讀點好英文:Life on the Mississippi 密西西比河上的生活

Life on the Mississippi 密西西比河上的生活

[美]馬克·吐溫（Mark Twain）

《密西西比河上的生活》是美國作家馬克·吐溫的代表之作。在這篇小說中，作者描述了他在美國南北戰(zhàn)爭前在密西西比河上的輪船上面當水手和領航員的經(jīng)歷。這部小說真實而生動地描寫了密西西比河上的生活。

The?Boys’Ambition

When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboatman.We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient.

When a circus came and went, it left us all burning to become clowns;the first Negro minstrel show that came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life;now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its turn;but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained.

Once a day a cheap, gaudy packet arrived upward from St. Louis, and another downward from Keokuk.Before these events, the day was glorious with expectancy;after them, the day was a dead and empty thing.Not only the boys, but the whole village, felt this.After all these years I can picture that old time to myself now, just as it was then:the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer's morning;the streets empty, or pretty nearly so;one or two clerks sitting in front of the Water Street stores, with their splintbottomed chairs tilted back against the wall, chins on breasts, hats slouched over their faces, asleep—with shingle shavings enough around to show what broke them down;a sow and a litter of pigs loafing along the sidewalk, doing a good business in watermelon rinds and seeds;two or three lonely little freight piles scattered about the levee;a pile of skids on the slope of the stonepaved wharf, and the fragrant town drunkard asleep in the shadow of them;two or three wood flats at the head of the wharf, but nobody to listen to the peaceful lapping of the wavelets against them;the great Mississippi, the majestic, the magnificent Mississippi, rolling its mile-wide tide along, shining in the sun;the dense forest away on the other side;the point above the town, and the point below, bounding the river-glimpse and turning it into a sort of sea, and withal a very still and brilliant and lonely one.Presently a film of dark smoke appears above one of those remote points;instantly a Negro drayman, famous for his quick eye and prodigious voice, lifts up the cry“S-t-e-a-m-boat acomi n!”and the scene change s!The town drunkard stirs, the clerks wake up, a furious clatter of drays follows, every house and store pours out a human contribution, and all in a twinkling the dead town is alive and moving.Drays, carts, men, boys, all go hurrying from many quarters to a common center, the wharf.Assembled there, the people fasten their eyes upon the coming boat as upon a wonder they are seeing for the first time.And the boat is rather a handsome sight, too.She is long and sharp and trim and pretty;she has two tall, fancy-topped chimneys, with a gilded device of some kind swung between them;a fanciful pilothouse, all glass and gingerbread, perched on top of the texas deck behind them;the paddleboxes are gorgeous with a picture or with gilded rays above the boat's name;the boiler deck, the hurricane deck, and the texas deck are fenced and ornamented with clean white railings;there is a flag gallantly flying from the jackstaff;the furnace doors are open and the fires glaring bravely;the upper decks are black with passengers;the captain stands by the big bell, calm, imposing, the envy of all;great volumes of the blackest smoke are rolling and tumbling out of the chimneys—a husbanded grandeur created with a bit of pitch pine just before arriving at a town;the crew are grouped on the forecastle;the broad stage is run far out over the port bow, and an envied deckhand stands picturesquely on the end of it with a coil of rope in his hand;the pent steam is screaming through the gauge cocks;the captain lifts his hand, a bell rings, the wheels stop;then they turn back, churning the water to foam, and the steamer is at rest.Then such a scramble there is to get aboard, and to get ashore, and to take in freight and to discharge freight, all at one and the same time;and such a yelling and cursing as the mates facilitate it all wit h!Ten minutes later the steamer is under way again, with no flag on the jack staff and no black smoke issuing from the chimneys.After ten more minutes the town is dead again, and the town drunkard asleep by the skids once more.

My father was a justice of the peace, and I supposed he possessed the power of life and death over all men and could hang anybody that offended him. This was distinction enough for me as a general thing;but the desire to be a steamboatman kept intruding, nevertheless.I first wanted to be a cabin boy, so that I could come out with a white apron on and shake a tablecloth over the side, where all my old comrades could see me;later I thought I would rather be the deckhand who stood on the end of the stage plank with the coil of rope in his hand, because he was particularly conspicuous.But these were only daydreams—they were too heavenly to be contemplated as real possibilities.By and by one of our boys went away.He was not heard of for a long time.At last he turned up as apprentice engineer or striker on a steamboat.This thing shook the bottom out of all my Sunday-school teachings.That boy had been notoriously worldly, and I just the reverse;yet he was exalted to this eminence, and I left in obscurity and misery.There was nothing generous about this fellow in his greatness.He would always manage to have a rusty bolt to scrub while his boat tarried at our town, and he would sit on the inside guard and scrub it, where we could all see him and envy him and loathe him.And whenever his boat was laid up he would come home and swell around the town in his blackest and greasiest clothes, so that nobody could help remembering that he was a steamboatman;and he used all sorts of steamboat technicalities in his talk, as if he were so used to them that he forgot common people could not understand them.He would speak of the labboard side of a horse in an easy, natural way that would make one wish he was dead.And he was always talking about“St.Looey”like an old citizen;he would refer casually to occasions when he“was coming down Fourth Street”，or when he was“passing by the Planter's House”，or when there was a fire and he took a turn on the brakes of“the old Big Missouri”；and then he would go on and lie about how many towns the size of ours were burned down there that day.Two or three of the boys had long been persons of consideration among us because they had been to St.Louis once and had a vague general knowledge of its wonders, but the day of their glory was over now.They lapsed into a humble silence, and learned to disappear when the ruthless cub engineer approached.This fellow had money, too, and hair oil.Also an ignorant silver watch and a showy brass watch chain.He wore a leather belt and used no suspenders.If ever a youth was cordially?admired and hated by his comrades, this one was.No girl could withstand his charms.He cut out every boy in the village.When his boat blew up at last, it diffused a tranquil contentment among us such as we had not known for months.But when he came home the next week, alive, renowned, and appeared in church all battered up and bandaged, a shining hero, stared at and wondered over by everybody, it seemed to us that the partiality of Providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism.

This creature's career could produce but one result, and it speedily followed. Boy after boy managed to get on the river.The minister's son became an engineer.The doctor's and the postmaster's sons became mud clerks;the wholesale liquor dealer's son became a barkeeper on a boat;four sons of the chief merchant, and two sons of the county judge, became pilots.Pilot was the grandest position of all.The pilot, even in those days of trivial wages, had a princely salary—from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars a month, and no board pay.Two months of his wages would pay a preacher’s salary for a year.Now some of us were left disconsolate.We could not get on the river—at least our parents would not let us.

So by and by I ran away. I said I never would come home again till I was a pilot and could come in glory.But somehow I could not manage it.I went meekly aboard a few of the boats that lay packed together like sardines at the long St.Louis wharf, and very humbly inquired for the pilots, but got only a cold shoulder and short words from mates and clerks.I had to make the best of this sort of treatment for the time being, but I had comforting daydreams of a future when I should be a great and honored pilot, with plenty of money, and could kill some of these mates and clerks and pay for them.

男孩們的志向

我的童年是在密西西比河西岸的村莊里度過的。我和伙伴們有一個永恒的志向，那就是做一個蒸汽船員。我們也有其他短暫的志向，但那些都轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝了。

當一個馬戲團來了又去的時候，我們都狂熱地希望能成為小丑；而第一次去我們那個地區(qū)表演的黑人吟游詩人，又使我們都被想嘗試那種生活的愿望煎熬著；我們時而還會想，如果我們活著并且表現(xiàn)不錯，也許上帝會允許我們?nèi)ギ敽１I。這些志向，一個個都消逝了，但是成為蒸汽船員的志向卻總是能留下來。

一艘從圣路易斯向上游航行的廉價俗艷的輪船，每天都要來我們這里，還有另一艘從齊奧庫克向下游去的。在這兩件事以前，這一天因為期待而美好，而在那以后，這一天就變成死氣沉沉、空虛無聊的日子了。不只是男孩們，而是整個村莊的人，都有這樣的感覺。經(jīng)過這些年以后，那段舊日時光，一切都歷歷在目：白色的城鎮(zhèn)在夏日清晨的陽光中昏昏欲睡；街上空無一人，或是差不多那樣；一兩個職員坐在水街商店前面，他們坐著薄木板鑲底的椅子向后斜靠在墻上，下巴垂在胸前，帽子耷拉在臉上，睡著覺——周圍有足夠多的墻板刨花說明他們?yōu)槭裁茨敲雌＞耄灰恢荒肛i和一窩小豬順著人行道溜溜達達，在西瓜皮和西瓜子中胡鬧一番；幾小堆孤零零的貨物散布在大堤上；石頭鋪成的碼頭斜坡上有一堆墊木，鎮(zhèn)上那些身上散發(fā)著酒氣的醉鬼就睡在那木頭堆的陰影中；兩三艘木頭平底船停在碼頭的頂端，沒人去傾聽那小小的浪頭平和地輕拍它們的聲音；那偉大的密西西比，那宏偉的、壯麗的密西西比，一路翻滾著幾英里寬的大浪，在陽光下閃耀著光芒；對岸遠處茂密的森林；城鎮(zhèn)中上部映照于河流之中，使它像個海洋似的，而且是一個非常沉靜、絢麗和孤寂的海洋。不久，一道黑色的煙幕就出現(xiàn)在遠方的上空；馬上就傳來那個以敏銳視力和驚人聲音而出名的黑人馬車車夫的喊聲：“蒸——汽——船——來——啦——！”整幅景象變化了！鎮(zhèn)里的醉鬼開始挪動身子，職員醒來了，緊跟著傳來一陣運貨馬車的喧囂聲，每所房子和每間店鋪里都擁出一股人流，轉(zhuǎn)瞬之間那死氣沉沉的城鎮(zhèn)活了過來，動了起來。運貨車、馬車、男人、孩子，都急急忙忙地從各個地方來到了一個共同的中心——碼頭。人們聚集在那里，眼光盯著慢慢駛來的船，仿佛看著一個他們第一次見到的奇跡。那船也確實相當壯觀。它又長又尖，整齊漂亮；它有兩個高高的、頂部精美的煙囪，它們之間搖晃著一條鍍金的鏈子；一個不同尋常的駕駛室，全部由玻璃和鮮艷的裝飾組成，位于煙囪后面的主甲板上；槳格上用圖畫或鍍金線裝飾得非常華麗；汽爐甲板、防風甲板和主甲板都用干凈的白色欄桿圍起來作為修飾；國旗桿上飛揚著一面漂亮的旗子；火爐門敞開著，里面的火焰熊熊閃耀；上層甲板上站著黑壓壓的乘客；船長站在大鐘旁邊，鎮(zhèn)靜威風，是所有人羨慕的焦點；濃烈的黑煙從煙囪中翻卷著沖了出來——那是到達城鎮(zhèn)之前用一點兒多脂松木制造出來的莊嚴景象；船員們集中在前甲板上；一塊寬闊的木板從左弦弓上方遠遠地伸出來，一個令人嫉妒的甲板水手像一幅圖畫般地站在木板頂端，手里拿著一卷繩子；高壓蒸汽在計量塞中尖叫著；船長舉起一只手，鈴響了，輪子停下了；然后它們向后面轉(zhuǎn)著，把河水攪成泡沫，接著蒸汽機停止工作了。然后就是人們?nèi)荚谕粫r間上船、下船、把貨物裝上船和運下船的一片混亂：還有水手們催促的喊叫和咒罵聲！十分鐘，蒸汽船又上路了，沒有旗子在旗桿上飄揚，也沒有黑煙從煙囪里冒出。再過十分鐘以后，整個城鎮(zhèn)又變得死氣沉沉，那鎮(zhèn)上的醉漢又在墊木旁睡著了。

我父親是一位治安法官，我以為他擁有決定所有人生死的權力，可以絞死任何侵犯了他的人。一般來說，我覺得這是足夠有地位的了，但是成為一個蒸汽船員的渴望卻不斷地侵入我的腦海。我起初希望成為一個船上的侍者，那樣我就可以圍著一條白色的圍裙走出來，把一塊桌布向一邊抖開，讓我的舊日伙伴都能看到我；后來我又覺得我寧愿當那個站在木板頂端、手里拿著那卷繩子的甲板水手，因為他特別引人注目。但是那都只是白日夢罷了——它們都太神圣了，不能當成真正有可能的事情來考慮。漸漸地我們中間的一個男孩離開了，很長時間他都杳無音訊。最后他出現(xiàn)了，成了一艘蒸汽船上的實習輪機手或者叫做水手。這件事把我從主日學校學到的所有道理都顛覆了。那個男孩的世俗眾人皆知，而我卻恰恰相反；然而，他居然高升到了那么顯赫的地位，而我卻還在身份卑微、心靈悲慘的境地里。這個家伙雖然地位顯赫，但他一點也不大方。當他的船在我們鎮(zhèn)上靠岸時，他總會想辦法搞到一個生銹的螺釘，然后他就會坐在護欄里擦螺釘，讓我們都能看見他，羨慕他，憎恨他。而只要他的船進塢停留時，他就會回家來，穿著他最黑最油膩的衣服在鎮(zhèn)子里四處炫耀，那樣所有人就都不能不記得他是一個蒸汽船員了；他在說話的時候使用各種蒸汽船上的技術用語，仿佛他那么習慣使用那些術語，以至于忘了普通人根本不明白那些詞的意思。他會用一種輕松自然的方式談到一匹馬的“左舷”，讓人希望他馬上去死。而且他總是像一個老居民那樣談到“圣少尉”；他會隨隨便便地說到他“順著第四街走”或是“經(jīng)過種植主店”的情況，或是那次著火的時候，他在“老大密蘇里”那兒停了車；然后他就會接著謊稱那天有多少個像我們鎮(zhèn)這么大的鎮(zhèn)都燒掉了。我們中有兩三個男孩一直都是重要人物，就因為他們?nèi)ミ^圣路易斯一次，對那兒的奇妙景象有一個模模糊糊的大概印象，但是現(xiàn)在他們神氣的日子到頭了。他們陷入了謙卑的沉默，學會了在那無情的年輕輪機手走近的時候迅速消失。這個家伙也有錢，還有發(fā)油。他還有一塊銀懷表和一條炫耀的銅表鏈。他系著一條皮帶，根本不用吊褲帶。如果曾經(jīng)有哪個年輕人受到他的伙伴們十足的崇拜和憎恨，那就是這個家伙了。沒有一個女孩能抵擋住他的魅力。他讓鎮(zhèn)里的所有男孩都出了局。當他的船最后終于起錨出發(fā)的時候，一種我們仿佛幾個月都不曾擁有過的寧靜的滿足感慢慢散播開來。但是他下星期又回來了，活著，還出了名，滿身傷痕、綁著繃帶出現(xiàn)在教堂里，他成了一個閃光的英雄、所有人凝視和驚嘆的焦點。這時候在我們看來，命運對于一個根本不配的卑鄙的人的偏心，已經(jīng)到了可以公開批評的程度了。

這家伙的經(jīng)歷只能引起一個后果，而實際上這后果很快就出現(xiàn)了。男孩們一個接一個地想辦法到河上去了。牧師的兒子成了一位輪機手；醫(yī)生和郵政局長的兒子成了船上的清潔工；批發(fā)酒的商人的兒子在一艘船上開了個酒吧；大商人的四個兒子和郡法宮的兩個兒子成了領航員。領航員是所有這些職業(yè)中最高級的。在那個工資微薄的時候，領航員也能得到一筆豐厚的薪水——每個月150到250美元，還不用付伙食費。他兩個月的工資就相當于一個牧師一年的工資了?，F(xiàn)在我們中的一些人郁郁寡歡，因為我們不能到河上去——至少是我們的父母不允許我們?nèi)ァ?/p>

所以，我不久以后就逃走了。我說直到我成了一個領航員、能衣錦還鄉(xiāng)的時候我才會回來。但是不知為什么我一直沒能做到。我怯懦地上了幾艘在圣路易斯長長的碼頭邊像沙丁魚一樣緊挨在一起的船，非常謙恭地要求和領航員說話，然而我得到的卻只是副手和職員們冷冰冰的幾句話。我不得不暫時用最好的態(tài)度來接受這種待遇，但是在我那撫慰心靈的、關于未來的白日夢中，我卻成了一個偉大的、受人尊敬的領航員，有很多錢，可以殺死這些副手和職員中的一些人，然后再用錢把事情擺平。

Life is just a series of trying to make up your mind.

——T. Fuller

生活是由一系列下決心的努力所構成的。

——富勒

實戰(zhàn)提升

作者介紹

馬克·吐溫（1835—1910），本名塞繆爾·朗赫恩·克萊門斯，馬克·吐溫是其筆名。出生于密西西比河畔漢尼拔的一個鄉(xiāng)村律師家庭，從小在外拜師學藝。當過排字工人、密西西比河水手、南軍士兵，經(jīng)營過木材業(yè)、礦業(yè)和出版業(yè)，還當過記者，寫過幽默文學。馬克·吐溫是美國批判現(xiàn)實主義文學的奠基人，世界著名的短篇小說大師，還被譽為“美國文學界的林肯”。

單詞注解

permanent[5pE:mEnEnt]adj.永久的；永恒的；永遠的

expectancy[ik5spektEnsi]n.期望；預期

shingle[5FiN^l]n.屋頂板；木瓦

furious[5fjuEriEs]adj.狂怒的；狂暴的；猛烈的

freight[freit]n.（船運的）貨物；運費

offend[E5fend]v.冒犯；觸怒；傷害……的感情

cordially[5kR:djEli]adv.熱誠地；誠摯地；友善地

名句大搜索

我們也有其他短暫的志向，但那些都轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝了。

一般來說，我覺得這是足夠有地位的了，但是成為一個蒸汽船員的渴望卻不斷地侵入我的腦海。

我說直到我成了一個領航員、能衣錦還鄉(xiāng)的時候我才會回來。