英譯《臺(tái)階》

原文作者簡(jiǎn)介：

李森祥（1956—）：浙江衢州人。當(dāng)代作家，浙江省作協(xié)的專業(yè)作家。1975年入伍，曾在嘉興軍分區(qū)某部工作，少校。李森祥的小說(shuō)以農(nóng)村、軍營(yíng)量大生活為主要題材，塑造出一系列生動(dòng)的普通人尤其是農(nóng)民的質(zhì)樸形象。《臺(tái)階》一文通過(guò)敘述父親建造高臺(tái)階的過(guò)程，表現(xiàn)了父親為實(shí)現(xiàn)理想而不懈追求，與命運(yùn)搏斗的精神。同時(shí)，也反映出父親那輩農(nóng)民為提高地位，贏得尊重，付出了巨大的代價(jià)。同時(shí)也表達(dá)了作者對(duì)父親身上的優(yōu)秀品質(zhì)的敬仰和贊嘆；以及億萬(wàn)農(nóng)民渴望提高生產(chǎn)力，結(jié)束農(nóng)村落后狀況的心聲，回蕩著時(shí)代召喚的主旋律。

《臺(tái)階》原文

父親總覺(jué)得我們家的臺(tái)階低。

我們家的臺(tái)階有三級(jí)，用三塊青石板鋪成。那石板多年前由父親從山上背下來(lái)，每塊大約有三百來(lái)斤重。那個(gè)石匠笑著為父親托在肩膀上，說(shuō)是能一口氣背到家，不收石料錢。結(jié)果父親一下子背了三趟，還沒(méi)覺(jué)得花了太大的力氣。只是那一來(lái)一去的許多山路，磨破了他一雙麻筋草鞋，父親感到太可惜。

那石板沒(méi)經(jīng)石匠光面，就鋪在家門口。多年來(lái)，風(fēng)吹雨淋，人踩牛踏，終于光滑了些，但磨不平那一顆顆硬幣大的小凹。臺(tái)階上積了水時(shí)，從堂里望出去，有許多小亮點(diǎn)。天若放晴，穿堂風(fēng)一吹，青石板比泥地干得快，父親又用竹絲掃把掃了，石板上青幽幽的，寬敞陰涼，由不得人不去坐一坐，躺一躺。母親坐在門檻上干活，我就被安置在青石板上。母親說(shuō)我那時(shí)好乖，我乖得坐坐就知道趴下來(lái)，用手指抓青石板，劃出細(xì)細(xì)的沙沙聲，我就癡癡地笑。我流著一大串涎水，張嘴在青石板上啃，結(jié)果啃了一嘴泥沫子。

再大些，我就喜歡站在那條青石門檻上往臺(tái)階上跳。先是跳一級(jí)臺(tái)階，蹦、蹦、蹦！后來(lái)，我就跳二級(jí)臺(tái)階，蹦、蹦！再后來(lái)，我跳三級(jí)臺(tái)階，蹦！又覺(jué)得從上往下跳沒(méi)意思，便調(diào)了個(gè)頭，從下往上跳，啪、啪、啪！后來(lái)，又跳二級(jí)，啪、啪！再后來(lái)，又跳三級(jí)，啪！我想一步跳到門檻上，但摔了一大跤。父親拍拍我后腦勺說(shuō)，這樣是會(huì)吃苦頭的！

父親的個(gè)子高，他覺(jué)得坐在臺(tái)階上很舒服。父親把屁股坐在最高的一級(jí)上，兩只腳板就擱在最低的一級(jí)。他的腳板寬大，裂著許多干溝，溝里嵌著沙子和泥土。父親的這雙腳是洗不干凈的，他一般都去河里洗，拖著一雙濕了的草鞋唿嗒唿嗒地走回來(lái)。大概到了過(guò)年，父親才在家里洗一次腳。那天，母親就特別高興，親自為他端了一大木盆水。盆水冒著熱氣，父親就坐在臺(tái)階上很耐心地洗。因?yàn)樯匙佣嗟木壒?，父親要了個(gè)板刷刷拉刷拉地刷。后來(lái)父親的腳終于洗好了，終于洗出了腳的本色，卻也是黃幾幾的，是泥土的顏色。我為他倒水，倒出的是一盆泥漿，木盆底上還積了一層沙。父親說(shuō)洗了一次干凈的腳，覺(jué)得這腳輕飄飄的沒(méi)著落，踏在最硬實(shí)的青石板上也像踩在棉花上似的。

我們家的臺(tái)階低！父親又像是對(duì)我，又像是自言自語(yǔ)地感嘆。這句話他不知說(shuō)了多少遍。

在我們家鄉(xiāng)，住家門口總有臺(tái)階，高低不盡相同，從二三級(jí)到十幾級(jí)的都有。家鄉(xiāng)地勢(shì)低，屋基做高些，不大容易進(jìn)水。另外還有一說(shuō)，臺(tái)階高，屋主人的地位就相應(yīng)高。鄉(xiāng)鄰們?cè)谝黄鸪３蚍Q：你們家的臺(tái)階高！言外之意，就是你們家有地位啊。

父親老實(shí)厚道低眉順眼累了一輩子，沒(méi)人說(shuō)過(guò)他有地位，父親也從沒(méi)覺(jué)得自己有地位。但他日夜盼著，準(zhǔn)備著要造一棟有高臺(tái)階的新屋。

The Steps

My father always felt that the steps in front of our house were too low.

The three-stair steps in front of our house are paved with three bluestones，which were carried here by my father from the mountain years ago，each weighing more than 150 kilograms. The mason，who helped put the slates on my father’s shoulder smilingly，said that if my father carried the slates direct home without a stop，they would be free of charge. Consequently，my father went back and forth for three times without feeling much fatigue，but he seemed to feel a lot of pity for wearing out his hemp straw sandals.

The slates were laid unpolished on the floor in front of our house. For the past years，it became somewhat smooth after undergoing wind and rain as well as being trodden by people and cattle，though the coin-like concave grindings on the surface were about the same. When the steps were waterlogged，you could see many tiny bright spots through the halls. If it cleared up and the wind freely blew through the rooms，the bluestone steps would dry out faster than the soil ground. After father swept them with bamboo brooms，the slates were blue and quiet，wide and cool，so much so that they lured people to take a sit or lie down on it. And when my mother was sitting on the threshold and working，I was placed on the steps. She said I was such a good boy that I knew to lie down to grasp the slates with my nails and senselessly laugh after siting for a few moments. I dribbled a lot and gnawed the slates，as a result，only to have my mouth filled with sand.

When I grow older，I would stand on the threshold of the bluestone to jump onto the steps. At first，I jumped step by step，“Bang！ Bang！ Bang！” Then，I did two steps each time “Bang Bang！” Later，I jumped three steps，“Bang！” However，I soon felt it boring to jump down the steps，so I turned about and jumped from the bottom，“Pop！ Pop！ Pop！” Later，I jumped two steps “Pop！ Pop！” and then three steps at one go “Pop！” I wanted to jump onto the threshold at one try，but I fell down heavily. Father patted me on the back of the head and said that I would suffer a great deal.

My father was very tall，so it was comfortable for him to sit on the steps. When he sat on the top step，his feet were put on the lowest level. Father’s feet were big and there were many dry wrinkles in his wide feet，which embedded sand and clay. Father couldn’t wash his feet clean at home，so he usually went to the river to wash and then went back with a pair of wet straw sandals. Probably only in the Spring Festival my father would wash his feet at home. On that day，my mother would be particularly pleased and bring him some water in the wooden basin personally. As the water gave off hot air，father sat on the steps washing his feet with great patience. There being a lot of sands in his feet，he would use a scrub brush to remove them. Eventually，his feet were washed thoroughly，but they were still yellow，almost the color of mud. I poured water for him，which，in fact，was a basin of mud rather than a basin of water and a layer of sand was left on the bottom！ Father told me that he felt his feet so drifting and floating as if he was stepping on the cotton after he washed his feet clean.

“The steps of our house are too low！ “ Father seemingly said to me and seemingly to himself. He was always repeating it.

In our hometown，there are always steps in front of the houses with stairs varying from two or three to a dozen. It’s said that the steps on a high groundsill would help prevent flood into the house，as the whole areas are low-lying. There is also another popular saying which goes that if the steps are high，the status of the owner is correspondingly high. The neighbours often play jokes on each other “You have high steps for your house”，which means your family really enjoys high status.

Honestly and obediently，my father live in this way all his life，and he never felt he was somebody since nobody has ever really said that. What he looked forward to day and night is to building a new house with high steps.