十億個故事

by Evan Osnos

本文的作者埃文·奧斯諾斯，畢業(yè)于哈佛大學政治學專業(yè)，如今是《紐約客》雜志的駐華記者。由于埃文長期在中國工作，所以對中國了解很多，埃文還曾因一篇關于中國的報道于2008年獲得普利策獎。更有意思的是，埃文還有一個中國名字——歐逸文，一個聽上去相當有腔調(diào)的名字。

在這篇《十億個故事》當中，埃文將給我們講述一次奇遇：有一天，一個農(nóng)民工貿(mào)貿(mào)然地打斷了埃文與鄰里的談話，埃文與其慢慢交談過后發(fā)現(xiàn)，一個清潔工竟然有著自己的文學夢，還曾拿過“對聯(lián)王”之類的獎項，最不可思議的是這個農(nóng)民工還在網(wǎng)絡上過著精彩的小日子……埃文被這一切深深吸引了，其實不只是埃文，我們也會羨慕把生活過得如此悠哉樂哉的人，不是嗎？更為可貴的是，他還有夢……

In my neighborhood， near the 1）Lama Temple， the men and women in 2）fluorescent orange 3）jumpsuits work for the district 4）sanitation department. Many of them are 5）migrant workers from the countryside； they sweep the alleys， clean the public restrooms， and collect the trash. Some wear 6）straw farmers hats that cast a shadow across their faces， and， I admit， the matching uniforms make it difficult for me to keep them straight. I dont know if there are three of them or thirty.

One afternoon not long ago， I was chatting with my next-door neighbor， a retiree named Huang Wenyi—a proud Beijinger， born and raised—when one of the sweepers in an orange jumpsuit wandered by. He had 7）tousled hair，sun wrinkles around his eyes， and a smile of 8）jumbled teeth. He approached and pointed to a gray flagstone at our feet. “Can you see the emperor on that rock？” the sweeper asked.

Huang and I looked at the rock and back at the sweeper. Huang was not interested. “What are you bullshitting about？” he asked. “You have no idea what youre talking about.”

The sweeper smiled and asked， “Are you saying you think Im not a cultured man？”

“What Im saying，” Huang said， “is that youre not making sense.”

The sweeper gave him a look， and turned， instead， to face me. “I can look at anything， and pull the essence from it，” he said. “It doesnt matter how ordinary something is； in my eyes， it becomes a treasure. Do you believe me？”

Huang was irritated： “Old man， Im trying to have a chat with our foreign friend here. Can you not disturb us， and go back to your work？” With that， he waved the sweeper away and wandered into his house. But I was actually 9）intrigued， so I introduced myself. The sweepers name was Qi Xiangfu. He was from Jiangsu Province， and he said he had come to Beijing three months ago.

“Why did you come，” I asked.

“To explore the realm of culture，” he said grandly.

“What kind of culture？”

“Poetry， mainly. Ancient Chinese poetry. During the Tang Dynasty， when poetry was the best， every poet wanted to come to Changan，”he said， invoking the name of an ancient capital， the predecessor to Beijing. “I wanted a bigger stage，” he said. “It doesnt matter whether I succeed or fail. Im here， thats what matters.”

It was getting late； before I went inside， Qi said he had competed in poetry competitions. “I won the title of ‘Super King of Chinese 10）Couplets.” In his spare time， he had taken to hosting an online forum about modern Chinese poetry. “You can go online and read about me，” he said.

That night， I typed his name into the Web， and there he was： Qi Xiangfu， the Super King of Chinese Couplets. In the photo， he was handsomely dressed in a bow tie and a jacket； he looked young and confident. Chinese poems are hard for me to understand， and many of his， especially， were 11）impenetrably weird. But I appreciated some moments of grace： “Earth knows the lightness of our feet，” he wrote. “We meet each other there. Between heaven and earth.”

To my surprise， the more I searched about Qi Xiangfu， the more I found of a life lived partly online. He described the first time he ever presented one of his poems to a large group—it was played on a speaker at a construction site—and he described a bus trip in which he met， as he put it， “a girl who sympathized.” They married and it“ended his life of 12）vagrancy.” There were hints of trouble in his life—at one point， he wrote a plea for donations， saying， “Alas， Comrade Qi is having a difficult time”—but something in the spirit of his online persona 13）captivated me.

After I met the street sweeper Qi Xiangfu， I started 14）bumping into him frequently. A few weeks ago， he told me he had been reassigned to the sanitation department in another part of town； he said he would come back when he could. The last time I saw him， he wasnt wearing his uniform； he was in street clothes—a crisp white shirt and a black jacket—on his way to see his daughter who worked at a restaurant nearby. He had a book under his arm： Ten Contemporary Authors of Prose. For the first time， I saw the two personae， online and real-world， in one.

“What inspires you，” I once asked him.

“When I write，” he said， “anything becomes material. In life， I must be practical， but when I write， it is up to me.”

在我的住處附近，挨著雍和宮，有一些穿著熒光橘色工裝的男男女女，他們是區(qū)環(huán)衛(wèi)局的工人。他們當中有很多是鄉(xiāng)下來的農(nóng)民工；他們打掃大街小巷，清潔公共廁所，收集廢品。他們中有些人帶著農(nóng)民的草帽，臉上被投下一片陰影，而且，我得承認，那一致的裝束讓我很難去分清他們。我并不曉得他們一行人是有3個還是30個。

不久前的一個下午，我正在和隔壁鄰居聊天，他叫黃文藝（音譯），退休了，是個自豪的土生土長的北京人。當時，一個身著熒光橘色工裝的清潔工從我們身旁經(jīng)過。他頭發(fā)蓬亂，眼周有著被太陽曬出的皺紋，笑起來露出一口糟牙。他走近我們并指向我們腳下的一塊灰色石板?！澳隳芸匆娔菈K石頭上的皇帝嗎？”這清潔工問道。

老黃和我看了看石板，又看了看那個清潔工。老黃并不感興趣?！澳阍诤f八道些什么？”他問道?！澳愣疾恢雷约涸谡f些什么?！?/p>

那個清潔工笑起來，問道：“你意思是，我不是個文化人？”

“我說的是，”黃答道，“你的話說不通。”

那個清潔工掃了他一眼，而后轉(zhuǎn)過身，面向我?！拔铱礀|西能發(fā)現(xiàn)其本質(zhì)，”他說?！安还芏嗝雌胀ǖ臇|西；在我眼里，都是個寶貝。你信我嗎？”

老黃生氣了，說道：“老頭兒，我在跟外國朋友聊天。你別打擾我們，干你的活去，行不？”說罷，他揮手示意清潔工離開，而后踱步走回了自己的房子。但我真的是很好奇，所以我作了自我介紹。那個清潔工名叫戚相富，來自江蘇省，他還說自己是三個月前來的北京。

“你為什么來這兒？”我問他。

“為了探索文化的領域，”他堂皇地答道。

“什么樣的文化？”

“主要是詩歌，中國古代詩歌。在唐代，詩歌最為興盛的時候，每個詩人都想去長安，”他說道，他引用了一座古都的名字，北京之前的前朝古都?！拔蚁胍粋€更大的平臺，”他說。“成敗都沒關系。我來到這里，才是最重要的?！?/p>

天色漸漸晚了；在我回屋之前，戚說他曾參加過詩歌比賽?！拔耀@得過‘超級對聯(lián)王的稱號?！痹谒e暇的時候，他是一個以中國現(xiàn)代詩歌為主題的網(wǎng)絡論壇的版主?！澳憧梢缘骄W(wǎng)上了解一下我，”他說。

那天晚上，我在網(wǎng)上輸入了他的名字，而后就看到了他：戚相富，超級對聯(lián)王。照片里，他打扮得帥極了，戴著領結，穿著夾克，看起來既年輕又自信。中國詩歌對于我來說很難理解，特別是戚相富的一些詩，格外古怪難懂。但我還是欣賞到了一些優(yōu)雅的部分：“大地知曉你我腳步的輕盈，”他寫道?！疤斓刂g。我們遇見彼此?！?/p>

令我驚訝的是，關于戚相富，愈加搜索我就愈多地發(fā)現(xiàn)他在網(wǎng)絡上的生活部分。戚相富在網(wǎng)絡上描述了他第一次將自己的詩公之于眾時的情形——那首詩在建筑工地上的一個揚聲器里播放——他還描述了一次汽車旅途中的邂逅，如他所寫，“一個支持他的女孩兒。”他們結了婚，而后婚姻“結束了他漂泊的生活?！泵枋鲋杏幸恍╆P于生活中困苦的暗示——在某一處，他寫了一個呼吁捐款的請愿，上面說，“唉，戚同志正在艱難時光中備受煎熬”——盡管如此，戚同志線上角色中的某些精神還是俘獲了我。

認識清潔工戚相富之后，我便時常撞見他。幾周前，戚相富告訴我他被環(huán)衛(wèi)局調(diào)到城市的另一端去了；他說可能的話他會再回來。最后一次見到他的時候，他沒有穿他的制服；而是穿了便服——一件亮白色襯衣和黑色夾克——他要去看他在附近餐館打工的女兒。他腋下夾了一本書——《十大當代散文家》。第一次，我看到了他的兩面人格合二為一，網(wǎng)絡上的和現(xiàn)實世界里的。

“是什么激勵著你，”我曾經(jīng)問他。

“當我寫作的時候，”他說道，“一切可以信手拈來。在生活中，我必須務實，但在我寫作的時候，我說了算?！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2018/07/08/qkimagesfkyyfkyy201310fkyy20131005-3-l.jpg"/>