雙語(yǔ)|現(xiàn)代散文:冰心 當(dāng)教師的快樂(lè)

Joys of the Teaching Career 當(dāng)教師的快樂(lè)

◎ Bing Xin ◎ 冰心

I was a teacher for only ten years．In 1926，on my return to China after finishing studies in the United States，I began to teach at my alma mater Yenching University，Peiping，as a lecturer in Chinese．The deans and teachers of the Department of Chinese then were mostly my former teachers．Other faculties and departments also had no lack of my former teachers．I may well say that practically all the teaching staff of the University were my seniors．Therefore，at a faculty meeting，I always chose a seat at an unobservable corner of the room．Everybody jokingly called me“faculty baby”．I was then on the right side of 26.

我只當(dāng)過(guò)十年的教師。那是一九二六年我從美國(guó)留學(xué)回來(lái)，在母校燕京大學(xué)國(guó)文系當(dāng)了一名教師。那時(shí)系里的主任和教師大半是我的老師。校內(nèi)其他科、系里也有我的老師?？傊?，全校的教師都是我的師輩！因此在開(kāi)教授會(huì)的時(shí)候，我總是挑個(gè)極邊極角的座位，惶恐地縮在一旁。大家都笑著稱(chēng)我為Faculty Baby。那一學(xué)期我還不滿(mǎn)二十六歲。

It was，however，a different story when I was with my students．They and I were good friends．When I taught freshman Chinese as a required course，I used a textbook of classical prose．The freshmen were mostly young boys and girls aged between 17 and 20．Freshman Chinese was taught in five classes，each consisting of 30 to 40 students hailing from various places of China．Those from Fujian and Guangdong had difficulty in understanding the heavily accented speech of teachers like Ma Jian ，Zhou Zuoren，Shen Yinmo，Gu Shui and Guo Shaoyu who all came from places south of the Yangtse River．Consequently，some of these students were transferred to my class through the arrangements of the Dean's Office．Looking down from the rostrum，I was delighted by a multitude of rosy-faced naïve young students smiling and staring curiously at me—the little teacher．Their smiles were by no means unfamiliar to me，being similar to those I often saw on the faces of my younger brothers and younger female cousins．Often，when I opened the roll-call book and asked them each to give their own names，I corrected their accents one by one．Thus，between laughter and chat，we came to know each other better and were soon on friendly terms．The first composition they did was“My Autobiography”．I let them write on this subject because，firstly，everybody always had got something to say on it and，secondly，it would afford me a good opportunity to understand each student's family background，habit，disposition，etc．I only put marks but never gave comments on the papers after reading them．Instead I laid emphasis on holding outside-class individual talks with them lasting not more than 30 minutes．They would tell me how they had done the composition，and I would express my opinion on it．And we would both feel pleased with the frank exchange of views.

在學(xué)生群中就大不一樣了。他們是我的好朋友。我教一年級(jí)必修科的國(guó)文，用的是古文課本。大學(xué)一年級(jí)的男女學(xué)生很多，年紀(jì)又都不大，大概在十七到二十歲之間。國(guó)文課分成五個(gè)班，每班有三四十名。因?yàn)樗麄儊?lái)自全國(guó)各地，閩粵的學(xué)生，聽(tīng)不大懂馬鑒主任、周作人、沈尹默、顧隨、郭紹虞等幾位老先生的江南口音，于是教務(wù)處就把這一部分學(xué)生分到我的班上。從講臺(tái)上望去，一個(gè)個(gè)紅撲撲的稚氣未退的臉，嬉笑地好奇地望著我這個(gè)小先生——那時(shí)一般稱(chēng)教師為先生。這些笑容對(duì)我并不陌生，與我的弟弟們和表妹們的笑容一模一樣。打開(kāi)點(diǎn)名簿請(qǐng)他們自己報(bào)名，我又逐一糾正了他們的口音，笑語(yǔ)紛紜之中，我們一下子就很熟悉很親熱了！我給他們出的第一道作文題目，就是自傳，一來(lái)因?yàn)樵谶@題目下人人都有話(huà)可寫(xiě)，二來(lái)通過(guò)這篇自傳，我可以了解到每個(gè)學(xué)生的家庭背景、習(xí)慣、性情等等。我看完文卷，從來(lái)只打下分?jǐn)?shù)，不寫(xiě)批語(yǔ)，而注重在和每個(gè)人做半小時(shí)以?xún)?nèi)的課外談話(huà)上。這樣，他們可以告訴我：他們是怎么寫(xiě)的，我也可告訴他們我對(duì)這篇文字的意見(jiàn)，思想溝通了，我們彼此也比較滿(mǎn)意。

I also offered a course on advanced writing，which was an elective for students above the freshman level．It gave them training in different genres of literary writing，such as fiction，poetry，correspondence and sometimes translation．I found that students with a solid grounding in Chinese often did good translations．For the end-of-term examination，I had them each hand in a self-edited magazine specializing in any subjects，such as fine arts，sports，etc．a(chǎn)nd complete with well designed front cover，aim of its publication，photos，etc．Students of the same class could solicit contributions or photos from each other，or from students of other classes．They called it an interesting try．The magazines they handed in by the end of the term were very lively and encouraging，each having its content quite in line with its title.

我還開(kāi)了一班習(xí)作的課，是為一年級(jí)以上的學(xué)生選修的。我要學(xué)生們練習(xí)寫(xiě)各種文學(xué)形式的文字，如小說(shuō)、詩(shī)、書(shū)信，有時(shí)也有翻譯——我發(fā)現(xiàn)漢文基礎(chǔ)好的學(xué)生，譯文也會(huì)更通順——期末考試是讓他們每人交一本刊物，什么種類(lèi)的都行，如美術(shù)、體育等等。但必須有封面圖案、本刊宗旨、文章、相片等等，同班同學(xué)之間可以互相組稿，也可以向班外的同學(xué)索稿或相片。學(xué)生們都覺(jué)得這很新鮮有趣，他們期末交來(lái)的刊物，內(nèi)容和刊名都很一致，又很活潑可喜。

In recalling my past career as a teacher，I always think fondly of the intimate friendship between the students and me．In those days，teachers and students all lived on the campus，which greatly facilitated our after-school contact．We often went boating on the Weiming Lake，or had discussions about various things on the marble boat by the island in the middle of the Lake，or had heart-to-heart private talks about，for instance，job selection or marriage．At this moment the images of quite a few couples，such as Zheng Linzhuang and Wu Ruiwu，Lin Yaohua and Rao Yusu，etc．suddenly appear in my mind's eye．I attended some of their wedding ceremonies in my capacity as a go-between．Sometimes，preparatory to making a match，I had the parents of both parties meet each other at a dinner I gave．All that took place over half a century ago，and now，alas，more than half of them have gone to another world before me．I feel very bad about it indeed.

回憶起那幾年的教學(xué)生涯，最使我眷戀的是：學(xué)生們和我成了知心朋友。那時(shí)教師和男女學(xué)生都住在校內(nèi)，課外的接觸十分頻繁。我們常常在未名湖上劃船，在水中央的島邊石舫上開(kāi)種種的討論會(huì)，或是作個(gè)別談話(huà)。這種個(gè)別談話(huà)就更深入了！有個(gè)人的擇業(yè)與擇婚問(wèn)題等等！這時(shí)我眼前忽然涌現(xiàn)出好幾對(duì)美滿(mǎn)的夫妻，如鄭林莊和吳瑞梧，林耀華和饒毓蘇，等等。有的是我以大媒的身份去參加他們的完婚儀式，有的是由我出面宴請(qǐng)雙方的家長(zhǎng)，為他們撮合。說(shuō)起來(lái)是半個(gè)世紀(jì)以前的事了。他們中有過(guò)半數(shù)的人已先我而進(jìn)入另一個(gè)世界，寫(xiě)到這里，我心里有說(shuō)不出的一種滋味！

It's time for me to stop writing now．I've not been talking solely about“students respecting teachers”or“teachers cherishing students”because，to my mind，teachers and students should be friends with mutual respect and love.

我應(yīng)該停筆了，我說(shuō)的既不是“尊師”，也不是“愛(ài)生”，我只覺(jué)得“師”和“生”應(yīng)當(dāng)是互相尊重互相親愛(ài)的朋友。

冰心年輕時(shí)當(dāng)過(guò)十年教師。她于晚年所寫(xiě)《當(dāng)教師的快樂(lè)》一文意味深長(zhǎng)地追憶了這段教書(shū)生涯。文章寫(xiě)于1986年7月間，通過(guò)一系列事件的敘述，如點(diǎn)名時(shí)逐一糾正學(xué)生口音、作文課讓學(xué)生寫(xiě)自傳、課外與學(xué)生作個(gè)別談話(huà)、讓學(xué)生自編刊物、替學(xué)生做媒等等，表達(dá)師生間的思想溝通與友愛(ài)情感，強(qiáng)調(diào)師生間應(yīng)“互相尊重互相親愛(ài)”。