雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:吳冠中 綠衣姑娘

The Green-Uniformed Girl 綠衣姑娘

◎ Wu Guanzhong ◎ 吳冠中

The place where I live，known as Hui-xian-tang，used to be a well-known big restaurant in Beijing during the last years of the Qing Dynasty．With painted pillars and carved windows，it was then a splendid mansion facing the Shi-sha-hai Lake．The rooms downstairs and upstairs would be packed with literati enjoying a get-together，tradesmen negotiating business affairs，and singsong girls performing for a living．And it also witnessed numerous wedding feasts held by rich and influential families．But now，like a run-down royal palace，it has become a residential compound occupied by dozens of households with some of its members working at six or seven different organizations．Piled high with rubble here and there，the whole place is in a terrible mess with makeshift shacks，a narrow path running zigzag across it，and eaves so low as to hit the head of passers-by．I live in a one-story two-room house in the rearmost backyard backed by a small lane．As the window is high up in the wall，I can't see anything in the lane，but I can hear a lot of noises therefrom，such as the cries of itinerant knife sharpeners，the blaring of car horns and the shouting and screaming of women．The mixed noises often disturb me in my work．Exceptionally，however，I find one voice so very pleasing.“Letters，and newspapers！—”It's the clear，ringing voice of a young girl，uttered with a much prolonged last syllabic sound．It seems to keep echoing over the courtyard of each and every household in the neighborhood．To me，it's music！

我住的會(huì)仙堂，曾是清末北京鼎鼎有名的大飯館。想當(dāng)年，畫棟雕窗，面臨什剎海，樓上樓下，文士雅集，商賈交易，歌女賣唱，多少豪富人家在此舉辦過婚嫁喜筵！梁園日暮，如今已成為六、七個(gè)單位數(shù)十戶職工宿舍的大雜院，院內(nèi)地震棚歪歪倒倒，小徑曲折，亂石成堆，房檐碰頭，不堪回首。我住的是最后院的最后兩間平房，后墻外是一條小小的胡同，后墻窗高，在室內(nèi)看不到胡同，但可聽到胡同里磨剪刀的叫喚聲、汽車?yán)嚷?、婦女吵嚷聲……這些混雜的聲音不時(shí)攪亂我的構(gòu)思。但終于我發(fā)現(xiàn)其中有一種聲音是我所喜歡的：“信——，拿報(bào)紙——”顯然，那是一位姑娘清脆嘹亮的聲音，她將尾音拉得長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的，那音浪在胡同里家家庭院的上空久久蕩漾，由我聽來，那是音樂！

People who have fortune on their side will look forward to good news; people separated from their dear ones will long to hear from them．Man always lives in hopes．The personal fate，the prospects of the nation，the fast changing world—in short，all variables and uncertainties in the future—are causing great concern．Nobody knows what tomorrow has got in store for us！The postgirl delivers to us news about the unknown future and about the real state of affairs，pleasant or unpleasant．Like others，I'm eager for mail every day．How heart-warming is the cry of the postgirl coming from the small lane back of my house！As the years go by，I seem to have known her for a long time.

幸運(yùn)的人們?cè)诘却灿?，分離的親人在盼望音信。人，總生活在希望中，個(gè)人的命運(yùn)，國(guó)家的前景，世界的風(fēng)云……一切未來的和未知的在引人關(guān)注，誰知明天將發(fā)生什么事情！郵遞員，她送來了未知的情況和消息，有情和無情的真實(shí)！猶如別人，我天天盼信，墻外胡同里那位郵遞員姑娘的呼喊多親切啊，日子久了，似乎我早已熟識(shí)她。

Later，whenever I took a stroll along the secluded small lane，I would unconsciously turn my eyes towards the green-uniformed postgirls riding green-coloured bikes，wondering which of them was the one whose familiar voice I had heard calling every day．These girls were equally beautiful！When I was young，I once entered a hospital in Kunming，capital of Yunnan Province，to undergo an operation for eye trouble．With both eyes bandaged，I left myself entirely in the care of a nurse．Every morning and evening，I would hear her calling me in a clear，soft voice，“Let's take your temperature！”Gradually I became familiar with the voice．I felt grateful and well disposed towards it．In short，I fell in love with her on the sly though I didn't even know what she looked like．The day when I had my eye bandage removed after recovery，I was eager to find out from among the many nurses the one who had attended to me，but in vain because leaving in a flurry，I failed to hear her voice again．Nevertheless，I've since held all white-robed nurses in high esteem．O white-robed nurses，how beautiful is the spotlessly white colour！O green-uniformed postmen and postwomen，how beautiful is the green colour signifying peace！

后來，我走在偏僻的小街小胡同里，便經(jīng)常不自覺地留心那些騎著綠色自行車，穿著綠色制服的郵遞員姑娘們，不知哪一位是我天天聽著她呼喊的老相識(shí)，她們都一樣的美！我青年時(shí)期曾害目疾，住在昆明一家醫(yī)院里動(dòng)手術(shù)，雙目全被包扎了，一切生活聽護(hù)士安排照料。每日早晚，一位護(hù)士姑娘清亮柔和的聲音叫我：“考體溫。”我漸漸熟悉這聲音，感激這聲音，愛這聲音，偷偷地愛她了，雖然全不知她是什么模樣啊！當(dāng)我病愈打開雙目，想在許多護(hù)士姑娘中發(fā)現(xiàn)誰是她，但匆匆要出院了，偏偏沒有再聽到她的聲音，我從此同樣敬愛都穿著白衣服的她們！白衣戰(zhàn)士，潔白是美吧！綠衣的郵遞員，和平的綠色也是美?。?

One snowy afternoon，when I was doing painting，I heard the familiar voice of a girl calling at a distance from the front courtyard，“Wu Guanzhong，your seal，please—！”Yes，that was the postgirl！I put down the painting brush and hurried to the front courtyard through the passageway between the makeshift shacks．Arriving at the gate，I saw hanging on the postgirl's green bike a big postbag bulging with mail．Of course that was the last thing for her to leave behind under any circumstances．I immediately realized why，instead of going to the rearmost courtyard to deliver the letter to me in person，she had had to call me from afar at the top of her voice like a shepherdess on the grassland．It was cold and she was dressed in a cumbersome cotton-padded jacket，which was so big that she could no longer wear the green uniform over it．The big scarf round her neck concealed half of her face so that I was unable to see what she really looked like．Not knowing that I was eager to talk a few words to her，she quickly mounted her bike and left．Against the blinding white snow，both rider and bike looked especially dark．Her quickly receding figure brought to mind a raven on the wing，or rather a magpie！

一個(gè)下雪天，我正在家作畫，突然前院一個(gè)姑娘的熟悉的聲音在遙喚：“吳冠中，打戳——”郵遞員來了！我放下畫具，急急忙忙地從地震棚的夾道間沖到前院去。待我趕到大門口，看到郵遞姑娘的綠色自行車上掛著一個(gè)不小的郵袋，郵袋里還裝著滿滿的信件。她如何能離開郵袋呢！我才明白她為什么不能親自送信入院，只能像草原牧羊女一般用高嗓門遙遙呼喚！天寒，她穿著厚厚的棉襖，套不上綠色的使者之衣了，寬大的圍脖裹住了頭，遮掩了一半臉面，我看不清她的真面目。待交過信，她沒有意識(shí)到我還想說話，便敏捷地跨上了自行車，襯著耀眼的白雪，人和車的顏色顯得格外深暗，她迅速飛去的背影仿佛是一只展翅的烏鴉，不，是喜鵲！

《綠衣姑娘》是著名畫家兼散文家吳冠中寫于1981年5月的一篇熱情頌揚(yáng)郵遞員的佳作。郵遞員風(fēng)里來雨里去，日復(fù)一日為人們“送來了未知的情況和消息，有情和無情的真實(shí)”。作者敬愛他們，覺得“那些穿著綠色制服的郵遞員姑娘”的喊聲是“音樂”，她們個(gè)個(gè)“都一樣的美”。