A Craving for Adventure1渴望冒險(xiǎn)

沙博理　任東升/譯

In 1941 I was one of a crew of nursemaids to a 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun. We were stationed in a swamp euphemistically known as the Jersey Meadows， guarding Westinghouse and General Electric plants from attack by German bombers. There were about a dozen of us. We served in shifts—two hours on， four hours off， around the clock2 —waiting for the raids which fortunately， considering our marksmanship， never came.

1941年，我成了博福斯40毫米高射炮兵班的一員，駐扎在美其名曰“澤西濕地”的一片沼澤區(qū)，保衛(wèi)西屋電氣和通用電氣公司的工廠免受德國(guó)飛機(jī)轟炸。我們一共十來(lái)個(gè)人，輪流值守，上兩小時(shí)崗休四小時(shí)，全天候警戒，以防偷襲。幸而，敵機(jī)顧忌我們的炮口，就沒(méi)來(lái)過(guò)。

Then word spread that an Army Specialized Training Program3 had been established. Men were being sent to the universities， in uniform， to learn foreign languages for possible future assignment abroad.

正當(dāng)時(shí)，有言傳陸部特訓(xùn)科已經(jīng)啟動(dòng)，我們這些當(dāng)兵的要被送到高校學(xué)習(xí)外語(yǔ)，期間保留軍籍，以備日后派往國(guó)外執(zhí)行任務(wù)。

Why not？ I had had a few years of French in high school and college. At least it would get me out of the swamp. I applied. Spruce and polished， I stood smartly at attention before the board.

這豈不是好機(jī)會(huì)嗎？且不說(shuō)我高中和大學(xué)學(xué)過(guò)幾年法語(yǔ)，這起碼能讓我從這片沼澤地脫身。我就提出了申請(qǐng)。好好捯飭一番，彬彬有禮，精神抖擻，我大方地站到考核委員會(huì)面前。

They informed me I had passed the French tests. However， they said， they had more French students than they could use. How would I like to study Chinese？

他們通知我，法語(yǔ)考試我是過(guò)了的，可又說(shuō)學(xué)法語(yǔ)的已經(jīng)有不少了，用不著那么多，問(wèn)我樂(lè)意學(xué)漢語(yǔ)嗎？

I stood goggle-eyed， gaping like a cod.4

我目瞪口呆，杵在那里。

A major oiled in smoothly with a soft sell.5

一位少校不失時(shí)機(jī)地提示道：

“You live in New York City6， dont you？”

“你家在紐約，對(duì)不？ ”

“Yes sir.”

“對(duì)的，長(zhǎng)官。”

“Well， while Im not at liberty to divulge the details， I can tell you this—the college we are planning to send you to is in New York State. Youll be able to get home fairly often.”

“你看，細(xì)節(jié)我雖不便透露，但可以給你透?jìng)€(gè)風(fēng)，打算送你去的大學(xué)就在紐約州，你還能三天兩頭回趟家呢?！?/p>

I still hesitated. Chinese？ Id never given it a thought. The major threw in the clincher.

我還是遲疑難決，漢語(yǔ)？我連想都沒(méi)想過(guò)。少校拋出了殺手锏：

“Its co-ed.”

“那兒男女同校?！?/p>

“Ill take it！”

“那成！ ”

Little did I know， as they say in the Victorian novels， that the decision I had made was the first step along the road to a life and a career in China.

那會(huì)兒我絲毫料不到，就跟維多利亞時(shí)期小說(shuō)里寫的那樣，我做的這個(gè)決定竟成了領(lǐng)我踏上去中國(guó)安身立業(yè)之路的第一步。

To keep ourselves busy and because we were interested， a few of us sat in on Chinese language courses at the University of Hawaii in our spare time. By that time I was really hooked on Chinese.

為了不閑著，也是出于對(duì)漢語(yǔ)的興趣，我們幾個(gè)人得空時(shí)旁聽了夏威夷大學(xué)的漢語(yǔ)課程。到了那會(huì)兒我才真的迷上學(xué)漢語(yǔ)。

The end of 1946 found me back in New York， a civilian again. Under the G.I. Bill7—a veteran was entitled to paid tuition in a university plus subsistence allowance for roughly as many years as he had served in the armed forces. I decided to use some of that time studying more Chinese， until I could make up my mind what I wanted to do with my life. I enrolled at Columbia， taking nothing but Chinese language courses. I did two terms there， then transferred to Yale where I did a third.

1946年底，我返回紐約，又成了平頭百姓一個(gè)。根據(jù)《退伍軍人權(quán)利法案》， 退伍兵可以免學(xué)費(fèi)進(jìn)高校學(xué)習(xí)，且有與當(dāng)兵年限相匹配的生活津貼。于是我就決定好好利用這段時(shí)間接著深造漢語(yǔ)，等弄明白過(guò)怎樣的生活再說(shuō)別的。我進(jìn)了哥倫比亞大學(xué)，不學(xué)別的，只學(xué)漢語(yǔ)。在那學(xué)了兩個(gè)學(xué)期后轉(zhuǎn)入耶魯大學(xué)，學(xué)了第三學(xué)期。

Wandering amid Yales ivy-clad towers was pleasant enough， but I couldnt go on being a schoolboy indefinitely. To what use could I put the Chinese which so intrigued me？ A few of the Chinese students I had met at Columbia and Yale suggested that I go to China. They said an American lawyer who spoke Chinese would certainly do well. I wasnt so sure， but the idea appealed to me. After hitch-hiking and riding freight across America during the depression， why not a trip across the Pacific？ I still had a craving for adventure.

漫步于耶魯校園，駐足于爬滿常青藤的哥特式尖塔下，確實(shí)令人愜意，但我總不能就這么一直當(dāng)個(gè)學(xué)生吧。漢語(yǔ)令我如此心醉，可學(xué)了又有什么用呢？在哥倫比亞和耶魯結(jié)識(shí)的幾位中國(guó)同學(xué)都建議我到中國(guó)去，說(shuō)會(huì)漢語(yǔ)的美國(guó)律師肯定混得開。我沒(méi)那么自信，但這主意很有誘惑力。大蕭條時(shí)期我連搭便車、扒貨運(yùn)火車橫穿美國(guó)的事兒都干了，再來(lái)一次橫渡太平洋又有何難？況且我依然渴望冒險(xiǎn)。

My total finances consisted of US$500—my army discharge bonus. I spent US$300 of it for a ticket on a small freighter which had passenger accommodations for four， traveling from New York to Shanghai via the Panama Canal.

我的全部身家就500美金，是那筆退役費(fèi)。我花其中300買了張四人艙的小型貨輪船票，從紐約啟航，途經(jīng)巴拿馬運(yùn)河駛向上海。

I was sick as a dog from the time we passed Cape Hatteras， off the Carolinas. What is it they say about seasickness？ “First youre afraid youll die， then youre afraid you wont！” Miraculously， from the Panama Canal on， I was cured. I began to enjoy the beauty of the sea， its changing shades of blue and gray and green. We saw porpoises and whales. We came quite close to one great cow of a mother whale and her baby. They lay meditating， placidly unconcerned.

途經(jīng)卡羅來(lái)納州附近的哈特拉斯角后，我暈吐得不成人樣。人們是怎么說(shuō)暈船來(lái)著？“起先是怕一命嗚呼，后來(lái)是怕求死不能?！钡搅税湍民R運(yùn)河，我竟奇跡般地不暈了，便能欣賞到大海之美。從深邃湛藍(lán)到朦朧暗灰，再到翡翠碧波，變化萬(wàn)千，海豚和鯨魚遨游其間。我們?cè)欢染嚯x一頭巨型母鯨和她的幼鯨很近，它們四平八穩(wěn)地漂浮著，一副若有所思的樣子，對(duì)我們熟視無(wú)睹。

The ocean began turning yellow when we were still three days from land. We were approaching the estuary of the Yangtze running from the far west across Chinas middle， past Chongqing， Wuhan and Nanjing to the bustling eastern port of Shanghai， which means literally “on the sea.” The yellow tinge deepened to brown. A hazy blur grew on the horizon.

離靠岸還有三天，海水開始泛黃。船向著長(zhǎng)江口駛近，長(zhǎng)江發(fā)源于中國(guó)的西部，橫穿中部，流經(jīng)重慶、武漢、南京，最后到達(dá)繁華的東部港口上海，字面意思就是“在海上”。黃色海水漸深至褐色，海平面上浮現(xiàn)出朦朧的輪廓。

China！

是中國(guó)！

1原文選自沙博理的英文自傳My China： The Metamorphosis of a Country and a Man（Beijing： New World Press， 1997）第24—29頁(yè)，選文有所刪減，標(biāo)題為譯者所加。? 2原文多介詞，on和off譯為動(dòng)詞“上”和“休”，更符合漢語(yǔ)習(xí)慣，兩個(gè)介詞詞組around the clock和in shifts，分別譯為“輪流值守”和“全天候警戒”，譯文基本和原文保持相宜的長(zhǎng)度和基本一致的斷句，使得譯文在節(jié)奏感上與原文取得一致。? 3簡(jiǎn)稱ASTP，美國(guó)陸軍專業(yè)訓(xùn)練計(jì)劃。1941年太平洋戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)爆發(fā)后，美軍需要大量具備專業(yè)素質(zhì)的軍官，因而與哈佛、芝加哥大學(xué)等多所高校合作，設(shè)立ASTP項(xiàng)目培訓(xùn)人才，在當(dāng)時(shí)被譯為“陸部特訓(xùn)科”，特訓(xùn)科目主要有工程、醫(yī)療和外語(yǔ)三大類。

4 goggle-eyed和gaping like a cod運(yùn)用四字格“目瞪口呆”來(lái)表達(dá)，同時(shí)stood譯為“杵”更進(jìn)一步表達(dá)出驚呆的狀態(tài)，增加畫面感。? 5 oiled一詞應(yīng)有“花言巧語(yǔ)”的意思，但考慮到講話人陸軍少校的身份，翻譯為“不失時(shí)機(jī)”較為妥當(dāng)。soft sell本意為銷售領(lǐng)域的一種溫和推銷策略，此處意指少校從側(cè)面提示學(xué)漢語(yǔ)的好處，勸說(shuō)沙博理接受漢語(yǔ)培訓(xùn)。? 6如果將本句簡(jiǎn)單地譯為“你住在紐約”，容易造成歧義，因?yàn)樯巢├泶藭r(shí)住在軍隊(duì)，而非紐約，因此將其翻譯為“你家在紐約”更加準(zhǔn)確。同時(shí)可以與下文中的home相呼應(yīng)。

7全稱Servicemens Readjustment Act of 1944，《退伍軍人權(quán)利法案》，簡(jiǎn)稱G. I.? Bill，是美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)于1944年頒布的旨在幫助退伍軍人在二戰(zhàn)后更好適應(yīng)平民生活的法案。基本內(nèi)容有：美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)授權(quán)聯(lián)邦政府，對(duì)在二戰(zhàn)中服兵役超過(guò)90天的美國(guó)公民提供醫(yī)療、衛(wèi)生、住房等方面的優(yōu)惠政策；對(duì)因戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中斷深造機(jī)會(huì)的美國(guó)公民提供資助，讓他們有機(jī)會(huì)接受適當(dāng)?shù)慕逃蛴?xùn)練。