中華文化英文講系列

阿里爾?魯賓斯坦

有著800多年建都史的北京城具有豐富的市井文化，從老百姓居住的胡同、四合院，到民間雜耍、斗蛐蛐兒、養金魚、遛鳥兒、鴿子哨，都同皇家文化一道，構成了北京悠久的歷史文化傳統。隨著國際交往的不斷加深，很多來北京的外國朋友已不再局限于游覽恢弘的故宮、天壇、長城等經典景區，他們還愿意去胡同走走，坐坐人力三輪車，徜徉于市井民風中，感受最接地氣的老北京文化。還有一些常駐北京工作、學習的外國朋友，也喜歡在周末和節假日出來走走逛逛，體味北京的風土人情。那么，如何用英語跟老外聊聊北京的民風民韻，讓他們乘興而來、滿意而歸呢？今兒個我們就先來了解一下北京的胡同，學習介紹胡同的英語表達吧！

我們現在通常所說的社區（community）其實在老北京人那里早就有了，那就是“胡同”。關于“胡同”的英文表達，有兩種處理方法：一種是直接音譯為hutong （英文中一般將hutong視為單復數同形，因此下面英文部分中復數形式的hutong也沒有加s），了解中國文化的老外也都可以理解；還有一種方法就是采用英文中的對應詞alley，alley在《柯林斯高階英漢雙解學習詞典》中的英文釋義如下：“An alley is a narrow passage or street with buildings or walls on both sides.”雖然alley不足以表達“胡同”的意思，但是對于初來中國、對中國文化不甚了解的外國人來說，alley這個詞可能更容易理解。北京的胡同起源于元朝。通常認為，“胡同”一詞最早來源于蒙古語，意思是“水井”，因為那時候人們的水源多是水井，生活的區域就是以水井為中心的。

在向外國朋友介紹胡同的概況時，可以參考下面這段英文表達。

Beijing has a community of alleys， or “hutong” in Chinese. These are the centuries-old， tree-lined alleyways that are the true heartbeat of this unique city and a real-life link to its fascinating past. The alleys go back almost 800 years to the Yuan Dynasty and are in fact a Mongol invention. After Genghis Khans （成吉思汗） unruly hordes reduced Beijing to rubble， the capital was redesigned with these narrow alleyways crisscrossing the city. In fact， the word “hutong” comes from the Mongolian word for “well，” as people living in that period inhabited areas around wells which were their source of water. By the Qing Dynasty there were 2，000 hutong， and by the 1950s that figure had almost trebled. （Based on BBC： Old Beijing at Its Timeless Best）

胡同的生活相比于現代化的城市生活有很多獨特之處。鬧中取靜是胡同的一個顯著特點——胡同地處城市中心，卻沒有集市和街道的喧嘩。這是因為胡同一般比較狹窄，沒有現代化交通工具帶來的噪音，多是黃包車走街串巷。但是，這并不是說胡同里是死一般的沉寂，來來往往的小販叫賣聲仍然讓胡同散發出生活的氣息和生機。當然，城市現代化逐漸侵蝕了古老的胡同。現在，即使是在留存下來的胡同中，也免不了聽到私家汽車的鳴笛聲和馬達聲。

需要說明的是，在舊時，胡同里的主要交通工具并不是我們現在常看到的三輪腳踏車，而是黃包車。在英文里，“黃包車”一詞是rickshaw，源于日語，在《柯林斯高階英漢雙解學習詞典》的英文釋義如下：“A rickshaw is a simple vehicle that is used in Asia for carrying passengers. Some rickshaws are pulled by a man who walks or runs in front.”舊時胡同里的黃包車對應的就是該釋義的后一句話。

上文所述的胡同的特點可以用英文表達如下。

In the old days， life in the hutong remained peaceful and provided an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Although located downtown， the hutong were free from the noise of traffic， as they were too narrow to bear much. Instead， rickshaws went up and down and hawkers shouts greeted the whole neighborhood.

The modern life style， however， has gradually broken the tranquility as private cars have rushed into the hutong and the shouts of hawkers have disappeared as modern grocers and shops， as well as restaurants， bars and even clubs， have moved in to replace them.

胡同的名稱——市井氣息與歷史文化同在

北京胡同的名稱都可以追根溯源。如果用文字將北京每一條胡同的歷史做一番梳理，那很可能是一部鴻篇巨制。分類說來，北京胡同的命名也五花八門：有以生活必需品命名的，有以歷史名人命名的，有以舊時政府機構名稱命名的，還有浪漫的名稱和寄托美好愿望的名稱。

關于北京胡同名稱的概況，可以用下面這段英文來表達。

Just as the history of the hutong can be traced back about 800 years to the Yuan Dynasty， the names of individual hutong have also passed down their own traditions and culture. They are named after daily necessities， famous people or government sectors. Whats more， there are also names of romance and good wishes.

生活必需品最貼近老百姓的生活，因而以此命名的胡同不勝枚舉。中國有句古話：“開門七件事，柴米油鹽醬醋茶。”北京就有七個胡同的名字，一樣不落地把這七件生活必需品囊括了進去，分別是：柴棒胡同、米市胡同、油坊胡同、鹽店胡同、醬坊胡同、醋章胡同和茶兒胡同。

關于胡同名稱與生活必需品的關系，可以用英文表達如下。

Daily necessities are the closest to peoples lives， so the number of hutong named after them is countless. An old Chinese sayings goes， “Firewood， rice， cooking oil， salt， soy sauce， vinegar and tea are the seven necessities of daily life.” As a result， there are seven hutong which are each named after one of these items.

為了紀念一些名人，我們會用名人的名字來命名道路、街道（如張自忠路）。古時也有用名人命名的胡同，如現在的紅星胡同在1965年以前就叫做“無量大人胡同”，再早以前的名稱是“吳良大人胡同”，正是得名于明朝大將吳良。

關于胡同名稱與名人的關系，可以用英文表達如下。

In modern times， some roads or streets have been named after famous people in commemoration of them， such as Zhang Zizhong Road to honor the hero General Zhang Zizhong who sacrificed his life in the Chinese peoples War of Resistance Against Japan. In ancient times， the names of hutong also followed the same convention. For example， todays Red Star Hutong was originally called Milord Wu Liang Hutong， named after the famous general Wu Liang in the Ming Dynasty.

還有一些胡同是以舊時政府機構名稱命名的。比如祿米倉胡同，就是舊時存儲京官俸糧的地方。再比如府學胡同，是舊時官辦的最高學校所在地。

這部分內容可以參考如下一段英文表達。

Some of the hutong got their names from the government sectors which were located in those hutong. The famous ones include Lumicang Hutong in which the granary for feudal officials salary was located， and Fuxue Hutong where the highest educational administration in feudal China used to be located.

對于有著浪漫氣息的胡同名兒，外國人理解起來恐怕就有些難了。比如陳升的流行歌曲《北京一夜》中出現的“百花深處”，就是護國寺和新街口附近的一條胡同。2002年，英國的一家公司邀請世界上15位大師級導演各自拍攝10分鐘的短片，串成一部叫做《十分鐘年華老去》（Ten Minutes Older）的電影，旨在展示當代世界電影的最高藝術水準。制作方邀請的中國導演是陳凱歌，他所拍攝的短片就叫《百花深處》，譯名為“100 Flowers Hidden Deep”，頗有幾分詩意。還有人將“百花深處”翻譯成Blooming Flowers Place，也說得通。對于詩意的中文名稱，如何在功能對等的基礎上翻譯成英文，這本身就是見仁見智、眾說紛紜的。

上面這段內容可以用英文表達如下。

It must be a little difficult for foreigners to appreciate the romance of some of the hutongs names. For example， the hutong mentioned in pop star Chen Shengs song “One Night in Beijing” is called “100 Flowers Hidden Deep，” as it was translated by the famous Chinese film director Chen Kaige in one of his movies. The name of this hutong has been translated as “Blooming Flowers Place” by others， while in fact， at present， it is only a shabby neighborhood without any flowers.

中華民間文化特別重視良好祝愿和吉利話，特別是喜歡“福祿壽喜”“平安吉祥”這樣的字眼。這一點也體現在胡同的名稱上，因此有福順胡同、壽比胡同、壽逾百胡同、平安胡同、安福胡同、吉市口胡同、永祥胡同等多個這類名稱的胡同。

上面這段內容可以用英文表達如下。

Chinese folk culture highlights good wishes of happiness， fortune and longevity， and auspicious words of safety， wellness and auspice. The custom is also reflected in the names of hutong， so a lot of hutong include these words in their names.

北京的胡同深藏著歷史故事和百姓生活，從這個意義上說，她就是一部大書，既帶你領略多姿多彩的老北京文化，又幫助你了解千奇百怪的人文歷史。天氣好的日子，帶著你的外國朋友在胡同中走起來，還能練練你的英語口語呢！