英譯現(xiàn)代散文●再說包裝（節(jié)錄） ◎ 吳冠中

再說包裝(節(jié)錄)

More on Packaging(Excerpt)

◎　吳冠中

◎　Wu Guanzhong

包裝的本質(zhì)是偽裝。

Basically, packaging means false embellishment.

為了美觀，略施裝飾，無可厚非，斥之偽，有點刻薄。商品離不開包裝，離譜的包裝，豈止偽，存心欺蒙顧客。日本人很講究包裝，一個漂亮的大匣里面藏著精致的小匣，小匣里還有更小的匣，一層層的包裝待你剝到底，最后裸露的往往只是一塊小小的糖果。

Nevertheless, a little embellishment for the sake of nice appearance is not altogether inadvisable, and it is a bit harsh to denounce it as falsehood. Merchandise can never do without packaging, but going too far with it means something worse than falsehood — it is deliberate cheating. Japanese are very particular about packaging. Hidden inside one beautiful big box will be a number of gradually smaller delicate ones placed one inside another. You have to tear them off one by one until you finally hit on nothing but a tiny piece of candy.

我們進入了包裝的時代，這恰好提醒我們進入了偽劣假冒的時代。“豪華精美”包裝的禮品滿天飛，送這種豪華禮品的人與被送者之間絕無真誠的友情，聰明的包裝者是明悟這一實際的，所以工夫用在禮品之外，包裝之上。外國也包裝，也走人情，也行賄，但以包裝作欺蒙則我們傳統(tǒng)中早有提示：金玉其外，敗絮其中。

We have entered the age of packaging, or rather the age of counterfeit and shoddy merchandise. Attractively-packaged gifts can be found everywhere. Aware of the complete absence of real friendship between sender and receiver of a gift, shrewd businessmen have been racking their brains trying to beautify the packing design rather than improve the commodity itself. People in foreign countries are also particular about packaging, and also bribe with gifts, but we have a longer tradition of hoodwinking customers by means of packaging, as witness the ancient Chinese saying,“Gold and jade without, rubbish within.”

包裝歌星、包裝書畫家、包裝著作……包裝早已是堂而皇之的事業(yè)，不怕社會譏諷了。書籍裝幀應讓人一目了然著作的內(nèi)涵與品位，是極深奧的藝術創(chuàng)作工作，但今日書店書攤上琳瑯滿目，一片花里胡哨，連書名都認不出來。印一張白底黑字的封面吧。

Star singers, painters and calligraphers, authors...all go in for self-packaging overtly in disregard of public ridicule. Binding and layout, which provide clear insights into the content and quality of a book, call for profound artistic work. But, today, bookstores and bookstalls are a riot of loud glaring color, so much so that the book titles are overshadowed and become hardly recognizable. Why not have book covers printed just in black and white instead?

偽裝是個人的野心，也適應社會的需求。官吏的烏紗、皇帝的蟒袍用以嚇唬老百姓，他們退堂退朝后便恢復本來面目，毋須衣冠沐猴了。西裝、革履、領帶，這種包裝在西方已定型幾百年，并早已成為全世界公認的正式服飾，而且居然在不斷更新的時裝流變中巋然不動。但休閑服的興起，不知是否會沖垮這端著架子的西裝傳統(tǒng)，因人們最終要追求自在與舒適，一切架子與偽裝都將被拋棄。

Packaging serves to satisfy social needs as well as personal ambition. Imperial officials and emperors used to wear black gauze hats and boa-design robes respectively to frighten common people into submission. After a court session or imperial court session was adjourned, they would respectively cease to dress up as such and become their usual selves. The Western-style suit with leather shoes and necktie to go with it is a kind of packaging that has taken shape in the West ever since several hundred years ago. It has long become universally accepted formal wear and even survived the vicissitudes of garment style intact. Nevertheless, nobody can tell if the tradition of wearing the stiff and formal Western-style suit will end up being broken down by the upsurge of popular casual wear. In the final analysis, people prefer ease and comfort to any form of affectation and pretence.

吳冠中的《再論包裝》寫于2003年，似為季羨林(1911—2009)1997年寫的《論包裝》的后續(xù)，兩者異曲同工，相映生輝，對社會時弊作了不約而同的鞭撻諷刺。