英譯現(xiàn)代散文●回憶一個歷史鏡頭——記四十年前日軍在南京投降儀式 ◎ 何為

回憶一個歷史鏡頭

Memories of a Historic Scene

——記四十年前日軍在南京投降儀式

— On the Nanjing ceremony of Japanese surrender 40 years ago

◎　何為

◎　He Wei

在中國抗日戰(zhàn)爭和世界反法西斯戰(zhàn)爭勝利四十周年的紀(jì)念日子里,我想起四十年前的一個歷史鏡頭。那是一九四五年九月九日,日軍對華投降儀式的一次采訪。

On the 40th anniversary of the victory of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the world war against fascism, a historic scene of 40 years ago came back to my mind. It was on September 9, 1945 that I was sent to cover the Japanese surrender ceremony at Nanjing.

抗戰(zhàn)剛剛結(jié)束，一個炎夏日子，柯靈同志介紹我在復(fù)刊后的上海文匯報工作。我很幸運，到職后約一個月，便以該報特派記者身份，去南京采訪那個歷史時刻的現(xiàn)場實景，同行的是攝影記者穆一龍。

On a hot summer day at the end of the anti-Japanese war, I got a job through Ke Ling as a staff member of the Shanghai Wen Hui Bao, a newspaper that had just resumed publication. Luckily, I was sent to Nanjing about a month later to report on the historic event in my capacity as special correspondent. I was accompanied by press photographer Mu Yilong.

車抵南京，費了一番周折，辦妥了入場采訪的各項手續(xù)，終于在日軍投降簽字儀式舉行前及時趕到，得以目擊這一歷史性的場面。

After arriving in Nanjing by train, with elaborate formalities gone through, we came just in time for the opening of the surrender ceremony.

是日，南京黃埔路“中國陸軍司令部”大門外的廣場上，來往軍人驟增。到處可見大寫V字，即英文Victory(勝利)的第一個字母也。通向大禮堂的甬道兩側(cè)，全部美式配備的崗哨林立，吉普車往來不絕。間或可見三三兩兩的美國憲兵協(xié)助警戒。景象森嚴(yán)，氣氛肅穆，確是一個不同尋常的日子。

The day witnessed a sudden increase of armymen hurrying to and fro on the square in front of the gate of the Chinese Army Headquarters on Huangpu Road, Nanjing. The capital letter V, signifying Victory, was in sight here and there. Lining the paved path leading to the assembly hall were numerous sentries fully armed with US-made equipment and jeeps kept zooming up and down. Occasionally, US MPs were seen assisting in keeping watch in twos and threes. It was indeed an unusual day characterized by utmost vigilance and solemn atmosphere.

按照印發(fā)的時間表，儀式于上午九時舉行，“投降代表務(wù)必于八時五十二分到會場”，實際上是八時五十五分到場的，遲了三分鐘。代表投降一方的是駐華日軍最高指揮官陸軍大將岡村寧次，偕同其高級幕僚共七人，在一名國民黨上校軍官帶領(lǐng)下，乘車到達。聚集在門前的上百名中外記者，紛紛攝取這一情景。

According to the printed timetable distributed to the public, the surrender ceremony was to begin at 9:00 a.m. and the Japanese surrender delegation had to show up by 8:52 a.m., but they arrived at 8:55 a.m., that is, 3 minutes late. The Japanese delegation consisted of General Yasuji Okamura, supreme commander of the Japanese invading forces in China, and six of his senior aides. As they arrived by car under the guidance of a KMT colonel, over a hundred Chinese and foreign newsmen gathered at the gate hastened to click their cameras.

此時在大禮堂內(nèi)，一片凝固的沉默。禮堂中央的一側(cè)，設(shè)一較小的長條案，為日軍投降代表席，其后站立十二名全副武裝的士兵。與投降席相對，另一側(cè)的條桌寬長得多，這邊是國民黨高級將領(lǐng)及中國記者席。國民黨陸軍一級上將何應(yīng)欽代表中國接受降書。介乎兩桌之間的邊側(cè)置有一長桌，乃盟國代表和外國記者坐席。桌上都鋪著白桌布。所有參與其盛的人員均依次坐定，默默等待著那莊嚴(yán)時刻的到來，等待著日軍降將進入大廳。

There was a sustained utter silence in the hall. In the center of it, there was on one side a smaller long table for seating the Japanese delegates, with 12 fully-armed Chinese soldiers lining up behind. On the other side, there was another table, much longer and wider, for seating the KMT highranking officers and Chinese newsmen. KMT General He Ying-qin was to accept the surrender on behalf of China. Still another long table stood in between for Allied representatives and foreign correspondents. The tables were all covered with a white cloth. All personnel then took their seats one after another, quietly awaiting the solemn hour and the appearance of the Japanese delegation.

在這一瞬間，我的思潮翻騰。八年抗戰(zhàn)的災(zāi)難日子，任人宰割的中華民族，國土淪喪的屈辱生活，從此一去不復(fù)返了。然而內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的烏云籠罩著中國疆土之上，中國人民真正站起來的日子還有所待。不過我深信，這個日子將不是很遠了。

At this very moment, my mind was occupied with teeming thoughts. The disastrous days of the 8-year war of resistance were gone for ever. The Chinese people would never again be subjected to the humiliation of being annexed and subjugated. However, since the country was then enveloped in the dark clouds of civil war, it would be quite some time before the Chinese people could really rise to their feet. Nevertheless, I firmly believed that such a day would not be far off.

這時我注意到，日軍代表的投降席條案上擺著一臺小時鐘，還有一套紙墨筆硯。文具當(dāng)然是簽降書用的，至于小時鐘的用意則就不得而知了。

I noticed that there was on the table of the Japanese delegates a little clock in addition to paper, ink, writing brush and inkstone. The stationery was of course to be used for signing the surrender documents, but what about the little clock?

八時五十八分，禮堂內(nèi)燈光閃亮，攝影機紛紛開動。眾目睽睽下，日軍投降代表被引導(dǎo)入場，先站在規(guī)定的地位，立正，然后向何總司令鞠躬。何矜持地示意他們可入席坐下，便轉(zhuǎn)向中外記者宣布，距簽字式只有“最后五分鐘”了。于是中外記者一陣忙亂，場子里一陣響動。

At 8:58 a.m., the hall was ablaze with lights and cameras started clicking. The Japanese delegates were led in under the gaze of watchful eyes. They walked on until they reached the prescribed place, then stood at attention and bowed to General He. General He reservedly motioned them to their seats, and then turned to the newsmen with the announcement that the surrender ceremony was to begin in five minutes. Thereupon, there was a sudden flurry among the newsmen plus the sound of something astir throughout the hall.

九時零四分，何總司令站在盟國國旗下主持受降式，令岡村寧次大將遞上證明文件。岡村一身戎裝，臉色鐵青，毫無表情，坐在其旁的駐華日軍總參謀長陸軍中將小林淺三郎，持證明文件走過來，經(jīng)何應(yīng)欽驗閱后將文件留下。

At 9:04 a.m., General He, standing under the Allied flags to accept the surrender, ordered Yasuji Okamura to submit his certificates. The latter, in full military attire, looked ghastly pale and expressionless. Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi, Chief of General Staff of the Japanese forces of aggression in China, who had been sitting next to Okamura, came up to hand over the certificates to General He, who kept them after looking them over.

緊接著，兩份日軍降書中文本，交由小林參謀長轉(zhuǎn)給位于投降席居中的岡村寧次。岡村起立，雙手接過降書，取用案上的毛筆簽字蓋章。其中一份命小林參謀長交于岡村。投降簽字的過程約五分鐘。儀式歷時二十分鐘，日軍投降代表隨即被引導(dǎo)退出。

Then Kobayashi was given two copies of the instrument of surrender, both in Chinese, to be passed on to Okamura, who rose to take them with both hands and then picked up the writing brush from the table to sign his name and affix his seal on either copy. Kobayashi was then ordered to hand over one copy to Okamura. Altogether it took about five minutes to finish signing the surrender and twenty minutes for the ceremony to last until the Japanese were led out of the hall.

有一個細(xì)節(jié)不妨一記：我從旁觀察何應(yīng)欽向其僚屬低語，原來他要那支有歷史意義的毛筆留作紀(jì)念。

There is a titbit I would like to share with you, that is, I noticed General He whispering to his subordinates that he personally would like to keep the writing brush as a memento.

風(fēng)云變幻數(shù)十年，當(dāng)年的日軍投降書早已存入歷史的檔案，用于投降書上簽署的那支毛筆大概也不知去向。歷史是無情的，有它自己的軌跡和方向，偉大的中國人民抗日民族自衛(wèi)戰(zhàn)爭終于勝利了。日本軍國主義者以戰(zhàn)敗而告終。侵略者在中國大地上留下的那一段血腥的罪惡歷史，任何人都無法篡改，更不容抹煞。歷史只能還它本來的面目。

Now, the surrender documents have long since been consigned to the historical archives. And no one knows what has become of the writing brush that was used to sign the documents. History is inexorable, moving ahead according to its own course and direction. The great people of China have won the victory of the war of resistance against Japanese aggression and self-defence. Japanese militarism has ended in total defeat. The history of bloody crimes committed by the aggressors on Chinese soil shall never be falsified, let alone blotted out. History should be shown in its true colors.

四年前我在日本旅行的時候，廣泛接觸到日本各階層的人民，他們對過去日本軍國主義者侵占中國領(lǐng)土，都抱有沉重的贖罪心情。有一回，北海道的一戶牧場主看見我們伏地便拜。這是我親眼目睹的事實。我能夠理解日本人民的感情。他們也是軍國主義的受害者。

Four years ago, while traveling in Japan, I came into wide contact with Japanese people of various strata. They all felt deeply sorry for the Japanese militarists' aggressive acts against China. Once, I saw with my own eyes how the owner of a livestock farm in Hokkaido threw himself on the ground before us to show his remorse for the Japanese invasion of China. I well understood the feelings of the Japanese people. They, too, were victims of Japanese militarism.

從一九四五年九月九日到一九八五年九月九日，整整四十年過去了?；貞浰氖昵暗哪谴尾稍L，使我得以重溫歷史的一頁，也促使我進一步對歷史的回憶和思考。

It is now forty years to a day from September 9, 1945 to September 9, 1985. Recalling my news-gathering of forty years ago has enabled me to review the past. It has also deepened my thoughts on history.

《回憶一個歷史鏡頭》是當(dāng)代著名作家何為寫于1985年9月的一篇回憶錄。