第一章 The Town and Its Great Mud Pit

第一章Chapter One

嚴冬一封鎖了大地的時候，則大地滿地裂著口。Once severe winter had sealed up the earth, the ground everywhere split open with cracks.從南到北，從東到西，幾尺長的，一丈長的，還有好幾丈長的，它們毫無方向的，便隨時隨地，只要嚴冬一到，大地就裂開口了。From south to north, from east to west, cracks a few feet long, some a full zhang long, and some several zhang long — they ran in no particular direction, appearing anywhere, anytime; as soon as severe winter arrived, the earth split open.

嚴寒把大地凍裂了。The bitter cold had frozen the earth until it cracked.

年老的人，一進屋用掃帚掃著鬍子上的冰溜，一面說：An old man, on entering the house, would sweep the ice crystals from his beard with a broom, saying as he did so:

「今天好冷啊！"So cold today!地凍裂了。」The ground has frozen and split."

趕車的車夫，頂著三星，繞著大鞭子走了六七十里，天剛一曚亮，進了大店，第一句話就向客棧掌櫃的說：A cart driver, driving on beneath the Three Stars, cracking his long whip, would travel sixty or seventy li, and just as the sky began to grow faintly light, he would arrive at the big inn, and the first thing he'd say to the innkeeper was:

「好厲害的天啊！"What ferocious weather!小刀子一樣。」Like a little knife."

等進了棧房，摘下狗皮帽子來，抽一袋煙之後，伸手去拿熱饅頭時看到，那伸出來的手在手背上有無數的裂口。Once inside the inn, he would take off his dogskin cap, smoke a pipeful of tobacco, and then, reaching out his hand for a hot steamed bun, would see that the hand he stretched out had countless cracks on its back.

人的手被凍裂了。The man's hands had been frozen until they cracked.

賣豆腐的人清早起來沿著人家去叫賣，偶一不慎，就把盛豆腐的方木盤貼在地上拿不起來了。The tofu seller, rising early, would go from house to house hawking his wares, and if he was the least bit careless, the square wooden tray holding the tofu would stick fast to the ground and he could not lift it up.被凍在地上了。It had been frozen to the ground.

賣饅頭的老頭，揹著木箱子，裡邊裝著熱饅頭，太陽一出來，就在街上叫喚。The old man who sold steamed buns carried a wooden box on his back, loaded with hot buns, and as soon as the sun rose, he would call out his wares in the street.他剛一從家裡出來的時候，他走的快，他喊的聲音也大。When he first came out from home, he walked fast, and his cries were loud too.可是過不了一會，他的腳上掛了掌子了，在腳心上好像踏著一個雞蛋似的，圓滾滾的。But before long, his feet had grown soles of ice, and on the bottoms of his feet it felt as if he were treading on eggs, round and slippery.原來冰雪封滿了他的腳底了。It turned out that ice and snow had completely sealed the soles of his feet.他走起來十分的不得力，若不是十分的加著小心，他就要跌倒了。He walked with great difficulty, and if he was not extremely careful, he would fall.就是這樣，也還是跌倒的。Even being careful, he still fell.跌倒了是不很好的，把饅頭箱子跌翻了，饅頭從箱底一個一個的跑了出來。Falling was no good thing — it tipped over the bun box, and the buns came tumbling out of the bottom one by one.旁邊若有人看見，趁著這機會，趁著老頭子倒下一時還爬不起來的時候，就拾了幾個一邊吃著就走了。If anyone happened to be watching nearby, they would seize the chance, and while the old man was down and could not yet climb up, pick up a few buns and walk off eating them.等老頭子掙扎起來，連饅頭帶冰雪一起檢到箱子去，一數，不對數。By the time the old man struggled up and gathered the buns, ice and all, back into the box, he counted them, and the number was wrong.他明白了。He understood at once.他向著那走不太遠的吃他饅頭的人說：He called out to the people who had not gone very far, who were eating his buns:

「好冷的天，地皮凍裂了，吞了我的饅頭了。」"Such cold weather — the ground has cracked open and swallowed my buns."

行路人聽了這話都笑了。The passersby who heard this all laughed.他揹起箱子來再往前走，那腳下的冰溜，似乎是越結越高，使他越走越困難，於是背上出了汗，眼睛上了霜，鬍子上的冰溜越掛越多，而且因為呼吸的關係，把破皮帽子的帽耳朵和帽前遮都掛了霜了。He shouldered his box again and walked on, and the ice under his feet seemed to build up higher and higher the more he walked, making it harder and harder for him to go; so his back broke out in sweat, frost formed on his eyebrows, more and more ice crystals hung from his beard, and because of his breathing, the earflaps and front brim of his worn fur cap were also coated with frost.這老頭越走越慢，擔心受怕，顫顫驚驚，好像初次穿上滑冰鞋，被朋友推上了溜冰場似的。This old man walked slower and slower, fearful and trembling, just like someone putting on skates for the first time and being pushed by friends onto the skating rink.

小狗凍得夜夜的叫喚，哽哽的，好像牠的腳爪被火燒著一樣。The little dogs, frozen, whimpered night after night, whining as if their paws were being burned by fire.

天再冷下去：And as the weather grew still colder:

水缸被凍裂了；The water vats cracked from the cold;

井被凍住了；The wells froze over;

大風雪的夜裡，竟會把人家的房子封住，睡了一夜，早晨起來，一推門，竟推不開門了。On nights of great wind and snow, a household's door might actually be sealed shut by the storm; after sleeping through the night, in the morning when they pushed at the door, they could not push it open at all.

大地一到了這嚴寒的季節，一切都變了樣，天空是灰色的，好像刮了大風之後，呈著一種混沌沌的氣象，而且整天飛著清雪。Once the earth entered this season of severe cold, everything changed in appearance — the sky turned grey, as if after a great wind had blown, presenting a murky, chaotic aspect, and fine snow drifted through the air all day long.人們走起路來是快的，嘴裡邊的呼吸，一遇到了嚴寒好像冒著煙似的。People walked quickly, and the breath from their mouths, whenever it met the bitter cold, seemed to rise like smoke.七匹馬拉著一輛大車，在曠野上成串的一輛挨著一輛的跑，打著燈籠，甩著大鞭子，天空掛著三星。Seven horses pulling a great cart would run in a line across the open wilderness, one cart after another, lanterns lit, long whips cracking, the Three Stars hanging in the sky.跑了兩里路之後，馬就冒汗了。After running two li, the horses would already be sweating.再跑下去，這一批人馬在冰天雪地裡邊竟熱氣騰騰的了。Running further still, this whole train of men and horses would be steaming with heat there in the midst of the icy, snowy world.一直到太陽出來，進了棧房，那些馬才停止了出汗。Not until the sun rose and they entered the inn did the horses stop sweating.但是一停止了出汗，馬毛立刻就上了霜。But the moment they stopped sweating, frost immediately formed on their coats.

人和馬吃飽了之後，他們再跑。Once the men and horses had eaten their fill, they set off running again.這寒帶的地方，人家很少，不像南方，走了一村，不遠又來了一村，過了一鎮，不遠又來了一鎮。In this cold region, there were very few dwellings — unlike the south, where you pass through one village and soon another appears, past one town and soon another comes.這裡是什麼也看不見，遠望出去是一片白。Here there was nothing to see at all; looking into the distance, it was all a sheet of white.從這一村到那一村，根本是看不見的。From one village to the next, you simply could not see anything.只有憑了認路的人的記憶才知道是走向了什麼方向。Only by relying on the memory of someone who knew the way could one tell which direction to head.拉著糧食的七匹馬的大車，是到他們附近的城裡去。The great cart with seven horses hauling grain was headed to the city near them.載來大豆的賣了大豆，載來高粱的賣了高粱。Those who had brought soybeans sold their soybeans, those who had brought sorghum sold their sorghum.等回去的時候，他們帶了油、鹽和布匹。By the time they went back, they carried with them oil, salt, and cloth.

呼蘭河就是這樣的小城，這小城並不怎樣繁華，只有兩條大街，一條從南到北，一條從東到西，而最有名的算是十字街了。Such was the little town of Hulan River — this small town was not especially prosperous; it had only two main streets, one running from south to north, one from east to west, and the most famous spot of all was the Crossroads.十字街口集中了全城的精華。The Crossroads gathered together the finest of the whole town.十字街上有金銀首飾店、布莊、油鹽店、茶莊、藥店，也有拔牙的洋醫生。On the Crossroads there were gold and silver jewelry shops, cloth shops, oil-and-salt shops, tea shops, medicine shops, and there was also a foreign doctor who pulled teeth.那醫生的門前，掛著很大的招牌，那招牌上畫著特別大的有量米的斗那麼大的一排牙齒。In front of that doctor's door hung a very large sign, and on that sign was painted a row of teeth, each one exceptionally large, as big as a rice-measuring dou.這廣告在這小城裡邊無乃太不相當，使人們看了竟不知道那是什麼東西，因為油店、布店和鹽店，他們都沒有什麼廣告，也不過是鹽店門前寫個「鹽」字，布店門前掛了兩張怕是自古亦有之的兩張布幌子。This advertisement was rather out of place in this small town, so much so that people looking at it had no idea what it was, because the oil shops, cloth shops, and salt shops had no advertisements to speak of — the salt shop merely wrote the character "salt" on its front, and the cloth shop hung up two cloth banners that had probably been there since ancient times.其餘的如藥店的招牌，也不過是：把那戴著花鏡的伸出手去在小枕頭上號著婦女們的脈管的醫生的名字掛在門外就是了。As for the rest, such as the medicine shop's sign, it was nothing more than this: the name of the doctor — the one who, wearing flowered spectacles, would stretch out his hand and feel the pulse of women resting on a little pillow — was hung outside the door, and that was all.比方那醫生的名字叫李永春，那藥店也就叫「李永春」。For instance, if that doctor's name was Li Yongchun, then the medicine shop was simply called "Li Yongchun."人們憑著記憶，那怕就是李永春摘掉了他的招牌，人們也都知李永春是在那裡。People relied on memory; even if Li Yongchun took down his sign, people would still know that Li Yongchun was there.不但城裡的人這樣，就是從鄉下來的人也多少都把這城裡的街道，和街道上盡是些什麼都記熟了。And it was not only the people in the town who were like this — even people who came in from the countryside had, more or less, memorized the streets of this town and what could be found on each of them.用不著什麼廣告，用不著什麼招引的方式，要買的比如油鹽、布匹之類，自己走進去就會買。There was no need for any advertisement, no need for any means of enticement; whatever one wanted to buy — oil, salt, cloth, and the like — one simply walked in and bought it.不需要的，你就是掛了多大的牌子，人們也是不去買。As for what one did not need, no matter how large a sign was hung up, people would still not go to buy it.那牙醫生就是一個例子，那從鄉下來的人們看了這麼大的牙齒，真是覺得希奇古怪，所以那大牌子前邊，停了許多人在看，看也看不出是什麼道理來。That dentist was one such example — the people who came in from the countryside, seeing such enormous teeth, found it truly bizarre and strange, so many of them would stop in front of that big sign to look, yet no amount of looking revealed what it was all about.假若他是正在牙痛，他也絕對的不去讓那用洋法子的醫生給他拔掉，也還是走到李永春藥店去，買二兩黃連，回家去含著算了吧！Even if such a person happened to have a toothache, he would absolutely never let that foreign-method doctor pull it out for him; he would still go instead to the Li Yongchun medicine shop, buy two liang of coptis root, and go home to hold it in his mouth and let that be the end of it!因為那牌子上的牙齒太大了，有點莫名其妙，怪害怕的。Because the teeth on that sign were too large, somewhat inexplicable, and rather frightening.

所以那牙醫生，掛了兩三年招牌，到那裡去拔牙的卻是寥寥無幾。And so that dentist, having hung up her sign for two or three years, had only the barest handful of people come to have teeth pulled.

後來那女醫生沒有辦法，大概是生活沒法維持，她兼做了收生婆。Later, that woman doctor, having no other way to make ends meet, it seemed, took up midwifery as a side occupation.

城裡除了十字街之外，還有兩條街，一條叫做東二道街，一條叫做西二道街。Besides the Crossroads, the town had two more streets, one called East Second Street and one called West Second Street.這兩條街是從南到北的，大概五六里長。These two streets ran from south to north, and were roughly five or six li long.這兩條街上沒有什麼好記載的，有幾座廟，有幾家燒餅鋪，有幾家糧棧。There was nothing much worth recording about these two streets — there were a few temples, a few sesame-cake shops, a few grain warehouses.

東二道街上有一家火磨，那火磨的院子很大，用紅色的好磚砌起來的大煙筒是非常高的，聽說那火磨裡邊進去不得，那裡邊的硝信可多了，是碰不得的。On East Second Street there was an oil mill run by steam power; the mill's courtyard was very large, and the tall chimney, built of fine red brick, was extremely high; it was said that one could not go inside that mill, because there was so much saltpeter compound inside that it was not to be touched.一碰就會把人用火燒死，不然為什麼叫火磨呢？One touch and it would burn a person to death with fire — otherwise why would it be called a "fire mill"?就是因為有火，聽說那裡邊不用馬，或是毛驢拉磨，用的是火。It was precisely because it had fire — it was said that inside, instead of using horses or donkeys to turn the millstones, they used fire.一般人以為盡是用火，豈不把火磨燒著了嗎？People generally thought: if it used nothing but fire throughout, wouldn't the fire mill itself catch fire and burn down?想來想去，想不明白，越想也就越糊塗。They thought and thought about it, and could not figure it out; the more they thought, the more confused they became.偏偏那火磨又是不准參觀的。And to make matters worse, that fire mill did not allow visitors.聽說門口站著守衛。It was said that guards stood at the gate.

東二道街上還有兩家學堂，一個在南頭，一個在北頭。On East Second Street there were also two schools, one at the south end and one at the north end.都是在廟裡邊，一個在龍王廟裡，一個在祖師廟裡。Both were housed in temples — one in the Dragon King Temple, one in the Patriarch Temple.兩個都是小學：Both were primary schools:

龍王廟裡的那個學的是養蠶，叫做農業學校。The one in the Dragon King Temple taught sericulture, and was called the Agricultural School.祖師廟裡的那個，是個普通的小學，還有高級班，所以又叫做高等小學。The one in the Patriarch Temple was an ordinary primary school, but it also had advanced classes, and so was also called the Higher Primary School.

這兩個學校，名目上雖然不同，實際上是沒有什麼分別的。Although these two schools differed in name, in reality there was not much difference between them.也不過那叫做農業學校的，到了秋天把蠶用油炒起來，教員們大吃幾頓就是了。It was only that the so-called Agricultural School, when autumn came, would fry up the silkworms in oil, and the teachers would feast heartily on them — that was about all.

那叫做高等小學的，沒有蠶吃，那裡邊的學生的確比農業學校的學生長的高，農業學生開頭是唸「人、手、足、刀、尺」，頂大的也不過十六七歲。As for the so-called Higher Primary School, it had no silkworms to eat, but the students there were indeed taller in stature than those at the Agricultural School; the agricultural students began by reciting "person, hand, foot, knife, ruler," and the oldest among them were no more than sixteen or seventeen.那高等小學的學生卻不同了，吹著洋號，竟有二十四歲的，在鄉下私學館裡已經教了四五年的書了，現在才來上高等小學。The students at the Higher Primary School were different, though — blowing on Western-style bugles, there were even some as old as twenty-four, who had already taught for four or five years at a private village school and were only now coming to attend the Higher Primary School.也有在糧棧裡當了二年的管帳先生的現在也來上學了。There were also some who had served for two years as bookkeepers at grain warehouses and were now coming to attend school as well.

這小學的學生寫起家信來，竟有寫到：「小禿子鬧眼睛好了沒有？」小禿子就是他的八歲的長公子的小名。When the students of this school wrote letters home, some would actually write things like: "Has Little Baldy's eye trouble gotten better?" — Little Baldy being the childhood name of his eight-year-old eldest son.次公子，女公子還都沒有寫上，若都寫上怕是把信寫得太長了。His second son and his daughters had not even been mentioned yet; if he had written about all of them, the letter would probably have grown too long.因為他已經子女成群，已經是一家之主了，寫起信來總是多談一些個家政：姓王的地戶的地租送來沒有？Because he already had a houseful of children and was already the head of a family, when he wrote letters he always spent much of it discussing household affairs: had the rent from the tenant surnamed Wang been sent yet?大豆賣了沒有？Had the soybeans been sold yet?行情如何之類。And things like how the market prices were.

這樣的學生，在課堂裡邊也是極有地位的，教師也得尊敬他，一不留心，他這樣的學生就站起來了，手裡拿著「康熙字典」，常常把先生會指問住的。A student like this held an extremely high standing in the classroom too; even the teacher had to show him respect, and if the teacher was not careful, a student like this would stand right up, holding the Kangxi Dictionary in hand, and would often stump the teacher with pointed questions.萬里乾坤的「乾」和乾菜的「乾」，據這學生說是不同的。The "qián" of "the boundless universe" (乾坤) and the "gān" of "dried vegetables" (乾菜), according to this student, were not the same.乾菜的「乾」應該這樣寫：「乾」，而不是那樣寫：「乾」。（原書：乾菜的「乾」較乾坤的「乾」寬。）The "gān" of "dried vegetables" ought to be written this way: "乾" — not that way: "乾." (In the original text: the character 乾 in "dried vegetables" is written broader than the 乾 in "heaven and earth.")

西二道街上不但沒有火磨，學堂也就只有一個。On West Second Street there was not only no fire mill, but only a single school as well.是個清真學校，設在城隍廟裡邊。It was a Muslim school, located inside the City God Temple.

其餘的也和東二道街一樣，灰禿禿的，若有車馬走過，則煙塵滾滾，下了雨滿地是泥。The rest of the street was just like East Second Street — bare and grey; if a cart or horse passed by, dust would billow up, and when it rained the whole ground turned to mud.而且東二道街上有大泥坑一個，五六尺深。Moreover, on East Second Street there was a great mud pit, five or six feet deep.不下雨那泥漿好像粥一樣，下了雨，這泥坑就變成河了，附近的人家，就要吃它的苦頭，衝了人家裡滿滿是泥，等坑水一落了去，天一晴了，被太陽一曬，出來很多蚊子飛到附近的人家去。When it did not rain, that mud was like porridge; when it rained, this mud pit turned into a river, and the nearby households would suffer for it — their homes would be flooded full of mud; once the water in the pit receded and the sky cleared, and the sun beat down on it, swarms of mosquitoes would emerge and fly off to the nearby houses.同時那泥坑也就越曬越純淨，好像在提煉什麼似的，好像要從那泥坑裡邊提煉出點什麼來似的。At the same time, the more that mud pit was baked by the sun, the purer it seemed to become, as if it were refining something, as if it meant to extract something out of that mud.若是一個月以上不下雨，那大泥坑的質度更純了，水分完全被蒸發走了，那裡邊的泥，又黏又黑，比粥鍋瀙糊，比漿糊還黏。If it went a month or more without rain, the substance of that great mud pit grew even purer still, all its moisture completely evaporated away, and the mud inside became sticky and black, thicker than porridge gruel, stickier even than paste.好像煉膠的大鍋似的，黑糊糊的，油亮亮的，那怕蒼蠅蚊子從那裡一飛也要黏住的。It was like the great cauldron used for boiling glue, all black and glistening with an oily sheen; even a fly or mosquito that so much as flew past would get stuck fast.

小燕子是很喜歡水的，有時誤飛到這泥坑上來，用翅子點著水，看起來很危險，差一點沒有被泥坑陷害了牠，差一點沒有被黏住，趕快的頭也不回的飛跑了。Little swallows are very fond of water, and sometimes they would mistakenly fly down onto this mud pit, skimming the surface with their wings; it looked very dangerous — they very nearly fell victim to the mud pit, very nearly got stuck fast, but quickly flew off without looking back.

若是一匹馬，那就不然了，非黏住不可。If it were a horse, though, things would be quite different — it would be bound to get stuck.不僅僅是黏住，而且把牠陷進去，馬在那裡邊滾著，掙扎著，掙扎了一會，沒有了力氣那馬就躺下了。Not only would it get stuck, it would sink right in, and the horse would roll about in there, struggling; after struggling for a while, once its strength gave out, the horse would lie down.一躺下那就很危險，很有致命的可能。Once it lay down, that was very dangerous indeed, with real potential to be fatal.但是這種時候不很多，很少有人牽著馬或是拉著車子來冒這種險。But such occasions were not very frequent; very few people led a horse or pulled a cart through to risk this kind of danger.

這大泥坑出亂子的時候，多半是在旱年，若兩三個月不下雨，這泥坑子才到了真正危險的時候。This great mud pit tended to cause trouble mostly in dry years — if it went two or three months without rain, that was when the mud pit reached its truly dangerous state.在表面上看來，似乎是越下雨越壞，一下了雨好像小河似的了，該多麼危險，有一丈來深，人掉下去也要沒頂的。On the surface of it, it would seem that the more it rained the worse it would be — once it rained, it looked just like a little river, and one would think how dangerous that must be, being a full zhang deep in places, so that a person falling in would go right under.其實不然，呼蘭河這城裡的人沒有這麼傻，他們都曉得這個坑是很厲害的，沒有一個人敢有這樣大的膽子牽著馬從這泥坑上過。But in fact it was not so; the people of this town of Hulan River were not so foolish — they all knew just how formidable this pit was, and not a single person had the nerve to lead a horse across this mud pit.

可是若三個月不下雨，這泥坑子就一天一天的乾下去，到後來也不過是二三尺深，有些勇敢者就試探著冒險的趕著車從上邊過去了，還有些次勇敢者，看著別人過去，也就跟著過去了。But if it went three months without rain, this mud pit would dry up little by little, day by day, until eventually it was no more than two or three feet deep, and then some of the bolder men would try their luck, driving a cart across it, and some of the somewhat less bold, seeing others cross, would follow along and cross too.一來二去的，這坑子的兩岸，就壓成車輪經過的車轍了。And so, little by little, the two banks of this pit became pressed down into cart-wheel ruts from the carts passing over.那再後來者，一看，前邊已經有人走在先了，這懦怯者比之勇敢的人更勇敢，趕著車子走上去了。Then later still, someone would come along, see that others had already gone ahead of him, and this timid one, made even bolder than the bold by the sight, would drive his cart straight up and across.

誰知這泥坑子的底是高低不平的，人家過去了，可是他卻翻了車了。Who could have known that the bottom of this mud pit was uneven — others had made it across, but he overturned his cart.

車夫從泥坑爬出來，弄得和個小鬼似的，滿臉泥汙，而後再從泥中往外挖掘他的馬，不料那馬已經倒在泥汙之中了，這時候有些過路的人，也就走上前來，幫忙施救。The carter would climb out of the mud, looking just like a little devil, his whole face smeared with muck, and then dig his horse out of the mud as well; but as it happened, the horse had already collapsed into the muck, and at such times some passersby would come forward to help and try to save it.

這過路的人分成兩種，一種是穿著長袍短褂的，非常清潔。These passersby fell into two kinds: one kind wore long gowns and short jackets, and were extremely clean.看那樣子也伸不出手來，因為他的手也是很潔淨的。Looking at them, one could tell they would never put out a hand to help, because their hands, too, were very clean.不用說那就是紳士一流的人物了，他們是站在一旁參觀的。Needless to say, these were the gentleman-and-scholar sort of people; they simply stood off to one side and watched.

看那馬要站起來了，他們就喝采，「噢！Seeing the horse about to get up, they would cheer, "Oh!噢！」的喊叫著，看那馬又站不起來，又倒下去了，這時他們又是喝采，「噢噢」的又叫了幾聲。Oh!" they would shout, and seeing the horse fail to get up again and collapse once more, at this they would cheer again, shouting "Oh, oh!" a few more times.不過這喝的是倒采。But this cheering was really jeering.

就這樣的馬要站起來，而又站不起來的鬧了一陣之後，仍然沒有站起來，仍是照原樣可憐的躺在那裡。After all this commotion of the horse trying to stand up and yet unable to stand up, it still hadn't gotten up, and lay there pitifully just as before.這時候，那些看熱鬧的覺得也不過如此，也沒有什麼新花樣了。By this time, those who had come to watch the excitement felt that this was all there was to it, that there were no new tricks to be seen.於是星散開去，各自回家去了。And so they scattered and went their separate ways home.

現在再來說那馬還是在那裡躺著，那些幫忙救馬的過路人，都是些普通的老百姓，是這城裡的擔葱的、賣菜的、瓦匠、車夫之流。Now let us go back to speak of the horse, still lying there — the passersby who had come to help save it were all ordinary common folk of the town, the likes of scallion-carriers, vegetable sellers, tilers, and cart-drivers.他們捲捲褲腳，脫了鞋子，看看沒有什麼辦法，走下泥坑去，想用幾個人的力量把那馬抬起來。They rolled up their trouser legs, took off their shoes, and seeing there was nothing else to be done, waded down into the mud pit, thinking to pool the strength of several men to lift the horse up.

結果抬不起來了，那馬的呼吸不大多了。In the end they could not lift it up, and the horse's breathing grew faint.於是人們著了慌，趕快解了馬套。At this the people grew alarmed and hurriedly undid the harness.從車子把馬解下來，以為這回那馬毫無擔負的就可以站起來了。They freed the horse from the cart, thinking that this time, with no burden upon it, it would surely be able to stand.

不料那馬還是站不起來。Unexpectedly, the horse still could not stand up.馬的腦袋露在泥漿的外邊，兩個耳朵哆嗦著，眼睛閉著，鼻子往外噴著禿禿的氣。The horse's head lay exposed above the mud, its two ears trembling, its eyes shut, its nostrils blowing out bare gusts of breath.

看了這樣可憐的景象，附近的人們跑回家去，取了繩索，拿了絞錐。Seeing so pitiful a sight, the people nearby ran home and fetched ropes, and brought windlasses.用繩子把馬捆了起來，用絞錐從下邊掘著。They bound the horse round with rope, and dug beneath it with the windlasses.人們喊著號令，好像造房子或是架橋樑似的，把馬抬出來了。The people shouted out commands, as though building a house or raising a bridge, and so hauled the horse out.

馬是沒有死，躺在道旁。The horse was not dead, and lay by the roadside.人們給馬澆了一些水，還給馬洗了一個臉。The people poured some water over the horse, and even washed its face for it.

看熱鬧的也有來的，也有去的。Of those who had come to watch the excitement, some came and some went.

第二天大家都說：The next day everyone was saying:

「那大水泡子又淹死了一匹馬。」"That great mud pool has drowned another horse."

雖然馬沒有死，一哄起來就說馬死了。Although the horse had not died, once the clamor rose up everyone said it had died.若不這樣說，覺得那大泥坑也太沒有什麼威嚴了。Had they not put it that way, they would have felt that the great mud pit was not much of anything, lacking any majesty.

在這大泥坑上翻車的事情不知有多少。There is no telling how many carts have overturned upon this great mud pit.一年除了被冬天凍住的季節之外，其餘的時間，這大泥坑子像它被賦給生命了似的，它是活的。Except for the season when it is frozen solid by winter, for the rest of the year this great mud pit seems as though it had been endowed with life — it is alive.水漲了，水落了，過些日子大了，過些日子又小了。The water rises, the water falls; after some days it grows large, after some days it shrinks small again.大家對它都起著無限的關切。Everyone feels an endless concern for it.

水大的時間，不但阻礙了車馬，且也阻礙了行人，老頭走在泥坑子的沿上，兩條腿打顫，小孩子在泥坑子的沿上嚇得狼哭鬼叫。When the water is high, it hinders not only carts and horses but pedestrians too — old men walking along the edge of the mud pit have their legs shake, and children at the edge of the mud pit are frightened into wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves.

一下起雨來這大泥坑子白亮亮的漲得溜溜的滿，漲到兩邊的人家的牆根上去了，把人家的牆根給淹沒了。Once the rain comes down, this great mud pit swells up gleaming white and brimful, rising up to the very foot of the walls of the houses on either side, submerging the foundations of people's walls.來往過路的人，一走到這裡，就像在人生的路上碰到了打擊。Travelers passing to and fro, the moment they reach this spot, feel as though they had met with a blow on the road of life.是要奮鬥的，捲起袖子來，咬緊了牙根，全身的精力集中起來，手抓著人家的板牆，心臟撲通撲通的跳，頭不要暈，眼睛不要花，要沉著迎戰。One must struggle — roll up one's sleeves, clench one's teeth, gather the strength of one's whole body, grip the plank wall of somebody's house with one's hand, let the heart go thump-thump, keep the head from swimming, keep the eyes from blurring, and meet the fight with a steady nerve.

偏偏那人家的板牆造得又非常的平滑整齊，好像有意在危難的時候不幫人家的忙似的，使那行路人不管怎樣巧妙的伸出手來，也得不到那板牆的憐憫，東抓抓不著什麼，西摸也摸不到什麼，平滑得連一個疤拉節子也沒有，這可不知道是什麼山上長的木頭，長得這樣完好無缺。Yet as ill luck would have it, that family's plank wall was built so smooth and even, as if it meant on purpose not to lend a hand in times of danger, so that no matter how cleverly the traveler stretched out his hand, he could get no mercy from that plank wall — grasping here he caught nothing, groping there he touched nothing, it was smooth without so much as a single knot or scar, and one could not say what kind of mountain had grown timber so flawlessly perfect.

掙扎了五六分鐘之後，總算是過去了。After struggling for five or six minutes, he would at last get past.弄得滿頭流汗，滿身發燒，那都不說。That it left him drenched in sweat from head to foot and burning all over, that goes without saying.再說那後來的人，依法炮製，那花樣也不多，也只是東抓抓，西摸摸。As for the person who came after, following the same method, there was not much variety to it either — just the same groping here and grasping there.弄了五六分鐘之後，又過去了。After fussing over it for five or six minutes, he too would get past.

一過去了可就精神飽滿，哈哈大笑著，回頭向那後來的人，向那正在艱苦階段上奮鬥著的人說：Once past, he would be full of spirit, laughing heartily, and turning back would say to the one coming after, the one still struggling in the hard stretch of the ordeal:

「這算什麼，一輩子不走幾回險路那不算英雄。」"This is nothing — a man who hasn't walked a few dangerous roads in his life can't call himself a hero."

可也不然，也不一定都是精神飽滿的，而大半是被嚇得臉色發白。Yet it was not always so; not everyone was full of spirit — indeed the greater part were frightened pale.有的雖然已經過去了多時，還是不能夠很快的抬起腿來走路，因為那腿還在打顫。Some, though they had already gotten past some time before, still could not lift their legs quickly to walk on, for their legs were still trembling.

這一類膽小的人，雖然是險路已經過去了，但是心裡邊無由的生起來一種感傷的情緒，心裡顫抖抖的，好像被這大泥坑子所感動了似的，總要回過頭來望一望，打量一會，似乎要有些話說。This sort of timid person, though the dangerous stretch was already behind him, would feel rising in his heart, for no reason, a kind of mournful sentiment; his heart would tremble, as if he had been moved by this great mud pit, and he would always turn his head back to look at it a while, sizing it up, as if he had something he wanted to say.終於也沒有說什麼，還是走了。In the end he would say nothing after all, and would simply walk on.

有一天，下大雨的時候，一個小孩子掉下去，讓一個賣豆腐的救了上來。One day, when it was raining hard, a small child fell in, and was rescued by a bean-curd seller.

救上來一看，那孩子是農業學校校長的兒子。When they pulled him out and looked, the child turned out to be the son of the principal of the agricultural school.

於是議論紛紛了，有的說是因為農業學堂設在廟裡邊，沖了龍王爺了，龍王爺要降大雨淹死這孩子。At this, discussion broke out on all sides — some said it was because the agricultural school was housed inside a temple, and had offended the Dragon King, so the Dragon King meant to send down a great rain to drown this child.

有的說不然，完全不是這樣，都是因為這孩子的父親的關係，他父親在講堂上指手畫腳的講，講給學生們說，說這天下雨不是在天的龍王爺下的雨，他說沒有龍王爺。Others said no, it was not so at all — it was all on account of the child's father; his father, up on the lecture platform, waving his hands about as he taught, had told the students that the rain falling from the sky was not sent down by the Dragon King in heaven — he said there was no Dragon King.你看這不把龍王爺活活的氣死，他這口氣那能不出呢？Just think — wouldn't this make the Dragon King furious to the point of death, and how could he not vent that anger?所以就抓住了他的兒子來實行因果報應了。And so he seized upon this man's son to carry out the retribution of cause and effect.

有的說，那學堂裡的學生也太不像樣了，有的爬上了老龍王的頭頂，給老龍王去戴了一個草帽。Some said that the students of that school were simply too unruly — one of them had climbed up onto the old Dragon King's head and put a straw hat on him.這是什麼年頭，一個毛孩子就敢惹這麼大的禍，老龍王怎麼會不報應呢？What times are these, that a mere stripling of a boy dares stir up so great a calamity — how could the old Dragon King fail to answer it with retribution?看著吧，這還不能算了事，你想龍王爺並不是白人呵！Just wait and see, this cannot be the end of the matter — just think, the Dragon King is no pushover!你若惹了他，他可能夠饒了你？If you offend him, is he likely to let you off?那不像對付一個拉車的、賣菜的，隨便的踢他們一腳就讓他們去。It is not like dealing with some cart-puller or vegetable-seller, whom you can just kick aside and let go.那是龍王爺呀！That is the Dragon King, after all!龍王爺還是惹得的嗎？Is the Dragon King someone to be trifled with?

有的說，那學堂的學生都太不像樣了，他說他親眼看見過，學生們拿了蠶放在大殿上老龍王的手上。Some said that the students of that school were all too unruly — he said he had seen with his own eyes the students take silkworms and set them on the old Dragon King's hand up in the great hall.你想老龍王那能夠受得了。Just think, how could the old Dragon King bear such a thing.

有的說，現在的學堂太不好了，有孩子是千萬上不得學堂的。Some said that schools nowadays are no good at all, and that if one has children, one must on no account let them go to school.一上了學堂就天地人鬼神不分了。The moment one goes to school, one loses all distinction between heaven and earth, men and ghosts and gods.

有的說他要到學堂把他的兒子領回來，不讓他唸書了。Some said he meant to go to the school and take his son back, and not let him study there anymore.

有的說孩子在學堂裡唸書，是越唸越壞，比方嚇掉了魂，他娘給他叫魂的時候，你聽他說什麼？Some said that children who study at school only grow worse and worse the more they study — for instance, when the boy is frightened out of his wits and his mother tries to call his soul back, do you hear what he says?他說這叫迷信。He says that is superstition.你說再唸下去那還了得嗎？You tell me, if he keeps on studying like this, what will become of him?

說來說去，越說越遠了。And so they talked on and on, straying further and further from the point with every word.

過了幾天，大泥坑子又落下去了，泥坑兩岸的行人通行無阻。After a few days, the great mud pit sank back down again, and pedestrians passed freely along both sides of the pit.

再過些日子不下雨，泥坑子就又有點像要乾了。After some more days without rain, the mud pit again looked as though it were about to dry up.這時候，又有車馬開始在上面走，又有車子翻在上面，又有馬倒在泥中打滾，又是繩索棍棒之類的，往外抬馬，被抬出去的趕著車子走了，後來的，陷進去，再抬。At this time, once more carts and horses began to travel over it, once more carts overturned upon it, once more horses fell and rolled about in the mud, and once again there was the business of ropes and poles hauling horses out — those hauled out drove their carts onward, and those coming after sank in, and had to be hauled out in turn.

一年之中抬車抬馬，在這泥坑子上不知抬了多少次，可沒有一個人說把泥坑子用土填起來不就好了嗎？In the course of a year, there is no telling how many times carts and horses have been hauled out of this mud pit, and yet not one person has said, why not just fill the pit in with earth and be done with it?沒有一個。Not a single one.

有一次一個老紳士在泥坑漲水時掉在裡邊了。Once, an old gentleman fell into the pit when the water was high.一爬出來，他就說：The moment he crawled out, he said:

「這街道太窄了，去了這水泡子連走路的地方都沒有了。"This street is too narrow — with this mud pool here, there isn't even room left to walk.這兩邊的院子，怎麼不把院牆拆了讓出一塊來？」Why don't the courtyards on both sides tear down their walls and yield a bit of space?"

他正說著，板牆裡邊，就是那院中的老太太搭了言。Just as he was saying this, from behind the plank wall, the old lady of that courtyard spoke up in reply.她說院牆是拆不得的，她說最好種樹，若是沿著牆根種上一排樹，下起雨來人就可以攀著樹過去了。She said the courtyard wall could not be torn down — she said it would be best to plant trees; if a row of trees were planted along the foot of the wall, then when it rained people could hold onto the trees and make their way across.

說拆牆的有，說種樹的有，若說用土把泥坑來填平的，一個人也沒有。There were those who spoke of tearing down the wall, and those who spoke of planting trees, but as for filling in the mud pit with earth, not a single person suggested it.

這泥坑子裡邊淹死過小豬，用泥漿悶死過狗，悶死過貓，雞和鴨也常常死在這泥坑裡邊。In this mud pit, piglets have drowned, dogs have been smothered to death in the mire, cats too, and chickens and ducks have often died in this mud pit as well.

原因是這泥坑上邊結了一層硬殼，動物們不認識那硬殼下面就是陷阱，等曉得了可也就晚了。The reason is that a hard crust forms over the top of this mud pit, and the animals do not realize that beneath that hard crust lies a trap — by the time they find out, it is already too late.牠們跑著或是飛著，等往那硬殼上一落可就再也站不起來了。Running or flying, the moment they land upon that hard crust, they can never get up again.白天還好，或者有人又要來施救。In the daytime it is not so bad, for there may be someone coming along to rescue them.夜晚可就沒有辦法了。But at night there is nothing to be done.牠們自己掙扎，掙扎到沒有力量的時候就很自然的沉下去了，其實也或者越掙扎越沉下去的快。They struggle on their own, and once their strength is spent they naturally sink down — indeed, the more they struggle, perhaps the faster they sink.有時至死也還不沉下去的事也有。Sometimes there are even cases where they still have not sunk by the time they die.若是那泥漿的密度過高的時候，就有這樣的事。This happens when the density of the mud is especially high.

比方肉上市，忽然賣便宜豬肉了，於是大家就想起那泥坑子來了，說：For instance, when pork suddenly appeared cheap in the market, everyone would at once think of that mud pit, and say:

「可不是那泥坑子裡邊又淹死了豬了？」"Isn't it just that a pig has drowned again in that mud pit?"

說著若是腿快的，就趕快跑到鄰人的家去，告訴鄰居。And whoever was quick on his feet would run straight off to the neighbors' houses to tell them:

「快去買便宜肉吧，快去吧，快去吧，一會沒有了。」"Go quick and buy the cheap meat, go quick, go quick — in a moment there'll be none left."

等買回家來才細看一番，似乎有點不大對，怎麼這肉又紫又青的！But once they had bought it and brought it home and looked at it closely, it seemed somehow not quite right — why was this meat all purple and blue!可不要是瘟豬肉。Could it not be meat from a diseased pig?

但是又一想，那能是瘟豬肉呢，一定是那泥坑子淹死的。But then again, they thought, how could it possibly be meat from a diseased pig — it must surely be from the one drowned in the mud pit.

於是煎、炒、蒸、煮，家家吃起便宜豬肉來。And so, fried, stir-fried, steamed, and boiled, household after household ate up the cheap pork.雖然吃起來了，但就總覺得不大香，怕還是瘟豬肉。Though they ate it, they always felt it did not taste quite right, and feared it might still be meat from a diseased pig after all.

可是又一想，瘟豬肉怎麼可以吃得，那麼還是泥坑子淹死的吧！But then again they thought, how could one possibly eat meat from a diseased pig — so it must indeed be the one drowned in the mud pit!

本來這泥坑子一年只淹死一兩隻豬，或兩三口豬，有幾年還連一個豬也沒有淹死。In truth this mud pit only drowned a pig or two in a year, or two or three head at most, and in some years not even a single pig drowned in it at all.至於居民們常吃淹死的豬肉，這可不知是怎麼一回事，真是龍王爺曉得。As for why the townsfolk so often ate the meat of drowned pigs, that is a thing hard to account for — truly, only the Dragon King would know.

雖然吃的自己說是泥坑子淹死的豬肉，但也有吃了病的，那吃病了的就大發議論說：Although those who ate it insisted it was pork from a pig drowned in the mud pit, there were also those who fell ill from eating it, and the ones who fell ill would hold forth at length, saying:

「就是淹死的豬肉也不應該抬到市上去賣，死豬肉終究是不新鮮的，稅局子是幹什麼的，讓大街上，在光天化日之下就賣起死豬肉來？」"Even if it is meat from a drowned pig, it oughtn't to be carried to market and sold — dead pig's meat is never fresh in the end. What is the tax bureau doing, letting dead pig's meat be sold right out on the main street, in broad daylight?"

那也是吃了死豬肉的，但是尚且沒有病的人說：And someone who had likewise eaten the dead pig's meat, but had not yet fallen ill, would say:

「話可也不能是那麼說，一定是你疑心，你三心二意的吃下去還會好？"That's not the way to put it at all — it must be that you had doubts in your mind, and if you eat with a divided heart, how could it possibly agree with you?你看我們也一樣的吃了，可怎麼沒病？」Look at us, we ate the very same thing, and why haven't we fallen ill?"

間或也有小孩子太不知時務，他說他媽不讓他吃，說那是瘟豬肉。Once in a while there would be a child who did not know how to read the room, and would say his mother wouldn't let him eat it, saying it was meat from a diseased pig.

這樣的孩子，大家都不喜歡。Such children were disliked by everyone.大家都用眼睛瞪著他，說他：Everyone would glare at him and say:

「瞎說，瞎說！」"Nonsense, nonsense!"

有一次一個孩子說那豬肉一定是瘟豬肉，並且是當著母親的面向鄰人說的。Once, a child said that the pork was surely meat from a diseased pig, and said it to a neighbor right in front of his mother.

那鄰人聽了倒並沒有堅決的表示什麼，可是他的母親的臉立刻就紅了。The neighbor, hearing this, did not show any firm reaction one way or the other, but the child's mother's face at once turned red.伸出手去就打了那孩子。She reached out her hand and struck the child.

那孩子很固執，仍是說：The child was very stubborn, and still kept saying:

「是瘟豬肉嗎！"Isn't it meat from a diseased pig!是瘟豬肉嗎！」Isn't it meat from a diseased pig!"

母親實在難為情起來，就拾起門旁的燒火的叉子，向著那孩子的肩膀就打了過去。The mother, truly mortified now, snatched up the fire-poker by the door and struck it against the child's shoulder.於是孩子一邊哭著一邊跑回家裡去了。At this the child ran home crying all the way.

一進門，炕沿上坐著外祖母，那孩子一邊哭著一邊撲到外祖母的懷裡說：The moment he came through the door, his grandmother was sitting on the edge of the kang, and the child, still crying, threw himself into his grandmother's arms and said:

「姥姥，你吃的不是瘟豬肉嗎？"Grandma, isn't what you're eating meat from a diseased pig?我媽打我。」My mother beat me."

外祖母對這打得可憐的孩子本想安慰一番，但是一抬頭看見了同院的老李家的奶媽站在門口往裡看。The grandmother had meant to comfort this child who had been beaten so pitifully, but just then she looked up and saw the wet-nurse of the Li family from the same courtyard standing in the doorway looking in.

於是外祖母就掀起孩子後衣襟來，用力的在孩子的屁股上腔腔的打起來，嘴裡還說著：At once the grandmother lifted up the back of the child's jacket, and with great force began spanking the child's bottom soundly, all the while saying:

「誰讓你這麼一點你就胡說八道！」"Who told you to talk such nonsense at your age!"

一直打到李家的奶媽抱著孩子走了才算完事。She kept on beating him until the Li family's wet-nurse carried the child away, and only then was the matter considered done.

那孩子哭得一塌糊塗，什麼「瘟豬肉」不「瘟豬肉」的，哭得也說不清了。The child cried himself into a hopeless mess, and whatever he said about "diseased pig's meat" or not, by then it could no longer be made out through his crying.

總共這泥坑子施給當地居民的福利有兩條：All told, the benefits this mud pit bestowed upon the local residents came to two:

第一條：常常抬車抬馬、淹雞淹鴨，鬧得非常熱鬧，可使居民說長道短，得以消遣。The first: it often occasioned the hauling out of carts and horses, the drowning of chickens and ducks, stirring up a great deal of lively excitement, giving the residents something to gossip about and pass the time with.

第二條就是這豬肉的問題了，若沒有這泥坑子，可怎麼吃瘟豬肉呢？The second consideration is the matter of the pork: without this mud pit, how could anyone eat pork from diseased pigs?吃是可以吃的，但是可怎麼說法呢？It was edible, certainly—but what could one call it?真正說是吃的瘟豬肉，豈不太不講衛生了嗎？To say outright that one was eating pork from diseased pigs—would that not sound terribly unhygienic?有這泥坑子可就好辦，可以使瘟豬變成淹豬，居民們買起肉來，第一經濟，第二也不算什麼不衛生。With the mud pit, however, the matter was easily managed: a diseased pig could be turned into a drowned pig, and when residents bought the meat, it was, first, economical, and second, not particularly unhygienic.

東二道街除了大泥坑子這番盛舉之外，再就沒有什麼了。Apart from this grand contribution of the great mud pit, East Second Street had little else to offer.也不過是幾家碾磨房，幾家豆腐店，也有一兩家機房，也許有一兩家染布匹的染缸房，這個也不過是自己默默的在那裡做著自己的工作，沒有什麼可以使別人開心的，也不能招來什麼議論。There were merely a few grain mills, a few tofu shops, one or two weaving shops perhaps, and perhaps one or two dyehouses; but these only went quietly about their own work, offering nothing to amuse other people and nothing to provoke discussion.那裡邊的人都是天黑了就睡覺，天亮了就起來工作。The people there all went to bed when darkness fell and rose to work when daylight came.一年四季，春暖花開、秋雨、冬雪，也不過是隨著季節穿起棉衣來，脫下單衣去的過著。Through all four seasons—the blossoms and warmth of spring, the rains of autumn, the snows of winter—they merely put on their padded clothes and took off their unlined ones as the seasons required, and so lived on.生老病死也都是一聲不響的默默的辦理。Birth, old age, sickness, and death were all attended to quietly, without a word.

比方就是東二道街南頭，那賣豆芽菜的王寡婦吧：她在房脊上插了一個很高的桿子，桿子頭上挑著一個破筐。Take, for example, Widow Wang, the bean-sprout seller at the southern end of East Second Street: she had planted a very tall pole on the ridge of her roof, with a broken basket hung from its tip.因為那桿子很高，差不多和龍王廟的鐵馬鈴子一般高了。The pole was so tall that it rose almost as high as the iron horse-bells on the Dragon King Temple.來了風，廟上的鈴子格仍格仍的響。Whenever the wind came, the bells on the temple clanged and clattered.王寡婦的破筐子雖是它不會響，但是它也會東搖西擺的作著態。Widow Wang’s broken basket could not ring, of course, but it too could sway from side to side and put on a show.

就這樣一年一年的過去，王寡婦一年一年的賣著豆芽菜，平靜無事，過著安詳的日子，忽然有一年夏天，她的獨子到河邊去洗澡，掉河淹了。And so the years passed one after another, while year after year Widow Wang sold bean sprouts, living peacefully and uneventfully in quiet contentment—until one summer, all of a sudden, her only son went to bathe by the river, fell in, and drowned.

這事情似乎轟動了一時，家傳戶曉，可是不久也就平靜下去了。The event seemed to cause a stir for a time and became known in every household, but before long all was peaceful again.不但鄰人、街坊，就是她的親戚朋友也都把這回事情忘記了。Not only her neighbors and the people on her street, but even her relatives and friends forgot the whole affair.

再說那王寡婦，雖然她從此以後就瘋了，但她到底還曉得賣豆芽菜，她仍還是靜靜的活著，雖然偶爾她的菜被偷了，在大街上或是在廟台上狂哭一場，但一哭過了之後，她還是平平靜靜的活著。As for Widow Wang, though she went mad from that time on, she still knew enough to sell bean sprouts; she went on living quietly, and though now and then her vegetables were stolen and she would have a fit of wild weeping in the street or on the temple platform, once her tears were spent, she went on living as calmly as before.

至於鄰人街坊們，或是過路人看見了她在廟台上哭，也會引起一點惻隱之心來的，不過為時甚短罷了。When the neighbors or passersby saw her weeping on the temple platform, a little compassion might stir in them, but it never lasted long.

還有人們常常喜歡把一些不幸者歸畫在一起，比如瘋子傻子之類，都一律去看待。People also tend to lump the unfortunate together—the mad, the simple-minded, and the like—and treat them all alike.

那個鄉、那個縣、那個村都有些個不幸者，瘤子啦、瞎子啦、瘋子或是傻子。Every township, every county, every village has its share of unfortunate people: those with tumors, the blind, the mad, or the simple-minded.

呼蘭河這城裡，就有許多這一類的人。In the town of Hulan River, there were many people of this sort.人們關於他們都似乎聽得多、看得多，也就不以為奇了。People seemed to have heard and seen so much of them that they no longer found them remarkable.偶爾在廟台上或是大門洞裡不幸遇到了一個，剛想多少加一點惻隱之心在那人身上，但是一轉念，人間這樣的人多著哩！If, by chance, they had the misfortune to encounter one on the temple platform or in a gateway, they might just begin to summon up a little compassion for the person, but then another thought would come: there were so many people like that in the world!於是轉過眼睛去，三步兩步的就走過去了。So they turned their eyes away and hurried past in a few quick steps.即或有人停下來，也不過是和那些毫沒有記性的小孩子似的向那瘋子投一個石子，或是做著把瞎子故意領到水溝裡邊去的事情。Even if someone stopped, it was only to behave like those little children with no memory at all—throwing a stone at the madman, perhaps, or deliberately leading a blind man into a ditch.

一切不幸者，就都是叫化子，至少在呼蘭河這城裡邊是這樣。All unfortunate people were beggars; at least, that was how it was in the town of Hulan River.

人們對待叫化子們是很平凡的。People’s treatment of beggars was quite matter-of-fact.

門前聚了一群狗在咬，主人問：A pack of dogs would gather outside the gate, biting at something, and the master would ask:

「咬什麼？」“What are they biting?”

僕人答：The servant would answer:

「咬一個討飯的。」“A beggar.”

說完了也就完了。Once that was said, the matter was over.

可見這討飯人的活著是一錢不值了。Plainly, a beggar’s life was not worth a penny.

賣豆芽菜的女瘋子，雖然她瘋了還忘不了自己的悲哀，隔三差五的還到廟台上去哭一場，但是一哭完了，仍是得回家去吃飯、睡覺、賣豆芽菜。Though the madwoman who sold bean sprouts had lost her mind, she could not forget her grief; every few days she would still go to the temple platform for a bout of weeping, but once she had finished, she still had to go home to eat, sleep, and sell bean sprouts.

她仍是平平靜靜的活著。She went on living calmly and quietly.

再說那染缸房裡邊，也發生過不幸，兩個年青的學徒，為了爭一個街頭上的婦人，其中的一個把另一個按進染缸子給淹死了。Misfortune had also struck the dyehouse: two young apprentices quarreled over a woman from the streets, and one held the other down in a dye vat and drowned him.死了的不說，就說那活著的也下了監獄，判了個無期徒刑。As for the dead one, there is nothing more to say; the living one was sent to prison and sentenced to life.

但這也是不聲不響的把事就解決了，過了三年二載，若有人提起那件事來，差不多就像人們講著岳飛、秦檜似的，久遠得不知多少年前的事情似的。But this, too, was settled without fuss or commotion; after two or three years, if anyone brought it up, it sounded almost as though people were speaking of Yue Fei and Qin Hui, of events from no one knew how many years ago.

同時發生這件事情的染缸房，仍舊是在原址，甚或連那淹死人的大缸也許至今還在那兒使用著。Meanwhile, the dyehouse where it had happened still stood on the same site, and perhaps even the great vat in which the man drowned remains in use there to this day.從那染缸房發賣出來的布匹，仍舊是遠近的鄉鎮都流通著。The cloth sold from that dyehouse continued to circulate through towns and villages near and far.藍色的布匹，男人們做起棉褲棉襖，冬天穿它來抵禦嚴寒。The blue cloth was made into padded trousers and jackets for men to wear against the bitter cold of winter.紅色的布匹，則做成大紅袍子，給十八九歲的姑娘穿上，讓她去做新娘子。The red cloth was made into brilliant red gowns for girls of eighteen or nineteen to wear when they became brides.

總之，除了染缸房子在某年某月某日死了一個人外，其餘的世界，並沒有因此而改動了一點。In short, aside from the fact that on a certain day of a certain month in a certain year a man had died in the dyehouse, not the slightest thing in the rest of the world had changed because of it.

再說那豆腐房裡邊也發生過不幸：兩個伙計打仗，竟把拉磨的小驢的腿打斷了。Misfortune had also occurred in the tofu shop: two assistants got into a fight and actually broke the leg of the little donkey that turned the millstone.

因為牠是驢子，不談牠也就罷了。Since it was only a donkey, there would be no need to mention it.只因為這驢子哭瞎了一個婦人的眼睛（即打了驢子那人的母親），所以不能不記上。But because the donkey’s cries cost a woman her eyesight—the mother of the man who had beaten it—the incident cannot go unrecorded.

再說那造紙的紙房裡邊，把一個私生子活活餓死了。Then, in the paper mill, an illegitimate baby was deliberately starved to death.因為他是一個初生的孩子，算不了什麼。Since he was only a newborn child, he did not amount to much.也就不說他了。So nothing more need be said of him either.

其餘的東二道街上，還有幾家紮彩鋪。Elsewhere on East Second Street there were also several shops that made paper funeral offerings.這是為死人而預備的。These were prepared for the dead.

人死了，魂靈就要到地獄裡邊去，地獄裡邊怕是他沒有房子住、沒有衣裳穿、沒有馬騎。When a person died, the soul had to go down to the underworld, where it was feared he might have no house to live in, no clothes to wear, and no horse to ride.活著的人就為他做了這麼一套，用火燒了，據說是到陰間就樣樣都有了。So the living made him a whole set of these things and burned them; it was said that once he reached the underworld, he would have everything he needed.

大至噴錢獸、聚寶盆、大金山、大銀山，小至丫鬟使女、廚房裡的廚子、餵豬的豬官，再小至花盆、茶壺茶杯、雞鴨鵝犬，以至窗前的鸚鵡。They ranged from great wealth-spewing beasts, treasure basins, mountains of gold, and mountains of silver, down to maids and serving girls, cooks for the kitchen and swineherds for the pigs, and smaller still to flowerpots, teapots and teacups, chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs—even a parrot for the window.

看起來真是萬分的好看，大院子也有院牆，牆頭上是金色的琉璃瓦。They were truly delightful to look at: the great courtyard even had an enclosing wall, topped with golden glazed tiles.一進了院，正房五間，廂房三間，一律是青紅磚瓦房，窗明几淨，空氣特別新鮮。Once through the gate, one found five rooms in the main house and three in each side wing, all built of blue and red brick and tile, with bright windows and spotless tables, and exceptionally fresh air.花盆一盆一盆的擺在花架子上，石柱子、全百合、馬蛇菜、九月菊都一齊的開了。Pots of flowers stood one after another on their racks: stone bamboo, golden lilies, purslane, and September chrysanthemums were all in bloom together.看起使人不知道是什麼季節，是夏天還是秋天，居然那馬蛇菜也和菊花同時站在一起。Looking at them, one could not tell what season it was—summer or autumn—for the purslane actually stood there beside the chrysanthemums.也許陰間是不分什麼春夏秋冬的。Perhaps in the underworld there is no distinction between spring, summer, autumn, and winter.這且不說。But let that pass.

再說那廚房裡的廚子，真是活神活現，比真的廚子真是乾淨到一千倍，頭戴白帽子、身紮白圍裙，手裡邊在做拉麵條。As for the cook in the kitchen, he looked positively lifelike—a thousand times cleaner than any real cook—with a white cap on his head, a white apron tied around him, and his hands busy pulling noodles.似乎午飯的時候就要到了，煮了麵就要開飯了似的。It seemed that lunchtime was just about to arrive, and that as soon as the noodles were boiled, the meal would begin.

院子裡的牽馬童，站在一匹大白馬的旁邊，那馬好像是阿拉伯馬，特別高大，英姿挺立，假若有人騎上，看樣子一定比火車跑得快。In the courtyard, a stable boy stood beside a great white horse; the horse looked like an Arabian, exceptionally tall and powerful, standing in heroic splendor, and judging by appearances, if anyone mounted it, it would surely run faster than a train.就是呼蘭河這城裡的將軍，相信他也沒有騎過這樣的馬。Even the general in the town of Hulan River, one could be sure, had never ridden such a horse.

小車子、大騾子，都排在一邊。Little carts and great mules were lined up to one side.騾子是油黑的、閃亮的，用雞蛋殼做的眼睛，所以眼珠是不會轉的。The mules were glossy jet-black, with shining eyes made from eggshells, so their pupils could not move.

大騾子旁邊還站著一匹小騾子，那小騾子是特別好看，眼珠是和大騾子一般的大。Beside a great mule stood a little mule, especially lovely to look at, whose eyes were just as large as the great mule’s.

小車子裝潢得特別漂亮，車輪子都是銀色的。The little carts were most splendidly decorated, and their wheels were all silver.車前邊的簾子是半掩半捲的，使人得以看到裡邊去。The curtain at the front of the cart was half lowered and half rolled up, allowing people to see inside.車裡邊是紅堂堂的鋪著大紅的褥子。The inside glowed red, spread with a bright red mattress.趕車的坐在車沿上，滿臉是笑，得意洋洋，裝飾得特別漂亮，紮著紫色的腰帶，穿著藍色花絲葛的大袍，黑緞鞋，雪白的鞋底。The driver sat on the edge of the cart, his face wreathed in smiles and his manner full of pride; he was especially splendidly dressed, with a purple sash, a long blue figured-silk robe, black satin shoes, and snow-white soles.大概穿起這鞋來還沒有走路就趕過車來了。Presumably, after putting on those shoes, he had come straight to drive the cart without taking a single step.他頭上戴著黑帽頭，紅帽頂，把臉揚著，他蔑視著一切，越看他越不像一個車夫，好像一位新郎。On his head he wore a black cap with a red crown; with his face tilted upward, he looked down on everything, and the longer one looked at him, the less he resembled a driver and the more he looked like a bridegroom.

公雞三兩隻，母雞七八隻，都是在院子裡邊靜靜的啄食，一聲不響，鴨子也並不呱呱的直叫，叫得煩人。Two or three roosters and seven or eight hens pecked quietly about the courtyard without making a sound, and the ducks did not keep quacking tiresomely either.狗蹲在上房的門旁，非常的守職，一動不動。A dog squatted beside the door of the main house, perfectly faithful to its post and utterly motionless.

看熱鬧的人，人人說好，個個稱讚。Everyone who came to look at the spectacle said how fine it was; every single person praised it.窮人們看了這個竟覺得活著還沒有死了好。When poor people saw it, they actually felt it would be better to be dead than alive.

正房裡，窗帘、被格、桌椅板櫈，一切齊全。Inside the main house, everything was complete: curtains, bedding shelves, tables, chairs, and stools.

還有一個管家的，手裡拿著一個算盤在打著，旁邊還擺著一個帳本，上邊寫著：There was even a steward, abacus in hand, busy calculating; beside him lay an account book, in which was written:

「北燒鍋欠酒貳十貳斤“The North Distillery owes twenty-two jin of liquor

東鄉老王家昨借米二十擔Yesterday, Old Wang’s family in the eastern countryside borrowed twenty dan of rice

白旗屯泥人子昨送地租四百三十吊Yesterday, Clay Manzi of White Banner Village delivered four hundred and thirty strings of land rent

白旗屯二個子共欠地租兩千吊」The two lads of White Banner Village owe two thousand strings of land rent between them”

這以下寫了個：Beneath this was written:

四月二十八日April 28

以上的是四月二十七日的流水帳，大概二十八日的還沒有寫吧！The entries above were the running account for April 27; presumably those for the twenty-eighth had not yet been written!

看這帳目也就知道陰間欠了帳也是馬虎不得的，也設了專門人才，即管帳先生一流的人物來管。From these accounts one could see that debts in the underworld could not be treated carelessly either, and that specialists—bookkeepers and the like—had been appointed to manage them.同時也可以看出來，這大宅子的主人不用說就是個地主了。At the same time, one could also see that the owner of this great mansion was, needless to say, a landlord.

這院子裡邊，一切齊全，一切都好，就是看不見這院子的主人在什麼地方，未免的使人疑心這麼好的院子而沒有主人了。Everything in the courtyard was complete and everything was fine, except that the owner was nowhere to be seen, which inevitably made one wonder whether so fine a courtyard might have no master at all.這一點似乎使人感到空虛，無著無落的。This seemed to leave one with a sense of emptiness, with nothing to hold on to and nowhere to settle.

再一回頭看，就覺得這院子終歸是有點兩樣，怎麼丫鬟使女、車夫、馬童的胸前都掛著一張紙條，那紙條上寫著他們每個人的名字：But looking back again, one felt that there was something different about the courtyard after all: why did every maid, serving girl, driver, and stable boy have a paper tag hanging on the chest, bearing each one’s name?

那漂亮得和新郎似的車夫的名字叫：The handsome driver who looked like a bridegroom was named:

「長鞭」“Long Whip”

馬童的名字叫：The stable boy was named:

「快腿」“Swift Legs”

左手拿著水煙袋，右手掄著花手巾的小丫鬟叫：The little maid holding a water pipe in her left hand and flourishing a flowered handkerchief in her right was named:

「德順」“Deshun”

另外一個叫：The other was named:

「順平」“Shunping”

管帳的先生叫：The bookkeeper was named:

「妙算」“Unerring Reckoner”

提著噴壺在澆花的使女叫：The serving girl carrying a watering can and watering the flowers was named:

「花姐」“Sister Hua”

再一細看才知道那匹大白馬也是有名字的，那名字是貼在馬屁股上的，叫：Only on closer inspection did one discover that the great white horse had a name as well; it was pasted onto the horse’s rump and read:

「千里駒」“Thousand-Li Steed”

其餘的如騾子、狗、雞、鴨之類沒有名字。The rest—the mules, dogs, chickens, ducks, and the like—had no names.

那在廚房裡拉著麵條的「老王」，他身上寫著他名字的紙條，來風一吹，還忽咧忽咧的跳著。As for “Old Wang,” pulling noodles in the kitchen, when the wind blew, the paper tag bearing his name fluttered and flapped on his body.

這可真有點奇怪，自家的僕人，自己都不認識了，還要掛上個名簽。This was rather strange indeed: not even knowing one’s own servants, so that name tags had to be hung on them.

這一點未免的使人迷離恍惚，似乎陰間究竟沒有陽間好。This point inevitably left one dazed and bewildered; it seemed that, after all, the underworld was not as good as the world of the living.

雖然這麼說，羨慕這座宅子的人還是不知多少。Even so, there was no telling how many people envied this mansion.因為的確這座宅子是好：清悠、閑靜，鴉雀無聲，一切規整，絕不紊亂。For the mansion truly was fine: serene and secluded, quiet and still, without so much as a caw or chirp, everything orderly and nothing in confusion.丫鬟、使女，照著陽間的一樣，雞犬豬馬，也都和陽間一樣，陽間有什麼，到了陰間也有，陽間吃麵條，到了陰間也吃麵條，陽間有車子坐，到了陰間也一樣的有車子坐，陰間是完全和陽間一樣，一模一樣的。The maids and serving girls were just as they were in the world of the living; so were the chickens, dogs, pigs, and horses. Whatever existed among the living existed in the underworld too: people ate noodles in the world of the living, and they ate noodles in the underworld; people had carts to ride in among the living, and they had carts to ride in there as well. The underworld was entirely the same as the world of the living, exactly the same in every respect.

只不過沒有東二道街上那大泥坑子就是了。The only thing it lacked was the great mud pit on East Second Street.是凡好的一律都有，壞的不必有。Everything good was included; there was no need to include anything bad.

東二道街上的紮彩鋪，就紮的是這一些。These were the things made by the paper-offering shops on East Second Street.一擺起來又威風、又好看，但那作房裡邊是亂七八糟的，滿地碎紙，秫桿棍子一大堆，破盒子、亂罐子、顏料瓶子、漿糊盆、細麻繩、粗麻繩……。When displayed, they were imposing and beautiful, but inside the workshop everything was in utter disorder: scraps of paper covered the floor, great heaps of sorghum-stalk rods lay about, along with broken boxes, jars in disarray, bottles of pigment, bowls of paste, thin hemp cord, thick hemp rope....走起路來，會使人跌倒。Walking through the place, one was liable to trip and fall.那裡邊砍的砍、綁的綁，蒼蠅也來回的飛著。Inside, some people chopped while others tied, and flies darted back and forth.

要做人，先做一個臉孔，糊好了，掛在牆上，男的女的，到用的時候，摘下一個來就用。To make a person, they first made a face; once it had been pasted together, they hung it on the wall—men’s faces and women’s—and when one was needed, they simply took one down and used it.給一個用秫桿綑好的人架子，穿上衣服，裝上一個頭就像人了。They dressed a human frame bound from sorghum stalks, fitted it with a head, and it looked like a person.把一個瘦骨伶仃的用紙糊好的馬架子，上邊貼上用紙剪成的白毛，那就是一匹很漂亮的馬了。Take a skinny, bare-boned frame of a horse pasted together with paper, paste onto it some white hair cut from paper, and there you have a very handsome horse.

做這樣的活計的，也不過是幾個極粗糙極醜陋的人，他們雖懂得怎樣打扮一個馬童或是打扮一個車夫，怎樣打扮一個婦人女子，但他們對他們自己是毫不加修飾的，長頭髮的、毛頭髮的、歪嘴的、歪眼的、赤足裸膝的，似乎使人不能相信，這麼漂亮煊眼耀目，好像要活了的人似的，是出於他們之手。Those who do this kind of work are, after all, no more than a few extremely crude and ugly men — though they know how to dress up a stable boy or a carriage driver, how to dress up a woman, they leave themselves entirely unadorned: long-haired, shaggy-haired, crooked-mouthed, cross-eyed, bare-footed and bare-kneed — so that it seems hard to believe that something so beautiful and dazzling, as if about to spring to life, could come from their hands.

他們吃的是粗菜、粗飯，穿的是破爛的衣服，睡覺則睡在車馬、人、頭之中。What they eat is coarse vegetables and coarse rice, what they wear is ragged clothing, and when they sleep, they sleep among the carts, horses, men, and heads.

他們這種生活，似乎也很苦的。This kind of life of theirs seems to be a bitter one indeed.但是一天一天的，也就糊裡糊塗的過去了，也就過著春夏秋冬，脫下單衣去，穿起棉衣來的過去了。But day by day it passes in a muddle-headed way, passing through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, taking off the single-layer clothes and putting on the padded ones, and so it goes.

生、老、病、死，都沒有什麼表示。Birth, old age, sickness, and death — none of these call for any particular display.生了就任其自然的長去，長大就長大，長不大也就算了。Once born, a child is left to grow naturally — if it grows up, it grows up; if it doesn't, then that's that.

老，老了也沒有什麼關係，眼花了，就不看；As for growing old, growing old doesn't matter much either — when the eyes grow dim, one simply stops looking;耳聾了，就不聽；when the ears go deaf, one simply stops listening;牙掉了，就整吞；when the teeth fall out, one simply swallows food whole;走不動了，就攤著。when one can no longer walk, one simply lies flat.這有什麼辦法，誰老誰活該。What's to be done about it — whoever grows old, serves them right.

病，人吃五穀雜糧，誰不生病呢？As for sickness — people eat the five grains and all manner of foods, so who does not fall ill?

死，這回可是悲哀的事情了，父親死了兒子哭。Death — now this is truly a sorrowful matter. When the father dies, the son weeps.兒子死了母親哭，哥哥死了一家全哭，嫂子死了，她的娘家人來哭。When the son dies, the mother weeps. When the elder brother dies, the whole family weeps. When the elder brother's wife dies, the people from her own family come to weep.

哭了一朝或是三日，就總得到城外去，挖一個坑把這人埋起來。After weeping for a morning or for three days, in the end the body must be taken outside the city, a pit dug, and the person buried.

埋了之後，那活著的仍舊得回家照舊的過著日子。After the burial, those who are still alive must go back home and go on living their days as before.該吃飯，吃飯。When it's time to eat, they eat.該睡覺，睡覺。When it's time to sleep, they sleep.外人絕對看不出來是他家已經沒有了父親或是失掉了哥哥，就連他們自己也不是關起門來，每天哭上一場。An outsider could never tell that this family has already lost its father or lost its elder brother; and even they themselves do not shut their doors and weep a good cry every single day.他們心中的悲哀，也不過是隨著當地的風俗的大流，逢年過節的到墳上去觀望一回。The sorrow in their hearts amounts to no more than following the general current of local custom — going once, at the New Year or on festival days, to look in on the grave.二月過清明，家家戶戶都提著香火去上墳塋，有的墳頭上塌了一塊土，有的墳頭上陷了幾個洞，相觀之下，感慨唏噓，燒香點酒。In the second month, when Qingming comes, every household carries incense to visit the graves — some gravemounds have a patch of earth collapsed, some have several holes sunk in — and looking upon these, they sigh with feeling, burn incense, and pour out wine.若有近親的人如子女父母之類，往往且哭上一場；If the deceased has close relatives present, such as children or parents, they will often weep a good cry besides;那哭的語句，數數落落，無異是在做一篇文章或者是在誦一篇長詩。the words of that weeping, recited one by one in a litany, are no different from composing an essay or chanting a long poem.歌誦完了之後，站起來拍拍屁股上的土，也就隨著上墳的人們回城的大流，回城去了。Once the chanting is finished, they stand up, pat the dust off their behinds, and go along with the general current of the grave-visitors heading back to the city, and return to the city.

回到城中的家裡，又得照舊的過著日子，一年柴米油鹽，漿洗縫補。Back home in the city, they must once again go on living their days as before — a whole year of firewood, rice, oil and salt, of washing and starching, sewing and mending.從早晨到晚上忙了個不休。From morning to night they are busy without rest.夜裡疲乏之極，躺在炕上就睡了。At night, utterly exhausted, they lie down on the kang and fall asleep.在夜夢中並夢不到什麼悲哀的或是欣喜的景況，只不過咬著牙、打著哼，一夜一夜的就都這樣的過去了。In their dreams at night they dream of no scenes of sorrow or of joy at all — they merely grit their teeth and grunt, and night after night passes just like this.

假若有人問他們，人生是為了什麼？If someone were to ask them, what is life for?他們並不會茫然無所對答的，他們會直截了當的不假思索的說了出來：「人活著是為吃飯穿衣。」They would not be at a loss for an answer at all — they would say it straight out, without a moment's thought: 'People live in order to eat and to wear clothes.'

再問他，人死了呢？Ask them further, and what of when people die?他們會說：「人死了就完了。」They would say: 'When people die, that's the end of it.'

所以沒有人看見過做紮彩匠的活著的時候，為他自己糊一座陰宅，大概他不怎麼相信陰間。That is why no one has ever seen a paper-craft artisan, while still alive, paste together an afterlife-mansion for himself — most likely he does not much believe in the netherworld.假如有了陰間，到那時候他再開紮彩鋪，怕又要租人家的房子了。Supposing there really is a netherworld, then when the time comes for him to open his paper-craft shop there, he will probably have to rent someone else's house all over again.

呼蘭河城裡，除了東二道街、西二道街、十字街之外，再就都是些個小胡同了。In the city of Hulan River, apart from East Second Street, West Second Street, and Crossroads Street, all the rest are just small lanes.

小胡同裡邊更沒有什麼了，就連打燒餅麻花的店鋪也不大有，就連賣紅綠糖球的小床子，也都是擺在街口上去，很少有擺在小胡同裡邊的。Inside the small lanes there is even less to speak of — there are hardly even shops that make sesame flatbreads and fried dough twists; even the little stands selling red and green sugar balls are set up at the mouths of the streets, and are rarely set up inside the small lanes.那些住在小街上的人家，一天到晚看不見多少閒散雜人。Those households living on the small streets see hardly any idle passersby from morning till night.耳聽的眼看的，都比較的少，所以整天寂寂寞寞的，關起門來在過著生活。What reaches their ears and eyes is comparatively little, and so all day long, in silence and solitude, they live their lives behind closed doors.破草房有上半間，買上二斗豆子，煮一點鹽豆下飯吃，就是一年。With half a room of a shabby thatched house, and having bought a couple of dou of beans, boiling a little salted-bean dish to go with their rice — that is a year.

在小街上住著，又冷清、又寂寞。Living on the small streets is both bleak and lonely.

一個提籃子賣燒餅的，從胡同的東頭喊，胡同向西頭都聽到了。When a man carrying a basket to sell flatbreads calls out from the east end of the lane, it is heard clear to the west end.雖然不買，若走誰家的門口，誰家的人都是把頭探出來看看，間或有問一問價錢的，問一問糖麻花和油麻花現在是不是還賣著前些日子的價錢。Even if they are not buying, whenever he passes someone's doorway, that household's people all poke their heads out to have a look, and now and then someone asks the price, asks whether the sugared and oil-fried dough twists are still selling at the same price as a few days before.

間或有人走過去掀開了筐子上蓋著的那張布，好像要買似的，拿起一個來摸一摸是否還是熱的。Now and then someone walks over and lifts the cloth covering the basket, as though about to buy, picks one up and feels it to see if it is still warm.

摸完了也就放下了，賣麻花的也絕對的不生氣。Having felt it, they put it back down, and the seller of dough twists never gets the least bit angry.

於是又提到第二家的門口去。So he carries his basket on to the doorway of the second house.

第二家的老太婆也是在閒著，於是就又伸出手來，打開筐子，摸了一回。The old woman of the second house is likewise idle, and so she too stretches out her hand, opens the basket, and feels around a bit.

摸完了也是沒有買。Having felt them, she too does not buy.

等到了第三家，這第三家可要買了。By the time he reaches the third house, this third house is indeed going to buy.

一個三十多歲的女人，剛剛睡午覺起來，她的頭頂上梳著一個鬈，大概頭髮不怎樣整齊，髮鬈上罩著一個用大黑珠線織的網子，網子上還插了不少的疙瘩針。A woman of over thirty has just gotten up from her afternoon nap, her hair combed up into a bun on top of her head, though her hair is probably not very neat; over the bun is a net woven of coarse black beaded thread, and stuck into the net are quite a few knobbed hairpins besides.可是因為這一睡覺，不但頭髮亂了，就是那些疙瘩針也都跳出來了，好像這女人的髮鬈上被射了不少的小箭頭。But because of this nap, not only has her hair become disheveled, but those knobbed hairpins have all popped loose as well, as though this woman's bun had been shot full of little arrows.

她一開門就很爽快，把門扇刮打的往兩邊一分，她就從門裡閃出來了。The moment she opens the door she is very brisk about it — with a clatter she flings the door-panels apart to both sides, and slips out from inside.隨後就跟出來五個孩子。Right behind her come out five children.這五個孩子也都個個爽快。These five children, too, are every one of them brisk and lively.像一個小連隊似的，一排就排好了。Like a small company of troops, they fall into a line all at once.

第一個是女孩子，十二三歲，伸出手來就拿了一個五吊錢一隻的一竹筷子長的大麻花。The first is a girl, twelve or thirteen years old, who reaches out her hand and takes a big dough twist, the length of a bamboo chopstick, priced at five diao a piece.她的眼光很迅速，這麻花在這筐子裡的確是最大的，而且就只有這一個。Her eye is very quick — this dough twist is indeed the biggest one in the whole basket, and there is only this one of its kind.

第二個是男孩子，拿了一個兩吊錢一隻的。The second is a boy, who takes one priced at two diao a piece.

第三個也是拿了個兩吊錢一隻的。The third likewise takes one priced at two diao a piece.也是個男孩子。He too is a boy.

第四個看了看，沒有辦法，也只得拿了一個兩吊錢的。The fourth looks around, and finding no other choice, has no option but to take a two-diao one as well.也是個男孩子。He too is a boy.

輪到第五個了，這個可分不出來是男孩子，還是女孩子。Now it is the fifth one's turn, and this one — you really cannot tell whether it is a boy or a girl.頭是禿的，一隻耳朵上掛著鉗子，瘦得好像個乾柳條，肚子可特別大。The head is bald, one ear has a little clamp-shaped earring hanging from it, the body is thin as a dried willow twig, yet the belly is especially big.看樣子也不過五歲。By the looks of it, the child is no more than five.

一伸手，他的手就比其餘的四個的都黑得更厲害，其餘的四個，雖然他們的手也黑得夠厲害的，但總還認得出來那是手，而不是別的什麼，唯有他的手是連認也認不出來了，說是手嗎，說是什麼呢，說什麼都行。The moment he stretches out his hand, it turns out to be far blacker than any of the other four's — the other four, though their hands are black enough too, can still be recognized as hands and nothing else, but his hand alone can no longer even be recognized as such; call it a hand, or call it something else — anything would do.完全起著黑的灰的、深的淺的，各種的雲層。It is entirely covered in layer upon layer of clouds, black and grey, dark and light, of every kind.看上去，好像看隔山照似的，有無窮的趣味。Looking at it is rather like looking at a landscape photograph taken across distant mountains — it has an endless charm.

他就用這手在筐子裡邊挑選，幾乎是每個都讓他摸過了，不一會工夫，全個的筐子都讓他翻遍了。With this very hand he rummages about inside the basket, picking things out, and almost every single one gets touched by him; before long the whole basket has been turned over by him from end to end.本來這筐子雖大，麻花也並沒有幾隻。To begin with, though the basket was large, there were not actually very many dough twists in it.除了一個頂大的之外，其餘小的也不過十來個，經了他這一翻，可就完全遍了。Apart from the one biggest one, the rest, the small ones, numbered no more than about ten, and after this rummaging of his, every single one has been gone over completely.弄了他滿手是油，把那小黑手染得油亮油亮的，黑亮黑亮的。He has gotten his whole hand covered in oil, dyeing that little black hand glossy with grease, shining black and glossy.

而後他說：And then he says:

「我要大的。」'I want the big one.'

於是就在門口打了起來。And so a scuffle breaks out right there at the doorway.

他跑得非常之快，他去追著他的姐姐。He runs extremely fast, chasing after his elder sister.他的第二個哥哥，他的第三個哥哥，也都跑了上去，都比他跑得更快。His second elder brother and his third elder brother also both run up after her, and both of them run even faster than he does.再說他的大姐，那個拿著大麻花的女孩，她跑得更快到不能想像了。As for his eldest sister, the girl holding the big dough twist, she runs faster than one could ever imagine.已經找到一塊牆的缺口的地方，跳了出去，後邊的也就跟著一溜煙的跳過去。She has already found a gap in the wall and jumped through it, and those behind her follow in a puff of dust, jumping through right after her.等他們剛一追著跳過去，那大孩子又跳回來了。Just as they catch up and jump through after her, the eldest child jumps right back again.在院子裡跑成了一陣旋風。In the courtyard they turn into a whirling gust of wind, running round and round.

那個最小的，不知是男孩子還是女孩子的，早已追不上了。The smallest one, whom no one could tell was a boy or a girl, has long since fallen behind and cannot catch up.落在後邊，在號啕大哭。Left behind, he wails and bawls.間或也想檢一點便宜，那就是當他的兩個哥哥，把他的姐姐已經扭住的時候，他就趁機會想要從中搶他姐姐手裡的麻花。Now and then he also tries to snatch some small advantage — that is, when his two elder brothers have already gotten a grip on his elder sister, he takes the chance to try to grab the dough twist out of his sister's hand in the confusion.可是幾次都沒有做到，於是又落在後邊號啕大哭。But several times he fails to manage it, and so falls behind again, wailing and bawling.

他們的母親，雖然是很有威風的樣子，但是不動手是招呼不住他們的。Their mother, though she has a very fearsome air about her, cannot bring them under control without laying hands on them.母親看了這樣子也還沒有個完了，就進屋去，拿起燒火的鐵叉子來，向著她的孩子就奔去了。Seeing that things show no sign of ending, the mother goes into the house, picks up the iron fire-poker used for stoking the stove, and rushes straight at her children.不料院子裡有一個小泥坑，是豬在裡打膩的的方。Unexpectedly, there is a small mud puddle in the courtyard, a spot where the pigs like to wallow.她恰好就跌在泥坑那兒了，把叉子跌出去五尺多遠。She happens to fall right into the mud puddle, and the poker flies out of her hand more than five feet away.

於是這場戲才算達到了高潮，看熱鬧的人沒有不笑的，沒有不稱心愉快的。And so this whole drama reaches its climax, and among those watching the fun there is not one who does not laugh, not one who is not thoroughly delighted.

就連那賣麻花的人也看出神了，當那女人坐到泥坑中把泥花四邊濺起來的時候，那賣麻花的差一點沒把筐子掉了地下。Even the dough-twist seller is watching so entranced that, at the moment the woman sits down into the mud puddle and splashes mud flying in every direction, he very nearly drops his basket on the ground.他高興極了，他早已經忘了他手裡的筐子了。He is delighted beyond measure, and has long since forgotten all about the basket in his hands.

至於那幾個孩子，則早就不見了。As for those children, they have long since vanished from sight.

等母親起來去把他們追回來的時候，那做母親的這回可發了威風，讓他們一個一個的向著太陽跪下。By the time the mother gets up and chases them back, she truly lets her fury show this time, making them kneel down one by one facing the sun.在院子裡排起一小隊來，把麻花一律的解除。Lined up in a little row in the courtyard, every one of them has his dough twist confiscated without exception.

頂大的孩子的麻花沒有多少了，完全被撞碎了。The eldest child's dough twist is hardly anything left of it, entirely smashed to bits.

第三個孩子的已經吃完了。The third child's has already been eaten up entirely.

第二個的還剩了一點點。The second child's has just a tiny bit left.

只有第四個的還拿在手上沒有動。Only the fourth child's is still held in hand, untouched.

第五個，不用說，根本沒有拿在手裡。The fifth child, needless to say, never had one in hand to begin with.

鬧到結果，賣麻花的和那女人吵了一陣之後，提著筐子又到另一家去叫賣去了。In the end, after quarreling for a while with the woman, the dough-twist seller picks up his basket and goes off to another house to hawk his wares again.他和那女人所吵的是關於那第四個孩子手上拿了半天的麻花又退回了的問題，賣麻花的堅持著不讓退，那女人又非退回不可。What he and the woman had quarreled over was the matter of the dough twist that the fourth child had held in hand for the longest while and then tried to return — the seller insisted it could not be returned, while the woman insisted it absolutely must be.結果是付了三個麻花的錢，就把那提籃子的人趕了出來了。In the end, they paid for three dough twists, and drove the basket-carrying man out the door.

為著麻花而下跪的五個孩子不提了。Of the five children who knelt down on account of the dough twists, no more need be said.再說那一進胡同口就被挨家摸索過來的麻花，被提到另外的胡同裡去，倒底也賣掉了。As for those dough twists that had been felt over house by house from the very mouth of the lane, once carried into another lane, they were sold after all in the end.

一個已經脫完了牙齒的老太太買了其中的一個，用紙裹著拿到屋子去了。An old woman who had already lost every last tooth bought one of them, wrapped it in paper, and carried it into her room.她一邊走著一邊說：As she walked she said:

「這麻花真乾淨，油亮亮的。」'This dough twist is really clean, all glossy with oil.'

而後招呼了她的小孫子，快來吧。And then she called to her little grandson, come quick.

那賣麻花的人看了老太太很喜歡這麻花，於是就又說：Seeing how much the old woman liked the dough twist, the seller then said further:

「是剛出鍋的，還熱忽著哩！」'It just came out of the pot — it's still nice and warm!'

過去了賣麻花的，後半天，也許又來了賣涼粉的，也是一在胡同口的這頭喊，那頭就聽到了。After the dough-twist seller has passed on, later in the afternoon perhaps the seller of cold bean-jelly comes along, and likewise the moment he calls out at one end of the lane's mouth, he is heard at the other end.

要買的拿著小瓦盆出去了。Those who want to buy go out carrying their little earthenware bowls.不買的坐在屋子一聽這賣涼粉的一招呼，就知道是應燒晚飯的時候了。Those who are not buying, sitting in their rooms, know the moment they hear this cold-jelly seller's call that it is time to start cooking the evening meal.因為這涼粉一個整個的夏天都是在太陽偏西，他就來的，來得那麼準，就像時鐘一樣，到了四五點鐘他必來的。Because this cold-jelly seller, all through the whole summer, always comes just as the sun tilts westward — he comes so punctually, just like a clock, that by four or five o'clock he is bound to have arrived.就像他賣涼粉專門到這一條胡同來賣似的。It is as though he sold his cold jelly specially, exclusively, in this one lane.似乎在別的胡同裡就沒有為著多賣幾家而耽誤了這一定的時間。It seems that in the other lanes he never lets the wish to sell to a few more households delay this fixed time of his.

賣涼粉的一過去了，一天也就快黑了。Once the cold-jelly seller has passed on by, the day is soon about to grow dark.

打著博楞鼓的貨郎，一到太陽偏西，就再不進到小巷子裡來，就連僻靜的街他也不去了，他擔著擔子從大街口走回家去。The peddler beating his rattle-drum, once the sun tilts westward, no longer comes into the small lanes at all — he does not even go into the quiet side streets any more, but carries his shoulder-load and walks home from the mouth of the main street.

賣瓦盆的，也早都收市了。The sellers of earthenware bowls, too, have all long since closed up shop for the day.

檢繩頭的，換破爛的也都回家去了。Those who picked up bits of rope, and those who traded for scraps and junk, had all gone home too.

只有賣豆腐的則又出來了。Only the tofu seller came out again.

晚飯時節，吃了小葱沾大醬就已經很可口了，若外加上一塊豆腐，那真是錦上添花，一定要多浪費兩盌包米大雲豆粥的。At suppertime, scallions dipped in soybean paste were already quite tasty enough; if you added a piece of tofu on top of that, it was truly icing on the cake, and you were bound to waste two extra bowls of corn-and-kidney-bean porridge on it.一吃就吃多了，那是很自然的，豆腐加上點辣椒油再拌上點大醬，那是多麼可口的東西，用筷子觸了一點點豆腐，就能夠吃下去半盌飯，再到豆腐上去觸了一下，一盌飯就完了。It was only natural to end up eating too much once you started — tofu with a bit of chili oil, mixed with a little soybean paste, what a delicious thing that was; just touch your chopsticks to a tiny bit of tofu and you could get through half a bowl of rice, touch the tofu once more and a whole bowl of rice was gone.因為豆腐而多吃了兩盌飯，並不算吃得多，沒有吃過的人，不能夠曉得其中的滋味的。To eat two extra bowls of rice because of tofu was not really considered eating a lot; someone who had never tasted it could not know the flavor of it.

所以賣豆腐的人來了，男女老幼，全都歡迎。So when the tofu seller came, men and women, old and young, all welcomed him.打開門來，笑盈盈的，雖然不說什麼，但是彼此有一種融洽的感情，默默生了起來。They opened their doors, smiling broadly, and though they said nothing, a warm feeling of harmony silently arose between them.

似乎賣豆腐的在說：It was as if the tofu seller were saying:

「我的豆腐真好！」"My tofu is really good!"

似乎買豆腐的回答：And it was as if the buyer were answering:

「你的豆腐果然不錯。」"Your tofu really is excellent."

買不起豆腐的人對那賣豆腐的，就非常的羨慕，一聽了那從街口越招呼越近的聲音就特別的感到誘惑，假若能吃一塊豆腐可不錯，切上一點青辣椒，拌上一點小葱子。Those who could not afford tofu envied the tofu seller greatly; the moment they heard his call drawing nearer from the street corner, they felt especially tempted — how nice it would be to eat a piece of tofu, sliced with a bit of green chili, mixed with a little scallion.

但是天天這樣想，天天就沒有買成，賣豆腐的一來，就把這等人白白的引誘一場。But though they thought this every day, every day they failed to buy any; whenever the tofu seller came, he tempted such people all in vain.於是那被誘惑的人，仍然逗不起決心，就多吃幾口辣椒，辣得滿頭是汗。So the tempted person, still unable to work up the resolve, would just eat a few more mouthfuls of chili instead, until sweat covered his whole head from the spiciness.他想假若一個人開了一個豆腐房可不錯，那就可以自由隨便的吃豆腐了。He thought how nice it would be if a person opened his own tofu shop — then he could eat tofu freely, as much as he pleased.

果然，他的兒子長到五歲的時候，問他：Sure enough, when his son grew to be five years old, he asked him:

「你長大了幹什麼？」"What will you do when you grow up?"

五歲的孩子說：The five-year-old child said:

「開豆腐房。」"Open a tofu shop."

這顯然要繼承他父親未遂的志願。This was clearly meant to carry on his father's unfulfilled ambition.

關於豆腐這美妙的一盤菜的愛好，竟還有甚於此的，竟有想要傾家蕩產的。As for the love of tofu, that wonderful dish, there were even people who went further than this — there were those willing to ruin their whole family fortune for it.傳說上，有這樣的一個家長，他下了決心，他說：According to the story, there was once a family head who made up his mind and said:

「不過了，買一塊豆腐吃去！」這「不過了」的三個字，用舊的語言來翻譯，就是毀家紓難的意思；"That's it, I'm done — I'm going to buy a piece of tofu and eat it!" These three words, "that's it, I'm done," translated into the old style of language, meant something like ruining one's household to relieve a hardship;用現代的話來說，就是：「我破產了！」put in modern words, it simply meant: "I've gone bankrupt!"

賣豆腐的一收了市，一天的事情都完了。Once the tofu seller closed up shop, the day's business was all done.

家家戶戶都把晚飯吃過了。Every household had finished eating supper.吃過了晚飯，看晚霞的看晚霞，不看晚霞的躺到炕上去睡覺的也有。After supper, some watched the sunset clouds, while others, who did not watch them, lay down on the kang to sleep instead.

這地方的晚霞是很好看的，有一個土名，叫火燒雲。The sunset clouds in this place were very beautiful; they had a local name — "fire clouds."說「晚霞」人們不懂，若一說「火燒雲」就連三歲的孩子也會呀呀的往西天空裡指給你看。If you said "sunset clouds," people wouldn't understand, but if you said "fire clouds," even a three-year-old child would babble and point up at the western sky to show you.

晚飯一過，火燒雲就上來了。As soon as supper was over, the fire clouds would come up.照得小孩子的臉是紅的。They lit the children's faces up red.把大白狗變成紅色的狗了。They turned the big white dog into a red dog.紅公雞就變成金的了。The red rooster turned golden.黑母雞變成紫檀色的了。The black hen turned the color of rosewood.餵豬的老頭子，往牆根上靠，他笑盈盈的看著他的兩匹小白豬，變成小金豬了，他剛想說：The old man who fed the pigs leaned against the foot of the wall, smiling broadly as he watched his two little white pigs turn into little golden pigs; he was just about to say:

「他媽的，你們也變了……」"Well I'll be damned, even you two have changed color..."

他的旁邊走來了一個乘涼的人，那人說：Beside him came a man out enjoying the evening cool, who said:

「你老人家必要高壽，你老是金鬍子了。」"You're bound to live to a ripe old age, old sir — your beard has turned to gold."

天空的雲，從西邊一直燒到東邊，紅堂堂的，好像是天著了火。The clouds in the sky burned from the west clear over to the east, a blazing red, as if the sky itself had caught fire.

這地方的火燒雲變化極多，一會紅堂堂的了，一會金洞洞的了，一會半紫半黃的，一會半灰半百合色。The fire clouds in this place changed in countless ways — one moment blazing red, the next glowing golden, then half purple and half yellow, then half grey and half lily-white.葡萄灰、大黃梨、紫茄子，這些顏色天空上邊都有。Grape-grey, pear-yellow, eggplant-purple — all these colors appeared up in the sky.還有些說也說不出來的，見也未曾見過的，諸多種的顏色。And there were still more colors that could not even be described, that had never even been seen before.

五秒鐘之內，天空裡有一匹馬，馬頭向南，馬尾向西，那馬是跪著的，像是在等著有人騎到牠的背上，牠才站起來。Within five seconds, there would be a horse up in the sky, its head facing south and its tail facing west, kneeling down, as if waiting for someone to climb onto its back before it would stand up.再過一秒鐘。Another second passed.沒有什麼變化。Nothing had changed.再過兩三秒鐘，那匹馬加大了，馬腿也伸開了，馬脖子也長了，但是一條馬尾巴卻不見了。After another two or three seconds, the horse had grown bigger, its legs had stretched out, its neck had grown longer — but its tail had disappeared.

看的人，正在尋找馬尾巴的時候，那馬就變靡了。Just as the onlookers were searching for the horse's tail, the horse itself blurred and dissolved away.

忽然又來了一條大狗，這條狗十分兇猛，牠在前邊跑著，牠的後面似乎還跟了好幾條小狗仔。Suddenly a big dog appeared, a fierce-looking dog, running out in front, with what seemed like several little puppies following behind it.跑著跑著，小狗就不知跑到那裡去了，大狗也不見了。As it ran and ran, the puppies vanished off to who knows where, and the big dog disappeared too.

又找到了一個大獅子，和娘娘廟門前的大石頭獅子一模一樣的，也是那麼大，也是那樣的蹲著，很威武的，很鎮靜的蹲著，牠表示著蔑視一切的樣子，似乎眼睛連什麼也不睬，看著看著的，一不謹慎，同時又看到了別一個什麼。Then a great lion was found, exactly like the great stone lion in front of the Empress Temple gate — just as big, crouching in just the same way, majestic and composed as it crouched there, wearing an air of scorn for everything, as if its eyes paid no heed to anything at all; and while people watched it, in one careless moment, they caught sight of something else at the same time.這時候，可就麻煩了，人的眼睛不能同時又看東，又看西。At this point, it became a real problem, for a person's eyes cannot look east and west at once.這樣子會活活把那個大獅子糟蹋了。In this way the great lion would be ruined right before their eyes.一轉眼，一低頭，那天空的東西就變了。In the blink of an eye, in the space of lowering one's head, the thing in the sky would already have changed.若是再找，怕是看瞎了眼睛也找不到了。If you tried to find it again, you could go blind looking and still never find it.

大獅子既然找不到，另外的那什麼；Since the great lion could not be found, then that other thing—比方就是一個猴子吧，猴子雖不如大獅子，可同時也沒有了。say, for instance, it was a monkey — though a monkey was not as grand as the great lion, it too had vanished at the same time.

一時恍恍惚惚的，滿天空裡又像這個，又像那個，其實是什麼也不像，什麼也沒有了。For a moment everything grew hazy and indistinct — the whole sky seemed to resemble this thing and that thing, but in truth it resembled nothing at all, and nothing was there anymore.

必須是低下頭去，把眼睛揉一揉，或者是沉靜一會再來看。One had to lower one's head, rub one's eyes, or else calm down for a moment before looking again.

可是天空偏偏又不常常等待著那些愛好它的孩子。But the sky, as it happened, did not often wait around for the children who loved it.一會工夫火燒雲下去了。In no time at all, the fire clouds went down.

於是孩子們困倦了，回屋去睡覺了。And so the children, growing drowsy, went back inside to sleep.竟有還沒能來得及進屋的，就靠在姐姐的腿上，或者是依在祖母的懷裡就睡著了。There were even some who did not manage to get inside in time, and fell asleep leaning against their elder sister's leg, or nestled in their grandmother's arms.

祖母的手裡，拿著白馬鬃的蠅甩子，就用蠅甩子給他驅逐著蚊蟲。In grandmother's hand was a fly whisk of white horsehair, and with it she drove the mosquitoes away from him.

祖母還不知道這孩子是已經睡了，還以為他在那裡玩著呢！Grandmother did not yet realize the child had already fallen asleep, and still thought he was playing there!

「下去玩一會去吧！"Go on down and play for a while!把奶奶的腿壓麻了。」You've made grandmother's leg go numb."

用手一推，這孩子已經睡得搖搖晃晃的了。With a push of her hand, the child, already fast asleep, swayed unsteadily.

這時候，火燒雲已經完全下去了。By this time, the fire clouds had gone down completely.

於是家家戶戶都進屋去睡覺，關起窗門來。And so every household went inside to sleep, shutting their windows and doors.

呼蘭河這地方，就是在六月裡也是不十分熱的，夜裡總要蓋著薄棉被睡覺。In this place, Hulan River, even in the sixth month it was never very hot, and at night one always had to sleep covered with a thin cotton quilt.

等黃昏之後的烏鴉飛過時，只能夠隔著窗子聽到那很少的尚未睡的孩子在嚷叫：When the crows flew over after dusk, one could only hear, through the windows, the few children not yet asleep shouting out:

「烏鴉烏鴉你打場，"Crow, crow, thresh your grain,

給你二斗糧……I'll give you two pecks of grain......

……………………」.........................."

那漫天蓋地的一群黑烏鴉，啊啊的大叫著，在整個的縣城的頭頂上飛過去了。That vast flock of black crows, filling the whole sky, cawed loudly as they flew over the head of the entire county town.

據說飛過了呼蘭河的南岸，就在一個大樹林子裡邊住下了。It was said that once they had flown past the south bank of the Hulan River, they settled down in a great forest.明天早晨起來再飛。The next morning they would rise and fly again.

夏秋之間每夜要過烏鴉，究竟這些成百成千的烏鴉過到那裡去，孩子們是不大曉得的，大人們也不大講給他們聽。Between summer and autumn, crows passed over every single night; but just where these hundreds and thousands of crows were going, the children never really knew, nor did the grown-ups explain it to them.

只曉得唸這套歌，「烏鴉烏鴉你打場，給你二斗糧。」They only knew how to chant this rhyme, "Crow, crow, thresh your grain, I'll give you two pecks of grain."

究竟給烏鴉二斗糧做什麼，似乎不大有道理。Just what the two pecks of grain were actually for giving the crows never seemed to make much sense.

烏鴉一飛過，這一天才真正的過去了。Only once the crows had flown past was the day truly over.

因為大昴星升起來了，大昴星好像銅球似的亮晶晶的了。For then the great Pleiades star would rise, shining bright like a brass ball.

天河和月亮也都上來了。The Milky Way and the moon rose as well.

蝙蝠也飛起來了。The bats took flight too.

是凡跟著太陽一起來的，現在都回去了。Everything that had come out along with the sun had now gone back in.人睡了，豬、馬、牛、羊也都睡了，燕子和蝴蝶也都不飛了。People slept, and the pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep all slept too; the swallows and butterflies no longer flew.就連房根底下的牽牛花，也一朵沒有開的。Even the morning glories at the foot of the house walls — not a single one was left open.含苞的含苞，捲縮的捲縮。The ones still in bud stayed in bud, and the ones curling shut curled shut.含苞的準備著歡迎那早晨又要來的太陽，那捲縮的，因為它已經在昨天歡迎過了，它要落去了。The budding ones were preparing to welcome the sun that would come again in the morning; the curled-up ones, having already welcomed it the day before, were now about to fall.

隨著月亮上來的星夜，大昴星也不過是月亮的一個馬前卒，讓它先跑到一步就是了。On this starry night that rose along with the moon, the great Pleiades star was nothing more than the moon's advance scout, merely let run ahead one step first.

夜一來蛤蟆就叫，在河溝裡叫，在窪地裡叫。As soon as night came the toads croaked — croaking in the ditches, croaking in the low marshy ground.蟲子也叫，在院心草棵子裡，在城外的大田上，有的叫在人家的花盆裡，有的叫在人家的墳頭上。The insects chirped too — in the tufts of grass in the middle of the courtyard, out in the fields beyond the town walls; some chirped in people's flowerpots, some chirped on top of people's graves.

夏夜若無風無雨就這樣的過去了，一夜又一夜。If there was no wind and no rain, the summer nights simply passed by like this, night after night.

很快的夏天就過完了，秋天就來了。Summer soon came to an end, and autumn arrived.秋天和夏天的分別不太大，也不過天涼了，夜裡非蓋著被子睡覺不可。There was not much difference between autumn and summer, except that the weather turned cool, and at night one had to sleep covered with a quilt.種田的人白天忙著收割，夜裡多做幾個割高粱的夢就是了。The farmers were busy with the harvest during the day, and at night they simply had a few more dreams of cutting sorghum.

女人一到了八月也不過就是漿衣裳，拆被子，捶棒硾，捶得街街巷巷早晚的叮叮噹噹的亂響。Once the eighth month came, the women did nothing more than starch clothes, take quilts apart, and beat the laundry with wooden mallets, pounding away morning and evening until every street and alley rang out in a clattering din.

「棒硾」一捶完，做起被子來，就是冬天。Once the mallet-beating was finished and the quilts were sewn back up, it was winter.

冬天下雪了。In winter, the snow fell.

人們四季裡，風、霜、雨、雪的過著，霜打了，雨淋了。Through the four seasons people lived on amid wind, frost, rain, and snow — beaten by frost, drenched by rain.大風來時是飛沙走石。When the great winds came, sand flew and stones rolled.似乎是很了不起的樣子。It seemed like a truly tremendous thing.冬天，大地被凍裂了，江河被凍住了。In winter, the earth froze and cracked open, and the rivers froze solid.再冷起來，江河也被凍得腔腔的響著裂開了紋。When it grew colder still, the rivers, frozen through, would crack with loud booming sounds, splitting into seams.冬天，凍掉了人的耳朵，……In winter, people's ears would freeze and drop off......破了人的鼻子……...people's noses would split open......裂了人的手和腳。...people's hands and feet would crack open.

但這是大自然的威風，與小民們無關。But this was only nature showing off its might, and had nothing to do with the common folk.

呼蘭河的人們就是這樣，冬天來了就穿棉衣裳，夏天來了就穿單衣裳。The people of Hulan River simply lived this way: when winter came they put on padded cotton clothes, when summer came they put on thin unlined clothes.就好像太陽出來了就起來，太陽落了就睡覺似的。Just as if, when the sun rose, they got up, and when the sun set, they went to sleep.

被冬天凍裂了手指的，到了夏天也自然就好了。Fingers that had been cracked open by the winter cold naturally healed by the time summer came.好不了的，「李永春」藥鋪，去買二兩紅花，泡一點紅花酒來擦一擦，擦得手指通紅也不見消，也許就越來越腫起來。For those that would not heal, one went to the "Li Yongchun" apothecary to buy two liang of safflower, soaked it to make a bit of safflower wine, and rubbed it on — rubbed until the fingers turned bright red, yet the swelling did not go down, and perhaps only grew worse.那麼再到「李永春」藥鋪去，這回可不買紅花了，是買了一貼膏藥來。So one went back again to the "Li Yongchun" apothecary, but this time did not buy safflower — instead one bought a medicinal plaster.回到家裡，用火一烤，黏黏糊糊的就貼在凍瘡上了。Back home, one warmed it over a fire, and sticky and gooey, pressed it right onto the frostbite sore.這膏藥是真好，貼上了一點也不礙事。This plaster was truly good — once applied, it did not get in the way at all.該趕車的去趕車，該切菜的去切菜。Whoever needed to drive the cart went and drove the cart, whoever needed to cut vegetables went and cut vegetables.黏黏糊糊的是真好，見了水也不掉，該洗衣裳的去洗衣裳去好了。Being sticky and gooey was truly a good thing — it would not come off even in water, so whoever needed to wash clothes could just go and wash clothes.就是掉了，拿在火上再一烤，就還貼得上的。And even if it did fall off, warming it over the fire once more would make it stick right back on.一貼，貼了半個月。Once applied, it would stay stuck on for half a month.

呼蘭河這地方的人，什麼都講結實、耐用，這膏藥這樣的耐用，實在是合乎這地方的人情。The people of this place, Hulan River, valued sturdiness and durability in everything, and this plaster, being so durable, truly suited the local temperament.雖然是貼了半個月，手也還沒有見好，但這膏藥總算是耐用，沒有白花錢。Though it had been on for half a month and the hand still showed no sign of healing, the plaster was at least durable, so the money had not been wasted.

於是再買一貼去，貼來貼去，這手可就越腫越大了。So they bought another plaster, and as one after another was applied, the hand only swelled larger and larger.還有些買不起膏藥的，就檢人家貼乏了的來貼。Some who could not afford plasters picked up ones that others had worn out and applied those.

到後來，那結果，誰曉得是怎樣呢，反正一塌糊塗去了吧。And in the end, who knows what became of them? At any rate, it all ended in a hopeless mess.

春夏秋冬，一年四季來回循環的走，那是自古也就這樣的了。Spring, summer, autumn, and winter—the four seasons of the year go round and round; so it has been since ancient times.風霜雨雪，受得住的就過去了，受不住的，就尋求著自然的結果。Through wind, frost, rain, and snow, those who could endure survived, while those who could not went in search of nature’s appointed end.那自然的結果不大好，把一個人默默的一聲不響的就拉著離開了這人間的世界了。That natural end was none too pleasant: silently, without a sound, it took hold of a person and drew them away from this human world.

至於那還沒有被拉去的，就風霜雨雪，仍舊在人間被吹打著。As for those who had not yet been taken, they remained in the human world, still buffeted by wind, frost, rain, and snow.

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What it’s about

The Town and Its Great Mud Pit introduces Hulan River through winter cold, ordinary commerce and a hole in the main street large enough to govern everybody's movements. Frost splits the earth, freezes beards and makes the town's few streets seem even barer; shops sell麻花, dyed cloth, medicine and other modest goods while people pass between the slaughterhouse, the school and the temples. At the crossroads, however, the great mud pit swallows carts, horses and pigs. Residents watch each new accident, debate whether to fill the hole or tear down the wall beside it, and finally leave it untouched because every remedy would inconvenience somebody. The pit is both a physical landmark and Xiao Hong's comic model of a community accustomed to avoidable suffering.

Around that centre the narrator builds the town by accumulation rather than by a conventional plot. A cloud-fire burns across the evening sky; the public bath and tofu shop conduct their routines; animals are killed, food is prepared and the seasons return. The child's eye records cruelty without announcing a moral, placing a drowned pig, a struggling horse and the spectators' laughter beside flashes of colour and warmth. Repetition makes Hulan feel closed and timeless, yet the exact smells, street cries and bodily discomforts keep it alive. The chapter teaches readers how the whole book will work: remembered scenes arrive in loose procession, humour and grief occupy the same sentence, and what appears quaint from a distance becomes harsh when one stops to look.

When it was written 背景

Xiao Hong wrote Tales of Hulan River in Hong Kong in 1940, looking back at the Heilongjiang town where she was born in 1911; chapters were serialized in the Hong Kong newspaper 星島日報 before the book appeared in 1941. The distance matters: this is neither a documentary survey nor simple childhood nostalgia, but a reconstruction shaped by exile, war and the knowledge that the remembered world cannot be recovered. This opening chapter is a useful place to learn the book's method. Its recurring weather, shops, animals and street directions supply concrete vocabulary, while the mud-pit episodes demonstrate the narrator's dry irony without requiring a large cast. Read the lists slowly and notice which details recur: apparent digressions establish the social habits that later chapters will make painfully personal.

Words in this chapter 生词

裡lǐHSK 1裡lǐ — lining · interior · inside · internal · also written 裏 (lǐ) (HSK 1)
瘟wēn瘟wēn — epidemic; pestilence; plague · (fig.) stupid; dull; (of a performance) lackluster
坑kēngHSK 7-9坑kēng — pit; hollow; depression · (mining) pit; shaft; tunnel · (literary) to bury alive · (coll.) to cheat; to scam; to screw over (HSK 7-9)
牠tāHSK 2牠tā — it (pronoun for an animal) (HSK 2)
騾luó騾luó — mule · classifier: 匹 (pǐ), 頭 (tóu)
筐kuāngHSK 7-9筐kuāng — basket · classifier: 隻 (zhī) (HSK 7-9)
黏niánHSK 7-9黏nián — sticky; glutinous · (Tw) to adhere; to stick on; to glue (HSK 7-9)
唸niànHSK 3唸niàn — variant of 念 (niàn), to read aloud (HSK 3)
麼má麼má — exclamatory final particle
豬zhūHSK 3豬zhū — hog · pig · swine · classifier: 口 (kǒu), 頭 (tóu) (HSK 3)
吧bāHSK 1吧bā — bar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc) · to puff (on a pipe etc) · (onom.) bang · abbr. for 貼吧 (tiē bā) (HSK 1)
鬈quán鬈quán — to curl · curled