(中英)現代散文:看月 Enjoying the Moon

Enjoying the Moon

看　月①

◎ Ye Shengtao

◎　葉圣陶

People living in the small alleyways of Shanghai pay little attention to the waxing and waning, or the visibility, of the moon. The so-called "courtyards" in their houses are generally smaller than three metres square. And each room is illuminated by an electric bulb of at least 16 watts. Such a living environment is of course inconvenient for you to enjoy the moonlight. When you go out for a walk towards the evening, you'll see street lamps lit up one after another though it is not yet quite dark. Moon or no moon simply means the appearance of one extra street lamp or that one of the street lamps has gone wrong and ceased to give out light. Nobody cares.

住在上海“弄堂房子”里的人②對于月亮的圓缺隱現③是不甚關心的。所謂“天井”，不到一丈見方的面積。至少十六支光的電燈每間里總得掛一盞。環(huán)境限定，不容你有關心到月亮的便利。走到路上，還沒“斷黑”已經一連串地亮了街燈。有月亮吧，就像多了一盞燈。沒有月亮吧，猶如一盞街燈損壞了，沒有亮起來。誰留意這些呢？

Last summer, I complained that I could seldom hear the singing of cicadas. Now I'm sorry I haven't seen the moon for a long time. I remember how late one night I happened to wake up to find no more blaring of the radio from the window of the opposite house, no more clatter of next door's mahjong tiles and that all lights in the neighbourhood had been put out. A creamy white ray of light streamed in through my southern window to cast the shadow of the window lattice on my quilt. I was somewhat surprised. Then, when it dawned on me that it was the moon, I immediately looked out of the window, curious to have a look at it. But, unfortunately, it was soon hidden by clouds.

去年夏天，我曾經說過不大聽到蟬聲④，現在說起月亮，我又覺得許久不看見月亮了⑤。只記得某夜夜半醒來，對窗的收音機已經沉寂，隔壁的“麻將”⑥也歇了手，各家的電燈都已熄滅，一道象牙色的光從南窗透進來，把窗欞印在我的被袱上。我略微感到驚異，隨即想到原來是月亮光。好奇地要看看月亮本身，我向窗外望。但是，一會兒月亮被云遮沒了。

People from Peiping often wonder why Shanghailanders should choose to live in such a lousy place. They say life here is so full of tension, the air so foul, and trees so scarce, and so on and so forth. I wonder if the apparent loss of moonlight might as well be listed among their reasons for staying away from this city. But I would think otherwise, for it doesn't make sense to call enjoyment of moonlight one of the requisites of life. Open heart and wide vision do not necessarily come of watching the moon. The same can be achieved in self-cultivation, and that in a more practical way, by looking earthward instead of skyward. Nevertheless, I'm not opposed to watching the moon. I only mean it doesn't matter at all if you see no moon.

從北平來的人往往說在上海這地方怎么“呆”得住⑦。一切都這樣緊張⑧?？諝馐沁@樣齷齪。走出去很難得看見樹木。諸如此類，他們可以舉出一大堆。我想，月亮仿佛失掉了這一點，也該列入他們認為上海“呆”不住的理由吧。假若如此，我倒并不同意。在生活的諸般條件里列入必須看月亮一項，那是沒有理由的。清曠的襟懷和高遠的想象力未必定須由對月而養(yǎng)成。把仰望的雙眼移到地面⑨，同樣可以收到修養(yǎng)上的效益，而且更見切實?？墒俏也⒎欠磳丛铝?，只是說即使不看也沒有什么關系罷了。

The moonlight I once enjoyed watching in the suburbs of Fuzhou, round a bend of the Min River, was the best I have ever seen. Over there, one night as I leaned on an upstairs railing and gazed into the distance, I was amazed to see the surging tidal water in the River sparkling like silver in the moonlight. The mountains along the river banks, enveloped in a thin mist, appeared quite different from what we had been accustomed to see. The moon was hanging leisurely high up in the sky. A wide sandy beach lay stretching all the way from the riverside to where I lived, showing a vast expanse of white in the moonlight, with slight undertones of green. Suddenly the sweet fragrance of tuberoses wafted up from somewhere. It might be the sweet fragrance of the moon, I thought. I stood lost in reverie. It was not until fifteen minutes later that, turning round to see my own shadow on the plaster wall, I finally returned to my old self.

最好的月色我也曾看過。那時在福州的鄉(xiāng)下，地當閩江一折的那個角上。某夜，靠著樓欄直望。閩江正在上潮，受著月光，成為水銀的洪流。江岸諸山略微籠罩著霧氣，好像不是平日看慣的那幾座山了。月亮高高停在天空，非常舒泰的樣子。從江岸直到我的樓下是一大片沙坪，月光照著，茫然一白，但帶點兒青的意味。不知什么地方送來晚香玉的香氣。也許是月亮的香氣吧，我這么想。我心中不起一切雜念⑩，大約歷一刻鐘之久，才回轉身來?？匆娤牱蹓ι嫌≈业纳碛埃矣谑侵赜忠庾R到了我。

Of course it will bring me great pleasure to see the same brilliant moonlight a few more times even though I've said, "It doesn't matter at all if you see no moon."

那樣的月色如果能得再看幾回，自然是愉悅的事，雖然前面我說過“即使不看也沒有什么關系”。

葉圣陶（1894—1988），原名葉紹鈞，江蘇蘇州人，為現代杰出文學家、教育家。《看月》一文于1933年9月1日發(fā)表在《中學生》雜志第37號上，當時他在上海開明書店做編輯工作，任該雜志主編。文章寫景狀物，風格嚴謹，抒情色彩濃厚，其結尾的處理，尤具匠心。