經典英語散文:月是故鄉(xiāng)明(季羨林散文漢譯英佳作)

　　Bright is the Moon over My Home Village

　　季羨林

　　By Ji Xianlin

　　每個人都有個故鄉(xiāng)，人人的故鄉(xiāng)都有個月亮，人人都愛自己的故鄉(xiāng)的月亮。事情大概就是這個樣子。

　　Everyone has his hometown, every hometown has a moon, and everyone loves the moon over his hometown. Presumably, that's how things are.

　　但是，如果只有孤零零一個月亮，未免顯得有點孤單。因此，在中國古代詩文中，月亮總有什么東西當陪襯，最多的是山和水，什么“山高月小”、“三潭印月”等等，不可勝數(shù)。

　　However, the moon would look lonely if it hung in the sky all by itself. In classic Chinese poems or essays, therefore, the moon is always accompanied by something, most likely by a mountain or a river. Hence, "High is the mountain, and small is the moon," and "Three towers reflected on the lake on a moonlight night," etc. There are simply too many such scenes to count.

　　我的故鄉(xiāng)是在山東西北部大平原上。我小的時候，從來沒有見過山，也不知山為何物。我曾幻想，山大概是一個圓而粗的柱子吧，頂天立地，好不威風。

　　My home village is located on a major plain in northwestern Shandong. I never saw a mountain when I was small; as a result, I didn't know what a mountain was like. In my imagination, a mountain was probably a thick and round column, so tall that it pierced the sky and looked awesome.

　　以后到了濟南，才見到山，恍然大悟：山原來是這個樣子呀。因此，我在故鄉(xiāng)望月，從來不同山聯(lián)系。像蘇東坡說的“月出于東山之上，徘徊于斗牛之間”，完全是我無法想象的。

　　When I grew up, I went to Jinan, where I saw some mountains for the first time. Suddenly I became aware of what a mountain was. The moon that I saw in my village when I was young, therefore, was never associated with any mountains. It was beyond my wildest dream to understand what the poet Su Dongpo said in his poem: "The moon rises above the Eastern Mountain and lingers between the Southern Dipper and Altair."

　　至于水，我的故鄉(xiāng)小村卻大大地有。幾個大葦坑占了小村面積一多半。在我這個小孩子眼中，雖不能像洞庭湖“八月湖水平”那樣有氣派，但也頗有一點煙波浩渺之勢。

　　As for water, there was plenty of it in my small village. Several reed-filled ponds made up most of the village. In the eyes of a kid such as me, those ponds were not as magnificent as Lake Dongting whose "waters in August are placid," but they did seem to extend far and wide.

　　到了夏天，黃昏以后，我在坑邊的場院里躺在地上，數(shù)天上的星星。有時候站在古柳下面點起篝火。然后上樹一搖，成群的知了飛落下來。比白天用嚼爛的麥粒去粘要容易得多。我天天晚上樂此不彼，天天盼望黃昏早早來臨。

　　On a summer evening, I would lie on the ground near a pond and try to count the stars in the sky. Occasionally a bonfire would be set under an old willow. Someone would climb onto the tree and shake it. And lo and behold, many cicadas would drop down. That was a much easier way of catching cicada than trying to get them glued to chewed wheat grains. Every evening I took great pleasure in doing that, and everybody I looked forward to the early arrival of dusk.

　　到了更晚的時候，我走到坑邊，抬頭看到晴空一輪明月，清光四溢，與水里的那個月亮相映成趣。我當時雖然還不懂什么叫詩興，但也顧而樂之，心中油然有什么東西在萌動。

　　Later in the evening, I would walk to a pond, where I looked up at the moon in the sky, bright and clear, and down at the moon reflected, just as bright and clear, on the surface of the pond. Too young to know what a poem was, I was nonetheless so impressed by what I had seen that there seemed to be something stirring in my heart. On some days, I would play by the pond late into the night.

　　有時候在坑邊玩很久，才回家睡覺。在夢中見到兩個月亮疊在一起，清光更加晶瑩澄澈。第二天一早起來，到坑邊葦子叢里去撿鴨子下的蛋，白白地一閃光，手伸向水中，一摸就是一個蛋。此時更是樂不可支了。

　　Not until midnight did I go home to sleep. And in my dream, I would see two moons, one on the top of the other, their light shining all the more brightly and splendidly. The next day, early in the morning, I would go to the pond to look for duck eggs in the reeds. Glistening, they were there for me to pick. I was happy beyond words.

　　我只在故鄉(xiāng)呆了六年，以后就離鄉(xiāng)背井，漂泊天涯。在濟南住了十多年，在北京度過四年，又回到濟南呆了一年，然后在歐洲住了近十一年，重又回到北京，到現(xiàn)在已經四十多年了。在這期間，我曾到過世界上將近三十個國家，我看過許許多多的月亮。

　　I lived in my home village for only six years. Then I left it and began to live the life of an itinerant, roaming freely all over the world. First I spent a dozen or so years in Jinan, then I spent four years in Peking and then I returned to Jinan for one more year. Following that, I lived in Europe nearly eleven years, only to return to Peking again. Altogether, it was over forty years, during which I visited nearly 30 countries and saw the moon everywhere I went.

　　在風光旖旎的瑞士萊茫湖上，在平沙無垠的非洲大沙漠中，在碧波萬頃的大海中，在巍峨雄奇的高山上，我都看到過月亮，這些月亮應該說都是美妙絕倫的，我都異常喜歡。

　　I saw it in Lake Leman in Switzerland, on the great desert in Africa, in the vast sea, and over huge mountains. The moon was undisputedly beautiful wherever I saw it, and I liked it every time I saw it.

　　但是，看到它們，我立刻就想到我故鄉(xiāng)那葦坑上面和水中的那個小月亮。對比之下，無論如何我也感到，這些廣闊世界的大月亮，萬萬比不上我那心愛的小月亮。不管我離開我的故鄉(xiāng)多少萬里，我的心立刻就飛來了。我的小月亮，我永遠忘不掉你!

　　But the sight of the moon in foreign lands would invariably remind me of the small moon I had seen over my own village, reflected on the water of a pond. I always felt that, however big and beautiful the foreign moon was, it could not be as bright and beautiful as the lovely moon I saw over my small village. However distant I might be from my home village, the thought of that lovely moon would make my heart fly back. My dear lovely small moon, I'll never forget you!

　　我現(xiàn)在已經年近耄耋。住的朗潤園是燕園勝地?？浯笠稽c說，此地有茂林修竹，綠水環(huán)流，還有幾座土山，點綴其間。風光無疑是絕妙的。

　　Now almost 70 years old, I live at Peking University in its Langrun Garden, which is itself a scenic attraction. To brag a bit, I would describe it as having lush bushes and slender bamboo with streams running merrily around several tiny hills. The scene is exquisitely beautiful.

　　前幾年，我從廬山休養(yǎng)回來，一個同在廬山休養(yǎng)的老朋友來看我。他看到這樣的風光，慨然說：“你住在這樣的好地方，還到廬山去干嗎呢!”可見朗潤園給人印象之深。此地既然有山，有水，有樹，有竹，有花，有鳥。

　　A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a summer vacation in Mt. Lushan, one of the best summer resorts in China. Back in Peking together with one of my old friends, he exclaimed at the sight of Langrun Garden, "Oh, with such a beautiful place to live in, why should you have gone to Mt. Lushan for vacation?" His words testified to the beauty of the Garden, which boasts of hills, streams, trees, bamboo, flowers, and birds.

　　每逢望夜，一輪當空，月光閃耀于碧波之上，上下空濛，一碧數(shù)頃，而且荷香遠溢，宿鳥幽鳴，真不能不說是賞月勝地。荷塘月色的奇景，就在我的窗外。不管是誰來到這里，難道還能不顧而樂之嗎?

　　On a night with the full moon in the sky, the Garden is certainly an ideal place to appreciate the poetic beauty seen in the vast sky where the moon hangs, the lush trees where sleepy birds sing, and the tranquil ponds where lotuses send out a delicate fragrance. The much-coveted sight of "moonlight over a lotus-covered pond" is right next to my room window. Whoever comes to my home will be delighted to see it.

　　然而，每值這樣的良辰美景，我想到的卻仍然是故鄉(xiāng)葦坑里的那個平凡的小月亮。見月思鄉(xiāng)，已經成為我經常的經歷。思鄉(xiāng)之病，說不上是苦是樂，其中有追憶，有惘悵，有留戀，有惋惜。流光如逝，時不再來。在微苦中實有甜美在。

　　On such beautiful nights, however, I will think of the ordinary moon over the pond in my home village. Indeed, seeing the moon never fails to make me think of my home village. It is hard to say if nostalgia—a malady, isn't it?—brings one sweetness or bitterness. As it is, nostalgia is filled with fond memories, anxieties, regrets, or even pain. Time, once gone, is gone forever. Ultimately, nostalgia is sweet with a touch of bitterness.

　　月是故鄉(xiāng)明，我什么時候能夠再看到我故鄉(xiāng)的月亮呀!我悵望南天，心飛向故里。

　　Bright is the moon over my home village. When can I see that moon again? As I look southward, my heart flies there.

　　一九八九年十一月三日

　　November 3, 1989