芥川龍之介在樓外樓

擁有160年歷史的西湖樓外樓，已經(jīng)成為西湖景觀與西湖歷史文化中的一個重要組成部分。它在見證了西湖百年滄桑的同時，還與中國近代無數(shù)名士結(jié)了緣分，其中最值得一提的，是日本著名文學(xué)家芥川龍之介與樓外樓之間的一段歷史因緣。

1921年3月至7日，時年29歲的芥川龍之介，作為日本國大阪每日新聞社的海外特派員旅行中國各地。他是位極負(fù)盛名的小說家，被大阪每日新聞社稱為“現(xiàn)代文壇第一人”。1921年5月1日，芥川龍之介由大阪每日新聞社上海支局記者田村孜郎陪同，從上海乘火車來杭州。芥川龍之介的這次西湖之行，對西湖留下了多重印象，他在致友人的信函中贊嘆“西湖小巧玲瓏，美不勝收”，“西湖美景幾似明朝古畫”。同時他也在游記中指出西湖之美過于精巧“纖細(xì)”，“并沒有想象中的那樣漂亮”。當(dāng)時西湖的周邊四處林立著洋人建造的洋樓、別墅，他從這種現(xiàn)象中解讀到西方殖民主義的入侵為中國帶來的災(zāi)難，指出西湖“已經(jīng)被岸邊隨處修建的那些惡俗無比的紅灰兩色的磚瓦建筑植下了足以令其垂死的病根。”“這種雙色的磚瓦建筑，就像巨大的臭蟲在江南各處的名勝古跡中蔓延，將所有的景致破壞得慘不忍睹。”“而且西湖的惡俗化，更有一種愈演愈烈之勢。”他在《江南游記》中用六個章節(jié)的篇幅記述了在西湖的瀏覽，其中整整一章寫的是在樓外樓享用午餐時的情形。看來他在樓外樓用餐這一段時光，是他最為舒心的一刻。他著文說：“在乘畫舫相繼游覽了廣化寺、俞樓、蘇小小墓、秋瑾墓、岳王廟后，回到孤山東岸。在那里的槐樹與梧桐樹蔭下，有家打著‘樓外樓’旗幟的餐館。我們在船老大的推薦下，在這家店前的槐樹下吃了頓中式午餐。”接著，他在文中作了更加詳細(xì)的描述：

我們的桌子，擺放在枝葉繁茂的槐樹下。腳下不遠(yuǎn)處便是波光粼粼的西湖。湖水不停地蕩漾著，在岸邊的石縫中蕩出輕柔的聲響。水邊有三個穿著藍(lán)色衣服的中國人，一個在沖洗一只拔光了毛的雞，一個在洗著舊棉衣，一個則在稍遠(yuǎn)處的柳蔭下悠然垂釣。忽然，他將釣竿高高舉起，線端一條鯽魚在空中活蹦亂跳。這番情景在春光中讓人頗感閑適之趣。在他們的對面，西湖縹緲地舒展著身姿。在這一瞬間，我徹底忘記了紅磚洋樓，忘記了美國佬，在眼前平和的景色中找到了小說般的感覺：晚春時節(jié)的石碣村，柳蔭處日影婆娑，阮小二一直坐在柳樹下專心垂釣；阮小五將雞沖洗好了之后，走進(jìn)家中去取廚刀。“鬢邊插朵石榴花”“胸前刺著青郁郁的一個豹子”的那個可愛的阮小七，仍然在洗舊棉衣。

芥川由岸邊洋溢著“閑適之趣”的場景，進(jìn)而聯(lián)想到“晚春時節(jié)的石碣村”，這段內(nèi)容當(dāng)取自《水滸傳》《吳學(xué)究說三阮撞籌 公孫勝應(yīng)七星聚義》一回。芥川龍之介自幼喜讀《水滸傳》，學(xué)生時代甚至背誦過一百單八將的姓名。所以他在樓外樓前的“閑適”風(fēng)情，情不自禁地便與《水滸傳》里“籬外高懸沽酒旆，柳蔭閑纜釣魚船”的石碣村聯(lián)想在一起。

正當(dāng)芥川和田村二人品味老酒時，“一艘畫舫橫在岸邊，停在了槐樹樹蔭下”。走下船的一個普通家庭的五口人坐到了鄰桌。除了男主人、孩子和一個女仆之外，“其余兩個女子一定是姐妹。二人都穿著一樣的桃紅和藍(lán)色相間的斜紋嗶嘰質(zhì)地的衣服”。芥川在游記中寫道：

我一邊用筷子，一邊不時地朝他們望去。他們在我們旁邊的桌前坐下，正等候著飯菜。姐妹兩人一邊悄聲說著什么，一邊不住向我們流盼。確切地說，是因為田村君在擺弄著相機(jī)，要給我拍一張吃飯時的照片。正是這個才吸引了他們的目光，所以并不值得洋洋自得。

正說著，他們的菜就上來了。濃蔭低垂的槐樹下，這一個時尚的中國家庭有說有笑的吃著飯，從一旁觀瞧，只覺得妙趣橫生。我點上了一只雪茄煙，樂此不疲地看著他們。斷橋、孤山、雷峰塔……，此等美談就交給蘇峰氏去講吧。對我來說，比起明媚的山水來，對人的觀察不知要愉悅多少倍。

芥川所說的“蘇峰氏”，指的是著名政論家德富蘇峰，此人曾以記者身份于1906年和1917年兩次訪華，在他所著的《七十八日游記》和《中國漫游記》中，對西湖景觀贊賞有加。

芥川龍之介在樓外樓品嘗的菜肴，游記中只提到有“生姜清煮的鯉魚”，但可以斷言的是，芥川龍之介一定品嘗了東坡肉，因為5月4日他由杭州返回上海當(dāng)天，在寄給友人的明信片中，他用一首相同的俳句傳達(dá)出西湖印象。這首俳句為“燕や食ひのこしたる東坡肉”，此句譯成中文便是“盤中猶剩東坡肉，春燕呢喃鬧堂前”。

在筆者赴東京大學(xué)作研究員期間，曾對日本近代文學(xué)館收藏的“芥川龍之介文庫”進(jìn)行調(diào)查。在芥川藏書中，有《西湖楹聯(lián)》全四冊、《西湖佳話古今遺跡》全六冊、《西湖風(fēng)景畫》等多部旅行期間購入的西湖相關(guān)書籍。此外，遺物中有一本在中國期間拍攝的收有71張照片的影集，其中令筆者倍感興奮的，便是其中攝于樓外樓的兩張照片：一張豎幅的樓外樓門前全景照和一張橫幅的芥川用餐時中景照，可稱為一對兄弟照，攝影者無疑就是田村孜郎。前者較全面地展示了當(dāng)年樓外樓的門前路畔之狀，后者則捕捉到了一個富于情趣的戲劇性場景。這兩張照片都印證了當(dāng)時樓外樓在店門前用竹木搭建了高高的頂棚，頂棚下增設(shè)餐桌，芥川龍之介便臨湖坐在了中間的一張桌前。20年代樓外樓曾在店外設(shè)座，還有諸多資料可以佐證，1925年該店由單層二樓翻建成三層洋樓時，《大浙江報》刊出的新樓開業(yè)廣告中，就以“向遇夏季在湖邊樹下添設(shè)座位后因樹中常有微蟲撲下，與衛(wèi)生殊多妨礙”來說明翻建的理由。不過這樣的翻修沒想到令徐志摩倍感“傷心”，他在1926年發(fā)表的《丑西湖》中寫道：“原來樓外樓那一樓一底的舊房子斜斜的對著湖心亭，幾張揩抹得發(fā)白光的舊桌子，一兩個上年紀(jì)的老堂倌”令他“每回到西湖往往會偷閑獨自跑去領(lǐng)略這點子古色古香”。而面對翻造后刺眼的洋式三層店面和換上西式長袍的堂倌，他卻感“什么閑情逸趣都沒有了”。芥川影集中的照片，正是令徐志摩和俞平伯等早年間的常客難以忘懷的20年代初樓外樓的翻修之前的店外之景。

親眼見到這本影集時，筆者所譯的《中國游記》已被中華書局排入出版計劃，而這幅富于戲劇性的橫幅照片，恰好能和我所翻譯的游記內(nèi)容相映成趣。所以筆者當(dāng)即決定向日本近代文學(xué)館正式申請，在支付了總額不菲的使用費之后，我將這張橫幅中景照和數(shù)張芥川在中國的留影收入到我的譯本中。后來《中國游記》出版，使筆者意想不到的是接到了杭州資深記者吳流生先生的電話。經(jīng)吳流生先生告知，收入《中國游記》的照片是迄今發(fā)現(xiàn)的最早的樓外樓圖影，實在是一件令人欣喜之事。明年恰逢樓外樓160年店慶，在樓外樓為店慶隆重推出的大型紀(jì)念畫冊中，芥川的兩張珍貴照片將會展現(xiàn)于讀者面前。芥川的這段記述連同數(shù)十年來塵封在影集中的兩枚照片，幫助我們真切地拾起了一幅被湮沒的舊影。

2007年9月15日，是芥川龍之介逝世80周年紀(jì)念日，國際芥川龍之介學(xué)會第二次學(xué)術(shù)研討會在寧波大學(xué)召開。在海內(nèi)外50多名專家學(xué)者參加的這次會議上，芥川龍之介的中國之行成為一個重要的研討議題。會議結(jié)束后，全體代表又來到杭州，沿著芥川當(dāng)年的足跡游覽西湖。9月17日晚，樓外樓隆重舉辦了“喜慶86年前的歷史照片回娘家”的歡迎儀式，盛情宴請了全體中外學(xué)者，并向?qū)W者們贈送了《西湖全書·樓外樓》和《樓外樓珍藏名家書畫選集》。樓外樓菜館董事長沈關(guān)忠先生說：“芥川龍之介攝于樓外樓的照片，使具有160年歷史的樓外樓保有照片的記錄從1957年前推到了1921年，整整前移了36年。這是一個非常珍貴和真實的歷史記錄，是樓外樓160周年店慶一份難得的厚禮。”

(作者為北京外國語大學(xué)、北京日本學(xué)研究中心副教授)

The Lakeside Restaurant and the Japanese Writer

By Qin Gang

The 160-year-old Louwailou Restaurant is an integral part of the picturesque West Lake. It has not only witnessed the ups and downs of the West Lake over the past 160 years across three centuries， but also seen numerous Chinese and international celebrities visit the restaurant. Akutagawa Ryonosuke (1892-1927)， a prominent Japanese writer， is one of the international celebrities who are fondly remembered for their connections with the restaurant.

From March to July 1921， the 29-year-old writer traveled through China as a journalist for Osaka-based Mainichi Simbun. On May 2， 1921， the writer arrived in Hangzhou. Impressed by the beauty of the West Lake， he poeticized the lake in letters to his friends. But in his travel essays， he commented that the lake was overly delicate and it was not as beautiful as imagined. Seeing the western-styled villas around the lake， he knew they were the ugly consequences of the imperial colonization. He hated the worsening vulgarization of the lake and the city. He wrote about his sightseeing around the lake in six chapters in the travelogue. One of the chapters was about his lunch at the Louwailou Restaurant.

After a boat tour on the lake and visiting quite a few sites of historical and cultural interests， Akutagawa came to the restaurant at the recommendation of the oarsman. Akutagawa and his Japanese journalist friend sat down to a table on the bank in the shade of pagoda trees outside the front door of the restaurant. The writer later wrote about a restaurant chef rinsing a chicken with its feathers all plucked， a man washing a padded coat in the lake and a man fishing. He wrote about the wavelets splashing languidly and softly against the stones of the bank. He wrote about a family of five arriving on a pleasure boat and sitting down at the next table for lunch. The two daughters of the family were attracted to the two Japanese and the camera.

Akutagawa had steamed fish and Dongpo Pork， among other delicious local dishes， for lunch. In a postcard to a friend dated May 5， the day he traveled back from Hangzhou to Shanghai， Akutagawa wrote a haiku and mentioned Dongpo Pork in the two-line poem.

When I was working as a guest researcher at Tokyo University， I conducted a research on Akutagawa's private library. In his book collection were the four-volume \"Couplets of West Lake\"， the six-volume \"West Lake Anecdotes and Historical and Modern Sites\"， and \"Landscape Paintings of the West Lake\". The writer must have bought these books on his tour to Hangzhou. In his private library was a photo album which contained 71 photos taken during his visit to China. Two of the photos were taken at the Louwailou Restaurant. One photograph shows a vertical panoramic view of the front of the restaurant; the other displays a horizontal view of Akutagawa having lunch by the lake. No doubt the photographs were taken by Akutagawa's Japanese journalist friend.

The two photographs show what the restaurant looked like back then. The first one features the road in front of the restaurant; the second records a dramatic scene: a shed of bamboo and wood stands tall in front of the restaurant by the lake bank; it must have been set up by the restaurant; inside the shed are tables; Akutagawa is sitting at a waterside table. Other historical evidences also testify to the shed service adopted by the restaurant. In 1925， the restaurant ran an advertisement in a local newspaper， explaining why it was going to expand the two-storied building into a three-story affair. The advertisement reads in part that \"insects were a problem in summer when they molested diners at tables under the trees in front of the restaurant\".

When I saw the two photographs， my translation of Akutagawa's travelogue entitled \"My Notes of Travels across China\" had already been included in the publishing plan by Zhonghua Publishing House for that year. The photographs could serve as a graphic illustration for the text in the book. So I immediately applied to the Japan Museum of Modern Literature for using the two pictures and some other pictures of the writer in my book. I received the approval after paying a handsome fee. After the book was published I received a telephone call from Wu Liu， a senior journalist in Hangzhou. Much to my surprise and delight， he told me that the two photographs of the Louwailou restaurant were the oldest existing pictures of the restaurant. The year 2008 would see the 160th anniversary of the restaurant. A memorial album to be printed by the restaurant will have the two pictures I discovered in Japan. Akutagawa's account of his lunch at the restaurant and the two pictures will help Chinese readers look into a lost past.

September 15， 2007 was the 80th anniversary of the death of Akutagawa Ryonosuke.The International Akutagawa Ryonosuke Association held its second seminar on the campus of Ningbo University. More than 50 experts and scholars from home and overseas attended the seminar and focused on Akutagawa's 1921 Chinese trip. After the seminar， all the participants came to Hangzhou and toured the West Lake exactly as Akutagawa Ryonosuke had done 86 years before. On the evening of September 17， a ceremony was held at Louwailou to welcome the photographs home. The restaurant entertained all the experts and scholars. Louwailou president Shen Guanzhong said at the meeting that \"the two photographs pushed the photographic history of Louwailou back by 36 years. Before the two were known， the earliest photograph available was dated 1957. The precious record will be a rare gift for the 160th anniversary of the restaurant.\"

(Translated by David)