外媒認爲不該錯過的五本中國書

The surprise announcement last week that Chinese novelist Mo Yan had won this year's Nobel Prize in literature has focused unprecedented global attention on Chinese literature. 'Tao Te-Ching' and 'Art of War' notwithstanding, books from the world's most populous country have tended to get meager play in the Western press. Luckily, that hasn't kept publishers from commissioning translations of some of China's best-loved works.
當中國小說家莫言意外榮獲2012年諾貝爾文學獎時，中國文學界也隨之受到了前所未有的關注。雖然這個人口大國出了像《道德經》和《孫子兵法》這樣的名著，但中國書籍在西方出版界的表現仍乏善可陳。幸運的是，西方出版商並未因此而放棄對一些最受喜愛的中國作品的翻譯工作。

But with dozens of titles to choose from, where should the intrepid reader start?
但在衆多的書籍中，嚐鮮者該從哪本着手呢？

To answer that question, China Real Time turned to the editors of Pathlight, a literary magazine dedicated to translating new Chinese fiction and poetry jointly produced by the translation website Paper Republic and People's Literature Magazine. Below, Pathlight staff recommend four of their favorite Chinese books in translation, starting with one from the new Nobel winner:
爲了回答這個問題，“中國實時報”欄目請教了《人民文學》（People's Literature Magazine）英文版雜誌《路燈》（Pathlight）的編輯。《路燈》致力於翻譯《人民文學》雜誌與翻譯網站Paper Republic聯合出品的中國新小說與新詩歌。以下的五本中國書籍都由《路燈》工作人員力薦，第一本的作者是諾貝爾文學獎得主莫言。

（Garlic Ballads）
《天堂蒜薹之歌》

'Garlic Ballads,' Mo Yan
作者：莫言

Readers who want to get a taste of Mo Yan before they commit to reading a whole book may want to pick up 'Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh!, ' a collection of Mo's short stories, or check out Zhang Yimou's film version of the novel 'Red Sorghum.' For those who want to read a full-length novel, the Nobel committee's recommendation of ' The Garlic Ballads' as a first Mo Yan novel is a good place to start.
在埋頭開始完整地閱讀一部莫言的小說前，讀者若想對其作品風格有所瞭解，他的短篇小說集《師傅越來越幽默》（Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh!）也許是一個不錯的選擇，或者去看看張藝謀根據莫言小說改編拍成的電影《紅高粱》（Red Sorghum）。而對於那些熱衷於長篇小說的讀者而言，《天堂蒜薹之歌》是一個很好的選擇。諾貝爾文學獎評委會就曾建議，閱讀莫言應當從這部小說開始。

'The Garlic Ballads' opens with a quote attributed to Stalin -- though Mo admitted to making it up in the preface to the second edition of the novel -- that takes on new resonance in the light of recent criticisms of Mo for not being more outspoken in his support of imprisoned fellow Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and other politically active writers:
《天堂蒜薹之歌》曾在卷首引用了一段斯大林語錄──雖然莫言在第二版的前言中承認那段話是他自己杜撰的──但這仍引發了公衆對他新一輪的批評。此前，莫言就曾因未替同是諾獎得主卻身陷囹圄的劉曉波及其他異見作家大聲疾呼、出言相助而受到指責。

Novelists are forever trying to distance themselves from politics, but the novel itself closes in on politics. Novelists are so concerned with 'man's fate' that they tend to lose sight of their own fate. Therein lies their tragedy.
一直以來，小說家都試圖與政治保持距離，但小說本身卻永遠無法脫離政治而單獨存在。小說家都極度關注人類的命運以至常常忽略了自己的命運，他們的悲劇也因此而生。

'The Garlic Ballads' has as its backdrop the story -- based on real events in 1987 -- of poor farmers who storm the county government offices in protest over extortionate taxes, tolls, and fees after their garlic crops, planted at the urging of the local government, rot, unsold, in the fields. The novel begins with the arrest and beating of Gao Yang, one of the leaders of the protest, in front of his blind daughter, then cuts to the doomed lovers Gao Ma and Fang Jinju as they attempt to resist Jinju's betrothal to an older man in an illegal arranged marriage.
《天堂蒜薹之歌》取材於1987年發生的真實事件：貧困的農民響應當地政府的號召大量種植蒜薹，結果蒜薹滯銷、爛在地裏。農民因此衝擊了縣政府辦公室，抗議過高的稅費、過路費及規費。這部小說一開始就描繪了抗議活動領導者之一的高羊被逮捕、被拷打的情景。而這一切，都發生在他瞎眼的女兒面前。接着，作者筆鋒一轉、切換場景，講述了一對註定永訣的戀人──高馬和方金菊──與非法包辦婚姻抗爭的故事（金菊在這樁婚約中被許配給一位比她年長許多的男人）。

Like many of Mo's longer novels, 'The Garlic Ballads' combines gritty realism with surreal imagery, depicts the venal cruelty of official power, and presents personal tragedy in the context of the long, slow-motion tragedy of history.
就像莫言其他的長篇小說一樣，《天堂蒜薹之歌》將活生生的現實與超現實的意象融爲一體，描繪了官僚權勢的貪贓枉法之爲與農民個體的悲涼窘迫之態，並將其置於長期漸變的歷史悲劇大背景中。

（Dream of Ding Village）
《丁莊夢》

'Dream of Ding Village,' Yan Lianke
作者：閻連科

Although a work of fiction, ' Dream of Ding Village' is based on the very real 'blood boom,' a phenomenon of the last 20 years that has led to the spread of HIV among Chinese villagers because of the selling of contaminated blood. Yan Lianke zooms in on individual stories such as the ex-mayor of Ding Village, cajoled into selling blood by blood merchant Ding Hui, even as his energy for his job toiling the fields wanes by the moment.
《丁莊夢》雖然是一部文學作品，但它卻架構在真實的“賣血潮”之上。“賣血潮”風行於過去的二十年間，由於很多人在賣血過程中接觸了受感染的血液，致使艾滋病在中國農村蔓延開來。閻連科在小說中將個體的故事放大：丁村前任村長在血頭丁輝的哄騙下踏上了賣血之路，即便那時他連在田間勞作的力氣都已消失殆盡，也依舊在賣血。

Though Yan writes emotions as if they're one shade and paints death and suffering with large brush-strokes, 'Dream of Ding Village' is an extremely readable tale with observations in Yan's famous satirical style. He's positively effusive on the absurdities of modern rural China and the novel is resplendent in details such as peasants, who have probably never set foot outside of Ding Village, being buried in coffins carved with scenes 'depicting famous landmarks: Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Shanghai Oriental Pearl television tower, Guangzhou's high-rise hotels, and various bustling commercial districts, department stores, suspension bridges, fountains, parks and public squares.'
雖然閻連科在寫作表達情感時用的好像是同一種腔調、且常常用恢弘的筆觸描繪死亡與苦難，但《丁莊夢》這部小說卻因以著名的“閻式”嘲諷口吻洞察人情而可讀性極強。他對現代中國農村地區愚謬生活的刻畫絕對不吝筆墨且飽蘸深情。這部小說也因此類細節而出彩，比如，那些可能一輩子都沒有走出過丁村的農民，卻在離世時躺在了刻有繁華勝景圖的棺材裏：“是大城市的勝景圖。如北京的天安門，上海的電視塔，廣州的大賓館，還有哪些大城市的商業街，繁華道，跨江橋、百貨樓、噴泉池，這些等等的，七七八八的。”

Yan's homage is the more touching as the HIV/AIDS crisis has affected mostly those from his birth province of Henan. The brutal story is smoothly translated by Cindy Carter, whose rendering is practiced, always to the point, and poetic at times. (Full disclosure: Ms. Carter is a co-founder of Paper Republic.
當艾滋病潮席捲閻連科的出生地河南省、並廣泛地影響了生活在這片土地上的父老鄉親時，他的這部致敬之作就更令人動容。這個冷峻殘酷的故事由辛迪?卡特（Cindy Carter）翻譯，她的筆觸流暢、文風老練，切中主旨要害且常常直指人心，字裏行間有時還透着詩意。（辛迪?卡特是Paper Republic聯合創始人之一。）

（A Dictionary of Maqiao）
《馬橋詞典》

'A Dictionary of Maqiao,' Han Shaogong
作者：韓少功

A welcome relief from the overripe camp of much contemporary Chinese literature, ' A Dictionary of Maqiao' is a tightly written, gnomic work that packs epic historical sweep into a series of dense vignettes. Disguised as a 'dictionary' of the dialect of Maqiao, a small village in Hunan, the novel defines 115 local terms such as 'Curse-Grinding,' 'He-Ground (and She-Field),' 'Nailed Backs' and 'Streetsickness,' quickly expanding from a mere compendium of definitions into a patchwork tale of bizarre power. Though the story and its setting are familiar from other Chinese fiction -- an 'educated youth' is sent down to a village during the Cultural Revolution -- the author's narrative choices make that whole world feel new.
在陳朽的當代中國文壇，《馬橋詞典》是一部受人青睞的先鋒之作。整部小說通過講述古往今來一系列豐富動人的小故事呈現了史詩般的歷史，其結構緊湊，語言精闢。《馬橋詞典》以詞典的形式收錄了湖南一個小村寨──馬橋──的方言。全書共錄有115個當地詞條：從“磨咒”、“公地（以及母田）”到“背釘”、“暈街”，它以這些詞條爲引子，從純詞典的形式延伸擴展、過渡爲由一個個小故事拼繪成的大圖景，飽含意蘊。雖然《馬橋詞典》的故事內容及背景與其他一些中國小說相似，敘事者是一位在文化大革命期間下放到農村的知青，但作者選用的敘事文體卻讓世人眼前一亮。

That's the appeal of the book in a nutshell. Plenty of Chinese novels claim to be heir to the magical-realist tradition, but 'A Dictionary of Maqiao' does it right: Presenting the known world as a foreign land, promising to guide the reader through it and teach him its ways, but only deepening the mystery with each patient, detailed definition.
簡言之，用詞典的語言來寫小說的方式使這本書與衆不同、引人入勝。雖然很多中國小說都自詡繼承了魔幻現實主義的傳統，但《馬橋詞典》詮釋的這種風格才稱得上純正到位：將熟知的世界描繪成一幅異鄉的摸樣，通過對每個詞條進行耐心、細化的定義來深化語義的神祕意蘊，以這樣的方式引領讀者在字裏行間探索領悟。

（To Live）
《活着》

'To Live,' Yu Hua
作者：餘華

Even if you've seen Zhang Yimou's film adaptation of Yu Hua's 'To Live,' that is no excuse to pass up this fantastic 1993 novel. Both the film and the novel are authentically Yu Hua, owing to the writer's intimate involvement in the screenplay, but the novel is significantly darker: In the up-and-down life of the protagonist, a wealthy-scion-turned-peasant named Fugui, the scales lean increasingly toward the downs.
即使你已看過張藝謀導演根據餘華同名小說改編拍成的電影《活着》，你也應該再去讀一讀1993年的原着小說，內容精彩不該錯過。不論是電影還是小說原着，你都能讀到真正的餘華，因爲他親身參與了影片《活着》的創作過程。相較而言，他的原着小說要沉重得多：主人公福貴一生浮沉起伏，出身爲地主少爺的他最終淪爲貧苦佃戶，生活日漸潦倒。

Despite its tragic strains, 'To Live' manages to redeem itself from the 'rural misery' stereotype that plagues many modern Chinese epics. As we follow the shifting fortunes of Fugui and his family through the capricious evolution of 20century Chinese politics, from the Republican to the Communist period, the Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution, what emerges is a meditation on the nature of suffering itself, and the considerable resources the human spirit employs to lessen its sting.
儘管《活着》烙有悲劇故事的特性，但它還是跳出了現代中國文學作品慣用的“鄉土苦難”的老套模式，從衆多庸作中脫潁而出。這部小說講述了福貴及其整個家族在20世紀中國政局風雲變幻中浮沉起伏的過程：從民國時期到共產黨執政，從大躍進到文革時期。故事揭示了有關苦難本身的思考以及人類精神上所依仗的、用來減少人生痛楚的大量財富。

The result is not a simple accumulation of misery, but rather a clear-eyed attempt to come to grips with the fact of misery, fortified by the sublime assertion that this unflinching attempt is in itself worthwhile. In this sense, the satisfaction of reading 'To Live' is comparable to that of reading existential philosophy--just watch out for the cathartic punches. They could knock you flat, as they did to me when I burst into tears while reading this book on a road trip, leaving my travelling companions perplexed. None of them knew the name Yu Hua. All I could do was point to the book in my hands, and say, 'It's China, man.'
這部小說不是苦難本身的簡單堆積，而是一次對苦難剖析的嘗試。作者試着用清晰的思路解讀苦難的事實，他的解讀因爲這個論斷而得到深化：即堅持不懈的嘗試本身是值得的。從這個層面上講，讀《活着》帶來的滿足感可與閱讀存在哲學相提並論，但要留意那些情感豐盛的抓人字句，它們可能會讓你的感情決堤、徹底擊垮你的內心防線，這是我的切身感受。當時，我在一次公路旅行中讀了這本書，看到動情處眼淚便像決了堤的洪水，那情景讓與我結伴而行的人不知所措。他們之中沒有一個人認識餘華，所以我只能指着手中的書說，“講的是中國，夥計。”

Endure
（英譯本）

'Endure,' Bei Dao
作者：北島

Clean-voiced lutes and lantern-lit parties on the water have not been the concern of Chinese poets for over a century, and yet they still seem to invade the imagination whenever the term 'Chinese poetry' is introduced in English-speaking contexts. This is unfair and a great shame. Just as classical Chinese poetry, its subject matter and aesthetic precepts, invigorated English-language poetry in the mid-1900s, the poetry of contemporary China has the power to uncover new paths of focus for poets today. Former exile poet Bei Dao is by far the best-known of Chinese poets since 1978, and the quality of his work is recognized by poets both within China and without. He has spoken as the oracle of the conflicted zeitgeist of a modernizing China, while his poetics have stepped past the fashions of his time into new territory.
一百多年來，清遠琴音與漿聲燈影中的故友相聚並不是中國詩歌關注的焦點。但在英語語境中只要一提到“中國詩歌”這個詞，人們似乎還是會聯想到這些。這對中國詩歌不公，也令譯者蒙羞。就像中國古詩詞一樣，當代中國詩歌在題材選擇與審美觀上都促進了20世紀中期英文詩歌的發展，它也爲現在的詩人創作開闢了新徑。1978年迄今爲止，曾背井離鄉的詩人北島在中文詩歌界最爲知名，他的作品得到了國內外同仁的一致認可。在中國的現代化進程中曾涌現出互相對抗的時代思潮，北島在這些思潮中如先知一樣寫作發聲，他的詩歌創作也超越了時代侷限、步入到一個新境地。

'Endure,' the newest collection of Bei Dao's poetry in English, is a collaborative effort between the poet-translator Clayton Eshleman and Lucas Klein, translator and assistant professor at City University in Hong Kong. The poems the present have been carefully selected to represent Bei Dao's best and most significant work from the 1970s to the present. The English editions take some inspiration from earlier translations, but far outpace their ancestors for clarity and full re-creation of poetic ideas. The volume even includes an appendix that depicts the process of interpretation through an email exchange between Klein and Eshleman. This isn't just an important book; it's a good one.
Endure是一本收錄了北島作品的最新英譯本詩集，由詩歌翻譯家克萊頓埃·什爾曼（Clayton Eshleman）與香港城市大學（City University in Hong Kong）助理教授、譯者盧卡斯·克萊因（Lucas Klein）合力譯成。收錄其中的詩歌均是精選之作，代表了1970年代至今這段時期北島最好、最重要的詩作。《Endure》汲取了之前英譯本的一些靈感，但在語句清晰度與詩學思想重建方面遠遠超過了他們的前輩。這本詩集甚至還在附錄中收集了克萊因與埃什爾曼在翻譯過程中交換意見、共同探討的電子郵件。Endure不單單是一本重要的書，更是一本好書。