Autumn is here again, the season of harvesting, of thanksgiving, of bird’s migration, of preparation for bear’s hibernation, of meditation for some people. But is it real the season for a journey? I was in one Chinese bookstore last week. I encountered a book 秋之頌, by 余光中. I thought the poet had the mood to say something about autumn. It turns out to be a book in praise of 梁實秋. I have a lot of respect to Mr. 梁, but this is not the one I am interested at the moment. I did find a book by Hermann Hesse (赫塞), a Nobel Laureate of Literature, 1946. The title of the short novel is 秋之旅 (1907). 赫塞的短篇小說 有一種獨特的風格, 意境深遠, 今人回味無窮. 這小說並沒有特別指出發生在秋天. 但重頭到尾給你一種秋氣肅穆的感覺. 秋之旅 描寫一位青年在流浪和懷鄉之間徘徊的心靈. 重遊舊地的落寞和昔日情人相遇的感傷, 給人有一種人生虛幻無常又孤獨哀傷的感受. 原文是德文, 看翻譯文學最重要的是翻譯者的功力. 中譯本衹有四十頁, 分成下面幾章: 渡湖, 投宿, 風暴, 往事, 靜寂的村落, 清晨動身, 伊爾根貝克, 尤琍, 霧. 比起 Muller/Schubert 的冬之旅, 赫塞的這篇小說比較輕鬆, 並沒有給你一種失意, 失戀, 落魄而近乎絕望的感受. 秋之旅給你一種孤獨,流浪,虛幻無常的感覺, 但不是痛苦到一种近乎絕望的悲情. 也許這就是秋天和冬天的不同吧!
寫到這裹, 想起赫塞的另一篇小說 “青春,美麗的青春" (1916). 我在1965年看到沉櫻(本名陳瑛)女士翻譯的. 譯文流暢, 非常傳神,令人回味不已. 這篇小說大約也是四十來頁. 描寫一個青年冀圖開拓命運而又懷念家鄉,憧憬浪漫的愛情而又希求安定歸宿的故事. 在一個暑假裡,他回到家鄉和親人相敘,其間發生了一些親情,友情,愛情的故事. 這小說我看過三次 (age 20’s, 40’a & 60’s), 每次感受都不一樣. 想起我們剛大學畢業,申請到國外大學的 admission or scholarship. 負笈彼邦以前,每一個都是青年冀圖開拓命運而又懷念家鄉. 在暑假時回家一趟,看到親人故舊,無不感到溫馨,同時憧憬浪漫自由而又希求安定歸宿. 所以讀起這篇小說更是容易感到共嗚. 同時這也是感嘆夏日之逝去,迎來绮麗的秋之旅.
8 comments:
「每個秋天都有無數的紅葉，每片紅葉只有一個秋天。」Every autumn, I always think about this sentence. It is so simple, but also so deep.
十 月 底 的 秋 葉 總 是 令 人 驚 艷, 新 英 格 蘭 有 滿 山 滿 谷 的 楓 樹, 槭 樹, 銀 杏 等 等. 但 是 有 一 種 樹 Chinese Pistache 卻 很 少 被 提 到. 在 加 州 很 多 地 方 皆 能 看 到. 如 果 你 沒 有 時 間 到 遠 方 賞 楓, 你 稍 注 意 一 下, 很 可 能 會 發 現 紅 葉 也 不 少. 加 州 Los Altos 是 個 小 town, 一 到 十 月 底 你 會 發 現 整 個 downtown 一 片 紅 色, San Antonio 大 道, 從 圖 書 館 到 Foothill, 艷 紅 駭 黃, 在 下 午 陽 光 下, 特藝七彩, 詩 意 盎 然.. 這 些 樹 全 是 Chinese Pistache.
我 查 字 典: 黃 連 木, not very romantic.
I looked up encyclopedia: Chinese Pistache is a small to medium-sized tree native to central and western China. It is hardy and can withstand harsh conditions as well as poor quality soil.
奇 怪 的 事 年 年 有, 從 沒 聽 到 中 國 人 提 到 這 種 樹, 連 幾 千 年 的 文 學, 詩 人 都 沒 提 到. What happen? This is a tree native to central & western China & nobody notices it. Am I missing something?
杜牧的詩: 楓林, 在深秋時吟詠, 最有意境:
遠上寒山石徑斜，白雲深處有人家；
停車坐看楓林晚，霜葉紅於二月花。
PS: 楓和槭的分別在於葉子的大小. 槭的葉比較窄而狹長. 楓的葉則大小適中, 頗有大家閨秀之氣質.
沉櫻女士文筆極佳, 翻澤流暢. 純文學月刊社在1968年曾出版她翻譯的一本書, 是 Stefan Zweig (褚威格,1881-1942) 的小說集. 其中有兩篇非常精彩: 一位陌生女子的來信 和 馬來亞狂人(蠱).褚先生是奧國人,描寫女人的心理非常細膩而傳神.沉櫻是從英文翻譯的. 可說是第二手 (second hand) 譯作. 見其行文流暢可想原英文翻譯也是佳作. 一位陌生女子的來信 曾被搬上影幕, Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948, Joan Fontaine & Louis Jourdan). 最近有一中文電影 “一個陌生女人的來信” (2004, 徐靜蕾), 背景搬到中國但故事雷同,也很精彩.
PS: Joan Fontaine (瓊芳登)是很有名的演員,曾經演過蝴蝶夢(Rebecca). 她現居加州 Camel. Camel 是一個很藝術化的小鎮, 張大千曾旅居此地數年. Clint Eastwood, Kim Novak & Doris Day 皆定居於此.
In my last comment, "翻澤流暢" should be "翻譯流暢" and "Camel" should be "Carmel".
Doris Day is said to live on a large ranch near Carmel. She is famous for her song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", 1956. We were in junior high at that time. I was bombarded by the tune everyday & have remembered the tune & lyrics since then. Here is the lyrics:
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be pretty, will I be rich
Here's what she said to me.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows, day after day
Here's what my sweetheart said.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich
I tell them tenderly.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
Now let's review our life. Our parents didn't tell us this way. We were repeatedly told that we had to study hard & create a bright future, not "what will be, will be". If our sweethearts said "Que Sera, Sera", we might keep her a distance. Certainly as parents, we didn't tell our children "Que Sera, Sera". But it didn't matter, this song became a big hit & almost everybody knew about it. Let's think hard again, the FUTURE indeed is not ours to see. However, the immediate future just around us can be controlled or at least influenced by our actions & we should tell our children & grandchildren as such.
The song is here. You can still hear the original voice of Doris Day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbKHDPPrrc
昔日戲言身後事，今朝都到眼前來。For most of our classmates, the "future" was basic what we expected when we were in school. Of course, we did not know the details. To say another way, there was not too much unexpected.
人生一世，草生一秋。時間是相當公平的，未來不斷的展現，又匆匆的離開。
Dear 2 Marks:
I look up my dictionary, Wikipedia, I simply couldn't find the word " pistache ". The closest one is " pistachio ", which is a different plant. Please clarify.
It is true that we can't find "pistache" in most dictionaries. However, if you use Google search, we can easily find it, especially "Chinese Pistache". I also found that the American version of Google & Wikipedia are better than those of other countries. Try the link: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS319US320&q=pistache+chinese
or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Pistache
Indeed, I did find "pistache" from
Google.
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