空山靈雨 Empty Mountain, Spiritual Rain4 / 45

蛇 The Snake

蛇The Snake

在高可觸天底桄榔樹下．我坐在一條石磴上，動也不動一下．穿彩衣底蛇也蟠在樹根上，動也不動一下．多會讓我看見他，我就害怕得很，飛也似地離開那里，蛇也和飛箭一樣，射入蔓草中了．Beneath a gomuti palm so tall it seemed to touch the sky, I sat on a stone step, perfectly still. A snake in motley garb lay coiled among the roots, likewise perfectly still. The moment I saw him, I was terribly frightened and flew from the place; the snake, too, shot like an arrow into the tangled grass.

在高可触天底桄榔树下．我坐在一条石磴上，动也不动一下．穿彩衣底蛇也蟠在树根上，动也不动一下．多会让我看见他，我就害怕得很，飞也似地离开那里，蛇也和飞箭一样，射入蔓草中了．

我囘來，告訴妻子說，『今兒險些不能再見你的面！』I came home and told my wife, “Today I nearly never saw you again!”

我囘来，告诉妻子说，『今儿险些不能再见你的面！』

『什麼原故』？“Why, what happened?”

『什么原故』？

『我在樹林見了一條毒蛇：一看見他，我就速速跑囘來；“I saw a venomous snake in the woods: the instant I caught sight of him, I hurried home;蛇也逃走了……。the snake fled too....到底是我怕他，還是他怕我？』In the end, was I afraid of him, or was he afraid of me?”

『我在树林见了一条毒蛇：一看见他，我就速速跑囘来；蛇也逃走了……。到底是我怕他，还是他怕我？』

妻子說：『若你不走，誰也不怕誰．在你眼中，他是毒蛇；My wife said, “If you had not left, neither of you would have feared the other. In your eyes, he is a venomous snake;在他眼中，你比他更毒呢．』in his eyes, you are even more venomous than he is.”

妻子说：『若你不走，谁也不怕谁．在你眼中，他是毒蛇；在他眼中，你比他更毒呢．』

但我心裏想着，要兩方互相懼怕，有才和平。But I thought to myself that only when both sides fear each other can there be peace.若有一方大膽一點，不是他傷了我，便是我傷了他。If either side were a little bolder, either he would hurt me, or I would hurt him.

但我心里想着，要两方互相惧怕，有才和平。若有一方大胆一点，不是他伤了我，便是我伤了他。

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What it’s about

The narrator sits motionless beneath a tall palm and notices a brightly patterned snake coiled just as still at its root. The moment each sees the other, the man races away and the snake shoots into the grass. At home he dramatically tells his wife that he nearly never saw her again. Her reply punctures his self-importance: in his eyes the creature was poisonous, but from its viewpoint he may have looked more poisonous still. Fear is reciprocal, and the human observer has no privileged claim to innocence.

The husband's concluding reflection complicates the wife's neat reversal. He reasons that mutual fear may be what keeps the peace: if either party becomes a little bolder, one will injure the other. That is not a celebration of trust but a wary theory of coexistence based on balanced vulnerability. The miniature begins like an exotic encounter and ends almost as political philosophy, yet its comedy keeps the argument provisional. Husband, wife and snake each occupy a different angle; the reader must decide whether peace secured by fear is wisdom, timidity or merely the best arrangement available in a world of uncertain intentions.

When it was written 背景

Xu Dishan spent important years in Southeast Asia and often used tropical plants, island settings and encounters with animals in his early prose. Here the 桄榔 palm supplies that southern atmosphere, while the domestic dialogue makes the episode familiar rather than sensational. Animal parables were common in the experimental prose of the May Fourth period, but Xu avoids assigning the snake a fixed traditional meaning such as evil or treachery. The wife's imagined reversal resembles Buddhist arguments against a human-centered viewpoint, and the husband's balance-of-fear conclusion also echoes the political language of an era shaped by militarism and international rivalry. Period forms such as 囘 and 底 may look strange, but the dialogue itself is exceptionally direct.

Words in this chapter 生词