My Hutong Life

⊙ By Peter Hessler翻译：丁一

My Hutong Life

⊙ By Peter Hessler翻译：丁一

我们常常会好奇，在外国人眼里中国是什么样的，但我们又时常对外国人在文章或书中对中国指手画脚的态度有所不满。而本文作者（中文名：何伟）的作品则是以叙事为主，极少掺入个人观点，在中国收获了不错的评价。何伟在1996年到中国重庆的涪陵支教，并以他两年教书的经历写出了《江城》（River Town）一书。之后，他又写了“纪实中国三部曲”的后两部——《甲骨文》（Oracle Bones）和《寻路中国》（Country Driving），记录他眼中的中国。在任《纽约客》（New Yorker）驻北京记者期间，何伟住在北京的菊儿胡同，胡同里的百姓生活理所当然地成了他的写作素材。

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

1) chamber pot 尿壶，夜壶

2) vender ['vendə] n. 小贩

3) cart [kɑːt] n. 手推车

4) trademark ['treɪdmɑːk] n. 特征

5) distracting [dɪs'træktɪŋ] adj. 心神烦乱的

6) pitch [pɪtʃ] v. 为……定调

7) register ['redʒɪstə(r)] n. 声域，音区

8) knife sharpener 磨刀人

9) percussion [pə'kʌʃ(ə)n] n. 打击乐器

10) sustainable [sə'steɪnəbl] adj. 可持续的

11) candied crab apple 糖渍苹果

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

12) tricycle ['traɪsɪk(ə)l] n. 三轮车

13) cardboard ['kɑːdbɔːd] n. 厚纸板

14) Styrofoam ['staɪrəfəʊm] n. 泡沫聚苯乙烯

15) strip [strɪp] v. 剥，拆

16) margin ['mɑːdʒɪn] n. 盈余，利润，毛额

17) entryway ['entrɪ,weɪ] n. 入口，入口通道

18) stack [stæk] n. 摞，叠

19) nickel ['nɪk(ə)l] n. 镍，（美国、加拿大的）五分镍币

20) manuscript ['mænjʊskrɪpt] n. 手稿

善于观察是写好文章的基本功。看看这篇文章，你能从你住的那条街发现这么多的写作素材吗？寻常的百姓生活在作者笔下显得如此生动传神。作者从细节入手，用简单的语言给我们描绘了一幅胡同生活的生动画面。读了作者对声音的描写，你仿佛听到一首“胡同交响曲”。你也可以像作者这样，从身边事入手，比如学校、教室、你住的小区、你常去的书店等，认真观察，抓住事物的特点，你也可以写出好文章。

这里车不多。一些小胡同，比如我住的这条，太窄了，车实在开不进来。这条胡同位于这个有1500万人口的城市的中心区，但这里日常生活中的各种声音与常人的预期迥然不同。我常在拂晓时分醒来。坐在书桌前，我能听见街坊邻居手里拿着夜壶，在去公共厕所的路上互相打招呼。公厕就在我这栋楼的旁边。早晨，小贩们出动了。他们蹬着三轮车穿街过巷，每人都有各自风格独具的吆喝声。卖啤酒的女人嗓门儿最大，一遍一遍地放声高喊：“卖——啤——酒！”在早上八点，这声音可能会令人心烦意乱：“卖——啤——酒！”——但这几年下来，我学会欣赏这些吆喝里的音乐之美。卖米的男人调门儿很高；卖醋的是个低音炮；磨刀的在表演打击乐——金属相碰时叮叮当当响个不停。这些声音让人感到安慰：提醒我即使我不出门，生活也可以维持下去，尽管会有点失衡。我可以买到食用油、酱油和某些应季的蔬菜水果；冬天，我也可买几串蒜辫子；还有一个卖手纸的小贩每天都蹬着三轮车来回穿梭；这儿从不缺煤；偶尔，我也可以吃吃糖渍苹果。

我甚至可以从收破烂儿的那儿赚点小钱。平常日子，每隔半小时就有个收破烂儿的蹬着平板三轮车经过。他们收纸盒箱、纸、泡沫塑料和破旧家电。他们论斤收旧书，按尺寸收报废电视。旧家电可能拿去修理，或拆成零件用。纸和塑料可卖给废品收购中心谋点薄利。不久前，我在公寓门口堆了一堆杂七杂八的废品，请每个路过的收破烂儿的进来瞧瞧值多少钱。一摞儿旧杂志卖了将近62美分；一根烧坏了的电脑线卖了5美分；两座破台灯总共7美分；一双破皮鞋：12美分。两个坏了的掌上电脑：37美分。我把满是修改痕迹的书稿给一个收破烂儿的，他拿出一杆秤，称了称，给了我15美分。