SH01翻译：边城 (第四章:一至八章)(沈从文)
Translation: Border-City (Shen Congwen)
(translated by: alexcwlin; edited by: Adam Lam)
四
Chapter Four
——————————————————————————————–
还是两年前的事。
It happened two years ago.
五月端阳，
It was Dragon Boat Festival Day in May.
渡船头祖父找人作了代替，
Grandpa found a stand-in to work in his place at
the ferryboat crossing.
便带了黄狗同翠翠进城，过大河边去看划船。
Then he took Cuicui and the dog along to go inside
the city to the big riverbank to watch boat-rowing.
河边站满了人，
People packed the riversides.
四只朱色长船在潭中滑着，
Four red long boats were gliding across the pond.
龙船水刚刚涨过，河中水皆豆绿，
It was high tide in the dragon-boat river and the
water was pea-green.
天气又那么明朗，
The sky was bright and clear.
鼓声蓬蓬响着，
Drumbeats were rolling loud.
翠翠抿着嘴一句话不说，心中充满了不可言说的快乐。
Cuicui tightened her lips and did not make a peep,
but her heart was filled with unspeakable joy.
河边人太多了一点，各人皆尽张着眼睛望河中，
The riverside was too crowded and everybody was
straining their eyes to look towards the center of the river.
不多久，黄狗还在身边，祖父却挤得不见了。
Before long, while the dog was still staying by the
side of Cuicui, Grandpa was missing.
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠一面注意划船，一面心想“过不久祖父总会找来的”。
Cuicui was paying attention to the rowing boats and
she thought, “Grandpa will come back to look for me very soon.”
但过了许久，祖父还不来，
But after a long while, Grandpa did not show up.
翠翠便稍稍有点儿着慌了。
She was somewhat getting worried.
先是两人同黄狗进城前一天，祖父就问翠翠：“明天城里划船，
On the previous day before the two of them came to
town with the dog, Grandpa asked Cuicui, “Tomorrow there is going to be
boat-rowing in the city.
倘若一个人去看，人多怕不怕?”
If you go alone to watch, would you be afraid since
the place is crowded with people?”
翠翠就说：“人多我不怕，但自己只是一个人可不好玩。”
Cuicui said, “I’m not afraid of the crowd, but it
won’t be much fun if I’m going alone.”
于是祖父想了半天，方想起一个住在城中的老熟人，
So Grandpa thought for a good half-day before he
remembered there was an old acquaintance living in the city.
赶夜里到城里去商量，
So he went to pay him a visit during the dark hours
for a chat.
请那老人来看一天渡船，自己却陪翠翠进城玩一天。
He asked the old fellow to come for a day to take
care of the ferry operation so that he could accompany Cuicui to the city for a
day’s worth of fun.
且因为那人比渡船老人更孤单，身边无一个亲人，也无一只狗，
That old man was more lonesome than Grandpa of the
ferry-crossing since he had no relative or a dog.
因此便约好了那人早上过家中来吃饭，喝一杯雄黄酒。
So they agreed that the old man would come in the
morning for something to eat and a cup of realgar wine.
第二天那人来了，
On the next day, the man came.
吃了饭，把职务委托那人以后，翠翠等便进了城。
After eating and transferring job duties to the
man, Grandpa and Cuicui along with the dog headed for the city.
到路上时，祖父想起什么似的，又问翠翠，“翠翠，翠翠，人那么多，好热闹，
On the way, it seemed Grandpa thought of something
and he asked Cuicui, “Cuicui, this place is crowded and lively.
你一个人敢到河边看龙船吗?”
Would you be gutsy enough to go alone and watch
dragon boats at the riverbank?”
翠翠说：“怎么不敢?
Cuicui said, “Why wouldn’t I have enough guts?
可是一个人有什么意思。”
But then what’s the sense if I go alone?”
到了河边后，长潭里的四只红船，把翠翠的注意力完全占去了，
Once they arrived at the side of the river, the
four red boats on Long Pond completely captivated Cuicui’s attention.
身边祖父似乎也可有可无了。
The presence of Grandpa at Cuicui’s side became
redundant.
祖父心想：“时间还早，
Grandpa thought, “It is still early.
到收场时，至少还得三个时刻。
There are at least three more hours before the
event is over.
溪边的那个朋友，也应当来看看年青人的热闹，
My friend at the side of the stream should come and
watch the excitements of these young people.
回去一趟，换换地位还赶得及。”
There is time for me to make a trip back home and
switch place with him.”
——————————————————————————————–
因此就问翠翠，“人太多了，
Therefore he asked Cuicui, “There are too many
people around.
站在这里看，
Stand here and watch.
不要动，
Don’t go anywhere.
我到别处去有事情，
I have things to do somewhere else.
无论如何总赶得回来伴你回家。”
But I will come back to walk you home no matter
what happens.”
翠翠正为两只竞速并进的船迷着，
Cuicui was totally absorbed in two racing boats
going neck-to-neck.
祖父说的话毫不思索就答应了。
She nodded to what Grandpa said without much
thought.
祖父知道黄狗在翠翠身边，也许比他自己在她身边还稳当，
Grandpa knew Cuicui was in company of the dog, and
it would do a better job to protect her than him on her side.
于是便回家看船去了。
So he went home to check out his boat.
——————————————————————————————–
祖父到了那渡船处时，见代替他的老朋文，正站在白塔下注意听远处鼓声。
When Grandpa reached the ferry landing, he saw his
stand-in old friend was standing underneath the white turret and listening
attentively to the distant drumbeats.
——————————————————————————————–
祖父喊他，请他把船拉过来.
Grandpa called out to him and asked him to pull the
boat over to the other side.
两人渡过小溪仍然站到白塔下去。
The two of them crossed the stream and remained
standing under the white tower.
那人问老船夫为什么又跑回来，
The man asked Grandpa why he came back.
祖父就说想替他一会儿故把翠翠留在河边，
Grandpa said he wanted to take a shift for him at
work and so he intentionally left Cuicui by the riverside.
自己赶回来，好让他也过河边去看看热闹，
He rushed back so that his friend could get over to
the riverside to watch all the excitements.
且说，“看得好，就不必再回来，
Grandpa also said, “If you have fun watching, then
you don’t need to come back.
只须见了翠翠问她一声，
The only thing you need to do is when you see Cuicui,
tell her what is going on.
翠翠到时自会回家的。
When it’s time, Cuicui will come home by herself.
小丫头不敢回家，你就伴她走走!”
If that little girl is afraid to come home alone,
you keep her company to walk a bit.”
但那替手对于看龙船已无什么兴味，
But the stand-in was no longer interested in
watching dragon boats.
却愿意同老船夫在这溪边大石上各自再喝两杯烧酒。
However, he was more than willing to drink a couple
cups of rice-wine with Grandpa at the big rock beside the stream.
老船夫十分高兴，
Grandpa was very pleased.
把葫葫芦取出，推给城中来的那一个。
He took out the gourd-container and passed it to
the city-man.
两人一面谈些端午旧事，一面喝酒，
They drank wine as they were talking about things
in the old days during Dragon Boat Festival.
不到一会，那人却在岩石上为烧酒醉倒了。
Within a short period of time, the man passed out
on the rock from all the liquor.
——————————————————————————————–
人既醉倒了，无从入城，祖父为了责任又不便与渡船离开，
Since the man was out cold, Grandpa could no longer
get to the city because he was duty-bound and could not leave the ferry
unattended.
留在河边的翠翠便不能不着急了。
Cuicui, who was left behind by the side of the
river, became very anxious.
——————————————————————————————–
河中划船的决了最后胜负后，城里军官已派人驾小船在潭中放了一群鸭子，
Once the final winner was declared in the
boat-rowing competitions, the army officer in the city dispatched someone to
release a flock of ducks from a boat.
祖父还不见来。
As yet Grandpa had not shown up.
翠翠恐怕祖父也正在什么地方等着她，
Cuicui was concerned Grandpa could be waiting for
her somewhere else.
因此带了黄狗各处人丛中挤着去找寻祖父，
So she brought along the yellow dog and squeezed
their way through different crowds to find Grandpa.
结果还是不得祖父的踪迹。
And yet there was no trace of Grandpa.
后来看看天快要黑了，军人扛了长凳出城看热闹的，皆已陆续扛了那凳子回家。
Later when it was getting dark, soldiers who
carried benches with them outside of the city to watch the fun were taking the
benches home one after another.
潭中的鸭子只剩下三五只，捉鸭人也渐渐的少了。
Only three to five ducks were left in the pond, and
duck-catchers were thinning out.
落日向上游翠翠家中那一方落去，
The sun was setting in the direction where Cuicui’s
home was.
黄昏把河面装饰了一层薄雾。
The evening adorned river surface with a layer of
thin mist.
翠翠望到这个景致，忽然起了一个怕人的想头，她想：“假若爷爷死了?”
In seeing this scenery, a horrible thought popped
up in Cuicui’s mind, “What if Grandpa is dead?”
——————————————————————————————–
她记起祖父嘱咐她不要离开原来地方那一句话，
Cuicui recalled Grandpa instructed her to stay put
where she was.
便又为自己解释这想头的错误，
In her mind she tried to find a logical explanation
to dispel the notion that Grandpa could be dead.
以为祖父不来必是进城去或到什么熟人处去，
She figured Grandpa’s failure to show up was
because he had gone into the city or to visit an acquaintance.
被人拉着喝酒，故一时不能来的。
Someone had asked him to stay for a drink, and therefore
he could not come right away.
正因为这也是可能的事，她又不愿在天未断黑以前，同黄狗赶回家去，只好站在那石码头边等候祖父。
Because such was a possibility, she did not want to
hurry home with the dog before dark and simply stood beside the stone-pier
waiting for Grandpa.
——————————————————————————————–
再过一会，对河那两只长船已泊到对河小溪里去不见了，
A while later, the two long boats had moored in a
small stream at the opposite side of the river and went out of sight.
看龙船的人也差不多全散了。
Dragon-boat spectators had more or less
disappeared.
吊脚楼有娼妓的人家，已上了灯，且有人敲小斑鼓弹月琴唱曲子。
Households in stilted buildings who were
prostitutes had hung lighted (1) lanterns outside, and music from little drums,
moon-shaped Chinese guitars and singing could be heard.
另外一些人家，又有划拳行酒的吵嚷声音。
Boisterous noises from playing
guess-finger-drinking games came out from some other families.
同时停泊在吊脚楼下的一些船只，上面也有人在摆酒炒菜，
On some boats moored below stilted buildings,
dishes were being prepared and cups of wine were set for banquets.
把青菜萝卜之类，倒进滚热油锅里去时发出唦——的声音。
Green vegetables, turnips, etc. fried in hot oil
were making sizzling noises.
河面已朦朦胧胧，看去好象只有一只白在潭中浮着，
River surface was getting hazy, and it appeared
only one duck was left floating around in the pond.
也只剩一个人追着这只鸭子。
A single person was chasing after it.
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠还是不离开码头，
Cuicui was still waiting at the pier.
总相信祖父会来找她，同她一起回家。
She believed eventually Grandpa would come to find
her and they would go home together.
——————————————————————————————–
吊脚楼上唱曲子声音热闹了一些，
Singing up at stilted buildings was getting
livelier.
只听到下面船上有人说话，
People down at a boat were heard talking.
一个水手说：“金亭，你听你那铺子陪川东庄客喝酒唱曲子，
One sailor said: “Jin Ting, listen to the singing
voice in the shop from the woman who is keeping the traveling salesmen from
Eastern Sichuan company in drinking.
我赌个手指，说这是她的声音!”
I bet you a finger this is her voice.”
——————————————————————————————–
另一个水手就说：“她陪他们喝酒唱曲子，心里可想我。
Another sailor said, “But I know she is thinking
about me while she is accompanying them in singing and drinking.
她知道我在船上!”
She knows I am in the boat.”
先前那一个又说：“身体让别人玩着，心还想着你;
The previous person said, “Her body is being
fondled by other people, and how could she be thinking about you.
你有什么凭据?”
What proof do you have?”
另一个说：“有凭据。”
The other one said, “Let me give you proof.”
于是这水手吹着唿哨，作出一个古怪的记号，
So the sailor whistled out a peculiar signal.
一会儿，楼上歌声便停止了。
Shortly, the singing up at the building stopped.
——————————————————————————————–
歌声停止后，两个水手皆笑了。
After the singing had stopped, both sailors laughed.
两人接着便说了些关于那个女人的一切，使用了不少粗鄙字眼，
The two of them talked something about the woman
and used quite a few vulgar words.
翠翠很不习惯把这种话听下去，但又不能走开。
Cuicui was not used to that kind of language, but
she could not go elsewhere.
且听水手之一说，楼上妇人的爸爸是在棉花坡被人杀死的，一共杀了十七刀。
She heard one sailor mention the father of the
woman upstairs was murdered by someone at Cotton Slope, and he was stabbed
seventeen times.
翠翠心中那个古怪的想头，“爷爷死了呢?”便仍然占据到心里有一忽儿。
So Cuicui’s strange thought on “What if Grandpa is
dead?” still lingered in her mind for a little while.
——————————————————————————————–
两个水手还正在谈话，潭中那只白鸭慢慢的向翠翠所在的码头边游来，
While the two sailors were still talking, the white
duck in the pond swam slowly towards the pier where Cuicui was hanging around.
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠想：“再过来些我就捉住你!”
Cuicui thought: “If you come any closer, I am going
to catch you.”
于是静静的等着，
So she waited quietly.
但那鸭子将近岸边三丈远近时，却有个人笑着，喊那船上水手。
But when the duck was three “zhangs” away from
shore, someone laughed and called out to the sailor on the boat.
原来水中还有个人，
It turned out a person was in the water.
那人已把鸭子捉到手，却慢慢的“踹水”游近岸边的。
He had caught the duck and was treading water
towards shore.
船上人听到水面的喊声，在隐约里也喊道：“二老，二老，你真干，
The person on the boat heard the voice from water
surface and shouted to him in an indistinct voice, “Little Brother, you’re
fantastic.
你今天得了五只吧。”
You caught five of them today.”
那水上人说：“这家伙狡猾得很，现在可归我了。”
The person in the water said, “This fellow is
tricky, but now it is mine.”
——————————————————————————————–
“你这时捉鸭子，
“You are catching ducks now.
将来捉女人，一定有同样的本领。”
I bet in the future you can catch women just as
well.”
水上那一个不再说什么，
The person in the water did not say anything.
手脚并用的拍着水傍了码头。湿淋淋的爬上岸时，
In splashing water with hands and feet, he swam
close to the pier and then climbed ashore dripping wet.
翠翠身旁的黄狗，仿佛警问水中人似的，汪汪的叫了几声，
The dog beside Cuicui barked a few times seemingly
to give a warning to the individual in the water.
那人方注意到翠翠。
The person noticed Cuicui.
码头上已无别的人，那人问：
There was no one else at the pier and he asked,
——————————————————————————————–
“是谁?”
“Who’s there?”
——————————————————————————————–
“是翠翠!”
“It’s Cuicui!”
——————————————————————————————–
“翠翠又是谁?”
“Who is Cuicui?”
——————————————————————————————–
“是碧溪岨撑渡船的孙女。”
“I’m the granddaughter of the ferry operator at
Green Creek Pass.”
——————————————————————————————–
“你在这儿做什么?”
“What are you doing here?”
——————————————————————————————–
“我等我爷爷。
“I’m waiting for Grandpa.
我等他来好回家去。”
I wait for him to come so that we can go home
together.”
——————————————————————————————–
“等他来他可不会来，
“You could wait all you want but likely your
grandfather is not going to show up.
你爷爷一定到城里军营里喝了酒，醉倒后被人抬回去了!”
He could have gone drinking inside the barracks in
the city and was carried back home by someone after he was drunk.”
——————————————————————————————–
“他不会。
“He won’t do such a thing.
他答应来，他就一定会来的。”
He has promised and he will come.”
——————————————————————————————–
“这里等也不成。
“You should not be waiting here like this.
到我家里去，
Go to my home.
到那边点了灯的楼上去，
It’s upstairs in the building over there with
lights.
等爷爷来找你好不好?”
How about waiting there for your grandfather?”
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠误会邀他进屋里去那个人的好意，
Cuicui misunderstood the good intention of the
person in inviting her to his home.
正记着水手说的妇人丑事，
She still remembered the shameful story of the
woman in the sailors’ conversation.
她以为那男子就是要她上有女人唱歌的楼上去，
In her mind, she thought the man wanted her to go
up to the building where the woman was singing.
本来从不骂人，
All along, she never cursed other people.
这时正因等候祖父太久了，心中焦急得很，听人要她上去，以为欺侮了她，
But in getting antsy over waiting a long time for
Grandpa, she thought the man was getting fresh with her in inviting her
upstairs.
就轻轻的说：
So she said under her breath,
———————————————————————————————–
“你个悖时砍脑壳的!”
“Go to hell, you damn pervert.”
——————————————————————————————–
话虽轻轻的，那男的却听得出，
Even though the voice was low, the man could hear
what she said.
且从声音上听得出翠翠年纪，
From her voice he was able to guess her age.
便带笑说：“怎么，
So he said with a smile, “What?
你骂人!
Are you cursing me?
你不愿意上去，要呆在这儿，回头水里大鱼来咬了你，可不要叫喊!”
If you choose not to go upstairs and stay idly here
instead, don’t cry if a big fish from water comes to bite you.”
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠说：“鱼咬了我也不管你的事。”
Cuicui said, “It’s none of your business if a fish bites
me.”
——————————————————————————————–
那黄狗好象明白翠翠被人欺侮了，又汪汪的吠起来。
The dog seemed to understand someone was giving
Cuicui a hard time, and so it started barking again.
那男子把手中白鸭举起，向黄狗吓了一下，
The man raised the white duck in his hand to give
the dog a scare.
便走上河街去了。
Then he went up River Street.
黄狗为了自己被欺侮还想追过去，
The dog thought it had been bullied and wanted to
chase after the man.
翠翠便喊：“狗，狗，你叫人也看人叫!”
Cuicui shouted, “Doggie, if you want to bark, you should
choose whom you are barking to.”
翠翠意思仿佛只在问给狗“那轻薄男子还不值得叫”，
Cuicui’s intention seemed to be telling the dog
sarcastically that it should not bother to bark at a flirtatious man.
但男子听去的却是另外一种好意，
But the man misinterpreted those words to be
well-intended.
男的以为是她要狗莫向好人叫，
He thought she was telling the dog not to bark at a
good person.
放肆的笑着，不见了。
So he laughed heartily and disappeared.
——————————————————————————————–
又过了一阵，有人从河街拿了一个废缆做成的火炬，
A little while later, someone came from River
Street holding a torch made from waste bamboo-cable.
喊叫着翠翠的名字来找寻她，
He was calling Cuicui’s name to find her.
到身边时翠翠却不认识那个人。
But when he came up in front of Cuicui, she did not
recognize him.
那人说：老船夫回到家中，不能来接她，
The individual said that the old boatman went home
and could not come to pick her up.
故搭了过渡人口信来，问翠翠要她即刻就回去。
So he asked a ferry-passenger for a favor to bring
a message to Cuicui in telling her to come home right away.
翠翠听说是祖父派来的，就同那人一起回家，
Cuicui heard it was dispatched by Grandpa and so
she went home with that man.
让打火把的在前引路，黄狗时前时后，
The man was showing the way with the torch while
the dog was running sometimes ahead and other times behind them.
一同沿了城墙向渡口走去。
They walked along the city wall towards the
ferry-crossing.
翠翠一面走一面问那拿火把的人，是谁问他就知道她在河边。
As they were walking, Cuicui enquired the person
holding the torch on who actually asked him and told him Cuicui was beside the
river.
那人说是二老问他的，
That person said it was Master Two who asked him.
他是二老家里的伙计，
He was a worker at the home of Master Two.
送翠翠回家后还得回转河街。
After taking Cuicui home, he had to return to River
Street.
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠说：“二老他怎么知道我在河边?”
Cuicui said, “How did Master Two know I am right
beside the river?”
——————————————————————————————–
那人便笑着说：“他从河里捉鸭子回来，在码头上见你，
The person smiled and said, “He came back after
catching ducks in the river and ran into you at the pier.
他说好意请你上家里坐坐，等候你爷爷，你还骂过他!”
With nothing but good intention he invited you home
to sit around a bit and wait for your grandfather, but you gave him heck.”
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠带了点儿惊讶轻轻的问：“二老是谁?”
Being somewhat surprised Cuicui asked sheepishly,
“Who is Master Two?”
——————————————————————————————–
那人也带了点儿惊讶说：“二老你都不知道?
The person was a bit amazed at her ignorance and
said, “Do you mean you don’t know Master Two?
就是我们河街上的傩送二老!就是岳云!
He is Nuosong the famous second son on River
Street, who also goes by the name Yueyun.
他要我送你回去!”
He wanted me to take you home.”
傩送二老在茶峒地方不是一个生疏的名字!
Nuosong the second master was not an unfamiliar
name in the area of Chadong.
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠想起自己先前骂人那句话，
Cuicui thought of the words which she used to curse
him previously.
心里又吃惊又害羞，
She felt startled and embarrassed.
再也不说什么，默默的随了那火把走去。
So she did not say anything more and followed the
torch in walking forward quietly.
——————————————————————————————–
翻过了小山岨，望得见对溪家中火光时，
After they went over the pass of the small hill,
they saw lights from her home on the opposite side of the stream.
那一方面也看见了翠翠方面的火把，
At the other side, the torch with Cuicui could also
be spotted.
老船夫即刻把船拉过来，一面拉船一面哑声儿喊问：“翠翠，翠翠，是不是你?”
Grandpa immediately got the boat over and asked
with a cracked voice as he was pulling, “Cuicui, is that you?”
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠不理会祖父，口中却轻轻的说：“不是翠翠，不是翠翠，
Cuicui ignored Grandpa but under her breath she
muttered softly, “It’s not Cuicui.
翠翠早被大河里鲤鱼吃去了。”
She was swallowed by a big carp in the river long
time ago.”
翠翠上了船，
Cuicui jumped onto the boat.
二老派来的人，打着火把走了，
The man sent by Master Two went away holding the
torch.
祖父牵着船问：“翠翠，你怎么不答应我，
Grandpa, who was leading the boat forward, asked,
“Cuicui, why don’t you answer me?
生我的气了吗?”
Are you mad at me?”
——————————————————————————————–
翠翠站在船头还是不作声。
Cuicui stayed mum standing at the front of the
boat.
翠翠对祖父那一点儿埋怨，等到把船拉过了溪，一到了家中，看明白了醉倒的另一个老人后，就完事了。
But what little grumble she had with Grandpa
quickly dissipated once she understood what happened when she got home and saw
the drunken old man.
但另一件事，属于自己不关祖父的，却使翠翠沉默了一个夜晚。
But the other earlier incident which had nothing to
do with Grandpa caused Cuicui to stay mute for one whole night.
附注(四)
(1)
“lit” or “lighted”
Both “lit” and “lighted” are the Past Tense and Past
Participle of the verb “light” and so it is safe to use either one of them in
appropriate situations. Sometimes a writer would choose the one which sounds
better to him.
However, if you really want to be picky, “lit” seems to be a more favored word
than “lighted”. Someone would make the distinction that “lighted” is used for
adjective (past participle) and “lit” is used for verb.
——————————————————————————————–
