(中英)现代散文:异国秋思 Autumn in a Foreign Land
Autumn in a Foreign Land
异国秋思◎ Lu Yin
◎ 庐 隐The weather has been getting nice and cool since we moved to the suburbs. Soybean leaves on the low hedges are beginning to turn brownish yellow. Clusters of white chrysanthemums are vying to break through the rank weeds while tiny yellow ones are shivering in the chilly wind. The autumn scene is most apt to bring about a lonesome and desolate mood, especially when we are in a foreign country. My heart was filled with melancholy when I recited in a low voice the following lines of an ancient Chinese poet:When the west wind furls up the curtain,I'm more frail than the yellow chrysanthemum.
自从我们搬到郊外以来，天气渐渐清凉了。那短篱边牵延着的毛豆叶子，已露出枯黄的①颜色来，白色的小野菊，一丛丛由草堆里钻出头来②，还有小朵的黄花在凉劲的秋风中抖颤，这一些景象，最容易勾起人们的秋思③，况且身在异国呢！低声吟着帘卷西风，人比黄花瘦④之句，这个小小的灵宫⑤，是弥漫了怅惘的情绪。One day, when the sky was a sea blue, the sunlight a light gold and the sweet scent of osmanthus flowers fitfully wafted over on the breeze, our study seemed all the more cheerless and quiet. Allured by the lovely sight outside the window, we could hardly concentrate on dull reading. At the suggestion of Bo, we decided to visit after lunch the nearby Kichijoji Temple to enjoy the autumn landscape. We started out after 3 pm by suburban train and it took us but a short while to get there. Arriving at our destination, we passed through a long passageway, crossed the railway track and then came in sight of a tall wooden memorial arch with a horizontal board bearing the inscription in Chinese characters "Inokashira Park". We walked through the arch and found the road flanked by luxuriant shady trees. With a delightful feeling of serene seclusion, we stood in a daze in the shade of the trees, like one lost deep in a remote mountain or virgin forest. A ray of golden sunshine gently filtering through the tree branches conjured up in me the vision of a golden-haired fairy maiden treading barefoot on white clouds on her way through the place. In the western sky, rosy clouds were floating over the emerald green mountain ranges like flocks of black crows hovering over a forest. Unable to dispel my gloom, how I wished I could entrust a wild goose with the task of conveying my message to my home country! But, alas, it was nowhere to be found.
书房里格外显得清寂，那窗外蔚蓝如碧海似的青天，和淡金色的阳光。还有挟着桂花香的阵风，都含了极强烈的，挑拨人类心弦的力量，在这种刺激之下，我们不能继续那死板的读书工作了⑥，在那一天午饭后，波⑦便提议到附近吉祥寺去看秋景，三点多钟我们乘了市外电车前去，——这路程太近了，我们的身体刚刚坐稳便到了。走出长甬道的车站，绕过火车轨道，就看见一座高耸的木牌坊，在横额上有几个汉字写着“井之头恩赐公园”。我们走进牌坊，便见马路两旁树木葱茏，绿阴匝地，一种幽妙的意趣，萦缭脑际⑧，我们怔怔地站在树影下，好像身入深山古林了。在那枝柯掩映中，一道金黄色的柔光正荡漾着。使我想象到一个披着金绿柔发的仙女，正赤着足，踏着白云，从这里经过的情景。再向西方看，一抹彩霞，正横在那叠翠的峰峦上，如黑点的飞鸦，穿林翩翻，我一缕的愁心真不知如何安派，我要吩咐征鸿把它带回故国吧！无奈它是那样不着迹的去了。We lingered around under a canopy of lush greenery, forgetting to move on quickly. Then we noticed a middle-aged man in kimono and clogs clattering up to eye us closely. To steer clear of the prying eyes, we started to move ahead with quickened steps. Leaving the woods behind, we came to a cobbled slope, on either side of which stood a neat row of shoulder-high evergreens. The aroma of green grass carried over fitfully by the breeze made us instantly feel refreshed. At the lower end of the slope stood a Japanese-style teahouse, inside which there were several small tables and cushions as well as a counter on either side displaying a jumble of reddish tangerines, green apples and multi-coloured candies.
我们徘徊在这浓绿深翠的帷幔下，竟忘记前进了。一个身穿和服的中年男人，脚上穿着木屐，“提塔提塔”的来了⑨。他向我们打量着，我们为避免他的觑视，只好加快脚步走向前去。经过这一带森林，前面有一条鹅卵石堆成的斜坡路，两旁种着整齐的冬青树，只有肩膀高，一阵阵的青草香，从微风里荡过来，我们慢步的走着，陡觉神气清爽，一尘不染⑩。下了斜坡，面前立着一所小巧的东洋式的茶馆，里面设了几张小矮几和坐褥，两旁列着柜台，红的蜜桔，青的苹果，五色的杂糖，错杂地罗列着。Ah, this place looks so familiar to me, I blurted out. Scene after scene of the bygone days, long tucked away in the depth of my memory, now reemerged all of a sudden. The nostalgic recollections made my heart thump with emotion, my eyes glaze over and my chest fill with sadness.
“呀！好眼熟的地方！”我不禁失声地喊了起来。于是潜藏在心底的印象，陡然一幕幕地重映出来⑪，唉！我的心有些抖颤了，我是被一种感怀已往的情绪所激动，我的双眼怔住，胸膈间充塞着悲凉，心弦凄紧地搏动着。O the old days! I sighed softly by myself. "I can't bear to look back." Nevertheless, the following picture began to open out vividly in my mind's eye ...
“唉！往事，只是不堪回首的往事呢！”我悄悄地独自叹息着。但是我目前仍然有一幅逼真的图画在现出来……⑫One late spring, when cherry trees were in full bloom, a group of young Chinese girls, proud of their happy girlhood and hopeful about the future, merrily crossed the Sea of Japan together with their beloved teacher to visit the scenic spots of Japan in the year when they were about to graduate from school. They were so fascinated with the bright flowering trees that they forgot their weariness. They set out at daybreak from a hotel in Tokyo, visited Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms and changed trams to go to Inokashira Park. Then they felt worn-out and needed a rest. When they came upon this quiet teahouse, they immediately decided to go in for a snack. They sat around a small table and ordered two potfuls of longjing tea and some extremely sweet Japanese pastries. They chatted and giggled loudly over the snack, like young orioles just fledged. They found novelty in everything before them and joy of life here and there. Young and light-hearted, they were indeed basking in the embrace of the god of happiness. How enviable their life was!
一群骄傲于幸福的少女们，她们孕育着玫瑰色的希望，当她们将由学校毕业的那一年，曾随了她们德高望重的教师，带着欢乐的心情，渡过日本海来访蓬莱的名胜。在她们登岸的时候，正是暮春三月樱花乱飞的天气。那些缀锦点翠的花树，都是使她们乐游忘倦。她们从天色才黎明，便由东京的旅舍出发，先到上野公园看过樱花后，又换车到井之头公园来。这时疲倦袭击着她们，非立刻找个地点休息不可。最后她们发现了这个位置清幽的茶馆，便立刻决定进去吃些东西。大家团团围着矮凳坐下，点了两壶龙井茶，和一些奇甜的东洋点心，她们吃着喝着，高声谈笑着，她们真像是才出谷的雏莺，只觉眼前的东西，件件新鲜，处处都富有生趣。当然她们是被搂在幸福之神的怀抱里了。青春的爱娇，活泼快乐的心情，她们是多么可艳羡的人生呢！But all was gone forever with the passage of time! Who would have believed that I, now reminiscing longingly about the past, had been one of those happy girls? O fleeting time, heartless time! You had carried away love and lofty aspirations so that I could only stand choking with sobs under the seemingly familiar cherry trees. What could I do to relive the old days?
但是流年把一切都毁坏了⑬！谁能相信今天在这里低徊追怀往事的我，也正是当年幸福者之一呢！哦！流年，残酷的流年呵！它带走了人间的爱娇，它蹂躏英雄的壮志，使我站在这似曾相识的树下，只有咽泪，我有什么方法，使年光倒流呢⑭！Oh, nine years had quickly passed since then. During the nine fleeting years, I had trekked on the rugged journey of life, climbed up steep cliffs, and made good my narrow escape from the valley of death. I had experienced the agony of a bleeding heart. I had been forced by destiny to drink up my own blood like I did red wine ...
唉！这仅仅是九年后的今天。呀，这短短的九年中，我走的是崎岖的世路，我攀缘过陡峭的崖壁，我由死的绝谷里逃命，使我尝着忍受由心头淌血的痛苦，命运要我喝干自己的血汁，如同喝玫瑰酒一般……As the painful memories brought tears to my eyes, I urged myself to leave quickly this sentimentalizing place. So we started walking along a path overgrown with grass. Then suddenly we heard some noise like a fit of weeping and I seemed to see the god of autumn hiding behind the thick foliage spreading his gray wings. There was a rustle and tremor of branches in the trees. The autumn insects were chirping incessantly in the grass. I was suddenly seized with sadness and, being too afraid to move on, I sat down on a long wooden bench by the wayside. I stared blankly at the deep, dark wood and then, as the breeze parted the tree branches, caught sight of a blue lazy brook. Then a small rowboat appeared on the rippling water, and I saw two young girls pulling on the oars and humming songs. Thereupon, I choked with emotion and sighed involuntarily,
唉！这一切的刺心回忆，我忍不住流下辛酸的泪滴，连忙离开这容易激动感情的地方吧！我们便向前面野草漫径的小路上走去，忽然听见一阵悲恻的唏嘘声，我仿佛看见张着灰色翅翼的秋神，正躲在那厚密枝叶背后。立时那些枝叶都“悉悉索索”地颤抖起来。草底下的秋虫，发出连续的唧唧声，我的心感到一阵阵的凄冷；不敢向前去，找到路旁一张长木凳坐下。我用滞呆的眼光，向那一片阴阴森森的丛林里睁视，当微风分开枝柯时，我望见那小河里潺湲碧水了⑮。水上绉起一层波纹，一只小划子，从波纹上溜过。两个少女摇着桨，低声唱着歌儿。我看到这里，又无端感触起来，觉得喉头梗塞，不知不觉叹道：Oh, my country, I can't bear to look back!
“故国不堪回首”⑯。And meanwhile I called up memories of Beihai Park with young couples boating on the rippling water of its sunlit lake and whispering with affection while feasting their eyes on the spectacle of autumn. Since it is the season for enjoying the beauty of chrysanthemums and the delicious taste of full-grown crabs, Chang An Street must be busy with traffic and throngs of people happily dining and wining. None of them, of course, will think of us, who, now wandering about in a strange land, are experiencing feelings of deep sorrow in desolate autumn. Yet how strong is our affection for our motherland! And how eagerly we are longing for good news from home! Now, as the autumn wind is denuding the trees in Peiping of their leaves, we cannot but think of those poverty-stricken fellow countrymen who, living a life of constant exposure to the severity of the elements, are helplessly venting their woes to heaven. O my disaster-ridden motherland! The beauty of Beihai Park is unable to cover up your great misery! Feasting and revelry can bring no solace to the distressed!
同时那北海的红漪清波⑰浮现眼前，那些手携情侣的男男女女，恐怕也正摇着画桨，指点着眼前清丽秋景，低语款款吧!况且又是菊茂蟹肥时候，料想长安市上，车水马龙，正不少欢乐的宴聚，这漂泊异国，秋思凄凉的我们当然是无人想起的。不过，我们却深深地眷怀着祖国，渴望得些好消息呢!我们不禁想到树叶凋落的北平，凄风吹着，冷雨洒着的这些穷苦的同胞⑱，也许正向茫茫的苍天悲诉呢!唉，破碎紊乱的祖国呵!北海的风光不能粉饰你的寒伧!灯红酒绿，不能安慰忧患的人生。庐隐（1898—1934），原名黄英，福建闽侯人，是“五四”时期著名女作家，早期与冰心齐名。她的创作风格直爽坦率，哀婉缠绵，在《异国秋思》中也有充分表现。此文记述了她和丈夫1930年东渡日本东京后的一次秋游，对异国秋景作细致描写，引发眷恋祖国的思乡之情，忧国忧民，表现了海外赤子一片爱国之心。
