My Hutong Life

⊙ By Peter Hessler翻譯：丁一

My Hutong Life

⊙ By Peter Hessler翻譯：丁一

我們常常會好奇，在外國人眼里中國是什么樣的，但我們又時常對外國人在文章或書中對中國指手畫腳的態度有所不滿。而本文作者（中文名：何偉）的作品則是以敘事為主，極少摻入個人觀點，在中國收獲了不錯的評價。何偉在1996年到中國重慶的涪陵支教，并以他兩年教書的經歷寫出了《江城》（River Town）一書。之后，他又寫了“紀實中國三部曲”的后兩部——《甲骨文》（Oracle Bones）和《尋路中國》（Country Driving），記錄他眼中的中國。在任《紐約客》（New Yorker）駐北京記者期間，何偉住在北京的菊兒胡同，胡同里的百姓生活理所當然地成了他的寫作素材。

There are few cars. Some alleys, like the one I live on, are too narrow for automobile traffic, and the sounds of daily life are completely different from what one would expect in the heart of a city of fifteen million people. Usually I’m awake by dawn, and from my desk I hear residents chatting as they make their way to the public toilet next to my building,1)chamber pots in hand. By midmorning, the2)venders are out. They pedal through the alley on threewheeled3)carts, each announcing his product with a4)trademark cry. The beer woman is the loudest, singing out again and again, “Maaaaiiiii piiiiijiuuuuuu!” At eight in the morning, it can be5)distracting—“Buuuuyyyy beeeeeeeeeer!”—but over the years I’ve learned to appreciate the music in the calls. The rice man’s voice is higher-6)pitched; the vinegar dealer occupies the lower7)registers. The8)knife sharpener provides9)percussion—a steady click-clack of metal plates. The sounds are comforting, a reminder that even if I never left my doorway again life would be10)sustainable, though imbalanced. I would have cooking oil, soy sauce, and certain vegetables and fruit in season. In winter, I could buy strings of garlic. A vender of toilet paper would pedal through every day. There would be no shortage of coal. Occasionally, I could eat11)candied crab apple.

1) chamber pot 尿壺，夜壺

2) vender ['vend?] n. 小販

3) cart [kɑ?t] n. 手推車

4) trademark ['tre?dmɑ?k] n. 特征

5) distracting [d?s'tr?kt??] adj. 心神煩亂的

6) pitch [p?t?] v. 為……定調

7) register ['red??st?(r)] n. 聲域，音區

8) knife sharpener 磨刀人

9) percussion [p?'k??(?)n] n. 打擊樂器

10) sustainable [s?'ste?n?bl] adj. 可持續的

11) candied crab apple 糖漬蘋果

I could even make some money from the recyclers. On an average day, a recycler passes through every half hour, riding a flatbed12)tricycle. They purchase13)cardboard, paper,14)Styrofoam, and broken appliances. They buy old books by the kilogram and dead televisions by the square inch. Appliances can be repaired or15)stripped for parts, and the paper and plastic are sold to recycling centers for the barest of profits: the16)margins of trash. Not long ago, I piled some useless possessions in the17)entryway of my apartment and invited each passing recycler inside to see what everything was worth. A18)stack of old magazines sold for 62 cents; a burned-out computer cord went for a19)nickel. Two broken lamps were 7 cents, total. A worn-out pair of shoes: 12 cents. Two broken Palm Pilots: 37 cents. I gave one man a marked-up20)manuscript of the book I’d been writing, and he pulled out a scale, weighed the pages, and paid me 15 cents.

12) tricycle ['tra?s?k(?)l] n. 三輪車

13) cardboard ['kɑ?db??d] n. 厚紙板

14) Styrofoam ['sta?r?f??m] n. 泡沫聚苯乙烯

15) strip [str?p] v. 剝，拆

16) margin ['mɑ?d??n] n. 盈余，利潤，毛額

17) entryway ['entr?,we?] n. 入口，入口通道

18) stack [st?k] n. 摞，疊

19) nickel ['n?k(?)l] n. 鎳，（美國、加拿大的）五分鎳幣

20) manuscript ['m?nj?skr?pt] n. 手稿

善于觀察是寫好文章的基本功。看看這篇文章，你能從你住的那條街發現這么多的寫作素材嗎？尋常的百姓生活在作者筆下顯得如此生動傳神。作者從細節入手，用簡單的語言給我們描繪了一幅胡同生活的生動畫面。讀了作者對聲音的描寫，你仿佛聽到一首“胡同交響曲”。你也可以像作者這樣，從身邊事入手，比如學校、教室、你住的小區、你常去的書店等，認真觀察，抓住事物的特點，你也可以寫出好文章。

這里車不多。一些小胡同，比如我住的這條，太窄了，車實在開不進來。這條胡同位于這個有1500萬人口的城市的中心區，但這里日常生活中的各種聲音與常人的預期迥然不同。我常在拂曉時分醒來。坐在書桌前，我能聽見街坊鄰居手里拿著夜壺，在去公共廁所的路上互相打招呼。公廁就在我這棟樓的旁邊。早晨，小販們出動了。他們蹬著三輪車穿街過巷，每人都有各自風格獨具的吆喝聲。賣啤酒的女人嗓門兒最大，一遍一遍地放聲高喊：“賣——啤——酒！”在早上八點，這聲音可能會令人心煩意亂：“賣——啤——酒！”——但這幾年下來，我學會欣賞這些吆喝里的音樂之美。賣米的男人調門兒很高；賣醋的是個低音炮；磨刀的在表演打擊樂——金屬相碰時叮叮當當響個不停。這些聲音讓人感到安慰：提醒我即使我不出門，生活也可以維持下去，盡管會有點失衡。我可以買到食用油、醬油和某些應季的蔬菜水果；冬天，我也可買幾串蒜辮子；還有一個賣手紙的小販每天都蹬著三輪車來回穿梭；這兒從不缺煤；偶爾，我也可以吃吃糖漬蘋果。

我甚至可以從收破爛兒的那兒賺點小錢。平常日子，每隔半小時就有個收破爛兒的蹬著平板三輪車經過。他們收紙盒箱、紙、泡沫塑料和破舊家電。他們論斤收舊書，按尺寸收報廢電視。舊家電可能拿去修理，或拆成零件用。紙和塑料可賣給廢品收購中心謀點薄利。不久前，我在公寓門口堆了一堆雜七雜八的廢品，請每個路過的收破爛兒的進來瞧瞧值多少錢。一摞兒舊雜志賣了將近62美分；一根燒壞了的電腦線賣了5美分；兩座破臺燈總共7美分；一雙破皮鞋：12美分。兩個壞了的掌上電腦：37美分。我把滿是修改痕跡的書稿給一個收破爛兒的，他拿出一桿秤，稱了稱，給了我15美分。