雙語全文 ● 魯迅 阿Q正傳——第六章　從中興到末路

“May Buddha preserve us， Ah Q！ How dare you climb into our garden to steal turnips！... Mercy on us， what a wicked thing to do！ Aiya， Buddha pre-serve us！ ”

“When did I ever climb into your garden and steal turnips？” retorted Ah Q as he started off， keeping his eyes on her.

“Now—aren’t you？” The old nun pointed at the bulge in his jacket.

“Are these yours？ Will they come when you call？ You ...”

Leaving his sentence unfinished， Ah Q took to his heels as fast as he could， followed by a huge fat black dog. Originally this dog had been at the front gate， and how it reached the back garden was a mystery. With a snarl the black dog gave chase and was just about to bite Ah Q’s leg when most opportunely a turnip fell from his jacket， and the dog， taken by surprise，stopped for a second. During this time Ah Q scrambled up the mulberry tree， scaled the mud wall， and fell， turnips and all， outside the convent. He left the black dog still barking by the mulberry tree， and the old nun saying her prayers.

Fearing that the nun would let the black dog out again， Ah Q gathered together his turnips and ran， picking up a few small stones as he went. But the black dog did not reappear. Ah Q threw away the stones and walked on，eating as he went， thinking to himself， “There is nothing to be had here： bet-ter go to town ... ”

By the time the third turnip was finished he had made up his mind to go to town.

Chapter 6

From Resurgence to Decline

Weizhuang did not see Ah Q again till just after the Moon Festival that year. Everybody was surprised to hear of his return， and this made them think back and wonder where he had been all that time. In the past Ah Q had usually taken great pleasure in announcing his few visits to town； but since he had not done so this time， his going had passed unnoticed. He may have told the old man in charge of the Tutelary God’s Temple， but according to the custom of Weizhuang only a trip to town counted as important. Even the Bogus Foreign Devil’s going was not talked about， much less Ah Q’s. This would explain why the old man had not spread the news for him， with the result that the villagers remained in the dark.

“阿彌陀佛，阿Q，你怎么跳進(jìn)園里來偷蘿卜！……阿呀，罪過呵，阿唷，阿彌陀佛！……”

“我什么時候跳進(jìn)你的園里來偷蘿卜？”阿Q且看且走的說。

“現(xiàn)在……還不是？”老尼姑指著他的衣兜。

“這是你的？你能叫得他答應(yīng)你么？你……”

阿Q沒有說完話，拔步便跑；追來的是一匹很肥大的黑狗。這本來在前門的，不知怎的到后園來了。黑狗哼而且追，已經(jīng)要咬著阿Q的腿，幸而從衣兜里落下一個蘿卜來，那狗給一嚇，略略一停，阿Q已經(jīng)爬上桑樹，跨到土墻，連人和蘿卜都滾出墻外面了。只剩著黑狗還在對著桑樹嗥，老尼姑念著佛。

阿Q怕尼姑又放出黑狗來，拾起蘿卜便走，沿途又檢了幾塊小石頭，但黑狗卻并不再出現(xiàn)。阿Q于是拋了石塊，一面走一面吃，而且想道，這里也沒有什么東西尋，不如進(jìn)城去……

待三個蘿卜吃完時，他已經(jīng)打定了進(jìn)城的主意了。

第六章　從中興到末路

在未莊再看見阿Q出現(xiàn)的時候，是剛過了這年的中秋。人們都驚異，說是阿Q回來了，于是又回上去想道，他先前那里去了呢？阿Q前幾回的上城，大抵早就興高采烈的對人說，但這一次卻并不，所以也沒有一個人留心到。他或者也曾告訴過管土谷祠的老頭子，然而未莊老例，只有趙太爺錢太爺和秀才大爺上城才算一件事。假洋鬼子尚且不足數(shù)，何況是阿Q：因此老頭子也就不替他宣傳，而未莊的社會上也就無從知道了。

Ah Q’s return this time was very different from before， and in fact quite enough to occasion astonishment. The day was growing dark when he showed up， bleary-eyed， at the tavern door， walked up to the counter， and tossed down on it a handful of silver and coppers produced from his belt.“Cash！” he announced. “Bring the wine！” He was wearing a new lined jacket and at his waist hung a large purse， the great weight of which caused his belt to sag in a sharp curve.

It was the custom in Weizhuang that anyone in any way unusual should be treated with respect rather than disregarded， and now， although they knew quite well that this was Ah Q， still he was very different from the Ah Q of the ragged coat. The ancients say，“A scholar who has been away three days must be looked at with new eyes.” So the waiter， tavern-keeper，customers and passers-by all quite naturally expressed a kind of suspicion mingled with respect. The tavern-keeper started off by nodding， following this up with the words：

“So you’re back， Ah Q！”

“Yes， I’m back.”

“Made a pretty packet， eh？ ... where ...？”

“I’ve been in town.”

By the next day this piece of news had spread through Weizhuang. And since everybody wanted to hear the success story of this Ah Q of the ready money and the new lined jacket， in the tavern， teahouse， and under the tem-ple eaves， the villagers gradually ferreted out the news. The result was that they began to treat Ah Q with a new deference.

According to Ah Q， he had been a servant in the house of a successful provincial candidate. This part of the story filled all who heard it with awe.This successful provincial candidate was named Bai， but because he was the only successful provincial candidate in the whole town there was no need to use his surname： whenever anyone spoke of the successful provincial candi-date， it meant him. And this was so not only in Weizhuang， for almost ev-eryone within a radius of a hundred li imagined his name to be Mr. Success-ful Provincial Candidate. To have worked in the household of such a man naturally called for respect； but according to Ah Q’s further statements， he was unwilling to go on working there because this successful candidate was really too much of a “turtle’s egg.” This part of the story made all who heard it sigh， but with a sense of pleasure， because it showed that Ah Q was un-worthy to work in the household of such a man， yet not to work there was a pity.

但阿Q這回的回來，卻與先前大不同，確乎很值得驚異。天色將黑，他睡眼蒙朧的在酒店門前出現(xiàn)了，他走近柜臺，從腰間伸出手來，滿把是銀的和銅的，在柜上一扔說， “現(xiàn)錢！打酒來！”穿的是新夾祅，看去腰間還掛著一個大搭連，沉鈿鈿的將褲帶墜成了很彎很彎的弧線。未莊老例，看見略有些醒目的人物，是與其慢也寧敬的，現(xiàn)在雖然明知道是阿Q，但因?yàn)楹推茒A祅的阿Q有些兩樣了，古人云，“士別三日便當(dāng)刮目相待”，所以堂倌，掌柜，酒客，路人，便自然顯出一種疑而且敬的形態(tài)來。掌柜既先之以點(diǎn)頭，又繼之以談話：

“嚄，阿Q，你回來了！”

“回來了?！?

“發(fā)財發(fā)財，你是——在……”

“上城去了！”

這一件新聞，第二天便傳遍了全未莊。人人都愿意知道現(xiàn)錢和新夾祅的阿Q的中興史，所以在酒店里，茶館里，廟檐下，便漸漸的探聽出來了。這結(jié)果，是阿Q得了新敬畏。

據(jù)阿Q說，他是在舉人老爺家里幫忙。這一節(jié)，聽的人都肅然了。這老爺本姓白，但因?yàn)楹铣抢镏挥兴粋€舉人，所以不必再冠姓，說起舉人來就是他。這也不獨(dú)在未莊是如此，便是一百里方圓之內(nèi)也都如此，人們幾乎多以為他的姓名就叫舉人老爺?shù)牧?。在這人的府上幫忙，那當(dāng)然是可敬的。但據(jù)阿Q又說，他卻不高興再幫忙了，因?yàn)檫@舉人老爺實(shí)在太“媽媽的”了。這一節(jié)，聽的人都嘆息而且快意，因?yàn)榘本不配在舉人老爺家里幫忙，而不幫忙是可惜的。

According to Ah Q， his return was also due to his dissatisfaction with the townspeople because they called a long bench a straight bench， used shredded shallots to fry fish， and—a defect he had recently discovered—the women did not sway in a very satisfactory manner as they walked. Howev-er， the town had its good points too； for instance， in Weizhuang everyone played with thirty-two bamboo counters and only the Bogus Foreign Devil could play mahjong， but in town even the street urchins excelled at mahjong. You had only to place the Bogus Foreign Devil in the hands of these young rascals in their teens for him straightway to become like “a small devil before the King of Hell.” This part of the story made all who heard it blush.

“Have you seen an execution？” asked Ah Q. “Ah， that’s a fine sight.... When they execute the revolutionaries.... Ah， that’s a fine sight， a fine sight....”He shook his head， sending his spittle flying on to the face of Zhao Sichen who was standing opposite him. This part of the story made all who heard it tremble. Then with a glance around， he suddenly raised his right hand and dropped it on the neck of Whiskers Wang who， craning forward， was listen-ing with rapt attention.

“Off with his head！” shouted Ah Q.

Whiskers Wang gave a start， and jerked back his head as fast as lightning or a spark struck from a flint， while the bystanders shivered with pleasurable apprehension. After his， Whiskers Wang went about in a daze for many days and dared not go near Ah Q， nor did the others.

據(jù)阿Q說，他的回來，似乎也由于不滿意城里人，這就在他們將長凳稱為條凳，而且煎魚用蔥絲，加以最近觀察所得的缺點(diǎn)，是女人的走路也扭得不很好。然而也偶有大可佩服的地方，即如未莊的鄉(xiāng)下人不過打三十二張的竹牌，只有假洋鬼子能夠叉“麻醬”，城里卻連小烏龜子都叉得精熟的。什么假洋鬼子，只要放在城里的十幾歲的小烏龜子的手里，也就立刻是“小鬼見閻王”。這一節(jié)，聽的人都赧然了。

“你們可看見過殺頭么？”阿Q說，“咳，好看。殺革命黨。唉，好看好看，……”他搖搖頭，將唾沫飛在正對面的趙司晨的臉上。這一節(jié)，聽的人都凜然了。但阿Q又四面一看，忽然揚(yáng)起右手，照著伸長脖子聽得出神的王胡的后項(xiàng)窩上直劈下去道：

“嚓！”

王胡驚得一跳，同時電光石火似的趕快縮了頭，而聽的人又都悚然而且欣然了。從此王胡瘟頭瘟腦的許多日，并且再不敢走近阿Q的身邊；別的人也一樣。

Although we cannot say that in the eyes of the inhabitants of Weizhuang Ah Q’s status at this time was superior to that of Mr. Zhao， we can at least affirm without any danger of inaccuracy that it was approxi-mately equivalent.

Not long after， Ah Q’s fame suddenly spread into the women’s apart-ments of Weizhuang too. Although the only two families of any pretensions in Weizhuang were those of Qian and Zhao， and nine-tenths of the rest were poor， still women’s apartments are women’s apartments， and the way Ah Q’s fame spread into them was quite miraculous. When the womenfolk met they would say to each other， “Mrs. Zou bought a blue silk skirt from Ah Q. Although it was old， it only cost ninety cents. And Zhao Baiyan’s mother（this has yet to be verified， because some say it was Zhao Sichen’s mother）bought a child’s costume of crimson foreign calico which was nearly new for only three hundred cash， less eight per cent discount. ”

Then those who had no silk skirt or needed foreign calico were most anxious to see Ah Q in order to buy from him. Far from avoiding him now，they sometimes followed him when he passed， calling to him to stop.

“Ah Q， have you any more silk skirts？” they would ask. “No？ We want foreign calico too. Do you have any？”

This news later spread from the poor households to the rich ones， be-cause Mrs. Zou was so pleased with her silk skirt that she took it to Mrs. Zhao for her approval， and Mrs. Zhao told Mr. Zhao， speaking very highly of it.

Mr. Zhao discussed the matter that evening at dinner with his son the successful county candidate， suggesting that there was certainly something strange about Ah Q and that they should be more careful about their doors and windows. They did not know， though， what if anything Ah Q had left—he might still have something good. Since Mrs. Zhao happened to want a good cheap fur jacket， after a family council it was decided to ask Mrs. Zou to find Ah Q for them at once. For this a third exception was made to the rule， special permission being given that evening for a lamp to be lit.

阿Q這時在未莊人眼睛里的地位，雖不敢說超過趙太爺，但謂之差不多，大約也就沒有什么語病的了。

然而不多久，這阿Q的大名忽又傳遍了未莊的閨中。雖然未莊只有錢趙兩姓是大屋，此外十之九都是淺閨，但閨中究竟是閨中，所以也算得一件神異。女人們見面時一定說，鄒七嫂在阿Q那里買了一條藍(lán)綢裙，舊固然是舊的，但只化了九角錢。還有趙白眼的母親，——一說是趙司晨的母親，待考，——也買了一件孩子穿的大紅洋紗衫，七成新，只用三百大錢九二串。于是伊們都眼巴巴的想見阿Q，缺綢裙的想問他買綢裙，要洋紗衫的想問他買洋紗衫，不但見了不逃避，有時阿Q已經(jīng)走過了，也還要追上去叫住他，問道：

“阿Q，你還有綢裙么？沒有？紗衫也要的，有罷？”

后來這終于從淺閨傳進(jìn)深閨里去了。因?yàn)猷u七嫂得意之余，將伊的綢裙請趙太太去鑒賞，趙太太又告訴了趙太爺而且著實(shí)恭維了一番。趙太爺便在晚飯桌上，和秀才大爺討論，以為阿Q實(shí)在有些古怪，我們門窗應(yīng)該小心些；但他的東西，不知道可還有什么可買，也許有點(diǎn)好東西罷。加以趙太太也正想買一件價廉物美的皮背心。于是家族決議，便托鄒七嫂即刻去尋阿Q，而且為此新辟了第三種的例外：這晚上也姑且特準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)油燈。

A considerable amount of oil had been burned， but still there was no sign of Ah Q. The whole Zhao household was yawning with impatience，some of them resenting Ah Q’s casualness， others blaming Mrs. Zou for not making a greater effort. Mrs. Zhao was afraid that Ah Q dared not come be-cause of the terms agreed upon that spring， but Mr. Zhao did not think this anything to worry about because， as he said， “This time I sent for him.” Sure enough， Mr. Zhao proved himself a man of insight， for Ah Q finally arrived with Mrs. Zou.

“He keeps saying he has nothing left，” panted Mrs. Zou as she came in.“When I told him to come and tell you so himself he kept talking back. I told him ... ”

“Sir！” cried Ah Q with an attempt at a smile， coming to a halt under the eaves.

“I hear you did well for yourself in town， Ah Q，” said Mr. Zhao， going up to him and looking him over carefully. “Very good. Now...they say you have some old things.... Bring them all here for us to look at. This is simply because I happen to want...”

“I told Mrs. Zou—there’s nothing left.”

“Nothing left？” Mr. Zhao could not help sounding disappointed. “How could they go so quickly？”

“They belonged to a friend， and there wasn’t much to begin with. Peo-ple bought some.... ”

“There must be something left.”

“Only a door curtain.”

“Then bring the door curtain for us to see，” said Mrs. Zhao hurriedly.

“Well， tomorrow will do，” said Mr. Zhao without much enthusiasm.“When you have anything in future， Ah Q， you must bring it to us first ... ”

“We certainly won’t pay less than other people！” said the successful county candidate. His wife shot a hasty glance at Ah Q to see his reaction.

“I need a fur jacket，”said Mrs. Zhao.

油燈干了不少了，阿Q還不到。趙府的全眷都很焦急，打著呵欠，或恨阿Q太飄忽，或怨鄒七嫂不上緊。趙太太還怕他因?yàn)榇禾斓臈l件不敢來，而趙太爺以為不足慮：因?yàn)檫@是“我”去叫他的。果然，到底趙太爺有見識，阿Q終于跟著鄒七嫂進(jìn)來了。

“他只說沒有沒有，我說你自己當(dāng)面說去，他還要說，我說……”鄒七嫂氣喘吁吁的走著說。

“太爺！”阿Q似笑非笑的叫了一聲，在檐下站住了。

“阿Q，聽說你在外面發(fā)財，”趙太爺踱開去，眼睛打量著他的全身，一面說?！澳呛芎?，那很好的。這個，……聽說你有些舊東西，……可以都拿來看一看，……這也并不是別的，因?yàn)槲业挂?

“我對鄒七嫂說過了。都完了?！?

“完了？”趙太爺不覺失聲的說，“那里會完得這樣快呢？”

“那是朋友的，本來不多。他們買了些，……”

“總該還有一點(diǎn)罷?！?

“現(xiàn)在，只剩了一張門幕了?！?

“就拿門幕來看看罷?！壁w太太慌忙說。

“那么，明天拿來就是，”趙太爺卻不甚熱心了?！鞍，你以后有什么東西的時候，你盡先送來給我們看，……”

“價錢決不會比別家出得少！”秀才說。秀才娘子忙一瞥阿Q的臉，看他感動了沒有。

“我要一件皮背心?！壁w太太說。

Although Ah Q agreed， he slouched out so carelessly that they did not know whether he had taken their instructions to heart or not. This so disappointed， annoyed and worried Mr. Zhao that he even stopped yawning. The successful candidate was also far from satisfied with Ah Q’s attitude. “People should be on their guard against such a turtle’s egg，” he said.“It might be best to order the bailiff to forbid him to live in Weizhuang.”

Mr. Zhao did not agree， saying that then Ah Q might bear a grudge，and that in a business like this it was probably a case of “the eagle does not prey on its own nest”： his own village need not worry so long as they were a little more watchful at night. The successful candidate， much impressed by this parental instruction， immediately withdrew his proposal for banishing Ah Q but cautioned Mrs. Zou on no account to repeat what had been said.

The next day， however， when Mrs. Zou took her blue skirt to be dyed black she repeated these insinuations about Ah Q， although not actually mentioning what the successful candidate had said about driving him away. Even so， it was most damaging to Ah Q. In the first place， the bailiff ap-peared at his door and took away the door curtain. Although Ah Q protested that Mrs. Zhao wanted to see it， the bailiff would not give it back and even demanded monthly hush money. In the second place， the villagers’ respect for Ah Q suddenly changed. Although they still dared not take liberties，from their previous fear of his “Off with his head！” it closely resembled the attitude of the ancients to spirits： they kept a respectful distance.

Some idlers who wanted to get to the bottom of the business went to question Ah Q carefully. And with no attempt at concealment Ah Q told them proudly of his experiences. They learned that he had merely been a petty thief， not only unable to climb walls but even unable to go through openings： he simply stood outside an opening to receive the stolen goods.

One night he had just received a package and his chief had gone in again， when he heard a great uproar inside and took to his heels as fast as he could. He fled from the town that same night， back to Weizhuang； and after this he dared not return to do any more thieving. This story， however， was even more damaging to Ah Q， since the villagers had been keeping a respectful distance because they did not want to incur his enmity； for who could have guessed that he was only a thief who dared not steal again？ Now they knew he was really too low to inspire fear.

阿Q雖然答應(yīng)著，卻懶洋洋的出去了，也不知道他是否放在心上；這使趙太爺很失望，氣憤而且擔(dān)心，至于停止了打呵欠。秀才對于阿Q的態(tài)度也很不平，于是說，這忘八蛋要提防，或者竟不如吩咐地保，不許他住在未莊。但趙太爺以為不然，說這也怕要結(jié)怨，況且做這路生意的大概是“老鷹不吃窩下食”，本村倒不必?fù)?dān)心的；只要自己夜里警醒點(diǎn)就是了。秀才聽了這“庭訓(xùn)”，非常之以為然，便即刻撤消了驅(qū)逐阿Q的提議，而且叮囑鄒七嫂，請伊萬不要向人提起這一段話。

但第二日，鄒七嫂便將那藍(lán)裙去染了皂，又將阿Q可疑之點(diǎn)傳揚(yáng)出去了，可是確沒有提起秀才要驅(qū)逐他這一節(jié)。然而這已經(jīng)于阿Q很不利。最先，地保尋上門了，取了他的門幕去，阿Q說是趙太太要看的，而地保也不還，并且要議定每月的孝敬錢。其次，是村人對于他的敬畏忽而變相了，雖然還不敢來放肆，卻很有遠(yuǎn)避的神情，而這神情和先前的防他來“嚓”的時候又不同，頗混著“敬而遠(yuǎn)之”的分子了。

只有一班閑人們卻還要尋根究底的去探阿Q的底細(xì)。阿Q也并不諱飾，傲然的說出他的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來。從此他們才知道，他不過是一個小腳色，不但不能上墻，并且不能進(jìn)洞，只站在洞外接?xùn)|西。有一夜，他剛才接到一個包，正手再進(jìn)去，不一會，只聽得里面大嚷起來，他便趕緊跑，連夜爬出城，逃回未莊來了，從此不敢再去做。然而這故事卻于阿Q更不利，村人對于阿Q的“敬而遠(yuǎn)之”者，本因?yàn)榕陆Y(jié)怨，誰料他不過是一個不敢再偷的偷兒呢？這實(shí)在是“斯亦不足畏也矣'。