(中英)現(xiàn)代散文:一個車夫 A Rickshaw Boy

A Rickshaw Boy

一個車夫

◎ Ba Jin

◎　巴　金

These few days I have been staying in the home of my friend Fang.

這些時候①我住在朋友方的家里②。

One day, it had rained until we finished supper. The sky was gradually clearing up, and the evening air was nice and cool. Fang suggested that we go to the park.

有一天我們吃過晚飯，雨已經(jīng)住了，天空漸漸地開朗起來。傍晚的空氣很涼爽。方提議到公園去。

Rickshaw, rickshaw! we called out from a street corner. "To the back gate of the park!"

“洋車！洋車！公園后門！”我們站在街口高聲叫道③。

Soon we found ourselves surrounded by a group of rickshaw men with their vehicles.

一群車夫拖著車子跑過來，把我們包圍著。

No sooner had we each quickly got on a rickshaw than the rickshaw pullers started to run.

我們匆匆跳上兩部洋車，讓車夫拉起走了。

Seating myself leisurely, I was surprised when my eye fell on the swaying thin back of the rickshaw puller. Oh my, it's a small kid! He must be no more than fourteen.

我在車上坐定了，用安閑的眼光看車夫。我不覺吃了一驚。在我的眼前晃動著一個瘦小的背影。我的眼睛沒有錯。拉車的是一個小孩④，我估計(jì)他的年紀(jì)還不到十四。

Kid, how old are you? I asked.

“小孩兒，你今年多少歲？”我問道。

Fifteen! he answered with so much self-assurance and pride as if he had already come of age at fifteen. He took hold of the shafts and started running ahead — the very picture of unflagging energy.

“十五歲！”他很勇敢、很驕傲地回答⑤。仿佛十五歲就達(dá)到成人的年齡了。他拉起車子向前飛跑。他全身都是勁⑥。

How long have you been in this trade? I continued.

“你拉車多久了？”我繼續(xù)問他。

More than six months, said he with no less pride.

“半年多了，”小孩依舊驕傲地回答。

How much do you earn a day?

“你一天拉得到多少錢？”

After paying the rent for hiring the rickshaw, I still have 20 strings of cash left!

“還了車租剩得下二十吊錢！”

I understood it was equivalent to 40 cents.

我知道二十吊錢就是四角錢。

The small kid kept quiet as if he had not heard Fang's question. Why didn't he answer? I guessed there must be something behind it. Maybe he didn't like to be asked about it at all. Maybe he had no father, nor even mother.

這一次小孩卻不作聲了，仿佛沒有聽見方的話似的。他為什么不回答呢？我想大概有別的緣故⑦，也許他不愿意別人提這些事情，也許他沒有父親，也許連母親也沒有。

Do you have a father? Fang, nevertheless, kept on questioning.

“你父親有嗎？”方并不介意，繼續(xù)發(fā)問道。

No! The reply was unhesitating.

“沒有！”他很快地答道。

A Mother?

“母親呢？”

No! The answer was as laconic as firm, apparently in a different tone. There was a note of pain in his voice. I thought he might not have told the truth.

“沒有！”他短短地回答，聲音似乎很堅(jiān)決⑧，然而跟先前的顯然不同了。聲音里漏出了一點(diǎn)痛苦來。我想他說的不一定是真話。

I have a younger sister, said he without being asked, as if impatient of his own reticence. "He sold her."

“我有個妹子，”他好像實(shí)在忍不住了⑨，不等我們問他，就自己說出來；“他把我妹子賣掉了。”

I immediately understood who was meant by "he". I realized this boy must have been suffering great misery in his life.

我一聽這話馬上就明白這個“他”字指的是什么人。我知道這個小孩的身世一定很悲慘。我說：

Where's your father now? I demanded.

“那么你父親還在——”

He went on without answering my question, "He took drugs, he deserted my mother, he sold my sister, he ran away."

小孩不管我的話，只顧自己說下去：“他抽白面，把我娘趕走了，妹子賣掉了，他一個人跑了。”

The four short sentences spoke volumes for the family tragedy. What bitter experiences he must have gone through since early childhood!

這四句短短的話說出了一個家庭的慘?、?。在一個人幼年所能碰到的不幸的遭遇中，這也是夠厲害的了。

What a heartless father! sighed the middle-aged rickshaw man. "Where do you live now?" He kept up the conversation with the little boy while running along with the rickshaw. "You'd better slacken your pace a little bit to conserve your energy," he said. "The gentlemen won't care."

“有這么狠的父親！”中年車夫慨嘆地說了。“你現(xiàn)在住在哪兒？”他一面拉車，一面和小孩談起話來。他時時安慰小孩說：“你慢慢兒拉，省點(diǎn)兒力氣，先生們不怪你。”

I live in chechang?. For that I have to pay a rent of 100 coppers daily. I put away what's left to buy... clothes.

“我就住在車廠里面。一天花個一百子兒。剩下的存起來……做衣服。”

As 100 coppers was equal to 20 cents, he could save up 20 cents a day.

“一百子兒”是兩角錢，他每天還可以存兩角。

The child is a real marvel, the middle-aged rickshaw man said to us with a note of admiration. "He knows how to save up money for clothes." Then he again asked the child, "Did your father ever come to see you?"

“這小孩兒真不易，還知道存錢做衣服。”中年車夫帶著贊嘆的調(diào)子對我們說。以后他又問小孩：“你父親來看過你嗎？”

No, he dared not! The brief answer, uttered in an uncompromising tone, showed great grievance against his father.

“沒有，他不敢來！”小孩堅(jiān)決地回答。雖是短短的幾個字，里面含的怨氣卻很重。

Words failed us. His answer had taken me by surprise. What could I say as regards his misfortune?

我們找不出話來了。對于這樣的問題我還沒有仔細(xì)思索過。在我知道了他的慘痛的遭遇以后，我究竟應(yīng)該拿什么話勸他呢？

The middle-aged rickshaw man, however, reacted otherwise. He unhesitatingly aired his opinion from a moral point of view.

中年車夫卻跟我們不同。他不加思索，就對小孩發(fā)表他的道德的見解：

Listen to me, kid. You're now doing quite well. After all, he's your father. You should give him some money when he comes to see you.

“小孩兒，聽我說。你現(xiàn)在很好了。他究竟是你的天倫。他來看你，你也該拿點(diǎn)錢給他用。”

No, I won't! the boy answered unhesitatingly in a forceful tone. "I'll beat him up when I meet him." I was surprised that the hatred he harbored against his father should be so deep-seated. His tone, his attitude, his hatred... seemed to have affected me deeply. I too began to hate his father.

“我不給！我碰著他就要揍死他！”小孩毫不遲疑地答道，語氣非常強(qiáng)硬。我想不到一個小孩的仇恨會是這樣地深！他那聲音，他那態(tài)度……他的憤怒仿佛傳染到我的心上來了。我開始恨起他的父親來。

The middle-aged rickshaw man, having met with rebuff, fell into silence. The two rickshaws kept moving along Beichang Street. I couldn't read his countenance without seeing his face. However, judging from what he had said, he was evidently living in a world of his own — bereft of home, love or warmth, and flogged by the scourge of life. But he acted unyieldingly and was filled with bitter hatred. He was using both hands to bear the burden of life. He was never scared or discouraged. He could achieve what children from well-to-do families could never do, and he had ideas that they didn't dare to have.

中年車夫碰了一個釘子，也就不再開口了。兩部車子在北長街的馬路上滾著。我看不見那個小孩的臉，不知道他臉上的表情，但是從他剛才的話里，我知道對于他另外有一個世界存在。沒有家，沒有愛，沒有溫暖，只有一根生活的鞭子在趕他?。然而他能夠倔強(qiáng)!他能夠恨!他能夠用自己的兩只手舉起生活的擔(dān)子，不害怕，不悲哀。他能夠做別的生在富裕的環(huán)境里的小孩所不能夠做的事情，而且有著他們所不敢有的思想。

Life is a melting pot which hardens the will of children like him so that they are able to withstand the bitterest blows of life ever.

生活畢竟是一個洪爐。它能夠鍛煉出這樣倔強(qiáng)的孩子來。甚至人世間最慘痛的遭遇也打不倒他。

Just then we found ourselves at the back gate of the park. We got off and paid the fares. As I eyed the boy by lamplight, I unexpectedly saw a very ordinary round face with plain features. I was, however, surprised when I met his eyes — eyes which looked down upon everything of this world and showed no indication of regard for authority. I had never seen eyes showing so much pride, indomitability and resoluteness.

就在這個時候，車子到了公園的后門。我們下了車，付了車錢。我借著燈光看小孩的臉。出乎我意料之外，它完全是一張平凡的臉，圓圓的，沒有一點(diǎn)特征。但是當(dāng)我的眼光無意地觸到他的眼光時，我就大大地吃驚了。這個世界里存在著的一切，在他的眼里都是不存在的。在那一對眼睛里，我找不到承認(rèn)任何權(quán)威的表示?。我從沒有見過這么驕傲、這么倔強(qiáng)、這么堅(jiān)定的眼光。

While entering the park after buying the tickets, I turned round to take a last look at the boy. Holding his head high, he was about to start running with a new customer on his vehicle.

我們買了票走進(jìn)公園，我還回過頭去看小孩?，他正拉著一個新的乘客昂起頭跑開了。

《一個車夫》是巴金1934年6月寫于北京的一篇散文，選自他的散文集《旅途隨筆》。文章屬旅游見聞之作，記述了作者當(dāng)時在北京見到的一個拉洋車的小孩，充滿了對社會下層人物的深厚同情。