Thank Heaven！ I have caught it… I am in a corner seat， the compartment is not crowded， the train is about to start， and for an hour and a half， while we rattle towards that haven of solitude2 on the hill that I have written of aforetime， I can read， or think， or smoke， or sleep， or talk， or write as I choose. I think I will write， for I am in the humour for writing. Do you know what it is to be in the humour for writing—to feel that there is a head of stream3 that must blow off？ It isn’t so much that you have something you want to say as that you must say something. And， after all， what does the subject matter？ Any peg will do to hang your hat on.4 The hat is the thing5. That saying of Rameau6 fits the idea to perfection. Some one was asking that great composer if he did not find difficulty in selecting a subject. “Difficulty？ A subject？” said Rameau. “Not at all. One subject is as good as another. Here， bring me the Dutch Gazette.”

謝天謝地！我總算趕上它了……我坐在角落里的一個座位上，車廂內(nèi)并不擁擠，火車即將開動，載著我們哐啷哐啷地駛向我此前寫到的山上的世外桃源。在一個半小時的行程中，我可以閱讀、思考、吸煙、睡覺、聊天或是寫作，悉憑己愿。我認為我會寫作，因為我有心思寫作。你可知道怎樣才是有心思寫作——覺得身上哪兒憋著一股訴諸筆墨的沖動，必欲宣泄一通嗎？與其說你有什么事想說，不如說是有什么事非說不可。再者，說到底，主題又有什么關(guān)系？凡釘皆可掛帽，帽即為欲說之事。拉莫說的一番話完全契合此意。有人詢問這位偉大的作曲家選擇主題時是否感到困難。“困難？主題？”拉莫說道，“一點也不。隨便哪個主題都一樣很好。喏，把《荷蘭公報》遞給我吧?！?/p>

That is how I feel now， as the lights of London fade in our wake and the fresh air of the country blows in at the window. Subject？ Difficulty？ Here bring me the Dutch Gazette. But while any subject would serve there is one of particular interest to me at this moment. It came into my mind as I ran along the platform just now. It is the really important subject of catching trains. There are some people who make nothing of7 catching trains. They can catch trains with as miraculous an ease as Cinquevalli8 catches half-a-dozen billiard-balls. I believe they could catch trains in their sleep. They are never too early and never too late. They leave home or office with a quiet certainty of doing the thing that is simply stupefying. Whether they walk， or take a bus， or call a taxi， it is the same： they do not hurry， they do not worry， and when they find they are in time and that there’s plenty of room they manifest no surprise.

這正是我此時的感覺，我們身后倫敦的萬家燈火漸漸消失，鄉(xiāng)野的新鮮空氣飄進車窗。主題？困難？且把《荷蘭公報》遞給我吧。然而，雖說任何一個主題都很合適，眼下卻有一個我特別感興趣的。剛才我沿著月臺奔跑時，它倏地鉆入我腦子。那就是有關(guān)趕火車的重大話題。有些人不把趕火車當回事。他們趕火車時，能像辛克瓦利連續(xù)接住六個臺球那樣，自有一種不可思議的從容氣度。我相信他們能在睡夢中趕上火車。他們從來不會過早或過遲。他們離開自家或辦公室時，帶著平靜而篤定的神態(tài)， 像是準備做一件只會令人驚愕的事。他們無論步行，乘公交車，抑或叫出租車，全都一樣：不匆忙，也不擔心，及至發(fā)現(xiàn)時間恰好，車上還有足夠的位置時，也不面露驚訝的表情。

I have in mind a man with whom I once went walking among the mountains on the French-Italian border. He was enormously particular about trains and arrangements the day or the week before we needed them， and he was wonderfully efficient at the job. But as the time approached for catching a train he became exasperatingly calm and leisured. He began to take his time over everything and to concern himself with the arrangements of the next day or the next week， as though he had forgotten all about the train that was imminent， or was careless whether he caught it or not. And when at last he had got to the train， he began to remember things. He would stroll off to get a time-table or to buy a book， or to look at the engine—especially to look at the engine. And the nearer the minute for starting the more absorbed he became in the mechanism of the thing， and the more animated was his explanation of the relative merits of the P.L.M. Engine and the North-Western engine. He was always given up as lost， and yet always stepped in as the train was on the move， his manner aggravatingly unruffled， his talk pursuing the quiet tenor of his thought about engines or about what we should do the week after next.9

我想起一個人，我曾與他一起在法意邊境的群山之間徜徉。對于我們一天或一周后需要乘坐的火車及各項準備工作，他做得格外謹慎細致，辦事效率之高堪稱神奇。但隨著乘車時間的日益臨近，他卻冷靜從容到惱人的地步。他開始不慌不忙地做每件事，開始關(guān)注次日或下周的事務(wù)，仿佛他已全然忘卻即將乘坐的火車，或者根本不在乎是否能趕上這班車。終于來到車旁的時候，他開始想起一些事情。只見他信步走開，去取一份列車時刻表，或是買一本書，或是察看機車——尤其是察看機車。開車的時間越近，他就越發(fā)專注于機車的構(gòu)造，越發(fā)熱切地解釋P.L.M.公司和西北公司機車各自的優(yōu)點。我們總以為他會錯過了車，上不來了，他卻總是在列車啟動的瞬間步入車廂，一派鎮(zhèn)定自若的風度令人惱怒，開口說話時，也循著考慮機車或下下周應做之事時那種沉穩(wěn)的思路。

Now I am different. I have been catching trains all my life， and all my life I have been afraid I shouldn’t catch them. Familiarity with the habits of trains cannot get rid of a secret conviction that their aim is to give me the slip10 if it can be done. No faith in my own watch can affect my doubts as to the reliability of the watch of the guard or the station clock or whatever deceitful signal the engine-driver obeys. Moreover， I am oppressed with the possibilities of delay on the road to the station. They crowd in on me like the ghosts into the tent of King Richard11. There may be a block in the streets， the bus may break down， the taxi-driver may be drunk or not know the way， or think I don’t know the way， and take me round and round the squares as Tony Lumpkin12 drove his mother round and round the pond， or—in fact， anything may happen， and it is never until I am safely inside （as I am now） that I feel really happy.

我就和他不同。我一輩子都在趕火車，一輩子都擔心趕不上火車。盡管熟悉火車的各種習慣，還是不能打消深藏于心的疑慮：倘若可能，它們必將以甩下我為己任。警衛(wèi)的表，車站的鐘，抑或火車司機依據(jù)的無論什么可疑的信號，無論我多么信任自己的手表，都無法減少我對以上其他各項可靠性的懷疑。何況，我被前往車站時受阻延誤的種種可能性弄得惶惶不安。它們紛紛朝我涌來，像是鉆入理查王帳篷的那些鬼魂。街上可能出現(xiàn)交通擁堵，公交車可能拋錨，出租車司機可能喝醉了，或者不認得路，或者以為我不認得路而帶著我在一個個廣場上轉(zhuǎn)來轉(zhuǎn)去，如同托尼·倫普金驅(qū)車載著他母親環(huán)繞池塘連續(xù)兜圈一樣——的確，任何事情都可能發(fā)生，直到我平安走進車廂（如同我此刻一樣），心里才真正感到舒坦。

Now13 of course this is a very absurd weakness. I ought to be ashamed to confess it. I am ashamed to confess it. And that is the advantage of writing under a pen name. You can confess anything you like， and nobody thinks any the worse of you. You ease your own conscience14， have a gaol delivery15 of your failings—look them， so to speak， straight in the face， and pass sentence on them—and still enjoy the luxury of not being found out. You have all the advantages of a conviction without the nuisance of the penalty. Decidedly， this writing under a pen name is a great easement of the soul.

話說回來，這當然是一個十分荒唐的弱點。我應當為承認它而感到羞恥，我確實為承認它而感到羞恥。這就是用筆名寫作的好處。你可以按照自己的意愿坦承一切，沒人會對你產(chǎn)生任何鄙視的心理。你卸下心頭的包袱，如同巡回法官提審獄中全部人犯一樣，審視自己的弱點——也就是說，直面這些缺陷，逐一加以宣判——同時為不被外人察覺而竊喜。你盡得宣判之利而全無受罰之虞。毫無疑問，冠以筆名進行寫作，是自己靈魂的一種極大解脫。

It reminds me of an ocassion on which I was climbing with a famous rock climber. I do not mind confessing （over my pen name） that I am not good on rocks. My companion on the rope kept addressing me at critical moments by the name of Saunders. My name， I rejoice to say， is not Saunders， and he knew it was not Saunders， but he had to call me something， and in the excitement of the moment16 could think of nothing but Saunders. Whenever I was slow in finding a handhold or foothold， there would come a stentorian17 instruction to Saunders to feel to the right or the left， or higher up or lower down. And I remember that I found it a great comfort to know that it was not I who was so slow， but that fellow Saunders. I seemed to see him as a laborious， futile person who would have been better employed at home looking after his hens. And so in these articles， I seem again to be impersonating the ineffable18 Saunders， of whom I feel at liberty to speak plainly19. I see before me a long vista of self-revelations， the real title of which ought to be “The Showing Up of Saunders.”

這使我想起與一位著名的攀巖者一起攀巖的經(jīng)歷。我不介意（不用筆名）承認自己并不善于攀巖。我的這位共攀伙伴每到緊要關(guān)頭不時提醒我，管我叫桑德斯。我的名字，我樂于承認，不是桑德斯，他也知道不是桑德斯，只是他總得給我想個稱呼，情急之中只能想到桑德斯。每當我遲遲找不到抓手或立足的地方，便有響亮的指令傳給桑德斯，指示他摸向左邊或右邊，上面或下面。我至今還記得，當時知道動作遲鈍的不是我，而是那個名叫桑德斯的家伙，我心里感到莫大的慰藉。在我看來，他那樣徒勞無功的一個人，還不如留在家里照看母雞。于是在這些文章里，我似乎再度扮演了那個絕妙的桑德斯，覺得有關(guān)此人的話但講無妨。我瞧見眼前出現(xiàn)了一長串關(guān)于自我感情流露的回憶，其真實的標題應當是《桑德斯瑣憶》。

But to return to the subject. This train-fever is， of course， only s symptom. It proceeds from that apprehensiveness of mind that is so common and incurable an affliction. The complaint has been very well satirised by one who suffered from it. “I have had many and severe troubles in my life，” he said， “but most of them never happened.” That is it. We people who worry about the trains and similar things live in a world of imaginative disaster. The heavens are always going to fall on us. We look ahead， like Christian， and see the lions waiting to devour us， and when we find they are only poor imitation lions， our timorous20 imagination is not set at rest， but invents other lions to scare us out of our wits.

且容我回歸主題。這種由火車引發(fā)的亢奮，當然只是一種表征，它源自心底里的恐懼，一種極為普遍、無法療救的痛苦。這種癥狀已經(jīng)受到一位當事者的絕妙諷刺。“我一生中曾有過許多極大的煩惱，”他說，“但是其中大多數(shù)從未發(fā)生?！边@話說對了。我們這些為火車和類似事物煩惱的人，生活在一個臆想的災難世界里。天空總要從我們頭頂坍塌。我們像基督徒似的往前看，瞧見幾頭獅子正等著吞噬我們，及至發(fā)現(xiàn)它們不過是自己腦中的幻象，我們膽怯的想象并沒有就此消停，而是繼續(xù)虛構(gòu)其他獅子，嚇得自己魂不附體。

And yet intellectually we know that these apprehensions are worthless. Experience has taught us that it is not the things we fear that come to pass， but the things of which we do not dream. The bolt comes from the blue. We take elaborate pains to guard our face， and get a thump in the small21 of the back. We propose to send the fire-engine to Ulster， and turn to see Europe in flames. Cowper put the case against all “fearful saints” （and sinners） when he said：

然而理智上我們知道，這些憂懼并無價值。經(jīng)驗已經(jīng)教會我們，不是我們恐懼的事情將要發(fā)生，而是我們做夢也沒想到的事情竟發(fā)生了。青天白日，猝下焦雷。我們煞費苦心地保護自己的臉，結(jié)果后腰遭到砰然一擊。我們提議將消防車派往烏爾斯特，結(jié)果見到歐洲烈焰熊熊。柯珀在舉例反對所有“畏怯的圣徒”（和罪人）時說：

The clouds ye so much dread

你們所懼怕的厚云，

Are big with mercy， and will break

現(xiàn)在滿載神的憐憫，

With blessings on your head.22

要降福在你們頭頂。

It is the clouds you don’t dread that swamp you. Cowper knew， for he too was an apprehensive mortal， and it is only the apprehensive mortal who really knows the full folly of his apprehensiveness.

吞噬你的往往是你不曾懼怕的那些云團?？络曛?，因為他也是一個心存恐懼的凡人，而只有心存恐懼的凡人才真正知道他的恐懼是何等愚蠢。

Now， save once， I have never lost a train in my life. The exception was at Calais when the Brussels express did， in defiance of the time-table， really give me and others the slip， carrying with it my bag containing my clothes and the notes of a most illuminating lecture. I chased that bag all through Northen France and Belgium， inquiring at wayside stations， wiring to junctions， hunting among the mountains of luggage at Lille.

話說回來，除了一回以外，我此生從未誤過一趟火車。那次例外發(fā)生在法國加來，開往布魯塞爾的直達快車不顧時刻表，當真甩掉我和其他乘客，帶走了我的旅行袋，袋中裝有衣服和一場很有啟發(fā)性的講座的筆記。我從法國北部和比利時一路追尋那只旅行袋，在沿途各個小站打聽，發(fā)電報詢問幾個樞紐車站，在里爾站如山的行李堆中尋覓。

It was at Lille that—But the train is slowing down. There is the slope of the hillside， black against the night sky， and among the trees I see the glimmer of a light beckoning me as the lonely lamp in Greenhead Ghyll used to beckon Wordsworth’s Michael23. The night is full of stars， the landscape glistens with a late frost： it will be a jolly two miles’ tramp to that beacon on the hill.

正是在里爾——而此刻火車正在減速。前面是山的斜坡，夜空下黑黢黢的，透過樹木我看見一抹微光在向我召喚，宛若綠頭山谷中的那盞孤燈，召喚華茲華斯筆下的邁克爾。繁星滿天的夜晚，地上閃爍著晚霜的寒輝：愉快地步行兩英里，便可走近山上的那盞明燈。

（譯者單位：揚州大學）

1選自英國作家阿爾弗雷德·喬治·加德納（1865—1946）的散文集《岸邊卵石》（Pebbles on the Shore）。本文取材于日常生活中的平凡事件，語言深邃洗練，典雅優(yōu)美，詼諧幽默，富有哲理。翻譯時應在吃透原意的基礎(chǔ)上，精心煉詞琢句，用自然貼切的對等語譯出原文的意義，再現(xiàn)原文的豐神韻味。" 2此句重新調(diào)整主謂結(jié)構(gòu)，將火車作為行為主體，譯為“載著我們哐啷哐啷地駛向……世外桃源”，讀來順暢自如，翻譯時常需做出類似變通。" 3翻譯這一從句，從作者急欲動筆的背景出發(fā)，大膽落筆行文，乃至加詞擴句，譯為“身上哪兒憋著一股訴諸筆墨的沖動”，構(gòu)成明顯的語言張力，增強了表現(xiàn)力。" 4來自短語“a peg to hang sth”，指支持事物的論據(jù)或理由。這里指一切由頭都可以付諸寫作。" 5譯為“欲說之事”，與前面you must say something“有什么事非說不可”形成有效的語義銜接。

6讓·菲利普·拉莫（Jean-Philippe Rameau，1683—1784），法國音樂理論家、作曲家。" 7 make nothing of 不把……當回事。" 8指保羅·辛克瓦利（Paul Cinquevalli，1859—1918），當時世界知名的雜耍大師。他的戲法之一是穿著綠色毛氈夾克表演滾動臺球，并讓球出現(xiàn)在身上不同的口袋里，因此被稱為“人形臺球桌”。

9此句形式標記完整，結(jié)構(gòu)嚴謹，長而不亂，充分體現(xiàn)英語重“形合”的特點。翻譯時捋清頭緒理順脈絡(luò)，對于開頭的“He was always given up as lost and yet… on the move”，改變?nèi)朔Q語態(tài)，譯為“我們總以為……他卻……”，行文順暢，語義轉(zhuǎn)折自如；后面的分句，則以he為行為主體，順其文意而不拘泥于形式，譯為“一派鎮(zhèn)定自若的風度令人惱怒，開口說話時，也循著考慮機車或下下周應做之事時那種沉穩(wěn)的思路?！币饬x連貫，前后融通。

10 their aim譯為 “以……為己任”，而不是“目標”，原句蘊含的俏皮詼諧的意味曲達以出。字詞者，傳情達意之本，此話同樣適用于翻譯，語句的出彩傳神之處每每有賴個別字詞的巧妙處理。" 11理查王即英國歷史上的暴君理查三世。在莎士比亞《理查三世》的情節(jié)中，他為篡奪王位而謀殺前任國王的繼承人，又不斷殘害異己。后來部下起兵叛變，理查三世在戰(zhàn)場安營，夜間夢見被他殺害之人的鬼魂接連在帳中顯靈，詛咒他絕望而死。次日兩軍交戰(zhàn)，理查三世兵敗被殺。" 12英國作家奧利弗·哥爾德斯密斯（Oliver Goldsmith，1728—1774）的喜劇《屈身求愛》（She Stoops to Conquer）中的人物。他在夜間駕駛馬車帶母親和妹妹在家附近兜圈，最后又回到原地，讓她們以為自己跋涉了四十里。" 13 now看似簡單，譯時也得慎重其事，略加斟酌，“話說回來”便于承上啟下。

14譯為“卸下心頭的包袱”，自然貼切，達意傳神。一味恪守原文詞語的字面意義，往往陷入苦思無果的僵局；不妨調(diào)整思路，考慮相同語境下漢語的慣有表達。" 15 gaol delivery為法律術(shù)語，指對所有在押犯清理定案。文中是比喻義。" 16譯為“情急之中”，而不是“在興奮的時刻”。許多與原文詞語表面對應的慣熟詞語往往不宜植入譯文。" 17聲音洪亮的。

18妙不可言的。" 19譯為“但講不妨”，利索明快。" 20膽怯的。

21（人體的）腰背部。" 22引自英國詩人威廉·柯珀（William Cowper，1731—1800）的贊美詩《上主作為何等奧秘》（God Moves in a Mysterious Way）。

23參見英國詩人華茲華斯的詩《邁克爾：一首牧歌》（Michael： A Pastoral Poem）。