns to do cooking for one year. Apart from cooking, mother did farming, planted

vegetables, fed pigs, raised silkworms and spun cotton into yarn. Tall and of strong build,

she could carry two buckets of water or manure on a shoulder pole.

Mother worked hard from dawn till dusk. When we kids were four or five years old,

we found ourselves automatically helping her with farm work. At the age of eight or nine, I

could not only carry heavy loads on a shoulder pole or on my back, but also knew how to

farm the land. I remember whenever I came back from school and saw mother busy

cooking in the kitchen with sweat streaming down her face, I would immediately lay down

my books and sneak out to carry water on a shoulder pole or graze the cattle. In some

seasons, I would study in the morning and work in the fields in the afternoon. During the

busy season, I would spend all day working by the side of mother. It was then that she

taught me a lot about the knack of farming.

The life of a tenant farmer’s family was of course hard, but we somehow managed to

scrape along because mother was a clever and able woman. We used oil squeezed from

seeds of tung trees to light our lamps. We ate rice cooked with peas, vegetables, sweet

potatoes or coarse grain, and all seasoned with rapeseed oil—food which landlords and

rich people would scorn to eat. Nevertheless, mother’s cooking was done so well that

everybody ate with gusto. Only in good year, could we afford to have some home-made

new clothes to wear. Mother would spin cotton into yarn and then asked somebody to have

it woven into fabric and dyed. We called it “home spun fabric”. It was as thick as copper

coin and was so durable that after the eldest brother had grown out of the home-spun

garment, it could still be used by the second and third brothers in turn without being worn

out.

It was characteristic of an industrious household to be well-regulated and well-

organized. My grandfather was a typical Chinese farmer. He went on doing farm work

even he was an octogenarian. He would feel unwell without doing farm labour. He was

found still working on the farm even shortly before his death. Grandmother was the

organizer of the household. She was in charge of all the farm affairs, assigning tasks to

each member of the household. On each New Year’s Eve, she would work out all job

assignments for the coming year. Mother would be the first to get up before daybreak.

Soon grandfather would be heard to rise from his bed, followed by the rest of the

household. Some went about feeding pigs, some cutting firewood, and some carrying water

on a shoulder pole. Mother always worked without complaint despite hardships. Amiable

by nature, she never beat or scolded us, le alone quarreled with anybody. Consequently,

large as it was, the whole household, old and young, uncles and sisters-in-law, lived in

perfect harmony. Out of her naive class consciousness, she showed sympathy for the poor.

Despite her own straitened circumstances, she often went out of her way to help out those

relatives who were even more needy than herself. She lived a very frugal life. Father would

occasionally smoke a long-stemmed Chinese pipe or drink some wine. To prevent us from

falling into the same habit, mother kept us children under strict control. Her diligence and

frugality, her generosity and kindheartedness—all have left a lasting impression on my

mind.

Chinese peasants were honest and peaceable, but disaster befell them just the same.

Around 1900, when Sichuan Province was hit by successive years of drought, numerous

poverty-stricken peasants went hungry and had to go out in crowds to seize food from the

homes of landlords. Thereupon I saw with my own eyes how a group of shabbily-dressed

peasants and their families were savagely beaten up or slain by government troops, the

road stained with their blood for some 40 li and their cries rending the air. In those days,

my family also met with increasing difficulties. All the year round, we went without rice to

eat, and simply lived on edible wild hers and kaoliang. In 1904, especially, when land-

lords, riding roughshod over tenants, pressed for higher rents on the let-out pieces of land,

we, unable to meet their demands, had our tenancy cancelled by them and were forced to

move house on New Year’s Eve. On that miserable night, my family tearfully separated

and thenceforth had to live in two different places. Shorthandedness and crop failure due to

the natural calamity brought misfortune on my family. Mother, however, did not lose heart.

Adversity had deepened her sympathy for the poor and needy as well as her aversion to the

heartless rich. The painful complaint she had uttered in one or two words and the

innumerable injustice I had witnessed aroused in me a spirit of revolt and a desire for a

bright future. I made up my mind to seek a new life.

Not long afterwards, I had to tear myself away from mother when I began my

schooling. As the son of a tenant, I of course could not afford to go to school. My parents,

however, faced with the bullying and oppression of the local evil gentry, landlords and

yamen bailiffs, decided to scrape up enough money by living a very frugal life to pay for

my education so that they could make a scholar of me for the family to keep up

appearances. At first I was sent to an old-style private school and in 1905 I took the

imperial examination. Later, I went farther away from home to study in Shunqing and

Chengdu, both in Sichuan Province. All the tuition fees were paid with borrowed money,

totaling more than 200 silver dollars. The debt was not repaid until later I became a brigade

commander of the Hu Guo Army.

In 1908, I came back from Chengdu to set up a higher primary school in Yi Long

County. While teaching school, I went home to see mother two or three times a year, in

those days, there was a sharp conflict between old and new ideologies. Due to our leaning

towards science and democracy, we met with opposition from the local conservative

influential gentry in whatever we attempted for the benefit of our home town. So I decided

to leave, without my mother’s knowledge, for the faraway province of Yunnan, where I

joined the New Army and Tongmenhui. On my arrival in Yunnan, I learned from my home

letters that mother, instead of frowning upon my new move, gave me a lot of

encouragement and comfort.

From 1909 up to now, I have never paid a visit to my home town. In 1921, however, I

had my parents come out to live with me. But, as confirmed farm labourers, they felt

unwell without land to till and subsequently had to return home. Father died on the way

back, and mother continued to do farm work at home to the very last.

As the Chinese revolution continued to develop, I became more and more politically

aware. I joined the Chinese Communist party as soon as I discovered the correct

orientation of the Chinese revolution. When the Great Revolution of 1924-1927 failed in

China, I completely lost contact with my family. Mother alone supported the whole family

by working on the 30 mu of land. I did not hear from her until the outbreak of the War of

Resistance to Japan. When she was informed of great cause in which I was engaged, she

eagerly looked forward to the success of China’s national liberation. While living the hard

life of a peasant woman at home, she was aware of the difficulties and hardships that our

Party was then undergoing. During the seven years after the outbreak of the War, I

managed to send her several hundred yuan and some photos of myself. Mother was getting

old. She was always thinking of me as I was of her. Last year, a letter from my nephew

says, “Grandma is 85. She’s eager to see you and chat about things that have happened

since you left home…” But I never lived up to her expectation because of my dedication to

the cause of the War of Resistance against Japan.

The most prominent characteristic of mother was her lifelong participation in physical

labour. She did cooking in the kitchen just one minute before giving birth to me. Her

ardent love for agricultural production remained undiminished even in her old age. My

nephew says in another letter to me last year, “because of old age, grandma is no longer in

good health, but she still does manual labour, and is particularly fond of spinning cotton

into yarn…”

I owe mother a debt of gratitude because she taught me how to cope with the

numerous difficulties that I ran into at home so that later during my over 30 years of

military and revolutionary life I have never bowed down to any difficulty. She also

bequeathed me a strong constitution as well as a strong inclination for labour so that I have

been able to work untiringly.

I owe mother s debt of gratitude because she imparted to me knowledge of productive

labour and a revolutionary will, thus enabling me to take to the revolutionary path. By

keeping to this path, I have come to realize more and more clearly that this knowledge of

productive labour and this revolutionary will are the most valuable assets in the world.

Mother is gone and I shall never see her again. This is an ever-lasting sorrow. Mother

is an “ordinary” person and one of the millions of labouring people who have made and are

still making Chinese history. What can I do to repay her my debt of deep gratitude? I swear

to remain ever loyal to our nation and the people, ever loyal to the Chinese Communist

Party—the hope of our nation and the people, so that all those who share the same lot with

my mother may live a happier life. That is what I can do and what I am certainly able to

do.

May mother rest in peace!

________________ ① The troops that rallied against Yuan Shikai when he attempted to restore monarchy in

1916.

② Western-style army organized toward the end of the Qing Dynasty.

③ The United League of China (1905-1912), the antecedent of the Kuomintang.

注释

本文于1944年4月5日发表于《解放日报》上。

(1)“湖广填四川”译为the mass migration of peasants from Huguang to Sichuan Province。“湖

广”为旧时一个省份。元代湖广相当于今两湖、两广。明清时湖广专指两湖。四川曾因天灾人祸，人口锐减，湖广农民乃大批迁入。

(2)“世代为地主耕种，家境是贫苦的”充为From generation to generation, they tilled land for

landlords only to eke out a bare subsistence，其中only用于不定式前作“结果却……”解，往往表示一种不幸的结果。又to eke out是成语，后面常跟a bare subsistence或a living、an existence、a livelihood等，作“勉强糊口”解。

(3)“母亲是个‘好劳动’”不宜按字面直译，现按“母亲是一个勤劳的妇女”译为Mother was

a hardworking woman。

(4)“一套衣服老大穿过了”意即“衣服因老大长大了而不能继续穿下去”，故译为after the eldest brother had grown out of the home-spun garment，其中had grown out of是习用短语，作had grown too large to fit (clothes)解。

(5)“她的和蔼的性格使她从没有打骂过我们一次，而且也没有和任何人吵过架”译为Amiable

by nature, she never beat or scolded us , let alone quarreled with anybody，其中根据上下文的内涵，把“而且”译为let alone”，作“更不用说”解，是英语成语。

(6)“还周济和照顾比自己更穷的亲戚”译为she often went out of her way to help out those

relatives who were even more needy than herself，其中went out of her way是成语，作“特地”、“不怕麻烦”（to make a special effort, especially in spite of difficulties）解。

(7)“培养出一个读书人来‘支撑门户’”译为so that they could make a scholar of me for the

family to keep up appearances，其中to keep up appearances是英语成语，作“装门面”（to keep up or maintain an outward show）解。又，为了把原文交待清楚，译文中出现添加万分for the family。

(8)“从家信中知道”译为I heard from my home letters，其中my home letters等于my letters from home。

(9)“但是他俩劳动惯了，离开土地就不舒服”译为But, as confirmed farm labourers, they felt

unwell without land to till，其中confirmed作“成习惯的”（habitual）解。

(10)“母亲回家继续劳动一直到最后”译为mother continued to do farm work at home to the very

last，其中to the last (或till the last)是成语，意即to the end或till death。