Sailing to China 驶 向 中 国

文/沙博理 译/任东升 By Sidney Shapiro

【编者按】为纪念沙博理诞辰102周年，特刊此文。原文题目为编辑所加。本文节选自沙博理撰写的英文传记Ma Haide: The Sag e of American Doctor George Hatem in China（《马海德传》，外文出版社，2004）第139—141页，记述了沙博理1942—1948年间在美国当兵、学习汉语和远渡重洋来到中国、结识凤子的经历。英语文笔流畅，节奏明快，故事性强，笔触不乏幽默感，是一篇学习英语和训练翻译的好材料。

Sailing to China 驶 向 中 国

文/沙博理 译/任东升 By Sidney Shapiro

In 1942 I had been a member of an anti-aircraft gun crew in the Jersey Meadows, guarding the nearby Westinghouse and General Electric plants against possible attacks by German bombers1bomber轰炸机。.

[2] In view of our marksmanship2marksmanship射击术。it was fortunate for the war effort that they never came. Our only assailants were rats and mosquitoes and the fragrance of the Secaucus3斯考克斯市，在美国新泽西州。pig-slaughtering establishment, wafted4waft飘荡。in every breeze5breeze微风；和风。.

1942年,我还是驻守泽西草地高射班的一名大兵，保卫附近的西屋电气公司和通用电气公司，以防德国轰炸机可能的袭击。

[2]我们射击不精，有鉴于此，敌机从未光顾我们那点儿战备，实乃幸运。唯一的袭扰是老鼠和蚊子，还有随微风飘来的斯考克斯市宰猪场的香味。

[3] And so when the call came for volunteers to the ASTP—the Army Specialized Training Program, I jumped at the chance6jump at the chance把握机会。. Crash courses7crash course速成班。were given at various colleges in everything from dentistry and veterinary science8veterinary science兽医学。to foreign languages. Having studied a few years of French in high school and college, I applied for the French course. I passed the qualifying exam, but when I appeared before a board of professors and army officers for formal assignment I was told that they had entirely too many French students, and it was therefore decided that I had “volunteered” to learn Chinese.

[3]因此，当得知“陆军特训班”招收志愿者的时候，我就抓住了这个良机。速成班在很多大学开设起来，包罗万象，有牙医学、兽医学还有外语。我在高中和大学学过几年法语，于是我申请上法语班。资格考试倒是通过了，但当我站在一群教授和军官面前准备接受分配时，被告知由于学法语的同学太多，决定让我“自愿”学习中文。

[4] This was a bolt from the blue9a bolt from the blue晴天霹雳。, but I recovered rapidly when I found myself on the gentle10gentle徐缓的。slopes of Cornell University,surrounded by trees and lovely co-eds11co-ed（男女同校）女生。.After being crammed for nine months with spoken Chinese, I and my classmates were ready to take off the exotic East.

[4]这简直是晴天霹雳！不过，当我站在康奈尔大学校园的慢坡，眼前绿树环绕，女生可爱，也就很快释然了。在被填鸭一般灌输了九个月的汉语口语之后，我和我的同学准备启程前往那个充满异国情调的东方国度。

[5]然而，美军登陆中国大陆的计划（如果真的酝酿过这样的计划）取消了。我们被派到弗吉尼亚州的信号情报中心接受密码分析培训，学习破译日军密码。我们又乘船被送到位于火奴鲁鲁的中太平洋司令部，直到二战结束，我们还在破译三个月前日军控制塔发给升空飞行员的天气状况电码。在业余时间，我们当中有几个人去夏威夷大学旁听中文课程。

[5] But the projected landing of American forces on the China mainland—if one was ever contemplated12contemplated考虑；思量。, was called off. We were put into Signal Intelligence and given a cryptanalysis13cryptanalysis密码分析。course, in Virginia, and taught to break Japanese code.From there we were shipped to MUDPAC—Middle Pacific Army Command,in Honolulu, where we finished the war deciphering14decipher破译。three-month-old messages from Japanese control towers to departing pilots on the state of the weather. In our spare time a few of us audited15audit旁听。Chinese courses at the University of Hawaii.

[6] By then I was thoroughly entranced16entrance使入迷。with the language and what I was beginning to learn of China’s history and culture. When I returned to civilian life in 1946 I had no interest in being a young lawyer again, as I had been before the war. Instead I took Chinese language courses, first at Columbia, then at Yale, and in 1947 booked passage on a freighter17freighter货船。and sailed for China. I landed in Shanghai a month later on April, 1947,April Fools Day, and had cause later to wonder whether the date wasn’t significant. I had two hundred dollars in my pocket, and a letter from Variety saying that if I ever wrote anything and they ever published it, they might pay me. My money soon ran out, and I was reduced to doing what I had travelled 12,000 miles to escape. Again I was an attorney at law—in the office of an American practitioner looking desperately for a junior partner.

[7] But all was not dark. I met and,a year later, married Fengzi—meaning Phoenix. Formerly a famous actress and journalist, she was editing a left-wing magazine. Most of her friends were progressive, a few were in the Communist underground. Through them, and through witnessing daily the horror of Kuomingtang rule, I began quickly to acquire a knowledge of the realities of China.

[6]到了那时，我对汉语和正在学习的中国历史和文化深深地着迷了。1946年我回归平民生活的时候，对当一名小律师一点儿兴致也没有了，而战前我干这行。相反，我继续学习中文，先在哥伦比亚大学，又在耶鲁大学。1947年，我买了一张货船票，驶向中国。一个月后我在上海登岸，那天是愚人节，后来回想这个日子何尝不意味深长，倒有了说头儿。我兜里就装着200美元和美国《综艺》杂志的一封信，信中表示，要是我写稿、他们刊用，就会付我稿酬。带的钱很快花光了，于是我不得不重操我跨越1.2万英里想逃脱的职业。一家美国律师事务所急聘初级合伙人，我又干上了律师这一行。

[7]但生活并非暗淡一片。我遇到了凤子（意思是“凤凰”），一年后我们结了婚。她以前是知名演员和记者，那时正编辑一份左翼杂志。她的朋友大多是进步人士，有几个是地下党。通过这些人，还有每天亲历的国民党恐怖统治，我很快就认清了中国的现状。