冰心《我的父母之鄉(xiāng)》英譯

張培基 譯

清曉的江頭，

白霧茫茫;

是江南天氣，

雨兒來了——

我只知道有蔚藍(lán)的海，

卻原來還有碧綠的江，

這是我父母之鄉(xiāng)!

《繁星156》

福建福州永遠(yuǎn)是我的故鄉(xiāng)，雖然我不在那里生長，但它是我的父母之鄉(xiāng)!

到今日為止，我這一生中只回去過兩次。第一次是一九一一年，是在冬季。從嚴(yán)冷枯黃的北方歸來，看到展現(xiàn)在我眼前的青山碧水，紅花綠葉，使我驚訝而歡喜!我覺得我的生命的風(fēng)帆，已從蔚藍(lán)的海，駛進(jìn)了碧綠的江。這天我們在閩江口從大船下到小船，駛到大橋頭，來接我們的伯父堂兄們把我們包圍了起來，他們用鄉(xiāng)音和我的父母熱烈地交談。我的五歲的大弟弟悄悄地用山東話問我說：“他們怎么都會說福州話?”因為從來在我們姐弟心里，福州話是最難懂難說的!

這以后的一年多時間里，我們就過起了福州城市的生活。新年、元宵、端午、中秋……歲時節(jié)日，吃的玩的都是十分豐富而有趣。特別是燈節(jié)，那時我們家住在南后街，那里是燈市的街，元宵前后，“花市燈如晝”，燈影下人流潮涌，那光明絢麗的情景就說不盡了。

第二次回去，是在一九五六年，也是在冬季。那時還沒有鷹廈鐵路，我們?nèi)舜蟠韴F(tuán)是從江西坐汽車進(jìn)去的。一路上紅土公路，道滑如拭，我還沒有看見過土鋪的公路，維修得這樣平整的!這次我不但到了福州，還到了漳州、泉州、廈門、鼓浪嶼……那是祖國的南疆了。在廈門前線，我還從望遠(yuǎn)鏡里看見了金門島上的行人和牛，看得很清楚……

回憶中的情景很多，在此就不一一描寫了?？傊?，我很喜歡我的父母之鄉(xiāng)。那邊是南國風(fēng)光，山是青的，水是綠的，小溪流更是清可見底!院里四季都有花開。水果是從枇杷、荔枝、龍眼，一直吃到福桔!對一個孩子來說，還有什么比這個更愜意的呢?

我在故鄉(xiāng)走的地方不多，但古跡、僑鄉(xiāng)，到處可見，福建華僑，遍于天下。我所到過的亞、非、歐、美各國都見到辛苦創(chuàng)業(yè)的福建僑民，握手之余，情溢言表。在他們家里、店里，吃著福州菜，喝著茉莉花茶，使我覺得作為一個福建人是四海都有家的。

我的父母之鄉(xiāng)是可愛的。有人從故鄉(xiāng)來，或是有朋友新近到福建去過，我都向他們問起福建的近況。他們說：福建比起二十多年前來，進(jìn)步得不可辨認(rèn)了。最近呢，農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)化了，又在植樹造林，山嶺田地更加郁郁蔥蔥了。他們都動員我回去看看，我又何嘗不想呢?不但我想，在全世界的天涯海角，更不知有多少人在想!我愿和故鄉(xiāng)的人，以及普天下的福建僑民，一同在精神和物質(zhì)文明方面，把故鄉(xiāng)建設(shè)得更美好!

The Land of My Ancestors

Bing Xin

The River mouth at dawn,

Behind a white haze of mist,

‘Tis southern climes,

Behold, the rain is coming.

I have seen the blue sea all along,

Little aware of this green River,

O the land of my ancestors!

--Sparkling Stars, 156

Fuzhou of Fujian Province will always be my old home. Though I was brought up elsewhere, Fuzhou is nevertheless the land of my ancestors!

As yet, I have been back to Fuzhou no more than twice in my lifetime. I made the first tripe in the winter of 1911. Returned from the bitter cold North with its drab and dried up vegetation, I was amazed and delighted when greeted by the charming scenery of sapphire mountains and emerald rivers as well as red flowers and green leaves. I felt the sailing boat of my life steering its way into the green River after leaving the blue sea behind. At the Minjiang River, we changed from the big ship to a small boat, which took us to Daqiaotou (Big Bridge), where we were met by Uncle and cousins. They gathered round us and talked warmly with my parents in the local dialect. Thereupon, my 5-year-old younger brother whispered in my ear with a Shandong accent, “How come they can all speak the Fuzhou dialect?” We had both thought that the Fuzhou dialect was indeed most difficult for anyone to learn.

From then on, we lived an urban life for more than a year in Fuzhou. During such festivals as Lunar New Year, Lantern, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn, we all celebrated the festivities with plenty of food and fun. Particular mention, however, should be made of the Lantern Festival when Nanhoujie, the street known for its lantern fair and also the street where we lived, became as bright as broad daylight at night with myriads of lanterns and streams of spectators. The splendor and magnificence of the scene is beyond all description.

I made the second visit in 1956, also in winter. As the Yingtan_Xiamen Railway had not yet been built, the NPC delegation, with myself as a member, had to go from Jiangxi Province by car. The highway from Jiangxi to Fuzhou, paved with red soil, was as smooth as a mirror. It was the most level soil-paved highway I had ever seen. This time I visited not only Fuzhou, but also Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen and Gulangyu—the southern frontiers of our country. At the Xiamen seaside, I could see clearly through a telescope pedestrians and cows on the Quemoy Islands.

My experiences of this trip, however, are too numerous to be recounted one by one here. Anyway, I deeply love Fuzhou, my ancestral home. Over there we have the typical southern scenery with blue mountains, green waters, limpid books…! There in the courtyard we can always see some kind of flowers in full bloom throughout the year. Fruits ranging from loquats, lichees, longans to tangerines are in plenty. Is there anything more palatable to a little child than these fruits?

I did not visit all the local attractions in Fuzhou. Everywhere we could find historical relics as well as villages and towns inhabited by relatives of overseas Chinese. Fujianese expatriates are found all over the world. They have mostly started from scratch by the sweat of their brow. When I met some of them on my visits to Asian, African European and American countries, they all expressed warm feeling towards me while shaking my hands. As I ate Fuzhou food and sipped jasmine tea in their homes or shops, I felt that being a Fujianese, I could make myself at home wherever I travelled in the world.

My ancestral home is so endearing. Whenever I meet somebody hailing from Fuzhou or a friend who has recently been there, I always inquire of them about the present conditions of Fujian. They all tell me that compared with two decades ago, Fujian has made so much progress that it is now almost beyond recognition. Recently I have learned that people there have gone in for scientific farming and afforestation so that green and luxuriant vegetation has appeared on all mountains and fields. People have been advising me to pay another visit to my old home. Yes, I am more than eager to do so. And so are my numerous fellow townsmen in all corners of the world. I hope that together with all the people in my home town as well as all overseas Chinese from Fujian, I can do my bit to make a still better place of my ancestral home, both materially and culturally.