英译中国当代著名作家李劼人长篇小说<<死水微澜>>节译

李劼人选集封面

李劼人成都旧居

英译中国当代著名作家李劼人长篇小说<<死水微澜>>(节译)


死水微澜

■李劼人　著

第一部分序幕 一 至今快四十年了，这幅画景，犹然清清楚楚的摆在脑际：天色甫明，隔墙灵官庙刚打了晓钟，这不是正好早眠的时节？偏偏非赶快起来不可，不然的话，一家人便要向你做戏了；等不及洗脸，又非开着小跑赶到学堂——当年叫作学堂，现在叫作私塾。——去抢头学不可，不然的话，心里不舒服，也得不到老师的夸奖。睡眠如够的一个小学生，既噪山雀儿般放开喉咙喊了一早晨生书此不，还包得定十早晨，必有八早晨，为了生书上得太多，背不得，脑壳上挨几界方，眼皮着纠得生疼，到放早学回家，吃了早饭再上学时，胃上已待休息，更被春天的暖气一烘，对着叠了尺把厚的熟书，安得不眉沉眼重，万分支持不住，硬想伏在书案上，睡一个饱？可是那顶讨厌，顶讨厌，专门打人的老师，他却一点不感疲倦.，撑起一副极难看的黄铜边近视眼镜 ,半蹲半坐在一张绝大绝笨重的旧书案前，拿着一条尺把长的木界方，不住的在案头上敲；敲出一片比野猫叫还骇人的响声，骇得你们硬不敢睡.

Ripples across stagnant waterOne of the Earliest Vernacular long Stories of Modern Chinese Literature.

中国最早的现代汉语文学白话长篇小说

The prelude to the first part ：That scene still remained vividly in my mind even after four decades.It was at dawn that the bell of Linguan Temple next door had just begun to ring。 Was It a good time for me to have a refreshing morning's sleep, ? Why did I have to get up quite early and hurry up, off to school!" in the morning? Otherwise, my family members would give a loud snort. I couldn’t even wash my face before I had to trot to school – which then we called “ the school, “and now called “ the private school.” - -- to get top scores in the imperial exams , otherwise, I would feel uncomfortable and couldn’t get the teacher's praise either. If a primary student who had got enough sleep would read the new texts loudly at the top of his voice like a tit for the whole morning, perhaps that was what would happen every morning for 10 days ,if not it would happen at least like this every morning for 8 days .Because I couldn’t recite the excessive text assignments , the teacher beat my head with a bamboo ruler. Then I felt too pain when he pinched my eyelids . We went home after the early classes were over. Eating breakfast and then going back to school, I wanted my stomach to rest .Even more I was bathed in warm sunlight spring and facing a foot thick stack of the books which I had studied, How could you resist the temptation of sleep without closing your eyesI? I was so tired that I couldn’t hold out any longer .How would I like to have an enough sleep with my head bent over my desk.? ?The most horrible teacher who specially liked beating students was not feeling tired at all .Wearing a very ugly brass framed myopic glasses and sitting on his heels before a big heavy writing desk, he constantly flapped the desk with a foot-long bamboo ruler. Its flapping sound which was also terrifying than the wildcats ’mew, you were almost scared out of your sleep.

还每天如此，这时必有一般载油、载米、载猪到杀房去的二把手独轮小车，——我们至今称之为鸡公车，或者应该写作机工车，又不免太文雅了点——从四乡推进城来，沉重的车轮碾在红砂石板上，车的轴承被压得放出一派很和谐，很悦耳的“咿咿呀呀！咿呀！咿呀！”.

These things that occurred almost everyday when at the time there definitely appeared to be two -handled wheelbarrows passing by fully loaded with rapeseed oil, rice or pigs to the slaughterhouses ---- we could have called it a cock wheelbarrow .Or it should be written as a “mechanic wheelbarrow” .But it was far too gentle. ----or the peasants pushed the wheelbarrows down into the city’s streets from the countryside all around, their heavy wheels ran over the red gravel stone road .The front wheel bearings when they were squeezed would make a very harmonious, and pleasant sound “yi-yi-ya-ya!” .

咿呀？只管是单调的嘶喊，但在这时候简直变成了富有强烈性的催眠曲！老师的可憎面孔，似乎离开了眼睛，渐远渐远，远到仿佛黄昏时候的人影；界尺声也似乎离开了耳朵，渐细渐细，细到仿佛初夏的蚊子声音，还一直要推演到看不见听不见的境界。假使不是被同桌坐的年纪较大的同学悄悄推醒，那必得要等老师御驾亲征，拿界方来敲醒的了。

Although Yi-ya-yi-ya sounded just like a monotonous shouting, yet at this moment it turned into a very strong lullaby ! The teacher’s odious face seemed to leave my eyes, further and further away , far into the shadow of a human figure at dusk ; The flapping sound of his bamboo ruler would have left the ears, gradually becoming smaller fine, down to the mosquito sound like it in early summer, but it also had to be deduced to the unheard and the invisible realm. If I wasn’t pushed awake by my classmate whose age was older than me sitting beside me 。The teacher would come: and tap his bamboo ruler against the desk to wake me up .

虽只是一顷时的打盹，毕竟算过了瘾。夫然后眼睛才能大大睁开，喊熟书的声音才能又高又快，虽是口里高喊着“天地元黄”，“粗陈四字”，说老实话，眼里所看的，并不是千字文、龙文鞭影，而清清楚楚的是一片黄金色的油菜花，碧油油的麦苗，以及一湾流水，环绕着乔木森森，院墙之内，有好些瓦屋的坟园。

Although I only took a short snooze , after all, I enjoyed myself to the full. And then with both wide-open eyes, I could read those familiar texts faster and louder. Though I shouted about "Heavy Earth Element Yellow ", "Cu Chen Four Character” " frankly speaking, instead I saw ” the Thousand Character Classic (Qian zi wen), ” and” Dragon Textbook (Longwen bianying) ”, what I clearly saw was a vast stretch of golden rape flowers, lush green wheat seedlings, as well as a meandering brook flowing around the walls of graveyard in which were quite a number of Tile-roofed Houses surrounded by dense trees.

至今还难以解释，那片距城约莫二十来里的坟园，对于我这个生长都市的小孩子，何以会有那么大的诱惑！回忆当年，真个无时无刻不在想它，好象恋人的相思，尤其当春天来时。

So far it was Still difficult to explain, why the graveyard about 20 li from the town , was such a strong temptation to a boy like me growing- up in urban Chengdu! In casting back to those years, it was constantly in my thoughts like yearning between lovers ,especially when spring came.

在私塾读书，照规矩，从清早一直到打二更，是不许休息的，除了早午两餐，不得不放两次学，以及没法禁止的大小便外；一年到头，也无所谓假期，除了端阳、中秋，各放学三天，过年放半个月，家里有什么婚丧祝寿大事，不得不耽搁相当时日外。倘要休息，只好害病。害病岂非苦事？不，至少在书不溜熟而非背通本不可之时。但是病也是不容易的，你只管祷告它来惠顾你，而它却不见得肯来。这只好装病了，装头痛，装肚子痛，暂时诚可以免读书之苦，不过却要装着苦相，躺在床上，有时还须吃点不好吃的苦水，还是不好！算来，惟有清明节最好了，每年此际，不但有三天不读书，而且还要跑到乡下坟园去过两夜。这日子真好！真比过年过节，光是穿新衣服，吃好东西，放泼的玩，放泼的闹，还快活！快活到何种程度！仍旧说不出。

Studying in a private school class, according to the rules, from early morning to begin to sound the day watches (around 2 o’clock p.m.) ,we were not allowed to rest .With the exception of two meals (breakfast and lunch) , our classes had to be over , and things such as the toilet could not banned; all year-round, it made no difference whether we had holidays or not , in addition to holding a three-day holidays for the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, , we took the Chinese New Year holiday of half- month per year. . When those special events such as " birthday congratulation, weddings, funeral arrangements.happened at home... , we had to delay for some time. If you wanted to rest, so you had to pretend sickness. In case you really did so, wasn’t it a bitter job for you? No, at least when you were required to memorize the whole textbook though you were not able to do it, . But illness was not really easy thing for anyone You just prayed it to graciously patronize you. and it was not willing to. Thus you had to pretend sickness such as headache and stomachache . True this would enable you to avoid hard studying temporarily. However you had to assume a pitiable look, lying in bed .Sometimes you had to taste some unpalatable bitter herbal soups. This was still far from ideal. I thought the Qing Ming Festival was best for me . Every year this time, we not only had three days without reading , but also went on our countryside trip to the graveyard where we would spend two nights . This was really a good day much happier than the Chinese Lunar New Year which was just to wear new clothes, eat something Delicious ,play and make noise in a wanton way. But we still couldn’t tell you exactly to what extent how happy we were!

只记得同妈妈坐在一乘二人抬的，专为下乡，从轿铺里雇来的鸭篷轿里，刚一走出那道又厚又高的城门洞，虽然还要走几条和城里差不多同样的街，才能逐渐看见两畔的铺面越来越低、越小、越陋，也才能看见铺面渐稀，露出一块一块的田土，露出尘埃甚厚的大路，露出田野中间一丛丛农庄上的林木，然而鼻端接触到那种迥然不同的气息，已令我这个一年只有几度出城，而又富有乡野趣味的孩子，恍惚起来。

I would remember sitting with my mother in a duck canopy sedan chair rented from the shop specifically for rural areas, lifted only by two-persons .Just out of the gate of the high and thick city walls, although we would walk through several streets which were the same as in the town ,the shop fronts on both sides of the street that we could see would become lower, smaller ,and more and more simple and crude, then sparsely scattered until stretch s of land ,dusty roads, and villages surrounded by dense trees clustered in the middle of fields were revealed. However what I breathed with my nose was very different outdoor rural atmosphere than the air in the town ,which made a boy like me, had a fascination for the life of rural areas, who was only several times a year out of the city ,.into an ultimate trance.

啊！天那么大！地那么宽，平！油菜花那么黄，香！小麦那么青！清澈见底的沟水，那么流！流得漍 漍 的响，并且那么多的竹树！辽远的天边，横抹着一片山影，真有趣！

Ah! So Vast as the Sky appeared in front of me .What a large endless plain! Just awestruck by a vast stretch of golden rape flowers as well as the sweet fragrance.!Such a brilliant emerald green of young wheat !.The bottom visible limpid water went gurgling on.in the ditches of paddy fields And there were so many bamboo trees! The distant blue mountains casted their blurred shadows on the horizon. It was really interesting .

《死水微瀾》名列 世紀百強 第 17。作者李劼人（1891～1962），中國小說家，翻譯家。原名李家祥。四川成都人。中學時代大量閱讀中外文學名著，擅長講述故事。1912年開始寫作，1915年以後，任《四川群報》主筆和《川報》社長兼總編輯，寫了大量時評、雜文和近百篇文言、白話小說，內容多為暴露社會生活的陰暗面。1919年6月，參與發起少年中國學會成都分會，年底去法國勤工儉學，並學習和研究法國文學。1925～1933年先後在成都大學、四川大學任教，翻譯、改譯法國文學作品，創作了《編輯室的風波》等10餘篇短篇小說。1935年起筆、1937年完成的各自成篇又互為連續的長篇歷史小說《死水微瀾》、《暴風雨前》和《大波》，是他的代表作。3部作品比較完整地反映了從甲午戰爭到辛亥革命十幾年間四川的社會風貌和歷史變革，具有濃郁的時代氣氛和地方色彩。廣博的社會知識和風土人情的描繪，使作品體現了鮮明的中國氣派和獨特的藝術風格。1921～1949年，他還翻譯法國文學作品20餘種，主要有莫泊桑的《人心》，都德的《小東西》，福樓拜的《馬丹波娃利》、《薩朗波》，法萊士的《文明人》，羅曼8226;羅蘭的《彼得與露西》等。四川人民出版社出版了《李劼人選集》1～5卷。注：1。我硬译了“天地元黄”（Heavy Earth Element Yellow）肯定有硬伤。应该在英译的古籍上能找到，无时间细查，请愿谅。“三2．同样在应该在英译的古籍上能找到“粗陈四字”，无时间细查，请愿谅。我也是硬译为“Cu Chen Four Character” 肯定有硬伤。粗陈应该是“state one’s views briefly”.