张培基英译中国现代散文选 之《我坐了木船》

我坐了木船 
      ——叶圣陶 
    从重庆到汉口，我坐了木船。 
木船危险，当然知道。一路上数不清的滩，礁石随处都是，要出事，随时可以出。还有盗匪(1)——实在是最可怜的同胞，他们种地没得吃，有力气没处出卖，  当了兵经常饿肚皮，无可奈何只好出此下策(2)。——假如遇见了，把铺盖或者身上衣服带下去，也是异常难处的事儿(3)。 
    但是，回转来想，从前没有轮船，没有飞机，历来走川江(4)的人都坐木船。就是如今，上上下下的还有许多人在那里坐木船，如果统计起来，人数该比坐轮船坐飞机的多。人家可以坐，我就不能坐吗？我又不比人家高贵。至于危险，不考虑也罢。轮船飞机就不危险吗？安步当车似乎最稳妥了，可是人家屋檐边也可以掉下一张瓦片来。要绝对避免危险就莫要做人(5)。 
    要坐轮船坐飞机，自然也有办法(6)。只要往各方去请托，找关系，或者干脆买张黑票。先说黑票，且不谈付出超过定额的钱，力有不及，心有不甘(7)，单单一个“黑”字，就叫你不愿领教。“黑”字表示作弊，表示越出常轨。你买黑票，无异同作弊，赞助越出常轨(8)。一个人既不能独立转移风气，也该在消极方面有所自守，邦同作弊，赞助越出常轨的事儿，总可以免了吧，——这自然是书生之见(9)，不免通达的人一笑。 
    再说请托找关系，听人家说他们的经验，简直与谋差使一样的麻烦。在传达室恭候，在会客室恭候(10)，幸而见了那要见的人，他听说你要设法买船票，或是飞机票，爱理不理的答复你说，“困难呢……下个星期再来打听吧……”于是你觉得好像有一线希望，又好像毫无把握，只得挨到下星期再去。跑了不知多少趟，总算有眉目了(11)，又得往这一处签字，那一处盖章，看种种的脸色，候种种的传唤，为的是得一份充分的证据，可以去换张票子。票子到手，身分可以改变了，什么机关的部属，什么长的秘书，什么人的本人或是父亲，或者姓名仍旧，或者必须改名换姓，总之要与你自己暂时脱离关系。最有味的是冒充什么部的士兵(12)，非但改名换姓，还得穿上灰布棉军服，腰间束条皮带。我听了这些，就死了请托找关系的念头。即使饿得要死，也不定要去奉承颜色谋差使，为了一张票子去求教人家，不说我自己犯不着，人家也太费心。重庆的路又那么难走，公共汽车站排队往往等上一个半钟头，天天为了票子去跑，实在吃不消。再说与自己暂时脱离关系，换上他人的身分，虽然人家不大爱惜名气，我可不愿滥用那些那些名气。我不是部属，不是秘书，不是某人，不是某人的父亲，我是我。我毫无成就，样样不长进，我可不愿与任何人易地而处，无论长期的或是暂时的。为了走一趟路，必须易地而处，在我总觉着像被剥夺了什么似的。至于穿灰布棉衣更为难了，为了走一趟路才穿上那套衣服，岂不亵渎了那套衣服(13)？亵渎的人固然不少，我可总不忍——这一套又是书生之见。 
    抱着书生之见，我决定坐木船。木船比不上轮船，更比不上飞机，千真万确。可是绝对不用找关系，也无所谓黑票。你要船，找运输行，或者自己到码头上去找，找着了，言明价钱，多少钱坐到汉口，每块钱花得明明白白(14)。在这一点上，我觉得木船好极了(15)，我可以不说一句讨情的话，不看一副难看的嘴脸，堂堂正正的凭我的身分东西归。这是大多数坐轮船坐飞机的朋友办不到的，我可有这种骄傲。 
    决定了之后，有两位朋友特来劝阻，一位从李家沱，一位从柏滨，不怕水程跋涉，为的是关爱我，瞧得起我。他们说了种种理由，预想了种种可能的障害，结末说，还是再考虑一下的好。我真感谢他们，当然不敢说不必再行考虑，只好带玩笑的说，“吉人天相，“安慰他们激动的心情。现在，他们接到我平安到达的消息了，他们也真的安慰了。

注释: 
叶圣陶（1894-1988）原名叶绍钧，江苏苏州人，现代文学家，教育家。《我坐了木船》一文以平淡的口吻叙述他在抗战胜利后乘木船从重庆到汉口的一番经历，对当时的黑暗社会作了无情的鞭挞。 
(1)“还有盗匪”译为To complicate matters, there are bandits lurking around，其中To complicate matters是为承上启下而添加的成分。又，lurking around作“潜伏”解，也是添加成分，原文虽无其字，而有其意。 
(2)“无奈何只好出此下策”译为have been reduced to the disreputable business as a last resort，其中disreputable business（不体面的行当）指“下策”。又，reduced to 意即“被逼从事……”；as a last resort意即“作为最后一着”。 
(3)“异常难处的事儿”译为I’ll be in a real fix, 其中in a fix是成语，作“陷入困境”或“尴尬”解。 
(4)“川江”即“四川段的长江”，故译为the Sichuan section of the Yangtse River。 
(5)“要绝对避免危险就莫做人”译为“Enjoying absolute safety is humanly impossible，其中humanly意即“从从做人的角度看”。 
(6)“要坐轮船坐飞机，自然也有办法”译为It stands to reason that I can go by steamer or aircraft if I care to，其中It stands to reason是成语，意即“当然”。 
(7)“付出超过定额的钱，力有不及，心有不甘”译为to pay more than the regular price for a “black” ticket, which I can ill afford and which I disdain to do。“心有不甘”意即“不屑一干”，故译disdain to do。 
(8)“你买黑票，无异同作敝，赞助越出常轨”译为Buying a “black” ticket is as good as getting involved in a fraud or an illegal practice, 其中as good as 是成语，作“实际上等于”或“与……几乎一样”解。 
(9)“书生之见”译为the pedantic view of a bookish person，其中pedantic view意同impractical view，作“不现实的观点”解。 
(10) “在传达室恭候，在会客室恭候”译为You may be kept cooling your heels in a janitor’s office or a reception room before an interview is granted，其中cooling your heels是成语，作“长等”、“空等”解。 
(11) “跑了不知多少趟，总算有眉目了”译为After making you don’t know how many visits, there eventually appear signs of positive outcome，其中you don’t know how是是插入语，修饰many。 
(12)“最有味的是冒充什么部的士兵”译为The funniest thing is when you try to pass for a soldier of certain army unit，其中to pass for作“冒充”解。 
(13)“为了走一趟路才穿上那套衣服，岂不亵渎了那套衣服？”译为Wouldn’t it be sinful for me to wear the grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform for nothing more than making a single trip?“亵渎”原作“轻慢”、“冒失”解，用在此处略带讽刺口气，意为“做了不该做的事”，故译为sinful。 
(14)“每块钱花得明明白白”意即“该花多少就花多少”或“每块钱都花得值得”，故译为every dollar is paid for what it is worth。 
(15)“我觉得木船好极了”译为I find the wooden boat super in this respect，其中super相当于fantastic或wonderful。

I Took a Wooden Boat 
                   ——Ye Shengtao 
     I took a wooden boat from Chongqing to Hankou. 
Of course I know it is risky to travel by wooden boat. With countless shoals and reefs to negotiate, accidents may happen any time. To complicate matters, there are bandits lurking around－those pitiful fellow countrymen who, unable to ward off starvation by farming or soldiering or whatnot, have been reduced to the disreputable business as a last resort. I’ll be in a real fix if they should rob me of, say, my bedding or clothes. 
     Now, on reflection, I realize that in the days before steamers and aircraft came into use, people used to travel by wooden boat up and down the Sichuan section of the Yangtse River. Even today, many continue to do so, and statistic will invariably show a higher percentage of people travelling by wooden boat than by steamer or aircraft. Why shouldn’t I do the same? Why should I think it beneath myself to travel by wooden boat? As for safety, is it less dangerous to travel by steamer or aircraft? Going on foot seems to be the best choice, but a tile falling off the eaves of somebody’s house might prove equally disastrous to foot passengers. Enjoying absolute safety is humanly impossible. 
     It stands to reason that I can go by steamer or aircraft if I care to. I can simply go around fishing for help or personal connections, or just buy a “black” ticket. But I’ll have to pay more than the regular price for a “black” ticket, which I can ill afford and which I disdain to do. And the very word “black” generates in me a feeling of repulsion. “Black” signified fraud or illegal practice. Buying a “black” ticket is as good as getting involved in a fraud or an illegal practice. If it is beyond one’s capacity to single-handedly stem the prevailing social evils, one should at least be self-disciplined so as not to make matters worse. All this is undoubtedly the pedantic view of bookish person—a view which must sound ridiculous to all sensible gentlemen. 
     Some people have told me from their own experience that soliciting help or speaking personal connections is something as difficult as hunting for a job. You may be kept cooling your heels in a janitor’s office or a reception room before an interview is granted. Hearing that you are trying to get a steamer or air ticket, the much sought-after interview may reply in a cold and indifferent manner, “Ah, that’s difficult…Come see me next week…” Thereupon you seem to see a ray of hope, and you may also feel totally uncertain of success. All you can do is wait until then. After making you don’t know how many visits, there eventually appear signs of positive outcome. Then you have to go here and there to get a signature or a seal, meet with all sorts of cold reception and wait for all sorts of summonses—all for the purpose of obtaining a useful certificate to buy a ticket with. Once with a ticket in hand, your status automatically changes. You can now call yourself the employee of certain government office or certain official’s secretary. You can call yourself so-and-so or so-and-so’s father. You can either keep your original name or have it changed. In short, you must temporarily break off relations with your old self. The funniest thing is when you try to pass for a soldier of a certain army unit, you must not only have your name changed, but also wear a grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform with a leather belt around your waist. All that kills my idea of soliciting help or seeking personal connections. I disdain to go humbly begging for a job even when I am starving, let alone to go asking for other 
people’s help in getting me a mere ticket. Neither is it necessary for me to go to all that trouble, nor should I bother other people for that matter. Going around is hard in the city of Chongqing. You have to queue up for at least 30 minutes or more to get on a bus. It would really be too much for me to go about for the ticket every day. As to the temporary divorce from my old self and the concealing of my identity, I hate to usurp all those designations though other people may think otherwise. I’m neither a government employee, nor a secretary, nor so-and-so, nor so-and-so’s father. I am myself. I am just an ordinary man with no urge to do better, so I hate to change places with anybody else, whether for a while or for good. To change places just for the sake of a trip would make me feel like being deprived. Wouldn’t it be sinful for me to wear the grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform for nothing more than making a single trip? Though many other people violate the taboo, I for my part cannot bear to do the same. This again is the impractical view of a bookish person. 
     It was with this impractical view that I decided to take a wooden boat. It is absolutely true that a wooden boat cannot compare with a steamer, much less an airplane. But there is no need for soliciting help or seeking personal connections, nor the need for the so-called “black” ticket. All you need to do is contact the transport company, or go direct to the wharf to look for a wooden boat. Once you have located it, you will know what the fare is from Chongqing to Hankou, and every dollar will be paid for what it is worth, no more, no less. I find the wooden boat super in this respect. I am saved the humiliation of begging for help or the need of confronting the nasty look on somebody’s face. I can travel with my true identity. This is something quite beyond the majority of those travelling by steamer or aircraft. I am proud of it. 
     After I had made up my mind, two friends of mine, in spite of the difficult boat journey all the way from Li Jia Tuo and Bai Bin respectively, came to dissuade me from taking the wooden boat out of concern and respect for me. They enumerated various reasons against my decision as well as various possible mishaps, advising me in the end to re-consider the matter. I felt very grateful to them, and of course refrained from showing any reluctance to re-consider the matter. By way of allaying their anxiety, I said jokingly, “A good guy always enjoys Heaven’s protection.” Now, the subsequence news of my safe arrival in Hankou must have set their mind at rest.