A Summer Day in Dublin (Excerpt)都柏林的一個夏日(節(jié)選)

W. M. 薩克雷　盧偉/譯介

【導讀】1801年，愛爾蘭并入英國，成了“大不列顛及愛爾蘭聯(lián)合王國”的一部分。1842年，英國著名小說家威廉·梅克比斯·薩克雷（William Makepeace Thackeray，1811—1863）前往愛爾蘭旅行。他在《愛爾蘭札記》（The Irish Sketch-book，1844）中記錄了這次旅行中的見聞。本文選自該書第一章，薩克雷以他慣用的幽默筆觸和辛辣諷刺，描繪了夏日都柏林的景色。

The entrance to the capital is very handsome. There is no bustle and throng of carriages， as in London; but you pass by numerous rows of neat houses， fronted with gardens， and adorned with all sorts of gay-looking creepers. Pretty market-gardens， with trim beds of plants， and shining glass-houses， give the suburbs a riante and cheerful look; and， passing under the arch of the railway， we are in the city itself. Hence you come upon several old-fashioned， well-built， airy， stately streets， and through Fitzwilliam square， a noble place， the garden of which is full of flowers and foliage. The leaves are green， and not black as in similar places in London; the red-brick houses tall and handsome. Presently the car stops before an extremely big red house， in that extremely large Square， Stephens Green， where Mr. OConnell says there is one day or other to be a Parliament. There is room enough for that， or for any other edifice which fancy or patriotism may have a mind to erect， for part of one of the sides of the square is not yet built， and you see the fields and the country beyond.

進入首府的道路令人賞心悅目。這里沒有倫敦那種熙熙攘攘、車水馬龍的景象，目之所及是一排排整潔的房屋，屋前有花園，點綴著各種漂亮的藤蔓植物。精致的果菜園，園圃打理得整整齊齊，還有熠熠生輝的玻璃溫室，使城郊顯得輕松愉快。穿過鐵路拱橋，就到了城里。再經(jīng)過幾條古香古色、建筑精良、空氣通暢、富麗堂皇的街道，便來到了宏偉壯觀的菲茨威廉廣場。廣場的花園里鮮花盛開，綠樹繁茂。這邊的樹葉青翠欲滴，不像倫敦的廣場花園那樣，樹葉都是薰黑的。廣場周邊的紅磚房屋也都高大氣派。不一會兒，馬車就停在一座非常高大的紅房子前面，房子坐落在格外寬闊的圣斯蒂芬綠地廣場上——奧康奈爾先生說，那里遲早會建一座議會大廈。其實，不管是議會大廈，還是出于想象或愛國情感的其他建筑，地方都是夠用的，因為廣場的一側(cè)還空著，從那里能夠看到遠處的田野和鄉(xiāng)村。

This then is the chief city of the aliens. —The hotel to which I had been directed is a respectable old edifice， much frequented by families from the country， and where the solitary traveller may likewise find society. For he may either use the Shelbourne as a hotel or a boarding-house， in which latter case he is comfortably accommodated at the very moderate daily charge of six-and-eight pence. For this charge a copious breakfast is provided for him in the coffee-room， a perpetual luncheon is likewise there spread， a plentiful dinner is ready at six oclock; after which， there is a drawing-room and a rubber of whist， with tay and coffee and cakes in plenty to satisfy the largest appetite. The hotel is majestically conducted by clerks and other officers; the landlord himself does not appear after the honest comfortable English fashion， but lives in a private mansion hard by， where his name may be read inscribed on a brass-plate， like that of any other private gentleman.

這片城區(qū)是外來人最常光顧的地方。我要住的這家旅館是一座看上去還不錯的老房子，很多從鄉(xiāng)下來的家庭喜歡住這里。孤獨的旅客也能在這里找到同伴。他可以將謝爾伯恩當成旅館或長住公寓，如果是后一種情況，他每天只需要花六先令八便士，就可以住得很舒服了?；ㄟ@點兒錢，可以在咖啡廳吃一頓飽飽的早餐，一份不斷供的午餐，外加下午六點豐盛的晚餐；晚飯后還可以到休息廳打一盤惠斯特牌，胃口夠大的話，還可以繼續(xù)享用茶水、咖啡和蛋糕。服務(wù)生和管事的人把旅館打理得井井有條。老板本人不會像英格蘭人那樣誠摯地出來待客，他會住在附近的私宅里，大門的銅牌上或許刻著他的名字，跟其他低調(diào)的紳士一樣。

A woman melodiously crying “Dublin Bay herrings，” passed just as we came up to the door， and as that fish is famous throughout Europe， I seized the earliest opportunity and ordered a broiled one for breakfast. It merits all its reputation： and in this respect， I should think the Bay of Dublin is far superior to its rival of Naples—are there any herrings in Naples Bay？ Dolphins there may be， and Mount Vesuvius to be sure is bigger than even the hill of Howth， but a dolphin is better in a sonnet than at a breakfast， and what poet is there that， at certain periods of the day， would hesitate in his choice between the two？

我們剛走到旅館門口，就聽到一個女人悠揚的叫賣聲：“都柏林灣的鯡魚！”她也剛好打旅館門前經(jīng)過。這種鯡魚可是名震全歐。機不可失，我趕緊點了一份烤鯡魚作為早餐。果然名不虛傳。在這一點上，我覺得都柏林灣可比它的競爭對手那不勒斯灣要強很多——那不勒斯灣有鯡魚嗎？或許有海豚，維蘇威火山當然比霍斯山高大，但海豚更適合出現(xiàn)在十四行詩里，而不是早餐桌上——在一天中的某些時刻，有哪個詩人會在這兩者之間猶豫不決呢？

With this famous broiled herring the morning papers are served up， and a great part of these， too， gives opportunity of reflection to the new-comer， and shows him how different this country is from his own…

在我品嘗這道著名的烤鯡魚的時候，服務(wù)生送來了晨報。報紙上的大部分內(nèi)容同樣會令新來都柏林的人陷入沉思，向他展示這片土地與他的祖國有多么不同……

The papers being read， it became my duty to discover the town; and a handsomer town with fewer people in it， it is impossible to see on a summers day. In the whole wide square of Stephens Green， I think there were not more than two nursery-maids， to keep company with the statue of George I.， who rides on horseback in the middle of the garden， the horse having his foot up to trot， as if he wanted to go out of town too. Small troops of dirty children （too poor and dirty to have lodgings at Kingstown） were squatting here and there upon the sunshiny steps， the only clients at the thresholds of the professional gentlemen1， whose names figure on brass plates on the doors. A stand of lazy carmen， a policeman or two with clinking boot-heels， a couple of moaning beggars leaning against the rails， and calling upon the Lord， and a fellow with a toy and book stall， where the lives of St. Patrick， Robert Emmett， and Lord Edward Fitzgerald， may be bought for double their value， were all the population of the Green…

讀完晨報，我該探索一下這座城市了。城中人少一些會更美觀，不過大夏天的，一般不大可能看到如此景象。偌大的圣斯蒂芬綠地廣場上，我感覺只有兩個保姆陪伴著喬治一世的雕像。廣場花園中央，喬治一世騎在馬上，一只馬蹄騰空，好像它也要出城轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)。陽光照在屋前的臺階上，臟兮兮的孩子（他們又窮又臟，金斯頓不可能有他們落腳的地方）三兩成群地蹲在那里。房門的銅牌上，刻著那些有職業(yè)的紳士們的名字，而這些孩子是他們門口僅有的客戶。一群懶散的車夫；一兩個走起路皮靴咔咔作響的警察；幾個斜倚著欄桿的乞丐，嘟嘟囔囔，向老天祈禱著；還有一個擺攤的小販，賣玩具和書，可以花雙倍價錢從他那里買到圣帕特里克、羅伯特·埃米特和愛德華·菲茨杰拉德勛爵的傳記——這些就是斯蒂芬綠地全部的人口了……

Walking towards the river， you have on either side of you， at Carlisle-bridge， a very brilliant and beautiful prospect. The Four Courts2 and their dome to the left， the Custom-house and its dome to the right; and in this direction seaward， a considerable number of vessels are moored， and the quays are black and busy with the cargoes discharged from ships. Seamen cheering， herring-women bawling， coal-carts loading—the scene is animated and lively. Yonder is the famous Corn Exchange; but the Lord Mayor is attending to his duties in Parliament， and little of note is going on. I had just passed his lordships mansion， in Dawson-street—a queer old dirty brick house， with dumpy urns at each extremity， and looking as if a story of it had been cut off—a raséehouse. Close at hand， and peering over a paling， is a statue of our blessed sovereign George II. How absurd these pompous images look， of defunct majesties， for whom no breathing soul cares a halfpenny！ It is not so with the effigy of William III.， who has done something to merit a statue. At this minute the Lord Mayor has Williams effigy under a canvas， and is painting him of a bright green picked out with yellow—his lordships own livery.

走到河邊，站在卡萊爾橋上，可以看到兩岸輝煌壯麗的景色。左邊是四法院和它們的大圓頂，右邊是海關(guān)大樓和它的大圓頂。朝海的這個方向，可以看到岸邊停泊著很多船只，黑乎乎的碼頭上一片繁忙卸貨的景象。水手們在歡呼，賣鯡魚的女人在叫嚷，運煤車在裝煤——構(gòu)成了一幅充滿生機和活力的畫面。再遠處就是著名的谷物交易所，不過市長大人正在議會中履行職責，沒什么可關(guān)注的事。我剛才還路過他在道森街的宅邸——一座破舊的磚房，房子兩側(cè)各有一個粗笨的大甕，看著怪怪的，好像有一層樓被切掉了——這是座殘缺不全的房屋。離這兒不遠有個柵欄，從那里能夠望見我們偉大的君主喬治二世的雕像。這些已故君王的雕像非常浮夸，看著很是荒謬，因為沒有一個活人會在乎他們！威廉三世算是例外，他畢竟還建了一番功業(yè)，給他立尊像倒也無可厚非。這會兒，市長大人用帆布蓋住了威廉的雕像，要把他涂成黃色襯底的亮綠色——那正是市長大人制服的顏色。

The view along the quays to the Four Courts has no small resemblance to a view along the quays at Paris， though not so lively as are even those quiet walks. The vessels do not come above-bridge， and the marine population remains constant about them， and about numerous dirty liquor-shops， eating-houses， and marine-store establishments， which are kept for their accommodation along the quay. As far as you can see， the shining Liffey flows away eastward， hastening （like the rest of the inhabitants of Dublin）， to the sea.

沿著碼頭走到四法院，一路的景色與巴黎的碼頭很是相似，只是少了些許生氣，甚至還不如那些靜謐的步道。船只不會開到上游，船員們也不會離船太遠。河畔臟兮兮的酒吧、飯館和船具店鱗次櫛比，為他們提供食宿。極目而望，波光粼粼的利菲河一路向東奔向大海，（就像都柏林的其他居民那般）行色匆匆。

（譯者單位：中華女子學院）