(中英)現代散文:書憤 My Great Indignation

My Great Indignation

書　憤①

◎ Tang Tao

◎　唐　弢

I like to read about stirring events in history and hear of heroic personages.

我愛讀有生命的歷史②，也愛見有血性的人物③。

Nevertheless, I have no liking at all for Caesar the autocrat and Columbus the adventurer. These two so-called heroes are in fact utterly worthless. "Ignorant" as the mobs in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar may seem, there stands by Caesar's side, however, a real man named Brutus. I like the declaration made by Cinna when Caesar falls:

然而梟雄如愷撒，冒險家如哥倫布，卻又離我的愛好十分之遠。我以為他們的成為英雄，其實是不足道的。雖然出現在莎士比亞筆下的群眾，脫不了“愚昧”的嫌疑④，但獨夫之旁，畢竟也還有勃魯特司那樣的人物。我愛辛那的宣言⑤，愷撒的尸體橫下來了，他叫道：

Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!

我們到底得到自由和解放了。壓迫已經終結。

Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.

不要耽誤，趕快把這公布到全羅馬的各處。

My heart has so far been throbbing in sympathy with those of Brutus, Cinna and the like. For thousands of years, so have been the hearts of "ignorant" mobs under tyrannical rule.

我的心至今還在和他們的一同跳動⑥，千百年來“愚昧”的群眾的心，也在迫虐下和他們一同跳動。

All-powerful as he seemed, Caesar was after all frailty itself.

雖然是暗惡叱咤⑦的愷撒，然而畢竟空虛得很⑧。

Columbus was known for his avarice, ruthlessness and insidiousness as characteristic of a conqueror. He maltreated the aborigines, traded in black slaves, committed genocide and used hounds to hunt down living beings. As a so-called brave hero, he was entirely devoid of uprightness and breadth of mind. If the discovery of the new continent is something deserving our praises, I would rather eulogize the sea wind of the Atlantic Ocean. Even if Columbus had died in the cradle, America would have been discovered by man all the same.

至于哥倫布的貪婪、殘虐、陰險，那更是征服者顯著的罪惡，他虐待土人，販賣黑奴，施行滅種的方法，以野狗去獵取生人。作為一個有血性的英雄，他不但缺少正直的心地，而且也沒有闊大的胸懷。倘使說新大陸的發(fā)現是值得謳頌的，那么，我寧愿謳頌大西洋里的海風。即使哥倫布死在搖籃里，美洲也還是要被人發(fā)現的⑨。

In my opinion, Columbus was nothing but an acrobatic clown with his nose brightly painted. Believing in the theory that the earth is round and fascinated by Marco Polo's book of travels, he attempted to sail west to reach the Orient. At first he took Cuba and Haiti successively for Japan, then he took Honduras for India and Cuba for China. In the evening, seeing a flock of penguins move slowly on the beach, he mistook them for a group of Chinese priests saying evening prayers in the moonlight.

由我看來，哥倫布不過是一個鼻子上抹灰的武丑一流的人物，他相信地圓說，又受了馬可波羅著作的影響，想朝西走到東方，首先是碰到古巴，他以為這便是日本，后來見了海地島，又以海地為日本，洪都拉斯為印度，而以古巴為中國了。夜里，一群企鵝緩緩地在海灘上散步。他把這當作是中國的牧師，在月光下作晚禱。

The sublime evening scene failed to sober him up.

雖然是美麗的夜景，卻救不醒朦朧的頭腦。

Unfortunately, since the end of the 19th century, the world has witnessed the sudden emergence of certain villains far more ferocious than even Caesar or Columbus. That has filled me with indescribable burning hatred.

不料洎乎末世⑩，竟又出現了連和愷撒與哥倫布也還不能同日而語的人物?，我無法來敘寫我的憤恨。

Caesar was despotic, but he performed outstanding military exploits in conquering Gaul and defeating Pompey. Columbus was brutal, but he was brave enough to go into the barbarous wilderness in defiance of dangers and hardships. Now, the above-mentioned certain villains have stopped at no evil only to seize a handful of empty towns and railway lines. Driven by terror and suspicion, they go on firing at common people and bayoneting women and children. The cold-blooded atrocities they are perpetrating betrays nothing but their deep-seated base cowardice.

雖然專橫，然而征高盧，滅龐培，愷撒畢竟還有武功；雖然殘酷，然而歷險阻，入蠻荒，哥倫布畢竟還有膽量。但現在是掏盡脂膏，流盡血汗，卻不過幾座空城頭，幾條鐵路線，一面又疑神疑鬼，畏首畏尾，子彈只知道征逐平民，刺刀最喜歡追隨婦孺。這是殘忍的泡沫，那下面正是卑怯?的淵藪。

Caesar is no more, but he is remembered for his brilliant military exploits. Columbus is no more, but he is remembered for his great courage. When yamato-damashii is rooted out, what will it have left behind? I cannot tell you enough how indignant I am.

愷撒死了，但是他有武功；哥倫布死了，但是他有膽量。大和魂?毀滅了，這回留下些什么東西呢？我無法來敘寫我的憤恨。

唐弢（1913—1992），中國現代著名散文作家，出生于浙江省鎮(zhèn)?？h的一個農民家庭?？箲?zhàn)時期，他在上海孤島發(fā)表了大量有戰(zhàn)斗力的雜文。正在這一時期，他于1938年9月10日寫了《書憤》一文。文章用迂曲暗示的手法表達他的愛國激情以及對日本侵略者的憤恨，行文從容，結構嚴謹。