雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:葉紫 長江輪上

On a Yangtse River Steamer 長江輪上

◎ Ye Zi ◎ 葉紫

Late at night，mother suddenly woke me up from my sound sleep，

深夜，我睡得正濃的時(shí)候，母親突然將我叫醒：

“Han Sheng，listen！…What's that noise？…I've just been to the women's lavatory…”

“漢生，你看！什么東西在叫？……我剛剛從船后的女茅房里回來……”

I shuffled out of the cabin．The stewards were lying higgledy-piggledy on the floor like butchered pigs，snoring loudly．Even the one on duty，leaning himself against the cabin door，had dozed off to sleep．The passengers were all asleep too except two chatting unintelligibly over their opium pipes.

我拖著鞋子。茶房們死豬似地橫七橫八地倒在地上，打著沉濁的鼾聲。連守夜的一個(gè)都靠著艙門睡著了。別的乘客們也都睡了，只有兩個(gè)還在抽鴉片，交談著一些令人聽不分明的，瑣細(xì)的話語。

The wind was howling．The stars were sparkling from behind patches of dark clouds．The waves kept lashing violently across the deck，splashing foam into the air and giving out a piercing cry of pain．Mother went crouching to the back part of the ship and，pointing at the women's lavatory in the dingy corner，said，

江風(fēng)呼嘯著。天上的繁星穿鉆著一片片的濃厚的烏云。浪濤瘋狂地打到甲板上，拚命似地，隨同泡沫的飛賤，發(fā)出一種沉銳的，創(chuàng)痛的呼號(hào)！母親畏縮著身子，走到船后時(shí)，她指著女廁所的黑暗的角落說：

“There！Over there…in that corner！A kind of noise…”

“那里！就在那里……那里角落里！有點(diǎn)什么聲音的……”

“Shall I go get a steward？”

“去叫一個(gè)茶房來？”我說。

“No！You go and take a look first．It can't be a ghost…Perhaps somebody…”

“不！你去看看，不會(huì)有鬼的……是一個(gè)人也不一定……”

Leaning over the railing，I heard from down below intermittent moaning amidst the spray of breaking waves，

我靠著甲板的鐵欄桿，將頭伸過去，就有一陣斷續(xù)的凄苦的嗚咽聲，從下方，從浪花的飛濺里，飄傳過來：

“Aiyo…Aiyo…”

“啊喲……啊啊喲……”

“Go ahead！Go nearer so you can hear better！”mother nudged me and urged with concern.

“過去呀！你再過去一點(diǎn)聽聽看！”母親推著我的身子，關(guān)心地說。

“There is somebody．A woman！”I affirmed.“She's probably hanging down there by fastening herself to a rope，under a horizontal iron bar…”

“是一個(gè)人，一個(gè)女人！”我斷然回答著。“她大概是用繩子吊在那里的，那根橫著的鐵棍子下面……”

About fifteen minutes later，I，by order of mother，managed to secretly rescue the distressed woman from danger．I did it single-handed and despite the risk.

一十五分鐘之后，我遵著母親的命令，單獨(dú)地，秘密而且冒險(xiǎn)地救起了那一個(gè)受難的女人。

She，a country woman of about forty，was big with child．Her arm pits and chest looked swollen from having been fastened to the rope．Mother began to question her under a dim light in front of the women's lavatory．The woman blinked her small eyes nervously and sobbed.

她是一個(gè)大肚子，一個(gè)四十歲上下的鄉(xiāng)下婦人。她的兩腋和胸部都差不多給帶子吊腫了。當(dāng)母親將她拉到女廁所門前的昏暗的燈光下，去盤問她的時(shí)候，她便著一雙小眼，惶懼地，幽幽地哭了起來。

“Stop crying，you silly！”said mother consolingly，trying to dissuade her from sobbing.“The stewards will give you hell if they hear you…”

“不要哭呢！蠢人！給茶房聽見了該死的……”母親安慰地，告誡地說。

The woman gave a brief account of her miserable life：There had been a famine in the countryside．She，despite her pregnancy，had to flee from the disaster with her husband and child．They intended to go from Hankou to Wuhu[1] to seek shelter with some relatives．They attempted to steal a ride on the steamer，but were discovered by the stewards at sailing time．Her husband and child were expelled from the ship right away while she succeeded in hiding herself outside the ship under cover of night…

她開始了訴述她的身世，悲切而且簡單：因?yàn)猷l(xiāng)下鬧災(zāi)荒，她拖著大肚子，想同丈夫和孩子們從漢口再逃到蕪湖去，那里有她的什么親戚。沒有船票，丈夫孩子們?cè)陂_船時(shí)都給茶房趕上岸了，她偷偷地吊在那里，因?yàn)槭且雇?，才不曾被人發(fā)覺……

Mother turned to me and said with a long sigh，

朝我，母親悠長地嘆了一口氣說：

“Two lives！How dangerous！What if the rope had snapped…”Then she turned to address the woman，“It's getting light！You'd better hide yourself in the lavatory for a while．We'll see the accountant and put in a good word for you．Maybe he'll let you stay on the ship until it reaches Wuhu…”

“兩條性命??！幾乎……只要帶子一斷……”回頭再對(duì)著她：“你暫時(shí)在這茅房里藏一藏吧，天就要亮了。我們可以替你給賬房去說說好話，也許能把你帶到蕪湖的……”

We returned to our cabin to sleep．Mother kept sighing for a long while…Then，when it was dawning，the stewards kicked up a row.

我們?nèi)耘f回到艙中去睡了。母親好久還在嘆氣呢！……但是，天剛剛一發(fā)白，茶房們就哇啦哇啦地鬧了起來！

“Han Sheng！Get up！They're beating her to death…”Mother stamped her feet with anxiety and pulled me by the ear．Nobody knew when she had got out of bed.

“漢生！你起來！他們要將她打死哩！……”母親急急地跺著腳，扯著我的耳朵。她不知道在什么時(shí)候爬起來了。

“Who is it？”I mumbled，eyes heavy with sleep.

“誰呀？”我睡意朦朧地，含糊地說。

“That pregnant woman！The one we rescued last night！…The stewards are beating her！…”

“那個(gè)大肚子女人！昨晚救起來的那個(gè)！……茶房在打哩！……”

We went hastily to the back part of the ship where there was already a big crowd of early risers from among the passengers．The accountant，a bespectacled thin man in pyjamas，was standing in the middle of the crowd directing the torture，a cigarette dangling leisurely from his lips．The woman huddled herself up and shivered，blood oozing out glisteningly from among her dishevelled hair．The onlookers，for the most part，enjoyed themselves as if they were watching an acrobatic show．Only a handful of them shook their heads and sighed out of sympathy.

我們急急地趕到船后，那里已經(jīng)給一大群早起的客人圍住著。一個(gè)架著眼鏡披睡衣的瘦削的賬房先生站在中央，安閑地咬著煙卷，指揮著茶房們的拷問。大肚子女人彎著腰，戰(zhàn)栗地縮成一團(tuán)，從散披著的頭發(fā)間晶晶地溢出血液。旁觀者的搭客，大抵都像看著把戲似的，覺得頗為開心；只有很少數(shù)表示了“愛莫能助”似的同情，在搖頭，吁氣！

I elbowed my way through the crowd，followed closely by mother．A squint-eyed steward，stick in hand，eyed us with an assumed air of impatience．Another steward，with a ferocious pock-marked face and wide-open dog-like yellow eyes，after giving a wink to the accountant as if requesting his instructions，dashed to the shivering pregnant woman and gave her a hard kick.

我們擠到人叢中了，母親牢牢地跟在我的后面。一個(gè)拿著棍子的歪眼的茶房，向我們裝出了不耐煩的臉相。別的一個(gè)，麻臉的，兇惡的家伙，睜著狗一般的黃眼睛，請(qǐng)示似地，向賬房先生看了一眼，便沖到大肚子的戰(zhàn)栗的身子旁邊，狠狠地一腳——

Letting out a shriek，she rolled over and lay flat on her back，with her limbs stretched out.

那女人尖銳地叫了一聲，打了一個(gè)滾，四肢立刻伸開來，挺直在地上！

“How dare you take this foreigner-owned ship without buying a ticket，shameless bitch！…”He came up nearer to heap more insults on her as if he himself were a foreigner.

“不買票敢坐我們外國人的船，你這爛污貨！……”他趕上前來加罵著，儼然自己原就是外國人似的。

Mother anxiously squeezed forward to stop him from kicking the woman again，protesting，

母親急了！她擠出去拉住著麻子，怕她踢第二腳；一面卻抗議似地責(zé)問道：

“Why did you kick her？Why！…Don't you see that she's pregnant？”

“你為什么打她呢？這樣兇！……你不曾看見她的懷著小孩的肚子嗎？”

“How can she travel by our foreigner-owned ship without paying for it？”the pock-marked steward retorted and gave the accountant a stare.

“不出錢好坐我們外國人的船嗎？”麻子滿面紅星地反問母親；一面瞅著他的賬房先生的臉相。

“After all，it's—money only，eh？…”

“那么，不過是——錢嘍……”

“Yes，money！”said the other steward by way of stressing.

“嗯！錢！……”另外一個(gè)茶房加重地說。

Mother pondered for a while without finding a way out．The woman then started groaning loudly on the deck，which alerted some of the onlookers and sent them speaking in urgent whispers．The steward with the stick，however，was about to thwack the woman by holding it aloft.

母親沉思了一下，沒有來得及想出來對(duì)付的辦法，那個(gè)女人便在地上大聲地呻吟了起來！一部分的看客，也立時(shí)開始了驚疑的，緊急的議論。但那個(gè)拿棍子的茶房卻高高地舉起了棍子，企圖繼續(xù)地?fù)浯蛳聛怼?

Mother dashed forward to stop him and approached the woman to examine her belly with great compassion．The woman suddenly stopped groaning and huddled up convulsively，rolling her eyes and biting her lower lip．She complained loudly of a pain in the belly．Mother hurriedly bent over and crouched down to stroke the woman's belly gently over and over again．And，excited by great anger，she loudly cursed the stewards for being so brutal．Meanwhile，she warned that the woman had shown symptoms of an imminent delivery.

母親橫沖去將茶房攔著，并且走近那個(gè)女人的身邊，用了絕大的憐憫的眼光，看定她的大肚子。突然地，她停住了呻吟，渾身痙攣地縮成一團(tuán)，眼睛突出，牙齒緊咬著下唇，喊起肚子痛來了！母親慌張地彎著腰，蹲了下去，用手替她在肚子上慢慢地，一陣陣地，撫摸起來。并且，因了過度的憤怒的緣故，大聲地罵詈著殘暴的茶房，替她喊出了危險(xiǎn)的、臨盆的征候！

The crowd backed away．The accountant，spitting in disgust，also walked away quickly．The stewards listlessly followed at his heels like dogs until they disappeared into their cabins，hurling back filthy abuse as they walked along.

看客們都紛紛地退后了。賬房先生嫌惡地，狠狠地唾了一口，也趕緊走開了。茶房們因?yàn)椴坏靡I(lǐng)，狗一般地跟著，回罵著一些污穢的惡語，一直退進(jìn)到自己的艙房。

I was turning to leave when mother stopped me and told me to fetch the yellow blanket from my berth plus a flaxen string and a pair of scissors to be borrowed from somebody.

我也轉(zhuǎn)身要走了，但母親將我叫住，吩咐著立即到自己的鋪位子上去，扯下那床黃色的毯子來；并且借一把剪刀和一根細(xì)麻繩子。

I left，passing through a crowd of nosy onlookers whispering to each other．When I returned bringing with me everything as mother had told me，she had already taken off the woman's trousers and the floor was wet with a pool of dirty water．The woman's lips were bloodstained through biting．Her forehead was dripping with beads of sweat．Her whole body was writhing in great pain．As soon as she saw me，she shyly turned her face away and shook her hand vigorously．Just then，a tiny，ruddy baby came out instantly dripping with blood．It turned over on the floor and burst out crying—probably to complain of its unknown destiny.

我去了，匆忙地穿過那些探奇的，紛紛議論的人群，拿著東西回來的時(shí)候，母親已經(jīng)解下那個(gè)女人的下身了。地上橫流著一大灘穢水。她的嘴唇被牙齒咬得出血，額角上冒出著豆大的汗珠，全身痛苦地，艱難地掙扎著！她一看見我，就羞慚地將臉轉(zhuǎn)過去，兩手亂搖！但是，立時(shí)間，一個(gè)細(xì)小的紅色的嬰兒，穢血淋漓地鉆出來了！在地上跌了一個(gè)翻身，哇哇地哭訴著她那不可知的命運(yùn)！

I quickly turned away．Mother was panting with exertion．It took her five or six minutes to remove the bloody afterbirth from the woman before tossing it from my left side into the depth of the river.

我連忙轉(zhuǎn)過身去。母親費(fèi)力地喘著氣，約有五六分鐘久，才將一個(gè)血淋淋的胎衣接了出來，從我的左側(cè)方拋到江心底深處。

“The beating is to blame for the premature birth，”said mother furiously，raising her two blood-smeared hands.“Damn ruthless gangsters！…The baby is just too undersized to survive．And yet they insist on charging the steamer fare.”

“完全打下來的！”母親氣憤地舉著一雙血污的手對(duì)我說，“他們都是一些兇惡的強(qiáng)盜！……那個(gè)胎兒簡直小得帶不活，而他們還在等著向她要船錢！”

“What shall we do then？”

“那么怎么辦呢？”

“We shouldn't give up halfway，”said she firmly in the tone of a philanthropist.“You go and bring me a basin of water．I've got to wash the baby first before…”

“救人要救徹！……”母親用了毅然地，慈善家似地口吻說。“你去替我要一盆水來，讓我先將小孩洗好了再想辦法……”

The sun had just risen above the mountains on the left bank of the river．The wind，devoid of its previous night's vehemence，was blowing softly．Beyond the distant right bank，the contour of the small end of a sprawling town gradually came into sight.

太陽已經(jīng)從江左的山岸中爬上來一丈多高了。江風(fēng)緩和地吹著，完全失掉了它那夜間的狂暴的力量。從遙遠(yuǎn)的，江流的右岸的尖端，緩緩地爬過來了一條大城市的尾巴的輪廓。

After fondly swathing the newborn baby and covering it with the blanket，mother showed it to the woman，saying，

母親慈悲相地將孩子包好，送到產(chǎn)婦的身邊，一邊用毯子蓋著，一邊對(duì)她說：

“We're nearing Jiujiang[2] now．Take good care of the baby…Congratulations！What a pretty baby girl！…We'll see what we can do to help you…”

“快到九江了，你好好地看著這孩子……恭喜你??！是一個(gè)好看的小姑娘哩！……我們就去替你想辦法的。……”

The woman seemed to have regained consciousness and opened her eyes，tears of gratitude trickling down her cheeks.

產(chǎn)婦似乎清醒了一些，睜開著眼睛，感激地流出了兩行眼淚。

Taking on the look of a real philanthropist，mother had me accompany her with a tray in my hand visiting both steerage and cabin passengers to solicit donations from them．But the outcome was very disappointing．Except one or two who gave a 10 or 20-cent banknote each，all gave but a few copper coins each．Altogether，the contributions added up to only exactly one dollar and thirty cents.

在統(tǒng)艙和房艙里，母親用了真正的慈善家似的臉相，叫我端著一個(gè)盤子，同著她向搭客們普遍地募起捐來。然而，結(jié)果是大失所望。除了一兩個(gè)人肯丟下一張當(dāng)一角或兩角的鈔票以外，剩下來的僅僅是一些銅元；一數(shù)，不少不多，剛剛合得上大洋一元三角。

Mother sighed deeply，“Good-hearted people are hard to come by.”She decided to contribute the only dollar coin she had on her．She produced it meticulously after removing several paper wrappings.

母親深沉地嘆著氣說：“做好事的人怎么這樣少??！”從幾層的紙包里，找出自己僅僅多余的一元錢來，湊了上去。

Mother again went to the back part of the ship to see the woman，with coppers，banknotes and silver coins in hand，saying，“We're pretty close to Jiujiang now！Here is more than two dollars．Talk to the accountant when he comes and ask him to let you travel to Wuhu at a reduced fare，so that you can keep some of the money for yourself…Of course I'll try to put in a word for you too…”

“快到九江了！”母親再次走到船后，將銅板、角票和洋錢捏在手中，對(duì)產(chǎn)婦說：“這里是二元多錢，你可以收藏一點(diǎn)，等等賬房先生來時(shí)你自己再對(duì)他說，給他少一點(diǎn)，求他將你帶到蕪湖！……當(dāng)然，”母親又補(bǔ)上去一句：“我也可以替你幫忙說一說的……”

The woman barely managed to prop herself up with tears in her eyes and reached out her tremulous hand for the money．As she was putting away the money under the blanket，mother exclaimed as her eyes fell on the lifted corner of the blanket，

產(chǎn)婦勉強(qiáng)地掙起半邊身子，流著眼淚，伸手戰(zhàn)栗地接著錢鈔，放在毯子下。但是，母親卻突然地望著那掀起的毯子角落，大聲地呼叫了起來：

“Hey，where is your baby？”

“怎么！你的孩子？……”

Flurried and uneasy，the woman didn't say a word，tears rolling down her cheeks to plop on the blanket.

那女人慌張而且惶懼地一言不發(fā)，讓眼淚一滴趕一滴地順著腮邊跑將下來，沉重地打落在毯子上。

“So you've thrown her away？You heartless woman！”

“你不是將她拋了嗎？你這狠心的女人！”

“I，I，I…”she faltered and then hung her head in grief and utter silence.

“我，我，我……”她嚅嚅地，悲傷地低著頭，終于什么都說不出。

Mother stood for a long while staring at the river bank and the busy streets of Jiujiang approaching slowly and quietly from afar．The spray of the breaking water under the ship was weeping—weeping over the innocent feeble life carried away by the whirling current.

母親好久好久地站立著，眼睛盯著江岸，盯著那緩緩地爬過來的、九江的繁華的街市而不作聲。浪花在船底哭泣著，翻騰著！——不知道從哪一個(gè)泡沫里，卷去了那一個(gè)無辜的，纖弱的靈魂！……

The two stewards showed up again，this time to drive the woman ashore by order of the accountant．They dragged her roughly．One of the two rolled up the blood-stained blanket we had given her.

茶房們又跑來了，這一回是奉了賬房先生的命令，要將她趕上岸去的。他們兩個(gè)人不說情由地將她拖著，一個(gè)人替她卷著我們給她的那條弄滿血污的毯子。

The ship anchored.

船停了。

Mother's act of benevolence had come to nothing．Watching the stewards dragging the woman ashore and picking up the coppers and silver coins from the ground，she could hardly keep back her tears.

母親的全部慈善事業(yè)完全落了空。當(dāng)她望著茶房們一面拖著那產(chǎn)婦拋上岸去，一面拾著地上流落的銅板和洋錢的時(shí)候，她幾乎哭了起來。

葉紫是二十世紀(jì)三十年代在中國文壇脫穎而出的一位年青作家。原名余鶴林，湖南益陽人。他少年時(shí)代被迫流亡，當(dāng)過兵、小學(xué)教員、報(bào)館編輯。1932年加入中國共產(chǎn)黨，并開始文學(xué)創(chuàng)作。1939年10月5日因肺病去世，年僅二十九歲。他的散文，就內(nèi)容而言，和他的小說一樣，大多記述他的經(jīng)歷和使他感到憤慨的不合理社會(huì)現(xiàn)象。《長江輪上》于1935年8月發(fā)表在《申報(bào)》副刊《自由談》上，取材于真人真事，寫一個(gè)買不起船票的鄉(xiāng)下孕婦，遭到茶房的毒打，當(dāng)場早產(chǎn)，被迫將嬰兒扔入江中，文章蘊(yùn)含豐富，發(fā)人深思。