The Silent Traveller in Dublin都柏林的靜默行者

蔣彝　羅懷宇/譯介

【導(dǎo)讀】蔣彝先生（1903—1977）一生極富傳奇色彩。他曾于上世紀(jì)二三十年代在國內(nèi)執(zhí)教、從戎、出仕。而立之年，自費(fèi)赴英游學(xué)，先后任教于英國的倫敦大學(xué)東方學(xué)院和美國的哥倫比亞大學(xué)、哈佛大學(xué)等。他曾自號(hào)“The Silent Traveller”，撰寫了一系列英文游記，在英語世界的游記文學(xué)中享有盛譽(yù)。蔣彝先生才高德馨，畢生以在國際間傳播弘揚(yáng)中華文化為己任，晚年葉落歸根，回到中國。2019年6月，牛津南荒原路（Southmoor Road）28號(hào)立起一塊“藍(lán)色牌匾”（Blue Plaque），以紀(jì)念他對(duì)中英兩國文化的貢獻(xiàn)，這使他成為繼老舍、孫中山之后第三個(gè)獲此殊榮的華人。

The Silent Traveller in Dublin是1953年在倫敦出版的一部游記，封面有蔣彝先生本人題寫的“都百靈畫記”字樣。作為選篇標(biāo)題，譯者并未采用“都百靈畫記”或“都柏林畫記”的譯法，也沒有將“The Silent Traveller”譯為“啞行者”（蔣彝先生字仲雅，又作重啞，筆名啞行者），而是譯為“都柏林的靜默行者”，目的是為了更恰當(dāng)?shù)嘏c選篇的內(nèi)容和氣質(zhì)相匹配。

選篇以《都柏林晚郵報(bào)》上的一則報(bào)道為引，記敘了作者尋訪都柏林鳥市的過程。篇幅不長，卻十分自然地糅合了寫景、狀物、議論、抒情多種手法，生動(dòng)刻畫出文化名城都柏林的風(fēng)土人情。尤其最后一節(jié)的鳥市見聞，更是惟妙惟肖地表現(xiàn)出那個(gè)特定時(shí)空?qǐng)鼍爸锌缥幕涣鞯莫?dú)特趣味。

“An old lady，” wrote a correspondent of the Dublin Evening Mail， “who lives alone on a very minute income， lost a goldfinch some months ago. She was very fond of it， and still misses its company. I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to give her one to replace it？ She has a cage…” Someone， I recalled， had told me that there is a bird market in Dublin， open only at week-ends， situated somewhere in the old part of the city. Immediately I decided to visit it. But I had better confess that my motive was not to buy a goldfinch for the old lady， or even for myself; her wish would doubtless be fulfilled by one of her compatriots： I am but a silent traveler.

“一位老太太，”《都柏林晚郵報(bào)》的記者寫道，“數(shù)月前失去一只金翅雀。她獨(dú)自生活，僅靠一份極微薄的收入。她很愛那只鳥，到現(xiàn)在仍想念它的陪伴。不知有沒有好心人能送一只給她充作替代？她有籠子……”我想起曾有人告訴過我，都柏林有家鳥市，在老城某個(gè)地方，僅周末營業(yè)。我當(dāng)即決定去看看。但我須得先坦白，我的目的不是給老太太買金翅雀，甚至也不是給自己買；她的心愿自有她的同胞為她實(shí)現(xiàn)：而我不過是一個(gè)靜默的行者。

In China the love of birds is innate， and there is a bird market in almost every city or large town. The Chinese love birds as the British love horses and dogs. Not that the British do not love birds， but it is a different kind of affection， one which seldom lends them to buy birds to keep as pets; and on the overcast Saturday morning my chief difficulty， I perceived， was going to be to find the Dublin bird market at all. Neither my host nor my hostess knew where it was. The maid suggested that it must be near Bride Street， but as she had never been there she could not be certain. I decided to follow this clue， and set off.

愛鳥是中國人的天性，幾乎每個(gè)城市或大一點(diǎn)的市鎮(zhèn)都有鳥市。中國人愛鳥就像英國人愛馬和狗。這并非說英國人不愛鳥，而是說那是一種不同的情感，不同就在于英國人極少買鳥養(yǎng)作寵物。在這樣一個(gè)陰沉的周六早晨，我感覺最大的困難是如何找到這家都柏林鳥市。房東夫婦倆都不清楚它在哪兒。女傭說應(yīng)該離新娘街不遠(yuǎn)，但也說不準(zhǔn)，因?yàn)樗龔臎]去過。我決定跟從這條線索，于是便動(dòng)身前往了。

As I approached St Stephens Green I noticed that the morning mist had fused the leaves and twigs of the trees which line the boundaries of the Green in a mysterious pale green mass. Between the trunks and railings， red and yellow dots of flowers appeared， but the much-too-grey sky did not allow the sun to touch them to gaiety. They wore a wan rather than a brilliant smile. Dublin is no great distance from London， and its climate， and therefore its light， cannot be very different. Yet Dublin buildings look cleaner and brighter than Londons， even on a dull morning， chiefly perhaps because they are not shadowed with soot.

走到圣斯蒂芬綠地附近時(shí)，我看見綠地周緣的樹木枝葉間晨霧彌漫，將這片區(qū)域籠罩在一團(tuán)神秘的淡綠色中。在那些樹干和柵欄之間，點(diǎn)綴著紅色和黃色的花朵，惜乎天空過于灰暗，不容許陽光觸摸她們，帶給她們歡樂。她們笑容慘淡，全然不見明艷笑靨。都柏林距離倫敦并不遙遠(yuǎn)，氣候不可能殊異，按說光照也應(yīng)如此。然而，都柏林的建筑看上去卻比倫敦的更清凈、明亮，即便在這樣一個(gè)陰郁的早晨，大概主要是因?yàn)闆]有被煤灰遮蔽。

Presently I came into York Street， where my feet， as on former occasions when I had walked there， refused to carry me quickly. The elegant if not always well-preserved doorways of the houses on one side of the street made me dawdle. There are many attractions in Dublin， but I found the variety of doorways all over the city appealed to me more than anything. It is said that Dublin has more Georgian houses than any other city in the British Isles. A friend of mine who lives in Bath disputes this， and I know no way of resolving this point; I am no student of architecture and can discuss neither the number of Georgian buildings nor the merits of their style. I will only make the comment that to me it seems that the Georgian architects were the pioneers of town-planning. Before the eighteenth century no one planned streets. Houses， mansions， churches， yes： but not streets. There is a lot to be said for the neatness and order of some parts of Dublin. The doorways along York Street， however， varied though they are， have not been uniformly kept in condition. How so many of them came to lose their distinction I do not know. Many doors stood wide open and I wanted to look inside， but when， having selected one house， I set foot on the step， I was driven away again by the formidable chatter and laughter of some women leaning on the railing. One of them was holding a baby， whose crying did not interrupt her gossip， and I could not bring myself to interrupt it either.

不一會(huì)兒我便來到了約克街。我的雙腳不愿再助我快步前行，以往走路來這里也是如此。街道一側(cè)的房屋多見雅致的門廊，雖然有的保存不善，仍引得我駐足流連。都柏林名勝眾多，但我發(fā)現(xiàn)最讓我心動(dòng)的還是遍布全城的各類門廊。據(jù)說都柏林喬治時(shí)代的房屋是英倫三島城市中最多的。一位住巴斯的朋友不同意這觀點(diǎn)，對(duì)此我也無以應(yīng)對(duì)。我對(duì)建筑沒有研究，無法討論喬治時(shí)代建筑的具體數(shù)量或風(fēng)格妙處。我只想評(píng)論一點(diǎn)，那就是，我認(rèn)為喬治時(shí)代的建筑師是城市規(guī)劃的先行者。18世紀(jì)以前還沒有人規(guī)劃街道。房屋、公寓、教堂，都有規(guī)劃；街道可沒有。都柏林的一些區(qū)域干凈齊整，秩序井然，可圈可點(diǎn)。然而，約克街上的門廊盡管千差萬別，卻并未盡數(shù)保存完好。那么多的門廊何以失去往日的風(fēng)貌，我不得而知。許多房子大門洞開，我不禁想看看里面的樣子，但就在我選定一座房子、拾級(jí)而上時(shí)，倚在欄桿上的女人們震天的話聲和笑聲不由使我退避三舍。其中一個(gè)女人還抱著嬰兒，嬰兒的啼哭也沒能打斷她的閑言碎語，我當(dāng)然也不可能上去打斷。

I moved on into Aungier Street， where I enquired for Bride Street. An elderly gentleman whose red face and white hair suggested liveliness and good humour answered me jovially： “Oi doant know what yre going to Bride Street for—there is no bride for ye， young man. But just look at that house！ Its the house where the Irish poet and song-writer Thomas Moore was born in 1779. He wrote and published his first sonnet in his fourteenth year， addressed to his schoolmaster， Mr Samuel White. His book Irish Melodies is very well known. Ave coorse， ye may know it already. Oi thought Id tell ye. Bride Street？ Ah， ha. Ye just walk along this street towards the east and then turn to the right， pass through to the end and there ye will find Bride Street. Oho， ‘Bless the Bride. Goodbye. Good marnin….” Many people have helped me to find my way during my silent travels， but none have been so humorously amiable as this one.

我繼續(xù)前行，來到昂吉爾街，在那兒我向人打聽新娘街。一位老先生鶴發(fā)童顏，看得出來的活潑風(fēng)趣，他用歡快的語氣回答我：“我不知道你去新娘街做什么——那兒可沒有你的新娘，年輕人。不如你看看那座房子！那是愛爾蘭詩人和詞作家托馬斯·摩爾的故居，1779年他在這里出生。14歲就寫作并發(fā)表了他的第一首十四行詩，寫給他的校長塞繆爾·懷特先生的。他的《愛爾蘭旋律》一書很有名。當(dāng)然，你可能已經(jīng)知道了。不過我覺得還是得和你說。新娘街？啊哈！你只需沿這條街往東走，然后右拐，走到頭，就能找到新娘街啦。哦嗬！‘求主保佑新娘。再見。早安……”在我靜默的游歷生涯中，幫我指路的人很多，但從來沒有人像這位老先生這樣和藹可親又幽默風(fēng)趣。

Following his direction， I presently found myself in Bride Street. It appeared to be a purely residential quarter. Not a single shop could I see. Wherever could be bird market lie？ Hardly anyone was about—just one elderly woman trying to carry a big dustbin into a house. There were no elegant Georgian doorways， but the street was clean and quiet. I trotted on， looking vaguely from side to side. At the corner of the Upper Kevin Street a man lurched out of a building which the strong scent from his nostrils identified as a public-house. Another man， with a pipe， stood idly by the kerb. He knew what I was after and directed me to one of a row of small houses on the other side of Bride Street. I crossed and entered the wrong house. It was rather dark and there was a spiral staircase against the wall not unlike an Edinburgh close. While I paused， baffled， my informant reappeared and conducted me to the right place.

按照他的指引，我很快就來到了新娘街。這里看上去像是一個(gè)單純的住宅區(qū)，連家商店也見不著。鳥市能在哪兒呢？周遭幾乎沒人——只有一個(gè)老婦費(fèi)力地往屋內(nèi)搬一個(gè)大垃圾桶。街邊看不到精美的喬治時(shí)代門廊，但街道本身十分干凈、寧靜。我快步向前，泛泛地往兩旁搜尋。在凱文街上段，一個(gè)男人踉踉蹌蹌走出一棟建筑，鼻孔散發(fā)的濃烈氣味表明那是家酒館。還有個(gè)人持著煙斗，優(yōu)哉游哉地站在路緣上。他知道我在找什么，于是指給我新娘街另一側(cè)一排小房屋中的一座。我穿過馬路，進(jìn)錯(cuò)了房子。屋內(nèi)很暗，靠墻有一座螺旋式樓梯，像極了愛丁堡的小陡街。就在我踟躇、疑惑之際，我的指路人竟再次出現(xiàn)，把我領(lǐng)到了對(duì)的地方。

I found myself outside a house very similar to the one I had entered by mistake. But there was no staircase inside， only a narrow corridor blocked with people. A boy shook a box at me and said： “Penny for admission.” I dropped a coin in the box and was allowed to pass through the corridor into a small courtyard. It was oblong in shape and big enough for more than twenty of us to stand in it though at pretty close quarters. There was only one woman in the little crowd， but many boys and girls. My flat face caused a stir and I felt that all eyes were turned on me. One elderly fellow with a shock of white hair and a massive moustache remained unmoved; he was too interested in a healthy-looking male chaffinch in one of the seven cages hanging along the high wall on one side of the courtyard. He smiled， laughed and even made a faint noise as if joyously whispering some words to the bird. Presently the interest in my face waned and attention was once more turned upon the activities of the birds in the cages. The old folk were the most excited. The birds consisted of three chaffinches， two goldfinches， five canaries and two blackbirds. Of the crowd， I could not distinguish which were buyers and which sellers. It seemed to me to be a cage-bird show rather than a market. Then I overheard two men discussing the price of a chaffinch and a goldfinch. I had not known that chaffinches and goldfinches were ever kept as cage-birds. Doubtless their beautiful plumage is the reason. The attention of a few of the younger spectators was not fixed continuously on the birds： first furtively， then openly， they were staring at me， as if I were a bird. The thought of being a bird appealed to me and I giggled. Then youngsters responded with broad laughter， in which the elder folk joined. It was a delightful moment.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己來到一座屋前，和先前誤入的房子非常相似。但是屋內(nèi)沒有樓梯，只有一條擠滿人的狹窄過道。一個(gè)男孩沖我搖搖手里的盒子，說：“入場(chǎng)費(fèi)一便士?！蔽彝读艘幻队矌藕缶捅辉试S穿過過道，進(jìn)到一個(gè)小庭院里。這是一個(gè)長方形的庭院，大小能容納二十幾人近身站立。這一小群人中除了一個(gè)婦人外，其余多是些青年男女。我這張扁平的臉在人群中引起一陣騷動(dòng)，感覺所有目光都投向我一人。一個(gè)白發(fā)濃密、髭須甚偉的老者卻不為所動(dòng)；他的所有興趣都放在一只看起來很健康的雄性蒼頭燕雀上。沿庭院的一面高墻上掛了七只鳥籠，這只鳥就在其中一個(gè)籠子里。他時(shí)而面露微笑，時(shí)而笑出聲來，甚至發(fā)出一種微弱的聲響，就像是在對(duì)著這只鳥兒愉快地低語。人們對(duì)我臉孔的興趣很快就減退了，注意力重新回到籠中鳥兒的活動(dòng)。老年人最是興致勃勃。鳥兒中有三只蒼頭燕雀、兩只金翅雀、五只金絲雀和兩只烏鶇。人群中，我也分不出誰是買家誰是賣家。在我看來，那更像是一個(gè)籠鳥展，而不像是個(gè)市場(chǎng)。然后，無意間，我聽到兩個(gè)人在談?wù)撘恢簧n頭燕雀和一只金翅雀的價(jià)格。在那之前，我還不知道蒼頭燕雀和金翅雀可以被養(yǎng)作籠鳥。個(gè)中緣由無疑是它們那身漂亮的羽毛。有幾個(gè)年輕的觀看者并沒有一直在看鳥：他們盯著我看，剛開始只是偷瞄，然后公然盯著瞧，仿佛我也是只鳥。一想到自己是只鳥，我也覺得頗有趣味，忍不住咯咯笑起來。那幾個(gè)年輕人見狀，也放聲大笑，就連年長些的人也未能免俗。那一瞬間，妙不可言。

（譯者單位：北京語言大學(xué)）