叶圣陶：短篇小说《饭》(Part I)
2012-11-02 20:53阅读：
【汉译英旧作】叶圣陶：短篇小说《饭》(Part I)
(收于小说集《火灾》,1923)。“《饭》描写了一个在流氓手中讨生活的乡村小学教员，他已经落到经常挨受饥饿威胁的境地。作者对这个屈辱地挣扎着活下去的‘小人物’，除批评他的怯弱外，也寄予了很大的同情。”
'Food' by Ye Shengtao (Part I)
'It’s time for class! But where’s your teacher?”
The two old houses were bending like a hunchbacked man. In front of
them was an earthy dirt path leading to the farmland and the
village. It was right in the middle of autumn. White scaly clouds
were floating in the pale blue sky. The morning sun shone upon a
few willows, turning their leaves light green as seen in spring. In
the distance, the ears and leaves of rice plants were bending with
the breeze, making waves in the open fields. Farther in the
village, trees were growing in a large circle, solemn, quiet, and
graceful. And the barks of dogs were faintly heard. This was really
the season and place for a poet!
It’s a pity that nobody living here was a poet though. There were
only six or seven kids filled with uncertainty and fear in the hou
se. Since the autumn set in, the farmland of their families had
been inundated with rainwater, which converged with river water.
Now only three or four inches of the paddy stalks were seen above
the water. The kids’ parents were terribly distressed and sighed
with anxiety day and night. Some of them said, “The day of
starvation is just around the corner!”
The kids thought it was strange. Some of them asked, “We grow rice.
How come we’ll starve to death?” The parents said, “Can’t you see
the plants are all soaked in water and we still don’t have a grain
of rice?” Some said, “If we hadn’t sold much rice last year, we
would be okay this year.” The parents said, “Who’d like to sell?
You kids just don’t know!” Some kids even suggested, “We will quit
school. Let’s tread hard on the water wheel and lift water from the
fields.” The parents said, “But where can we lift the water to? The
river banks are level with the fields!”
Now the kids were convinced that their parents were more
knowledgeable than they were, and that absolutely they would starve
to death. They said to themselves, “Death is like sleep, dull and
dark. Once caught up in it, one will eat no more and have no more
fun. He can’t move as if he were bound, and has no clue when he
will be untied.”
They were overcome with fear at the thought of starvation. For
them, what starvation would be like was really unpredictable, but
it was sure to come! Their attitudes changed, though they were not
aware of it: playing tag wasn’t fun anymore; and yelling was
meaningless. Now they only sat quietly in the house, chatting in a
low voice about catching crickets. Their voices were tinged with
fear and anxiety.
In the house on the left there was a bed. Beside the bed was a bare
table. In the corner there were pots and pans, the oven, firewood,
and the like. All things were in darkness and could not be seen
clearly. Only through a hole in the wall (less than one square
foot) came in an oblique shaft of sunlight, which was cast on the
floor and thus revealed its uneven earthy surface. The two houses
were made by a wooden partition. It was much brighter in the house
to the right. There were plank windows in both walls. They were now
left open. There was nothing in the house but a dozen sets of desk
and chair and a worn lecture table. And these were not even kept in
order.
Now, right in the chairs six or seven kids were sitting face to
face. Slouching over the desks, they were talking about catching
crickets. At first, they kept a very low voice. But soon they got
wound up as they thought of nothing in the world but crickets. One
of the kids slapped the desk and shouted, “What a giant cricket! It
was near the root of a corn stock. So I quickly covered it with my
hand. Guess what? It almost bit the other three to death. It …
”
Just at the moment, from the door near the blackboard came in a
man. The kids caught sight of the man and all stared at him. Those
talking about crickets loudly automatically shut up. The kids
actually knew something about the man, but not very much. They had
heard from their parents, “This man is really something! He visits
the yamen very often, and discusses things with the county
magistrate. He’s a teacher having control over all other teachers.
Even teachers are afraid of him.” But these bits and pieces were
all they knew of the man. The kids were not really afraid of him
but rather curious about his dazzling suit.
The man walked into the house and took a casual glance inside.
Suddenly he frowned and probingly looked around – he was enraged.
In a scornful tone he asked the pupils the question mentioned at
the very beginning.
