雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:萬全 搪瓷茶缸

The Enamel Mug 搪瓷茶缸

◎ Wan Quan ◎ 萬全

Whenever I visit a department store，I always take delight in seeing the enamel mugs which，pure white or creamy，are graceful in pattern and colour.

每走進百貨公司，看到那些潔白的、柔和的、米黃色的和花色誘人的搪瓷茶缸，總感到一種愉快。

In my middle school days，I preferred to use white enamelware because，like most young girls，I was very particular about cleanliness．In those days，I remember，a Swede-made pure white mug would cost five silver dollars，and it was obtainable only at a foreign firm．In 1939，a certain store in Chongqing offered for sale，at a price of course higher than in prewar days，a stock of enamel mugs they had laid in through the Yunnan-Burma highway．With the money I had raised．I asked a friend leaving for town to buy an enamel mug for me．Unfortunately，probably due to nervousness，he dropped it onto the ground the moment he stepped out of the store and had it chipped.

上中學的時候，由于少女的潔癖，喜歡使用白色的搪瓷器皿。記得那時候要買一只瑞典貨的純白大茶缸，要花五塊多光洋，得進“惠羅公司”之類外國鋪子。1939年在重慶，某商店從滇緬路運進來一批搪瓷茶缸，價錢當然比戰(zhàn)前更貴。我湊足了錢，托朋友進城捎了一只；我的朋友也許過于緊張，一出商店門就將茶缸掉在地上，摔脫了一塊瓷。

Afterwards I went to the anti-Japanese base area carrying with me the enamel mug with a chip in it．Unexpectedly，over there it turned out to be a multipurpose utensil．It was used for carrying drinking water or cooked rice，for heating up food，cooking congee for sick comrades，and，when necessary，as a substitute for a basin or bathtub．Thenceforth，the militant friendship between it and me became even more profound.

以后，我?guī)е@只有疤痕的茶缸進了抗日根據(jù)地。它的用途倒意外地多起來了——喝水、盛飯、熱菜，給生病的同志煮粥，必要時還可以代行“面盆”、“浴缸”的職責。從此，茶缸和我有了進一步的“戰(zhàn)斗的友情”。

In 1946，when I came to Peiping[1]，I was eager to buy a new enamel mug to replace the old one which had given me years of devoted service．But a new one was hard to come by in the then Peiping．Once，while roaming about a small market in Dongdan[2]，I came across a pure white Swedish enamel mug at a roadside stall displaying only a handful of articles for sale．That was just what I needed．But the price asked by the woman owner of the stall was too high for me．When I bargained，I noticed tears brimming in her eyes．And then I also realized that she was sort of an educated young woman．She said what she had for sale was her personal belongings because she was badly in need of money to pay for the medical care of someone at home．Thereupon，I gave her all the money I had with me for the mug．She hoped that I would buy one more article from her．But，sympathetic as I was with her，I couldn't buy anything else because I really had no money left in my pocket．Later，after leaving Peiping，I went through several years of the War of Liberation in company with the mug which often reminded me vividly of the tearful eyes of the young woman—tearful eyes typical of the common people of Peiping in the throes of hunger and civil war.

1946年來到北平，很想買一只新的茶缸，代替那只為我鞠躬盡瘁的舊茶缸。可是當時的北平還不易買到這玩意。有一次，在東單小市上，在一個只有幾件售品的地攤上，我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只純白的瑞典茶缸。這正是我所需要的。可是地攤女主人的索價超過我的購買力。我希望她降低售價，她竟眼淚盈眶；這時我才發(fā)覺她是一個知識分子模樣的青年婦女。她解釋說家有病人等錢吃藥，所賣的是自己家用的東西。我馬上盡我所有付了價款。她勸說我再買一件什么，我雖然心情沉重，很想幫她的忙，但也實在沒有錢了。以后，離開了北平，這只茶缸又陪伴我經(jīng)歷了解放戰(zhàn)爭中的幾年，而且，它常常使我清晰地回憶起那位青年婦女的含淚的眼神——在窮困與內戰(zhàn)中經(jīng)受著痛苦的北平人民的眼神。

In 1949[3]，I again came to live in Peiping．My husband used all his pocket money to buy me a creamy enamel mug in commemoration of the victory of the War of Liberation．It was of US make.“All creamy ones are US products，”declared the salesman．But the mug isn't so important to me now because firstly，at my age，I'm no longer so particular about trivial matters in my personal life，and secondly it has resumed its normal uses in peaceful urban life．Nevertheless，up to now，whenever I come across enamel mugs of any kind，I still cannot help taking a look at them．It's because both pure white Swede-made and creamy US-made mugs have now given way in the market to Chinese products of ever increasing variety of colours and designs and much lower prices.

1949年又進入城市。我的丈夫以他的全部零用錢買了一只米黃色茶缸贈我，作為勝利的紀念。這一只是美國貨，當時百貨店說：“這種米色搪瓷只有美國貨。”可惜，它對于我并不重要了。一來因為年歲增加，已經(jīng)失去對于某些生活小節(jié)的執(zhí)著；二來和平的城市生活中，茶缸的用途已經(jīng)回復正常。可是，至今我碰到各種搪瓷茶缸，仍不免要看它們一眼。因為像瑞典貨一樣純白的也好，“只有美國貨”的米黃色的也好，都已經(jīng)是我們中國的出品了；而且品種花色常在增加，價錢也便宜得多了。

The woman owner of the roadside stall at Dongdan who sold me her personal mug must have long ago bought a new one of Chinese make for her own use.

當年東單地攤上那位出賣了自用茶缸的主婦，想必早已添置了我國自制的新的茶缸吧。

散文《搪瓷茶缸》出自一個不知名的作者——萬全，寫作年月也不詳，據(jù)說最初發(fā)表在20世紀50年代《人民日報》副刊上。文章語言樸實無華，語調平和，感情真摯，人情味盎然，內容涉及區(qū)區(qū)生活小事，但卻反映出時代的變遷，讀后回味無窮，故樂于為之英譯。