London Recreations倫敦的消遣

查爾斯·狄更斯 趙喜梅

【導(dǎo)讀】查爾斯·狄更斯（1812—1870），英國維多利亞文學(xué)的主要代表，是英國文學(xué)史乃至世界文學(xué)史上最偉大的小說家之一。狄更斯曾做過律師事務(wù)所的文書和自由新聞記者，后擔(dān)任議會記者，記者經(jīng)歷將他引向了小說創(chuàng)作。早期的文學(xué)創(chuàng)作包括匿名和以其弟奧古斯塔斯的諢名“博茲”（Boz）為筆名于各報刊發(fā)表的隨筆、特寫，1836年這些已發(fā)表之作連同未刊文章結(jié)集出版，《博茲札記》（Sketches by Boz）因此問世。一個世紀后，作家J. B. 普里斯特利受麥克米倫出版社之托，從《博茲札記》中甄選最能聚焦19世紀30年代倫敦的12篇文章，并為之作序，于是《倫敦生活景象》（Scenes of London Life）于1947年出版了。

本篇節(jié)選自上述文集。在作為記者的年輕狄更斯的筆下，倫敦是紀實的城，作者對這座城市的地圖近乎了若指掌，既洞悉其區(qū)隔，又了解市民階層各不相同的真實生活，包括其消遣。有的消遣是為了打發(fā)空虛，有的用以滿足虛榮心，有的可以排遣不幸與孤獨，有的則純?yōu)閵蕵贰ｋS著地理空間由倫敦的鬧市中心向邊緣延伸，上層小眾所謂的文雅消遣變?yōu)橄聦拥氖芯駳g，也體現(xiàn)出由靜到動、從了無生趣到生機盎然的規(guī)律。作者或是多愁善感地強調(diào)家庭和愛的美德，或是以喜劇歡鬧的方式再現(xiàn)蕓蕓眾生的生活。由于愛的貧乏，自視甚高的小姐和家境殷實的先生的空虛并不能得到實在的填補;因為愛，小中產(chǎn)階級的老夫妻的苦楚與不幸得以排遣;而大多數(shù)底層中產(chǎn)階級市民也自有其熱愛，自有其取樂之道。

The wish of persons in the humbler classes of life， to ape the manners and customs of those whom fortune has placed above them， is often the subject of remark， and not unfrequently of complaint. The inclination may， and no doubt does， exist to a great extent， among the small gentility—the would-be aristocrats—of the middle classes. Tradesmen and clerks， with fashionable novel-reading families， and circulating-library-subscribing daughters， get up small assemblies in humble imitation of Almack’s1， and promenade the dingy “l(fā)arge room” of some second-rate hotel with as much complacency as the enviable few who are privileged to exhibit their magnificence in that exclusive haunt of fashion and—foolery. Aspiring young ladies， who read flaming accounts of some “fancy fair2 in high life，” suddenly grow desperately charitable; visions of admir-ation and matrimony float before their eyes; some wonderfully meritorious institution， which， by the strangest accident in the world， has never been heard of before， is discovered to be in a languishing condition： Thomson’s great room， or Johnson’s nursery-ground， is forthwith engaged， and the aforesaid young ladies， from mere charity， exhibit themselves for three days， from twelve to four， for the small charge of one shilling per head！ With the exception of these classes of society， however， and a few weak and insignificant persons， we do not think the attempt at imitation to which we have alluded， prevails in any great degree. …

If the regular City man， who leaves Lloyd’s3 at five o’clock， and drives home to Hackney， Clapton， Stamford Hill，4 or elsewhere， can be said to have any daily recreation beyond his dinner， it is his garden. He never does anything to it with his own hands; but he takes great pride in it notwithstanding; and if you are desirous of paying your addresses5 to the youngest daughter， be sure to be in raptures with every flower and shrub it contains. … If you call on him on Sunday in summer-time， about an hour before dinner， you will find him sitting in an arm-chair， on the lawn behind the house， with a straw hat on， reading a Sunday paper. A short distance from him you will most likely observe a handsome paroquet in a large brass-wire cage; ten to one but the two eldest girls are loitering in one of the side-walks accompanied by a couple of young gentlemen， who are holding parasols over them—of course only to keep the sun off—while the younger children， with the under nursery-maid， are strolling listlessly about， in the shade. Beyond these occasions， his delight in his garden appears to arise more from the consciousness of possession than actual enjoyment of it. When he drives you down to dinner on a week-day， he is rather fatigued with the occupations of the morning， and tolerably cross6 into the bargain7; but when the cloth is removed， and he has drank three or four glasses of his favourite port， he orders the French windows of his dining-room （which of course look into the garden） to be opened， and throwing a silk handkerchief over his head， and leaning back in his armchair， descants at considerable length upon its beauty， and the cost of maintaining it. …

There is another and a very different class of men， whose recreation is their garden. An individual of this class resides some short distance from town—say in the Hampstead Road8， or the Kilburn Road9， or any other road where the houses are small and neat， and have little slips of back-garden. He and his wife—who is as clean and compact a little body as himself—have occupied the same house ever since he retired from business twenty years ago. They have no family. They once had a son， who died at about five years old. The child’s portrait hangs over the mantelpiece in the best sitting-room， and a little cart he used to draw about is carefully preserved as a relic. The only other recreation he has is the newspaper， which he peruses every day， from beginning to end， generally reading the most interesting pieces of intelligence to his wife， during breakfast.

In fine weather the old gentleman is almost constantly in the garden; and when it is too wet to go into it， he will look out of the window at it， by the hour together. He has always something to do there， and you will see him digging， and sweeping， and cutting， and planting， with manifest delight. In spring time， there is no end to the sowing of seeds， and sticking little bits of wood over them， with labels， which look like epitaphs to their memory; and in the evening， when the sun has gone down， the perseverance with which he lugs a great watering-pot about is perfectly astonishing. … On a summer’s evening， when the large watering-pot has been filled and emptied some fourteen times， and the old couple have quite exhausted themselves by trotting about， you will see them sitting happily together in the little summerhouse， enjoying the calm and peace of the twilight， and watching the shadows as they fall upon the garden， and gradually growing thicker and more sombre， obscure the tints of their gayest flowers….? These are their only recreations， and they require no more. They have within themselves the materials of comfort and content; and the only anxiety of each is to die before the other.

Let us turn now to another portion of the London population， whose recreations present about as strong a contrast as can well be conceived—we mean the Sunday pleasurers; and let us beg our readers to imagine themselves stationed by our side in some well-known rural “Tea-gardens.”

The heat is intense this afternoon， and the people， of whom there are additional parties arriving every moment， look as warm as the tables which have been recently painted， and have the appearance of being red-hot. What a dust and noise！ Men and women—boys and girls—sweethearts and married people—babies in arms， and children in chaises10—pipes and shrimps—cigars and periwinkles—tea and tobacco. Gentlemen， in alarming waistcoats， and steel watch-guards， promenading about， three abreast， with surprising dignity—ladies， with great， long， white pocket-handkerchiefs like small table-cloths in their hands， chasing one another on the grass in the most playful and interesting manner， with the view of attracting the attention of the aforesaid gentlemen—husbands in perspective ordering bottles of ginger-beer for the objects of their affections， with a lavish disregard of expense; and the said objects washing down11 huge quantities of “shrimps” and “winkles，” with an equal disregard of their own bodily health and subsequent comfort—boys， with great silk hats just balanced on the top of their heads， smoking cigars， and trying to look as if they liked them—gentlemen in pink shirts and blue waistcoats， occasionally upsetting either themselves， or somebody else， with their own canes.

Some of the finery of these people provokes a smile， but they are all clean， and happy， and disposed to be good-? natured and sociable. Those two mother-ly-looking women in the smart pelisses， who are chatting so confidentially， inserting a “ma’am” at every fourth word， scraped an acquaintance about a quarter of an hour ago… . The two men in the blue coats and drab trousers， who were walking up and down， smoking their pipes， are their husbands. The party in the opposite box are a pretty fair specimen of the generality of the visitors. These are the father and mother， and old grandmother： a young man and woman， and an individual addressed by the euphonious title of “Uncle Bill，” who is evidently the wit of the party. …

Observe the inexpressible delight of the old grandmother， at Uncle Bill’s splendid joke of “tea for four： bread-and-butter for forty”; and the loud explosion of mirth which follows his wafering a paper “pigtail” on the waiter’s collar. The young man is evidently “keeping company” with Uncle Bill’s niece： and Uncle Bill’s hints—such as “Don’t forget me at the dinner， you know，” “I shall look out for the cake， Sally，” “I’ll be godfather to your first—wager12 it’s a boy，” and so forth， are equally embarrassing to the young people， and delightful to the elder ones. …

It is getting dark， and the people begin to move. The field leading to town is quite full of them; …the children are tired， …—the mothers begin to wish they were at home again—sweethearts grow more sentimental than ever， as the time for parting arrives—the gardens look mournful enough， …—and the waiters who have been running about incessantly for the last six hours， think they feel a little tired， as they count their glasses and their gains.

寒微階級出身的人們總想仿效好運眷顧者的風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣，這往往成為人們的談資，時而還是牢騷的話題。無疑，這一趨勢很大程度上于中產(chǎn)階級的小士紳——準貴族——中盛行。商人和職員，連同時髦的小說閱讀家庭，以及定期向流動圖書館提供捐助的小姐們，拙劣地模仿奧爾馬克俱樂部組織小型集會，于某家二流旅館昏暗的“寬敞房間”內(nèi)踱步，一副沾沾自喜的樣子，活脫脫那種招人妒羨的驕子有幸在時髦——且愚蠢——的專屬之地顯示他們的尊貴。有抱負的年輕小姐們讀到關(guān)于某些“上流社會義賣會”的煽情報道，突然無可救藥地發(fā)起善心;仰慕的目光及婚姻的景象浮現(xiàn)在她們的眼前;某個頗受贊許的機構(gòu)，之前出乎意外地?zé)o人知曉，如今被發(fā)現(xiàn)正走向衰敗，如湯姆森大樓，或約翰遜保育院——這樣的地方即刻被占用，而之前提到的小姐們，出于純粹的仁慈，要在此亮相3天，從午間12點到下午4點，只為收取每人小小1先令的費用！然而，除了社會中的這些階級和一些弱勢的、微不足道的人，我們以為我們所談的那種模仿上流社會的嘗試無論如何都不會大行其道。……

看看一位普通的城里人，五點鐘離開勞埃德保險公司，回到哈克尼區(qū)的家，無論是克萊普頓、史丹福爾丘，還是別的什么地方，如果說除晚餐外他還有什么日常消遣的目標，那便是他的花園。他從不親自動手為花園做些什么;但他甚是以它為榮;如果你急欲向他家的幺女獻殷勤，那一定要做到對花園中的每朵花和每株灌木都顯得興致盎然?！羰窃谙娜斩Y拜天去拜訪他，約莫餐前一個小時，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)他坐在屋后草坪上的扶手椅中，頭戴草帽，讀著周日報。離他不遠處，你很可能會注意到大大的銅網(wǎng)鳥籠內(nèi)有一只漂亮的長尾小鸚鵡;年紀最長的兩個女孩十之八九正在小道上漫步，左右有兩三年輕先生相陪，為她們撐傘——當(dāng)然是為遮陽——而年紀小點兒的孩子們與下等的小保姆在一起，百無聊賴地在蔭涼下溜達。這些之外，他對自己花園的喜愛似乎更多源于占有的意識，而非真的欣賞。若他在工作日約你赴宴，他就是疲于上午的那堆工作了，還頗有些慍惱;但當(dāng)桌布撤掉，他已啜飲三四杯鐘愛的波爾圖葡萄酒，他就會打發(fā)人將餐廳的落地窗（必然是正對花園的）打開，頭頂搭一方絲質(zhì)手帕，向后靠在扶手椅中，滔滔不絕地談?wù)撈鸹▓@的美和打理它的開銷?！?/p>

再看看另一種階級屬性明顯不同的男人，他們的消遣是自己的花園。這個階級的人住得離城區(qū)不遠——比如漢普斯特德路、基爾伯恩路等，這些地方的房子小而齊整，有小條土地作后花園。他和妻子——和他自己一樣，妻子也是干干凈凈的，有著結(jié)實的小身板——自20年前退休就住在此幢房中。他們?nèi)缃駴]有子女，曾有過一個兒子，5歲左右夭折了。起居室布置得極精心，孩子的畫像掛在壁爐臺上方，他小時拉來拉去的小車也作為遺物被精心保存起來。除了打理花園，他只有另一種消遣：讀報。他每天都把報紙從頭至尾細讀一遍，通常在吃早餐時把最有趣的消息讀給妻子聽。

好天，老先生幾乎總在花園里;雨天，地太濕而出不去時，他會從窗戶望著花園，一連看上幾個鐘頭。他在花園里總有事做，挖啊、掃啊、砍啊、種啊，顯然樂在其中。春天，播起種來沒完沒了，將一塊塊小木板插入土中，上面貼著標簽，看上去像是懷念的悼詞;傍晚，太陽落下，他仍不輟辛勞地到處拖動偌大的灑水壺，這般吃苦耐勞，讓人覺著不可思議?！娜盏陌恚?dāng)大大的灑水壺灌滿又倒空大約14次后，這對老夫妻因跑來跑去已非常疲累，他們就會相偕坐在小小的涼亭里，很是怡然，享受日暮時分的平靜與安謐，觀看投射在花園的影子：影子漸漸變濃變暗，直至最艷麗的花兒也看不出原本的色澤?！@些是他們僅有的消遣，他們也無須更多。他們內(nèi)心擁有可帶來慰藉和滿足的東西;各自擔(dān)憂的不過是先于對方離開人世。

現(xiàn)在讓我們轉(zhuǎn)向另一部分倫敦人吧，這部分人的消遣與之前的相比可以想見反差極大——我們說的是禮拜天尋歡作樂的人;懇請讀者設(shè)想自己正跟隨我們置身某些著名的鄉(xiāng)村“茶園”中。

這天下午天熱得緊，時不時有新隊伍加入聚會，人們看上去像剛刷過漆的桌子一樣暖暖的，個個活力四射。這里沸反盈天！男人和女人——男孩和女孩——情侶和夫妻——懷抱的嬰兒和小車里的孩童——煙斗和蝦子——雪茄和濱螺——茶和煙葉。先生們，身著令人生畏的馬甲，掛著鋼質(zhì)掛表鏈，三人一排到處溜達，一本正經(jīng)的樣子令人驚訝——女士們，手里攥著大大、長長的白手帕就像攥著小桌布，在草地上刻意互相追逐，平日從未這么嬉鬧和有趣，指望引起前面提到的先生們的注意——未來的丈夫們則為心儀的對象點上幾瓶姜汁啤酒，出手闊綽，不計較花銷;心上人呷著啤酒吃下了超多“蝦”和“螺”，既不把健康放在心上，也不管過后會不會舒服——男孩們，頭戴恰好可以穩(wěn)立頭頂?shù)慕伣z大禮帽，抽著雪茄，盡量顯得好像很愛雪茄——著粉襯衫、藍馬甲的先生們，偶爾用他們自己的手杖不是把自個兒就是把他人擾得心煩意亂。

這些人中有些人的盛裝不免招笑，但他們都干干凈凈、開開心心，表現(xiàn)得和藹友善。那兩位身著時髦皮衣、看上去已是人母的女子親密地聊著什么，每說四個詞便稱一次“女士”，其實她們大約一刻鐘前還是陌生人……兩位穿著藍色外套和褐色長褲的男士四處走動，嘴里叼著煙斗，他們是那兩位女子的丈夫。對面亭子里是蕓蕓訪客中相當(dāng)可愛的那類人。這些人里有父親、母親、老祖母，還有一對年輕男女和一個被親切喚作“比爾伯伯”的人，顯然此人是這群人中最風(fēng)趣的?！?/p>

瞧瞧老祖母被比爾伯伯那“夠四人飲的茶，管四十人飽的黃油面包”的絕妙玩笑逗得多么開懷;他又在侍者的硬領(lǐng)上貼了個紙“辮子”，更是引起一陣哄堂大笑。年輕人顯然正在與比爾伯伯的侄女兒“交往”：伯伯的暗示——比如“吃飯可別忘了我，你知道的”“我會特別留意蛋糕，薩莉”“我要做你們第一個孩子的教父，我打賭準是個男孩”，等等——既捉弄了年輕的，又逗樂了老的。……

天色漸暗，人們開始四散。通向城里的田野上盡是這些人;……孩子們困乏得很……——媽媽們又開始想要是沒出門該多好——情侶們比任何時候都多情纏綿，因為分別的時候到了——園子望著很是憂傷……——過去六個小時馬不停蹄到處跑動的侍者們，點數(shù)杯盞和計算收益時，才感覺自己有些累了。

（譯者單位：北京科技大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院）

1 = Almack’s Assembly Rooms 奧爾馬克俱樂部（1765—1871），曾是倫敦有名的上流社會社交場，也是最早的不設(shè)性別限制的俱樂部之一。? 2? fancy fair 義賣會。

3倫敦的勞埃德保險公司，前身為建于17世紀80年代的勞埃德咖啡館，狄更斯寫作此文時，該公司坐落于英格蘭銀行對面的皇家交易所內(nèi)。? 4 Hackney 哈克尼區(qū)，倫敦的老城區(qū)之一，現(xiàn)代倫敦的商業(yè)中心。Clapton 克萊普頓，隸屬哈克尼區(qū)。 Stamford Hill 史丹福爾丘，隸屬哈克尼區(qū)，以其建筑（尤其是17、18世紀的古建筑）聞名。? 5 address 殷勤（尤用于求愛時），通常以復(fù)數(shù)形式出現(xiàn)。

6 cross 十分憤怒的。? 7 into the bargain = also; as well 而且，也。? 8倫敦著名的老牌富人區(qū)，雖位于郊區(qū)，卻臨近倫敦中心，此地自然風(fēng)光美不勝收，豪宅林立，吸引了包括文人在內(nèi)的各界社會名流，因此頗具人文氣息。? 9位于倫敦西北部，倫敦核心區(qū)之一。

10 chaise通常指輕便馬拉車，但原文后又出現(xiàn) hand-chaises 一詞，由此推斷，此處chaise義同pram，即指小推車。

11 wash ... down （with） 配著……喝（飲料）。

12 wager 打賭[舊時用法，較為正式]。

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