雙語全文 ● 魯迅 阿Q正傳——第五章　生計問題

Chapter 5

 

The Problem of Making a Living

 

After Ah Q had kowtowed and complied with the Zhao family’s terms，he went back as usual to the Tutelary God’s Temple. The sun had gone down， and he began to feel that something was wrong. Careful thought led him to the conclusion that this was probably because his back was bare. Re­membering that he still had a ragged lined jacket， he put it on and lay down，and when he opened his eyes again the sun was already shining on the top of the west wall. He sat up， saying， “Curse it ...”

 

After getting up he loafed about the streets as usual， until he began to feel that something else was wrong， though this was not to be compared to the physical discomfort of a bare back. Apparently， from that day onwards all the women in Weizhuang fought shy of Ah Q： whenever they saw him coming they took refuge indoors. In fact， even Mrs. Zou who was nearing fifty retreated in confusion with the rest， calling her eleven-year-old daugh­ter to go inside. This struck Ah Q as very strange. “The bitches！” he thought.“All of a sudden they’re behaving like young ladies ...”

 

A good many days later， however， he felt even more forcibly that some­thing was wrong. First， the tavern refused him credit； secondly， the old man in charge of the Tutelary God’s Temple made some uncalled-for remarks， as if he wanted Ah Q to leave； and thirdly， for many days—how many exactly he could not remember—not a soul had come to hire him. To be refused credit in the tavern he could put up with； if the old man kept urging him to leave， he could just ignore his complaints； but when no one came to hire him he had to go hungry， and this was really a “cursed” state to be in.

 

第五章　生計問題

 

阿Q禮畢之后，仍舊回到土谷祠，太陽下去了，漸漸覺得世上有些古怪。他仔細(xì)一想，終于省悟過來：其原因蓋在自己的赤膊。他記得破夾祅還在，便披在身上，躺倒了，待張開眼睛，原來太陽又已經(jīng)照在西墻上頭了。他坐起身，一面說道，“媽媽的…”

 

他起來之后，也仍舊在街上逛，雖然不比赤膊之有切膚之痛，卻又漸漸的覺得世上有些古怪了。仿佛從這一天起，未莊的女人們忽然都怕了羞，伊們一見阿Q走來，便個個躲進門里去。甚而至于將近五十歲的鄒七嫂，也跟著別人亂鉆，而且將十一歲的女兒都叫進去了。阿Q很以為奇，而且想：“這些東西忽然都學(xué)起小姐模樣來了。這娼婦們……”

 

但他更覺得世上有些古怪，卻是許多日以后的事。其一，酒店不肯賒欠了；其二，管土谷祠的老頭子說些廢話，似乎叫他走；其三，他雖然記不清多少日，但確乎有許多日，沒有一個人來叫他做短工。酒店不賒，熬著也罷了；老頭子催他走，嚕蘇一通也就算了；只是沒有人來叫他做短工，卻使阿Q肚子餓：這委實是一件非常“媽媽的”的事情。

 

When Ah Q could stand it no longer he went to his former employers’homes to find out what was the matter—it was only Mr. Zhao’s threshold that he was not allowed to cross. But he met with a strange reception. The one to appear was always a man looking thoroughly annoyed who waved him away as if he were a beggar， saying：

 

“There’s nothing for you， get out！”

 

Ah Q found it more and more extraordinary. “These people always needed help in the past，” he thought. “They can’t suddenly have nothing to be done. This looks fishy. ” After making careful inquiries he found out that when they had any odd jobs they all called in Young D. Now this Young D was a thin and weakly pauper， even lower in Ah Q’s eyes than Whiskers Wang. Who could have thought that this low fellow would steal this living from him？ So this time Ah Q’s indignation was greater than usual， and go­ing on his way， fuming， he suddenly raised his arm and sang：

 

“Steel mace in hand I shall trounce you....”

 

A few days later he did indeed meet Young D in front of Mr. Qian’s house. “When two foes meet， there is no mistaking each other. ” As Ah Q ad­vanced upon him， Young D stood his ground.

 

“Beast！” spluttered Ah Q， glaring.

 

“I’m an insect—will that do？” rejoined Young D.

 

Such modesty only enraged Ah Q even more， but since he had no steel mace in his hand all he could do was to rush forward to grab at Young D’s queue. Young D， protecting his own queue with one hand， grabbed at Ah Q’s with the other， whereupon Ah Q also used his free hand to protect his own queue. In the past Ah Q had never considered Young D worth taking seriously， but owing to his recent privations he was now as thin and weak as his opponent ， so that they presented a spectacle of evenly matched antagonists， four hands clutching at two heads， both men bending at the waist， casting a blue， rainbow-shaped shadow on the Qian family’s white wall for over half an hour.

 

阿Q忍不下去了，他只好到老主顧的家里去探問，——但獨不許踏進趙府的門檻，——然而情形也異樣：一定走出一個男人來，現(xiàn)了十分煩厭的相貌，像回復(fù)乞丐一般的搖手道：

 

“沒有沒有！你出去！”

 

阿Q愈覺得稀奇了。他想，這些人家向來少不了要幫忙，不至于現(xiàn)在忽然都無事，這總該有些蹊蹺在里面了。他留心打聽，才知道他們有事都去叫小Don。這小D，是一個窮小子，又痩又乏，在阿Q的眼睛里，位置是在王胡之下的，誰料這小子竟謀了他的飯碗去。所以阿Q這一氣，更與平常不同，當(dāng)氣憤憤的走著的時候，忽然將手一揚，唱道：

 

“我手執(zhí)鋼鞭將你打！……”

 

幾天之后，他竟在錢府的照壁前遇見了小D。“仇人相見分外眼明”，阿Q便迎上去，小D也站住了。

 

“畜生！”阿Q怒目而視的說，嘴角上飛出唾沫來。

 

“我是蟲豸，好么？……”小D說。

 

這謙遜反使阿Q更加憤怒起來，但他手里沒有鋼鞭，于是只得撲上去，伸手去拔小D的辮子。小D一手護住了自己的辮根，一手也來拔阿Q的辮子，阿Q便也將空著的一只手護住了自己的辮根。從先前的阿Q看來，小D本來是不足齒數(shù)的，但他近來挨了餓，又痩又乏已經(jīng)不下于小D，所以便成了勢均力敵的現(xiàn)象，四只手拔著兩顆頭，都彎了腰，在錢家粉墻上映出一個藍(lán)色的虹形，至于半點鐘之久了。

 

“All right！ All right！” exclaimed some of the onlookers， probably by way of mediation.

 

“Good， good！” exclaimed others， but whether to mediate， applaud the fighters， or spur them on to further efforts， is not certain.

 

The two combatants turned deaf ears to them all， however. If Ah Q ad­vanced three paces， Young D would recoil three paces， and there they would stand. If Young D advanced three paces， Ah Q would recoil three paces， and there they would stand again. After about half an hour—Weizhuang had few clocks， so it is difficult to tell the time； it may have been twenty minutes—when steam was rising from their heads and sweat pour­ing down their cheeks， Ah Q let fall his hands， and in the same second Young D’s hands fell too. They straightened up simultaneously and stepped back simultaneously， pushing their way out through the crowd.

 

“Just you wait， curse you！” called Ah Q over his shoulder.

 

“Curse you！ Just you wait ... ” echoed Young D， also over his shoulder.

 

This epic struggle had apparently ended in neither victory nor defeat，and it is not known whether the spectators were satisfied or not， for none of them expressed any opinion. But still not a soul came to hire Ah Q for odd jobs.

 

One warm day， when a balmy breeze seemed to give some foretaste of summer， Ah Q actually felt cold； but he could put up with this—his greatest worry was an empty stomach. His cotton quilt， felt hat， and shirt had long since disappeared， and after that he had sold his padded jacket. Now noth­ing was left but his trousers， and these of course he could not take off. He had a ragged lined jacket， it is true； but this was certainly worthless， unless he gave it away to be made into shoe-soles. He had long been dreaming of finding some money on the road， but hitherto he had not come across any；he had also been hoping he might suddenly discover some money in his tumble-down room， and had frantically ransacked it， but the room was quite， quite empty. Then he made up his mind to go out in search of food.

 

“好了，好了！”看的人們說，大約是解勸的。

 

“好，好！”看的人們說，不知道是解勸，是頌揚，還是煽動。

 

然而他們都不聽。阿Q進三步，小D便退三步，都站著；小D進三步，阿Q便退三步，又都站著。大約半點鐘，——未莊少有自鳴鐘，所以很難說，或者二十分，——他們的頭發(fā)里便都冒煙，額上便都流汗，阿Q的手放松了，在同一瞬間，小D的手也正放松了，同時直起，同時退開，都擠出人叢去。

 

“記著罷，媽媽的……”阿Q回過頭去說。

 

“媽媽的，記著罷……”小D也回過頭來說。

 

這一場“龍虎斗”似乎并無勝敗，也不知道看的人可滿足，都沒有發(fā)什么議論，而阿Q卻仍然沒有人來叫他做短工。

 

有一日很溫和，微風(fēng)拂拂的頗有些夏意了，阿Q卻覺得寒冷起來，但這還可擔(dān)當(dāng)，第一倒是肚子餓。棉被，氈帽，布衫，早已沒有了，其次就賣了棉祅；現(xiàn)在有褲子，卻萬不可脫的；有破夾祅，又除了送人做鞋底之外，決定賣不出錢。他早想在路上拾得一注錢，但至今還沒有見；他想在自己的破屋里忽然尋到一注錢，慌張的四顧，但屋內(nèi)是空虛而且了然,于是他決計出門求食去了。

 

As he walked along the road “in search of food” he saw the familiar tavern and the familiar steamed bread， but he passed them by without paus­ing for a second， without even hankering after them. It was not these he was looking for， although what exactly he was looking for he did not know him­self.

 

Since Weizhuang was not a big place， he soon left it behind. Most of the country outside the village consisted of paddy fields， green as far as the eye could see with the tender shoots of young rice， dotted here and there with round， black， moving objects—peasants cultivating their fields. But blind to the delights of country life， Ah Q simply went on his way， for he knew instinctively that this was far removed from his “search for food.” Finally，however， he came to the walls of the Convent of Quiet Self-improvement.

 

The convent too was surrounded by paddy fields， its white walls stand­ing out sharply in the fresh green， and inside the low earthen wall at the back was a vegetable garden. Ah Q hesitated for a time， looking around him. Since there was no one in sight he scrambled on to the low wall， holding on to some milkwort. The mud wall started crumbling， and Ah Q shook with fear； however， by clutching at the branch of a mulberry tree he managed to jump over it. Within was a wild profusion of vegetation， but no sign of yel­low wine， steamed bread， or anything edible. A clump of bamboos by the west wall had put forth many young shoots， but unfortunately these were not cooked. There was also rape which had long since gone to seed， mustard already about to flower， and some tough old cabbages.

 

Resentful as a scholar who has failed the examinations Ah Q walked slowly towards the gate of the garden. Suddenly， however， he gave a start of joy， for what did he see there but a patch of turnips！ He knelt down and had just begun pulling when a round head appeared from behind the gate， only to be promptly withdrawn. This was no other than the little nun. Now though Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns， there are times when “Discretion is the better part of valour.” He hastily pulled up four turnips， tore off the leaves， and stuffed them under his jacket. By this time an old nun had already come out.

 

他在路上走著要“求食”，看見熟識的酒店，看見熟識的饅頭，但他都走過了，不但沒有暫停，而且并不想要。他所求的不是這類東西了；他求的是什么東西，他自己不知道。

 

未莊本不是大村鎮(zhèn)，不多時便走盡了。村外多是水田，滿眼是新秧的嫩綠，夾著幾個圓形的活動的黑點，便是耕田的農(nóng)夫。阿Q并不賞鑒這田家樂，卻只是走，因為他直覺的知道這與他的“求食”之道是很遼遠(yuǎn)的。但他終于走到靜修庵的墻外了。

 

庵周圍也是水田，粉墻突出在新綠里，后面的低土墻里是菜園。阿Q遲疑了一會，四面一看，并沒有人。他便爬上這矮墻去，扯著何首烏藤，但泥土仍然簌簌的掉，阿Q的腳也索索的抖；終于攀著桑樹枝，跳到里面了。里面真是郁郁蔥蔥，但似乎并沒有黃酒饅頭，以及此外可吃的之類?？课鲏κ侵駞?，下面許多筍，只可惜都是并未煮熟的，還有油菜早經(jīng)結(jié)子，芥菜已將開花，小白菜也很老了。

 

阿Q仿佛文童落第似的覺得很冤屈，他慢慢走近園門去，忽而非常驚喜了，這分明是一畦老蘿卜。他于是蹲下便拔，而門口突然伸出一個很圓的頭來，又即縮回去了，這分明是小尼姑。小尼姑之流是阿Q本來視若草芥的，但世事須“退一步想”，所以他便趕緊拔起四個蘿卜，擰下青葉，兜在大襟里。然而老尼姑已經(jīng)出來了。