那些无法抗拒的名篇36:The Song of Kahunsha没有悲伤的城市(节选)

36 The Song of Kahunsha

36 没有悲伤的城市

Guddi throws the twig away and wipes her hands on her brown dress. And begins to sing.

古蒂把那根小树枝扔出去，在棕色裙子上擦了擦手。然后她开始唱起歌来。

Guddi’s voice suggests that her throat contains magical things, impossible things. It is as though colours are singing，and each colour is a note. Chamdi's skin breaks into ripples, and if he could fly he would go straight into the glass windows of the nearby classroom and come out unharmed. Such is the beauty of Guddi' s voice.

古蒂的歌声有着不可思议的魔力，好像是五颜六色的，每个音符都是一种颜色。祥弟的心整个荡漾了起来，如果他能飞的话，他会直接朝旁边教室的窗户飞进去，然后又原样飞出来，这就是古蒂的歌声的美妙之处。

The leaves in the trees move gently, as though the trees have felt her song, and dust rises in the air, and swirls about in a playful dance.

树叶轻轻地摇着，好像也听到了古蒂的歌声，地上的尘土飞到空中旋转，像是在顽皮地跳舞。

By the time Guddi finishes, Chamdi knows that this song is the beginning of something unearthly. So he will use unearthly words to tell her how lovely the song is. He leans towards her and whispers in her ear, "Khile Soma Kafusal."

古蒂唱完一首歌，祥弟觉得这首歌一定来自另一个世界，因此他决定用另一个世界的语言告诉古蒂这首歌有多么好听。他凑过去在古蒂耳边说:"Khile Soma Kafusal。"

"What?" she says, slowly catching her breath.

“什么?”古蒂说，慢慢地喘着气。

"Khile Soma Kafusal," he repeats softly.

“Khile Soma Kafusal。”祥弟又轻轻地说了一遍。

"What does that mean?"

“这是什么意思?”

"It is spoken in the Language of Gardens. Someday I will tell you what it means."

“这是花园语言，我以后告诉你是什么意思。”

"Where is that language spoken?"

“这种语言在哪儿用啊?”

"In Kahunsha."

“在卡洪莎。”

"Kahunsha?"

“卡洪莎?”

"The city of no sadness. One day, all sadness will die, and Kahunsha will be born."

“没有悲伤的城市。有一天这个世界所有的悲伤会消失，而卡洪莎就会出现。”

As Chamdi whispers his secret to Guddi, he forgets, for a second, that it is night. Everything around him is luminous—the leaves, the red hair ribbon, the gravel is waiting to burst.

祥弟在把他的秘密偷偷告诉古蒂的时候，他有一刻忘了那是在夜晚。他周围的一切都染上了光晕—树叶、红发带和碎石子。

Guddi flicks the hair off her face and her brown eyes widen Her eyelashes seem to lengthen一they stretch out as if to reach Ghamdi.

古蒂把垂到脸上的头发抹开，睁大了褐色的眼睛。她的眼睫毛好像变长了，好像要伸出来碰到祥弟一样。

"Don't be an idiot," she says. "How can such a place exist?"

“别傻了，”她说，“怎么可能有这样的地方呢?”

"Because of your song. Your song is so beautiful that it has the power to create a whole new city.

“因为你唱的歌，那首歌太美了，它能创造出一个崭新的城市。”

"Have you lost your mind?"

“你是不是精神不正常了?”

"Yes. And I will lose it again，and again，and again，until we are happy. You, me, Sumdi, Amma, the baby, even Dabba. Someday, we will all live together in Kahunsha."

“对，我还会一次又一次地这样，直到我们过上快乐的生活。你，我，桑迪，艾玛，艾玛的孩子，还有达巴，有一天我们会在没有悲伤的城市生活在一起。”

NINE

一帮孩子坐在手推车上抽着烟，桑迪也在里面，他坐在那个最小的孩子旁边，那个孩子头剃得光光的。祥弟看见那帮孩子轮着抽一支香烟，有个孩子在敲着一个马口铁罐，桑迪旁边的那个光头孩子也开始敲，不过他敲打的是桑迪那条坏腿，敲完了又趴在上面听，好像是想听听会发出什么声音。男孩们哈哈大笑，然后桑迪开始说话，祥弟意识到桑迪是在给他们讲故事，讲的是他的肋骨怎么突然变成了长牙。祥弟偷偷笑了，因为桑迪讲的可不怎么样。

A group of boys sit on a handcart and smoke. Sumdi is amongst them, seated next to the smallest boy, whose head is shaved. Chamdi watches the boys pass a cigarette from hand to hand, and wait for it to come back to them. One of the boys has a tin can and he drums on it. The bald one who sits next to Sumdi starts drumming too, but he does so on Sumdi’s polio leg，and then puts his ear to it, as though he expects it to emit a sound. The boys have a good laugh. Then Sumdi starts to speak and Chamdi realizes that Sumdi is telling them a story. It is about how his ribs will one day turn into tusks. Chamdi chuckles because Sumdi is doing is a terrible job of telling the story.

祥弟希望萨迪克夫人这时候就在他身边，能给他点忠告。他知道萨迪克夫人会说什么，偷东西是不对的。耶稣这时候没什么用，他总是沉默着。

Chamdi wishes Mrs. Sadiq were next to him right now, so she could offer him.good advice.He knows what she would say, that it is wrong to steal. Jesus would have been of no use right now. Jesus always stayed silent.

“睡吧。”桑迪说。

"Go to sleep," says Sumdi.

“不，我还想再待会儿。”

"No,I'll stay awake for a while."

“做什么。”

"And do what?"

“想事情。”

"Think."

“想什么?”

"About what?"

“什么都想，我喜欢梦想。”

"Anything. I'll dream."

“你醒着的时候怎么梦想?”

"How can you dream while you're awake?"

“那是最好的梦。”

"That's the best kind of dream."

“你得喝醉了才能梦得到，或者抽印度大麻，但是你没准连大麻是什么都不知道。”

"You have to be drunk for that to happen. Or on ganja. But you must not even know what ganja is.

"No."

“的确不知道。”

"Ganja is what poor people use to distract themselves from their miserable lives. But even that costs money."

“大麻是穷人用来逃避悲惨命运的东西，但这也要花钱。”

"That's why I dream. Dreams are free."

“这就是我要梦想的原因，梦想不要钱。”

"Why are you so strange? Why can't you be normal and spit on the road or shit in your pants?"

“你怎么这么怪?你为什么不能正常点，在路上吐痰，或者拉在裤子里?”

"Tell me，what's the one thing you really want in your life?" asks Chamdi.

“告诉我你真正想要的是什么?”

"I want to leave Bombay."

“我想离开孟买。”

"That's not a dream."

“这不是梦想。”

"Why not?"

“为什么不是?”

"Running away is not a dream. Anyway that is Bulbul's dream."

“逃离不是梦想，不管怎么样吧，那是布布的梦想。”

"Who the hell is Bulbul?"

“布布到底是谁?”

Chamdi looks at Guddi. She smiles and then closes her eyes quickly as though a massive bout of sleep has suddenly come over her.

祥弟看着古蒂，她实然笑了一下，然后赶快闭上眼睛，好像沉重的睡意突然来袭一样。

"She is Bulbul?" asks Sumdi. "That terror, you called her a nightingale? You really are a dreamer. Now go to sleep."

“她是布布?”桑迪问，“真可怕，你给她起了个夜莺的名字，你可真够能做梦的。现在去睡吧。”

"Not before you answer my question."

“你先回答我的问题。”

"Why can’t you let me be? Go and talk to the rat if you are lonely. Here, I'll lift the box and you can enter that hole and dream in the dark."

“你为什么要缠着我?如果你闲得慌，就去跟老鼠说话吧。看，我把盒子拿起来，然后你就钻进洞里做梦了。”

"What's the one thing you really want?"

“有什么东西是你真正梦想要得到的吗?”

"You won't let me sleep till I answer your question，will you?"

“我不回答你的问题，你就不让我睡了，是吗?”

"No."

“对。”

"Okay, I'll tell you."

“好，那我就告诉你。”

"Truthfully."

“讲实话。”

"Yes，truthfully." Sumdi glances over at his sister. Her eyes stay closed. Amma stirs and then settles. A police jeep rushes past the bus stop. Ghamdi quickly imagines three blue-and-yellow-striped tigers roaring behind the jeep, serving as its siren. The police-tigers go to places the jeep cannot. They pick out the scent of thieves much better than any policeman. And they will look after the children of Bombay, treat them as their own cubs.

“好，讲实话，”桑迪瞅了他妹妹一眼，古蒂闭着眼睛，艾玛动了一下又安静下来了。一辆警车冲过公共汽车站，祥弟马上想到三只蓝黄相间条纹的老虎跟在警车后面吼叫着，像警车的警报器一样。警察虎能到警车去不了的地方，它们比警察更能闻出贼的气味，它们还能照看孟买的孩子们，像对自己的虎崽一样。

"Okay," says Sumdi, holding his stiff leg. "I'll tell you."

“好，”桑迪说，他抓着那条僵硬的腿，“我告诉你。”

"Good."

“好的。”

"But you can never repeat this to anyone. Not even back to me. And after we have had this stupid conversation, you'll let me sleep in peace. Even if God comes and starts cooking mutton biryani in the middle of the road you' II not wake me."

“但是你不能跟别人说，也不许再跟我重复。我们胡扯完之后，你就得让我好好睡觉，就算上帝来了，开始在路当中做羊肉比亚尼菜，你也不能叫醒我。”

I promise. "You see this leg of mine? I've never been able to run. Even when I walk, I feel heavy. It's as though all my anger collects in this leg and it gets heavier and heavier. Even when my father died，I couldn't run to him. I got there last, after Amma and my sister. Sometimes I just wish that I wouldn't feel so heavy So I really wish，you know, a waking dream just like yours in a way, that I will one day... No, it's stupid. I'm sleeping."

“我答应你。”

"Go on, Sumdi."

“看到我这条腿了吗?我从来都不能跑，就算走路都觉得沉重，就好像我的怒气都积聚在这条腿上一样，它变得越来越重。连我爸爸死的时候，我都没法朝他跑过去，最后我总算在艾玛和我妹妹后面到了那儿。有时候我只希望不会觉得这么沉重，你知道，就像你做白日梦一样，我希望有一天……算了，太傻了，我去睡了。”

"What's the point? What I wish for is impossible."

“讲啊，桑迪。”

"Why wish for what's possible?"

“这有什么意思啊?我希望的东西是不可能实现的。”

"Is that so?"

“为什么要希望能实现的东西呢?”

"Yes, it's like that."

“难道不是这样吗?”

"I want to fly,"he whispers. "That's my dream. I，Sumdi, will one day fly all over Bombay, see every gulley> see all the shops，movie theatres，gambling dens, brothels, cock fights, cricket matches, and once I am done, I will fly over the sea like a champion bird, and never ever stop. I will keep on flying for the rest of my life."

“不是的。”

"That' s a wonderful dream."says Chamdi.

“那我想飞，”桑迪小声说，“这是我的梦想。我，桑迪，有一天能飞遍孟买，看到每一条水沟，看到所有的商店、影剧院、赌场、妓院、斗鸡、板球赛，一旦我看完了这些，我就像一只冠军鸟一样，飞过大海，一直不停，我这辈子就在天上飞着了。”

"But it can never come true，so what's the use?"

“这真是个很棒的梦想。”祥弟说。

Chamdi does not say anything. He wants to tell Sumdi about Kahunsha. How police-tigers will patrol the streets to keep them safe, how there will be flowers everywhere, how all the water taps will gush forth pure rainwater, and how, most of all, no one will be deformed and people will not hurt each other.

“但这永远也不会成真，所以又有什么用呢?”

作者介绍:

阿诺什·艾拉尼，印度裔作家，在孟买长大，1998年移民加拿大。他不仅写小说，也写舞台剧。2004年，他的首部长篇《那残废和他的护身符》引起文坛瞩目。两年后的第二部作品《没有悲伤的城市》更是大放异彩，获美国图书馆协会2008年最佳青少年好书提名，2007年加拿大广播公司的“全民读好书”选书，在加拿大和意大利均攻占畅销排行榜，售出美国、法国、意大利、西班牙、希腊、以色列等9国版权。

祥弟没说话，他想跟桑迪说没有悲伤的城市，警察虎怎么在街上巡逻，保护他们，怎样到处都是花，水龙头怎样喷出纯净的雨水，而且最主要的是，没有人会变成残疾，人们也不会彼此伤害。

在1993年的孟买，十岁的祥弟，自幼在孤儿院长大。他在脑海中构筑出一个祥和美好的乐土“卡洪莎”，意即“没有悲伤的城市”。面临孤儿院的拆迁，祥弟从院长口中得知父亲下落，随即带着自己沾染血迹的婴儿衣，展开了寻父之旅。他面对的不是梦想中的乐园，而是充满暴力与黑暗的孟买大街。祥弟与一对流浪街头的姐弟结伴同行，却又落入了黑道老大阿能拜的魔掌，更在当地一座印度教神庙的爆炸事件后，参与一场谋害无辜穆斯林家庭的血腥复仇行动。童年终要结束，美梦也总会清醒，哪个城市没有悲伤?身处残酷修罗场的祥弟被迫快快长大。他能否找到亲生父亲?