(中英)現(xiàn)代散文:異國秋思 Autumn in a Foreign Land

Autumn in a Foreign Land

異國秋思

◎ Lu Yin

◎　廬　隱

The weather has been getting nice and cool since we moved to the suburbs. Soybean leaves on the low hedges are beginning to turn brownish yellow. Clusters of white chrysanthemums are vying to break through the rank weeds while tiny yellow ones are shivering in the chilly wind. The autumn scene is most apt to bring about a lonesome and desolate mood, especially when we are in a foreign country. My heart was filled with melancholy when I recited in a low voice the following lines of an ancient Chinese poet:When the west wind furls up the curtain,I'm more frail than the yellow chrysanthemum.

自從我們搬到郊外以來，天氣漸漸清涼了。那短籬邊牽延著的毛豆葉子，已露出枯黃的①顏色來，白色的小野菊，一叢叢由草堆里鉆出頭來②，還有小朵的黃花在涼勁的秋風(fēng)中抖顫，這一些景象，最容易勾起人們的秋思③，況且身在異國呢！低聲吟著簾卷西風(fēng)，人比黃花瘦④之句，這個小小的靈宮⑤，是彌漫了悵惘的情緒。

One day, when the sky was a sea blue, the sunlight a light gold and the sweet scent of osmanthus flowers fitfully wafted over on the breeze, our study seemed all the more cheerless and quiet. Allured by the lovely sight outside the window, we could hardly concentrate on dull reading. At the suggestion of Bo, we decided to visit after lunch the nearby Kichijoji Temple to enjoy the autumn landscape. We started out after 3 pm by suburban train and it took us but a short while to get there. Arriving at our destination, we passed through a long passageway, crossed the railway track and then came in sight of a tall wooden memorial arch with a horizontal board bearing the inscription in Chinese characters "Inokashira Park". We walked through the arch and found the road flanked by luxuriant shady trees. With a delightful feeling of serene seclusion, we stood in a daze in the shade of the trees, like one lost deep in a remote mountain or virgin forest. A ray of golden sunshine gently filtering through the tree branches conjured up in me the vision of a golden-haired fairy maiden treading barefoot on white clouds on her way through the place. In the western sky, rosy clouds were floating over the emerald green mountain ranges like flocks of black crows hovering over a forest. Unable to dispel my gloom, how I wished I could entrust a wild goose with the task of conveying my message to my home country! But, alas, it was nowhere to be found.

書房里格外顯得清寂，那窗外蔚藍如碧海似的青天，和淡金色的陽光。還有挾著桂花香的陣風(fēng)，都含了極強烈的，挑撥人類心弦的力量，在這種刺激之下，我們不能繼續(xù)那死板的讀書工作了⑥，在那一天午飯后，波⑦便提議到附近吉祥寺去看秋景，三點多鐘我們乘了市外電車前去，——這路程太近了，我們的身體剛剛坐穩(wěn)便到了。走出長甬道的車站，繞過火車軌道，就看見一座高聳的木牌坊，在橫額上有幾個漢字寫著“井之頭恩賜公園”。我們走進牌坊，便見馬路兩旁樹木蔥蘢，綠陰匝地，一種幽妙的意趣，縈繚腦際⑧，我們怔怔地站在樹影下，好像身入深山古林了。在那枝柯掩映中，一道金黃色的柔光正蕩漾著。使我想象到一個披著金綠柔發(fā)的仙女，正赤著足，踏著白云，從這里經(jīng)過的情景。再向西方看，一抹彩霞，正橫在那疊翠的峰巒上，如黑點的飛鴉，穿林翩翻，我一縷的愁心真不知如何安派，我要吩咐征鴻把它帶回故國吧！無奈它是那樣不著跡的去了。

We lingered around under a canopy of lush greenery, forgetting to move on quickly. Then we noticed a middle-aged man in kimono and clogs clattering up to eye us closely. To steer clear of the prying eyes, we started to move ahead with quickened steps. Leaving the woods behind, we came to a cobbled slope, on either side of which stood a neat row of shoulder-high evergreens. The aroma of green grass carried over fitfully by the breeze made us instantly feel refreshed. At the lower end of the slope stood a Japanese-style teahouse, inside which there were several small tables and cushions as well as a counter on either side displaying a jumble of reddish tangerines, green apples and multi-coloured candies.

我們徘徊在這濃綠深翠的帷幔下，竟忘記前進了。一個身穿和服的中年男人，腳上穿著木屐，“提塔提塔”的來了⑨。他向我們打量著，我們?yōu)楸苊馑挠U視，只好加快腳步走向前去。經(jīng)過這一帶森林，前面有一條鵝卵石堆成的斜坡路，兩旁種著整齊的冬青樹，只有肩膀高，一陣陣的青草香，從微風(fēng)里蕩過來，我們慢步的走著，陡覺神氣清爽，一塵不染⑩。下了斜坡，面前立著一所小巧的東洋式的茶館，里面設(shè)了幾張小矮幾和坐褥，兩旁列著柜臺，紅的蜜桔，青的蘋果，五色的雜糖，錯雜地羅列著。

Ah, this place looks so familiar to me, I blurted out. Scene after scene of the bygone days, long tucked away in the depth of my memory, now reemerged all of a sudden. The nostalgic recollections made my heart thump with emotion, my eyes glaze over and my chest fill with sadness.

“呀！好眼熟的地方！”我不禁失聲地喊了起來。于是潛藏在心底的印象，陡然一幕幕地重映出來?，唉！我的心有些抖顫了，我是被一種感懷已往的情緒所激動，我的雙眼怔住，胸膈間充塞著悲涼，心弦凄緊地搏動著。

O the old days! I sighed softly by myself. "I can't bear to look back." Nevertheless, the following picture began to open out vividly in my mind's eye ...

“唉！往事，只是不堪回首的往事呢！”我悄悄地獨自嘆息著。但是我目前仍然有一幅逼真的圖畫在現(xiàn)出來……?

One late spring, when cherry trees were in full bloom, a group of young Chinese girls, proud of their happy girlhood and hopeful about the future, merrily crossed the Sea of Japan together with their beloved teacher to visit the scenic spots of Japan in the year when they were about to graduate from school. They were so fascinated with the bright flowering trees that they forgot their weariness. They set out at daybreak from a hotel in Tokyo, visited Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms and changed trams to go to Inokashira Park. Then they felt worn-out and needed a rest. When they came upon this quiet teahouse, they immediately decided to go in for a snack. They sat around a small table and ordered two potfuls of longjing tea and some extremely sweet Japanese pastries. They chatted and giggled loudly over the snack, like young orioles just fledged. They found novelty in everything before them and joy of life here and there. Young and light-hearted, they were indeed basking in the embrace of the god of happiness. How enviable their life was!

一群驕傲于幸福的少女們，她們孕育著玫瑰色的希望，當(dāng)她們將由學(xué)校畢業(yè)的那一年，曾隨了她們德高望重的教師，帶著歡樂的心情，渡過日本海來訪蓬萊的名勝。在她們登岸的時候，正是暮春三月櫻花亂飛的天氣。那些綴錦點翠的花樹，都是使她們樂游忘倦。她們從天色才黎明，便由東京的旅舍出發(fā)，先到上野公園看過櫻花后，又換車到井之頭公園來。這時疲倦襲擊著她們，非立刻找個地點休息不可。最后她們發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個位置清幽的茶館，便立刻決定進去吃些東西。大家團團圍著矮凳坐下，點了兩壺龍井茶，和一些奇甜的東洋點心，她們吃著喝著，高聲談笑著，她們真像是才出谷的雛鶯，只覺眼前的東西，件件新鮮，處處都富有生趣。當(dāng)然她們是被摟在幸福之神的懷抱里了。青春的愛嬌，活潑快樂的心情，她們是多么可艷羨的人生呢！

But all was gone forever with the passage of time! Who would have believed that I, now reminiscing longingly about the past, had been one of those happy girls? O fleeting time, heartless time! You had carried away love and lofty aspirations so that I could only stand choking with sobs under the seemingly familiar cherry trees. What could I do to relive the old days?

但是流年把一切都?xì)牧?！誰能相信今天在這里低徊追懷往事的我，也正是當(dāng)年幸福者之一呢！哦！流年，殘酷的流年呵！它帶走了人間的愛嬌，它蹂躪英雄的壯志，使我站在這似曾相識的樹下，只有咽淚，我有什么方法，使年光倒流呢?！

Oh, nine years had quickly passed since then. During the nine fleeting years, I had trekked on the rugged journey of life, climbed up steep cliffs, and made good my narrow escape from the valley of death. I had experienced the agony of a bleeding heart. I had been forced by destiny to drink up my own blood like I did red wine ...

唉！這僅僅是九年后的今天。呀，這短短的九年中，我走的是崎嶇的世路，我攀緣過陡峭的崖壁，我由死的絕谷里逃命，使我嘗著忍受由心頭淌血的痛苦，命運要我喝干自己的血汁，如同喝玫瑰酒一般……

As the painful memories brought tears to my eyes, I urged myself to leave quickly this sentimentalizing place. So we started walking along a path overgrown with grass. Then suddenly we heard some noise like a fit of weeping and I seemed to see the god of autumn hiding behind the thick foliage spreading his gray wings. There was a rustle and tremor of branches in the trees. The autumn insects were chirping incessantly in the grass. I was suddenly seized with sadness and, being too afraid to move on, I sat down on a long wooden bench by the wayside. I stared blankly at the deep, dark wood and then, as the breeze parted the tree branches, caught sight of a blue lazy brook. Then a small rowboat appeared on the rippling water, and I saw two young girls pulling on the oars and humming songs. Thereupon, I choked with emotion and sighed involuntarily,

唉！這一切的刺心回憶，我忍不住流下辛酸的淚滴，連忙離開這容易激動感情的地方吧！我們便向前面野草漫徑的小路上走去，忽然聽見一陣悲惻的唏噓聲，我仿佛看見張著灰色翅翼的秋神，正躲在那厚密枝葉背后。立時那些枝葉都“悉悉索索”地顫抖起來。草底下的秋蟲，發(fā)出連續(xù)的唧唧聲，我的心感到一陣陣的凄冷；不敢向前去，找到路旁一張長木凳坐下。我用滯呆的眼光，向那一片陰陰森森的叢林里睜視，當(dāng)微風(fēng)分開枝柯時，我望見那小河里潺湲碧水了?。水上縐起一層波紋，一只小劃子，從波紋上溜過。兩個少女搖著槳，低聲唱著歌兒。我看到這里，又無端感觸起來，覺得喉頭梗塞，不知不覺嘆道：

Oh, my country, I can't bear to look back!

“故國不堪回首”?。

And meanwhile I called up memories of Beihai Park with young couples boating on the rippling water of its sunlit lake and whispering with affection while feasting their eyes on the spectacle of autumn. Since it is the season for enjoying the beauty of chrysanthemums and the delicious taste of full-grown crabs, Chang An Street must be busy with traffic and throngs of people happily dining and wining. None of them, of course, will think of us, who, now wandering about in a strange land, are experiencing feelings of deep sorrow in desolate autumn. Yet how strong is our affection for our motherland! And how eagerly we are longing for good news from home! Now, as the autumn wind is denuding the trees in Peiping of their leaves, we cannot but think of those poverty-stricken fellow countrymen who, living a life of constant exposure to the severity of the elements, are helplessly venting their woes to heaven. O my disaster-ridden motherland! The beauty of Beihai Park is unable to cover up your great misery! Feasting and revelry can bring no solace to the distressed!

同時那北海的紅漪清波?浮現(xiàn)眼前，那些手?jǐn)y情侶的男男女女，恐怕也正搖著畫槳，指點著眼前清麗秋景，低語款款吧!況且又是菊茂蟹肥時候，料想長安市上，車水馬龍，正不少歡樂的宴聚，這漂泊異國，秋思凄涼的我們當(dāng)然是無人想起的。不過，我們卻深深地眷懷著祖國，渴望得些好消息呢!我們不禁想到樹葉凋落的北平，凄風(fēng)吹著，冷雨灑著的這些窮苦的同胞?，也許正向茫茫的蒼天悲訴呢!唉，破碎紊亂的祖國呵!北海的風(fēng)光不能粉飾你的寒傖!燈紅酒綠，不能安慰憂患的人生。

廬隱（1898—1934），原名黃英，福建閩侯人，是“五四”時期著名女作家，早期與冰心齊名。她的創(chuàng)作風(fēng)格直爽坦率，哀婉纏綿，在《異國秋思》中也有充分表現(xiàn)。此文記述了她和丈夫1930年東渡日本東京后的一次秋游，對異國秋景作細(xì)致描寫，引發(fā)眷戀祖國的思鄉(xiāng)之情，憂國憂民，表現(xiàn)了海外赤子一片愛國之心。