Travelling to Tongchuan1銅川之行

沙博理　任東升 焦琳/譯

The next day， September 1， we started for Yanan. We took a train at seven in the morning for Tongchuan， to the north， which was as far as the railway extended2. The rest of the way we would have to go by bus. Our fellow passengers were young people from all over China who got off at various stops along the road. Loud， cheerful youngsters from Jiangsu， south of the Yangtze3， were working in a local railway administration office. A moon-faced young man with round glasses， from Hainan Island， had become a forestry instructor at a university in Zhengzhou， in Henan， and was conducting his students on a field trip.

次日，九月一號，我們出發(fā)去延安。坐上早七點(diǎn)的火車一路朝北，先往銅川去，這趟車坐到頭就是。余下的路程得換乘公共汽車。火車上有來自全國各地的年輕人，沿途哪個(gè)站下車的都有。其中幾個(gè)喧鬧活潑，來自蘇南地區(qū)，在當(dāng)?shù)罔F路管理局上班。還有個(gè)戴圓眼鏡的圓臉兒小伙子，海南人，在河南鄭州一所大學(xué)當(dāng)林業(yè)專業(yè)教師，是領(lǐng)著學(xué)生去做田野調(diào)查的。

You saw these shifts of4 young population wherever you went， breaking down the old provincial narrowness， enriching the national culture， broadening peoples outlooks. The bobbed hair and smart attire of the pert girl textile workers from Shanghai were being emulated by their sisters in Xian， the languorous southern Yue music shared popularity with the more decisive northern opera arias on the Shaanxi radio. There were jokes and laughter over the misunderstandings caused by regional differences in pronunciation， but the laughter was good-natured and friendly. The youngsters were enjoying the exciting adventure5 they were sharing in building a new China.

無論走到哪里，都能看到這一撥又一撥的年輕人，他們正打破守舊的地域觀念，豐富民族文化，拓寬彼此的眼界。從上海來的紡織女工活潑朝氣，梳著齊耳短發(fā)，衣著時(shí)髦，西安的姑娘們爭相效仿。陜西的無線電廣播中，婉轉(zhuǎn)的南方越劇和激越的北方戲一樣受歡迎。不同地域發(fā)音差異也引起過誤會，鬧出不少樂子，引人大笑，但笑聲里都是善意和友好。共同建設(shè)新中國這種激動人心的人生經(jīng)歷，年輕人樂在其中。

Our train was a local6， with hard wooden seats. The weather was hot and we were climbing continuously. By the time we got to Tongchuan we were pretty weary.

我們坐的是慢車，硬木座。天氣又熱，火車還一直爬坡，到達(dá)銅川時(shí)，大家早已疲憊不堪。

But we perked up when we saw what lay before us. Tongchuan， meaning “Copper Valley，” is a pass in the mountains guarding the northern flank of the Weihe River Plain and the city of Xian. It was well-garrisoned in ancient times， for it was through here that Tartar and Turkic nomadic tribesmen poured through in raids on their more affluent Han neighbors to the south. The name indicated there had been copper mines at one time， but these must have been worked out， for coal mining was now the major industry. Tongchuan had the biggest coal mine in the northwest.

一看眼前的景色，我們就又振奮起來。銅川，義為“銅的山谷”，是一處山間要隘，守衛(wèi)著渭北平原和西安。此地在古代是重兵把守之地，因?yàn)轫^靼人和突厥游牧部落正是通過此處大舉南下，突襲毗鄰之地更為富庶的漢人。名為“銅川”，就是說這個(gè)地方有銅礦，但肯定早采掘完了，因?yàn)槿缃衩旱V才是這里的主要工業(yè)，銅川的煤礦規(guī)模是西北地區(qū)之最。

Its beautiful country， this land of the yellow soil， known as “l(fā)oess”7 in the West. Sticky and adhesive when wet， its fine for making bricks or building dams. When dry it is porous and light.8 Local people carve their homes out of yellow soil bluffs， merely boring a hole in the top for a chimney and adding a front wall of wood， with paper panes for the windows.9

可真是美啊，這片黃土地，西方稱之為“黃土高原”。潮濕時(shí)，黃土黏性很強(qiáng)，制磚筑壩都很好用；干燥時(shí)，又多孔且輕。當(dāng)?shù)厝嗽邳S土峭壁上鑿窯洞為家，只需在頂上鉆個(gè)洞眼作煙囪，洞口加一堵木墻，窗欞上糊上紙，就大功告成。

There are few real mountains， but you see great heights and depths， because centuries of erosion have incised the yellow soil plateaus with huge canyons， some hundreds of yards deep and stretching for miles across. With a little water， the soil is fairly fertile. The problem is its dry most of the year， and then in late summer， usually August， heavy rains form torrents which race through the gullies and canyons， smashing everything in their path. The locals had started a drive10 to build check-dams and reservoirs， and to plant trees and bushes and grass. But it was difficult， for the population was small and the area vast.

在這兒很難看到真正的山，但目之所及都是高脊和深溝，這是因?yàn)榍О倌甑那治g把黃土高原雕刻得千溝萬壑，百米深谷綿延數(shù)公里。給點(diǎn)水，就相當(dāng)肥沃。問題是一年之中大部分時(shí)間都干旱，唯有夏末時(shí)節(jié)，通常是八月，暴雨引發(fā)山洪，在溝壑峽谷中奔騰而過，所經(jīng)之處，無不沖毀。當(dāng)?shù)厝艘呀?jīng)發(fā)動起來，建攔河壩修水庫，植樹種草。但由于地廣人稀，難見成效。

After a late lunch heavily flavored with garlic in an earthen-floored restaurant carved out of a bluff， we walked into Tongchuans old walled city. It had only one real street， lined with a few stores and government offices. We were followed by a large gang of kids， very friendly， in high spirits， average age about nine. They were neatly dressed， many in new cotton prints. We were struck by the beauty of the children， especially some of the girls. Tall， well-proportioned， they had large eyes， fresh complexions11. A few were quite Western in their facial configuration. Raiding Central Asian tribesmen in ancient days were often exiled on capture to Yanan Prefecture， then a garrisoned border region， where they intermarried with the local girls.

我們在一家黃土地面的窯洞餐館吃了蒜味濃郁的晌午飯后，漫步走進(jìn)城墻環(huán)繞的銅川古城。里面只有一條像樣的大街，兩旁有幾家商鋪和政府機(jī)關(guān)。我們身后跟著一大幫孩子，都很和善，歡天喜地的，看著九歲上下，衣著整潔，不少人穿著印花新棉衣。這些孩子長得可真好看，尤其是個(gè)別女孩子。她們個(gè)頭高高的，身量勻稱，眼睛大大的，面色紅潤。有幾個(gè)孩子的五官很有西方特征。古時(shí)候中亞部落的入侵者被俘后常流放到當(dāng)時(shí)有屯兵駐守的延安府，便與當(dāng)?shù)毓媚锿ɑ椤?/p>

The city had a Tang Dynasty pagoda—a nine-storey tower. It was shabby and run-down. People are not impressed with antiquity per se. A mere thousand years is nothing in a land where recorded history runs back 3，000 and detailed legends commenced four millennia ago.

銅川市有一座唐代寶塔，九層高，年久失修，破敗不堪。人們對古跡不太在意，在這個(gè)三千年前就有歷史記載、四千年前便有詳細(xì)傳說的國度，才一千年歷史的古跡算不得什么。

Our bus would leave the next day. We were put up in a government office compound， in rooms of cadres out on field trips. Tongchuan had no hotel， only inns “not suitable for foreign guests.” We were given bedding， hot water for washing， good tea. There was no charge. We went to bed at 7：30， worn out. They told us the Yanan bus， due to leave at five in the morning， might not. There had been rain up north， and water made the yellow soil slick and dangerous on mountain roads.

公共汽車次日才會離開銅川。晚上我們被安置在政府大院里，住的是外出考察干部的房間。銅川沒有招待所，有的只是小旅店，但都“不適合招待外賓”。用的被褥、洗漱的熱水、喝的好茶，都不需要我們付錢。我們累得夠嗆，七點(diǎn)半就睡了。有人通知說，去延安的公共汽車本來明天早上五點(diǎn)發(fā)車，但這個(gè)點(diǎn)兒可能走不了了，因?yàn)楸边呄逻^大雨，山路上黃土泥濘，濕滑危險(xiǎn)。

Most freight was hauled on two-wheeled carts， pulled by horses and mules in mixed teams of four， with one animal in shafts and three in forward traces. The squeal of their brakes—a wooden block pressing on a round metal drum on the axle—never stopped.12 It was the last thing we heard as we fell asleep and the first thing we heard on awakening in the morning.

當(dāng)?shù)剡\(yùn)貨多用兩輪馬車，拉車的馬和騾子總共四匹，一匹架轅三匹拉車。剎車說白了就是個(gè)木塊，一壓車軸上的金屬鼓輪，發(fā)出尖銳的吱呀聲，不絕于耳。入睡前最后聽見的就是這個(gè)動靜，清晨醒來最先聽見的還是這個(gè)。

At seven there was still no bus. They said at the station they wouldnt know about the condition of the roads until ten. We had breakfast in our cave restaurant， crisp oil fritters and soybean milk. As we sat dawdling over our food we felt strangely at peace. We had already become accustomed to the screech of brakes as the carts， laden with coal， checked their speed on the downgrades， and listened with half an ear to the Beijing opera and Shaanxi folk songs audible from loudspeakers across the valley through the clear mountain air.13

七點(diǎn)鐘了汽車仍沒來。車站的人說要到十點(diǎn)才會知道路況。我們在窯洞餐館吃了個(gè)早飯，酥脆的油條就著豆?jié){。坐在那兒悠閑地吃著，竟然感覺很平靜，原是我們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了裝滿煤炭的馬車下坡減速時(shí)刺耳的剎車聲，一邊吃一邊還能從中分辨出大喇叭里的京劇和陜西民歌，那是透過清新的山間空氣從山谷對面?zhèn)鱽淼摹?/p>

We finally left on the bus at 11， due to reach Yanan by eight that night.

我們終于在十一點(diǎn)坐上汽車離開銅川，晚上八點(diǎn)應(yīng)該能到延安。